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diff --git a/35573-h/35573-h.htm b/35573-h/35573-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..491d45d --- /dev/null +++ b/35573-h/35573-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10817 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Vermont, by Rowland E. Robinson. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + p { margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .5em; + text-indent: 1em; + } + h1 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h5,h6 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h2 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h3 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h4 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + a {text-decoration: none} /* no lines under links */ + div.centered {text-align: center;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 1 */ + div.centered table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 2 */ + ul {list-style-type: none} /* no bullets on lists */ + ul.nest {margin-top: .15em; margin-bottom: .15em; text-indent: -1.5em;} /* spacing for nested list */ + li {margin-top: .15em; margin-bottom: .15em;} /* spacing for list */ + + .cen {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} /* centering paragraphs */ + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} /* small caps */ + .noin {text-indent: 0em;} /* no indenting */ + .hang {text-indent: -2em;} /* hanging indents */ + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */ + .blockquot {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} /* block indent */ + .right {text-align: right; padding-right: 2em;} /* right aligning paragraphs */ + .totoc {position: absolute; right: 2%; font-size: 75%; text-align: right;} /* Table of contents anchor */ + .totoi {position: absolute; right: 2%; font-size: 75%; text-align: right;} /* to Table of Illustrations link */ + .img {text-align: center; padding: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} /* centering images */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;} + .tdr {text-align: right;} /* right align cell */ + .tdrb {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;} /* right align cell */ + .tdrp {text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;} /* right align with padding */ + .tdrtp {text-align: right; vertical-align: top; padding-right: 1em;} /*align right, top, padding right */ .tdc {text-align: center;} /* center align cell */ + .tdl {text-align: left;} /* left align cell */ + .tdlsc {text-align: left; font-variant: small-caps;} /* aligning cell content and small caps */ + .tdrsc {text-align: right; font-variant: small-caps;} /* aligning cell content and small caps */ + .tdcsc {text-align: center; font-variant: small-caps;} /* aligning cell content and small caps */ + .tr {margin-left: 22%; margin-right: 22%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 1em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} /* transcriber's notes */ + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; right: 2%; + font-size: 75%; + color: silver; + background-color: inherit; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers */ + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 90%;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right; font-size: 90%;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: text-top; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem span.pn { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; right: 2%; + font-size: 75%; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + color: silver; background-color: inherit; + font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers in poems */ + + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Vermont, by Rowland E. Robinson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Vermont + A Study of Independence + +Author: Rowland E. Robinson + +Editor: Horace E. Scudder + +Release Date: March 14, 2011 [EBook #35573] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VERMONT *** + + + + +Produced by Darleen Dove, Barbara Kosker and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h2>American Commonwealths.</h2> + +<h4>EDITED BY</h4> + +<h3>HORACE E. SCUDDER.</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/map.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/map.jpg" width="43%" alt="Map of Vermont" /></a> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> + +<h3> American Commonwealths</h3> + + +<h1> VERMONT</h1> + +<h3> A STUDY OF INDEPENDENCE</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4> BY</h4> + +<h2> ROWLAND E. ROBINSON</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="img"> +<img border="0" src="images/deco.png" width="10%" alt="Publisher's Mark" /> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + + +<h4> BOSTON AND NEW YORK<br /> + HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY<br /> +The Riverside Press, Cambridge<br /> + 1892</h4> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + + +<h5>Copyright, 1892,<br /> +<span class="smcap">By</span> ROWLAND E. ROBINSON.<br /> +<br /> +<i>All rights reserved.</i></h5> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h5><i>The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.</i><br /> +Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.</h5> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="10%" style="font-size: 80%;">CHAPTER</td> + <td class="tdl" width="82%"> </td> + <td class="tdr" width="7%" style="font-size: 80%;">PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">I.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Highway of War</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrtp">II.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Wilderness during the French and Indian Wars</td> + <td class="tdrb"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">III.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Occupation and Settlement</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">IV.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">The New Hampshire Grants</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">V.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Green Mountain Boys</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">VI.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Westminster Massacre</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">VII.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Ticonderoga</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">VIII.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Green Mountain Boys in Canada</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">IX.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Lake Champlain</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">X.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Vermont an Independent Commonwealth</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XI.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Ticonderoga; Hubbardton</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XII.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Bennington</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XIII.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Subsequent Operations of Vermont Troops</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XIV.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Unions</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_189">189</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XV.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Haldimand Correspondence</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XVI.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Unions Dissolved</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XVII.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Republic of the Green Mountains</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XVIII.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">The New State</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XIX.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Vermont in the War of 1812</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_269">269</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XX.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Old-Time Customs and Industries</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_292">292</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XXI.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Religion, Education, and Temperance</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_307">307</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XXII.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Emigration</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_324">324</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XXIII.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Star that Never Sets</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_333">333</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XXIV.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">Vermont in the War of the Rebellion</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_340">340</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XXV.</td> + <td class="tdl smcap">The Vermont People</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_354">354</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl smcap" colspan="2">Index</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_367">367</a></td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>VERMONT.</h2> + +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE HIGHWAY OF WAR.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Champlain, in the account of his voyage made in July, 1609, up the lake +to which he gave his name, mentions almost incidentally that, +"continuing our route along the west side of the lake, contemplating the +country, I saw on the east side very high mountains capped with snow. I +asked the Indians if those parts were inhabited. They answered me yes, +and that they were Iroquois, and there were in those parts beautiful +valleys, and fields fertile in corn as good as any I had ever eaten in +the country, with an infinitude of other fruits, and that the lake +extended close to the mountains, which were, according to my judgment, +fifteen leagues from us."</p> + +<p>It was doubtless then that the eyes of white men first beheld the lofty +landmarks and western bounds of what is now Vermont. If the wise and +brave explorer gave more thought to the region than is indicated in this +brief mention of it, perhaps it was to forecast a future wherein those +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>fertile valleys, wrested by his people from the savagery of the +wilderness and the heathen, should be made to blossom like the rose, +while the church, of which he was so devout a son that he had said "the +salvation of one soul was of more value than the conquest of an empire," +should here build its altars, and gather to itself a harvest richer by +far than any earthly garner. But this was not to be. His people were +never to gain more than a brief and unsubstantial foothold in this land +of promise. The hereditary enemies of his nation were to sow and reap +where France had only struck a furrow, and were to implant a religion as +abhorrent to him as paganism, and a form of government that would have +seemed to him as evil as impracticable, and he was only a pioneer on the +warpath of the nations.</p> + +<p>Although the Indians who accompanied Champlain on his inland voyage of +discovery told him that the country on the east side of the lake was +inhabited by the Iroquois, there is no evidence that it was permanently +occupied by them, even then, if it ever had been. There are traces of a +more than transient residence of some tribe here at some time, but their +identity and the date of their occupancy can only be conjectured. The +relics found give no clew by which to determine whether they who +fashioned here their rude pottery and implements and weapons of stone +were Iroquois or Waubanakee,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> nor when these beautiful valleys were +their home.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>A fact affording some proof that the Iroquois abandoned it very long ago +is, that not one stream, lake, mountain, or other landmark within the +limits of Vermont now bears an Iroquois name. Of all the Indian names +that have been preserved, every one is Waubanakee; and though many of +them are euphonious, and those least so far better than our commonplace +and vulgar nomenclature, none of them have the poetic significance of +those so frequently bestowed by the Iroquois on mountain, lake, rock, +and river.</p> + +<p>It does not seem probable that the warlike nation that conquered all +tribes with which it came in contact, having once gained complete +possession, should relinquish it. A more reasonable conclusion is, that +the country lying east of Lake Champlain was a debatable ground of these +aboriginal tribes in the remote past, as it was more recently of +civilized nations and states.</p> + +<p>Quebec, the town which Champlain had founded in 1608, did not begin to +assume much importance till eighteen years afterward, when its wooden +fortifications were rebuilt of stone. Nor was the place strong enough +three years later to offer any resistance to the English fleet which, +under the command of Sir David Kirk, then appeared before the city and +presently took possession of it. The conquest was as lightly valued by +King Charles I. of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>England as it had been easily made; and in 1634, by +the treaty of St. Germain, Canada, Acadia, and Cape Breton were restored +to France. Thenceforward, for more than a hundred years, these regained +possessions of the French were a constant menace and danger to the +English colonies in America.</p> + +<p>Advances toward the occupation of the country lying between Lake +Champlain and the Connecticut River were made slowly by both French and +English, though the tide of predatory warfare often ebbed and flowed +along the borders of the region and sometimes across it, along the +courses of the larger tributary waterways, navigable almost to their +narrow and shallow sources by the light birch of the Indian while there +was open water, and an easy if crooked path for the snowshoe and +toboggan when winter had paved the streams with ice.</p> + +<p>One of the earliest of such French incursions into New England was made +after the failure of the attempt of De Callieres, the governor of +Montreal, to capture New York, and all the English colonies in that +province, when less important expeditions were organized against the New +York and New England frontiers and the Sieur Hertel went from Trois +Rivières against the English fort at Salmon Falls in New Hampshire. At +about the same time, in February, 1690, the expedition under Sieurs +Helene and Mantet set forth by the way of Lake Champlain to destroy +Schenectady. Both expeditions were organized by Count <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>Frontenac for the +purpose of inspiriting the Canadians and their Indian allies, who were +sadly disheartened by the recent descent of the Iroquois upon Canada +when Montreal had been sacked and destroyed, and most of the frontier +settlements broken up.</p> + +<p>The wide expanse of pathless woods that lay between the outposts of the +hostile colonies gave a false assurance of security to the English +settlers, while to their enemies these same solitudes gave almost +certain immunity from the chance of a forewarned prey. In the wintry +wastes of forest, through which these marauding bands took their way, +there ranged no unfriendly scout to spy their stealthy approach, and +bear tidings of it to the doomed settlements.</p> + +<p>Unburdened by much weight of provision, or more camp equipage than their +blankets and axes, these wolfish packs of Canadians and Indians (the +whites scarcely less hardy than their wild allies nor much less savage, +albeit devout Christians) marched swiftly along frozen lake and +ice-bound stream, through mountain pass and pathless woods, subsisting +for the most part on the lean-yarded deer which were easily killed by +their hunters. At night they bivouacked, with no shelter but the sky and +the lofty arches of the forest, beside immense fires, whose glow, though +lighting tree-tops and sky, would not be seen by any foe more dangerous +than the wolf and panther. Here each ate his scant ration; the Frenchman +smoked his pipe of rank <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>home-grown tobacco, the Waubanakee his milder +senhalenac, or dried sumac leaves; the Christian commended his devilish +enterprise to God; the pagan sought by his rites to bring the aid of a +superhuman power to their common purpose. The pious Frenchman may have +seen in the starlit sky some omen of success; the Waubanakee were +assured of it when dread Wohjahose<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> was passed, and each had tossed +toward it his offering of pounded corn or senhalenac, and the awful +guardian of Petowbowk<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> had sent no voice of displeasure, yelling and +groaning after them beneath his icy roof; and each lay down to sleep on +his bed of evergreen boughs in an unguarded camp. Not till, like +panthers crouching for the deadly spring, they drew near the devoted +frontier settlement or fort, did they begin to exercise soldierly +vigilance, to send out spies, and set guards about their camps.</p> + +<p>Assured of the defenseless condition of the settlers or the carelessness +of the garrison, they swooped upon their prey. Out of the treacherous +stillness of the woods a brief horror of carnage, rapine, and fire burst +upon the sleeping hamlet. Old men and helpless infants, stalwart men, +taken unawares, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>fighting bravely with any means at hand, women in +whatever condition, though it appealed most to humanity, were +slaughtered alike. The booty was hastily gathered, and the torch applied +by blood-stained hands, and out of the light of the conflagration of +newly built homes the spoilers vanished with their miserable captives in +the mysterious depths of the forest as suddenly as they had come forth +from them.</p> + +<p>So were conducted the expeditions against Salmon Falls and Schenectady. +By the first, thirty of the English were killed, and fifty-four, mostly +women and children, taken prisoners and carried to Canada. The success +of the other expedition spread consternation throughout the province of +New York. Sixty persons were killed, and nearly half as many made +captive.</p> + +<p>In the same year, 1690, the colonies of New York, Massachusetts, and +Connecticut organized a formidable expedition by land and sea against +Canada, in which they hoped to be aided by the mother country. Having +waited till August for the hoped-for arms and ammunition from England +which were not sent, the colonies determined to undertake it with such +means as they had, Massachusetts to furnish the naval force against +Quebec, New York and Connecticut the army to march against Montreal.</p> + +<p>The New York and Connecticut troops, commanded by John Winthrop of the +last named colony, marched early in August to the head of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>Wood Creek, +with the expectation of being joined there by a large number of the +warriors of the Five Nations, but less than a hundred of them came to +the rendezvous. Arrived at the place of embarkation on the lake, not +half boats enough had been provided for the transportation of the army, +nor sufficient provisions for its sustenance. Encountered by such +discouragements, the army returned to Albany.</p> + +<p>Captain John Schuyler, however, went forward with twenty-nine Christians +and one hundred and twenty savages whom he recruited at Wood Creek as +volunteers. In his journal<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> he gives an account of his daily progress +and operations; mentions, by names now lost, various points on the lake, +such as Tsinondrosie, Canaghsionie and Ogharonde. "The 15th day of +August we came one Dutch mile above Crown Point. The 16th ditto we +advanced as far as Kanondoro and resolved at that place to travel by +night, and have that night, had gone onward to near the spot where +Ambrosio Corlear is drowned, and there one of our savages fell in +convulsions, charmed and conjured by the devil, and said that a great +battle had taken place at Quebeck, and that much heavy cannon must have +been fired there." About midnight of the 18th, "saw a light fall down +from out the sky to the South, of which we were all perplexed what token +this might be." On the 23d, having drawn near to La Prairie, he attacked +the people of the fort, who had gone forth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>to cut corn. "Christians as +well as savages fell on with a war-cry, without orders having been +given, but they made nineteen prisoners and six scalps, among which were +four womenfolk," and "pierced and shot nearly one hundred and fifty head +of oxen and cows, and then we set fire to all their houses and barns +which we found in the fields, their hay and everything else which would +take fire." Setting out on their return, "the savages killed two French +prisoners because they could not travel on account of their wounds," and +on the 30th arrived at Albany.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>At nearly the same time the fleet sailed from Boston under command of +Sir William Phipps, governor of Massachusetts. It consisted of nearly +forty vessels, carrying a force of two thousand men. It was not till the +5th of October that it reached Quebec. Precious time was lost in +deliberation while the place was defenseless, and then Frontenac, +released by the retrograde movement of Winthrop's army from the +necessity of defending Montreal, marched to the relief of Quebec with +all his forces. After an unsuccessful attack by land and water on the +9th of October, the troops were reëmbarked on the 11th and the +storm-scattered fleet straggled back to Boston. Such were the poor +results of an enterprise from which so much had been expected.</p> + +<p>To remove the unfavorable impression of the English which these failures +had made on the Indians of the Five Nations, Major Schuyler of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>Albany, +in the summer of 1691, went through Lake Champlain with a war party of +Mohawks, and attacked the French settlements on the Richelieu. De +Callieres opposed him with an army of eight hundred men, and, in the +numerous encounters which ensued, Schuyler's party killed about three +hundred of the enemy, a number exceeding that of their own.</p> + +<p>In January, 1695, winter being the chosen time for the French invasions, +Frontenac dispatched an army of six hundred or more French and Indians +by the way of Lake Champlain into the country of the Mohawks, and +inflicted serious injury upon those allies of the English. Retreating +with nearly three hundred prisoners, they were pursued by Schuyler with +two hundred volunteers and three hundred Indians, and were so harassed +by this intrepid partisan leader that most of the prisoners escaped, and +they lost more than one hundred of their soldiers in killed and wounded, +while Schuyler had but eight killed and fourteen wounded.</p> + +<p>Thus, across and along the border of this yet unbroken wilderness, the +hostile bands of English and French and their Indian allies carried +their murderous warfare to many an exposed settlement, and kept all in +constant dread of attack.</p> + +<p>Different routes were taken by the predatory bands in their descents +upon the frontiers of New England. One was by the St. Francis River and +Lake Memphremagog, thence to the Passumpsic, and down that river to the +Connecticut, that gave an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>easy route to the settlements. Another was up +the Winooski and down White River to the Connecticut. Another left Lake +Champlain at the mouth of Great Otter Creek; then up its slow lower +reaches to where it becomes a swift mountain stream, when the trail led +to West River, or Wantasticook, emptying into the Connecticut. And still +another way to West River and the Connecticut was from the head of the +lake up the Pawlet River. Of these routes, that by the Winooski was so +frequently taken that the English named the stream the French River; +while that of which Otter Creek was a part, being the easiest and the +nearest to Crown Point, was perhaps the oftenest used, and was commonly +known as the "Indian Road."</p> + +<p>All these familiar warpaths to every Waubanakee warrior, with every +stream and landmark bearing names his fathers had given them, led +through Vermont, then only known to English-speaking men as "The +Wilderness."</p> + +<p>The treaty of peace between England and France in 1697 gave the +colonists a brief respite, till in 1702 war was again declared, and in +the summer of the next year five hundred French and Indians assaulted in +detachments the settlers on Casco Bay, and that part of the New England +coast. In the following winter a force of three hundred French and +Indians commanded by Hertel De Rouville, a skilled partisan leader, as +had been his father, was dispatched by Vaudreuil, the governor of +Canada, against Deerfield, then the northernmost settlement <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>on the +Connecticut. It was February, and Champlain was frozen throughout its +length. Along it they marched as far as the mouth of the Winooski, and +took this their accustomed path through the heart of the wilderness +toward the Connecticut. Marching above the unseen and unheard flow of +the river, over whose wintry silence bent the snow-laden branches of the +graceful birch, the dark hemlock, and the fir, or along the hidden +trail, an even whiteness except to the trained instinct of the Indian, +seldom a sound came to them out of the forest save the echo of their own +footsteps and voices. Sometimes they heard the resonant crack of trees +under stress of frost, or the breaking of an over-laden bough, the whir +of startled grouse, the sudden retreat of a deer or a giant moose +tearing through the undergrowth; and sometimes they heard the stealthy +tread of their brothers, the wolves, sneaking from some point of +observation near their path, but in this remoteness from human haunts, +and this deadness of winter, never a sound to alarm men so accustomed to +all strange woodland noises. Then they came to the broad Connecticut, an +open road to lead them to their victims, upon whom they fell in the +early morning when the guards were asleep. Winter, the frequent ally of +the Canadian bands, aided them now with snowdrifts heaped to the top of +the low ramparts about the garrison houses, and upon them the assailants +made entrance. All the inhabitants were slain or captured, the village +plundered and set on fire, and an hour after sunrise the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>victorious +party was on its way to Canada with its booty and wretched captives.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>Such warfare was waged for years, the French and Indians making frequent +attacks on the most exposed settlements of the English, and they, at +times, retaliating by invasions of the Canadian frontier. In 1709 +another grand expedition was planned to operate against Canada in the +same manner as that undertaken in 1690. But the troops, which under +Nicholson were to advance by the way of Lake Champlain, got no farther +than Wood Creek, where Winthrop's advance had ended nineteen years +before, for while they were there awaiting the arrival at Boston of the +English fleet, with which they were to coöperate, a terrible +mortality<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> broke out among them, the fleet never came, and the +undertaking was abandoned. In 1711 a still more formidable attempt was +made to conquer Canada. But the fleet, commanded by Sir Hovenden Walker, +with nine thousand troops on board, met with disaster in the St. +Lawrence, and the land force, which again under Nicholson was to invade +the French province by Lake Champlain, was not far beyond Albany when +news of the fleet's disaster reached it and it was disbanded. Thus, as +miserably as had the two preceding ones, this third attempt to conquer +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>Canada failed, and a heavier cloud of humiliation and discouragement +overcast the English colonies. But after the treaty of Utrecht the +eastern Indians made a treaty of peace with the governors of +Massachusetts and New Hampshire which gave some assurance of +tranquillity to the long-suffering people of those provinces.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The Indians themselves pronounce the word as here given. It +signifies The White Land. It has been thought better to follow this, +than the more common spelling, Abenaki, which has come to us from the +French.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Wohjahose, signifying The Forbidder, is the Waubanakee name +of Rock Dunder, which was supposed to be the guardian spirit of +Petowbowk. Some dire calamity was certain to befall those who passed his +abode without making some propitiatory offering.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Petowbowk, interpreted by some "Alternate Land and Water," +by others, "The Water that Lies Between," is the Waubanakee name of Lake +Champlain.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> <i>Doc. Hist. N. Y.</i> vol. ii. p. 160.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> White's <i>Incidents in the Early History of New England</i>. +See <i>The Redeemed Captive returning to Zion</i>, by Rev. John Williams, who +was one of the Deerfield captives.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> In <i>Summary, Historical and Political</i>, by William +Douglass, M. D., this is said to have been yellow fever.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>THE WILDERNESS DURING THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>By the easiest path, in summer and winter, of the larger streams, the +English settlements were pushed into the wilderness, and where the +alluvial land gave most promise of fertility the sunlight fell upon the +virgin soil of new clearings, the log-houses of the pioneers arose, and +families were gathered about new hearthstones. They were soon confronted +by the old danger, for the Indians, jealous of their encroachments and +covertly incited by the governor of Canada, presently began hostilities, +and the gun again was as necessary an equipment of the husbandman afield +as his axe or hoe or scythe, and his wife and children lived in a +besetting fear of death, or a captivity almost as dreadful. Though +England and France were at peace during the time for the five years +beginning with 1720, a savage war was waged between the eastern Canadian +Indians and the provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.</p> + +<p>It was in these troublous times that the first permanent occupation was +made in the unnamed region which is now Vermont. In 1723 it was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>voted +by the General Court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, that "it will +be of great service to all the western frontiers, both in this and in +the neighboring governments of Connecticut, to build a block-house above +Northfield, in the most convenient place on the lands called the +'equivalent lands,'<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> and to post in it forty able men, English and +western Indians, to be employed in scouting at a good distance up the +Connecticut River, West River, Otter Creek, and sometime eastwardly +above great Monadnock, for the discovery of the enemy coming toward any +of the frontier towns, and so much of the said equivalent lands as shall +be necessary for a block-house be taken up with the consent of the +owners of the said land, together with five or six acres of their +interval land to be broken up or ploughed for the present use of the +western Indians, in case any of them shall think fit to bring their +families hither."</p> + +<p>Accordingly a site was chosen in the southeastern part of the present +town of Brattleboro, and in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>February, 1724, the work was begun under +the superintendence of Colonel John Stoddard of Northampton, by +Lieutenant Timothy Dwight, with a force of "four carpenters, twelve +soldiers with narrow axes, and two teams." At the beginning of summer +the fort was ready for occupancy, and was named Fort Dummer, in honor of +the lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts. The fort was built of hewn +logs laid horizontally in a square, whose sides were one hundred and +eighty feet in length, and outside this was a stockade of square timbers +twelve feet in length set upright in the ground. Within the inner +inclosure, built against the walls, were the "province houses," the +habitation of the garrison and other inmates, and themselves capable of +stout defense, should its assailants gain entrance to the interior of +the fort. In addition to the small-arms of the garrison, Fort Dummer was +furnished with four patereros.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> There was also a "Great Gun," used +only as a signal, when its sudden thunder rolled through leagues of +forest to summon aid or announce good tidings. On the 11th of October +following its completion, the fort was attacked by seventy hostile +Indians, and four or five of its occupants were killed or wounded.</p> + +<p>Scouting parties frequently went out to watch for the enemy, sometimes +up the Connecticut to the Great Falls, sometimes up West River, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>thence across the Wilderness to the same point. Sometimes they were +sent to the mountains at West River and the Great Falls, "to lodge on ye +top," and from these lofty watch-towers the keen eyes of the rangers +scanned the mapped expanse of forest, when it was green with summer +leafage, or gorgeous as a parterre with innumerable autumnal hues, or +veiled in the soft haze of Indian summer, or gray with the snows of +winter and the ramage of naked branches, "viewing for smoaks" of hostile +camp-fires. In July, 1725, Captain Wright, with a volunteer force of +sixty men, scouted up the Connecticut to Wells River, and some distance +up that stream, thence to the Winooski, which they followed till they +came within sight of Lake Champlain, when, having penetrated the heart +of the Wilderness farther than any English force had previously done, +the scantiness of their provisions compelled a return.</p> + +<p>By the authority of the General Court of Massachusetts, a "truck house," +or trading house, was established at Fort Dummer in 1728, and the +Indians finding that they could make better bargains here than at the +French trading-posts, flocked hither with their peltry, moose-skins, and +tallow.</p> + +<p>When, seventeen years after the erection of Fort Dummer, the boundary +line was run between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the fort fell +within the limits of the latter State, whose government was appealed to +by Massachusetts to maintain it, but declined to do so, on the ground +that its own frontier <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>was better protected by a stronger fort at Number +Four; also that it was more to the interest of Massachusetts than of New +Hampshire to continue its support. Governor Wentworth urged upon a new +assembly the safer and more generous policy, but to no purpose, and such +a maintenance as Fort Dummer continued to receive was given by +Massachusetts.</p> + +<p>After pushing their fortified posts up the Richelieu and to Isle la +Motte, where they built Fort St. Anne in 1665, the French made a long +stride toward the head of the lake, where in 1730 they built a small +fort and began a settlement on Chimney Point, called by them Point à la +Chevalure, and the next year began the erection of a more considerable +work on the opposite headland of Crown Point, a position of much greater +natural strength. In the building of this fortress of St. Frederic, +which was for many years to remain a close and constant menace to the +English colonies, they were opposed only by feeble protest of the +government of New York, though that of Massachusetts urged more active +opposition. The fort was completed, and the French held the key to the +"Gate of the Country," as the Iroquois had so fitly named Lake +Champlain. Seigniories were granted on both sides of the lake, and in +that of Sieur Hocquart, which extended three leagues along the lake and +five leagues back therefrom, was this settlement on Point à la +Chevalure. Northward from the fort the habitants built their cabins of +logs in close neighborhood along the street, and sowed wheat, planted +corn and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>fruit-trees on their narrow holdings. Flowers new to the +wilderness bloomed beside doorways, and the fragrance of foreign herbs +was mingled with the balsamic odors of the woods. Where only the glare +of camp-fires had briefly illumined the bivouac of armed men, the blaze +of the hearth was kindled to shine on happy households; where had been +heard no sound of human voice but the sentinel's challenge, the stern, +sharp call of military command, or the devilish yell of the savage, now +arose the voice of the mother crooning to her babe, the prattle of +children at play, the gabble of gossiping dames, and the laughter of the +gay habitant; while from the protecting fort flaunted the lilies of +France, an assurance to these simple people of the permanency of their +newly founded homes. Here the Canadians tilled their little fields, and +shared of the lake's abundance with the fish-hawks and the otter, hunted +the deer and moose, and trapped the fur-bearing animals in the broad +forest, and at the bidding of their masters went forth with their +painted allies, the Waubanakees, on bloody forays against the English.</p> + +<p>When in 1744 war was again declared between England and France, the +English frontier settlements soon began to suffer from the advantage +their enemies possessed in a stronghold from which they were so easily +reached. During the next year they were frequently harassed by small +parties, and in August, 1746, Vaudreuil set forth from Fort St. Frederic +with an army of seven hundred French and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>Indians to attack Fort +Massachusetts, then the most advanced post in the province, whose name +had been given it.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> There were but thirty-three persons in the +garrison, including women and children, but Colonel Hawkes bravely +defended the place with his insignificant force for twenty-eight hours, +when the supply of ammunition was exhausted and he surrendered, with the +stipulation that none of his people should be delivered to the Indians. +Yet in spite of this, soon after the capitulation, Vaudreuil gave up one +half of them to the savages, who thereupon at once killed a prisoner who +was unable to travel.</p> + +<p>After the capture of Louisburg by the force of New England troops which +he had organized, Governor Shirley of Massachusetts proposed a plan for +the conquest of Canada, in which a fleet and army promised by the mother +country were to attack Quebec, while the colonial troops were to march +against Fort St. Frederic.</p> + +<p>While active preparations for this enterprise were being made, the +colonies were alarmed by news of the arrival at Nova Scotia of a French +fleet and army so formidable as to threaten the conquest of all their +seaboard, and all their efforts were turned toward defense. When storm +and shipwreck had scattered and destroyed the fleet and frustrated its +objects, Shirley proposed a winter campaign in which the New Hampshire +troops were to go up the Connecticut and destroy the Waubanakee village +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>of St. Francis, and the Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York +troops, advancing by the way of Lake George, were to attack Fort St. +Frederic; but Connecticut declining to take part in it, the project was +abandoned.</p> + +<p>The English had continued to extend their settlements upon the +Connecticut, and had built several small forts on the west side of the +river. These so-called forts were block-houses, built of hewn logs, with +a projecting upper story and pierced with loopholes for muskets. Such +was Bridgman's fort in what is now Vernon, and which was twice attacked +by Indians, and in the second attack was destroyed. Some years +afterward, in July, 1755, a party of Indians, who were lurking near the +fort, now rebuilt, waylaid three settlers as they were returning from +their work, and killed one Caleb Howe. Another was drowned in attempting +to cross the river, and one escaped. The Indians gained entrance to the +fort, whose only inmates were the wives and children of the three men, +by making the customary signal, which they had learned by observation. +After plundering the fort, and taking the helpless inmates captive, they +proceeded through the wilderness to Crown Point, and from thence to +Canada. Their prisoners suffered there a long captivity, but were at +length mostly redeemed.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> + +<p>The most northerly settlement now on the river was at Number Four, on +the east side of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>Connecticut. Three years after its settlement, in +1743, a fort was built under the direction of Colonel Stoddard, the +builder of Fort Dummer. It was similar to that fortification in size and +construction, but was stockaded only on the north side. It inclosed, as +"province houses," the dwellings previously built by five of the +settlers, and one built at the same time with the fort. The settlers +continued here for three years thereafter, during which they suffered +frequent assaults from marauding bands of Indians, in which eight of the +soldiers and inhabitants were killed and three taken prisoners. When the +Massachusetts troops which for a while had garrisoned the place were +withdrawn, the helpless people abandoned their newly made homes, and for +months the divested fort remained as silent and desolate as the wintry +wastes of forests that surrounded it. In response to representations +made to him of the expediency of such a measure, Governor Shirley +ordered Captain Phineas Stevens, with thirty men, to march to and occupy +the fort at Number Four. Arriving there on the 27th of March, 1747, +Captain Stevens found the place in good condition, and was heartily +welcomed to it by an old dog and cat which had been left behind in the +hurry of the autumnal departure. The garrison had been in possession but +a few days when they were attacked by French and Indians commanded by M. +Debeline, who opened a musketry fire upon the fort on all sides. Failing +to take it in this way, the enemy attempted to burn it by setting fire +to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>fences and houses near it, by discharging flaming arrows upon +the roof, and then by pushing a cart loaded with burning brush<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> +against the walls.</p> + +<p>Stevens thus describes the ingenious device by which he prevented the +firing of the wooden walls by the enemy: "Those who were not employed in +firing at the enemy were employed in digging trenches under the bottom +of the fort. We dug no less than eleven of them, so deep that a man +could go and stand upright on the outside and not endanger himself; so +that when these trenches were finished we could wet all the outside of +the fort, which we did, and kept it wet all night. We drew some hundreds +of barrels of water, and to undergo all this hard service there were but +thirty men."<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> All the attempts of the enemy were baffled, fair +promises and dire threats alike set at naught by the brave defenders of +the fort.</p> + +<p>On the third day of the siege Debeline offered to withdraw if Stevens +would sell them provisions. Stevens refused, but offered to give them +five bushels of corn for every hostage that should be given him to be +held till an English captive could be brought from Canada, whereupon, +after firing a few more shots, the besiegers withdrew to Fort St. +Frederic.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>No other expeditions were afterward undertaken by the French while the +war lasted, but the Indians in small parties continued to harry the +settlements till after its close in 1748. To guard against these +incursions, scouting parties, led by brave and experienced partisans, +frequently went out from the frontier forts to watch the motions of the +enemy, when oftentimes their perilous adventures and heroic deeds were +such that the story of them is more like a tale from an old romance than +like a page of history. One memorable incident of this service took +place on Vermont soil in the summer of the next year after the gallant +defense of Number Four, when Captain Humphrey Hobbs, Stevens's second in +command at that post, being on a scout toward Fort Shirley in +Massachusetts, with forty men, for four hours held at bay and finally +beat off an Indian force more than four times outnumbering his own. It +was a brush fight, wherein the scouts had no shelter but such forest +cover as their assailants also took advantage of. But three of the +scouts were killed; the loss of the Indians, though great, was never +known, as when one fell his nearest comrade crept to the body and +attached a line to it, by which it was withdrawn to cover. During the +fight, the scouts frequently beheld the ghastly sight of a dead Indian +gliding away and fading from view in the haze of undergrowth, as if +drawn thither by some superhuman power.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>Until the beginning of another French and English war in 1754, and while +the colonies were endeavoring to form a union for their better defense, +while elsewhere were occurring such events as Braddock's Defeat and +Monckton's and Winslow's Conquest of Acadia, there is little of +consequence to record of affairs in this quarter till Colonel William +Johnson, with an army of 4,000 or more, began an advance against Fort +St. Frederic. The French had occupied Ticonderoga, and begun to fortify +the point, which soon became far more important than the older fortress +of St. Frederic; and their army of 2,000 regulars, Canadians and +Indians, under Baron Dieskau, taking the offensive, moved against +Johnson and attacked his fortified camp at Lake George in September, +1755. The French were defeated with severe loss;<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> but Johnson did not +follow up his success, and the enemy retreated to Ticonderoga unmolested +but by the impetuous attack of Captain McGinnis of New Hampshire, with a +force of 200 men. Yet in England his barren victory seemed of such +importance that he was honored with a baronetcy.</p> + +<p>Now, while an army of more than two thousand regulars, under Lord +Loudon, was lying at Albany, and Winslow was at Lake George with 7,000 +provincial troops, Montcalm besieged Oswego, which presently surrendered +with all its garrison, arms, stores, and munitions of war. Montcalm +continued <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>actively on the offensive, and in March, 1757, undertook the +capture of Fort William Henry, which was held by Colonel Monroe with a +garrison of 2,500 men. His surrender was at once demanded, but he +refused, and defended the fort with great bravery, being confident +General Webb would presently send him relief from Fort Edward. But +though frequently entreated, no help came from Webb, only a letter +protesting his inability to aid him, and advising him to surrender on +the best terms obtainable. This fell into the hands of Montcalm, and +with renewed demands of surrender was sent by him to Monroe. Thus +abandoned, after holding out for more than a week, he signed the +articles of capitulation, by the terms of which his paroled army was to +be escorted to Fort Edward, his sick and wounded to be cared for by +Montcalm, and given up when sufficiently recovered. The story of the +perfidious violation of these terms, and the horrors of the carnage when +the defenseless prisoners, of whatever age or sex, or sick or wounded, +were butchered by the savage allies of the Frenchmen, some of whom stood +passive witnesses of the massacre, raising neither hand nor voice to +stay it, is a dark and blood-stained page of American history, and an +ineffaceable blot on the name of Montcalm. Webb, with increased alarm +for his own safety, sent swift messengers to the provinces for +reinforcements, which were at once raised and forwarded to him; but +Montcalm did not return from Ticonderoga to attack him, and the recruits +were not long kept in service.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>Loudon at New York was engaged in a controversy with the government of +Massachusetts concerning the quartering of British troops, and +threatening to send an army to that province if his demands were not +speedily complied with, and so the campaign ended without honor or +advantage to the English. Its poor results were chiefly due to the +inefficiency of the British ministry, and the incapacity of the British +commanders to carry on this unaccustomed warfare of the wilderness, and +their unwillingness to avail themselves of the experience of the +colonial officers, whom they despised, thus leaving to their alert and +active enemy all the advantage of familiarity with its methods. So +universal was the complaint in England and her American colonies caused +by this and the preceding campaigns that the formation of a new ministry +became necessary, and William Pitt was appointed secretary of state.</p> + +<p>In his plan of the American campaign, which was soon to be vigorously +undertaken, one army of 12,000 men was to attempt the conquest of +Louisburg; another, still larger, that of the French forts on Lake +Champlain; and a third, that of Fort Du Quesne, at the head of the Ohio +River. The expedition against Louisburg was commanded by General +Amherst, under whom were Generals Wolfe, Whitmore, and Lawrence. The +naval force, commanded by Admiral Boscawen, sailed for America early in +the spring, and in May, 1758, the whole armament of 157 sail was +gathered at Halifax. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>Sailing thence on the 28th, a part of the +transports arrived near Louisburg, and on the 8th of June the troops, +under General Wolfe, disembarked and invested the city. Louisburg was +garrisoned by 2,500 regulars, 300 militia, and later by a reinforcement +of 350 Canadians and Indians, and the harbor was defended by 11 French +ships of war. After a siege of several weeks, during which the French +warships were destroyed, the place surrendered to General Amherst on the +26th of July. In the beginning of the same month General Forbes set +forth from Philadelphia on his difficult march to Fort Du Quesne. +Obstacles which delayed and reverses which checked his progress did not +discourage him, although he was so debilitated by a mortal sickness that +for much of the distance he was carried on a litter; and in November he +took possession of the fort, which had been dismantled and abandoned by +the French, and gave it the name of Fort Pitt.</p> + +<p>While these undertakings of Amherst and Forbes were progressing, General +Abercrombie began his movement upon Ticonderoga with a well-appointed +army of more than six thousand regular and nearly ten thousand +provincial troops. The army embarked on Lake George in more than a +thousand batteaux and whaleboats; and as the flotilla moved down the +lake, with glittering arms and gaudy uniforms and flaunting banners +shining in the July sunshine, their splendor repeated in innumerable +broken reflections on the ruffled waters, this wilderness had never seen +such pomp and circumstance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>of war; nor had its solitudes been stirred +by such martial strains as now burst from trumpet, fife, drum, and +Highland pipe, and echoed from shore and crag in multitudinous +reverberations. Having landed next day without opposition at the lower +end of the lake, the troops began their advance in four columns. An +advanced guard of one battalion of the enemy, after firing their tents, +retreated from their fortified camp on the approach of the English, but +afterward engaged in a skirmish with the left column, when the troops +had fallen into some disorder in their march through the dense woods. It +was in this engagement that the English suffered its first severe loss +in the death of Lord Howe, a gallant young general, who had especially +endeared himself to the provincials by his kindly manners, by sharing +their hardships and perils, and by easily accommodating himself to the +exigencies of this new service. Israel Putnam, then a major of the +rangers, in which branch of the service he had distinguished himself by +his coolness and daring, was a conspicuous actor in this affair. After +the death of Howe, Putnam and the troops with him attacked the French +with such fury that more than four hundred of them were killed and taken +prisoners. But the army having fallen into great disorder in its passage +through the woods, it was deemed advisable to withdraw it to the place +where it had disembarked. Next day, the sawmill on the outlet of Lake +George was taken possession of by a detachment under Colonel Bradstreet, +the bridge there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>which the enemy had destroyed was rebuilt, and the +army again began its advance on Ticonderoga.</p> + +<p>Montcalm had strengthened his position by throwing up a breastwork +across the neck of the peninsula on which the fort stood, and by hedging +this with an almost impenetrable abatis. Yet the engineer whom +Abercrombie had sent to examine the enemy's position was of the opinion +that it might be successfully stormed; and as the prisoners taken +reported that large reinforcements were likely to arrive soon, it was +determined to assault the works at once. The attacking columns were met +by a scathing fire of artillery and musketry, but rushed on to the +abatis, through which they vainly endeavored to make their way, Murray's +regiment of Highlanders hewing at the bristling barrier of pointed +branches with their claymores, while a murderous fire from the +breastworks thinned the ranks of the brave clansmen. Again and again the +assailants were swept back by the pelting storm of bullets, and again +they returned to the assault; the few who struggled through the abatis +were slain before they reached the intrenchments, or only reached them +to be made prisoners, and of the Highland regiment twenty-five of the +officers and half the privates fell. With persistent but unavailing +valor, the attack was continued for more than four hours, and then a +retreat was ordered, and the defeated army sullenly fell back to the +camp which it had occupied the night before. Early next morning it was +reëmbarked, and the torn and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>decimated regiments continued their +retreat up the lake.</p> + +<p>General Abercrombie's defeat did not discourage him from making further +efforts against the enemy. He sent General Stanwix to build a fort at +Oneida and dispatched Colonel Bradstreet with 3,000 men against Fort +Frontenac on the St. Lawrence, and both successfully performed their +allotted duties.</p> + +<p>General Amherst returned from Louisburg, assumed command, and in the +summer of 1757 began a movement for the reduction of Ticonderoga and +Crown Point, which was a part of this year's campaign. Moving forward by +the same route that Abercrombie had taken, he reached the neighborhood +of Ticonderoga without encountering any opposition from the enemy, and +made preparations to besiege this fortress; but the French made only a +brief defense, in which, however, Colonel Townshend and a few soldiers +were killed, and then, leaving the French flag flying and a match +burning in the magazine to blow up the fort, evacuated it and retired to +Crown Point the night of the 27th of July. An hour after their departure +came the thunder of the explosion, which destroyed one bastion and set +the barracks on fire. They presently abandoned Crown Point and retired +to the Isle aux Noix, while Amherst was repairing and strengthening the +fortifications of Ticonderoga.</p> + +<p>So at last, with but slight resistance to the tide of conquest that was +now overwhelming their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>northern possessions in America, the French +abandoned the strongholds that guarded the "Gate of the Country."</p> + +<p>For more than a quarter of a century Fort St. Frederic had been the +point from which marauding bands of Indians and their scarcely less +ferocious white associates had set forth on errands of rapine and +murder, which had made as dangerous and insecure as a crater's brink +every frontier settlement of a wide region. Here had been plotted their +forays; here they had returned from them with captives, scalps, and +plunder; here found safety from pursuit. The two forts had held +civilization at bay on the border of this land of "beautiful valleys and +fields fertile in corn," and to all the inhabitants of the New England +frontier their fall was a deliverance from an ever-threatening danger.</p> + +<p>The French held the Isle aux Noix, their last remaining post on Lake +Champlain, with a force of 3,500 regular troops and Canadian militia, +and had also on the lake four large armed vessels, commanded by +experienced officers of the French navy. The presence of this naval +force made it necessary for Amherst to build vessels that might +successfully oppose it, and while this work was in progress the British +general dispatched a body of rangers against the Indians of St. Francis, +who for fifty years had been active and relentless foes of the New +England colonies.</p> + +<p>Early in the century many members of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>different tribes of +Waubanakees in the eastern part of New England had been induced by the +governor of Canada to remove to that province, and since then had lived +on the St. Francis River, and were commonly known as the St. Francis +tribe, though they gave themselves the name of "Zooquagese," the people +who withdrew from the others, or literally "the Little People."<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> + +<p>Their intimate knowledge of the region, which had been the home of many +generations of their people, and their familiarity with every waterway +and mountain pass that gave easiest access to the English frontiers, +made them as valuable instruments, as their hatred of the English made +them willing ones for the hostile purposes of the French. From none of +their enemies had the frontier settlements suffered more, and toward +none did they bear greater enmity.</p> + +<p>The wrongs which these tribes had suffered from the English, since their +earliest contact with them, gave cause for vengeful retaliation, and its +atrocities were such as might be expected of savages accustomed by usage +and tradition to inflict on their enemies and receive from them the +cruelest tortures that could be devised, and whose religion taught no +precept of mercy; but for those Christians, boasting the highest +civilization of the world, the French, who encouraged the barbarous +warfare and seldom attempted to check its horrors, there can be no +excuse.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>Amherst chose Major Robert Rogers to lead the expedition against St. +Francis, and he could not have chosen one better fitted to carry out the +scheme of vengeance than this wary, intrepid, and unscrupulous ranger. +To him it was a light achievement to creep within the lines of a French +camp, and he could slay and scalp an enemy with as little compunction as +would an Indian,<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> while the men whom he led had seen or suffered +enough of Indian barbarity to make them as unrelenting as he in the +infliction of any measure of punishment on these scourges of the border.</p> + +<p>Rogers left Crown Point on the night of the 12th of September with a +detachment of 200, embarked in batteaux, and went cautiously down the +lake. His force was reduced by one fourth on the fifth day out by the +explosion of a keg of powder, which wounded several of his men and made +it necessary to send them with an escort back to Crown Point.</p> + +<p>Arrived at the head of Missisco Bay, the boats and sufficient provisions +for the return voyage were concealed, and left in charge of two trusty +Indians, when the little army began its march across the country through +the wilderness toward the Indian town. Two days later it was overtaken +by the boat guard, bringing to Rogers the alarming news of the discovery +of the boats by a force of French and Indians, four hundred strong, +fifty of whom <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>had been sent away with the batteaux, while the others, +still doubly outnumbering his force, were following him in hot pursuit. +Rogers kept his own counsel, and alone formed the plans that he at once +acted upon. He dispatched a lieutenant with eight men to Crown Point to +acquaint General Amherst with the turn of affairs, and ask him to send +provisions to Coos, on the Connecticut, to which place it now seemed +that soon or late he must make his way. The only question was, whether +he should do so now, or attempt to strike the contemplated blow before +his pursuers could overtake him. It was characteristic of the man to +decide upon the bolder course, and he marched his men, as enduring as +the enemy and as accustomed to such difficult marching, with such +celerity that the pursuing force was left well behind when, on the +evening of the 4th of October, the neighborhood of the town was reached.</p> + +<p>While his men halted for rest and refreshment, he, disguised as an +Indian and accompanied by two of his officers, went forward and entered +the village. The Indians, unsuspicious of danger, were celebrating some +rite with a grand dance, which quite engrossed their attention while +Rogers and his companions thoroughly reconnoitred the place. Returning +to his troops some hours before daylight, he marched them within a few +hundred yards of the town, and at daybreak, the dance being over and the +Indians asleep, the onslaught was made.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>Amherst's orders to Rogers, after reminding him of the "barbarities +committed by the enemy's Indian scoundrels," and bidding him to "take +his revenge," had enjoined that "no women or children shall be killed or +hurt;" but if this command was heeded at first, it was presently +disregarded. If there was any touch of mercy in the hearts of the +rangers when the assault began, the last vestige of it was swept away +when daylight revealed hundreds of scalps of their own people displayed +on poles, silvered locks of age, tresses of women's hair, golden +ringlets of childhood, all ghastly trophies of New England raids.</p> + +<p>Old and young, warrior, squaw, and pappoose, alike suffered their +vengeance, till of the three hundred inhabitants two thirds were killed +and twenty taken prisoners, fifteen of whom were soon "let go their +way." The church, adorned with plate and an image of silver, and the +well-furnished dwellings, were plundered and burned, and the morning sun +shone upon a scene of desolation as complete as these savages themselves +had ever wrought.</p> + +<p>When the work of destruction was finished, Rogers assembled his men, of +whom only one had been killed and six slightly wounded, and after an +hour's rest began the return march with the prisoners, five recaptured +English captives, and what provisions and booty could be carried.</p> + +<p>The route taken was up the St. Francis and to the eastward of Lake +Memphremagog, the objective point being the Coos Meadows, where it was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>expected that the relief party with provisions would be met. They were +followed by the enemy, and had lost seven men by their attacks, when +Rogers formed an ambuscade upon his own track, into which they fell and +suffered so severely that they desisted from further pursuit.</p> + +<p>When ten days had elapsed, and Rogers and his men had come some distance +within the bounds of what is now Vermont, they began to suffer much from +lack of food, and it was thought best to divide the force into small +parties, each to make its way as best it could to the expected succor at +Coos, or to the English settlements farther down the Connecticut.</p> + +<p>While its autumnal glories faded and the primeval forest grew bare and +bleak, the little bands struggled bravely on over rugged mountains, +through tangled windfalls, and swamps whose miry pools were +treacherously hidden beneath the fallen leaves, fighting hour after hour +and day after day against fatigue and famine, foes more persistent, +insidious, and unrelenting than Awahnock<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> and Waubanakee. Such small +game as they could kill, and the few edible roots that they found, were +their only subsistence; and they would gladly have bartered the silver +image and the golden candlesticks brought from the church, and all their +booty, for one day's supply of the coarsest food. They buried the +treasure, with scant hope that they might ever unearth it, and cast away +unheeded the useless burdens of less valuable plunder.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>At night they cowered around their camp-fires and shivered out the +miserable hours of darkness, then arose unrefreshed, and staggered on +the way that each day stretched more wearily and hopelessly before them. +Some could go no farther, but fell down and died, and were left unburied +by comrades too weak to give them the rudest sepulchre, and some in the +delirium of famine wandered away from their companions to become +hopelessly lost in the pathless wilderness and die alone.</p> + +<p>The officer whom Rogers had dispatched to Crown Point performed the +difficult journey in nine days, and General Amherst at once sent a +lieutenant with three men to Number Four, to proceed thence up the +Connecticut with provisions to the appointed place. The relief party +embarked in two canoes laden with provisions, which they safely landed +on an island near the mouth of the Passumpsic; but though ordered to +remain there as long as there was any hope of the coming of those whom +they were sent to succor, when only two days had passed they became +impatient of waiting, or were seized by a panic, and hastily departed +with all the supplies.</p> + +<p>Rogers and those who remained with him, following the Passumpsic down to +the Connecticut, came at last to the place where they hoped to find +relief, but only to find it abandoned, and that so recently that the +camp-fire of the relief party was still freshly burning. These men were +yet so near that they heard the guns which Rogers fired to recall them, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>but which, supposed by them to be fired by the enemy, only served to +hasten their retreat.</p> + +<p>Rogers says: "It is hardly possible to describe the grief and +consternation of those of us who came to the Cohasse Intervales."<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> +Sorely distressed by this shameful desertion but not discouraged, the +brave commander left his worn out and starving men at the Passumpsic in +charge of a lieutenant, whom he instructed in the method of preparing +ground nuts and lily roots for food, and set forth down the river on a +raft with Captain Ogden, one ranger, and a captive Indian boy, in a +final endeavor to reach Number Four and obtain relief. At White River +Falls the raft was wrecked, and Rogers, too weak to cut trees for +another, burned them down and into proper lengths, while Ogden and the +ranger hunted red squirrels for food. A second raft was then built, and, +after a voyage that would have been perilous to men in the fullness of +strength, they at last reached Number Four. Rogers at once dispatched a +canoe with supplies to his starving men, which reached them on the tenth +day after he had left them, as he had promised. Two days later he +himself went up the river with canoes, manned by some of the inhabitants +whom he had hired, and laden with provisions for those who might come in +by the same route, and he sent expresses to towns on the Merrimac that +relief parties might be sent up that river.</p> + +<p>On the 1st of December he returned to Crown <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>Point with what remained of +his force, having lost, since beginning the retreat from St. Francis, +three lieutenants and forty-six non-commissioned officers and privates. +Notwithstanding its losses and dire hardships, the expedition was +successful in the infliction of a chastisement that the Indians of St. +Francis never recovered from and never forgot, and which relieved the +New England frontier from the continual dread of the bloody incursions +that it had so long suffered. Throughout the whole of it, in leading it +to victory and in retreat, in sharing their hardships and in heroic +efforts to succor and save his men, Rogers's conduct was such as should +make his name honorably remembered in spite of the suspicions which +tarnished it in after years.</p> + +<p>While Rogers's expedition was in progress, a sloop of sixteen guns and a +raft carrying six guns were built at Ticonderoga. With these and a +brigantine, Captain Loring sailed down the lake and engaged the French +vessels, sinking two of them and capturing a third, which was repaired +and brought away after being run aground and deserted by its crew, +leaving to the enemy but one schooner on these waters.</p> + +<p>Amherst at the same time embarked his whole army in batteaux, and began +his advance against Isle aux Noix, but, being delayed by storms and +adverse winds, deemed it best to abandon for this season the attempt, +and returned to Crown Point, arriving there on the 27th of October. He +now began the erection of a new and larger fortress and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>three new +outworks there; completed the road between Crown Point and Ticonderoga, +and began another from the latter fort to Number Four.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile events of great moment had occurred elsewhere. In July, after +the death of General Prideaux, who commanded the army besieging Niagara, +Sir William Johnson had defeated the French army sent to its relief, and +the fort had surrendered to him. On the 13th of September Wolfe, on the +Heights of Abraham, had given his life for imperishable renown; and six +days later Quebec, the most impregnable stronghold of the French in +America, was surrendered to the enemy, whose attempts to reduce it had +for seventy years been unsuccessful.</p> + +<p>All the English colonies in America rejoiced in its fall, for the +conquest of Canada was now assured, and the day of their deliverance +from French and Indian invasion had dawned.</p> + +<p>Levis's attempt to recapture Quebec had failed, though sickness and +death had sorely weakened Murray's garrison, and now at Montreal the +French were to make the last stand against English conquest. Amherst was +to advance upon it down the St. Lawrence, Murray from Quebec, and +Haviland from the south, to break the last bar of the "Gate of the +Country," held by Bougainville at Isle aux Noix.</p> + +<p>On the 15th of July Murray embarked with nearly 2,500 men. He met no +great opposition from the superior forces of Bourlamaque and Dumas, +which on either shore of the river withdrew <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>slowly toward Montreal as +the fleet advanced. He issued a proclamation promising safety of person +and property to all the inhabitants who remained peaceably at home, and +threatening to burn the houses of all who were in arms. He kept his word +to the letter in the protection and in the punishment, and the result +was the rapid dwindling away of Bourlamaque's army.</p> + +<p>Toward the end of August he encamped below the town on the island of +Ste. Therese, and awaited the arrival of the other English armies. A +regiment of New Hampshire men commanded by Colonel Goffe opened the road +which Amherst had ordered to be made from Number Four to Crown Point, +and performed the labor in such good time that on the 31st of July they +arrived, and, turned drovers as well as pioneers, brought with them a +herd of cattle for the supply of the army there.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> This road ran from +Wentworth's Ferry, near Charlestown, up the right bank of Black River to +the present township of Ludlow, thence across the mountains to Otter +Creek, and down that stream to a station opposite Crown Point, to which +it ran across the country. That part of the road across and on the west +side of the mountains was begun and nearly completed in the previous +year, under the supervision of Colonel Zadok Hawks and Captain John +Stark; Stark and 200 rangers being employed on the western portion.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>Haviland embarked at Crown Point on the 12th of August with 3,400 +regulars, provincials, and Indians in whaleboats and batteaux, which, +under sunny skies and on quiet waters, came in four days to Isle aux +Noix. Cannon were planted in front and rear of Bougainville's position. +The largest vessel of his naval force was cut adrift by a cannon-shot +and drifted into the hands of the English; and the others, endeavoring +to escape to St. John's, ran aground and were taken by the rangers, who +swam out and boarded one, tomahawk in hand, when the others presently +surrendered.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> + +<p>Bougainville, abandoning the island, made a difficult night retreat to +St. John's, and from thence fell back with Roquemaure to the St. +Lawrence. Haviland was soon opposite Montreal, and in communication with +Murray, and both awaited the coming of Amherst's army. This force had +assembled at Oswego in July, and numbered something more than 10,000 +men, exclusive of about 700 Indians under Sir William Johnson, and had +embarked on Lake Ontario on the 10th of August, and within five days +reached Oswigatchee. After the capture by five gunboats of a French +armed brig that threatened the destruction of the batteaux and +whaleboats, the army continued its advance to Fort Levis, near the head +of the rapids. Amherst invested the fort, and opened fire upon it from +land and water; and when for three days rocky islet and wooded shore had +been shaken by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>the thunder of the cannon that splintered the wooden +walls, the French commandant, Pouchot, was compelled to surrender the +ruined works and his garrison. Johnson's Indians were so enraged at not +being allowed to kill the prisoners that three fourths of them went +home.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> There was no further resistance from the French, but there was +yet a terrible enemy to be encountered in the long and dangerous rapids +that must be descended. Several were passed with but slight loss; but in +the most perilous passage of the last three, forty-seven boats were +wrecked, several damaged, some artillery, ammunition, and stores lost, +and eighty-four men drowned in the angry turmoil of wild waters. When +these perils were past, an uneventful and unopposed voyage ensued, till +on the 6th of September the army landed at Lachine, and, marching to the +city, encamped before its walls.</p> + +<p>The defenses of Montreal were too weak to resist a siege; the troops, +abandoned by the militia, too few to give battle to the three armies +that hemmed them in; and there was nothing left for Vaudreuil but +surrender. Some of the terms of capitulation proposed by him were +rejected by Amherst, who demanded that "the whole garrison of Montreal +and all the French troops in Canada must lay down their arms, and shall +not serve again during the war." In answer to the remonstrances of +Vaudreuil and his generals he said: "I am fully resolved, for the +infamous part the troops of France <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>have acted in exciting the savages +to perpetrate the most horrid and unheard-of barbarities in the whole +progress of the war, and for other open treacheries and flagrant +breaches of faith, to manifest to all the world, by this capitulation, +my detestation of such practices."<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p>Vaudreuil yielded, as perforce he must, and on the 8th of September +signed the capitulation by which Canada passed into the possession of +England. The French officers, civil and military, the troops and +sailors, were to be sent to France, and the inhabitants were to be +protected in their property and religion.</p> + +<p>The Indian allies of the English, and those who had lately been the +allies of the French but were now as ready to turn against them as they +had been to serve, were held in such firm restraint that not a person +suffered any injury from them more than from the soldiers of the +victorious armies.</p> + +<p>The long struggle was over, the conquest of Canada was accomplished, and +great was the rejoicing of the people of all the English colonies, +especially those of New England. The toilsome march through the savage +forest, the cheerless bivouac on remote and lonely shores, were no +longer to be endured; nor the deadly ambuscade dreaded by the +home-loving husbandman, who for love of home had turned soldier; nor was +his family to live in the constant fear of the horrors of nightly +attack, massacre, or captivity that had made anxious every hour of day +and night.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Massachusetts gave 107,793 acres of land to Connecticut as +<i>equivalent</i> for as many acres she had previously granted that were +found to be south of the boundary between the two provinces, and which +she wished to retain. One section of these "Equivalent Lands" was on the +west bank of Connecticut River, within the present towns of Putney, +Dummerston, and Brattleboro'. (<i>Colonial Boundaries Mass</i>, vol. iii.) +This fell to the share of William Dummer, Anthony Stoddard, William +Brattle, and John White. "The Equivalent Lands" were sold at public +vendue at Hartford, in 1716, for a little more than a farthing per acre. +The proceeds were given to Yale College. (Hall's <i>History of Eastern +Vermont</i>.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Light pieces of ordnance mounted on swivels, and sometimes +charged with old nails and like missiles, or, upon a pinch, even with +stones; hence sometimes called "stone pieces."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> This fort was situated in what is now Williamstown.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Dr. Dwight's <i>Travels</i>, vol. ii. p. 82.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Williams's <i>History of Vermont</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Captain Stevens's letter to Colonel Williams.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Stevens's bravery was so much admired by Sir Charles +Knowles, an officer of high rank in the British navy, that he presented +him a handsome sword, and in honor of the donor the township was named +Charlestown. For Captain Stevens's account of this siege see <i>History of +Charlestown</i>, p. 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> This fight took place on Sunday, June 26, 1748, about +twelve miles northwest of Fort Dummer, in the present township of +Marlboro'.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Johnson's "Account of Battle of Lake George," <i>Doc. Hist. +N. Y.</i> vol. ii. p. 402.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> From John Wadno, an intelligent Indian of St. Francis.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> For some reports of his scouts, see <i>Doc. Hist. N. Y.</i> +vol. iv. p. 169 <i>et seq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Awahnock, = Frenchman.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Rogers's Journal.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Belknap's <i>History of New Hampshire</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Sanderson's <i>History of Charlestown</i>, p. 87.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Parkman's <i>Montcalm and Wolfe</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Parkman's <i>Montcalm and Wolfe</i>, vol. ii. p. 370.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Parkman.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>OCCUPATION AND SETTLEMENT.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Now that Canada was conquered and the French armies withdrawn from +Ticonderoga and Crown Point, all the country lying between Lake +Champlain and the Connecticut, commonly called the Wilderness, was open +to settlement.</p> + +<p>In 1696, long before the granting of French seigniories on Lake +Champlain, Godfrey Dellius, a Dutch clergyman of Albany, had purchased +of the Mohawks, who claimed all this territory, an immense tract, +extending from Saratoga along both sides of the Hudson River and Wood +Creek, and on the east side of Lake Champlain, twenty miles north of +Crown Point. The purchase was confirmed by New York, but three years +later was repealed, "as an extravagant favor to one subject."</p> + +<p>In 1732 Colonel John Henry Lydius purchased of the Mohawks a large tract +of land situated on "the Otter Creek, which emptieth itself into Lake +Champlain in North America, easterly from and near Crown Point." The +deed was confirmed by Governor Shirley of Massachusetts in 1744. This +tract embraced nearly the whole of the present counties of Addison and +Rutland. It was divided <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>into townships, and most of it sold by Lydius +to a great number of purchasers,<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> some of whom settled upon it. The +township of Durham was originally settled under this grant, but the +settlers, finding the title imperfect, applied for and obtained letters +patent under New York.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<p>The French colony at Point à Chevalure vanished with the shadow of the +banner of France. The young forest soon repossessed the fields where +almost the only trace of husbandry was the rank growth of foreign weeds. +House walls were crumbling about cold hearthstones and smokeless +chimneys, and thresholds untrodden but by the nightly prowling beast or +the foot of the curious hunter. There was no remembrance of the +housewife's hand but the self-sown lilies and marigolds that mingled +their strange bloom with native asters and goldenrods above the graves +of forsaken homes. From where the sluggish waters of the narrow channel +are first stirred by Wood Creek, to where the waves of Champlain break +on Canadian shores, there was not one settlement on its eastern border, +nor any inhabitant save where some trapper had built his cabin in the +solitude of the woods, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>dwelt hermit-like for a time while he plied +his lonely craft.</p> + +<p>The Wilderness had not long rested in the silence of peace when it was +invaded by a throng of pioneers, who came to wrest its soil from the +ancient domination of the forest, and upon it to build their homes. +Farmers and sons of farmers, while serving in the colonial armies, had +noted during their painful marches through it what goodly soil slept in +the shadow of this wilderness; keen-eyed rangers, chosen from hunters +and trappers for their skill in woodcraft, when on their perilous +errands had penetrated its depths wherever led an Indian trail or wound +a stream to float a canoe, and knew what it held for men of their craft, +and each had planned, when peace should come, to return to the land that +gave such promise of fruitful fields or the easier garner of peltry. +Lumbermen, too, knew its wealth of great pines; and speculators were +casting greedy eyes upon the region, and plotting for its acquisition.</p> + +<p>As the soldiers who guarded its posts, or crossed and recrossed the +savage wilderness, were of New England origin, it naturally followed +that most of the actual settlers came from the same provinces. Thus, +from the very first, each little community of hardy and industrious +pioneers was clearly stamped with the New England character. Such +inspiration, such love of home, as glows in the hearts of all +mountaineers, they drew from the grand companionship of the stern and +steadfast mountains, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>the Crouching Lion, Mansfield, Ascutney, whose +heavenward-reaching peaks shone white with snow when winter reigned, or +summer came or lingered in the valleys,—landmarks enduring as the +world, that stand while nations are born and flourish and pass away.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the pioneer left his family in the older settlements while he, +with a neighbor or two, or often alone, went into the wilderness to make +the beginning of a new home. A pitch was located, and the herculean task +of making a clearing begun, the apparently hopeless warfare of one puny +hand against a countless army of giants that towered above him. Yet one +by one the great trees toppled and fell before his valiant strokes. The +trunks of some were built into a log-house, with a puncheon floor and +roof of bark; more were rolled into heaps and burned, and the first +patch of cleared soil was planted with corn or sown with wheat. After +weeks and months of this toil and hardship and loneliness, perhaps not +once broken by the sight of a fellow-being, when the tasseled corn and +the nodding wheat hid the blackened stumps of the scant clearing, the +giants still hemmed him in, their lofty heads the horizon of his little +world, the bounds of his briefly sunlit sky. When his crops were housed, +and the woods were gaudy with a thousand autumnal tints to where the +glory of the deciduous trees was bounded by the dark wall of "black +growth" on the mountains whose peaks were white with snow, he shouldered +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>axe and gun and went southward, following the army of crows that raised +a clamor of amazement at this intrusion on their immemorial domain. +While the little clearing slept under the snow, and the silent cabin +made the wintry loneliness of the forest more lonely, he spent a winter +of content among old friends and neighbors, and in the spring set forth +on horseback, or with an ox-team, with wife and children or newly wedded +bride, and scant outfit of household stuff, to take permanent possession +of the new home, where, if the burden of loneliness was lightened, the +weariness of toil, privation, and anxiety was not lessened. Nature was +the only neighbor of the new-comers, kind or unkind, according to her +impartial mood to all her children, now a friend and consoler, with +sunshine and timely shower, flowers and birdsong and hymns of wind-swept +pines, now relentless, assailing with storm and bitter stress of cold. +Miles of weary forest path marked only by blazed trees, or miles of +toilsome waterway, lay between them and their kind, or help or sympathy +in whatever trouble might befall them. Such consolation as religion +might give must be sought at the fountain-head of all religion, since +church and gospel ministrations were left behind.</p> + +<p>The old warpaths became the ways of peace, and on lake and river, that +before had borne none but warlike craft, now fared the settler's boat, +laden with his family and household goods, skirting the quiet shore or +up the slow current of a stream, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>through intervales whose fat soil as +yet nourished only a luxuriant verdure of the forest. From afar the +eternal roar of a cataract boomed in swelling thunder along the green +walls of the lane of waters, foretelling the approaching toil of a +portage. But no foeman lurked behind the green thicket, and the voyagers +were startled by no sound more alarming than the sudden uprising of +innumerable waterfowl, the plunge of an otter disturbed in his sport, or +the mellow cadence of the great owl's solemn note.</p> + +<p>The granting of lands, which had been interrupted by the war, was again +begun by the governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth, and in +different parts of the region surveyors were busy running the lines of +townships and lots. There was a flavor of discovery and adventure in +their weary toil that gave it zest, as, with no guide but the compass, +they were led through sombre depths of the primeval forest, where the +footsteps of civilized man had never before fallen, and set the bounds +of ownership where had never been sign of possession but the mark of the +patient beaver's tooth, bark frayed by the claw of the bear, the antler +of the moose, and the brands of the brief camp-fire of the savage. At +night they bivouacked where with the fading of daylight their labors +ended, prepared their rude supper by the fire that summoned a host of +weird and grotesque shadows to surround them, and slept to the grewsome +serenade of the wolf's long howl and the panther's scream.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>The conditions of the grants or charters were, that every grantee should +plant and cultivate five acres within five years for every fifty acres +granted; that all white and other pine trees fit for masting the royal +navy should be reserved for that use, and none felled without royal +license; that after ten years a yearly rent of one shilling for each +hundred acres, also for a town lot of one acre, which was set to each +proprietor, a yearly tribute of one ear of Indian corn, both to be paid +on Christmas Day. In each township that he granted, the thrifty governor +had five hundred acres set apart to himself, still known as the +governor's lot, and marked on the old township maps, drawn on the backs +of the charters, with the initials "B. W." In each township one share of +two hundred acres was set apart for the Society for the Propagation of +the Gospel in Foreign Parts, one for a glebe for the Church of England, +one for the first settled minister, and one for a school in said town.</p> + +<p>The isolated townships constituted little commonwealths, with +governments of their own, every inhabitant and freeholder having liberty +to vote in the town-meetings, and the three or five selectmen being +invested with the chief authority.</p> + +<p>Naturally the proprietors to whom the township was granted were the most +potent factors in its welfare and government, and, if actual settlers, +took the most prominent part in its affairs.</p> + +<p>Frequently they offered bounties for the building of gristmills and +sawmills, and the forty dollars <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>bounty offered induced the building of +such mills, that in their turn failed not to attract settlers; for it +was not unusual for pioneers to go twenty miles on foot with a grist to +the nearest mill, or to make as tedious journeys for a load of boards, +the more tedious that all the environing forest was full of unattainable +lumber.</p> + +<p>Many of the towns now most populous and important were then uninhabited +and unnamed. Bennington, the first township granted by New Hampshire, +had its hamlet, its principal building, the Green Mountain Tavern, +conspicuous for its sign, a stuffed catamount. Here the fathers of the +unborn State often sat in council, moistening their dry deliberations +with copious mugs of flip served by their confrère, landlord Stephen +Fay. Brattleboro, within whose limits Fort Dummer was built and the +first permanent settlement made, although it boasted the only store in +the State, was of less importance; while Westminster, with its +court-house and jail, assumed more. But at Vergennes, then known as the +First Falls of Otter Creek, where the beavers had scarcely quit building +their lodges on the driftwood that choked the head of the fall, there +lived only Donald McIntosh, the stout old soldier of the Pretender's +futile array and of Wolfe's victorious army, and half a dozen other +settlers, whose cabins clustered about the frequently harried mills. +Where now is the beautiful city of Burlington, the unbroken forest +sloped to the placid shores of Petowbowk; and the Winooski, from its +torrential <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>source to where its slow current crawls through the broad +intervales to the lake, turned no mills, and, but for its one +block-house and the infrequent cabins of adventurous pioneers, was as +wild as when its devious course was but the warpath of the Waubanakee. +Thence to Canada stretched the Wilderness, its solitude as supreme as +when, a century and a half before, the French explorer first beheld its +snow-clad mountain peaks.</p> + +<p>Oftener than human voice, the sonorous call of the moose, the wolf's +long howl, the panther's cry, awoke its echoes, and the thud of the axe +was a stranger sound than the rarest voice of nature. The eagle, +swinging in majestic survey of the region, beheld far beneath him to the +southward, here and there, a clustering hamlet and settlements creeping +slowly upon his domain; here and there a mill, where a stream had been +stayed in its idle straying; and here and there on the green bosom of +the forest the unhealed wound of a new clearing, the bark roof of a +settler's cabin, and the hazy upward drift of its chimney smoke; then to +the northward, as far as his telescopic vision ranged, no break in the +variegated verdure but the silver gleam of lake and stream, or the +rugged barrenness of mountain tops.</p> + +<p>Although the settlement of the newly opened region did not progress with +anything like the marvelous rapidity that has marked the occupation of +new Territories and States in later times, yet it was remarkable, in +consideration of the tedious journeys that must be made to the new +pitch, with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>slow ox-cart or sled, or on horseback, where, if there were +roads at all, they were of the worst, or they were made by weary oar or +waft of unstable wind. Furthermore, there was but comparatively slight +overflow of population from the older provinces, or influx of +immigration to American shores.</p> + +<p>The settlers in the Wilderness soon found their peaceable possession +obstructed by an obstacle which they had scarcely foreseen,—not by the +harassments of a foreign or savage foe, which now seemed hardly +possible, nor by the inert and active forces of nature that had always +to be taken into account, but by the jealous rivalry and greed of two +provincial governments, both claiming the same territory, and both +deriving their authority from the same royal source.</p> + +<p>This controversy between New Hampshire and New York, concerning their +respective boundaries, began with the first English settlement of the +region, and continued till after the close of the Revolution. It +constitutes the most unique feature of the history of the commonwealth; +and though it retarded its settlement, and afterward for years its +admission into the Union, it was the real cause of its becoming an +independent State. For undoubtedly, if the claims of either province had +been undisputed by the other, the region would have quietly taken its +place as part of that, and have had no individual existence. But the +aggressions which the people were compelled to resist schooled them to a +spirit of independence that most naturally led them to establish a +separate government.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> In an indenture made 30th December, 1761, Colonel Lydius +grants to Thomas Robinson, merchant, of Newport, in the Colony of Rhode +Island, one sixtieth of the township No. 24, called Danvis, for the "sum +of one Shilling money one peppercorn each year for seventy years (if +demanded) and after twenty years five Shillings sterling annually, +forever, on the Feast Day of St. Michael the Archangel, for each hundred +acres of arable Land."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Petition of Colonel Spencer and others. <i>Doc. Hist. N. Y.</i> +vol. iv. p. 575.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>As early as 1749, a dispute concerning the boundaries of their provinces +had arisen between the governments of New Hampshire and New York, when +Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire had communicated to Governor +Clinton of New York his intention of granting unimproved lands within +his government under instructions received from his Majesty King George +Second, and inclosed his Majesty's description of the province of New +Hampshire.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> In 1740 the king had determined "that the northern +boundary of Massachusetts be a similar curve line pursuing the course of +the Merrimack River at three miles distance on the north side thereof, +beginning at the Atlantic Ocean and ending at a point due north of a +place called Pautucket Falls, and by a straight line drawn from thence +due west till it meets with his Majesty's other governments."</p> + +<p>By this decision, reaffirmed in Governor Wentworth's commission, the +government of New Hampshire held that its jurisdiction extended as far +west as that of Massachusetts, which was to a line twenty <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>miles east of +Hudson River. Furthermore, the king had repeatedly recommended to New +Hampshire the support of Fort Dummer, as having now fallen within its +limits, and which was well known to be west of the Connecticut.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>But it was ordered by the governor's council of New York "that his +Excellency do acquaint Governor Wentworth that this Province is bounded +eastward by Connecticut River, the letters Patent from King Charles the +Second to the Duke of York expressly granting all the Lands from the +West side of Connecticut River to the East side of Delaware Bay."<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> + +<p>Governor Wentworth had already, in January, 1749, granted one township +west of the Connecticut, which in his honor was named Bennington, but he +now promised for the present to make no further grants on the western +frontier of his government that might have the least probability of +interfering with that of New York. Later he agreed, by the advice of his +council, to lay the matter before the king and await his decision, which +his government would "esteem it their duty to acquiesce in without +further dispute," and furthermore agreed to exchange with the government +of New York copies of the representation made to the king.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> + +<p>This the council of New York reported in November, 1753, that he had +failed to do.</p> + +<p>This wrangling of governors and councils <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>continued till the beginning +of the war in 1754 stopped for the time applications for grants, when +the mutterings of the inter-provincial quarrel were drowned by the +thunder of the more momentous contest of nations.</p> + +<p>With the subjugation of Canada, the granting of lands in the debatable +ground was resumed. Governor Wentworth had a survey made sixty miles up +the Connecticut, and three lines of townships were laid out on each side +of the river. During the next year sixty townships were granted on the +west side of the river, and within two years 108 grants were made, +extending to a line twenty miles east of the Hudson, and north of that +to the eastern shore of Lake Champlain.</p> + +<p>It was reported in New York that a party of New Hampshire surveyors, who +were laying out lands on the east side of the lake in September, 1762, +asserted that Crown Point was in the limits of their government. In +December, 1763, Lieutenant-Governor Colden issued a proclamation +reiterating the claim of New York to the Connecticut as her eastern +boundary, still basing it on the grant to the Duke of York, and also on +the description of the eastern boundary of New Hampshire as given in the +letters-patent of his Majesty dated July 3, 1741. He commands the civil +officers of his government to exercise jurisdiction as far as the banks +of the Connecticut River, and the high sheriff of the county of Albany +to return the names of all persons who, under the grants of New +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>Hampshire, shall hold possession of any lands westward of Connecticut +River, that they may be proceeded against according to law. This was +followed by a proclamation of Governor Wentworth on March 13, 1764, in +which he reviews and denies the claim of New York. He says: "At present +the boundaries of New York to the Northward are unknown, and as soon as +it shall be His Majesty's pleasure to determine them, New Hampshire will +pay a ready and cheerful obedience thereunto, not doubting but that all +Grants made by New Hampshire that are fulfilled by the Grantees will be +confirmed to them if it should be His Majesty's pleasure to alter the +jurisdiction." He encouraged the grantees under his government to be +industrious in clearing and cultivating their lands, and commanded all +civil officers within his province to be diligent in exercising +jurisdiction as far westward as grants had been made by his government, +and deal with all persons who "may presume to interrupt the settlers on +said lands as to law and justice doth appertain."<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> + +<p>Though the claims of New York had thus far been founded on the grant to +the Duke of York, she now sought to establish it on a less doubtful +tenure, and made application to the crown for a confirmation of the same +grant. This was supported by a petition representing that it would be +greatly for the advantage of the settlers on the New Hampshire Grants to +be annexed to New York. To <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>this were appended the names of many such +inhabitants, who afterwards asserted that it was done without their +knowledge.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> + +<p>In response came a royal order declaring "the Western bank of the +Connecticut, from where it enters the province of Massachusetts Bay as +far north as the 45th degree of northern latitude, to be the boundary +line between the said two provinces of New Hampshire and New York."</p> + +<p>Though this decision was not in accordance with the wishes of many of +the inhabitants of the Grants, it gave them no uneasiness concerning the +validity of their titles. They had obtained their lands under grants +from the crown, and had no fear that under the same authority they would +or could be compelled to relinquish or repurchase them. Governor +Wentworth remonstrated against the change of jurisdiction, but finally +by proclamation, "recommended to the proprietors and settlers due +obedience to the authorities and laws of the colony of New York."<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> + +<p>But the government of New York chose to construe his Majesty's order as +annulling the grants made by Governor Wentworth west of the Connecticut. +It divided its newly confirmed territory into four counties, annexing +the southwestern part to the county of Albany, which was termed by the +New Hampshire grantees the "unlimited county of Albany." North of this +was the county of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>Charlotte, east of it the county of Cumberland, and +north of this the county of Gloucester.</p> + +<p>The New Hampshire grantees were required to surrender their charters, +and repurchase their lands under New York grants. Some complied, and +paid the excessive fees demanded by the New York officials, which were +twenty fold greater than those exacted by the government of New +Hampshire;<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> but for the most part the settlers were not men of the +metal to submit to what seemed to them rank injustice, and they refused +to comply with the demand. Thereupon New York re-granted their lands to +others, and actions of ejectment were brought against them. It was an +easy matter to obtain judgments in the county of Albany against the +settlers, but the execution of them was met by stubborn resistance, in +which the people soon associated for mutual protection.</p> + +<p>A convention of representatives from the towns on the west side of the +mountains was called, and by it Samuel Robinson of Bennington was +appointed as agent to present the grievances of the settlers to the +British government, and obtain, if possible, a confirmation of New +Hampshire grants.</p> + +<p>The mission of Robinson<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> was so far successful that the governor of +New York was commanded by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>his Majesty "to make no grant whatever of any +part of the lands in dispute until his Majesty's pleasure should be +further known" (July 24, 1767).</p> + +<p>But the governor's council of New York decided that this order did not +restrain the granting of any land formerly claimed by New Hampshire, but +not already granted by that government; and the governor continued to +make grants, and writs of ejectment were issued as before, returnable to +the Supreme Court at Albany. It was decided in this court that +authenticated copies of the royal orders to the governor of New +Hampshire, and the grants made in pursuance thereof, should not be used +in evidence.</p> + +<p>Ethan Allen, soon to become one of the most prominent actors in this +controversy, was attending suits at Albany when this decision was made. +Being urged by some of the officials there to use his influence with the +settlers to induce them to make the best terms they could with their New +York landlords, and reminded that "might often prevails against right," +Allen replied, in the Scriptural language which he was so fond of +employing, that "the gods of the valleys were not the gods of the +hills;" and when asked by the attorney-general to explain his meaning, +answered that, "if he would accompany him to Bennington Hill, it would +be made plain to him."<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> + +<p>Thus debarred from obtaining justice in the courts, the people, +assembled in convention at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>Bennington, "resolved to support their +rights and property in the New Hampshire Grants against the usurpations +and unjust claims of the Governor and Council of New York by force, as +law and justice were denied them."<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> + +<p>A more thoroughly organized resistance was now opposed to all attempts +of the New York officers to make arrests or serve writs of ejectment. +Surveyors who undertook to run the lines of New York grants across lands +already granted by New Hampshire were compelled to desist. A sheriff +could not come so secretly that vigilant eyes did not discover his +approach, nor with so strong a posse that, when he attempted to execute +his duties, he did not find a formidable force gathered to resist him. +If he persisted, he was, in Allen's quaint phrase, "severely chastised +with twigs of the wilderness," though the "blue beech" rod, whose +efficacy in reducing a refractory ox to submission had been so often +proved by the rough yeomen of the Grants, and which they now applied to +the backs of their oppressors, could hardly be termed a twig. This mode +of punishment, with grim humor, they termed the "beech seal."</p> + +<p>A proclamation was issued by the governor of New York for apprehending +some of the principal actors, and in the January (1770) term of the +court at Albany several of the inhabitants of Bennington were indicted +as rioters, but none of them were arrested.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>Each party in the quarrel accused the other of being incited by the +greed of the land-jobber and speculator, and no doubt there was some +foundation for the charge, even on the part of the New Hampshire +grantees. But with them, as against an aristocracy of monopolists, were +the sympathies of the yeomen of New York, who, when called upon to +enforce the authority of their own officers against their brethren of +the Grants, held aloof, or feebly rendered their perfunctory aid.</p> + +<p>Sheriff Ten Eyck, being required to serve a writ of ejectment on James +Breckenridge of Bennington, called to his aid, by order of the governor, +a posse of 750 armed militia. About 300 of the settlers, being apprised +of his coming, assembled to oppose him. Nineteen of them were posted in +the house; the others, divided in two forces of about equal number, were +concealed along the road by which the sheriff and his men were +advancing, and behind a ridge within gunshot of the house. Unsuspicious +of their presence, the sheriff and his men marched to the house and were +within the ambuscade. On threatening to make forcible entry, the sheriff +was answered by those within, "Attempt it and you are a dead man." The +ambuscading forces now made their presence known, and, displaying their +hats upon the muzzles of their guns, made a show of twice their actual +strength. The sheriff and his posse became aware of their dangerous +position, and as one of the first historians of Vermont, Ira Allen, +quaintly remarks, "not being interested in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>the dispute," and Mr. Ten +Eyck remembering that important business required his immediate presence +in Albany,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> they discreetly withdrew without a shot being fired on +either side.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> + +<p>The New York officers were not always so easily vanquished, nor so +unsuccessful in their attempts. The doughty esquire John Munro, who held +lands in the Grants under a New York title, and lived upon them among +his tenants in Shaftsbury, was a justice of the peace for the county of +Albany. He was a man of other metal than Sheriff Ten Eyck, whom he +assisted to arrest Silas Robinson, of Bennington, at his own door; and +though the house wherein they lodged with their prisoner the night +thereafter was surrounded by forty armed men who demanded his release, +they carried him to Albany. Robinson was there indicted as a rioter in +January, 1771, and held in jail till the next October, when he was +released on bail. Upon another occasion, Munro, accompanied by the +deputy sheriff and twelve men whom he called to his aid, demanded +entrance to the house of Isaiah Carpenter, to serve a writ of ejectment +upon him. Carpenter threatened to blow out the brains of any one who +should attempt to enter, whereupon the deputy and his men forced the +door, and Munro, entering alone, seized Carpenter with his gun in his +hand. Two other men were found in the house, and two guns in a corner, +"one loaded with powder and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>Bullets and the other with Powder and +kidney Beans."</p> + +<p>The New York claimants now sought to draw some of the prominent persons +of the Grants to their interest by offers of New York titles on +favorable terms, and by the bestowal of offices upon them, and they +induced people of their own province to settle upon unoccupied New +Hampshire Grants. By such means they hoped to smother the unmanageable +element which had so far thwarted their attempts to gain control of the +coveted region, and insidiously overcome the turbulent faction termed by +them the "Bennington Mob."</p> + +<p>Committees of Safety were organized in several towns of the Grants, and +a convention of the settlers decreed that no New York officer should be +allowed to take any person out of the district without permission of the +Committee of Safety, and that no surveys should be made there, nor lines +run, nor settlements made, under the authority of New York. The +punishment for violation of this decree was to be discretionary with a +court formed by the Committee of Safety. Civil officers, however, were +permitted to perform their proper functions in the collection of debts, +and in other matters not connected with the controversy.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> Thus the +inhabitants of the Grants established a crude but efficient civil +government of their own.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> <i>Doc. Hist. N. Y.</i> vol. iv. pp. 331, 332.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Williams's <i>Hist. of Vt.</i> vol. ii. pp. 12, 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> <i>Doc. Hist. N. Y.</i> vol. iv. p. 332.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> p. 333.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> <i>Doc. Hist. N. Y.</i> vol. iv. p. 353.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Slade's <i>State Papers</i>, p. 62.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> <i>State Papers</i>, p. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> The fees to the governor of New Hampshire for granting a +township were about $100. Under the government of New York, they +generally amounted to $2,000, or $2,600. Williams's <i>Hist. Vt.</i> vol. ii. +p. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Governor Moore sneers at him as "a driver of an ox-cart +for the sutlers." <i>Doc. Hist.<br /> N. Y.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Thompson's <i>Vermont</i>, part ii. p. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Slade's <i>State Papers</i>, p. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> <i>Doc. Hist. N. Y.</i> vol. iv. p. 422.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Thompson's <i>Vermont</i>, part ii. p. 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Thompson's <i>Vermont</i>, p. 22.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>A military force was organized, of which Ethan Allen was colonel +commandant, and his active coadjutors, Warner, Baker, Cockran, +Sunderland, and others, were captains. Of the name which they assumed, +and which Vermonters are always proud to bear, Ira Allen says: "The +governor of New York had threatened to drive the military (his +opponents) into the Green Mountains, from which circumstance they took +the name of Green Mountain Boys."<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> + +<p>The necessities of backwoods life accustomed every man of this force to +the use of the musket, the long smooth-bore, or the rifle, and most were +expert marksmen with any of these weapons, while many, from ranger +service in the late war, were accomplished bush-fighters. Inured to +hardship and toil, they could not but be enduring, and, to face the +dangers that ever beset the pioneer, they must be brave. Rough but +kindly and honest backwoods yeomen, they were of the same spirit, as +they were of the same race and generation, as the men who fought at +Lexington and Bunker Hill.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>They were occasionally mustered for practice and drill. Esquire Munro +informed Governor Tryon in 1772 that the company in Bennington, +commanded by John Warner,<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> was on New Year's Day "received and +continued all day fireing at marks," and again that "the Rioters had +brought to Bennington two pieces of Cannon and a Mortar piece from the +small Fort at East Hoseck with powder and Ball."</p> + +<p>Ethan Allen was the chosen as well as the self-appointed leader of the +people in their resistance to the claims of New York and its attempts to +enforce them. Early in the controversy, he, with four of his brothers, +came from Connecticut, and taking up lands under grants from New +Hampshire in the southern part of the territory, west of the Green +Mountains, very naturally espoused the cause of the New Hampshire +grantees. His rude eloquence was of the sort to fire the hearts of the +uncultivated backwoodsmen, whether he harangued them from the stump of a +clearing, or, addressing a larger audience in the gray pages of his +ill-printed pamphlets, he recited their wrongs and exhorted them to +defend their rights. His interests and sympathy, his hearty +good-fellowship and rough manners, though upon occasion he could assume +the deportment of the fine gentleman, brought him into the most intimate +relations with them; while his undoubted bravery, his commanding figure, +and herculean strength set this rough-cast hero apart to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>the +chieftaincy which his self-asserting spirit was not slow to assume.</p> + +<p>His brother Ira afterwards became a man of great note and influence in +the young commonwealth, but was more distinguished for civil than +military service, though he was a lieutenant in Warner's regiment, and +afterward captain, colonel, and major-general of militia.</p> + +<p>Seth Warner was of a commanding presence, "rising six feet in height, +erect and well-proportioned, his countenance, attitude, and movements +indicative of great strength and vigor of body and mind," says Daniel +Chipman, who in his boyhood had often seen him.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> But he was cast in a +finer mould than was his more renowned compatriot, Ethan Allen. Modest +and unassuming, he was no less brave, and with no lack of firmness, +energy, and promptness to act, his bravery was tempered with a coolness, +deliberation, and good judgment which made him a safe and trusted +leader. He was no pamphleteer. In the public documents to which his name +is appended with those of his associates, Allen's peculiar style is most +apparent, yet his letters show that he could express himself with ease, +clearness, and force. He too was of Connecticut birth, and removed with +his father to Bennington in 1763, when he was twenty years of age. The +abundant game of the region gave a first direction to his adventurous +spirit, and he became a skillful hunter, expert in marksmanship and +woodcraft. The same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>spirit presently led him to take an active part in +the controversy respecting the Grants, and he soon took his place among +the leaders of the opponents of New York. Remember Baker, the kinsman of +both, was a native of Connecticut. He was killed early in the War of the +Revolution while with the army invading Canada he was reconnoitring the +enemy's position at St. John's. Ira Allen says: "He was a curious +marksman, and always kept his musket in the best possible order," which +was the cause of his death, for he had so over-nicely sharpened his +flint that it caught, and prevented his firing so quickly as did the +Indian who killed him. Robert Cockran was another of the border +captains, and made himself particularly obnoxious to the government of +New York by his active resistance to its encroachments. He served during +the Revolution first in a Connecticut, then in a New York regiment, and +rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> Peleg Sunderland, who in +peaceful times was a wood-ranger, hunting moose in the loneliest depths +of the Wilderness and setting his beaver-traps on streams that were +strange to the eyes of white men, was another leader of the Green +Mountain Boys, prominent enough to suffer outlawry.</p> + +<p>When, under the encouragement of the New York claimants, settlements +were made on the western border of the Grants, though armed to defend +themselves, the new-comers were driven away, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>their log-houses torn down +and burned by Allen, Baker, Cockran, and six others. For their +apprehension as rioters, warrants were thereupon issued. But the justice +who issued them gave it as his opinion that no officer could arrest +them, and recommended that a reward be offered to induce "some person of +their own sort" to "artfully betray them." Accordingly Governor Tryon +offered a reward of twenty pounds each for their apprehension.<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> +Thereupon Allen, Baker, and Cockran issued a proclamation offering a +reward of fifteen pounds and ten pounds respectively for the +apprehension and delivery at the Catamount Tavern in Bennington of James +Duane and John Kemp, two New York officials who were conspicuously +active in pushing their claims to lands in the disputed territory. And +one proclamation was as effective as the other.</p> + +<p>However, some months later Esquire Munro was impelled to undertake the +capture of Remember Baker at his home in Arlington, and in the early +morning of March 22, 1772, with a dozen of his friends and dependents at +his back, forcibly entered Baker's house. In the fray that ensued, Baker +and his wife and boy were all severely wounded by sword-cuts, and he +being overcome and bound was thrown into a sleigh and driven with all +speed toward Albany. But the triumph of his captors was brief, for +before reaching the Hudson they were overtaken by a rescue party that +followed on horseback in swift pursuit upon the first alarm, and +abandoning <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>their bleeding and exhausted prisoner, they fled into the +woods, and Baker, after being cared for by his friends, was triumphantly +carried to his home. Munro also attempted the arrest of Seth Warner, who +while riding with a friend was met by the squire and several adherents. +Seizing the bridle of Warner's horse, Munro called on the others to aid +him. When, in spite of all entreaty, he would not desist, Warner struck +him to the ground with a blow from a dull cutlass delivered on his head, +and went his way. The pugnacious squire had now had enough of the barren +honors of his magistracy. "What can a justice do," he asks, "when the +whole country combines against him?" and begs Governor Tryon to excuse +his acting any longer. He gave his neighbors of the Green Mountains no +further trouble, and in 1777 fled to the army of Burgoyne. His property +was confiscated, and he was one of those who were forever proscribed by +the Vermont act of February 26, 1779.<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> + +<p>The Green Mountain Boys were ready to resist more formidable attempts to +bring them to submission. When news came to Bennington that Governor +Tryon was ascending the Hudson with a considerable force to invade their +territory, the Committee of Safety and the officers convened and +resolved that it was "their duty to oppose Governor Tryon and his troops +to the utmost of their power." Accordingly the fighting men of +Bennington and the neighboring towns were assembled. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>The cannon, +mortar, and ammunition were brought out. Sharpshooters were to ambuscade +the narrow passes of the road by which Tryon's force must approach, and +cripple the invaders by picking off his officer.</p> + +<p>While this warlike preparation was in progress a messenger, who had been +sent to Albany to gain information of the strength and intended march of +the enemy, returned with the news that the troops, which were wind-bound +somewhere below that town, were not coming to invade the Grants, but to +garrison the lake forts. In fact, during this season of alarm, Governor +Tryon was contemplating a milder policy than had so far been pursued, +and presently dispatched a letter "to Rev. Mr. Dewy and the inhabitants +of Bennington and the adjacent country on the east side of Hudson's +River."</p> + +<p>Though he censured their acts of violence, and warned them that a +continuance of such acts would bring the "exertions of the Powers of +Government" against them, and reasserted the claim of New York to the +Connecticut as its eastern boundary, his tone was conciliatory, and he +invited them to lay before his government the causes of their illegal +proceedings, which should be examined with "deliberation and candor," +and such relief given as the circumstances would justify. To accomplish +this, such persons as they might choose to send to New York were +promised safe conduct and protection, excepting Ethan Allen, Warner, +Baker, Cockran, and Sevil. This was briefly replied to by those <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>to whom +it was addressed, and at more length by Allen, Warner, Baker, and +Cockran.<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> In both replies the validity of the titles given by New +Hampshire was maintained, and Allen and his associates declared their +resistance had not been to the government of New York, but to +land-jobbers and speculators who were endeavoring to deprive them of +their property.</p> + +<p>These were delivered by the settlers' appointed agents, Captain Stephen +Fay and his son, and were laid before his council by Governor Tryon. +Upon due consideration, the council recommended that all prosecutions in +behalf of the crown, for crimes with which the settlers were charged, +should be suspended till his Majesty's pleasure should be known, and +that owners of contested lands under grants from New York should stop +all civil suits concerning the same during the like period, and agree +with the settlers for the purchase thereof on moderate terms, on +condition that the inhabitants concerned in the late disorders should +conform to the law of New York that settlers on both sides in the +controversy should continue undisturbed, and such as had been +dispossessed, or forced by threats or other means, to desert their +farms, should in future enjoy their possessions unmolested.</p> + +<p>This report was approved by the governor. When the agents, returning +with it, laid it before the Committee of Safety and the people assembled +in the meeting-house at Bennington, there was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>great rejoicing over it. +There was a universal expression of a desire for peace. The "whole +artillery of Bennington, and the small arms," thundered and rattled +salutes in honor of the governor and council of New York, and healths to +the king, to Governor Tryon, and to the council were drunk "by sundry +respectable Gentlemen."</p> + +<p>Unfortunately for the continuance of this promising condition of +affairs, news had come before the return of the agents that a surveyor +employed by the New York claimants was surveying lands for them in some +of the townships to the northward. Thereupon Ethan Allen, with a small +party, went in pursuit of him, took him prisoner, and returned with him +to Castleton, where he was tried and sentenced to banishment, under pain +of death if again found within the limits of the Grants. Upon learning +the favorable progress of the negotiations with New York, his judges +revoked the rigorous decree and set him at liberty. Making the most of +their time while in pursuit of the surveyor, Allen and his men halted at +the First Falls of Otter Creek, in the present city of Vergennes, to +dispossess the tenants of Colonel Reid, who had himself previously +dispossessed persons who, under a New Hampshire grant issued in 1761, +had settled there and built a sawmill. Allen's party drove the intruders +away, burned their log-houses, and broke the stones of the gristmill +Reid had built, and reëstablished the New Hampshire grantee in his +sawmill.</p> + +<p>Governor Tryon was soon informed of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>summary proceedings of the +mountaineers, and in a letter dated August 11, 1772, he sharply +reprimanded the people of the Grants for "so manifest a breach of public +confidence," and, to "insure a continuance of his friendly intentions," +required their assistance to reinstate in their possessions the persons +who had been ejected. To this an answer was returned by the Committees +of Safety of Bennington and ten other towns, in which they denied that +any breach of faith had been committed in the seizure of the surveyor, +or the dispossession of Reid's tenants, as at that time the proposals of +Governor Tryon had not been accepted or even received, and asserted that +not they but Reid and the surveyor who was acting for the land-jobbers +were the aggressors, and they declined giving any aid in reinstating +Reid's tenants in possession so unjustly obtained.<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> They respectfully +asked a reply, but it does not appear that any was vouchsafed them, or +that further advances were made by the government of New York.</p> + +<p>Colonel John Reid, who had been lieutenant-colonel of the Forty-Second +or Royal Highland Regiment, held to the purpose of maintaining his +settlement on Otter Creek, and in the summer following he repaired +thither with a company of his countrymen lately arrived in America. The +New Hampshire settlers were again ousted, the gristmill was made +serviceable by hooping the stones, and the Scotchmen were installed in +their wilderness home, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>with orders to hold possession against all +claimants. Ira Allen chanced soon after to come that way, at nightfall +of a stormy day, on his return from an exploration of lands on the +Winooski with a view to settlement there. The wet and weary traveler +sought admittance at a log-house, whose cheerful firelight promised such +welcome as had before been given him there. He was met instead by the +savage thrust of a Highlander's skene dhu, delivered through the +scarcely opened door, and was questioned, not in the familiar drawl of +his compatriots, but in such broad Scotch dialect as unaccustomed ears +could scarcely comprehend. He was grudgingly permitted to enter, and +then discovered who his unwilling hosts were. He was given shelter for +the night, and then went his way to Bennington with the news of this +latest intrusion of the "Yorkers."</p> + +<p>Ethan Allen and Seth Warner then mustered a force of sixty Green +Mountain Boys, and set forth for Otter Creek. Arriving there after a +march of four days, they at once set about dispossessing the Scotchmen +and their families, burned their houses after their effects had been +removed, and destroyed their corn by turning their horses loose in the +fields. Allen's party was joined next morning by Remember Baker, with a +force nearly as large, when they completed the work of destruction by +tearing down the mill, breaking the millstones past all mending, and +throwing the pieces into the river. With his sword Baker cut the +bolt-cloth into pieces, which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>he distributed among his men to wear in +their hats as cockades. When the sturdy miller, John Cameron, demanded +by what authority or law he and his men committed such acts, Baker +answered, "We live out of the bounds of the law," and, holding up his +gun, said, "This is my law."<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> Cameron told him that with twenty good +men he would have undertaken to defend his house and mill, though there +were a hundred and ten of them, and was answered that he and his +countrymen were all for the broadsword, but they were for bush fighting! +Perhaps it was in admiration of his brave Scotch spirit that they +offered him a gift of land if he would join them, an offer which he +rejected, while it may be that Donald McIntosh, who had fought at +Culloden and under Wolfe at Quebec, at least took the proposal into +canny consideration, for his house was not molested, nor he forced to +leave it.</p> + +<p>Cameron deposed that he was informed some three weeks later by one +Irwin, who lived on the east shore of the lake not far from Crown Point, +that Baker and eight others had lain in wait a whole day near the mouth +of Otter Creek, with the intention of murdering Colonel Reid and his +boat's company on their way to Crown Point, and would have done so, had +not Reid departed a day sooner than expected. The story seems unlikely, +as the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>Green Mountain Boys, who had come so far to enforce their laws +of the green wood, could have had no means of gaining information of +Colonel Reid's intended movements, even had they desired to take his +life. They retaliated with hard and unrelenting hand the oppressive acts +and the encroachments of New York, but never, though the opportunities +were frequent and the chances of retribution few, did they, in all the +course of this bitter feud, take the life of one of their opponents,<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> +even when their leaders were outlawed and a price set upon their heads. +Having destroyed six houses, the mill, and most of the growing and +harvested crops, the "Bennington Mob" departed from the desolated +settlement, Thompson says to build a block-house at the lower falls of +the Winooski, to prevent the intrusion of New York claimants there, but +it was not reported to the New York government that such fortifications +had been built at that place and at Otter Creek till September of the +next year.</p> + +<p>The controversy engaged the attention of the British government in a +direction favorable to the New Hampshire grantees, the Board of Trade, +in a report to his Majesty's Privy Council, proposing measures<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> +which, if carried out, would have confirmed the rights of settlers under +the grants of New Hampshire.</p> + +<p>It is worthy of notice that in this report the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>board spoke with +considerable severity of the conduct of the governor of New York in +passing patents of confirmation of townships before granted by New +Hampshire, and in granting other lands within the district, and in like +manner called attention to the exorbitant fees exacted for grants by the +governor, secretary, and surveyor of New York, which were more than +double those established by an ordinance of 1710. Added to these were +unauthorized fees taken by other officers, making "the whole amount of +these fees upon a Grant of one thousand acres of Land in many instances +not far short of the real value of the Fee Simple." It was in +consideration of these emoluments, the board supposed, "that His +Majesty's governors of New York have of late years taken upon themselves +the most unwarrantable pretenses to elude the restrictions contained in +His Majesty's Instructions with regard to the quantity of Land to be +granted to any one person," by the insertion in one grant of numbers of +fictitious or borrowed names, for the purpose of conveying to one person +a grant of from twenty thousand to forty thousand acres. They +recommended that his Majesty be advised to give the most positive +instructions to the governor of New York that the granting of lands +should be attended by no fees to the attorney-general, the +receiver-general, or the auditor; and that neither the governor, the +secretary, nor the surveyor-general should take any fees but those +prescribed by the ordinance of 1710, which were greater than those +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>taken by the same officers for similar service in any other colony.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></p> + +<p>That portion of the report proposing a method of settling the dispute +was transmitted by Lord Dartmouth to Governor Tryon, who in a lengthy +reply set forth the impossibility of an adjustment upon the plan +proposed.</p> + +<p>No further conciliatory measures were proposed or entertained by either +party in the quarrel, which after this brief respite grew more bitter. +New York attempted to make herself friends in the grants by appointing +some of the prominent settlers to office. To prevent the success of this +policy, the Committees of Safety assembled in convention decreed that no +inhabitant of the Grants should hold or accept any office of honor or +profit under the government of New York, and all civil and military +officers who had acted under the authority of that government were +required to "suspend their functions on pain of being viewed." It was +further decreed that no person should take grants or the confirmation of +them under the government of New York. The punishment for violation of +these decrees was to be discretionary with the court, except that for +the first offense it must not be capital.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> Banishment from the Grants +was a frequent punishment, and as frequent was the application of the +"beech seal." As may be imagined, when the spirit of the times and the +rough <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>character of a backwoods community are considered, this was often +inflicted with cruel severity. Yet it must be remembered in extenuation +that the whipping-post was then a common adjunct of justice, and that, +by the sentence of properly constituted courts, the scourge was +mercilessly applied for the correction of very venial crimes.</p> + +<p>The chastisement of offenders was sometimes more ridiculous than severe. +A Dr. Adams of Arlington, who made himself obnoxious to the Green +Mountain Boys by his persistent sympathy with their enemies, suffered at +Bennington, according to his sentence, only the indignity of being +suspended in an armchair for two hours beneath the famous Green Mountain +Tavern sign, whereon stood the stuffed hide of a great panther, a tawny +monster that grinned a menace to all intruders from the country of the +hated "Yorkers."</p> + +<p>Not long after Allen's raid on the Lower Falls of Otter Creek, he and +his men appeared in Durham and Socialborough, whose inhabitants were for +the most part friendly to New York, some of them having accepted office +under that government. The officials sought safety within its +established bounds at Crown Point and Albany, flooding courts and +council with depositions, complaints, and petitions. Those who remained +were obliged to recognize the validity of the New Hampshire titles.</p> + +<p>By the advice of his council, Governor Tryon requested General +Haldimand, the commander-in-chief of his Majesty's forces, to order a +sufficient <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>number of regular troops to Ticonderoga and Crown Point to +aid the civil authorities in enforcing the laws, but the general +declined on the ground that, in the present state of American affairs, +the employment of regular troops to suppress "a few lawless vagabonds" +would have a bad tendency as an acknowledgment of the weakness of the +civil government; also that "Crown Point, being entirely destroyed, and +unprovided for the quartering of troops, and Ticonderoga being in a most +ruinous state, such troops as might be sent thither would not be able to +stay a sufficient time to render them of much utility." If the request +was persisted in, however, he wished to know what force would be deemed +sufficient. The council thought that 200 men at Ticonderoga might be +enough,—a very modest demand upon the commander-in-chief, but not on +the individuals of a force so insignificant that it might as well have +undertaken to level the Green Mountains as to attempt to subdue in their +fastnesses these accomplished bush-fighters of the Grants. The +requisition was not approved by the king, and the troops were not sent.</p> + +<p>In consideration of the representations and petitions laid before it, a +committee of the General Assembly of New York resolved that the governor +be requested to issue a proclamation offering a reward of fifty pounds +each for the apprehension, and securing in his Majesty's gaol at Albany, +of Ethan Allen, Warner, Baker, and five others, and that a bill be +brought in more effectually to suppress the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>riotous proceedings and +bring the offenders to condign punishment. These resolutions having come +to the Grants in the columns of the "New York Mercury," the committees +of the towns on the west side of the mountains met at Manchester and +made answer thereto. They said that in consequence of the report of the +British Board of Trade, so favorable to them, they were in daily +expectation of a royal confirmation of the New Hampshire grants, and +declared themselves loyal and devoted subjects of his Majesty; that the +government of New York was more rebellious than they, in that it had +acted in direct opposition to the orders of the king; that they had +purchased their lands of one of his Majesty's governors on the good +faith of the crown of Great Britain, and would maintain those grants +against all opposition, till his Majesty's pleasure should be known, and +recommended to the governor of New York to await the same before +proceeding to the harsh measures proposed, "to prevent the unhappy +consequences that may result from such an attempt." They resolved to +defend with their lives and fortunes their neighbors and friends who +should be indicted as rioters, and that the inhabitants would hold +themselves "in readiness to aid and defend such friends of ours who, for +their merit to the great and general cause, are falsely denominated +rioters," but they would act only on the defensive, and would "encourage +execution of the law in civil cases, and in criminal prosecutions that +were so indeed."<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>But before this answer was approved by the general committee, the New +York Assembly had enacted a law (March 9, 1774) as stringent as its +committee could have urged, or its report had foreshadowed, and with it +or following close upon its passage was issued Governor Tryon's +proclamation of a reward of one hundred pounds each for the arrest of +Ethan Allen and Remember Baker, and fifty pounds for the apprehension of +Seth Warner and five others. Some of the provisions of this +extraordinary law were, that if three or more persons, "being +unlawfully, riotously, and tumultuously assembled within the counties of +Charlotte and Albany," did not disperse when commanded to do so by +proclamation made by a justice, sheriff, or coroner, they should upon +conviction suffer twelve months' imprisonment without bail; and any +person opposing, letting, hindering, or hurting the person making or +going to make such proclamation, should be adjudged a felon, and suffer +death without benefit of clergy. It should also be adjudged felony +without benefit of clergy for an unauthorized person to assume judicial +powers, or for any person to assist them, or to execute their sentences, +or to seize, detain, or assault and beat any magistrate or civil +officer, to compel him to resign his office, or to prevent his +discharging its duties; or to burn or destroy the grain or hay of any +other person; or to demolish or pull down any dwelling-house, barn, +stable, or gristmill, sawmill, or outhouse within either of the said +counties. When the persons named in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>governor's proclamation, or any +other persons, were indicted for any offense committed after the passage +of this act, and made capital by it or any other law, did not, within +seventy days after the publication of the governor's command to do so, +surrender themselves to one of his Majesty's justices of the peace for +either of the said counties, they were to be adjudged guilty of the +offense for which they had been indicted; and if for a capital offense +thereafter to be perpetrated, they should be convicted and attainted of +felony, and should suffer death, as in the case of persons so convicted +by verdict and judgment, without benefit of clergy; and it should be +lawful for the supreme court of New York, or the courts of oyer and +terminer or general gaol delivery, to award execution against such +offenders as if they had been convicted in such courts. It was provided +that, as it was impracticable to bring offenders to justice within the +county of Charlotte, all persons committed within its limits should be +proceeded against by any grand jury of the county of Albany, and tried +in that county by a jury thereof, as if the crime or offense had been +perpetrated therein.<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> + +<p>Here was indeed an "exertion of the powers of government," but it was +barren of any result but to strengthen the spirit of opposition in those +against whom it was directed, and, instead of terrorizing them into +abject submission, as its authors had confidently expected, it served +rather to unite them in more stubborn resistance.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>In response, Allen and his proscribed associates put forth a manifesto +and an address "to the people of the counties of Albany and Charlotte +which inhabit to the westward, and are situated contiguous to the New +Hampshire Grants," wherein, for the most part, the case is forcibly +stated in Allen's peculiar style, and closes with the declaration that +"We are under the necessity of resisting even unto blood every person +who may attempt to take us as felons or rioters as aforesaid, for in +this case it is not resisting law, but only opposing force by force; +therefore, inasmuch as, by the oppressions aforesaid, the New Hampshire +settlers are reduced to the disagreeable state of anarchy and confusion; +in which state we hope for wisdom, patience, and fortitude till the +happy hour his Majesty shall graciously be pleased to restore us to the +privileges of Englishmen."</p> + +<p>Not many times, if ever, thereafter, was the authority of the king +invoked by those who set their names to this paper: but little more than +a year had elapsed when most of them were engaged in wresting from the +crown its strongholds on Lake Champlain.</p> + +<p>Now, however, a scheme was set on foot to withdraw the Grants from the +hated jurisdiction of New York by erecting them, and that part of New +York east of the Hudson, into a separate royal government. Colonel +Philip Skene, who lived in considerable state in Skenesborough House on +his estate at the head of Lake Champlain, was engaged <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>in it, probably +with a view to the governorship of the new province, and he went to +England to further the project. Whatever his success may have been, it +came to nothing with the breaking out of the Revolution.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p> + +<p>The people of the Grants maintained their attitude of defiance and +resistance. The stinging imprint of the beech seal was still set as +relentlessly on the backs of justices who yet dared to act under the +authority of New York, and their stern judges sent them "toward the City +of New York, or to the westward of the Grants," with duly signed +certificates that they had received full punishment for their crimes.</p> + +<p>Lieutenant-Governor Colden, now acting governor, as Tryon "had been +called home to give Lights on the Points in dispute," applied to General +Gage at Boston for a force of 200 men to aid the civil officers in the +county of Charlotte, but Gage declined, as Haldimand had done; and the +attempts of New York to enforce its authority continued as futile as +ever, while the Rob Roys of the new world Highlands as boldly went their +way as if no price was set upon their heads.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> <i>Hist. Vt.</i> p. 345.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Meaning <i>Seth</i> Warner.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Chipman's <i>Memoirs of Seth Warner</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> He died among his former enemies, the Yorkers, at Sandy +Hill, N. Y., in 1812.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> 1771.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> <i>Governor and Council</i>, p. 149.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> <i>State Papers</i>, p. 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> <i>State Papers</i>, pp. 29, 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Baker showed James Henderson the stump of a lost thumb, as +his commission (possibly given by Esquire Munro), for performing this +"very disagreeable work."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> <i>Doc. Hist.</i> vol. iv. pp. 512-516.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i> p. 488.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> <i>Doc. Hist. N. Y.</i> vol. iv. p. 493.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Thompson's <i>Vermont</i>, part ii. p. 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> <i>State Papers</i>, p. 42.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> <i>State Papers.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Williams's <i>History</i>; Thompson's <i>Vermont</i>.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>THE WESTMINSTER MASSACRE.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>While the western portion of the New Hampshire Grants was involved in +this turmoil of incipient warfare, most of the settlers to the eastward +of the Green Mountains held aloof from the strife, for many of them had +surrendered their original charters, taking new ones under New York and +submitting quietly to its jurisdiction. Yet they were not lacking in the +spirit of patriotism that was now warming all their countrymen into a +new life, and presently there came an event which welded them into +closer affiliation with their brethren of the western grants, and +brought them into active opposition to the imperious government of New +York.</p> + +<p>On the 16th of May, 1774, a committee of correspondence was formed in +the city of New York, with the object of learning the sentiments of the +people concerning the measures of the British government respecting its +American colonies. A letter, addressed by its chairman to the +supervisors of Cumberland County, was kept secret by them, and no action +taken upon it at their June session; but its receipt in some way became +known to Dr. Jones of Rockingham and Captain Wright of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>Westminster, who +notified their towns; and a committee for the purpose being appointed in +each, the supervisors were called on at their September session for any +papers received by them which should be laid before the towns of the +county. The letter was unwillingly produced, a copy was sent to each +town, and a county convention was called to meet at Westminster on the +19th of October. Delegates from twelve towns met accordingly, and passed +resolutions similar in spirit to those of the Continental Congress. When +the action of Congress in declaring the rights of the colonies, and in +adopting the "Articles of Association," became known, another convention +was called, which met at Westminster on the 30th of October, "and did +adopt all the resolves of the Continental Congress as their resolves, +promising religiously to adhere to that agreement or association." But a +motion to choose a "committee of inspection" to observe whether any +person violated the Articles of Association was defeated by the +opposition of two Tory members. The town of Dummerston, however, whose +good people, "tired of diving after redress in a Legal way," had set +Lieutenant Spaulding free from the jail to which he had been committed +on a charge of high treason for saying that, "if the king had signed the +Quebec bill, it was his opinion he had broken his coronation oath," at a +town-meeting held in January following chose such a committee. This body +removed two assessors from office for refusing to execute an order of +the town to assess a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>tax, payable in potash salts, for the purpose of +procuring 100 pounds of powder, 200 pounds of lead, and 300 flints, for +the town use; suspended another town officer till by his conduct he +proved himself a Whig; and disarmed a suspected Tory. The example of +this town was generally followed by others, without waiting the action +of a convention.</p> + +<p>The General Assembly of New York had refused to adopt the resolves and +Articles of Association of the Continental Congress, and the courts of +justice were continued in that province, while elsewhere they were +almost universally suspended.</p> + +<p>Affairs were at this pass, causing great dissatisfaction among the +patriots of the Grants, when the time for the session of the King's +Court of Cumberland County, to be holden at Westminster the 14th of +March, 1775, drew near. A deputation of forty citizens of the county +waited upon the chief judge, Colonel Chandler, at Chester, and +endeavored to dissuade him from holding the court. He admitted that it +would be better to hold no court in the present state of affairs, but +said there was a case of murder which it was necessary to try, after +which, if not agreeable to the people, no other cases should come on. In +answer to the objections of one of their number, that the sheriff would +be present with an armed posse and there would be bloodshed, he assured +them that no arms should be brought against them, and dismissed them +with thanks for their civility. After considerable discussion of methods +to prevent the sitting of the court, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>it was decided that it should be +permitted to come together, when the objections to its proceeding should +be laid before it, "thinking," says the "Relation of the Proceedings," +"they were men of such sense that they would hear them."<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> It +presently became known that the court intended to take possession of the +court-house the day before its session was to begin, and hold it with a +strong guard against the intrusion of those opposed to its opening. To +forestall this purpose, about 100 men, armed only with clubs that the +stalwart men of Rockingham took from a neighboring woodpile, entered the +court-house late in the afternoon of that day, with the intention of +holding it till the judges should hear their grievances. They had not +been long within it when the sheriff, with a strong posse of armed men +and attended by the officers of the court, came marching up the level +street of the little town. Halting near the door, he demanded entrance, +but received no answer. He then read the king's proclamation in a loud +voice, commanding all persons unlawfully assembled to disperse, adding +with an oath that, if they did not do so within fifteen minutes, "he +would blow a lane through them." They answered that they would not +disperse, but would admit the sheriff and the others if they would lay +aside their arms, and asked if they had come for war; declaring they +themselves had come for peace, and would be glad to hold a parley with +them. Upon this the clerk of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>the court drew his pistol, and, holding it +up, swore that "only by it would he hold parley with such damned +rascals," and would give no more friendly reply to any overtures. Judge +Chandler, however, came to them when the sheriff's posse had gone for +refreshments, and declared that the arms were brought without his +consent, and said that those who held the house might continue to do so +undisturbed till morning, when the court should come in without arms, +and hear what they had to say before it.</p> + +<p>With little fear of molestation now, yet taking the precaution to post a +sentry at the door, the garrison of the court-house held the place. The +curving crest of hills that half encircle the town, touching the river +above and below it, grew dim against the darkening sky, and the last +gleam of daylight faded from the ice-bound reaches of the broad +Connecticut. The pallid dusk of the starless winter night blurred houses +and threshold trees into indistinct forms, and fused the +half-surrounding wall of forest-clad hills with the sky, till they +seemed a part of it creeping down upon the little hamlet. One by one the +lights went out, save where some housewife waited her husband's coming, +and where the glare of the inn's hospitable fire fell in broad bars of +flickering light across the snowy street. The sentinel at the door paced +his short beat. Of those whose guard he kept, some fell asleep on the +hard benches, some gathered in groups to listen to the discourse of +oracular <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>politicians, or discuss the all-absorbing topic of the hour. +Some of the younger men crowded into the charmed circle wherein some +gray and garrulous veteran of the old wars discoursed of bush fights and +Indian ambuscades, the siege of Number Four or Ticonderoga's woeful day +of slaughter and defeat, where he fought so hotly for the sovereign whom +he now denounced. Some sat apart silently brooding, and taking no heed +of the buzz of conversation, but grimly awaited the struggle they felt +was impending. All became suddenly alert when, about midnight, the +sentinel discovered armed men approaching, and gave the word to man the +doors. The sheriff and his men were coming, with courage reinforced by +potations of flip and fiery rum.</p> + +<p>They marched to within ten rods of the door and halted. In a moment the +order was given to fire, and three shots were reluctantly delivered. The +order was repeated with curses, which incited the posse to a deadlier +volley that killed William French almost outright, fatally wounded +Daniel Houghton, and severely injured several others. The assailants +then rushed in on the men, who had only clubs to defend themselves with, +made several prisoners and took them to the jail. One of these was the +dying man, whom "they dragged as one would a dog, and would mock at as +he lay gasping," and "did wish there were forty more in the same case." +Lying on the jail-room floor, his five wounds undressed, French, not yet +twenty-two, died in the early morning of the 14th. Houghton survived his +wounds nine days.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>Thus in a remote frontier town was shed the first blood of the momentous +conflict that gave birth to a nation.</p> + +<p>In the darkness and confusion all the rest of the Whigs escaped, some +fighting their way out with their clubs; one, Philip Safford, laying +about him so lustily that eight or ten of the sheriff's posse went down +beneath the blows of his cudgel.</p> + +<p>The court party came out of the mêlée victorious for the present, and +without serious injury to any of their number, though in the "State of +the Facts," prepared next day by the judges and other officers of the +court, two were reported as wounded by pistol shots, which, if indeed +so, must have been fired by their friends, for the others declared that +they had not so much as a pistol among them, having come with the +expectation of gaining their object without violence. Some did now go +home for their guns, but did not return to renew the fray. More hastened +away to carry the woeful tidings of bloodshed to the Whigs of all the +country around, and with such dispatch was this done that, before noon +of the next day, two hundred armed men had arrived from New Hampshire. +Before night every one known to have been concerned in the killing of +French was seized and kept under strong guard. The next day an inquest +was held, and a verdict given that French came to his death at the hands +of the sheriff, and certain others of his posse. Armed men continued to +come from the southern part of the county and from Massachusetts, till +by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>following morning five hundred "good martial soldiers, well +equipped for war," thronged the one street of the little town.</p> + +<p>On that day all the people who had come assembled, and voted to choose a +large committee to act for the whole, to be composed in part of citizens +of Cumberland County, and in part of those residing outside its limits. +After an examination of the evidence, this committee voted to commit +those most implicated in the killing of French to the jail at +Northampton, Mass., there to await a fair trial, while those who seemed +less guilty should be put under bonds to appear at the next court. The +bonds of those admitted to bail were taken next day, and the others were +conducted under a strong guard to Northampton jail, but it does not +appear that any of them were ever brought to trial, these cases being +lost sight of in the thickening whirl of Revolutionary events.</p> + +<p>Such is substantially the account of the affair as given by the +committee chosen by the people. The accounts given by the officers of +the court in their "State of the Facts," and by members of the sheriff's +posse in their deposition, make it appear that the so-called rioters +were the first violent aggressors, beating the sheriff with clubs when +he first attempted to force his way in; that three shots were then fired +by his order above the heads of those who held the court-house, who at +once returned the fire by a discharge of guns and pistols, one +pistol-shot being fired at such close quarters <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>that the powder burned a +large hole in the breast of his coat, and yet the wearer was not hurt; +that only four or five shots were fired into the court-house by the +sheriff's party, and yet by this volley French was struck by five +bullets, Houghton received a fatal wound, and several others were hurt. +According to these accounts, Robert Cockran and others proposed such +atrocities as burning the court-house and all within it, or firing +volleys through it, and were only restrained by the New Hampshire men +from doing so.<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> But there is nothing of this in the relation of the +committee, which is quite as likely to impress the unbiased inquirer +with its truthfulness. Governor Colden, in his report to Lord Dartmouth +of what he calls this "dangerous insurrection," does not attribute it to +any dispute concerning land titles, but only to the example of +Massachusetts; nor does he charge the Bennington rioters with being +implicated in it, though he foresaw that it would draw to the common +cause of resistance to New York the people of the eastern Grants with +their brethren of the western. He wrote to General Gage of this affair +in Cumberland, and hoped that by his assistance he might soon be able to +hold a court of oyer and terminer in that county; but the British +general had weightier affairs upon his hands at Boston, and could give +him no help.</p> + +<p>In a convention held at Westminster on the 11th of April, it was voted +"that it is the duty of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>inhabitants to wholly renounce and resist +the administration of the government of New York till such time as the +lives and property of these inhabitants may be secured by it, or till +such time as they can have opportunity to lay their grievances before +his most gracious Majesty in council," with an humble petition "to be +taken out of so offensive jurisdiction, and either annexed to some other +government or erected and incorporated into a new one, as may appear +best to said inhabitants, to the Royal wisdom and clemency, and till +such time as his Majesty shall settle this controversy." Colonel John +Hazletine, Charles Phelps, and Colonel Ethan Allen were appointed to +prepare the remonstrance and petition that were to be presented.</p> + +<p>Never again did any representative body of the Grants give an expression +of loyalty to the king. Not many days later came the news of Lexington +fight, and presently the mountaineers were all in as open revolt against +King George as any had ever been against his royal government of the +province of New York. Men grown so accustomed to resistance of the +tyranny of the lesser power, as were the persecuted settlers of the +western Grants, were not apt to be laggards in opposing the greater when +its encroachments became as unendurable, and for a time the petty +warfare of provincial bounds and jurisdiction was hidden from their +sight in the over-spreading cloud of the grander struggle that involved +the liberties of every American.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> <i>Governor and Council</i>, vol. i. p. 332.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> <i>Doc. Hist. N. Y.</i> vol. iv. pp. 547, 549.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>TICONDEROGA.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Those ruthless destroyers, time and man, have wrought sad havoc on the +once formidable fortress of Ticonderoga. One wall of solid masonry has +withstood their assaults, and still rears its sharp-cut angles and +massive front, gray with age and scaled with lichens of a century, as +grimly now as in the days of yore, above the broad expanse of fields +that stretch away to the southwest.</p> + +<p>Across the neck of the peninsula, in the shadow of great oaks that were +but saplings then, may be seen the well-preserved breastworks against +which the storm of Abercrombie's assault so vainly beat, and within them +green mounds show the position of old outworks. But the fort itself is a +desolate ruin. Ditches choked with brambles and rubbish, grass-grown +ramparts, crumbling bastion, and barrack walls, fallen-in bomb-proof and +magazine, mark the sight of a stronghold once deemed worth the blood and +treasure of nations to hold or gain.</p> + +<p>Amherst's useless fort of Crown Point, built with lavish expense, has +not suffered such complete decay. The barracks are in ruin, but the +almost unbroken ramparts rear their walled and grassy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>steeps high above +the long incline of the shrub-grown glacis, and the hoary walls of the +outworks have stoutly withstood the ravages of almost seven-score years. +The older French fort of St. Frederic; its citadel within whose walls +commandant, priest, and fierce Waubanakee plotted raids on the frontier +hamlets of the heretics, in whose dungeons English captives languished; +its chapel, where masses were said in celebration of savage deeds, while +white-coated soldier of France, rough-clad habitant, and painted Indian +knelt together before the black-robed priest; its water-gate, bastions, +scarps, and counter-scarps,—all have fallen into the desolation of +utter ruin.</p> + +<p>The conquest of Canada accomplished, it was no longer of vital +importance that the forts on Lake Champlain should be maintained; +consequently the elaborately planned fortifications of Crown Point were +never completed, and they, with those of Ticonderoga, fell into such +neglect that in September, 1773, the first one was reported by General +Haldimand to be entirely destroyed, and the other in a most ruinous +state. And though it does not appear that they were dismantled or quite +abandoned, for years they were held by garrisons too insignificant to +defend them against any vigorous attack. In such defenseless condition +they continued, as if too remote from the great centres of revolt to be +of consequence to England, while the threatening attitude of her +American colonies daily grew more menacing. But while the appeal <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>to +arms was yet impending, the importance of these posts became apparent to +some active patriots of the New England colonies. In March, 1775, John +Brown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, who had recently passed through the +New Hampshire Grants on a secret mission to Canada, wrote from Montreal +to Samuel Adams and Dr. Warren, the Committee of Correspondence in +Boston, mentioning one thing to be kept a profound secret. "The fort at +Ticonderoga must be seized as soon as possible, should hostilities be +committed by the king's troops. The people in the New Hampshire Grants +have engaged to do this business, and in my opinion they are the most +proper persons for this job. This will effectually curb this province, +and all the troops that may be sent here." Thus it appears that so early +as February, 1775, the capture of the fort was contemplated by the +leaders of the Green Mountain Boys, and that they were committed to the +enterprise.</p> + +<p>Yet, when confronted by the actual outbreak of war, they were sorely +perplexed. Self-interest inclined them to hold aloof from a rupture with +the mother country when king and privy council were considering, with +apparent favor to them, their controversy with New York; while on the +other hand the ties of birth strongly bound them to their brethren of +New England, and every impulse of patriotism impelled them to espouse +the cause of their common country.</p> + +<p>Soon after receiving the news of the battle of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>Lexington, which Ethan +Allen says almost distracted them, the principal officers of the Green +Mountain Boys, and other prominent leaders, met at Bennington, and in +the council chamber of the Catamount Tavern "attempted to explore +futurity;" though they "found it to be unfathomable,"<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> they resolved +to unite with their countrymen, whom they doubted not would, in the +event of a successful issue of the conflict, freely accord to them the +rights which they demanded.</p> + +<p>Without any knowledge of what was already brewing in the Grants, some +gentlemen of Connecticut, who on the 26th of April met Benedict Arnold +on his way to Cambridge with a company of volunteers, learned from him +the defenseless condition of Ticonderoga and the great number of cannon +there, and at once formed a plan for its capture. To carry it out, they +procured £300 from the treasury of Connecticut. This was given to Noah +Phelps and Bernard Romans, who immediately set forward toward the +Grants, where it was thought best most of the men should be raised. Just +after their departure, Captain Mott arrived at Hartford and proposed the +same enterprise, to procure artillery and stores for the people of +Boston, and being apprised of what was already on foot, agreed to join +in the expedition. He set forth next day with five others, and at +Salisbury was joined by eleven more. Arrived at Pittsfield it was +determined, by the advice of Colonel Easton <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>and John Brown, just +returned from his Canadian mission, to raise a number of men before +reaching the Grants, where it was thought the scarcity of provisions and +the poverty of the inhabitants would make it difficult to raise and +equip a sufficient number. Accordingly about forty men were recruited +and made ready to march, in Jericho and Williamstown, by Colonel Easton +and Captain Mott, while the others went on to Bennington. When, after +this service, Easton and Mott were on their way to the same place, they +were met in the evening by an express from their people with the news +that Ticonderoga was reinforced and its garrison alert, and with the +advice that, as it could not be surprised, the men recruited would +better be dismissed. The news was discredited, the advice unheeded, and +the colonel and the captain held forward for Bennington, rejoining their +companions and finding the leading men of the Grants there in conclave. +Captain Mott told his hesitating friends that the "account they had +would not do to go back with and tell in Hartford;" and his friends Mr. +Halsey and Mr. Bull declared they would go back for no story till they +had seen the fort for themselves.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> It was decided that the attempt to +capture the fort should not be abandoned.</p> + +<p>Two agents were dispatched to Albany to purchase and forward provisions +for the troops, and trusty men were sent to waylay all the roads leading +from the Grants to Skenesborough, Lake <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>George, and the Champlain forts, +to prevent any intelligence of the movement from reaching those points. +Then, going on to Castleton, the committee, of which Captain Mott was +chairman, arranged there the plan of operations.</p> + +<p>A party of thirty men under Captain Herrick were to go to Skenesborough +and capture Major Skene and his men, and go down the lake in the night +with his boats to Shoreham to transport the men assembled there across +the water; while Captain Douglass was sent to Crown Point to concoct a +scheme with his brother-in-law, who lived there, to hire the king's +boats, on some plausible pretense, to assist in getting the men over to +the New York shore.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Captain Phelps of Connecticut had gone to spy out the +condition of Ticonderoga. In the guise of a simple backwoodsman, he +easily gained admission to the fort on the pretext of getting shaved, +and, after taking careful note of all that could be seen in the place, +returned to Castleton and reported to his friends.</p> + +<p>Agreeable to a promise made to the men when engaged that they should be +commanded by their own officers, Colonel Ethan Allen was given the +command of the force which was to attack Ticonderoga. After receiving +his orders from the committee, and dispatching Major Gershom Beach of +Rutland to rally the Green Mountain Boys, he went on to Shoreham, where +they were to assemble.</p> + +<p>Major Beach performed the almost incredible <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>feat of making on foot the +journey of sixty miles in twenty-four hours, over rough by-paths marked +only by blazed trees, and along the wretched roads of the new country. +The forest-walled highway led him to the hamlets of Rutland, Pittsford, +Brandon, and Middlebury, whose fighting men were quickly summoned. Along +its course, he turned aside here and there to warn an isolated settler, +to whose betterments he was guided by the songs of the earliest bobolink +rejoicing over the discovery of a new meadow, by the sound of +axe-strokes, by the drift of smoke climbing through the greening +tree-tops from log-heap or potashery. Each man, as summoned, left his +task unfinished,—the chopper his axe struck deep in the half-felled +tree; the grimy logger his smoking pile; the sawyer his silenced mill +with the saw stopped in its half-gnawed course through the great log; +the potash-maker left the fire to smoulder out beneath the big kettles; +and the farmer, though hickory leaves as large as a squirrel's foot +calendared the time of corn-planting, exchanged the hoe for the gun. +Each took his firelock, bullet pouch, and powder horn from their hooks +above the fireplace, and, bidding brief farewell to homefolk, set forth +to the appointed meeting place. In little bands, by threes and twos and +singly, scarred and grizzled veterans who had scouted the Wilderness +with Rogers, Putnam, and Stark, men in their prime who had seen no +service but in raids on the Yorkers, and beardless boys hot with untried +youthful valor, took their way <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>toward the lake. Most of them plodded +the unmistakable course of the muddy highways till they struck Amherst's +road leading to Crown Point; but some, with consummate faith in their +woodcraft, took the shortest ways through the forest, now breasting the +eastern slope of ledges whose dun incline of last year's leaves was +dappled thick with the white bloom of moose-flowers and green tufts of +fresh forest verdure, now scrambling down the sheer western wall of +diluvian shores, now wading the mire of a gloomy morass, and now +thridding the intricate tangle of a windfall.</p> + +<p>On the evening of the 9th of May, 1775, they had come to the appointed +place of meeting, a little cove about two miles north of Ticonderoga, +where the mustering force was quite hidden from the observation of +voyagers along the lake, and where the camp-fires might blaze behind the +wide screen of newly leafing woods unseen by the garrisons of the two +forts. Here the Green Mountain Boys were met by their adored leader, and +awaited the arrival of the boats and their comrades coming from the +southward.</p> + +<p>Allen had just left Castleton when Benedict Arnold arrived there, and +demanded the command of the expedition by authority of a colonel's +commission just received from the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, +with orders to raise 400 men for the reduction of Ticonderoga. The +committee in charge of the enterprise, in consideration of the +conditions under which the men had engaged, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>refused to give him the +command. But he persisted in demanding it, and at once set forward to +overtake Allen, whom he found no more disposed to yield to his demand +than the committee had been, nor would his men consent to follow another +leader. Upon this, Arnold joined the force as a volunteer.</p> + +<p>By the evening of the 9th, 270 men, all but forty of whom were Green +Mountain Boys, had assembled on the shore of the little creek in +Shoreham now known as Hand's Cove, which is in summer a level expanse of +sedgy marsh threaded by a narrow sluggish channel, but during the spring +floods is a broad cove of the lake, its waters over-running the roots of +the trees that grow upon the banks. Here the force anxiously awaited +transportation, for the seemingly well-laid plans for securing boats had +not proved successful. It was not till near morning that the watchers, +often deceived by the cries of strange waterfowl, the sudden plunge of +the muskrat, or his long wake gleaming in the light of the camp-fires, +at last heard the unmistakable splash of oars, and saw the boats coming +in among buttressed trunks of the great elms and water-maples that stood +ankle-deep in the spring flood. When scows, skiffs, dugouts, and yawls +had crushed through the drift of dead waterweeds and made a landing, it +was found that there were not enough of the motley craft collected to +transport half the force.</p> + +<p>Allen, Easton, Arnold, and eighty others at once <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>embarked, and, +crossing the lake, landed a little north of Willow Point, on the New +York shore, when the boats returned to bring over those who, under +Warner, remained at the cove. Day was now dawning, the rugged horizon +line of forest and mountain becoming each moment more distinct against +the eastern sky, and it became evident that, if the attack was much +longer delayed, there would be no chance of surprising the garrison.</p> + +<p>Allen, therefore, determined to move forward at once, without waiting to +be joined by those who remained on the other shore. Briefly addressing +his men, who were drawn up in three ranks, he called on those who would +voluntarily follow him to poise their firelocks. Every musket was +poised, the order was given to right face, and Allen placed himself at +the head of the centre file; but when he gave the order to march, Arnold +again asserted his right to take command, and swore that he would be +first to enter the fort. Allen as stoutly maintained his right, and, +when the dispute waxed hotter, turned to one of his officers and asked, +"What shall I do with the damned rascal? Shall I put him under guard?" +The officer, Amos Callender of Shoreham, advised them to compromise the +untimely dispute by agreeing to enter the fort side by side, to which +they both assented, and the little column at once moved forward in +silence, guided by a youth named Beeman, who, living near by, and having +spent many of his idle hours in the fort, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>was well acquainted with the +entrances and all the interior appointments.</p> + +<p>Captain Delaplace and his little garrison of a lieutenant and forty-two +uncommissioned officers and privates<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> were sleeping in careless +security, not dreaming of an enemy near, while two or three sentinels +kept listless guard. The drowsy sentry at the sallyport, now come upon +so suddenly by the attacking party that he forgot to challenge or give +an alarm, aimed his musket at the leader and pulled trigger. The piece +missed fire, and, Allen running toward him with raised sword, the +soldier retreated into the parade, when he gave a loud halloo and ran +under a bomb-proof. The Green Mountain Boys now swiftly entered the +fort, and, forming in the parade in two ranks facing the east and west +rows of barracks, gave three lusty cheers. A sentry made a thrust with +his bayonet at one of the officers, and Allen dealt him a sword cut on +the head that would have killed him, had not the force of the blow been +broken by a comb which kept his hair in place.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> + +<p>He threw down his gun and asked for quarter. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>Allen demanded to be shown +the apartment of the commandant, and was directed to a flight of stairs +leading to the second story of the west row of barracks. Mounting to the +door at their head, Allen ordered Captain Delaplace to "come forth +instantly, or he would sacrifice the whole garrison." The bewildered +commandant came to the door with his breeches in his hand, when Allen +demanded the immediate surrender of the fort, "By whose authority do you +demand it?" asked Delaplace, and Allen answered, "In the name of the +great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." Delaplace attempted to +parley, but Allen cut him short, and, with his drawn sword over his +head, again demanded an immediate surrender. Having no choice but to +comply, Captain Delaplace at once ordered his men to parade without +arms, and Ticonderoga with all its cannon and military stores was +surrendered to the Green Mountain Boys.</p> + +<p>Warner presently arrived with the remainder of the force, and after some +convivial celebration of the almost bloodless conquest was dispatched by +Allen, with about one hundred men, to take possession of Crown Point, +which was held by a sergeant and twelve men, and on the 12th Warner and +Peleg Sunderland reported its capture on the previous day to the +governor and council of Connecticut. Captain Remember Baker, who had +received orders to come with his company from the Winooski and join the +force, after meeting and capturing two small boats on their way to St. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>John's with the alarming news of the surrender, arrived at Crown Point +nearly at the same time with Colonel Warner.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> Skenesborough was taken +possession of by Captain Herrick, Major Skene made prisoner, and his +schooner seized. Callender was sent with a small party to seize the fort +at the head of Lake George, an exploit easily accomplished, as its sole +occupants were a man and woman.</p> + +<p>Thus, by no heroic feat of arms, but by well-laid plans so secretly and +promptly executed that they remained unsuspected till their purpose was +accomplished, the two strongholds that guarded the passage to the head +of the lake fell into the hands of the Americans, with 200 cannon, some +mortars and swivels, and a quantity of military stores, all of which +were of incalculable value to the ill-supplied patriot army.</p> + +<p>Allen at once sent a report of the capture of Ticonderoga to the Albany +committee, and asked that provisions and a reinforcement of 500 men +might be sent to the fort, as he was apprehensive that General Carleton +would immediately attempt its recapture. He also reported the capture to +the Massachusetts government, and on the 12th sent the prisoners under +guard to Connecticut, at the same time apprising Governor Trumbull of +the preparations being made to take a British armed sloop then lying at +St. John's.</p> + +<p>Ticonderoga had not been many hours in possession of its captors when +Arnold again attempted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>to assume command, as no other officer had +orders to show. But the soldiers refused to serve under him, declaring +that they would go home rather than do so. To settle the question of +authority, the committee issued a written order to Colonel Allen +directing him to keep the command of said garrison for the use of the +American colonies till further orders from the colony of Connecticut or +from the Continental Congress.</p> + +<p>The capture of the English sloop was now undertaken. Arnold, in command +of the schooner taken at Skenesborough and now armed with a few light +guns, and Allen of a batteau, set forth on this enterprise, favored by a +brisk south wind, more propitious to Arnold than to his coadjutor, for +it wafted his schooner so much more swiftly onward that he reached St. +John's, made an easy capture of the larger and more heavily armed sloop, +made prisoners of a sergeant and twelve men, and still favored by the +wind, which now shifted to the north, was well on his way up the lake +with his prize when he met Allen's sluggish craft, some distance south +of St. John's, and saluted him with a discharge of cannon. After +responding with a rattling volley of small arms, Allen and his party +went on board the sloop, and further celebrated the successful issue of +the expedition by toasting Congress and the cause of the colonies in +bumpers furnished forth from the ample stores of his Majesty's navy. The +vessels then pursued their way up the lake, past unfamiliar headlands +and islands whose fringe of dark <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>cedars was now half veiled in the +misty green of the opening deciduous leaves, now sailing in mid-channel +with low shores on either hand, on this La Motte and Grand Isle, on that +the pine-clad plains and Valcour, the scene of Arnold's future desperate +naval fight, and now, when the Isles of the Four Winds and solitary +Wajahose, far astern, hung between lake and sky, they hugged the cleft +promontory of Sobapsqua<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> and the rugged walls of the western shore, +till Bullwagga Bay was opened and the battlements of Crown Point arose +before them and their present voyage ended.</p> + +<p>The Americans now had complete control of the lake, the only armed +vessels afloat upon its waters, and all the forts except St. John's. Yet +for a time a greater value seemed to be attached to the cannon and +stores received than to the military importance of the forts taken. +After the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, more than a month +passed in a wrangle of the commanders for the supremacy, and +dissatisfaction and insubordination of the men, before the garrisons +were effectively strengthened by a force of a thousand men under Colonel +Hinman, who was put in command of the posts by the government of +Connecticut, to which, in the division of affairs, this quarter had been +relegated.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Ethan Allen.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Mott's Journal in Chittenden's <i>Capture of Ticonderoga</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Allen's own accounts of the number do not agree. In his +report to the Albany committee he gives the number of prisoners taken as +one captain and a lieutenant and forty-two men, while in his <i>Narrative</i> +it "consisted of the said commander, a lieutenant, Feltham, a conductor +of artillery, a gunner, two sergeants, and forty-four rank and file." +The first number, given in the report made on the day following the +capture, is probably the correct one.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Goodhue's <i>Hist. of Shoreham</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Ira Allen's <i>History of Vermont</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> "Pass through the Rock," Split Rock.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS IN CANADA.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>On the 23d of June, 1775, the Continental Congress, recognizing the +services of Allen and his associates, voted to pay the men who had been +employed in the taking and garrisoning of Crown Point and Ticonderoga, +and "recommended to the Convention of New York that they, consulting +with General Schuyler, employ in the army to be raised for the defense +of America, those called Green Mountain Boys, under such officers as +said Green Mountain Boys shall choose." With a copy of these +resolutions, and a letter from John Hancock in his official capacity as +President of Congress, Allen and Warner presented themselves before the +convention on the 4th of July. They were admitted in spite of the +opposition of their old enemies, the speculators. Acting upon this +recommendation of Congress, the convention ordered that an independent +body of troops, not exceeding five hundred men including officers, be +forthwith raised of those called Green Mountain Boys, under officers of +their own election.</p> + +<p>When this order, forwarded by General Schuyler, was received in the +Grants, a convention of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>town committees was called, which met at +the house of Mr. Cephas Kent, innholder, in the township of Dorset, on +the 26th of July, and, after electing a chairman and clerk, at once +proceeded to elect the officers of the regiment. Ethan Allen, who had +previously proposed to the New York convention a list of officers in +which his name appeared first, followed next by Warner's, now offered +himself as a candidate for the lieutenant-colonelcy, which was the rank +of the commander. But he received only five votes, while Warner was +given forty-one. As may well be imagined, he was greatly mortified by +the result, which he charged to the old farmers who did not incline to +go to war, while with the young Green Mountain Boys he claimed to be a +favorite.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> Though it seemed like a slight to the acknowledged leader +of the Green Mountain Boys to elect his junior and subordinate to the +command of this regiment, if not an act of calm and dispassionate +judgment, it was one of which future events proved the wisdom; for the +less impetuous but no less brave Warner was the safer commander in +regular military operations. It is noticeable that neither Baker, +Cockran, nor Sunderland, Allen's intimate associates in resistance to +New York, was elected by the Dorset convention, though they were on his +list of proposed captains.</p> + +<p>A copy of the proceedings was forwarded to General Schuyler, with a +letter briefly setting forth that this action had been taken in +compliance with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>orders of Congress and General Schuyler's +recommendation, in no wise acknowledging the authority of New York, but +as independently as other colonies contributing a military force to the +Continental army.</p> + +<p>There were then no more regular troops in Canada than served to garrison +the posts, and the governor, General Carleton, attempted to raise an +army of Canadians and Indians for offensive operations, for the +equipment of which 20,000 stand of arms had been sent from England. But +the habitants had no stomach for fighting, and, though martial law was +proclaimed, refused to arm for the invasion of the southern provinces, +while they declared their willingness to defend their own. The governor +urged the Bishop of Quebec to exercise his ecclesiastical authority to +effect this purpose, but the prelate adroitly excused himself. An +attempt was made, through the influence of the son of the late Sir +William Johnson, to engage the Indians in the contest, but they +prudently declined to take part in it. Of all the Canadians, only the +French <i>noblesse</i> showed any willingness to support the governor, and +they were too few to be of much account.</p> + +<p>The Americans, apprised of these futile attempts, determined to invade +Canada before reinforcements should arrive from England. Two thousand +men were to be raised in New York and New England, and commanded by +Generals Schuyler and Montgomery.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>Among the prizes secured by the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point +was a quantity of materials for boat-building, which now became +available. With ready Yankee aptitude, the soldiers turned their hands +to the construction of batteaux for the transportation of the troops +down the lake, and the surrounding forests rang for many a summer day +with the busy stroke of axe and hammer.</p> + +<p>Montgomery reached Crown Point in August, and upon receiving news that +Carleton was preparing for offensive operations, and had several armed +vessels at St. John's ready to transport his forces up the lake, at once +set forth with what troops had arrived. With sweep and sail, the lazy +flotilla of batteaux was urged down the lake to Isle la Motte, where +Montgomery was joined by Schuyler, who though ill had hastened on from +Albany. They then moved on to Isle aux Noix, and there so disposed their +forces as to prevent the passage of the enemy's vessels. From this point +they issued a proclamation to the Canadians, assuring them that their +army was not in any way directed against them, but against the British, +and inviting them to join in the struggle for liberty.</p> + +<p>Ethan Allen, whose patriotic ardor had not been cooled by his recent +rebuff, had, by invitation of the generals, accompanied them to Isle aux +Noix. He held no commission, but was considered as an officer, and was +upon occasion to be given the command of detachments. He was now +employed, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>with Major Brown and accompanied by interpreters, to +distribute this proclamation among the Canadians, and satisfactorily +performed the duties assigned him. On the 6th of September, the American +army, not more than a thousand strong, advanced toward St. John's, and +landed a mile and a half from the fort. This they found too strong to +warrant an assault, and after a reconnoissance, in which they were +attacked by a party of Indians, and suffered a slight loss while +inflicting a somewhat greater one, they withdrew next morning to the +Isle aux Noix, to await the arrival of artillery and reinforcements. It +was during these operations that the brave Captain Remember Baker was +killed. He was held in great esteem by his friends, and his death, being +the first that occurred in the military operations in this quarter, +created more stir, says Ira Allen, than the death of a thousand later in +the war. Montgomery's reinforcements having arrived, he again moved upon +St. John's on the 17th, and laid siege to the place, but, with his +undisciplined troops and slender supply of ammunition, his progress was +slow. Parties were sent out through the country, and were favorably +received by the Canadians, who contributed men and provisions, the +latter the more valuable contribution.</p> + +<p>At this time, much against his wishes, for he would rather have taken +part in the siege, Ethan Allen was dispatched by Montgomery on a mission +similar to that in which he was previously <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>engaged. With a guard of +about eighty men, mostly Canadians, he passed through the parishes on +the Richelieu and up the St. Lawrence to Longueuil, "preaching +politics," as he says, and meeting "with good success as an itinerant." +On his way thence to La Prairie, he fell in with Major Brown, who was +out on the same errand, and now proposed to Allen that they should +attempt the capture of Montreal. His plan was, that Allen should return +to Longueuil, and, there procuring canoes, cross his men to the island +of Montreal, a little below the town; while Brown, with about 200 men, +should cross above it. Allen readily fell in with it, and, making haste +back to Longueuil, obtained a few boats and collected about thirty +recruits. In the course of the night he got his party across the river, +and, setting a guard between his position and the town, with orders to +let no one pass, awaited the signal which Brown was to give when he had +effected a crossing. Allen waited with growing impatience, while +daylight grew and sunrise came. All the world began to be astir, and yet +Brown made no sign. Unsupported as he now found himself, he was in sorry +plight, and would have recrossed the river, but he had only boats enough +to transport a third of his force at a time, and the attempt would +certainly result in the capture of the other two thirds. He determined +to maintain his ground if possible, and that, in any event, all should +fare alike. He dispatched messengers to Brown at La Prairie, and to +L'Assomption, to a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>Mr. Walker, who was in the interest of the +Americans, urging them to hasten to his aid.</p> + +<p>Montreal was already alarmed, and the governor and his party were +preparing to retire on board the vessels of war, when a spy, who had +escaped from Allen's guards, brought them information of Allen's +condition. Upon this, Carleton marched out to attack the presumptuous +invader, with forty regulars and "a mixed multitude" of Canadians, +English, and Indians, numbering nearly 500, and Allen perceived that it +would be a "day of trouble if not of rebuke."<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> About two o'clock in +the afternoon, the British force began firing from the cover of +woodpiles, ditches, and buildings, Allen's men returning the fusillade +from positions quite as favorable, till near half the enemy began a +flank movement on their right. Observing this, Allen dispatched half his +force, under a volunteer named Dugan, to occupy a ditch on their flank; +but Dugan took the opportunity to escape with his detachment, as did one +Young, posted on the other flank with a small force, and Allen was left +with only forty-five men, some of whom were wounded. He began a hopeless +retreat, which was continued for a while. An officer pressing close upon +the rear fired his gun at Allen, the ball whistling past his head. +Allen's shot in turn missed his enemy, as both were out of breath with +running. Allen now offered to surrender if assured of quarter for +himself and his men, which was promised by this officer. Whereupon +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>Allen gave up his sword and surrendered his party, dwindled to +thirty-eight, seven of whom were wounded. A painted and half-naked +Indian rushed toward them, and within a few yards aimed his gun at +Allen, who, seizing the officer to whom he had delivered his sword, made +a shield of him, and kept him spinning around, as the Indian swiftly +circled about the two, in a vain attempt to fire a shot that should kill +only the Green Mountain Boy. Another Indian then took part in the +attack, and Allen's shrift would have been short, had not an Irishman +and a Canadian come to his rescue. He was then well treated by his +captors, walking to the town between a British officer and a French +gentleman, who, though he had lost an eyebrow in the action, "was very +merry and facetious." But when General Prescott, who throughout the war +never missed an opportunity of exhibiting his brutality, met them at the +barracks and learned that the prisoner was the captor of Ticonderoga, he +showered a torrent of abuse upon him, while he shook his cane over his +head. Allen shook his fist at the general, and told him "that was the +beetle of mortality for him if he offered to strike." An officer +whispered to Prescott that it was inconsistent with his honor to strike +a prisoner. Prescott turned his wrath upon the Canadians, and ordered a +sergeant's guard to kill thirteen of them; and when Allen had somewhat +dramatically but successfully interposed to save their lives, Prescott +roared at him, with an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>oath, "I will not execute you now, but you shall +grace a halter at Tyburn!" By Prescott's orders he was taken on board a +vessel of war and manacled like a common felon, and presently, with +other prisoners, was sent to England. Landing at Falmouth, clad in the +fawn-skin jacket and red woolen cap that he wore when taken, his strange +appearance excited a curiosity that not a little gratified him. From his +capture till he was exchanged in 1778, he suffered on shipboard and in +prison, with brief intervals of kinder treatment, a hard and cruel +captivity, from which he emerged, however, with a spirit unsubdued, and +unswerving loyalty to his country's cause. The attempt upon Montreal has +generally been characterized as rash; yet, if Brown had not, for some +unexplained reason, failed to perform his part in it, it is more than +probable the undertaking would have succeeded. It was one of those +daring enterprises which if successful receive the highest praise, if +unsuccessful are scouted as foolhardy.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the siege of St. John's progressed slowly, principally through +lack of ammunition. But on the 18th of October the fort at Chambly, +further down the river, and garrisoned by about 100 men of the British +Seventh Regiment, surrendered to Majors Brown and Livingston, and among +the most important of its captured stores were 120 barrels of gunpowder, +which enabled Montgomery to push the siege with more vigor. As +gratifying if not as useful was the capture of the colors of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>regiment, the first trophy of the kind received by the Continental +Congress.</p> + +<p>General Carleton was making all possible efforts for the relief of St. +John's, whose garrison of 500 regulars and about 200 other troops was +bravely defending it. He had collected a force of 800 regulars, militia, +and Indians, which he embarked at Montreal, with the design of landing +at Longueuil and joining Colonel McLean at the mouth of the Richelieu, +where that officer was posted with a few hundred Scotch emigrants and +some Canadians. Colonel Seth Warner with 300 Green Mountain Boys was +keeping close watch of Carleton's movements, and when the flotilla drew +near the south shore of the St. Lawrence, the rangers poured upon it a +destructive volley of small-arms and a shower of grapeshot from a +four-pounder. Carleton's force retired in confusion, and when McLean's +Canadians got news of the disaster they took French leave of him, and he +with his Scotchmen retired in haste to Quebec. Left now without hope of +relief, St. John's capitulated on the 3d of November, and a considerable +number of cannon, a quantity of military stores, and 600 prisoners fell +into the hands of the Americans. The prisoners were sent by way of +Ticonderoga into the interior of New England.</p> + +<p>Montgomery now marched to Montreal, which Carleton had secretly quitted +the night before. The inhabitants proposed a capitulation, which +Montgomery refused, as they were incapable of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>making any defense. +Promising them perfect protection of person and property, he marched his +army into the place, and took peaceable possession on the 13th.</p> + +<p>Colonel Easton had been sent with a detachment to the mouth of the +Richelieu, where he erected a battery of two guns, and, being reinforced +by a gunboat from St. John's on the 17th, he captured, as they attempted +to pass on their way to Quebec, eleven sail of armed vessels freighted +with provisions and military stores, and having on board General +Prescott and 120 officers and privates.</p> + +<p>The term of enlistment of Warner's men having now expired, they +presently returned to their homes, not long after to be recalled, with +their leader, in the stress of the Northern winter, by the urgent appeal +of the commander of the army in Canada.</p> + +<p>During the occurrence of these events, Arnold was engaged in his +memorable expedition against Quebec by way of the Kennebec. Arriving at +the mouth of that river on the 20th of September, he set forth with an +army of 1,100 men, embarked in heavy batteaux, to voyage up the wild +stream where hitherto had floated only the light craft of the Indian, +the scout, and the hunter. Battling with dogged persistence against the +angry rush of rapids, and now dragging their bulky craft over portages +of swamp or rugged steeps, they made their slow and weary progress +through the heart of the pitiless wilderness at the rate, at best, of +little more <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>than four miles a day. Through constant strain of toil and +hardship many fell sick, and in the passage of the rapids much of their +provisions was lost, so that the horror of starvation was added to the +heavy measure of their suffering. Men killed and ate their dogs, or +gnawed their shoes and the leather of their cartouch boxes, to allay the +pangs of hunger. When the head of the Kennebec was reached, Colonel +Enos, who was ordered to send back the sick, himself went off with three +companies, a council of his officers having decided that it was +impossible to proceed, for lack of provisions. But Arnold, with his +remaining force, held on his way with desperate determination, and, +coming to the Chaudière, followed it till on the 3d of November they +came to the first house that they had seen for a month, and there +procured some supplies. At Sortigan, the first village reached, they +were kindly received by the Canadians and bountifully supplied with +provisions. A proclamation prepared by Washington was distributed among +the Canadians. It invited them to join the Americans and assured them +protection of person, property, and religion, and was well received by +them. With the aid which these people afforded, Arnold made an easy +march to Point Levi, arriving there on the 9th with about 700 men. +Twenty-four hours passed before his coming was known in Quebec. There +was such dissension among the British inhabitants in consequence of the +opposition of the English merchants to the Quebec Bill, that the city +was in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>no condition for defense. The French citizens had no inclination +to take up arms against the Americans; and had Arnold the means of +transportation across the broad St. Lawrence, it is probable that he +might easily have taken the city. Three days later Colonel McLean +arrived there with 170 of his regiment of Scotch emigrants, and at nine +in the evening of the next day Arnold began embarking his men in canoes. +By four in the morning 500 were landed at Wolfe's Cove, whence they +marched to the Plains of Abraham. When Arnold's landing became known in +the city, sailors were brought on shore from the ships to man the guns +of the fortifications; the loyal citizens became more confident of +making a successful defense, and when Arnold sent a flag with a summons +to surrender, it was fired upon. He was not strong enough to strike; he +could but menace; and when menace failed to intimidate the enemy, there +was nothing for him but to retire. Therefore he withdrew to Pointe aux +Trembles, seven leagues above Quebec, on the left bank of the St. +Lawrence. There, on the 1st of December, he was joined by Montgomery, +who had marched his little force of 300 men with all possible celerity +through the half-frozen mire of roads wretched at best, and in the +blinding snowstorms of a winter already rigorous in that climate. Three +armed schooners had also arrived with ammunition, clothing, and +provisions. On the 5th the little army, less than a thousand strong, +appeared before Quebec, now garrisoned by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>more than 1,500 men of +McLean's regiment, regulars, seamen, marines, and militia. Montgomery +opened an ineffectual fire on the town from two small batteries of +mortar and cannon. An assault was determined upon, and on the last day +of the year, under the thick veil of a downfall of snow, the troops made +the assault in four columns at as many points. The attack of two columns +was a feint against the upper town. Montgomery and Arnold led the actual +assault of the other two against the lower town, and gained some +advantages. Montgomery was killed, and his corps of 200 swept back by a +storm of grape and musket balls poured upon them from the second +barrier. Arnold was carried from the field with a leg shattered in a +successful attack upon a battery, and his column of 300, after a +desperate fight of three hours, was overwhelmed by the whole force of +the British now turned upon it, and it was obliged to surrender.</p> + +<p>The command now devolved upon Arnold, and the troops, reduced to 400, +withdrew three miles from the city, and there maintained a partial +blockade of it.<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> General Wooster, in command at Montreal, sent +expresses to Washington, Schuyler, and Congress, and on the 6th of +January wrote to Colonel Warner urging him to raise and send on the more +readily available Green Mountain Boys, "by tens, twenties, thirties, +forties, or fifties, as fast as they could be collected." The response +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>to his call was prompt. In eleven days Warner mustered his men, and +despite the rigors of the northern winter, whose bitterness they had so +often tasted, they marched in snow and pinching cold to the assistance +of their brethren in Canada, and their alacrity called forth the +approval of Washington and Schuyler.<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></p> + +<p>The offensive operations of the Americans in Canada were thereafter +feeble and ineffectual. Reinforcements had arrived, but smallpox was +raging in the camp, so that when General Thomas took command on the 14th +of May there were less than 900 men fit for duty. In this condition, and +with only three days' provisions remaining, an immediate retreat was +decided upon by a council of war. This became precipitate when three +English ships of war arrived and landed more than a thousand marines and +regulars, and General Carleton marched out with 800 regulars against the +Americans, already in retreat.</p> + +<p>Artillery, stores, and baggage were abandoned, and the troops scattered +in flight, the general being able to collect no more than 300 of them. +By day and night they retreated nearly fifty miles before they halted, +when, being beyond immediate reach of the enemy, they rested a few days +and then marched to Sorel, in sorry plight, worn with disease, fatigue, +and hunger.</p> + +<p>For the most part, the Canadians proved but fair-weather friends, and +gave them little aid now <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>that the fortune of war no longer favored +them. General Thomas died here of smallpox, and General Sullivan took +command. After the cowardly surrender by Major Beadle of his force of +nearly 400 posted at The Cedars, a small fort on the St. Lawrence, to +Captain Foster, with a detachment of 40 regulars, 100 Canadians, and 500 +Indians, without artillery, and the disastrous failure of General +Thompson with 1,800 men to surprise the British advance at Trois +Rivières, all the American troops began a retreat from Canada, where an +army of 13,000 English and German troops were now arrived.</p> + +<p>Arnold, who had been in command at Montreal since the 1st of April, +crossed the St. Lawrence at Longueuil on the 15th of June, and marched +to Chambly, whence the army continued its retreat in good order, first +to Isle aux Noix and then to Crown Point.</p> + +<p>During the withdrawal of the army from Canada, the services of Warner +and his Green Mountain Boys again became conspicuous. Following in the +rear, but little in advance of the pursuing enemy, he was chiefly +employed in gathering up the sick and wounded. Some straggling in the +woods, some sheltered in the garlick-reeking cabins of the least +unfriendly habitants, he succeeded in bringing a great number of them to +Isle aux Noix.</p> + +<p>Thence embarked, in leaky open boats, the wretched invalids voyaged to +Crown Point, their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>misery mocked by the brightness of the June skies, +the beauty of the shores clad in the luxuriant leafage of early summer, +and the glitter of the sunlit waters. The condition of the broken army +gathered at Crown Point was miserable in the extreme. More than half of +the 5,200 men were sick, and those reported fit for duty were weak and +half clad, broken in spirit and discipline. A few were in tents, some in +poor sheds, while the greater part had only the shelter of bush huts. +Colonel Trumbull says: "I did not look into a tent or hut in which I did +not find either a dead or dying man." More than 300 new-made graves +marked the brief tarry of the troops at Crown Point. Those whom Colonel +Warner did not succeed in bringing off, and who fell into General +Carleton's hands, were treated by him with the greatest kindness.</p> + +<p>So closed this unprofitable campaign, in whose prosecution such heroism +had been expended in vain, such valuable lives wasted. Beginning with a +series of successes, it ended in disaster, and was fortunate only in +that it did not achieve the conquest of a province to hold which would +have required the presence of an army that could ill be spared +elsewhere,—a province which was chiefly peopled by a race alien in +language and religion, too abject to strike for its own freedom, and so +priest-ridden and steeped in ignorance that its incorporation with it +could prove but a curse to the young republic.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> <i>Governor and Council</i>, vol. i. p. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Allen's <i>Narrative</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Williams, vol. ii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Hall's <i>Early History of Vermont</i>.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>LAKE CHAMPLAIN.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>General Gates having been appointed to the command of the northern army, +General Sullivan resigned it to him on the 12th of July, receiving the +thanks of his officers and the approval of Congress for the ability with +which he had conducted the retreat.</p> + +<p>In conformity to the decision of a council of war, General Gates +withdrew his troops from Crown Point, where not a cannon was mounted, to +Ticonderoga, and began strengthening the works there and erecting new +ones upon a hill on the opposite side of the lake. While this new work, +a star fort, was in progress, news came of the Declaration of +Independence, and in honor of the event the place was named Mount +Independence. The smallpox patients were removed to a hospital at Fort +George, and the recruits, now coming in considerable numbers, were +assembled at Skenesborough.</p> + +<p>The construction of vessels of war, wherewith to keep control of the +lake, was now entered upon. In spite of the difficulties attending their +construction in a place so remote from all supplies but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>timber, and +that green in the forest, the work was pushed so vigorously that before +the end of August one sloop, three schooners, and five gondolas were +ready for service, mounting fifty-five, twelve, nine, and six pounders +and seventy swivels. These were manned by 395 men, old sea-dogs drifted +to inland waters, and unsalted navigators of lakes and rivers, "a +miserable set," Arnold wrote to Gates. In the latter part of August the +fleet sailed down the lake under the command of Arnold, and, when soon +after reinforced by a cutter, three galleys, and three gunboats, +amounted to fifteen sail.</p> + +<p>At the north end of the lake, the British were as busy in constructing +and assembling a fleet. Six armed vessels, built in England especially +for this service, could not be got over the rapids at Chambly, and were +taken to pieces, transported above this obstruction, and reconstructed. +The largest of these, the Intrepid, was completed in twenty-eight days +from the laying of the keel. Several gondolas,—a sort of long, narrow, +flat-bottomed craft,—thirty longboats, and 400 batteaux were hauled up +the rapids by the amphibious Canadians, with an immense expenditure of +toil and vociferous jabber. By the 1st of October the fleet was ready to +enter the lake, and consisted of the Inflexible, carrying eighteen guns; +the schooners, Maria and Carleton, carrying fourteen and twelve +respectively; and the Thunderer, a floating battery of raft-like +construction, mounting six <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>twenty-fours, as many sixes, and two +howitzers; with a number of gondolas, gunboats, and longboats, each +carrying one gun. It was manned by 700 experienced seamen, and commanded +by Captain Pringle. In opposing this formidable fleet, so vastly +superior in all its appointments, in everything but the bravery of +officers and men, the odds were fearfully against the Americans, but the +intrepid Arnold did not hesitate to accept the chances.</p> + +<p>The sails of the British squadron were whitening the lake beyond +Cumberland Head when Arnold disposed his vessels behind the island of +Valcour, where, screened from sight of the main channel by woods whose +gorgeous leafage was yet unthinned by the frosty touch that painted it, +he awaited the approach of the enemy. Sailing past the island, the +British discovered the little fleet of the Americans, and, conscious of +their own superiority, at once advanced to the attack from the +southward; but the wind, which before had favored them, was now against +them. The flagship Inflexible, and some others of the larger vessels, +could not be brought into action, and the Carleton and the gunboats took +the brunt of the battle.</p> + +<p>For four hours the fierce fight raged, sustained with the utmost bravery +by both combatants. The forests were shaken with the unwonted thunder, +whose roar was heard at Crown Point, forty miles away, and the autumnal +haze grew thick with sulphurous smoke. General Waterbury, commanding +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>the Washington galley, was in the hottest of it, and only brought his +shattered vessel out of the fight when all but two of his officers were +killed or wounded. One of the American schooners was burnt, a gondola +sunk, and several other vessels much injured; while the British had two +gondolas sunk, and one blown up with sixty men on board. Toward +nightfall, Captain Pringle withdrew the vessels engaged, and anchored +his whole fleet across the channel to prevent the escape of the +Americans. Escape was all that Arnold hoped for now, and in the darkness +of night he silently got his vessels around the north end of +Valcour,<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> and, making all speed southward, was out of sight of his +enemy when daylight came.</p> + +<p>The British gave chase, and overtaking the Americans at Split Rock, +about noon of the 13th, at once began firing on them. The sorely +crippled Washington was forced to strike her colors after receiving a +few broadsides. Arnold fought his flagship, the Congress galley, with +desperate courage, while, within musket-shot, the Inflexible poured +broadsides into her, and two schooners raked her from astern. He +effectually covered the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>retreat of his escaping vessels with the +Congress and four gondolas, and then ran ashore in the shoal head of a +little bay on the eastern side of the lake. He set fire to the vessels, +and keeping his flag flying on the Congress, which he did not quit till +she was enveloped in flames, got all his men landed but one wounded +lieutenant, who, forgotten in the confusion, was blown up with his +vessel. Of the American fleet, only two galleys, two schooners, a sloop, +and gondola had escaped; and toward Ticonderoga, whither these had fled, +Arnold retreated with his stranded crews, barely escaping an Indian +ambuscade. Joined by the few and now defenseless settlers, they toiled +along the rough forest road, behind them rolling the irregular boom of +the cannon, exploding as the fire heated them, and at intervals the +thunder of a bursting magazine. Throughout that long, unequal combat, as +in many another in the same good cause, Arnold bore himself with cool, +intrepid valor, still preserved by an unkind fate from honorable death +to achieve everlasting infamy. The land-locked bay, where may yet be +seen the oaken skeletons of his brave little craft,<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> bears his name, +nowhere else honorably commemorated in all his native land.</p> + +<p>General Carleton, who accompanied the British fleet, gave orders that +the prisoners taken should <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>be treated with the greatest kindness. He +himself praised their bravery, and sent them home on parole. By this +politic course he so won their esteem, that it was deemed impolitic to +permit them to mingle with the troops at Ticonderoga, and they were sent +on to Skenesborough.</p> + +<p>Following close on the heels of the victorious fleet came the swarming +transports bearing General Carleton's army, with the intention of moving +at once upon Ticonderoga. Crown Point was no longer an obstacle, for +when news of the disaster of their fleet was brought to that post, the +Americans set fire to the place, destroyed everything that could not be +removed, and withdrew to the main army holding Ticonderoga. But the +wind, which had been a fickle ally of the English since they began this +invasion, again turned against them from the south on the 14th, and held +stiffly in that quarter for eight days. General Carleton's transports +could make no headway against it up the narrow waterway, and he was +obliged to land his forces at Crown Point. Thence he sent reconnoitring +parties on both sides of the lake toward Ticonderoga, and some vessels +up the channel, sounding it within cannon-shot of the fort.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Gates's army made most of the time given by the kindly +autumnal gale. The works were strengthened and surrounded by an abatis. +In these eight days, carriages were built for forty-seven pieces of +cannon and the guns mounted; while reinforcements that came in, and sick +men <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>recovered, swelled the army to 1,200 strong. Carleton's opportunity +for an easy conquest of Ticonderoga was past, and his reconnoissances +gave him no encouragement to attempt an assault. Therefore, after +tarrying at the fire-scathed fortress till past the middle of November, +when the wild geese were flying southward over the gray and desolate +forests, and the herbage of the clearings was seared by the touch of +many frosts, he reëmbarked his army and returned to Canada. General +Gates at once dismissed the militia, active military operations ceased +in this quarter, and the northern armies of America and Great Britain +began their hibernation.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> There are conflicting statements concerning Arnold's +course in eluding the British fleet. According to some authorities he +slipped directly through the enemy's line under cover of thick darkness; +others state circumstantially that he escaped around the north end of +Valcour, and this unobstructed course certainly seems the one which +would naturally be taken, instead of attempting the almost impossible +feat of passing through a fleet that guarded the channel, barely half a +mile in width.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Years afterward, a brass gun was raised from one of these +wrecks, and played its part in gaining the naval victory at +Plattsburgh.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>VERMONT AN INDEPENDENT COMMONWEALTH.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>At the beginning of the Revolution, the people of the New Hampshire +Grants were without a regular form of government, for the greater part +of them had long refused to submit to the jurisdiction of the royal +government of New York, and were now as little disposed to compromise +their asserted rights by acknowledging the authority of that province +when it had taken its place among the United Colonies in revolt against +Great Britain. Such government as existed was vested in Committees of +Safety, but these, whether of greater or lesser scope, were without +recognized power to enforce their decrees upon the respectable minority +which still adhered to New York.</p> + +<p>Under these circumstances a convention, warned by the Committee of +Safety of Arlington, met at Dorset, January 16, 1776, at the "house of +Cephas Kent, innholder." Persons were appointed to represent the case of +the Grants before Congress by a "Remonstrance and Petition." This stated +that inhabitants of the Grants were willing, as heretofore, to do all in +their power for the common cause, but were not willing to act under the +authority of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>New York, lest it might be deemed an acknowledgment of its +claims and prejudicial to their own, and desired to perform military +service as inhabitants of the Grants instead of New York.</p> + +<p>Upon the return of Heman Allen, who duly presented the memorial to +Congress, a second convention was held in July at the same place, +thirty-two towns being represented by forty-nine delegates. Allen +reported that Congress, after hearing their petition, ordered it to lie +upon the table for further consideration, but that he withdrew it, lest +the opposing New York delegates should bring the matter to final +decision when no delegate from the Grants was present. Several members +of Congress and other gentlemen, in private conversation, advised the +people of the Grants to do their utmost to repel invasions of the enemy, +but by no means to act under the authority of New York; while the +committee of Congress to whom the matter was referred, while urging them +to the same exertions, advised them, for the present, to submit to New +York, saying this submission ought not to prejudice their right to the +lands in question.</p> + +<p>The convention resolved at once "That Application be made to the +Inhabitants of said Grants, to form the same into a separate District." +The convention laconically declared that "the Spirited Conflict," which +had so long continued between the Grants and New York, rendered it +"inconvenient in many respects to associate with that province." But, to +prove their readiness to join in the common <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>defense of America, they, +with one exception only, subscribed to the following association: "We +the subscribers inhabitants of that District of Land, commonly called +and known by the name of the New Hampshire Grants, do voluntarily and +Solemnly Engage under all the ties held sacred amongst Mankind at the +Risque of our Lives and fortunes to Defend, by arms, the United American +States against the Hostile attempts of the British Fleets and Armies, +until the present unhappy Controversy between the two Countries shall be +settled."</p> + +<p>The convention invited all the inhabitants to subscribe to this +"Association," and resolved that any who should unite with a similar one +under the authority of New York should be deemed an enemy to the cause +of the Grants. Persons were appointed to procure the signature of every +male inhabitant of sixteen years upwards, both on the east and west +sides of the Green Mountains. Thus the convention took the first formal +steps toward severing the connection with New York, and uniting all the +towns within the Grants in a common league.</p> + +<p>Only one town on the east side of the mountains was represented in this +meeting; but pains were taken to confer with those inhabitants, and at +the adjourned session, in September, ten eastern towns were represented. +At this session it was voted that the inhabitants should be governed by +the resolves of this or a similar convention "not repugnant to the +resolves of Congress," and that in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>future no law or direction received +from New York should be accepted or obeyed. The power was assumed of +regulating the militia, and furnishing troops for the common defense. +For the especial safe-keeping of Tories, a jail was ordered to be built +at Manchester. It was to be constructed with double walls of logs, +eighteen inches apart, the space to be filled with earth to the height +of seven feet, "floored with logs double." The convention appointed a +"Committee of War," vested with power to call out the militia for the +defense of the Grants or any part of the continent. Fines were exacted +from every officer and private who should not comply with the orders of +the convention; and each non-commissioned officer and private was +required to "provide himself with a suitable gun and one pound of +powder, four pounds of bullets fit for his gun, six flints, a powder +horn, cartouch box or bullet pouch, a sword, bayonet, or tomahawk."</p> + +<p>The convention adjourned to meet at Westminster on the 30th of October. +When that day arrived, the country was in great alarm from the disaster +to the American fleet on Lake Champlain, and Carleton's advance toward +Ticonderoga. The militia was hurrying to the defense of that fortress, +and many delegates were kept at home by the impending need of protection +for their families. Owing to these circumstances, the few who met could +not be informed of the minds of the people, and it adjourned to the 15th +of January, 1777. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>During this interim, the popular sentiment had so +rapidly ripened for the proposed separation that, when the convention +met, little time was spent in debate before the adoption of a +Declaration of the Independence of the New Hampshire Grants. As revised +for publication it is as follows: "We will at all times hereafter, +consider ourselves as a free and independent state, capable of +regulating our internal police in all and every respect whatsoever, and +that the people on said Grants have the sole and exclusive and inherent +right of ruling and governing themselves in such manner and form as in +their own wisdom they shall think proper, not inconsistent or repugnant +to any resolve of the Honorable Continental Congress.</p> + +<p>"Furthermore, we declare by all the ties which are held sacred among +men, that we will firmly stand by and support one another in this our +declaration of a State, and in endeavoring as much as in us lies to +suppress all unlawful routs and disturbances whatever. Also we will +endeavor to secure to every individual his life, peace, and property +against all unlawful invaders of the same.</p> + +<p>"Lastly, we hereby declare, that we are at all times ready, in +conjunction with our brethren in the United States of America, to do our +full proportion in maintaining and supporting the just war against the +tyrannical invasions of the ministerial fleets and armies, as well as +any other foreign enemies, sent with express purpose to murder our +fellow brethren and with fire and sword to ravage our defenseless +country.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>"The said State hereafter to be called by the name of New Connecticut."</p> + +<p>This bold and decisive act, by which a free and independent commonwealth +was erected, was with eminent fitness consummated in the court-house at +Westminster, a place already consecrated to the cause of liberty by the +blood of William French, who, less than two years before, had fallen +there in defense of the people's rights.</p> + +<p>A "Declaration and Petition," announcing the step taken and asking that +the new State might be "ranked among the free and independent American +States," was prepared and sent to Congress. The action of the people of +the Grants was received in a not unfriendly spirit by the New England +States; but New York at once made an earnest protest to Congress against +it, and demanded the recall of the commission of Colonel Warner +authorizing him to raise a continental regiment in the disaffected +district, emphasizing the demand by reminding Congress of Warner's +outlawry by the "late government." Considering the attitude of Congress +and all the colonies toward the royal source of the "late government" of +New York, this seems an absurd argument for the recall of Warner's +commission. Fortunately for the cause which that brave officer so +faithfully and efficiently served, the insolent demand was not complied +with.</p> + +<p>The adjourned convention met at Windsor in June with seventy-two +delegates from fifty towns. One of their earliest transactions was to +relieve the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>young State from the ridiculous name which was first +bestowed upon it. It was discovered that a district lying on the +Susquehanna was already known as New Connecticut, whereupon the +convention rechristened the infant State "Vermont." This most befitting +name was suggested by Dr. Thomas Young of Philadelphia, a firm friend of +the defenders of the Grants. In the previous April he had addressed a +circular letter to them, advising them to act in accordance with a +resolution of Congress passed in May, 1776, which recommended to the +respective assemblies of the United Colonies, where no sufficient +government had been established, to adopt such government as should +appear to the representatives of the people most conducive to the +happiness and safety of their constituents. He advised a general +convention of delegates from all the towns to form a Constitution for +the State, to choose a Committee of Safety, and also delegates to +Congress, declaring Congress could not refuse to admit their delegates. +"You have," said he, "as good a right to say how you will be governed, +and by whom, as they had." Dr. Young's letter called forth another +earnest protest from New York to Congress, and that body declared that +the action of the people of the Grants was not countenanced by any of +its acts. The petition of Vermont was dismissed, the commission of +Warner apologized for, and Dr. Young censured for a "gross +misrepresentation of the resolution of Congress" referred to in his +letter. Dr. Young <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>recommended to the new commonwealth, as a model for a +Constitution, that of Pennsylvania, an instrument whose essential +features originated in Penn's "Frame of Government" of that province. +His advice was followed, and a very similar Constitution was adopted +early in July, 1777.</p> + +<p>When, for this purpose, after a short adjournment, the convention met at +the Windsor meeting-house, all Vermont was in alarm at the British +invasion which was sweeping upon its western border. Almost at first the +attention of the delegates was called to the impending peril of +Ticonderoga by an appeal for aid from Colonel Warner. This was at once +forwarded to the Assembly of New Hampshire, and such measures as seemed +best, which elicited the warm thanks of General St. Clair, were taken by +the convention for the relief of the threatened fortress. Some of the +members, among whom was the president, the patriotic Joseph Bowker of +Rutland, whose families were in exposed situations, were now anxious for +an adjournment; but a furious thunder-storm came roaring up the +Connecticut valley, and the storm-bound convention took up its appointed +work, reading and adopting, one by one, the articles of the Constitution +amid the turmoil of the tempest.</p> + +<p>To the first section of the declaration of rights, which announced that +"glittering generality," the natural rights of man to life, liberty, and +the pursuit of happiness, this specific clause was added: "Therefore no +male person born in this country, or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>brought from over sea, ought to be +holden by law to serve any person as a servant, slave, or apprentice +after he arrives to the age of twenty-one years, nor female in like +manner after she arrives to the age of eighteen years, unless they are +bound by their own consent after they arrive to such age, or bound by +law for the payment of debts, damages, fines, costs, or the like."</p> + +<p>"Vermont was thus the first of the States to prohibit slavery by +constitutional provision, a fact of which Vermonters may well be proud," +says Hiland Hall in his "Early History."</p> + +<p>Religious freedom, freedom of speech and of the press, were also +established. The form of government was thoroughly democratic. Every man +of the full age of twenty-one years, who had resided in the State for +one year, was given the elective franchise, and was eligible to any +office in the State. The legislative power was vested in a single +assembly of members chosen annually by ballot. Each town was to have one +representative, and towns having more than eighty taxable inhabitants +were entitled to two. The executive authority was in a governor, +lieutenant-governor, and twelve councillors, elected annually by all the +freemen in the State. They had no negative power, but it was provided +that "all bills of a public nature should be laid before them, for their +perusal and proposals of amendment," before they were finally debated in +the General Assembly. Such bills were to be printed for the information +of the people, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>not to be enacted into laws until the next session +of the assembly. "Temporary acts" in cases of "sudden emergency" might, +however, be passed without this delay. Compliance with this article was +found so difficult that nearly all laws were treated as temporary, and +declared permanent at the next session. Bills could originate in the +council as well as in the house of assembly; and in cases of +disagreement between the two bodies upon any measure, it was usually +discussed in grand committee composed of both, the governor presiding. +The final disposition of a measure was according to the pleasure of the +house, but the advisory power of the governor and council was a strong +check upon hasty legislation. In 1786 the provision for printing and +postponing the passage of laws was expunged, and the governor and +council were authorized to suspend the operation of a bill until the +next session of the legislature, when, to become a law, it must again be +passed by the assembly. Judges of inferior courts, sheriffs, justices of +the peace, and judges of probate were elected by the freemen of the +respective counties, to hold office during good behavior, removable by +the assembly on proof of maladministration. The mode of choosing judges +of superior courts was left to the discretion of the legislature, and +they were elected annually by joint ballot of the council and assembly. +When the Constitution was revised in 1786, it was provided that county +officers should be annually chosen in the same manner.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>The Constitution provided for an election, by the freemen of the State, +of a Council of Censors, consisting of thirteen members, first to be +chosen on the last Wednesday of March, 1785, and thereafter on the same +day in every seventh year. It was the duty of this body to inquire +whether the Constitution had been preserved inviolate, and whether the +legislature and executive branches of government had performed their +duty as guardians of the people, or had assumed greater powers than they +were constitutionally entitled to. They were to inquire whether public +taxes had been justly laid and collected, in what manner the public +moneys had been disposed of, and whether the laws had been duly +executed. The council was also empowered to call a convention, to meet +within two years after their sitting, if there appeared to them an +absolute necessity of any change in the Constitution, the proposed +changes to be promulgated at least six months before the election of +such convention, for the previous consideration of the people. This +provision of the Constitution, though useless if no worse, was +nevertheless a great favorite of the people of Vermont, and remained a +prominent and unique feature of that instrument till 1870, when it was +abrogated by the last convention called by a Council of Censors.</p> + +<p>"This frame of government," writes Hiland Hall of the early +Constitution, "continued in operation long after the State had become a +member of the Federal Union, furnishing the people with as much +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>security for their persons and property as was enjoyed by those of +other States, and allowing to each individual citizen all the liberty +which was consistent with the welfare of others."</p> + +<p>Such are the main features of the Vermont Constitution established by +the Windsor convention. An election of state officers was ordered to be +held in the ensuing December, to be followed by a meeting of the +legislature in January, and a Council of Safety was appointed to manage +the affairs of the State during the intervening time.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>TICONDEROGA; HUBBARDTON.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Notwithstanding all that Sir Guy Carleton had accomplished in driving +the American army from Canada, and regaining control of Lake Champlain +as far as Ticonderoga, his management of the campaigns had not fully +satisfied the ministry. He was blamed for dismissing his Indian allies +when he found it impossible to prevent their killing and scalping of +prisoners; and he was blamed that, with a well-appointed army of +invincible Britons, he had not in one campaign utterly destroyed or +dispersed the rabble rout of colonial rebels. Consequently the command +of the army in Canada, designed for offensive operations, was given to +Sir John Burgoyne, a court favorite; while Carleton, the far abler +general, was left in command only of the 3,700 troops reserved for the +defense of the province.</p> + +<p>In June, Burgoyne's army of more than 7,000 regular troops embarked at +St. John's, and made undisputed progress up the lake to the mouth of the +Bouquet. Here it encamped on the deserted estate of William Gilliland, +who had bought an immense tract in this region and made a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>settlement at +the falls of the Bouquet in 1765, but was obliged to abandon it during +the war. At this place the Indians were assembled, Iroquois and +Waubanakees gathered under one banner, and alike hungry for scalps and +plunder. Burgoyne addressed them in a grandiloquent speech, modeled in +the supposed style of aboriginal eloquence, exhorting them to deeds of +valor, to be tempered with a humanity impossible to the savages, and was +briefly answered by an old chief of the Iroquois.</p> + +<p>Moving forward to Crown Point, the army briefly rested there before +advancing upon Ticonderoga. The general issued a proclamation to the +inhabitants, inviting all who would to join him, and offering protection +to such as remained quietly at their homes, and in no way obstructed the +operations of his army, or assisted his enemies; while those who did not +accept his clemency were threatened with the horrors of Indian warfare. +Having delivered himself of speech and proclamation, Burgoyne continued +his advance on Ticonderoga.</p> + +<p>The post was not in the best condition for defense, as General Schuyler, +now commanding the Northern Department, discovered when visiting it +while Burgoyne was airing his eloquence at the Bouquet. The old French +lines had been somewhat strengthened, and block-houses built on the +right and left of them. More labor had been expended on the defenses of +Mount Independence, a water battery erected at the fort, and another +battery <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>half way up the declivity. Communication between the forts was +maintained by a bridge thrown across the lake, consisting of twenty-two +piers, connected by floats fifty feet long and twenty wide. On the lower +side, this bridge was protected by a boom of immense timbers fastened +together by double chains of inch and a half square iron. To garrison +these extensive works, General St. Clair, now the commander of +Ticonderoga, had but few more than 2,500 Continental troops, and 900 +poorly armed and equipped militia. He had been unwilling to call in more +of the militia, for fear of a failure of supplies.</p> + +<p>But a danger more potent than the weakness of the garrison lurked in the +silent heights of Sugar Loaf Hill, now better known as Mount Defiance, +that, westward from Ticonderoga, and overlooking it and all its +outworks, bars the horizon with rugged steeps of rock and sharp incline +of woodland. Colonel John Trumbull, of Revolutionary and artistic fame, +had suggested to General Gates the advisability of fortifying it, saying +that it commanded both Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. The idea was +ridiculed, and he obtained leave to test the truth of his assertion. A +shot from a twelve-pounder on Mount Independence struck half way up the +mountain, and a six-pound shot fired from the glacis of Ticonderoga +struck near the summit. Yet the Americans did not occupy it then, nor +now, though a consultation was held concerning it. It was decided that +there were not men enough <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>to spare for the purpose from the +fortifications already established. St. Clair hoped, moreover, that +Burgoyne would choose rather to assault than besiege his position, and +an assault he thought he might successfully repel.</p> + +<p>The General Convention now sitting at Windsor sent Colonel Mead, James +Mead, Ira Allen, and Captain Salisbury to consult with the commander of +Ticonderoga on the defense of the frontier. While this committee was +there, General Burgoyne advanced up the lake, and during his stay at +Crown Point sent a force of 300, most of whom were Indians, to the mouth +of Otter Creek to raid upon the settlers. The committee was refused any +troops for the defense of the frontiers, but Colonel Warner was allowed +to go with them, and presently raised men enough to repel this invasion.</p> + +<p>On the 1st of July Warner wrote from Rutland to the convention that the +enemy had come up the lake with seventeen or eighteen gunboats, two +large ships, and other craft, and an attack was expected every hour; +that he was ordered to call out the militia of Vermont, Massachusetts, +and New Hampshire, to join him as soon as possible, and desired them to +call out the militia on the east side of the mountain, and to send forty +or fifty head of beef cattle for Ticonderoga. "I shall be glad," he +writes in conclusion, "if a few hills of corn unhoed should not be a +motive sufficient to detain men at home, considering the loss of such an +important post might be irretrievable." In <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>view of the impending +invasion of the British, the convention appointed a day of fasting and +prayer, but this pious measure had no apparent effect on the movements +of the enemy, and Burgoyne continued to advance.</p> + +<p>His army moved forward on either side of the lake, the war-craft to an +anchorage just out of range of the guns of Ticonderoga and Mount +Independence. The Americans abandoned and set on fire the block-houses +and sawmills towards Lake George, with which the communications were now +cut off.</p> + +<p>On the 2d of July a British force of 500, commanded by Frazier, attacked +and drove in the American pickets, and, the right wing moving up, took +possession of Mount Hope. St. Clair expected an assault, and ordered his +men to conceal themselves behind the breastworks, and reserve their +fire. Frazier's force, not perceiving the position of the Americans, +screened as it was by bushes, continued to advance till an American +soldier fired his musket, when the whole line delivered a random volley, +followed by a thunderous discharge of artillery, all without orders, and +without effect but to kill one of the assailants, and raise a cloud of +smoke that hung in the hot, breathless air till the assailants had +escaped behind it out of range.</p> + +<p>The possibilities of Mount Defiance had not escaped the eyes of the +British engineers, and they were at once accepted. General Phillips set +himself to the task of making a road up the rocky declivities, over +which heavy siege guns were already <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>being hauled. When, on the morning +of the 5th of July, the sun's first rays shot far above the shadowed +valley, they lighted to a ruddier glow the scarlet uniforms of a swarm +of British soldiers on the bald summit, busy in the construction of a +battery.</p> + +<p>St. Clair called a council of his officers, and it was decided that it +was impossible to hold the place, and the only safety of the army was in +immediate evacuation. This was undertaken that night. The baggage, +stores, and all the artillery that could be got away, embarked on 200 +batteaux, set forth for Skenesborough under the convoy of five galleys. +The main army was to march to Castleton, and thence to Skenesborough. At +two o'clock on the morning of the 6th of July, St. Clair moved out of +Ticonderoga. Sorrowfully the Green Mountain Boys relinquished, with +almost as little bloodshed as two years before they had gained it, the +fortress that guarded the frontier of their country.</p> + +<p>The troops fled across the bridge in silence to the eastern shore, and +an hour later the garrison of Mount Independence began moving out. So +far, the doleful work of evacuation had progressed with such secrecy +that the British were unaware of any movement. Just then a French +officer of the garrison, zealous to destroy what he could not save, set +fire to his house. The sun-dried wooden structure was ablaze in an +instant, lighting up with a lurid glare all the works of the place, the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>hurrying troops, the forest border with ghastly ranks of towering +tree-trunks, the bridge still undulating with the tread of just-departed +marching columns, and the slow throb of waves pulsing across the empty +anchorage and breaking against deserted shores.</p> + +<p>All was revealed to the British on the heights of Mount Defiance, and +this sudden discovery of their movements threw the Americans into great +confusion, many hurrying away in disorderly retreat. But about four +o'clock Colonel Francis of Massachusetts brought off the rear in good +order, and some of the other regiments were soon recovered from the +panic into which they had fallen.</p> + +<p>At Hubbardton the army halted for a rest of two hours, during which time +many stragglers came in, then St. Clair with the main body pressed on to +Castleton, six miles distant. On that same day Hubbardton had already +been raided by Captain Sherwood and a party of Indians and Tories. Of +the nine families that composed the entire population of the town, most +of the men had been taken prisoners, and the defenseless women and +children left to whatever fate might befall them in their plundered +homes, or to make their forlorn way through the wilderness to the +shelter of the older settlements. To Warner was again committed the +covering of a retreat. He was here put in command of the rear-guard, +consisting of his own, Francis's, and Hale's regiments, with orders to +remain till all stragglers should have come in, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>then follow a mile +and a half in the rear of the main army.</p> + +<p>When the retreat of the Americans was discovered, General Frazier set +forth in hot pursuit with his brigade, presently followed by General +Riedesel with the greater part of the Brunswickers. Frazier kept his +force on the march all through the hot summer day, in burning sunshine +and breathless shade of the woods till nightfall, when, learning that +the American rear was not far in advance, he ordered a halt till +morning. Pushing forward again at daybreak, he came up with his enemy at +five o'clock, and advanced to within sixty yards of the American line of +battle, formed across the road and in the adjacent fields. Colonel Hale +of New Hampshire, with Falstaffian valor, had prudently withdrawn his +regiment, leaving Warner and Francis with not more than 800 men, to bear +the brunt of the impending battle.</p> + +<p>The action began at seven with a volley delivered by these two regiments +upon the British, who returned it as hotly. The men of the Massachusetts +border and the mountaineers of Vermont had no lead to waste in aimless +firing, and held rifle and musket straight on the advancing columns of +the enemy. Trained to cut off a partridge's head with a single ball at +thirty yards, they did not often miss the burly form of a Briton at +twice the distance, and their volleys made frightful gaps in the scarlet +line. It wavered and broke. Warner and Francis cheered on their men, +Francis still <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>leading his regiment after a ball had struck him in the +right arm. The British line closed up, and charged upon the Americans, +throwing them into disorder till Warner rallied them, and checked the +British advance. While the fluctuating chances of the fight favored the +Americans, Francis fell, pierced by a bullet in the breast, and, seeing +him fall, his men faltered and began to retreat. When Warner saw them +scattering in disorderly flight, he was overcome with wrath. He dropped +upon a log, and poured forth a storm of curses upon the fugitives.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> +But it did not stop them, nor, if it had, would it have availed to avert +defeat. Riedesel came up with his Brunswickers, who had toiled onward in +the burning heat for nine hours as bravely as if they were conquering +the country for themselves. They at once engaged in the action, and the +Americans were everywhere routed, fleeing across a little brook, and +scattering in the shelter of the woods beyond it.</p> + +<p>Collecting most of his regiment, with his accustomed cool intrepidity, +Warner retreated to Castleton. The others made their way to Fort Edward. +Hale in his retreat had fallen in with a small detachment of the enemy, +to which he surrendered with a number of his regiment without firing a +shot. Learning that he was charged with cowardice, he asked to be +exchanged, that he might have an opportunity to disprove the charge, but +he died while a prisoner on Long Island. St. Clair sent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>no assistance +to his friends. Writing to General Schuyler of the affair, he said, "The +rear-guard stopped rather imprudently six miles short of the main body," +when in fact Warner remained at Hubbardton as ordered, while St. Clair +himself advanced beyond supporting distance.</p> + +<p>In this first battle of the Revolution on Vermont soil, the Americans +lost Francis, an officer whose bravery was acknowledged by friend and +foe, and whose early death was mourned by both. In killed, wounded, and +prisoners, their loss was 324. The loss of the British force,—about +2,000 strong,—in killed and wounded, was not less than 183. Ethan +Allen, in his narrative, sets the enemy's loss, as learned from +confessions of their own officers, at 300. Among these was the brave +Major Grant, who, while reconnoitring the position of the Americans from +the top of a stump, was picked off by a Yankee rifleman. "I heard them +likewise complain that the Green Mountain Boys took sight," Allen tells +us.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Burgoyne was busy on the lake. By nine o'clock on the morning +of the evacuation, the unfinished boom and the bridge were cut asunder; +the gunboats and the two frigates passed these obstructions, and, with +several regiments on board, went up the channel in rapid pursuit of the +American vessels. At three in the afternoon the gunboats got within +range of the galleys, not far from Skenesborough, and opened fire upon +them. This was returned with some warmth till the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>frigates were brought +into action, when the galleys were abandoned, three were blown up, and +the other two fell into the hands of the enemy. Having neither the men +nor defenses here to offer any effectual opposition, the Americans set +fire to the fort, mills, and batteaux, and fled up Wood Creek toward +Fort Anne. They were pursued by Colonel Hill with the Ninth British +Regiment, upon whom they turned, and attacked furiously in front with +part of their force, while the other was sent to assail his rear. Hill +withdrew to an eminence, whither the attack followed so hotly that his +complete defeat seemed almost certain, when a large party of Indians +came up. They made the woods ring with the terrible warwhoop, which the +British answered with three lusty cheers, and the uproar of rejoicing +convinced the Americans that a strong reinforcement was at hand; +whereupon they drew off, and, again marking the course of their retreat +with conflagration by setting fire to Fort Anne, retired to Fort Edward. +On the 12th, here also St. Clair joined the main army under Schuyler, +after a weary march over wretched roads.</p> + +<p>England was exultant over the fall of famous Ticonderoga. The king +rushed into the queen's apartments, shouting, "I have beaten them! I +have beaten all the Americans!" and such was the universal feeling in +the mother country. In America was as universal consternation, which +only found relief in storms of abuse poured upon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>St. Clair and upon +Schuyler, who, as commander of the northern army, received his full +share of blame, though both had done the best their circumstances +permitted.</p> + +<p>Yet it proved not such a disaster to the Americans, nor such an +advantage to the British, as it then appeared to each. Burgoyne was +obliged to weaken his army by leaving an eighth of it to garrison a post +that proved to be of no especial value to him, when, after a rapid and +an almost unopposed advance to the head of the lake, he began to +encounter serious hindrances to his progress.</p> + +<p>For some days he continued at Skenesborough, and issued thence a second +proclamation to the people of the Grants, offering to those who should +meet Colonel Skene at Castleton "terms by which the disobedient may yet +be spared." Schuyler addressed a counter proclamation to the same +people, warning them that, if they made terms with the enemy, they would +be treated as traitors; and he continually urged them to remove all +cattle and carriages beyond reach of the enemy.</p> + +<p>Schuyler had two brigades of militia and Continentals busily employed in +destroying bridges, and obstructing roads by felling huge trees across +them, and, in all ways that expert axemen and woodsmen could devise, +making difficult the passage of an army. Having accomplished this, +Schuyler abandoned Fort Edward, which was in no condition for defense, +and fell back to Stillwater, thirty miles above Albany.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>When Burgoyne began to advance toward Fort Edward, his progress was +slow and tedious. The obstructed channel of Wood Creek was cleared to +Fort Anne, roads cleared and repaired, and forty bridges rebuilt, +before, at the snail's pace of a mile in twenty-four hours, he reached +Fort Edward. When, on the 30th of July, he established his headquarters +here on the Hudson, there was great rejoicing in his army; for now it +was thought all serious obstacles were past, and the safe and easy path +to Albany lay open before them.</p> + +<p>The fall of Ticonderoga and the almost unchecked invasion of their +country created a panic among the settlers of western Vermont. +Burgoyne's threat of turning loose his Indian allies upon the obdurate +incensed most and alarmed all who were exposed to the horrors of such +cruel warfare. A few half-hearted Whigs, who became known as +Protectioners,—a name but little less opprobrious than Tory,—availed +themselves of his proffered clemency, and sought the protection of his +army; and a few Tories seized the opportunity now offered to take the +side to which they had always inclined.</p> + +<p>All the farms in the exposed region were abandoned, the owners carrying +away such of their effects as could be hastily removed on horseback and +in their few carts and wagons, and, driving their stock before them, +hurried toward a place of refuge. The main highways leading +southward—at fords, bridges, and the almost impassable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>mudholes that +were common to the new-country roads—were choked with horsemen, +footmen, lumbering vehicles heavily laden with women, children, and +house-gear, and with struggling and straying flocks and herds.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Chipman's <i>Life of Warner</i>.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>BENNINGTON.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>When the convention adjourned at Windsor, July 8, 1877, Ticonderoga had +fallen; Burgoyne's splendid army was advancing along the western border +of Vermont; Warner had made his brave but ineffectual stand at +Hubbardton, and was now with the remnant of his regiment at Manchester.</p> + +<p>Hither the Council of Safety at once proceeded, and, with Thomas +Chittenden as its president, began its important labors. It issued a +call to all officers of militia to send on all the men they could +possibly raise, as they had learned that a "large Scout of the Enemy are +disposed to take a Tour to this Post," and their aim seemed to be the +Continental stores at Bennington. On the same day, Ira Allen, as +secretary, sent the alarming news to General Schuyler, with an appeal +for aid; but Schuyler, as a Continental officer, declined to "notice a +fourteenth State unknown to the Confederacy," and could send no men but +the militia under Colonel Simmonds, whom he had ordered to join Colonel +Warner at Manchester.</p> + +<p>Allen also wrote to the New Hampshire Council of Safety for assistance +in making a stand against <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>the enemy in Vermont, which might as well be +made there as in New Hampshire; for, "notwithstanding its infancy, the +State was as well supplied with provisions for victualling an army as +any country on the continent." Meshech Weare, president of that State, +replied that New Hampshire had already determined to send assistance, +and one fourth of her militia was to be formed into three battalions, +under command of Brigadier-General John Stark, and sent forthwith into +Vermont. President Weare requested the Convention of Vermont to send +some suitable person to Number Four, to confer with General Stark as to +the route and disposition of the troops; and two trusty persons were +accordingly sent by Colonel Warner. On the 19th, Stark received his +orders to repair to Number Four, and take command of the force there +mustering. Influenced by a miserable spirit of jealousy or favoritism, +Congress had slighted this veteran of the late war, passing over him in +the list of promotions. Resenting such injustice, he went home, but was +now ready to unsheathe his sword in the service of his State, though he +refused to act under Continental officers.</p> + +<p>Ira Allen, the secretary and youngest member of the Vermont Council, +strongly advocated the raising of a regiment for the defense of the +State, while the majority could not see the way clear to raise more than +two companies of sixty men each; nor could they, in the unorganized +condition of the new State, a third of whose inhabitants were in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>confusion of an exodus, see how more than this meagre force could be +maintained, and the day was spent in fruitless discussion of the vexed +question. At last a member moved that Allen be requested to devise means +for paying the bounties and wages of his proposed regiment, and to +report at sunrise on the morrow. The astute young secretary was equal to +the occasion, and when the Council met next morning, at an hour that +finds modern legislators in their first sleep, he was ready with his +plan of support. This was, that Commissioners of Sequestration should be +appointed, with authority to seize the goods and chattels of all persons +who had joined or should join the common enemy; and that all property so +seized should be sold at public vendue, and the proceeds be paid to the +treasurer of the Council of Safety, for the purpose of paying the +bounties and wages of a regiment forthwith to be raised for the defense +of the State. "This was the first instance in America of seizing and +selling the property of the enemies of American independence," says its +originator, in his "History of Vermont."<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> These "turbulent sons of +freedom," as Stark afterward termed them, were indeed foremost in many +aggressive measures. The Council at once adopted the plan, and appointed +a Commissioner of Sequestration. Samuel Herrick was appointed to the +command of the regiment, his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>commission being signed on the 15th of +July by Thomas Chittenden, president. The men were enlisted and their +bounties paid within fifteen days. The colonels of the state militia +were ordered to march half their regiments to Bennington, "without a +moment's Loss of Time," and the fugitives, who since the invasion had +been removing their families to the southward, were exhorted to return +and assist in the defense of the State.<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a></p> + +<p>Stark was collecting his men at Charlestown, and sending them forward to +Warner at Manchester as rapidly as they could be supplied with kettles, +rum, and bullets. There was great lack of all three of these essentials +of a campaign, especially of the last, for there was but one pair of +bullet-moulds in the town, and there were frequent and urgent calls for +lead. When the lead was forthcoming, the one pair of moulds was kept hot +and busy. But at last, on the 7th of August, Stark was at the +mountain-walled hamlet of Manchester with 1,400 New Hampshire men and +Green Mountain Boys, ready to follow wherever the brave old ranger +should lead.</p> + +<p>Schuyler was anxious to concentrate all the available troops in front of +Burgoyne, to prevent his advance upon Albany, and urged Stark to join +him with his mountaineers; but, considering the terms on which he had +engaged, Stark felt under no obligations to put himself under the orders +of a Continental officer, and had, moreover, opinions of his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>own as to +the most effective method of retarding Burgoyne's advance, which he +thought might best be done by falling upon his rear when an opportunity +offered. Therefore he declined to comply with Schuyler's demands, though +he assured him he would lay aside all personal resentment when it seemed +opposed to the public good, and would join him when it was deemed a +positive necessity. Schuyler's Dutch name, honored as it was by his own +good deeds and those of his ancestors, had a smack of New York +patroonism that was unpleasant to New England men, especially those of +the Grants, and he was no favorite with any of them. They were jubilant +when he was superseded in command of the Northern Department by the +incompetent Gates, who accomplished nothing himself, but managed to +repose serenely on the laurels that others had gathered. Schuyler +complained to Congress of Stark's refusal, and that body censured him +and the New Hampshire government under which he was acting.</p> + +<p>General Lincoln was at Manchester, whither he had come on August 2d, to +take command of the eastern militia. The force of the enemy, which for +some time had remained at Castleton, menacing Manchester and all the +country to the eastward, had marched to join Burgoyne on the Hudson; and +Stark moved forward to Bennington with the purpose, now, of joining +Schuyler. He was accompanied by Colonel Warner, who left his regiment at +Manchester under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Safford.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>At the earnest request of the Council, already at Bennington, who +apprehended an attack on that place, Stark encamped his brigade there +and awaited the movements of the enemy. The Council was established at +Captain Fay's<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> famous "Catamount Tavern," and during these fateful +days sat in the low-browed room above whose wide fireplace was carved +the words "Council Chamber." Here these faithful guardians of the young +commonwealth consulted with Stark and Warner, and sent forth orders to +colonels of militia and appeals to the valiant men of Berkshire.</p> + +<p>Provisions were becoming scant in the army of Burgoyne, and he +determined to seize for his use the stores which the Americans had +collected at Bennington. To accomplish this, he dispatched Colonel Baum, +a German officer of tried valor, with 300 dismounted dragoons who had +won reputation on European fields, and whom it was a part of the plan of +operations to provide with horses. There were also a body of marksmen +under Captain Frazer, Colonel Peters's corps of Tories, some Canadian +volunteers, and 100 Indians,—in all amounting to nearly 800 men, with +two light field-pieces. Colonel Skene accompanied the German colonel, by +request of Burgoyne, to give him the benefit of his knowledge of the +country, and to use his influence in drawing the supposedly numerous +Loyalists to the support of the British. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>Lieutenant-Colonel Breyman was +ready to support Baum, if occasion required, with a veteran force of +Brunswickers, 620 strong, with two more field-pieces.</p> + +<p>On the 13th of August Baum set forth with his "mixed multitude," and on +the same day reached Cambridge, sixteen miles from Bennington, and next +day arrived at Sancoick, on a branch of the Walloomsac River.</p> + +<p>Here a party of Americans was posted in a mill, which they abandoned on +his approach. The Brunswickers had had a sharp taste of the quality of +Yankee valor at Hubbardton, yet Baum held his present adversaries in +supreme contempt, and expected no serious opposition from them. He wrote +to Burgoyne, on the head of a barrel in the mill, that prisoners taken +agreed there were fifteen to eighteen hundred men at Bennington, "but +are supposed to leave on our approach."</p> + +<p>Being first apprised of the appearance of a party of Indians at +Cambridge, General Stark sent Lieutenant-Colonel Gregg with 200 men to +oppose them, but he was presently informed that a more formidable force +was closely following the Indians and tending towards Bennington, and he +sent at once to Manchester for Colonel Warner's regiment and all the +militia of the adjacent country to come to his support.</p> + +<p>Early on the morning of the 14th he set forward with his brigade, +accompanied by Colonels Warner, Williams, Herrick, and Brush, and after +marching <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>about five miles met Gregg retreating from Sancoick, closely +pursued by the enemy. Stark formed his troops in line of battle, but +Baum, perceiving the strength of the Americans, halted his force in a +commanding position on a hill, and Stark fell back a mile to a farm, +where he encamped.</p> + +<p>Baum's position was on the west side of the Walloomsac, a branch of the +Hoosic, nearly everywhere fordable. Most of his Germans were posted on a +wooded hill north of the road, which here crossed the river. For the +defense of the bridge, a breastwork was thrown up and one of the +field-pieces placed in it, and two smaller breastworks on opposite sides +of the road were manned by Frazer's marksmen. The Canadians were posted +in some log-huts standing on both sides of the stream, the Tories under +Pfister on a hill east of the stream and south of the wood, while near +their position was the other field-piece manned by German grenadiers. A +hill hid the hostile encampments from each other, though they were +scarcely two miles apart.</p> + +<p>That night rain began falling, increasing to such a steady downpour as +often marks the capricious weather of dogdays. Some of the Berkshire +militia had come up under Colonel Simonds, and among them was Parson +Allen of Pittsfield, who complained to Stark that the Berkshire people +had often been called out to no purpose, and would not turn out again if +not allowed to fight now. Stark asked if he would have them fall to, +while it was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>dark as pitch and raining buckets. "Not just at this +moment," the parson admitted. "Then," said the old warrior, "as soon as +the Lord sends us sunshine, if I do not give you fighting enough, I'll +never ask you to come out again." All the next day the rain continued to +pour down from the leaden sky. Baum employed the time in strengthening +his position, keeping his men busy with axe and spade, piling higher and +extending his works, in the drenching downfall. At the same time, Stark +with his officers and the Council of Safety was planning an attack.</p> + +<p>Next morning broke in splendor. Innumerable raindrops glittered on +forest, grass-land, fields of corn, and ripening wheat; clouds of rising +vapor were glorified in the level sunbeams that turned the turbid +reaches of the swollen Walloomsac to a belt of gold. So quiet and +peaceful was the scene that it seemed to Glich, a German officer who +described it, as if there could be no enemy there to oppose them.</p> + +<p>But the mountaineers were already astir. Three hundred under Nichols +were making a wide circuit to the north of Baum's position, to attack +his rear on the left; while Herrick with his rangers and Brush's militia +made a similar movement to the rear of his right, and Hobart and +Stickney with 300 of Stark's brigade were marching in the same +direction. While these movements were in progress, Baum was diverted by +a threatened attack in front.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>At three in the afternoon Nichols had gained his desired position and +began firing, quickly followed by Herrick, Stickney, and Hobart, while +Stark assailed the Tory breastwork and the bridge with a portion of his +brigade, the Berkshire and the Vermont militia. "Those redcoats are ours +to-day, or Molly Stark's a widow!" he called to his mountaineers, and, +following him, they dashed through the turbulent stream in pursuit of +the scattering Tories and Canadians. The despised Yankee farmers, +un-uniformed for the most part, wearing no badge but a cornhusk or a +green twig in the hatband, fighting in their shirtsleeves,—for the sun +poured down its scalding rays with intense fervor,—closed in on all +sides and showered their well-aimed volleys upon the Brunswick veterans, +who fought with intrepid but unavailing bravery.</p> + +<p>The Indians fled in affright, stealing away in single file, thankful to +get off with their own scalps and without plunder, for "the woods were +full of Yankees," they said. Parson Allen, mounting a stump, exhorted +the enemy to lay down their arms, but received only the spiteful +response of musketry. Clambering down from his perch, he exchanged his +Bible for a gun, and his gunpowder proved more effective than his +exhortations.</p> + +<p>The fire was furious, and every musket and rifle shot, every thunderous +roar of the rapidly served cannon, was repeated in multitudinous echoes +by the hills. For two hours the roar of the conflict was, said Stark, +"like a continuous clap of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>thunder." He had been in the storm of fire +that swept down Abercrombie's assaulting columns at Ticonderoga, had +fought at Bunker Hill, Trenton, and Princeton, yet he declared that this +fight was the hottest he had ever seen. Warner, who was in the thickest +of it with him, well knew every foot of the ground they were fighting +over, and the value of his aid and advice was generously acknowledged by +Stark. The cannoneers were shot down and the guns taken; an ammunition +wagon exploded and the assailing Yankees swarmed over the breastworks, +charging with bayonetless guns upon the valiant Brunswickers, many of +whom were killed, many taken prisoners, while a few escaped.</p> + +<p>The victory of the Americans was complete, and when the prisoners had +been sent to Bennington town under a sufficient guard, the militia +dispersed over the blood-stained field in quest of spoil.</p> + +<p>But they were soon brought together again by the alarm that another +British force was coming up, and was only two miles away. The rattle of +their drums and the screech of their fifes could be heard shaking and +piercing the sultry air. It was Breyman's force of German veterans. +Early in the fight, Baum had sent an express to hasten Breyman's +advance, which had been delayed by the violent rainstorm of the +preceding day, and the consequent wretched condition of the roads, now +continuous wallows of mire; but they were close at hand, and the +scattered militiamen were ill-prepared to oppose them. Fortunately, the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>remnant of Warner's regiment, from Manchester, just then came up, led +by Lieutenant-Colonel Safford. There were only 140 of them, but they +were a host in steadfast valor, and they took a position in front, +forming a rallying point for the militia which now came hurrying in. The +Americans fell back slowly before Breyman, who advanced up the road, +firing his field-pieces with more noise than effect, till a body of +militia of sufficient strength to make a stand was collected. Then the +Germans were attacked in front and flank, the deadliest fire raining +upon them from a wooded hill on their left. The engagement was hotly +maintained till after sunset, when, having lost many men and his +artillery horses, Breyman abandoned his cannon and beat a precipitate +retreat. Stark pushed the pursuit till it was impossible to aim a gun or +distinguish friend from foe in the gathering gloom, and then withdrew +his men. In his official report he said, "With one hour more of +daylight, we should have captured the whole body." As it was, Breyman +escaped with less than 100 men.</p> + +<p>The present fruits of the double victory were four brass field-pieces, +1,000 stand of arms, four ammunition wagons, 250 sabres, and more than +650 prisoners. Among these were Baum and Pfister, both of whom received +mortal wounds and died a few days later, and 207 were left dead on the +field.</p> + +<p>The American loss was 30 killed and 40 wounded. Its more important +results were the inspiriting effect upon the whole country, and the +depressing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>influence of the defeat upon the enemy. Washington +considered it decisive of the fate of Burgoyne, who four days later +wrote a gloomy account to the British minister of his situation +resulting from this disaster. He had lost faith in the Tories, and said, +"The great bulk of the country is undoubtedly with the Congress.... +Their measures are executed with a secrecy and dispatch that are not to +be equaled. Wherever the King's forces point, militia to the amount of +three or four thousand assemble in twenty-four hours. They bring with +them their subsistence; the alarm over, they return to their farms. The +Hampshire Grants in particular, a country unpeopled and almost unknown +in the last war, now abounds in the most active and most rebellious race +of the continent, and hangs like a gathering storm on my left."</p> + +<p>Congress hastened to revoke its censure of the insubordinate New +Hampshire colonel, and made him a brigadier of the army. In Stark's +report of the battle to Gates he says: "Too much honor cannot be given +to the brave officers and soldiers for gallant behavior; they fought +through the midst of fire and smoke, mounted two breastworks that were +well fortified and supported with cannon. I cannot particularize any +officer, as they all behaved with the greatest spirit and bravery. +Colonel Warner's superior skill in the action was of extraordinary +service to me." He gave the "Honorable Council the honor of exerting +themselves in the most spirited manner in that most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>critical time," and +he presented that body "a Hessian gun with bayonet, a Brass Berriled +Drum, a Grenadier's Cap, and a Hessian Broad Sword," to be kept in the +Council Chamber as a "Memorial in Commemoration of the Glorious action +fought at Walloomsaik, August 16, 1777, in which case the exertions of +said Council was found to be Exceedingly Serviceable."<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> Two of the +cannon taken from the Hessians stand in the vestibule of the capitol at +Montpelier.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> November 27, 1777, four months after the Vermont Council +of Safety had adopted this measure, Congress recommended the same course +to all the States.—<i>Journals of Congress</i>, vol. iii. p. 423.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> <i>Hartford Courant</i>, August 17, 1777.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> This same Landlord Fay had five sons in Bennington battle, +one of whom was killed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Williams's <i>History of Vermont</i>; Hiland Hall's <i>History of +Vermont</i>; Ira Allen's <i>History of Vermont</i>; <i>Account of Battle of +Bennington</i>, by Glich; <i>Ibid.</i>, by Breyman; <i>Official Reports, +Historical Soc. Coll.</i> vol. i.; <i>Centennial Exercises</i>, 1877.</p></div> +<br/> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3>SUBSEQUENT OPERATIONS OF VERMONT TROOPS.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>General Lincoln determined to make a demonstration in Burgoyne's rear, +and moved forward from Manchester to Pawlet. On the 13th of September he +dispatched Colonel Brown<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> with Herrick's regiment and some militia to +cross the lake, and take the outposts of Ticonderoga and the works on +Lake George. Colonel Warner was ordered to move toward Mount +Independence with a detachment of Massachusetts militia, and Colonel +Woodbridge, with another detachment, was sent against Skenesborough and +Fort Anne. Captain Ebenezer Allen, with a party of rangers, was to take +Mount Defiance, and then rejoin Brown and Herrick to attack Ticonderoga +together with Warner.</p> + +<p>Brown crossed the lake in the night, and pushed over the mountain to the +foot of Lake George, arriving there the day before the contemplated +attack. Here he captured an armed sloop, 200 longboats, and several +gunboats, with 293 soldiers and 100 American prisoners taken at +Hubbardton. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>These were provided with arms just captured, and they took +their place in the ranks of their compatriots. As the Americans moved +forward in the darkness of the following evening, they were guided by +three hoots of an owl, repeated at intervals from various points. This +was the preconcerted signal of the sentinels, who so well simulated the +mournful notes of the bird of night that the British sentries only +wondered why so many were abroad, and the noiselessly moving troops +sometimes thought the owls had conspired to lead them astray. Brown +gained possession of Mount Hope and a block-house near the old French +lines.</p> + +<p>Captain Allen and his men scaled the steeps of Mount Defiance till a +cliff was reached which they could not climb. Allen ordered one of his +men to stoop, and, stepping on his back, got to the top, where only +eight men could stand without being discovered by the enemy. His men +swarmed after him "like a stream of hornets to the charge," he wrote, +and all the garrison fled but one man, who attempted to discharge a +cannon at the storming party. "Kill the gunner, damn him!" shouted +Allen, and the man fled, match in hand, with his comrades down the +mountain road, and all were captured by Major Wait, posted at the foot +to intercept them. Allen, who had never fired a cannon, now tried his +hand and eye at this unaccustomed warfare, with good effect. He trained +a piece of ordnance on a distant barrack and killed a man, then drove a +ship from its moorings in the lake, and proclaimed himself commander of +Mount Defiance.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>Colonel Warner reached the neighborhood of Mount Independence early next +morning.<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> Joining his force with Brown's, they demanded the surrender +of Ticonderoga, but the commander, General Powel, declared his +determination to defend it to the last. The Americans opened fire upon +the fort, and for four days ineffectually hammered the walls with +cannon-shot. It is not easy to understand why the position they had +gained on Mount Defiance did not prove as advantageous to them as it had +been to the British. They withdrew to the foot of Lake George, and then, +embarking on the captured gunboats, attacked Diamond Island, where a +quantity of stores was guarded by two companies of British regulars and +several gunboats. The Americans were repulsed with some loss. They +retreated to the east shore, where they burned their boats, and then +crossed the mountains to Lake Champlain, and presently rejoined Lincoln +at Pawlet.</p> + +<p>Until the regular organization of the government of the State in the +following March, the Council of Safety, in whom rested all the authority +of the State, attended faithfully to the varied necessities that arose +during those troubled times. It was diligent in forwarding to the +generals of the army all information, received through scouts and spies, +of the condition and movements of the enemy, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>and always, by word and +deed, was ready to aid the common cause by every means in its power. +When General Gates urged reinforcements, his letter was dispatched by +expresses to all parts of the State where men could be raised, and in +response the recruits flocked in to swell the force which was encircling +the doomed army of Burgoyne. September 24, President Chittenden wrote +Gates: "Several companies have passed this place this Morning on their +March to your assistance," and desired to be informed of any wants the +council might relieve.</p> + +<p>The British army was at Saratoga, ill-supplied with provisions, and +unable to advance or retreat. Without hope of relief, on the 13th of +October Burgoyne made overtures to General Gates which resulted on the +17th in the surrender of his entire army, reduced since its departure +from Canada to less than 6,500 men, including more than 500 sick and +wounded.</p> + +<p>When the news reached Ticonderoga, the troops stationed there at once +prepared to retreat to Canada. The barracks and houses there and at +Mount Independence were burned. All the boats not needed for the +embarkation of the troops were sunk with their cargoes, and the cannon +spiked or broken. It was gloomy autumnal weather when, in a few open +boats, the garrison slunk back through the "Gate of the Country." The +present plight of the poor remnant of Burgoyne's splendid army was a +sorry contrast to the proud advance of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>the gallant host that had passed +these portals in the brightness of summer. No beat of drum nor strain of +martial music now marked their passage, but in silent haste they pursued +their way, in constant fear of attack whenever they approached the +shores, that now were as sombre in their scant and faded leafage as the +dreary November sky that overhung them.</p> + +<p>The doughty and aggressive Captain Ebenezer Allen harassed their rear +whenever opportunity was given for striking a blow. With a little force +of fifty men of Herrick's Rangers, he took forty-nine prisoners, more +than a hundred horses, twelve yokes of oxen, three boats, and a +considerable quantity of stores.</p> + +<p>Among the chattels taken by him were a slave woman, Dinah Mattis, and +her child. Faithful to his convictions of the injustice of slavery, he +set them free, having first obtained the consent of his Green Mountain +Boys, among whom all captured property was to be divided.</p> + +<p>Herrick's regiment was dismissed with the thanks of the council for +"good services to this and the United States," and warm acknowledgment +of its services from General Gates. Warner and his Continental regiment +were on the Hudson with Gates's army, and Vermont was again without an +armed force.</p> + +<p>Ticonderoga, during the abortive planning of a Canadian invasion, was +occupied for a time by a small garrison under Colonel Udney Hay. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>Otherwise the dismantled fortress remained for months in the desolation +of ruin and desertion.</p> + +<p>No longer menaced by the presence of the enemy, the inhabitants of +Vermont, who had fled on Burgoyne's approach, returned to their homes, +and made a late harvest of such crops as had not been destroyed, +gathering, in almost winter weather, the scant remnants of their corn +and hay.</p> + +<p>The people who had been driven from their homes were so destitute of +grain, both for food and for seed, that the council prohibited, under +heavy penalties, the transportation of any wheat, rye, Indian corn, +flour, or meal out of the State without a permit, excepting Continental +stores.</p> + +<p>Suffering privations that can now be scarcely understood, these people +struggled through the long and bitter winter, never losing hope nor +courage, though the gaunt wolf of hunger was often at their doors, and +the future was as vague as the storm-veiled border of the encircling +forest.</p> + +<p>The Council of Safety was kept busily employed in providing for the +defense of the frontier; in passing judgment upon Tories who were +imprisoned, banished, or fined; in issuing orders for the disposal of +their property, and permits to persons under suspicion to remain on +their farms, or to visit certain points and return,—to some who had +taken "the Oath of Fidellity," the liberty of the town, or a permit to +pass to another place, they "to Behave as Becometh." "Comfort Canfield +is permitted to go to Arlington to see his sick wife and return in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>thirty hours;" another is to go and "take care of his children and to +return within six days;" Henry Batterman, a German soldier, is allowed +to go to Colonel Simonds till further orders; Henry Bulls, who had +joined the enemy in "Infamous Captain Samuel Adams's company," is +permitted, on taking the oath of allegiance to the States of America, to +pass to his farm in Manchester, there to remain, "he behaving as +becometh a friend to his Country." There are orders to procure sides of +leather from "Marshes Fratts;"<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> to transport "berrils of flour" to +Colonel Herrick's regiment; to the Commissioners of Sequestration to +seize the property of "Enimical Persons," and sell the same at vendue. +Mary Reynolds is permitted to send for her "Gray horse and keep him till +further orders." The wives of Captain Adams and Captain Sherwood are +allowed to pass to their husbands at Ticonderoga, "necessary clothing +and beds" allowed. Captain Nathan Smith is to "march to Pawlet on +horseback with the men under his command and there receive a horse Load +of Flours to Each man and horse;" and Captain Wood is ordered to take +charge of the same, and "without one minute's loss of time" proceed to +Pawlet and thence to Colonel Warner. When he returns he is to take +"especial Care that the Horses and Bags be returned to their proper +owners." It appears that two of the men did not return the horses, and +were apprehended for horse-stealing, and were sentenced by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>the council +to be made a public example of, "to Deter people from such vicious +practices," each to receive thirty-nine lashes on the naked back, at the +liberty pole. This sentence was revoked and a fine substituted upon +their making restitution. Five teams are dispatched to bring off the +plunder secured by Colonel Brown. Colonel Herrick receives the thanks of +the council for his spirited behavior in "his late noble enterprise," +and in the same letter is informed there are thirty pairs of shoes ready +for him at Shaftsbury. One order directs Benjamin Fassett to repair to +Pownal, and bring from some of the Tories who had gone to the enemy, or +otherwise proved themselves enemies of the country, "a Load of Saus for +the use of the Hundred prisoners" at Bennington. He is "to leave +sufficient for their families," and it appears that the Tories were +generally treated with quite as much leniency as they deserved. Among +the many curious orders is one issued in January, 1778, on application +of General Stark to Captain Samuel Robinson, Overseer of Tories, "to +detail ten effective men under proper officers, to march in Two Distinct +files from this place through the Green Mountains to Col. Wm. Williams +Dwelling-house in Draper Alias Wilmington within this State who are to +March & Tread the Snow in s^d Road to suitable width for a Sleigh or +Sleighs with a Span of Horses on Each Sleigh, and order them to return +Marching in the Same manner to this place with all convenient +Speed."<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>A midwinter invasion of Canada was contemplated by Gates, to be +commanded by General Lafayette. The Vermont Council of Safety took +active measures to raise 300 men for this expedition, or one to act in +conjunction with it under General Stark. A bounty or "encouragement" of +ten dollars was offered to each man enlisting to serve till the last day +of April following unless sooner discharged. Colonel Herrick was to +command the force, and the officers were to be from those who had served +in his regiment of Rangers. The council also engaged to furnish +twenty-five sleighs for the use of the expedition, and to afford every +assistance in its power in "Collecting Hay, Provisions and Transporting +Flour." But while the unrecognized State of Vermont responded so +promptly to the call, the project fell through for lack of men. Not more +than 1,200 could be collected, most of whom were poorly clad and as +poorly armed.</p> + +<p>When the news of its abandonment was received by the council, orders +were issued to stop enlistments; yet those already engaged were +requested to "Take a Short Tour for the defense of the frontiers;" and +almost the last act of the council was to instruct Captain Ebenezer +Allen "to take post with such recruits at New Haven Fort,<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> to keep +out proper Scouts to reconoitre the woods, to watch the movement of the +enemy and Report them to this Council or officer Commanding the Troops +in the Northern Department."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>On the 12th of March, 1778, while the Council of Safety was holding its +last session, a brave little band of Green Mountain Boys was defending a +block-house in Shelburne against the attack of a party of Indians +commanded by a British captain named Larama. There were but sixteen of +the Vermonters, including their captain, Thomas Sawyer, and Moses +Pierson, to protect whose possessions here they had marched ninety miles +through the wintry wilderness, while their assailants numbered +fifty-seven. The block-house was set on fire by the enemy, but +Lieutenant Barnabas Barnum went outside and extinguished the flames, +though the daring act cost him his life. One of the defenders, who was +struck in the arm by a ball, was so exasperated by the hurt that, when +he had bound up the wound with a handkerchief and again taken his place +at a loophole, he would at every discharge of his gun give it a spiteful +push, as if to accelerate the speed of the ball, while he roared, "Take +that for my arm!" After a hot fight of two hours, the enemy retreated, +were pursued, and two of them captured. Twelve were killed, among whom +were the British captain and an Indian chief; and three of the +Vermonters fell in the gallant defense.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> The same officer who so unaccountably failed Ethan Allen +at Montreal. He was one of the first to plan the capture of Ticonderoga, +an ardent patriot, and an officer of unquestioned bravery.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Ira Allen, who never misses the chance of a fling at his +brave kinsman, says, "He moved so extremely slow that he saved his own +men, and hurt none of the enemy."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Vats.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> <i>Governor and Council</i>, by E. P. Walton.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> The block-house built by Ethan Allen at the lower falls on +Otter Creek in 1773.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3>THE UNIONS.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Owing to the continual disturbance and partial depopulation of the State +caused by the presence of the enemy, the election of state officers was +deferred by a convention in December till the 12th of March, 1778. It +was held on that day, and the government took regular form under the +Constitution.</p> + +<p>Thomas Chittenden, who had for some time been prominent in the political +affairs of the forming commonwealth, was elected governor. He was born +in Guilford, Conn., in 1730. In early manhood he began pioneer life in +Salisbury, Conn., where he lived twenty-six years, prosperous, and a man +of consequence in the town. Then the pioneer spirit, that lusty begetter +of new states, again laid hold of him, and he purchased a tract in the +wilderness lying upon the fertile borders of the Winooski, in the town +of Williston. In 1774 he took his family to this wild region, but was +scarcely established when the retreat of the American army from Canada +left the northern settlers exposed to the enemy, and they retired to the +southern part of the Grants. Living at times in Danby, Pownal, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>and +Arlington, Chittenden remained till 1787, when he returned to Williston. +He had not long been an inhabitant of the Grants when he naturally took +his place among the leading men of the district. He was one of the +committee that drafted the Vermont Declaration of Independence, and of +the one that framed the government, and was president of that Council of +Safety which exercised all the powers of the government until it was +constitutionally organized, when he was elected governor, in which +office, with the exception of one year, he was continued for eighteen +years. His educational advantages had been slight, but he was possessed +of a natural sagacity which enabled him to penetrate the character and +designs of others, and to perceive, without the process of reasoning, +the best course to pursue in any emergency. He was a masterful man, yet +carried his points without appearing to force them, and seemed to fall +into the ways of others while in fact he led them imperceptibly into his +own. His calm, strong features expressed the kindness of heart that his +acts were full of, such as refusing to sell for cash the abundant yield +of his acres, but reserving it for the relief of the people in a +foreseen time of need. Among the people with whom he had cast his lot, +his lack of polished manners was no discredit. Hearty friendship was a +better key to their affections, and his tall, athletic figure commended +him to the favor of the stalwart Green Mountain Boys.<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>Governor +Chittenden was eminently fitted for the times upon which he fell, and +for the place to which he was appointed, and he wisely guided the young +State through its turbulent infancy.</p> + +<p>The first legislature met at Windsor in March, 1778, when a new trouble +arose. Sixteen towns east of Connecticut River applied for admission to +the new State of Vermont, on the frivolous plea that as New Hampshire, +under the original grant to John Mason, extended only sixty miles inland +from the sea, and its extension to the westward of this line had been +made by royal commissions to the governor of that province, the royal +authority being now overthrown, the people of the region were at liberty +to elect what jurisdiction they would be under; but, as afterward became +evident, the real object was to establish the seat of government on the +Connecticut River. At first there was little disposition to accede to +this petition, but it was also warmly urged by some of the Vermont river +towns, that threatened in case of refusal to unite with the New +Hampshire towns in establishing a new State. Whereupon the legislature +submitted the subject to the consideration of the people, who should +instruct their representatives how to act upon it at the adjourned +session of the assembly to be held at Bennington in June.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>A few days before this session, Ethan Allen arrived at Bennington, his +once burly form gaunt and worn by the cruel captivity from which he had +just been released, but his bold spirit as robust as ever. The people +thronged into the little hamlet to greet their old leader, and, though +powder was scarce and precious, the rusty old cannon that had been +brought from Hoosic Fort years before to repel the rumored invasion of +Governor Tryon was roundly charged, and thundered forth a welcoming +salute of thirteen guns for the United States, and one for young +Vermont. In response to a letter from Washington, commending Allen's +unabated zeal in the cause of his country, Congress conferred upon him a +brevet commission of colonel. But he appears to have thought his +services more needed by his State than by the country, for he found the +land speculators of New York as rapacious under the republican Governor +Clinton as they were under the royal governors; and, after his return, +he took no active part in the military operations of the United States. +He was made brigadier-general of the militia of Vermont, a position that +he held till 1780, when, being accused of traitorous correspondence with +the enemy, he indignantly resigned it, at the same time declaring his +willingness to render the State any service within his power, a promise +he faithfully fulfilled during the few remaining years of his eventful +life.</p> + +<p>In the time afforded by the adjournment of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>assembly, the friends of +the proposed union managed to secure a majority of the legislature, and +when it met at Bennington thirty-seven of the forty-nine towns +represented were found in favor of the union. An act was passed +authorizing the sixteen towns to elect members to the assembly, and it +was resolved that other towns might be similarly admitted.</p> + +<p>New Hampshire protested to Governor Chittenden against the union, and +instructed her delegates in Congress to seek the aid of that body in +opposing it. At the same time Vermont sent Ethan Allen to Congress to +learn its views concerning the union. He reported the proceeding was +regarded with such disapprobation that, if Vermont did not at once +recede, the whole power of Congress would be exerted to annihilate her, +and establish the rights of New Hampshire.</p> + +<p>Thus Vermont became aware that she had not only incurred the enmity of +the New Hampshire government, until now so friendly that it tacitly +acknowledged the independence of the young State, but had also +strengthened the unfavorable feeling of Congress toward her. If the wily +politicians of New York had intrigued to accomplish these ends, they +could hardly have devised a more successful method. The action of the +succeeding legislature was unfriendly to the union, and in February, +1779, it was finally dissolved.</p> + +<p>As all the Continental troops were withdrawn from Vermont, and as the +State was unable of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>itself to maintain a force sufficient to guard its +extended frontier, the frontier line was established at Pittsford, and +Castleton, where Forts Warren and Vengeance were held by small +garrisons. Fort Ranger at Rutland was more strongly garrisoned, and made +the headquarters of the state forces, and the inhabitants to the +northward on Otter Creek were directed to come within this frontier +line. When a captain of militia was called upon to furnish a certain +number of men for guarding the frontier or for other duty, it was +provided by law that he should divide his company into as many classes +as there were men required. Each class was obliged to furnish one man; +and if it failed to do so, the captain was empowered to hire one, and +each member of the class was obliged to bear his proportion of the +expense. This method met with general approval, but in the southeast +part of the State there were many malcontents, always unfriendly to the +government of Vermont. They were in constant correspondence with +Governor Clinton, who urged them to maintain a "firm and prudent +resistance to the draughting of men, the raising of taxes, and the +exercise of any acts of government under the ideal Vermont State." He +issued commissions for the formation of a regiment, in which about 500 +men were enlisted.</p> + +<p>In response to a request from General James Clinton, commanding the +Northern Department, the Board of War<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> ordered a levy of men "for +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>service of the State and the United States in guarding the frontier." +Writing to General Washington concerning this levy, Governor Chittenden +calls his attention to the destitute condition of the families of the +soldiers. In consequence of the late encroachments of the enemy, they +had been unable to harvest the crops already grown, or to sow the +"Winter Grain on which they have ever had their Greatest dependence +since the first settlement of this part of the Country. They are +therefore principally reduced to an Indian Cake in Scant proportion to +the number of their Families, & by the destruction of their Sheep by the +Enemy, their loss of them otherwise as well as their flax, their backs & +their bellies have become Co-Sufferers. In this deplorable situation," +he continues, "they remain firm and unshaken, and ready on the Shortest +Notice to face their inveterate foe Undaunted;" but considering their +circumstances, he hopes they may not be kept in service during the +summer.</p> + +<p>In compliance with the order of the Board of War, the captain of a +company in Putney divided his men into classes, in one of which was +comprised Captain James Clay and two others, all known to be active +partisans of New York. They refused to furnish their man, or the sum +required to pay the man obtained to represent them. Upon this the +sergeant of the company, having the proper warrant, seized two cows +belonging to these persons, and posted them for sale. On the day of +sale, a hundred of the adherents of New York, under the lead <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>of their +colonel, rescued the cattle, and returned them to their owners. The +colonel soon learned that news of the affair had gone to the council at +Arlington, and apprehended that Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys +might be sent to enforce the authority of the State, and he wrote to +Governor Clinton for advice and aid. The governor gave the one, and made +promises of the other, but never fulfilled them. Indeed, it would have +been very difficult to raise a military force for that purpose among the +inhabitants of the New York border, who were more in sympathy with the +people of Vermont than with their own aristocratic government. The men +who refused to submit to the rule of Vermont had not been called on by +New York to render any military service, nor to pay for any. If they +were exempted from service under Vermont, they would contribute nothing +to the common cause, and their exemption would encourage all who wished +to escape these burdens to join the opponents of Vermont, thus weakening +it and the whole country. Vermont acted promptly in the matter. Ethan +Allen was ordered to raise 100 men in Bennington County, and march to +the county of Cumberland, there to join his force with the militia of +that county under Colonel Fletcher, and assist the sheriff in enforcing +the law. The order was duly executed. Most of the leaders of the +opposition to Vermont in the county, and the principal officers of the +New York regiment, were arrested, taken to Westminster, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>where the court +was in session, and tried as rioters. Most of them were fined, and upon +payment of the fines, which were light, and satisfying the costs, were +soon discharged.</p> + +<p>Complaint was, of course, made to Governor Clinton, and he in turned +complained to Congress; and while New York was pressing upon that body +its grievances, and its claims to the Grants, New Hampshire presented a +counter-claim to the same region. Congress appointed a committee of five +to visit the district, to confer with the people and learn their reasons +for refusing to submit to the claiming States, and to promote an +amicable adjustment of the dispute. Only two of the committee visited +Vermont, and though they conferred with Governor Chittenden, and exerted +themselves to bring about a reconciliation, their report to Congress was +not acted upon, as they did not constitute a quorum of the committee.</p> + +<p>Massachusetts now set up a claim to the southern portion of Vermont, +founded on an ancient grant of the Plymouth Company. Congress urged the +three contesting States to submit the matter to itself for adjustment, +though Vermont, whose very life was at stake, was to have a hearing, but +no voice in the settlement of the difficulty. Its unacknowledged +government was enjoined to make no more grants of unoccupied lands, and +to exercise no authority over those inhabitants who did not recognize +it, while it patiently and silently awaited such dismemberment of its +territory as Congress <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>should decree. New Hampshire and New York +promptly passed acts submitting the matter to Congress, but +Massachusetts failed to take such action.</p> + +<p>Vermont refused to submit to the jurisdiction of the three claiming +States, and to an arbitrament that ignored her existence, but resolved +to "Support their right to independence at Congress and to all the +world," and to make grants of her unappropriated lands.</p> + +<p>By direction of the governor and council, two pamphlets, strongly +setting forth the right of Vermont to independence, were prepared and +sent to leading men of the country, to generals of the army, and members +of Congress. One was Ethan Allen's "Vindication of the Opposition of the +Inhabitants of Vermont to the Government of New York, and their right to +Form an Independent State." The other was "Vermont's Appeal to the +Candid and Impartial World," by Stephen R. Bradley, in which it is +vigorously stated that Vermont could not submit to a plan believed to be +started by neighboring States; that Congress had no right to meddle with +the internal government of Vermont; that the State existed independent +of any of the thirteen United States, and was not accountable to them +for liberty, the gift of God; that it was not represented in Congress, +and could not submit to resolutions passed without its consent or +knowledge when all of value to it was at stake; that it was and ever had +been ready to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>share the burdens of the war, but after four years of war +with Great Britain, in which it had expended so much blood and treasure, +"it was not so lost to all sense and honor as to now give up everything +worth fighting for, the right of making their own laws and choosing +their own form of government, to the arbitrament and determination of +any man or body of men under heaven."</p> + +<p>Ira Allen was sent to the legislatures of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, +Delaware, and Maryland to interest them in favor of Vermont.</p> + +<p>Though Congress in September, 1779, had resolved to hear and determine +the dispute in the following February, when the time arrived this +business was postponed, and so on various pretexts it was for a long +time deferred. In fact, Congress did not dare to take a decided step +concerning it in any direction, fearing that by the one it might incur +the enmity of the claiming States, that by the other it might force the +warlike Green Mountain Boys into armed opposition to its authority. To +lose the support of the first, or to be obliged to spend the strength +that could ill be spared to subdue the latter, would alike be ruinous to +the common cause.</p> + +<p>There is reason to believe that about this time a plot was brewing by +New York and New Hampshire to divide the bone of contention when +Congress should decide in favor of the first, as was confidently +expected it would. The line of the Green Mountains was to be the +boundary between <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>these States; but the plan fell through in the New +York Assembly, where Mr. Townshend opposed it in behalf of those +adherents of New York living east of the proposed line, who would +thereby be placed beyond the limits of their chosen government.</p> + +<p>On the 2d of June Congress resolved that the acts of "the people of the +Grants were highly unwarrantable, and subversive of the peace and +welfare of the United States, and that they be strictly required to +forbear from any acts of authority over those of the people who +professed allegiance to other States."</p> + +<p>In reply to these resolutions, Vermont declared that they were +subversive of her rights, and incompatible with the principles on which +Congress grounded the right of the United States to independence, and +tended to endanger the liberties of America; that Vermont as an +independent State denied the authority of Congress to judge of her +jurisdiction, and boldly declared that, as she was refused a place among +the United States, she was at liberty, if necessitated, to offer or +accept terms of a cessation of hostilities with Great Britain, with whom +she had no motive to continue hostilities and maintain an important +frontier for the benefit of the United States, if she were not to be one +of them, but only to be divided between her covetous neighbors. Thus was +foreshadowed the policy which Vermont was soon forced to adopt for her +own preservation. The declaration closed with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>saying that, "from a +principle of virtue, and a close attachment, to the cause of liberty, +she was induced once more to offer union with the United States of +America."</p> + +<p>In September some attempt was made in Congress to decide the contest. +New Hampshire and New York presented their claims, denying the right of +Vermont to independence. Ira Allen and Stephen R. Bradley were present +as agents of Vermont, but were not treated by Congress as +representatives of a State, or of a people invested with legislative +authority. They were permitted to attend Congress on the hearing of the +question, and protested against the manner of investigation which gave +Vermont no hearing as a State. They declared her readiness to submit +this dispute to the legislatures of one or more disinterested States, +but protested Congress had no right to determine it by virtue of +authority derived from the acts of one or more States who were but one +party in the controversy. Congress heard the evidence of both New York +and New Hampshire, and again postponed consideration of the troublesome +question.</p> + +<p>But the action of Congress did not discourage or intimidate the young +commonwealth. She now assumed as aggressive an attitude as her neighbors +had borne towards her. Reaching to the eastward, she again drew to +herself that portion of New Hampshire whose people still desired the +union which Vermont on the disapproval of Congress had dissolved. Then +she stretched forth a welcoming <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>hand to the people of that part of New +York lying east of the Hudson, who, left defenseless by their own +government, desired the better protection afforded by that of Vermont. +This bold grasp on the territory of New Hampshire and New York enlarged +her own to twice the extent Vermont had originally claimed, and +correspondingly increased her importance.</p> + +<p>Furthermore, with supreme disregard of the injunctions of Congress, +Vermont was strengthening her position by the disposal of her +unappropriated lands to the citizens of other States, who thus became +interested in the establishment of her independence.</p> + +<p>Her importance was also augmented by the negotiations which she was now +known to be conducting with General Haldimand, lieutenant-governor of +the Province of Quebec. Although the object of these secret negotiations +was not known to any but the parties engaged in them, Congress and the +country were greatly alarmed by fears of the possible result. A succinct +account of this correspondence is given in the following chapter.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> They were so proud of their stature, it was sometimes +recorded on their tombstones. The epitaph of Benjamin Carpenter, one of +the founders of the State, sets forth that "He left this world and 146 +persons of lineal posterity, March 29, 1804, aged 78 yrs. 10 mos. 12 +days, with a strong mind and full faith of a more glorious hereafter. +Stature about six feet, weight 200. Death had no terror."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> The governor and council.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h3>THE HALDIMAND CORRESPONDENCE.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The English government having determined to attempt making terms with +the Americans, commissioners were appointed for that purpose, and +arrived in America in June, 1778. They addressed a letter to the +president of Congress, inclosing their commission from the crown. Their +propositions were objected to by Congress, on the ground that they were +founded on dependence, which was utterly inadmissible. Congress was +inclined to peace, but it could only be treated for upon an +acknowledgment of the independence of the States, or the withdrawal of +the king's fleets and armies.</p> + +<p>The commissioners were empowered to treat with such bodies politic or +corporate, assemblies of men, person or persons, as they should think +meet and sufficient for the purpose of considering the grievances +supposed to exist in the government of any of the colonies respectively; +to order and proclaim a cessation of hostilities on the part of the +king's forces, as they should think fit; and also to appoint governors +of provinces. These powers were to be transferred to Sir Henry Clinton +in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>case Sir William Howe, one of the commissioners, should be disabled +from exercising them. This did occur, and Sir Henry Clinton acted as a +peace commissioner for a time beyond the limitation of the first +commission, which was June, 1779.</p> + +<p>Having failed with Congress, the commissioners appealed to the public in +a manifesto offering to the colonies at large or separately a general or +separate peace, with the revival of their ancient governments, secured +against any future infringement, and protected forever from taxation by +Great Britain.</p> + +<p>The geographical situation of Vermont, bordering on the great +thoroughfare from Canada southward, her controversy with the neighboring +colonies, and the unfriendly attitude of Congress toward her, especially +invited the overtures of the British agents.</p> + +<p>In March, 1779, Lord George Germaine, Secretary of Colonial Affairs, +wrote to General Haldimand: "The minister says, the separation of the +Inhabitants of the country they style Vermont from the Provinces in +which it was formerly included is a Circumstance from which much +advantage might be derived, and sees no objection to giving them reason +to expect, the King will erect their country into a Province."</p> + +<p>The first overture was made, under the direction of Sir Henry Clinton, +by Colonel Beverly Robinson, afterward engaged in the plot with Arnold. +In March, 1780, he wrote to Ethan Allen, to whom <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>the letter was +delivered in July in the streets of Arlington by a British soldier +disguised as a Yankee farmer. Robinson began by saying that he had been +informed that Allen and most of the inhabitants of Vermont were opposed +to the wild and chimerical schemes of the Americans in attempting to +separate the continent from Great Britain, and that they would willingly +assist in uniting America again to the mother country. He invited Allen +to communicate freely whatever proposals he wished to make, and thought +that upon his taking an active part, and embodying the inhabitants of +Vermont in favor of the crown, they might obtain a separate government +under the king, and the men be formed into regiments under such officers +as Allen should recommend.</p> + +<p>Allen at once laid the letter before Governor Chittenden and a few of +the leading men, who all agreed that it was best to return no answer.</p> + +<p>In September following, Governor Chittenden wrote to General Haldimand +asking a cartel for the exchange of some prisoners who had been captured +in the spring by scouting parties from Canada. In October a large +British force came up the lake to Crown Point, and the commander, Major +Carleton, brought an answer to Chittenden's letter, and wrote to Ethan +Allen, commanding the Vermont troops, acquainting him that he had +appointed Captain Sherwood to treat with him and Governor Chittenden on +the subject of an exchange; also that no hostilities should be committed +by the British <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>on posts or scouts within the boundaries of Vermont +during the negotiations, while Allen would be expected to observe the +same, "and recall his scouts to prevent the appearance of not adhering +to the above."</p> + +<p>Allen asked that the cessation of hostilities might be extended to the +northern posts and frontiers of New York, to which, after some demur, +Carleton finally agreed. The Vermont militia returned to their homes, +much to the surprise of the New York militia serving on their borders, +and the British retired to winter quarters in Canada without making any +hostile demonstration against Vermont.</p> + +<p>Ira Allen and Joseph Fay were appointed on the part of Vermont to confer +with the British commissioners, Captain Sherwood and Dr. Smyth, both +Tories, on the subject of a cartel, and all proceeded together from +Crown Point toward Canada. An early winter was coming on; and as they +made their way down the lake, its waters were steaming like a cauldron, +and lofty columns of vapor swept past the boats like an army of gigantic +spectres. The passage of the boats was soon opposed by a more material +obstacle in the rapidly forming ice, and as the men were breaking the +way through this, Ira Allen says, "much political conversation and +exhibit of papers took place." After some days of battling with the ice, +the Vermont commissioners abandoned the struggle and went home, +promising that they or other commissioners should visit Canada as soon +as possible.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>This Dr. Jonas Fay undertook in the winter, and went as far as Split +Rock, where he found the ice still an enemy, now refusing to bear him +further, and he was obliged to abandon the journey.</p> + +<p>On the 23d of February, 1781, Ethan Allen received a second letter from +Beverly Robinson, inclosing a copy of the first, which he feared had +miscarried. He now confidently assured Allen that the terms mentioned in +the first letter might be obtained, provided he and the people of +Vermont took an active part with Great Britain. Allen returned no +answer, but transmitted both letters, with one from himself, to +Congress. His letter closed with bold and characteristic words: "I am +confident that Congress will not dispute my sincere attachment to the +cause of my country, though, I do not hesitate to say, I am fully +grounded in opinion that Vermont has an indubitable right to agree on +terms of cessation of hostilities with Great Britain, provided the +United States persist in rejecting her application for a union with +them; for Vermont, of all people, would be most miserable were she +obliged to defend the independence of the United claiming States, and +they at the same time at full liberty to overturn and ruin the +independence of Vermont. I am persuaded, when Congress considers the +circumstances of this State, they will be more surprised that I have +transmitted them the inclosed letters than that I have kept them in +custody so long, for I am as resolutely determined to defend the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>independence of Vermont as Congress are that of the United States, and +rather than fail will retire with hardy Green Mountain Boys into the +desolate caverns of the mountains, and wage war with human nature at +large."</p> + +<p>On the 1st of May, which being his birthday he deemed propitious, Ira +Allen, as sole commissioner, set forth for Isle aux Noix in considerable +state, being attended by a guard consisting of a lieutenant, two +sergeants, and sixteen privates. Afterward, when the British were again +in force upon the lake, General Haldimand objected to the agents of +Vermont being attended by so large a retinue, and forbade more than five +persons being received. Allen was treated with great politeness by the +commander, Major Dundas, who was empowered to act only in the exchange +of prisoners. On the second day, as Sherwood and Allen were walking in +the gray of the soft spring morning beneath the wide ramage of the +nut-trees that gave the island its name, the Tory captain informed the +handsome young colonel that he and Dr. Smyth were to settle the +armistice with him, and concert measures to establish Vermont as a royal +colony. For his better opportunities of conducting them, the +negotiations with Vermont had been committed to General Haldimand's +management, and he had given his instructions to Sherwood and Smyth on +the 20th of the preceding December. These instructions authorized +"positive assurances that their country will be erected into a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>separate +province, independent and unconnected with every government in America, +and will be entitled to every prerogative and immunity which is promised +to other provinces in the proclamation of the King's commissioners." It +was proposed to raise two Vermont battalions of ten companies each, of +which Haldimand should be colonel, but all other officers should be +Vermonters, and entitled to half pay. The instructions still further +state, "I am so much convinced of the present infatuation of these +people, ... I agree that this negotiation should cease, and any step +that leads to it be forgotten, provided the Congress shall grant the +State of Vermont a seat in their assembly, and acknowledge its +independency." Sherwood said the reception of the British overtures +during the ice-bound voyage on the lake was such that they had great +hope of success. This hope it was the policy of Vermont to encourage, in +order to secure the safety of the people, since all the Continental +troops had been ordered out of the State, the New York troops withdrawn +from Skenesborough, and Vermont had no adequate force wherewith to +oppose the British force of 7,000 men in Canada. Thus abandoned, as it +appeared to them designedly, that they might be forced into submission +to New York, the leaders saw no hope of safety for the State but in an +adroit management, to their own advantage, of these attempts of the +British.</p> + +<p>In his interviews with the commissioners, Allen was non-commital, and +"very cautious and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>intricate," as they reported. He would make no +proposals, nor talk of anything beyond the neutrality of Vermont during +the war, at the close of which it must, as a separate government, be +subject to the ruling power, if that power would give the State a free +charter.</p> + +<p>A cartel for the exchange of prisoners was arranged, and a verbal +agreement made that hostilities should cease between the British forces +and those of Vermont until after the session of the legislature of the +State, and longer "if prospects were satisfactory to the +commander-in-chief." After seventeen days the present negotiations +ended, and, with expressions of his satisfaction with the treatment he +had received, Allen departed with his attendants, voyaging homeward past +green forested shores, above which, far to the eastward, the Crouching +Lion, hoary with yet unmelted snows, reared his majestic front, as if +guarding the beloved land of the Green Mountain Boys.</p> + +<p>In compliance with a request of the assembly, Ira Allen appeared before +them in June, and gave a report of his mission to Canada to arrange a +cartel, in which he had happily succeeded. He also stated that he had +"discovered among the British officers a fervent wish for peace," but +disclosed nothing concerning the overtures made to him.<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> These were +then known to but ten persons, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>were never disclosed to but few. +That all might share alike the dangers and responsibilities of these +negotiations, a paper giving approval of Colonel Ira Allen's policy by +feigning or endeavoring to make them believe that the State of Vermont +had a desire to negotiate a treaty of peace with Great Britain, and +stating it "to be a necessary political manœuvre to save the +frontiers of this State," was signed by Jonas Fay, Samuel Safford, +Samuel Robinson, Joseph Fay, Thomas Chittenden, Moses Robinson, Timothy +Brownson, and John Fassett, eight of the most ardent patriots of the +State, who then and ever afterwards enjoyed the full confidence of the +people. In the exposed and dangerous condition of the State, they deemed +it justifiable to resort to stratagem, always practiced in war to ward +off the blows of an enemy.</p> + +<p>In July, Major Fay was sent to the enemy on Lake Champlain, to complete +the exchange of prisoners, and was received on board the Royal George. +The British found him as unprepared as Colonel Allen had been to close +with the proffered terms, but wishing to continue the negotiations till +November. The British agents suspected that the Vermonters were +procrastinating to save themselves from an invasion by king or Congress. +"Upon the whole," they said, "it appears to us that interest, not +loyalty, induces the leading men of Vermont to unite with Canada. One +fifth of the people wish it from the same motive, near another fifth +from principles of loyalty, and the remainder are mad rebels." <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>Yet the +hope of drawing such a rebellious people to the king's cause was not +abandoned, and the correspondence continued.</p> + +<p>Emissaries from Canada came now and then to Ethan Allen and his brother +Ira. Unmolested if not undiscovered, they made their stealthy journeys +between Canada and the Vermont settlements. Gliding in light canoes +along the lake in the shadow of cedar-clad shores, up the solitude of +wooded streams where only the silent flight of the disturbed heron +heralded their approach, and stealing along the byways of almost +forgotten Indian trails, they found at last safe hiding during their +brief tarries, delivered in the dusk their precious packets, received +others, and then returned by the ways they had come.</p> + +<p>In July, Ira Allen wrote to General Haldimand that he and two others had +been appointed agents to Congress, with full powers to make and receive +proposals for articles of union between the United States and Vermont. +"It is expected that the said agents will make proposals to Congress +that will not be accepted, and show that Congress means nothing more +than to keep this State in suspense till the end of the war, and then +divide the territory among the claiming States." Yet when, soon +afterward, Allen was acting as agent to Congress, he so far yielded the +claim of Vermont to her east and west unions that the boundaries +proposed by him through a member from Connecticut were at once accepted +by Congress, though afterward rejected by Vermont on the ground that the +proposals had not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>been officially made by her agents. This shows that +his real preferences were not such as he would lead Haldimand to +believe.</p> + +<p>A letter from Lord George Germaine to Sir Henry Clinton, which had been +intercepted by the French and taken to Paris, was received by Congress, +to whom it had been sent by Dr. Franklin. "The return of the people of +Vermont to their allegiance," it said, "is an event of the utmost +importance to the king's affairs, and at this time, if the French and +Washington really meditate an irruption into Canada, may be considered +as opposing an insurmountable bar to the attempt. General Haldimand, who +has the same instructions with you to draw over those people and give +them support, will, I doubt not, push up a body of troops to act in +conjunction with them to secure all the avenues through their country to +Canada." This letter had an immediate effect upon the action of +Congress, for a committee was at once appointed by that body to confer +with persons to be appointed by the people of the Grants, who should +have full power to agree upon and ratify terms and articles of union and +confederation with the United States of America.</p> + +<p>Ira Allen, who with Jonas Fay and Bezaleel Woodward had in June been +appointed agents to Congress, and were now on their way to Philadelphia, +says: "This information had greater influence on the wisdom and virtue +of Congress than all the exertions of Vermont in taking Ticonderoga, +Crown <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>Point, and the two divisions from General Burgoyne's army, or +their petition to be admitted as a State in the general confederation, +and offers to pay their proportion of the expenses of the war."</p> + +<p>In September, 1781, there were further negotiations at Skenesborough +between the British commissioners and Colonel Allen and Major Joseph +Fay, acting for Vermont. The plan of government for Vermont was +considered, and it was agreed it should be essentially the same as that +established by her Constitution, excepting the governor should be +appointed by the king in council.</p> + +<p>The commissioners proposed to make prisoners of several persons in +Vermont who were most opposed to the negotiations, and insisted that +Vermont should declare itself a British colony, and proposed an +expedition against Albany. By uniting with the British troops, they +said, the Vermonters would be able to defend themselves against the +other States, and declared that something effectual must be determined +on before they parted, or the armistice must cease, for the +commander-in-chief would not lose this campaign by inactivity.</p> + +<p>The agents of Vermont would not consent to the first proposal, which +would make active enemies of those who should be conciliated. Against +the others they set forth the extent of the frontier of Vermont, which +it would be impossible for the king's troops to defend in winter, when, +unsupported by them, their friends in Vermont would be overpowered; that +there were many zealous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>Whigs among the inhabitants who might better be +conciliated than openly opposed; that, by continuing the truce, other +unions than those already existing might be established; and that, by +the pursuit of the present policy, better results might be attained by +the British than by those proposed by the commissioners. The +commissioners took down in writing the heads of these objections, and +then suggested an instruction, which they could not deviate from without +putting an end to the armistice, which was, that General Haldimand +should, in pursuance of full powers vested in him by his Majesty in +council, issue a proclamation offering to confirm Vermont as a colony +under the crown; that an army should come up the lake in October with +said proclamations and distribute them while the legislature was in +session, which must accept them, and with the British take measures for +common defense. The agents strengthened their previous arguments by +saying that, considering the climate and bad roads, and the absence of +all necessary preparations, the season was too far advanced for such +operations; that one winter would have great effect in changing the +minds of the people for a new order of things. But if, in spite of these +reasons, the general should still insist on such a proclamation, they +trusted that he would learn the temper of the people before issuing it. +With this understanding they consented to the proclamation rather than +break the armistice.</p> + +<p>Small chance was there of the acceptance of such <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>a proclamation by a +legislature chosen from a people three fifths of whom were known to be +"mad rebels," to cure whose madness it does not appear that any attempt +had been made by the men who on the part of Vermont were conducting +these negotiations. The conference now ended, and the agents departed, +leaving the British commissioners very hopeful of success.</p> + +<p>In October, while the legislature was in session at Charlestown, in the +eastern union, General St. Leger came up the lake to Ticonderoga with a +force so large that the narrow channel was black with the swarming +armament. About the 25th a small scouting party, sent out for +appearance's sake by the commander of the Vermont troops, General +Enos,<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> who was in the secret of the negotiations, was fired upon +while watching the movements of the British, and the leader, Sergeant +Tupper, was killed. His body was buried with military honors, and his +clothes, with an open letter expressing regret for his death, were sent +by St. Leger to General Enos at Castleton. These being publicly +delivered, considerable stir was caused among the troops, and no less in +Charlestown when the news arrived there by a messenger bearing letters +from General Enos to Governor Chittenden. These letters related as well +to the private negotiations with the British as to public affairs; and +while the governor, sitting with others in a public room, was +acquainting himself <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>with their contents, Major Reynolds, commanding New +Hampshire troops there, came in and demanded of Colonel Allen why a +British general should be sorry for the death of an enemy. Allen +answered that he did not know, unless that good men were sorry when good +men were killed. Angry words ensued; and while the spectators were agog +to hear the quarrel, copies of the letters were made, excluding all that +pertained to the negotiations. These were publicly read in place of the +original letters, and the people were quieted. Ira Allen wrote to the +commissioners, now with General St. Leger, reporting rumors of +Cornwallis's surrender, which, whether true or not, had the same effect +on the people, and advised that in the present situation the +proclamation would best be withheld for a while. He also sent a list of +the members of the new legislature, representing that the changes were +favorable to the success of the negotiations. The letter was delivered +at Ticonderoga about ten o'clock in the morning, and an hour afterward +an express arrived from the south with tidings of the surrender of +Cornwallis.</p> + +<p>Before evening, St. Leger began the embarkation of his stores and +troops, and, with a favoring wind, set forth toward Canada. The campaign +had ended with barren results to the English, and no injury to Vermont +but the death of poor Sergeant Tupper, perhaps slain only to "try the +temper of the people." The commissioners flattered themselves that this +affair had resulted very favorably to them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>There is no record of any subsequent interview of the agents of Vermont +and the British commissioners, though there were frequent communications +passing between them during the next year. One of the commissioners +wrote to Ira Allen in February, 1782, expressing his anxiety to know +what effect the surrender of Cornwallis had made upon the people of +Vermont. He reminded Allen that it was well to consider the many chances +and vicissitudes of war; that, however brilliant the last campaign might +appear, the next might wear a very different aspect; and of the +probability of the ruin of Vermont by her "haughty neighbors, elated by +what they call a signal victory;" and hoped that Allen might see, as he +did, that it was more than ever the interest of Vermont to unite with +those who would make her a free and happy government.</p> + +<p>In April General Haldimand wrote to Sir Henry Clinton that "coercion +alone must now decide the part Vermont will take;" that it had made +concessions to Congress by relinquishing its claims to the east and west +unions, the confirmation of which had been promised by him.</p> + +<p>In June Ethan Allen wrote to Haldimand that "the last refusal of +Congress to admit the State into the union has done more to awaken +common people to a sense of their interest and resentment of their +conduct than all which they had done before. By their own account, they +declare that Vermont does not and shall not belong to their confederacy; +the consequence is, that they may fight their own <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>battles. It is +liberty which they are after, but they will not extend it to Vermont; +therefore Vermont does not belong to the confederacy or the controversy, +but are a neutral republic." He offers to meet General Haldimand on any +part of Lake Champlain, and closes in bitterness of spirit: "There is a +majority in Congress, and a number of the principal officers of the +Continental army continually planning against me. I shall do everything +in my power to render this State a British province."</p> + +<p>Ira Allen was again sent to Canada early in July with a request from +Governor Chittenden for the release of two Vermont officers then +prisoners in Canada, a request which was granted. About this time a +letter attributed to Ira Allen, though it was a wide departure from his +cautious practice of making only verbal communications on such delicate +affairs, was written from Quebec to General Haldimand. It begins with +the request that a supposed charter to Philip Skene, for a government +comprehending Vermonters with the tract of country called the "Western +Union," might be produced, as the limits of Vermont would thereby be +established according to an act of Congress confirming all royal +charters and government lines established before the Declaration of +Independence. The writer represents that the people of the Western Union +"are mostly in favor of government, and would be of great use in +bringing about the wished-for revolution." If General Haldimand advised +it, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>Vermont leaders would endeavor to raise a regiment or two from +the other provinces, to consist of the most loyal or at least moderate +men, with no officers but known and tried friends of government, to be +stationed in Vermont under pretense of protecting the frontiers; such +regiments to be supplied by the king, and always ready to act in or out +of Vermont as ordered. "Thus far," he says, "I have not deviated from +the principles of my employers, the ruling men of Vermont." But now, +unauthorized, he proposes an immediate recognition of Vermont under +government; that the principal gentlemen of Vermont promised to abide by +any agreement he should enter into, provided it should be kept a +profound secret till the British government could protect and assist +them; and that they should not be obliged to go out of Vermont to make +war with the other States; but if other colonies should invade Canada, +they would oppose them as much as possible, but could not consistently +go to Canada for its defense and leave their own State exposed to ruin; +and also promised never to take arms again in opposition to British +government, or assist Congress on any pretense whatever. In conclusion, +the writer intimates that some of the king's money will be necessary to +carry out these plans. There is only circumstantial evidence that Ira +Allen was the author of this letter; although it is probable that he +was, yet it contains contradictions hardly consistent with his usual +shrewdness. Later in the same month General Haldimand wrote to Sir Guy +Carleton: "I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>have brought it [the negotiation] to a very embarrassing +crisis with regard to myself, having urged the people to the declaration +in favor of government by a long series of persuasion, and the strongest +assurances of support and reward. Uninformed as I am of the intentions +of administration, except in general terms that they are pacific, I can +no longer act with Vermont upon any certain grounds until I receive +instructions for that purpose. In the mean time I shall amuse the +messenger, who is very pressing for answers to his proposals, in the +best way I can." In August he writes to Governor Chittenden: "You may +rest assured that I shall give such orders as will effectually prevent +hostilities of any kind being exercised in the district of Vermont until +a breach on your part, or some general event, may make the contrary my +duty."</p> + +<p>After the signing of the preliminary articles of peace between Great +Britain and the United States, but before Washington had proclaimed the +cessation of hostilities, or the news of the peace, though expected, had +reached Canada, General Haldimand dispatched his last letter to Vermont. +"While," says this letter, "his Excellency sincerely regrets the happy +moment which, it is much to be feared, cannot be recalled, of restoring +to you the blessings of the British government, and views with concern +the fatal consequences approaching which he had so long and so +frequently predicted from your procrastination, he derives some +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>satisfaction from a consciousness of not having omitted a circumstance +which could tend to your persuasion and adoption of his desired purpose. +If the report now prevailing has any foundation, a very short time will +determine the fate of Vermont. Should anything favorable present, you +may still depend on his Excellency's utmost endeavor for your +salvation."</p> + +<p>This closed the negotiations which had been continued for three years +between the Vermont leaders and the British in Canada, and which, during +that period, had saved the State from invasion on the one hand and +disruption on the other. While it may be conceded that in the conduct of +this policy the Vermonters did not exhibit the most exalted devotion to +the faithless Congress,<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> though in it they did indeed serve it well, +it must also be conceded that it was the only course by which they could +preserve the autonomy of their State. This, antedating by eight years +that of any other colony, could but be more precious to them than mere +existence as a part or parts of other colonies, one of whom, and the +principal claimant of their territory, had been, and still continued to +be, more tyrannical and oppressive than Great Britain.</p> + +<p>They had rendered a most valuable service to the cause of America in the +capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, the first offensive operations +of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>the Americans; on their own soil had fought their country's battles, +one of which was largely instrumental in the defeat of Burgoyne; and had +contributed a regiment of Green Mountain Boys to the Continental army. +But when, after they had declared the independence which they had so +long maintained, they asked to be admitted to a union with the sister +States, Congress turned a deaf ear to their appeal, and listened only to +the dissentient voices of New York and New Hampshire, greedy for spoil, +and to the Southern States, jealous even so early of a preponderance of +Northern commonwealths.</p> + +<p>Abandoned by those to whom they naturally looked for aid when threatened +by the common enemy, whose advance upon their wide frontier they were +too feeble to oppose, they took advantage of the attempts of that enemy +to corrupt them to procure a cessation of hostilities, which saved not +only their own State but the frontiers of New York from invasion. If, at +any time, they really contemplated more than this, and a wholesome +admonition to Congress to respect their rights, they never sought to +work injury to the Confederation from which they were excluded; and in +the very beginning General Haldimand promised, if Vermont should be +admitted an independent State in that Confederation, the "negotiation +should cease, and any step that leads to it be forgotten."</p> + +<p>There was no treason. The Vermonters could <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>plot no treason against a +government in which they had no part. As independent as the United +States, their right was as absolute to make terms with Great Britain, +even to becoming a province under it, as they boldly declared to +Congress they would do rather than submit to the government of New York. +Ira Allen did not scruple to carry misrepresentation beyond even the +vaguely defined limits of diplomacy, and to him is chiefly due any +doubts of the integrity of his associates, the wise and patriotic +fathers of the State.</p> + +<p>In the necessarily secret conduct of the policy adopted, they incurred +the suspicious of friends and foes alike. Their own Warner and Stark, +who had led the Green Mountain Boys to victory, suspected them, and +General Haldimand complained of treachery; but they steadfastly pursued +their course, to the accomplishment of all they desired.<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a></p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> A British spy who was in Bennington at the time gave a +report of the proceedings rather unfavorable to the success of the +British cause.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> When Ethan Allen resigned, General Enos was appointed in +his place.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> Winsor says in his <i>Critical History</i>, vol. vii. p. 188: +"These tergiversations of Congress were not inducive of steadfast +patriotism in the new State."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> <i>Vt. Hist. Soc. Collections</i>, vol. ii.; <i>Governor and +Council</i>, vol. ii.; <i>Early History of Vermont</i>, Hiland Hall; <i>History of +Vermont</i>, Ira Allen; Williams's <i>History</i>, vol. ii.; Thompson's +<i>Vermont</i>.</p> + +<p class="noin">The Haldimand correspondence, in a voluminous cipher, was obtained from +the British Archives and sent to the distinguished antiquarian, Henry +Stevens, of Barnet. These papers, now in the office of the secretary of +state, were published in full by the Vermont Historical Society in +1871.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h3>UNIONS DISSOLVED.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Vermont kept small garrisons in the forts at Rutland, Castleton, and +Pittsford, and the militia in readiness to turn out in force when +required, while two companies of rangers patrolled the frontier to watch +the movements of the enemy. Her troops responded promptly to calls to +act against the common enemy, as was proved when, to intercept the +marauding force of Sir John Johnson, which had been ravaging the Mohawk +Valley, Governor Clinton marched with the militia of Albany to Lake +George, and sent an express to the commanding officer at Castleton to +meet him at Ticonderoga with such force as he could muster. A day later, +Ebenezer Allen, now major of the Vermont rangers, sent him word that he +had arrived at Mount Independence with more than two hundred men, and +was expecting a hundred more to join him, trusting that the governor +would furnish boats to transport them across the lake. Johnson slipped +by to the northward and escaped, but Clinton wrote to the New York +delegates in Congress that the punctuality of the "militia of the Grants +in complying with his request with 240 men did them great honor."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>When, early in October, 1780, the British, as already stated, came up +the lake with eight large vessels and more than a thousand men, their +designs were against New York and not against Vermont, as the British +policy was then to favor Vermont, with a view to future operations. Fort +Anne was taken, and Fort George shared the same fate after the greater +part of its garrison, consisting of eighty men of Warner's Continental +Regiment under Captain Chipman, had been killed or captured by a +superior force of the enemy, which they encountered when expecting to +meet only a scout that had driven in one of their messengers sent to +Fort Edward.</p> + +<p>Marking its course with destruction, this invasion of the enemy created +such a panic on the New York frontier that but few men could be raised +there to oppose it. In this alarm, Governor Clinton so far acknowledged +the existence of the "ideal Vermont State" as to direct an officer to +write to Governor Chittenden for assistance.<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> He was immediately +answered that the militia of the State were at the North, but the +militia of Berkshire, which had been sent for, would be forwarded on +their arrival.</p> + +<p>Before the pacific intentions of the British were known, the militia of +Vermont were called out. They immediately mustered at Castleton under +General Ethan Allen, and the assembly, then in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>session at Bennington, +adjourned, that the members might take the field. Vermont, late in +October, agreed to the truce, when her militia were dismissed, save a +small force of scouts.</p> + +<p>During the progress of this invasion occurred the last important +incursion of the Indians within the limits of Vermont. While Carleton's +force swept with purposed harmlessness past the western border of +Vermont, an expedition set forth against Newbury, on the Connecticut, +with the putative object of capturing a Lieutenant Whitcomb, who, while +scouting on the Richelieu some years before, had mortally wounded and +then robbed the British General Gordon. The force was commanded by +Lieutenant Horton of the British army, seconded by a Canadian named La +Motte, aided by one Hamilton, an escaped prisoner of war, who had been +in Newbury and Royalton on parole of honor during the previous summer. +It consisted of 300 men,<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> all but seven of whom were Indians. It is +probable, from this preponderance of the savage element in its +composition, that the real purpose of the expedition was the rapine +which it so successfully accomplished.</p> + +<p>Guided by old warriors, who had often followed this ancient warpath of +their people in the days when their onslaughts were the constant dread +of the New England frontiers, the party took its way up the Winooski, +past tenantless houses and deserted farms, on whose broad intervale +meadows <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>the timid deer now grazed undisturbed. Then it came to where +the wild stream wound through the unbroken wilderness; now among the +frost-painted forest of deciduous trees, and now in the black shade of +evergreens. Among the great pines that then clad the narrow valley, +where now stands the capital of the State, they overtook and made +prisoners two hunters from Newbury. These told the leaders that the +people of their town were expecting an attack, and were prepared for it. +Upon this they turned southward, and, following a branch of White River, +on the 16th of October fell upon Royalton and neighboring towns.</p> + +<p>The attack was at first conducted in perfect silence, till the alarm of +it spread among the inhabitants; then the infernal clamor of the +warwhoop resounded among the hills that had so long been strangers to +its echoes, giving to the panic another terror.</p> + +<p>Burning, pillaging, and making prisoners as they swooped with the +celerity of falcons upon one and another isolated homestead or +defenseless hamlet, they killed four persons, captured twenty-five +others, and destroyed quantities of stock and garnered harvests.</p> + +<p>As they drew off with prisoners and booty, Mrs. Hendee, the brave young +wife of a settler, followed them, so earnestly pleading for the release +of her little son that he was restored to her; and, upon her further +entreaty, nine other small lads were set free.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>The alarm soon reached the settlements on the Connecticut, and a force +of 250 men were mustered, and, under command of Captain House, began a +vigorous pursuit of the enemy in the night. Before daybreak they came up +with the rear-guard of the marauders, who fired upon them, wounding one +man. The fire was returned with better effect, killing one Indian and +wounding another. The Indians then sent a prisoner to House with a +threat that, if they persisted in the attack, the captives would all be +immediately killed.</p> + +<p>While the pursuers were deliberating on this message, the enemy +retreated to the Winooski, and, following the river to its mouth, there +embarked for Canada, whither they went unmolested. When they arrived at +Montreal, the prisoners were "sold for a half Joe each," says Zadock +Steele in his "Indian Captive." Most of them were exchanged and returned +to their homes in the following summer, but Steele, who was imprisoned +with others taken elsewhere, did not escape until two years after his +capture. After three weeks of starved and weary wandering through the +wilderness, first on the western shore of Lake Champlain, then crossing +at Split Rock on a raft, and then along the eastern shore and up Otter +Creek, he and his two comrades reached the fort at Pittsford.</p> + +<p>Other towns, during the war, were visited by small bands of British and +Indians that did little injury, and during the Haldimand negotiations +they probably had orders from the British generals not to molest the +inhabitants.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>Late in the fall of 1780, Vermont endeavored to form a union with the +neighboring States for the mutual defense of the frontiers, as well as +to secure from them an acknowledgment of her independence. Governor +Chittenden, in November, wrote to Governor Clinton, making a formal +demand on New York to relinquish her claim to the jurisdiction of +Vermont, at the same time proposing that New York should unite with +Vermont against the British forces, especially such as should invade the +frontiers of the two States from Canada. A similar letter was sent to +each of the other claiming States. Massachusetts complied with the +request. New Hampshire took no definite action; and when Governor +Clinton acquainted the legislature with this demand, he characterized it +as "insolent in its nature, and derogatory to the honor of the State." +The legislature, however, was disposed to adjust a quarrel which it was +evidently useless to prolong. Resolutions were reported, which, though +affirming the right of New York to the control of Vermont, declared it +was inexpedient to further insist on such right, and provided for the +appointment of commissioners to confer with commissioners from Vermont, +with full powers to adjust terms for the cession of the territory to +Vermont. The report was adopted by the Senate with but one dissenting +vote, and the question of considering the resolutions received the +affirmative vote of the House. Upon this, a message was received from +Governor Clinton <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>threatening to prorogue the House if it should agree +to carry these resolutions into effect. This threat put a stop to the +proceedings, which promised to end the long and bitter controversy. +General Schuyler was a member of the Senate, and, convinced of the +futility of attempting to coerce Vermont into submission to New York, +and that Congress would not come to a decision in favor of his State, he +took an active part in forwarding the conciliatory measures. Governor +Clinton's obstinate opposition to them, against the calm judgment of the +wise and patriotic Schuyler and the desire of the legislature of his +State, can only be accounted for by his bitter enmity to the intensely +democratic people of Vermont, and the fact that he and members of his +family were claimants under New York of grants of large tracts in the +disputed territory.</p> + +<p>Vermont had already appointed agents to wait upon the legislators of New +York, to agree upon and establish the line between the two States; but +when news of the failure of the pacific measures was received, the +council decided neither to send the agents to Albany nor to "write any +further to the General Assembly of New York at present."</p> + +<p>The intercepted letter from Lord George Germain afforded evidence that +the British ministry were making overtures to the people of Vermont, and +were somehow persuaded that they were disposed to accept them. Alarmed +by this aspect of the affair, Congress was stirred to some favorable +action, but made it an indispensable preliminary <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>to the recognition of +Vermont's independence and her admission to the Union that she +relinquish her claims to lands and jurisdiction beyond her original +limits.</p> + +<p>Vermont, having formed the unions, her legislature being in session at +Charlestown,<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> and her newly elected lieutenant-governor being a +resident of the East Union, refused to break the compact, or submit the +question of her independence to any power, but was willing to refer the +question of her boundaries to commissioners mutually chosen, and when +admitted to the Federal Union would submit any such dispute to Congress. +The action of Congress called forth a protest from New York, and her +delegates were instructed to oppose all such measures.</p> + +<p>There now arose imminent danger of serious collisions in both unions. +There was a probability that the government of New Hampshire was about +to take measures to compel the submission to its authority of those who +had joined Vermont; and Governor Chittenden wrote to General Paine, the +lieutenant-governor, to call out the militia east of the Green Mountains +to assist the sheriff, and, if New Hampshire made an attack with an +armed force, to repel force by force. General Paine sent a copy of his +orders to the president of New Hampshire, and informed him that he +should carry them out if New Hampshire began hostilities; at the same +time commissioners were sent to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>Assembly of New Hampshire to +attempt an amicable arrangement of the matter. New Hampshire gave her +revolted citizens forty days in which to return to her, and thus armed +conflict was averted.</p> + +<p>At the same time there were more serious disturbances in the Western +Union. Colonel Van Rensselaer of Sancoik, acting under authority of New +York, had arrested at New City (now Lansingburg) a colonel of the +Vermont militia, who presently escaped. Not long afterwards Van +Rensselaer himself was arrested and taken to Bennington, where, +according to his own statement, he was well treated and soon discharged. +Other arrests were made by both parties, all of whom were residents of +the union, and who, gathering in arms near Sancoik, for a while +threatened each other. The adherents of Vermont so greatly outnumbered +those of New York—only about eighty strong—that the latter did not +dare to attack them, and the New York commander, Colonel Yates, applied +in December, 1781, to General Gansevoort at Albany for reinforcements. +Governor Chittenden now called out the militia of the original territory +of Vermont, and Colonel Walbridge marched from Bennington with his +regiment to Sancoik. Colonel Yates at once withdrew his force, and, on +his retreat, met General Gansevoort, who, after an unsuccessful endeavor +to obtain a detachment from General Stark at Saratoga, was marching into +the disturbed region with eighty men, all that he had been able to raise +from four regiments, one of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>which furnished only the colonel and one +private. General Gansevoort demanded by what authority and for what +purpose Colonel Walbridge invaded the territory of New York; and +Walbridge answered that he had come to protect those who held allegiance +to Vermont, and, though he did not desire warfare, he would not be +answerable for the consequences if the liberty and property of such +persons were interfered with. Finding his insignificant and indifferent +force confronted by 500 Green Mountain Boys, who were very much in +earnest, General Gansevoort wisely withdrew, and left "those turbulent +sons of freedom" masters of the bloodless field.</p> + +<p>Thus, most fortunately, no actual hostilities in either quarter resulted +from these threatening demonstrations. But the fire was only covered, +not quenched, and its smouldering embers were ready to burst into a +blaze of fratricidal war whenever fanned by the first mischievous wind. +That this did not happen was due to the wise and kindly advice given by +Washington in a letter to Governor Chittenden, dated January 1, 1782. +Admitting that Congress had virtually acknowledged the right of Vermont +to independence in its late action, and its willingness to confirm it, +provided the new State was confined to her originally claimed limits, he +strongly urged the relinquishment of Vermont's claims to the East and +West Unions. "You have nothing to do but withdraw your jurisdiction to +the confines of your own limits, and obtain an acknowledgment of +independence and sovereignty."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>When the Vermont Assembly met at Bennington in February, Washington's +letter was laid before it and had the immediate effect of bringing about +the measure which it advised. On the 22d the claims of Vermont to +jurisdiction beyond the original limits of the New Hampshire Grants were +formally relinquished, and, having made such compliance with the +resolutions of Congress, four delegates were appointed by the assembly +to negotiate the admission of the State, two of the delegates being +empowered to take seats in Congress as representatives of Vermont upon +her admission.</p> + +<p>Before Congress was apprised of this action, resolutions were proposed +in that body that if, within one month after notification, Vermont +complied with the resolutions of August, she should at once be admitted +into the Union, but that non-compliance with them would be considered a +manifest indication of her hostility to the United States, whose forces +should then be employed against her inhabitants, and her territory be +divided by the line of the Green Mountains between New Hampshire and New +York. But the resolutions were not adopted, and the Vermont delegates +presently arriving at Philadelphia officially informed Congress of the +action of the legislature.</p> + +<p>The matter was referred to a committee of five, which reported on the +17th of April. Its sense was that, as Vermont had fully complied with +the requirements of Congress, her recognition and admission had become +"necessary to be performed;" and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>it submitted a resolution recognizing +and acknowledging Vermont as a free, sovereign, and independent State, +and authorizing the appointment of a committee to treat with the Vermont +delegates upon the terms of admission.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding all this, Congress again resorted to the policy of delay +by which it had so long evaded a settlement of this controversy, and +motions to consider the report were successively made and rejected.</p> + +<p>The Vermont delegates were indignant at such treatment, and after +addressing a letter to the president of Congress stating the confident +hope of recognition which had induced Vermont to relinquish her unions, +expressing their disappointment at the delay of Congress, and setting +forth the critical situation in which Vermont was now placed, left +unaided to oppose invasions of the enemy from Canada, they shook the +dust of Philadelphia from their feet, "expecting to be officially +acquainted when their attendance would be necessary."</p> + +<p>There was a universal feeling in Vermont that the legislature had been +duped by Congress into weakening the State. The people lost faith in the +promises and resolutions of Congress, and there were frequent +expressions of bitter feeling against it. A member of the legislature, +gossiping with neighbors at the mill while their grists were grinding, +declared that Congress had no business to interfere with the unions of +Vermont; and when a noted adherent of New York expressed a different +opinion, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>he cursed Congress roundly. "Curse Congress! Haven't we waited +long enough on them? A pox on them! I wish they would come to the mill +now. I would put them between the millstones or under the water-wheel! +They have sold us like an old horse! They have no business with our +affairs. We know no such body of men!" Another prominent worthy, who was +in the secret of the Haldimand correspondence, said, "We're fixin' up a +pill that'll make the Yorkers hum." Another declared in a public house +that, "as long as the King and Parliament of Great Britain approved of +and would maintain the State of Vermont, he was determined to drive it, +and so were its leaders."<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></p> + +<p>There was a settled determination to maintain the independence of the +State and to ask no favors of the vacillating Congress, though the +legislature, that nothing might be wanting on their part, at its next +session appointed agents empowered to arrange terms of admission to the +Union.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Clinton afterwards denied giving any authority to this +demand on the State of Vermont.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> H. Hall, Z. Steele's <i>Indian Captive</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> <i>New Hampshire in the East Union.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> B. H. Hall's <i>Eastern Vermont</i>.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h3>"THE REPUBLIC OF THE GREEN MOUNTAINS."</h3> +<br /> + +<p>For all its relinquishment of the unions, without which, according to +the representations of some internal enemies, it had not the capacity to +maintain inhabitants enough to support the "charges, honor, power, and +dignity of an inland State," the commonwealth was constantly gaining +strength by the rapid incoming of settlers from other States. These were +chiefly from Connecticut, which had furnished so many of the founders +and defenders of the State, and those who came now, being for the most +part of the same mould and metal, gave a hearty support to the +government under which they had chosen to live.</p> + +<p>However, some disturbances occurred in the southeastern part of the +State, where certain persons, encouraged to resistance by Governor +Clinton, opposed the raising of troops by Vermont for the defense of the +frontiers.</p> + +<p>The town of Guilford was at that time the most populous in the State. A +majority of the inhabitants were adherents of New York, and, having +renounced the New Hampshire charter, had, while there was no actual +government exercised in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>Grants, formed a little republic, not +ill-governed by the decisions of town meetings. Here was the most active +opposition to the levy of troops. The adherents of New York who were +drafted refused to serve, and the sheriff of Windham County was directed +to seize their goods and chattels to the amount expended by the State in +hiring their substitutes. When the officer attempted to execute his +warrant, a cow which he had seized was taken from him by a mob acting +under a captain commissioned by New York. In levying on the property of +Timothy Church, of Brattleboro, the sheriff was resisted by Church, and, +when he attempted to arrest him, was prevented by three of Church's +friends. Being unable to execute his warrants, the sheriff asked for a +military force to assist him, whereupon, by the advice of the council, +Governor Chittenden ordered Brigadier-General Ethan Allen to raise two +hundred and fifty men, and march them into Windham County to support the +civil authority.</p> + +<p>Not many days passed before Allen led 200 mounted Green Mountain Boys +into the rebellious region, making several arrests, and meeting with +little opposition but from the tongue of a termagant, whose husband they +were seeking, till they came to Guilford. Even here, where disaffection +most rankly flourished, there was no serious resistance to the arrests, +but when marching thence toward Brattleboro they were fired on by about +fifty of the Guilford men, who ambuscaded the highway. Allen at once +marched his force back to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>Guilford, and made proclamation that if the +people of that town did not peacefully submit to the authority of +Vermont he would "lay it as desolate as Sodom and Gomorrah." Then, +without further molestation, for the Yorkers "feared Ethan Allen more +than the Devil," the prisoners, twenty in all, were conveyed to +Westminster and lodged in jail. When brought to trial, fines were +imposed on the lesser offenders, while four of the principal ones were +sentenced to be forever banished from Vermont, not to return under pain +of death, and their estates were forfeited to the State. Two had made +themselves particularly odious by accepting commissions under New York +after having sworn allegiance to Vermont. Timothy Church, who had borne +a colonel's commission under New York, was one of them. He returned to +the State, was taken, imprisoned for five months, and released upon +taking the oath of fidelity to Vermont, but the faithless creature was +presently as busily as ever plotting against the government which he had +twice sworn to support. The banished men appealed to Governor Clinton, +but he, always lavish of promises, yet niggardly of fulfillment, gave +them no present comfort, but forwarded a representation of their case to +Congress. The New York delegates, aided by Charles Phelps, the most +active of the Vermont refugees, succeeded in bringing Congress into a +certain degree of hostility to Vermont.</p> + +<p>There were other reasons than the claims of New York, or the right of +Vermont to independence, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>or the obligations of Congress to acknowledge +it, that influenced the action of the different States. Those of New +England, with the exception of New Hampshire, were inclined to favor +Vermont from kinship and intimate relations with its people, "but +principally," said Madison, "from the accession of weight they would +derive from it in Congress." This "accession of weight" was as potent a +reason for the opposition of the Southern States; and another reason was +the effect which a decision in favor of Vermont might have on the claims +of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia to the vast tracts +stretching westward to the Mississippi. For the same reason, +Pennsylvania and Maryland inclined to favor Vermont, as did Delaware and +New Jersey, from a desire to strengthen the interests of the small +States.</p> + +<p>On the 5th of December resolutions quite hostile to Vermont were adopted +by a vote of seven States, among whom were New Hampshire and New York, +though, by a previous resolution of Congress, both were forbidden to +vote on any question relative to the decision of this matter. The action +of Vermont toward her rebellious inhabitants was denounced, and "the +people inhabiting said district, claiming to be independent," were +required to make full restitution to the persons who had been condemned +to banishment, or deprived of their property by confiscation or +otherwise, since the first of September, and that they be not molested +on returning to their homes. It was declared that the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>United States +would take effectual measures to enforce these resolutions in case they +were disobeyed. Persons holding commissions under New York or the +"district claiming to be independent" were forbidden to exercise +authority over any inhabitants of said district, contrary to the +resolutions of September 24, 1779, and June 2, 1780. A copy of these +resolutions was transmitted to "Thomas Chittenden, Esq., of Bennington, +in the district aforesaid, to be communicated to the people +thereof."<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> A month later Governor Chittenden returned a forcible and +spirited answer, reminding Congress of its solemn engagements to +Vermont, and giving an extract from Washington's letter to him advising +the restriction of the limits of Vermont, which advice had been complied +with, in full reliance on the faith and honor of Congress to fulfill its +agreement. The right of Congress to control the internal police of the +State, from which it had never received any delegated power, was denied. +If Congress attempted to carry out its threat of coercion, Vermont would +probably appeal to General Washington, who, with most of the inhabitants +of the contiguous States, favored the independence of the State. "Would +it not, then," he asked, "be more prudent to refer this dispute to New +York and Vermont than to embroil the confederacy of the United States +therewith?" The course pursued toward the rebellious persons was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>justified on the ground that nearly all of those banished or fined had +taken the oath of allegiance to Vermont, and were, according to the +resolutions of Congress itself, amenable to no laws or regulations but +those of Vermont. The remonstrance closed by earnestly soliciting the +admission of Vermont to the Union, "agreeable to the before cited +preliminary agreement, which the committee of Congress have reported has +become absolute and necessary on their part to be performed, and from +which this State will not recede."</p> + +<p>When the legislature met in February, Governor Chittenden laid before it +the resolutions of Congress, which called forth a remonstrance quite as +spirited as his own. It declared the willingness of Vermont to comply +with every reasonable requirement of Congress; "but when Congress +require us," it continues, "to abrogate our laws and reverse the solemn +decisions of our courts of justice in favor of insurgents and disturbers +of the public peace, we think ourselves justified to God and the world +when we say we cannot comply with such their requisitions." "It would be +licensing factious subjects to oppose government with impunity." "As we +have, from the commencement of the war, braved every danger and hardship +against the usurpations of Britain in common with the United States, as +our inherent right of sovereignty and jurisdiction stands confessed upon +the principles of the Revolution, and implied by the solemn transactions +of Congress, we cannot but express <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>our surprise at the reception of the +late resolutions of Congress."</p> + +<p>The remonstrance of Governor Chittenden was printed and extensively +circulated, especially among the officers of the Continental army, to +inform them of the merits of a controversy in which they might soon be +called upon to take part. General Washington's letter being referred to +in it, he laid it and the one to which it was an answer before Congress, +and at the same time wrote to Mr. Jones, a member of that body, +reminding him that the committee on these affairs, of which he was a +member, had approved of the reply to Governor Chittenden. He was sure +that Vermont had a powerful interest in the New England States, and with +regard to the enforcement of the resolutions of Congress by the army he +wrote: "Let me ask by whom that district of country is principally +settled? And of whom is your present army (I do not confine the question +to this part of it, but will extend it to the whole) composed? The +answers are evident,—New England men. It has been the opinion of some +that the appearance of force would awe those people into submission. If +the General Assembly ratify and confirm what Mr. Chittenden and his +council have done, I shall be of a very different sentiment, and, +moreover, that it is not a trifling force that will subdue them, even +supposing they derive no aid from the enemy in Canada; and that it would +be a very arduous task indeed if they should, to say nothing of a +diversion which may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>and doubtless would be made in their favor from New +York if the war with Great Britain should continue." He could not say +that there "would be any difficulty with the army if it were to be +ordered on this service," but "should be exceedingly unhappy to see the +experiment." There would be "a general unwillingness to imbrue their +hands in the blood of their brethren."</p> + +<p>The threat of Congress certainly had not the effect of awing Vermont +into any compliance with its behests, and if more than a threat was ever +intended, nothing beyond it was ever attempted.</p> + +<p>No reparation was made to the offenders who had been so summarily dealt +with; and when two of the banished men ventured to return, they were +seized and imprisoned, but were released on their promise of submission +to the laws of the State. When opposition was offered serious enough to +require it, the militia was properly called out to enforce the civil +authority; and the sturdy little commonwealth continued to exercise its +jurisdiction unmolested by Congress, though the legislature of New York +seethed with wrath and boiled over in protests and complaints.</p> + +<p>Constable Oliver Waters had made himself particularly obnoxious to the +New York party by his activity in making arrests, and while he was +lodging at an inn in Brattleboro the house was attacked by twenty or +thirty men. After firing through the doors and windows and wounding two +of the inmates, they made forcible entry, and, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>seizing Waters, carried +him into Massachusetts, intending to deliver him to Governor Clinton at +Poughkeepsie, but he was taken from them by a rescue party and brought +safely to Vermont. This affair was the cause of vigorous action against +the insurgents, several hundred of the militia turning out to aid the +state troops. Several of the ring-leaders were taken, and several fled +into Massachusetts, whither they were not pursued.</p> + +<p>In February a new act was passed making punishable by death the levying +of war against the State by any citizen thereof. At the same time the +governor and council were given discretionary power to grant pardons, +during the recess of the legislature, to offenders "who should appear +penitent and desirous of returning to their duty." In the following +month all active opposition to the jurisdiction of Vermont ceased, and +the troops were gradually withdrawn from Windham County. Many of the +disaffected persons were granted pardons and the restoration of their +confiscated property on taking the oath of allegiance. Among these was +Charles Phelps, who had been one of the most inveterate opponents of +Vermont, but who now became a peaceable citizen of the State, and so +continued during the remainder of his life. Many of the adherents of New +York removed to lands on the Susquehanna, granted them by that State.</p> + +<p>New York made complaint to Congress of the employment of troops by +Vermont to reduce residents thereof who professed allegiance to New +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>York, and again urged the intervention of Congress. Being apprised of +this, Governor Chittenden wrote a pungent letter to the president of +Congress. "It seems they are willing Congress should settle this +dispute," he says of New York, "as they have a mind, but not otherwise." +Referring to the desire expressed by New York that she might not be +blamed if blood was shed in the assertion of her authority: "As to this +bloody proposition, the council of this State have only to remark that +Vermont does not wish to enter into a war with the State of New York, +but she will act on the defensive, and expect that Congress and the +twelve States will observe strict neutrality, and let the two contending +States settle their own controversy." Referring to the suppression of +the malcontents, he wrote: "This matter has been managed by the wisdom +of the legislature of this State, who consider themselves herein +amenable to no earthly tribunal." Congress was reminded of the +impropriety of permitting New York and New Hampshire to vote on any +motion which came before it respecting Vermont, contrary to the express +resolution of September, 1779, though it appeared they had ever since +done so. In conclusion, the desire of Vermont for a confederation with +the United States was reiterated. This letter was referred to the same +committee to which the representation of New York, and other papers +relating to Vermont, had been committed. On the 29th of May, 1783, it +reported in favor of Vermont, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>reciting the resolutions of August, 1781, +and offering one recognizing the independence of the State, and +admitting it into the Union. A few days later the New York delegates +moved the postponement of another matter that this report might be taken +up, but only New York and New Hampshire voted in favor of the motion. +This was the last action taken by the Continental Congress in relation +to Vermont, with whose affairs it thenceforth offered no interference.</p> + +<p>By the treaty of peace with Great Britain signed at Paris on the 3d of +September, 1783, Vermont was included in the territory belonging to the +United States. But she was in fact thenceforth, till her admission to +the Union, what the legend<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> on her copper coins declared her to be, +"The Republic of the Green Mountains," and independent of every other +government.</p> + +<p>A standard of weights and measures was prescribed, the value of coins +regulated, and a postal service established, the rates of postage being +the same as those of the United States, for the superintendence of which +a postmaster-general was appointed, and the post-riders were given the +exclusive right of carrying letters and packages. The mails were carried +on horseback, and in their long and lonely routes the riders encountered +much discomfort of storm and cold on roads always bad, often worse with +blockades of snow or bottomless quagmires. The post-offices were for +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>the most part a shelf in the great tavern bar, inconspicuous among the +array of bottles and decanters that were in more frequent demand; or a +drawer in the village store, into which the infrequent letters and few +newspapers were promiscuously tumbled, to be searched through on demand +of each inquirer. The furniture of one central office is still +preserved,—a great chest of three drawers, each bearing in large +letters the name of a town.</p> + +<p>Being out of the Confederation, Vermont could not be called on to bear +any part of the debt incurred by the war, by such general government as +existed, and having made the taxes for the support of her own troops +payable in provisions, which were always furnished, she herself owed no +considerable debt, and this was in course of speedy liquidation by the +sale of her lands, now in great demand by people of the neighboring +States. Her bills of credit, issued in 1781, had suffered no +depreciation, and were faithfully redeemed.</p> + +<p>Under these circumstances, the people of the prosperous commonwealth +were quite lukewarm concerning its admission to the Union, though they +cultivated friendly relations with the neighboring States, and the +legislature of the State enacted that all citizens of the United States +should be equally entitled to all the privileges of law and justice with +those of Vermont, and an annual election of delegates to Congress was +provided for, though none had occasion to attend.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>Contrasting their condition with that of the pioneers, these people +might well be content with that which was now enjoyed. Those brave +invaders of the wilderness had been opposed by all unkindly forces of +nature,—unpropitious seasons, floods, the bitterness of almost arctic +winters endured in miserable shelter with meagre fare, and by more cruel +man, the prowling, murderous savage and his as relentless Christian +allies; and withal had borne the heavy loneliness of isolation, +lightened only by toil save when Nature changed her mood and conversed +in songs of familiar birds, voices of wind-swept trees and babble of +streams whose torrential rage was spent, or smiled in sunshine from the +little patch of sky, and in the bloom of innumerable flowers out of the +border of the grim forest. The dangers and privations of pioneer life +had now been passed through, and there were peace and abundance of all +that simple lives required.</p> + +<p>The "plumping-mill"—the rude device for pounding corn in a huge mortar, +with a pestle hung from a spring-pole—went out of use, and the long +journeys on foot or on horseback to the gristmill forty miles away were +no longer necessary. The wild streams were tamed to the turning of +millstones, as well as to plying the saws that were incessantly gnawing +into the heart of the woods.</p> + +<p>The wild forest had receded and given place to broad fields of tilth, +meadow land, and pastures, not now in the uncouth desolation of stumps +and log-heaps, but dotted with herds and flocks. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>jangle of the +sheep-bell was as frequent as the note of the thrush in the half-wild +upland pastures, for two shillings were deducted from the lists for each +pound of wool raised during the year. Orchards were beginning to whiten +hillsides with bloom and color them with fruitage, for every acre with +forty growing trees was exempted from taxation.</p> + +<p>But while Vermont continued very indifferent and almost inactive +concerning the acknowledgment of her independence by Congress, her old +enemy had come to desire what she had so long opposed. It had become +apparent to New York that the admission of the State to the Union would +be to her own advantage. The establishment of Vermont as a free and +independent State was an accomplished fact; her interest in the affairs +of the nation, were she an acknowledged part of it, would in the main +accord with that of New York. There was, then, no good reason why New +York should continue to oppose her admission merely in the selfish and +insignificant interest of the land speculators, and in the blind lead of +Governor Clinton's persistent enmity. In accordance with this wiser +view, the legislature of New York, on the 15th of July, 1789, appointed +commissioners with full power to acknowledge the independence of +Vermont, and settle all matters of controversy with that State. In +October Vermont appointed commissioners to treat with those of New York, +and finally determine everything which obstructed the union of Vermont +with the United States. The principal difficulty <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>was the adjustment of +the compensation for lands claimed by citizens of New York which had +been re-granted by Vermont, but after two or three meetings the +commissioners came to an amicable arrangement of this most troublesome +question. In October, 1790, the commissioners of New York declared the +consent of the legislature of that State to the admission of Vermont to +the Union, and that upon such admission all claims of New York to +jurisdiction within the limits of Vermont should cease; that the +boundary line between the two States should be the western lines of +towns granted by New Hampshire, and the mid-channel of Lake Champlain.</p> + +<p>For the adjustment of the land claims, it was declared that if the +legislature of Vermont should before the 1st of January, 1792, agree to +pay to the State of New York the sum of $30,000 on or before the first +day of January, 1794, all rights and titles to land granted by the +colonial or state government of New York should cease, except those +which had been made in confirmation of the grants of New Hampshire.</p> + +<p>The legislature of Vermont at once acceded to this arrangement, and on +the 28th of the same month passed an act directing the state treasurer +to pay the sum named to the State of New York, and to accept the line +proposed as a perpetual boundary between the two States.</p> + +<p>Thus peaceably ended the controversy that for more than a quarter of a +century had been an almost <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>continual annoyance to the people of this +district, and in its later stages a source of danger to the whole +country.</p> + +<p>The Assembly of Vermont called a convention to consider the expediency +of joining the Federal Union. This convention met at Bennington, January +6, 1791, and though at first several members were not in favor of union, +after a debate of three days the question was decided in the affirmative +by a vote of 105 yeas to 3 nays. A few days later the assembly chose +Nathaniel Chipman and Lewis R. Morris commissioners to negotiate with +Congress for the admission of the State to the Union. The commissioners +went immediately to Philadelphia, and laid before the president the +proceedings of the legislature and convention.</p> + +<p>On the eighteenth day of February, 1791, Congress, without debate or one +dissenting vote, passed an act declaring that on the fourth day of March +next, "the said State, by the name and style of the State of Vermont, +shall be received into this Union as a new and entire member of the +United States of America." So at last the star, that so long had shone +apart, now added its constant ray to the lustre of the constellation.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> For these resolutions see Slade's <i>State Papers</i>, p. 177; +also Chittenden's reply, p. 178.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> <i>Vermontensium Res Publica.</i></p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE NEW STATE.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>When Vermont had taken her place in the Union, her state government +continued to run smoothly in its accustomed lines, still guided by the +firm hand and wise counsel of her first governor. With unabated faith in +the wisdom, integrity, and patriotism of Thomas Chittenden, the freemen +of Vermont again and again reëlected him to the chief magistracy of the +commonwealth after its admission, as with but one exception they had +done in the twelve years preceding that event.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the simplicity of home life in those days, "Election +Day" was observed with a pomp and ceremony well befitting the occasion.</p> + +<p>An old newspaper<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> of the day tells us that the morning was ushered in +by beat of drums, and that the governor-elect, Thomas Chittenden, Esq., +and Lieutenant-Governor Peter Olcott, accompanied by several members of +the council, Jonas Fay, Samuel Safford, Walbridge, Bayley, and Strong, +old associates in the stalwart band of Green Mountain Boys, were met at +some distance from the town of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>Windsor by a troop of horse, a company +of artillery, and one of infantry, all in "most beautiful uniforms," +doubtless of the beloved Continental buff and blue, glittering with +great brass buttons, whereon were inscribed the initials "G. W." and the +legend, "Long live the President."</p> + +<p>As this corps, made up of veterans who had smelled powder when it burned +with deadly intent, and of martial youths whose swords were yet +unfleshed, marched proudly to the screech of fife and beat of drum, the +chronicler writes, their evolutions and discipline would have gained the +applause of regular troops. Upon the formal announcement of the result +of the election, the artillery company fired a salute of fifteen guns, +and then the governor and council, the members of the house, and all the +good people there assembled, repaired to church, and listened to the +election sermon, delivered by the Rev. Mr. Shuttleworth "with his usual +energy and pathos;" and in the evening the happy occasion was further +celebrated by an "elegant ball given by a number of Gentlemen of this +town to a most brilliant assembly of Gentlemen and Ladies, of this and +neighboring States."</p> + +<p>The sessions of the legislature usually continued about four weeks, and +its business principally consisted in the granting of new townships, +levying a small tax, and the passage of necessary laws. Frequent +petitions were received, and many granted, to establish lotteries to aid +towns in the building and repairing of bridges and roads; to remove +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>obstructions in the channel of the Connecticut; to enable individuals +to carry out private enterprises, such as the building of a malt and +brew house; in one case to furnish a blind man means wherewith to go to +Europe to have an operation performed on his eyes; and at least one +petition was presented praying for the grant of a lottery to build a +church!</p> + +<p>Some of the statutes made for the government of the commonwealth in its +turbulent infancy, and which were soon repealed, are curious enough to +deserve mention.</p> + +<p>Manslaughter was punishable by forfeiture of possessions, by whipping on +the naked back, and by branding the letter "M." on the hand with a hot +iron. Whoso was convicted of adultery was to be punished by whipping on +the naked body not exceeding thirty-nine stripes, and "stigmatized or +burnt on the forehead with the letter 'A' on a hot iron," and was to +wear the letter "A" on the back of the outside garment, in cloth of a +different color, and as often as seen without it, on conviction thereof, +to be whipped ten stripes. The counterfeiter was punished by having his +right ear cut off, and by branding with the letter "C" and being kept at +hard labor during life. Burglary and highway robbery were punished by +branding with the letter "B" on the forehead, by having the right ear +nailed to a post and cut off, and by whipping. A second offense entailed +the loss of the other ear and the infliction of a severer whipping, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>and +for the third offense the criminal was to be "put to death as being +incorrigible."</p> + +<p>Every town was obliged to maintain a good pair of stocks set in the most +public place, and in these were exposed the convicted liar, the +blasphemer, and the drunkard. In such place also must be maintained a +sign-post, whereon all public notices were placed, with occasional +ghastly garnishment of felons' ears.</p> + +<p>Every town assigned a particular brand for its horse kind, each one of +which was to be marked on the left shoulder by a regularly appointed +brander, who should record a description of every horse branded. All +owners of cattle, sheep, or swine were required to ear-mark or brand +such animals, and cause their several marks to be registered in the town +book. Many of these ear-marks may yet be seen described and rudely +pictured in faded ink on the musty pages of old record books.</p> + +<p>There was a general revision of the laws in 1787, and a second revision +ten years later, whereby the barbarous severity of the penal laws was +considerably lessened.</p> + +<p>After admission to the Union, Vermont was as faithful to the newly +assumed bond as she had been steadfast and unflinching in the assertion +of her independence of Congress when that body attempted to exercise its +authority over the unrecognized commonwealth. She was not backward in +furnishing soldiers for the common defense. In <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>1792, Captain William +Eaton, who some years later won renown as the heroic leader of a bold +and successful expedition against the city of Derne in Tripoli, raised a +company for service against the Indians in the Northwest. There, in the +fourth sub-legion of General Wayne's army, these brave men well +sustained the valorous reputation of the Green Mountain Boys, bearing +the evergreen sprig to its accustomed place in the battle-front. At the +battle of Miami, of the eleven privates killed in the fourth sub-legion +five were Vermonters. The patriotism of these three-years' volunteers +was stimulated by a bounty of eight dollars, and a monthly wage of three +dollars.</p> + +<p>The pioneers of Vermont aged early under the constant strain of anxiety +and hardship which their life entailed, and though most of the leaders +were spared amid the dangers of the frontier, the perils of war, and +intestine feuds, few reached the allotted term of man's life. Warner, +whose vigorous constitution was sapped by the stress of continuous +campaigns, died in 1785, aged only forty-two, six years before the State +in whose defense he first drew his sword became a recognized member of +the nation to whose service he unselfishly devoted the best years of his +brave life. Neither was Ethan Allen permitted to see the admission of +Vermont to the Union, but was suddenly stricken down by apoplexy, in the +robust fullness of his strength, two years before that event. Noble and +generous in his nature, bold, daring, and resolute, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>"he possessed," +says Zadoc Thompson, "an unusual degree of vigor both of body and mind, +and an unlimited confidence in his own abilities."</p> + +<p>Vermont has given him the first place among her heroes, has set his +marble effigy in the national capitol, in her own, and on the monument +that marks his grave; yet to that brave and modest soldier, Seth Warner, +the knightliest figure in her romantic history, the State he served so +well has not given so much as a tablet to commemorate his name and +valorous deeds. It is as if, in their mouldering dust, the character of +the living men was preserved, the one still self-asserting, the other as +unpretentious in the eternal sleep as he was in life. Though Governor +Chittenden's age was not beyond that in which modern statesmen are still +active, infirmity and disease were upon him, admonishing him that he +could no longer bear the fatigues of the office which for eighteen years +he had held. In the summer of 1797 he announced that he would not again +be a candidate for the governorship. He had seen the State, which he had +been so largely instrumental in moulding out of the crude material of +scattered frontier settlements, and which his strong hand had defended +against covetous neighbors and a foreign enemy, in the full enjoyment of +an honorable place in the sisterhood of commonwealths, and felt that his +work was done. While still in office, a few weeks later, his honorable +life closed at his home in Williston, among the fertile fields that his +hand had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>wrought out of the primeval wilderness, and his death was +sincerely mourned by the people whom he had so long ruled with +patriarchal care.</p> + +<p>At the next election, Isaac Tichenor was chosen governor. He was a +native of New Jersey, and, becoming a resident of Vermont in 1777, he +presently took an active part in the affairs of the State. For several +years previous to his election to the first place in its gift, he had +served it as a member of the council, chief justice, and United States +senator. No choice was made by the people, though he received a +plurality of the popular vote, and the election devolved upon the +assembly. The Federalist party predominating therein, he was elected by +a large majority. He was ten times reëlected, and, such faith had the +people in him, several times after his party was a minority in the +State, although the acrimony of party strife had begun to embitter its +politics.</p> + +<p>In the early part of Tichenor's administration, while the legislature +was in session at Vergennes in the autumn of 1798, five chiefs of the +Cognahwaghnahs presented a claim of their people to ancient hunting +grounds in Vermont, bounded by a line extending from Ticonderoga to the +Great Falls of Otter Creek, and in the same direction to the height of +land dividing the streams between Lake Champlain and the river +Connecticut, thence along the height of land opposite Missisque, and +then down to the bay, and comprising about a third of the State. The +Indians were handsomely <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>entertained during their stay, and dismissed +with a present of a hundred dollars, "well pleased with their own +policy," says Williams, "and with that of the Assembly of Vermont, +hoping that the game would prove still better another season."</p> + +<p>An investigation of this claim resulted in a decision that, if any such +right ever existed, it had been extinguished by the cession of the lands +in question to the United States by Great Britain, whose allies these +Indians were in the late war.</p> + +<p>When, upon the passage of the alien and sedition laws by Congress, the +legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky, in 1798, passed resolutions, +which were sent to the legislatures of all the other States, declaring +these acts null, the Assembly of Vermont made a firm, dignified, and +forcible reply, denying the right of States to sit in judgment on the +constitutionality of the acts of Congress, or to declare which of its +acts should be accepted or which rejected. Considering the almost recent +antagonism which had existed between Congress and the State of Vermont, +the one by turns vacillating or threatening, the other boldly defiant +and denying the right of interference with her affairs, it might be +thought that the new commonwealth would be found arrayed among the +extreme defenders of state rights rather than so stoutly opposing them.</p> + +<p>Party spirit had begun to embitter the politics of the State, and the +growing minority of Republicans was hotly arrayed against the still +predominant Federalists. The Federal strength was further <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>weakened by +the imprisonment, under the sedition law, of Matthew Lyon, one of the +Vermont members of Congress. His free expression of opinion concerning +the conduct of the administration of President Adams would not now be +considered very extravagant, but for it he was sentenced to four months' +imprisonment, and to pay a fine of $1,000.</p> + +<p>While in prison at Vergennes, he wrote letters which it was thought +would cause his re-arrest before he could leave the State to take his +seat in Congress, to which he had been reëlected while in prison. +Measures were taken for the payment of his fine in indisputably legal +tender, one citizen of the State providing the sum in silver dollars, +and one ardent Republican of North Carolina coming all the way from that +State on horseback with the amount in gold. But Lyon's many political +friends desired to share the honor of paying his fine, and it was +arranged that no person should pay more than one dollar. No sooner had +he come forth from prison than his fine was paid, and he was placed in a +sleigh and driven up the frozen current of Great Otter to Middlebury, +attended, it is said, by an escort in sleighs, the train extending from +the one town to the other, a distance of twelve miles. With half as +many, he might boast of a greater following than had passed up the +Indian Road under any leader since the bloody days of border warfare +when Waubanakee chief or Canadian partisan led their marauding horde +along the noble river.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>Lyon was of Irish birth, and came to America at the age of thirteen +under an indenture for his passage money. This was sold for a pair of +steers to one of the founders of Danville, Vermont, and Lyon was wont to +swear "By the bulls that redeemed me." He served in the Vermont troops +in the Revolution, and for a time was paymaster in Warner's regiment. He +was a member of the Dorset convention, and for several years took a +prominent part in the politics of the State, of which he was an +enterprising and useful citizen. His second wife was the daughter of +Governor Thomas Chittenden. In 1801 he removed to Kentucky, and was +eight years a member of Congress from that State. He died at the age of +seventy-six, in the territory of Arkansas, soon after his election as +delegate to Congress.</p> + +<p>Four years after the arbitrary measures against Lyon by a Federalist +majority in the legislature, the opposite party gained the ascendency in +that body, though Tichenor had been reëlected by a majority of the +freemen of the State.</p> + +<p>The customary address of the governor, and the reply of the house +thereto, was the occasion of a hot party debate, which was kept up for +several days, and it was expected that the Republicans would use their +newly acquired power to place adherents of their party in all the +offices at their disposal. But the wise counsel of the first governor +still prevailed, and there were but few removals for mere political +causes. Though party spirit was rancorous enough, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>the elevation of men +to office, more for their political views than for their fitness, did +not obtain in the politics of Vermont till the bad example had for some +years been set by the party in power at the seat of national government.</p> + +<p>Until 1808, the legislature of Vermont wandered from town to town, like +a homeless vagrant, having held its sessions in fifteen different towns, +one of which, Charlestown, was outside the present limits of the +commonwealth, though then in its Eastern Union. This year, as if +partially fulfilling the threat of Ethan Allen, it gathered among the +fastnesses of the mountains, and established a permanent seat at +Montpelier, which town was chosen as the capital for being situated near +the geographical centre of the State. A large wooden structure, three +stories in height and of quaint fashion, was erected for a state house. +The seats of the representatives' hall were of unpainted pine plank, +which so invited the jackknives of the true-born Yankee legislators that +in a quarter of a century they were literally whittled into uselessness. +A handsome new state house of Vermont granite was built in 1835 on +nearly the same ground. Twenty-two years later this was destroyed by +fire, and replaced by a larger one of the same style and material.</p> + +<p>Commercial intercourse with Canada had been established soon after the +close of the war, principally by the people of western Vermont, to whom +the gate of the country now opened the easiest exit for their products, +the most of which were the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>lumber and potash that the slain forest +yielded to axe and fire.</p> + +<p>As early as 1784, steps were taken by the independent commonwealth to +open free trade with the Province of Quebec, and a channel through it +for such trade with Europe. Ira Allen, Joseph and Jonas Fay were +appointed agents to negotiate this business. Only Ira Allen acted in +this capacity, and in the following year he reported having succeeded so +far as to procure a free exchange of produce and manufactures, except +peltry and a few articles of foreign production.</p> + +<p>These negotiations, occurring with the arrival of English troops in Nova +Scotia, gave rise to alarming rumors that Vermont was taking measures to +become a British dependency; but this freedom of commerce through Lake +Champlain and the Richelieu, and exclusively confined thereto, was +accorded by the Canadian government to the States already in the Union +as well as to the independent republic of Vermont, though the latter +derived the greater benefit from it. To further promote this commerce, +Ira Allen proposed the cutting of a ship canal to navigably connect the +waters of Lake Champlain with those of the St. Lawrence, and made a +voyage to England with the object of engaging the British government in +this work. He offered, under certain conditions, to cut the canal at his +own expense, and continued, though unsuccessfully, to urge the +government of his own State to aid him in the enterprise so late as +1809.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>The great pines, that fifty years before had been reserved for the +"masting of His Majesty's navy," were felled now by hardy yeomen who +owed allegiance to no earthly king, and, gathered into enormous rafts, +voyaged slowly down the lake, impelled by sail and sweep. They bore as +their burden barrels of potash that had been condensed from the ashes of +their slain brethren, whose giant trunks had burned away in grand +conflagrations that made midnight hills and vales and skies bright with +lurid flame. The crew of the raft lived on board, and the voyage, though +always slow, was pleasant and easy when the south wind filled the +bellying sail, wafting the ponderous craft past the shifting scene of +level shore, rocky headland, and green islands. In calms or adverse +winds, it was hard work to keep headway with the heavy sweeps, and the +voyage grew dangerous when storms arose, and the leviathan heaved and +surged on angry waves that threatened to sever its huge vertebræ and +cast it piecemeal to the savage rocks.</p> + +<p>Sloops, schooners, and square-sailed Canada boats plied to and fro, +bearing that way cargoes of wheat and potash; this way, salt and +merchandise from over-seas. After midwinter, the turbulent lake became a +plain of ice, affording a highway for traffic in sleighs, long trains of +which fared to Montreal with loads of produce to exchange for goods or +coin.</p> + +<p>The declaration of what was commonly called the land embargo in 1808, +cutting off this busy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>commerce, and barring western Vermont from its +most accessible market, caused great distress and dissatisfaction, and +gave rise to an extensive contraband trade.</p> + +<p>The Collector of the District of Vermont wrote to Mr. Gallatin, United +States Secretary of the Treasury, that the law could not be enforced +without military aid. Upon this, President Jefferson issued a +proclamation, calling on the insurgents to disperse, and on all civil +and military officers to aid in quelling all disturbances.</p> + +<p>There is nothing in the newspapers of the day or in official documents +to show any combination to oppose the law, and at a regularly called +town meeting the citizens of St. Albans, through their selectmen, +formally protested to the President "that no cause for such a +proclamation existed." Nevertheless, the militia of Franklin County were +called out by Governor Smith, a Republican, who had that year been +elected over Tichenor. The troops were assigned to duty at Windmill +Point in Alburgh, to prevent the passage of certain timber rafts, which, +however, got safely past the post in the night. For this the Franklin +County troops were unjustly blamed, and, to their great indignation, +were sent to their homes, while militia from Rutland County and a small +force of regulars were brought up to take their place.</p> + +<p>The smugglers grew bold, plying their nefarious traffic by night in +armed bands of such strength that the revenue officers seldom ventured +to attack <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>them. A notorious craft named the Black Snake had crept a few +miles up the Winooski with a cargo of contraband goods, when she was +seized by a party of militia. Twelve soldiers, under command of +Lieutenant Farrington, were detailed to take her to the lake. The +smugglers ambuscaded them, firing on them repeatedly from the +willow-screened bank with a wall-piece charged with bullets, slugs, and +buckshot, killing three of the party and wounding the lieutenant. The +remainder of the militia hurried to the rescue of their comrades, and +succeeded in taking eight of the smugglers, while two escaped who were +afterwards captured. At a special term of the Supreme Court one of them +was sentenced to death,<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> and three to ten years' imprisonment, after +first standing in the pillory, and two of the smugglers to receive fifty +lashes each.</p> + +<p>The temper of both parties grew hotter under the existing conditions, +but expended itself in violent language, and there was no further +resistance to the laws. The Federalist party gained sufficient strength +to reëlect Governor Tichenor at the ensuing election, but in the +following year the Republicans elected their candidate, Jonas Galusha, +who was continued in the office four years.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> <i>Vermont Journal</i>, October 18, 1791.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> This was the first instance of capital punishment since +the organization of the State.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h3>VERMONT IN THE WAR OF 1812.</h3> +<br /> + + +<p>The continued aggressions of Great Britain were gradually but surely +tending to a declaration of war against the imperial mistress of the +sea. To the impressment of our seamen, the search and seizure of our +vessels, the wanton attack of the Leopard on the Chesapeake, and many +other outrages, was added the insult of attempting the same policy +toward all New England which years before England had pursued in the +effort to draw Vermont to her allegiance.</p> + +<p>To open communication with the leading men therein, and to ascertain the +feeling of the New England States, in all of which, except Vermont, the +party opposing the administration of Madison was in the ascendant, Sir +James Craig, Governor-General of Canada, employed an adventurer named +John Henry, a naturalized citizen of the United States. Coming from +Canada, he passed through Vermont, tarrying awhile at Burlington and +Windsor. From the first town he wrote an unwarranted favorable report to +his employer, representing that Vermont would not sustain the government +in case of war; but, on reaching Windsor, he was led to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>give a less +favorable representation. He then journeyed through New Hampshire, and, +at length arriving at Boston, wrote many letters in cipher to Sir James. +He represented the opposition of the New England Federalists to the +administration to be of so violent a nature that, in case of war, they +would at least remain neutral, and probably would bring about a +separation of those States from the Union, and their formation into a +dependency of Great Britain. Having performed the duty assigned him, he +received from the British government, as reward for his services, not +the appointment he asked, but only compliments. In retaliation for this +poor requital, he divulged the whole correspondence to President +Madison, receiving therefor the sum of $50,000. In the manifesto of the +causes of war, this attempt at disruption was declared to be an "act of +greater malignity than any other."</p> + +<p>On the 18th of June, 1812, an act was passed by Congress declaring war +against Great Britain. A considerable proportion of the citizens of the +United States were strongly opposed to a resort to arms, believing that +all disputes might have been adjusted more certainly by further +negotiations than by the arbitrament of war, for which the nation was so +ill-prepared.</p> + +<p>So it was in Vermont. Of the 207 members of the Assembly which was that +year elected, seventy-nine were Federalists opposed to the war, who made +earnest protest against a resolution of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>majority, declaring that +those who did not actively support this measure of the government "would +identify themselves with the enemy, with no other difference than that +of locality." But the overwhelming majority of Republicans, with a +governor of their own politics, framed the laws to their own liking. An +act was passed prohibiting all intercourse between the people of Vermont +and Canada without permit from the governor, under a penalty of $1,000 +fine and seven years' imprisonment at hard labor; also, an act exempting +the bodies and property of officers and soldiers of the militia from +attachment while in actual service, and levying a tax of one cent per +acre on all lands, for arming and supporting the militia to defend the +frontiers.</p> + +<p>Soon after the declaration of war, recruiting offices were opened in the +State, a cantonment for troops was established at Burlington, and small +bodies of volunteers were stationed at several points on the northern +frontier. On either side of the scattered settlers of this region lay +the forest,—on this, the scarcely broken wilderness of northern +Vermont; on that, the Canadian wilds, that still slept in almost +primeval solitude. The old terror of Indian warfare laid hold of these +people, and their imagination filled the gloomy stretch of northward +forest with hordes of red warriors awaiting the first note of conflict +to repeat here the horrors of the old border warfare. In some of these +towns stockades were built, and from all came urgent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>appeals to the +state and general government for arms to repel the expected invasion. +One frontier town was obliged to borrow twenty muskets, and the +selectmen were authorized to purchase twenty-five pounds of powder and +one hundred pounds of lead on six months' credit, a circumstance which +shows how poorly prepared Vermont was for war.</p> + +<p>Two months before the declaration of war, Congress authorized the +President to detach 100,000 militia to march at a minute's notice, to +serve for six months after arriving at the place of rendezvous. +Vermont's apportionment was 3,000, and was promptly raised.</p> + +<p>In November an act was passed by the legislature for the raising of +sixty-four companies of infantry, two of cavalry, and two of artillery, +to hold themselves ready at a minute's notice to take the field.</p> + +<p>It appears that this corps was formed almost exclusively from exempts +from military service. In one company, says an old paper,<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> was a +venerable patriarch who could still shoot and walk well, and who "was +all animation at the sound of the drum."</p> + +<p>As shown by the disbursements by the State for premiums to recruits, it +appears that only the old and populous States of Massachusetts, New +York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia furnished more men to the regular army +than this young commonwealth, which was half a wilderness. The 30th and +31st regiments of infantry were composed entirely of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>Vermonters, as +were largely the 11th and 26th. The 3,000 detached Vermont militia were +assembled at Plattsburgh in the fall of 1812. In November General +Dearborn marched from Plattsburgh to the lines with an army of 5,000 +men, 2,000 of whom were militia. At the La Colle he made an ill-planned +and feebly conducted attack upon a very inferior British force, and then +retired to Plattsburgh. A large number of Vermonters shared the barren +honors of this expedition under an incompetent leader. The militia were +presently disbanded, and four regiments of regulars crossed the lake and +took post at Burlington.</p> + +<p>All along the lake, during the summer, there had been a stir of busy +preparation. Vessels of war were built and fitted out to contest the +supremacy on the lake with the British naval force already afloat. +"Niles' Register" reports the arrival at Plattsburgh<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> of the sloop of +war President, and a little later that of the smaller sloops, which, +with six gunboats, constituted at the time the American force on Lake +Champlain, all under the command of Lieutenant Macdonough. But the +belligerent craft of either nation held aloof from more than menace, +while sullen autumn merged into the bitter chill of northern winter, and +the ships were locked harmless in their ice-bound harbors.</p> + +<p>When returning warm weather set them free, some British gunboats crept +up the lake, and on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>3d of June the Growler and Eagle went in +pursuit of them, chasing them into the Richelieu. Having come in sight +of the works on Isle aux Noix, the sloops put about and endeavored to +make their way back to the open lake against the current of the river +and a south wind. Three row-galleys now put out from the fort, and began +playing on them with guns of longer range and heavier metal than those +of the sloops, upon whom a galling fire of musketry was also rained from +the river banks. The vessels poured a storm of grape and canister upon +the green wall of leafage that hid the musketeers, and hurled +ineffectual shot at the distant galleys, maintaining a gallant defense +for more than four hours. Then a heavy shot from one of the galleys +crushed through the hull of the Eagle below the water-line, sinking her +instantly, but in shallow water, so that her men were rescued by boats +from shore. Fifteen minutes later a shot carried away the forestay and +main boom of the Growler, and being now unmanageable she was forced to +strike. Only one of the Americans was killed, and nineteen were wounded, +while the loss of the British was far greater, but the entire crews of +both sloops were taken prisoners. Thus disastrously to the Americans +resulted the first naval encounter of this war on these waters. The +captured sloops were refitted, and, under the names of Finch and Chub, +made a brave addition to the British fleet upon the lake.</p> + +<p>The defenseless condition of the western shore <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>invited attack, and on +the last day of July Colonel Murray sailed up to Plattsburgh with two +sloops, three gunboats, and a number of longboats manned by 1,400 men. +Making an unopposed landing, they destroyed the barracks and all other +public property there, and carried away eight thousand dollars' worth of +private property. During this attack General Wade Hampton, recently +appointed to the command of this department, remained inert at +Burlington, only twenty miles distant, with 4,000 troops, although he +had twenty-four hours' notice of the expected attack, and received +repeated calls for aid.</p> + +<p>Two gunboats and the longboats then proceeded to Swanton, where they +destroyed some old barracks and plundered several citizens, and +committed similar piratical depredations at several points on the +western shore.</p> + +<p>The two sloops, late Growler and Eagle, now sailed under changed names +and colors up the lake, accompanied by the other gunboats, and destroyed +several boats engaged in transporting stores. They appeared before +Burlington, firing a few shots upon the town, which were briskly +returned by the batteries. That night they cut out four sloops laden +with provisions, and burnt another with a cargo of salt, and then bore +away northward with their booty.</p> + +<p>In September Macdonough sailed down the lake with his little fleet and +offered battle, but the British declined and sailed into the Richelieu, +whither the brave commodore would not follow to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>entrapped as +Lieutenant Smith had been. Again, in December, when some of the British +vessels came up to Rouse's Point on a burning and plundering expedition, +Macdonough endeavored to get within striking distance near Point au Fer, +but they refused to engage, and retired to the same safe retreat.</p> + +<p>In October Colonel Isaac Clark, a Vermonter and a veteran of the +Revolution, made a brilliant dash with a detachment of his regiment, the +11th, on a British post at St. Armand, on Missisquoi Bay. With 102 +riflemen he surprised the enemy, killing nine, wounding fourteen, and +taking 101 prisoners in an engagement that lasted only ten minutes. In +November he again visited St. Armand, securing fifty head of cattle +which had been taken there from the Vermont side of the line. A Canadian +journal was "glad to give the Devil his due," and credited him with +having "behaved very honorably in this affair."</p> + +<p>During the autumn General Wade Hampton amused himself and tired his +troops with abortive meanderings along the line. In October he entered +Canada, and made an attack on a small body of British troops, +accomplishing nothing but the loss to himself of thirty-five men, killed +and wounded. He refused to coöperate with General Wilkinson, who was +advancing from Sackett's Harbor down the St. Lawrence, and desired +Hampton to join him at St. Regis, the object being the capture of +Montreal. Hampton's inglorious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>campaign ended with his retiring to +winter quarters at Plattsburgh. Many Vermonters served under him, their +hardships unrewarded by victory, or even vigorous endeavor to gain it.</p> + +<p>Wilkinson's movements were as abortive, though when his flotilla reached +the head of the Long Sault, a brigade of his army engaged a force of the +enemy at Chrysler's Farm. The raw and undisciplined American troops, of +whom the Vermonters in a battalion of the 11th formed a part, +distinguished themselves by frequently repulsing some of the tried +veterans of the English army. Neither side gained a victory, but the +British remained in possession of the field, though they suffered the +heavier loss in killed and wounded, and the flotilla continued its +inconsequential voyage. Arriving at St. Regis, and learning that Hampton +would not coöperate with him, Wilkinson abandoned the movement against +Montreal, and went into winter quarters at French Mills.</p> + +<p>On the last of December a British force made a successful raid on a +depot of supplies at Derby, Vermont, destroying barracks and +storehouses, and carrying away a considerable quantity of stores. In +consequence of this, and some threatening demonstration on the +Richelieu, Wilkinson removed his quarters to Lake Champlain. While this +pretense was made of undertaking a conquest which might result in the +annexation of Canada to the United States, and a consequent increase of +power in the north, a result desired neither by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>secretary of war +nor the generals here employed, hot and earnest blows were falling on +the enemy at the westward. On Lake Erie Perry had overcome the British, +and was master of that inland sea. Harrison had vanquished the English +and their Indian allies at the battle of the Thames, and Michigan was +regained.</p> + +<p>Meantime a storm of abuse raged between the political parties of +Vermont, each hurling at the other the hard names of Tories, traitors, +and enemies of their country, and neighborhoods and families were +divided in the bitter contest. The Federalist strength was so far +increased by the growing unpopularity of the war, and the irksomeness of +the restrictions on trade, that the party succeeded at the election of +1813 in placing Martin Chittenden, son of the old governor, at the head +of the state government.</p> + +<p>One of his earliest acts was to recall by proclamation a brigade of the +state militia in service at Plattsburgh. In this the governor acted on +the ground that it was unconstitutional to call the militia beyond the +limits of the State without permission from the governor, their +commander-in-chief, a view of the case supported by the Supreme Court of +Massachusetts, and adhered to by most of the other New England States; +and, further, that the militia of Vermont were more needed for the +defense of their own State than for that of its stronger sister +commonwealth. A number of the Vermont officers returned a protest whose +vigor was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>weakened by its insolence. They refused to obey the +proclamation of their captain-general, but nevertheless the rank and +file, tired of inaction, less irksome to the officers, returned to their +homes before the term of enlistment expired, and the affair passed +without further notice.</p> + +<p>The muskrats had long been housed in their lodges on the frozen marshes, +and all waterfowl but the loons and mergansers had flown southward, when +Macdonough withdrew his fleet from the stormy lake into Otter Creek, +whose current was already thick with drifting anchor-ice. The craft were +moored in a reach of the river known as the Buttonwoods, three fourths +of a mile above Dead Creek, the ice closed around them, and they slept +inert until the return of spring.</p> + +<p>The sap had scarcely begun to swell the forest buds when Vergennes, +eight miles upstream, where the first fall bars navigation, was astir +with the building of other craft for the Champlain navy. A throng of +ship carpenters were busy on the narrow flat by the waterside; the woods +were noisy with the thud of axes, the crash of falling trees, and the +bawling of teamsters; and the two furnaces were in full blast casting +cannon-shot for the fleet. Forty days after the great oak which formed +the keel of the Saratoga had fallen from its stump, the vessel was +afloat and ready for its guns. Several gunboats were also built there, +and early in May, their sappy timbers yet reeking with woodsy odors, the +new craft dropped down the river to join the fleet at the Buttonwoods.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>The right bank of Otter Creek at its mouth is a rock-ribbed promontory, +connected with the mainland, except at high water, by a narrow neck of +low, alluvial soil. On the lakeward side of the point earthworks were +thrown up, and mounted with several pieces of artillery, for the defense +of the entrance against an expected attempt of the enemy to destroy the +American fleet. The militia of Addison, Chittenden, and Franklin +counties were put in readiness to turn out on the firing of signal guns, +and a small detachment was posted at Hawley's Farm, near the mouth of +Little Otter, to watch the approach of the army. About 1,000 of the +militia were stationed at Vergennes. All the night of the 13th the +officers of the neighboring towns were running bullets at their +treasurer's, where powder and lead were stored for the militia at +Vergennes.</p> + +<p>On the 10th of May the British squadron passed Cumberland Head, and on +the 14th eight of the galleys and a bomb-ketch appeared off the mouth of +Great Otter, while a brig, four sloops, and several galleys were two +miles to the northward. The galleys opened a fire on the battery, which +was bravely defended by Captain Thornton of the artillery and Lieutenant +Cassin of the navy. The rapid discharge of the guns, repeated in echoes +from the rugged steeps of Split Rock Mountain till it became a +continuous roar, for a time greatly alarmed the inhabitants of the +adjacent country, but the assailants were beaten off after receiving +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>considerable injury, while they inflicted on the defenders only the +dismounting of one gun, and the slight wounding of two men. The British +fleet sailed northward, and next day Macdonough's flotilla issued forth +ready for battle, and sailed northward to Cumberland Bay.</p> + +<p>The importance of this action has not had proper recognition. It is +briefly, if at all, mentioned by historians. If the defense of the +little battery which now bears the name of Fort Cassin, in honor of +Macdonough's brave lieutenant, had been less gallant and successful, our +fleet would in all probability have been destroyed before it could +strike the blow which gained its commander imperishable renown. The +British keenly felt the lost opportunity, for Captain Pring was charged +by his superiors with cowardice and disobedience of orders in not having +taken the battery and blockaded the American squadron.</p> + +<p>The invasion of Canada again was the plan of the campaign for 1814. The +two western armies were to move against the enemy on the upper lakes and +at the Niagara frontier, while General Izard was to cut the +communication on the St. Lawrence between Kingston and Montreal. The +Vermonters of the 30th and 31st regiments, and part of the 11th, with +the militia and volunteers raised in the vicinity of Lake Champlain were +employed in this army, while the remainder of the 11th were in service +on the Niagara frontier.</p> + +<p>The contraband trade was not entirely <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>suppressed all along the border. +Many cunning devices were resorted to by the smugglers. One of the most +notable was the fitting out of a pretended privateer by one John Banker +of New York. Obtaining letters of marque from the collector of that +city, he began cruising on the lake in a little vessel named the Lark, +of less than one ton burden, and armed with three muskets. After +evincing her warlike character by firing on the Essex ferry-boat, she +ran down the lake to Rouse's Point, and there lay in wait for prizes. A +barge heavily laden with merchandise presently fell a prey to the bold +privateer; her cargo was conveyed to New York by Banker's confederate, +and delivered to the owners. The government officials soon learned that +the goods had not been received at the United States storehouse, the +Lark was seized, and the brief career of privateering on these waters +came to an end. In March, 1814, Colonel Clark of the 11th, with 1,100 +Green Mountain Boys, took possession of the frontier from Lake Champlain +to the Connecticut, establishing his headquarters at Missisquoi Bay, +harassing the enemy as opportunity offered, and making vigilant efforts +for the suppression of smuggling. After successfully accomplishing this, +he joined Wilkinson at the La Colle.</p> + +<p>In the brave but unsuccessful attack on the La Colle Mill, upon whose +strong stone walls our two light pieces of artillery made no impression, +Clark led the 600 Green Mountain Boys who composed the advance. Their +loss was eleven of the thirteen <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>killed, and one third of the 128 +wounded. The Vermonters of this army had no further opportunity to +distinguish themselves until September, but those of the 11th regiment +gallantly bore their part in the bloody battles of Chippewa, Lundy's +Lane, and Fort Erie. In the first, General Scott called on the 11th to +charge upon the enemy, who had declared that the Americans "could not +stand cold iron," and the regiment dashed impetuously upon the scarlet +line and swept it back with their bayonets.</p> + +<p>A formidable British army, 15,000 strong, largely composed of veterans, +flushed with their European victories, was near the Richelieu, under +command of Sir George Prevost, and their fleet had been strengthened by +additional vessels.</p> + +<p>Though there were at the time but about 6,000 troops fit for duty, to +oppose the enemy's advance in this quarter, early in August the +secretary of war ordered General Izard to march with 4,000 of them to +the Niagara frontier. Protesting against an order which would leave the +Champlain region so defenseless, Izard set forth from Champlain and +Chazy with his army on the 29th, halting two days at Lake George in the +hope that the order might yet be revoked.</p> + +<p>On the 30th the British general Brisbane occupied Champlain, and four +days later Sir George Prevost arrived there with his whole force; while +Plattsburgh was held by the insignificant but undaunted army of the +Americans under General <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>Macomb, abandoned to its fate by a government +that did not desire the conquest of Canada. The three forts and +block-house were strengthened, and the general made an urgent call on +New York and Vermont for reinforcements, which was promptly responded +to, while small parties were sent out to retard, as much as possible, +the advance of the enemy. But the skirmishers were swept back by the +overwhelming strength of the invading army, and retired across the +Saranac, destroying the bridges behind them.</p> + +<p>Governor Chittenden did not consider himself authorized to order the +militia into service outside the State, but called for volunteers. There +was a quick response. Veterans of the Revolution and their grandsons, +exempt by age and youth from service, as well as the middle-aged, each +with the evergreen badge of his State in his hat, turned out. With the +old smooth-bores and rifles that had belched buckshot and bullet at +Hubbardton and Bennington, and with muskets obtained from the town +armories, they flocked towards the scene of impending battle, on foot, +in wagons, singly, in squads, and by companies, crossing the lake at the +most convenient points, of which Burlington was the principal one. +General Strong was put in command of the Vermont volunteers. On the 10th +of September he reported 1,812 at Plattsburgh, and on the 11th 2,500, +while only 700 of the New York militia had arrived.</p> + +<p>When the morning of the 11th of September <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>broke, the American army +stood at bay on the south bank of the Saranac. Fifteen hundred regulars +and about 3,200 hastily collected militia and volunteers, confronted by +14,000 of the best troops of Great Britain, proudly wearing the laurels +won in the Napoleonic wars, and confident of victory over the despised +foe that now opposed them.</p> + +<p>Early that morning the British fleet collected at Isle La Motte weighed +anchor, and sailed southward. At eight o'clock it rounded Cumberland +Head, and with sails gleaming in the sunlight, swept down toward the +American fleet like a white cloud drifting across the blue lake.</p> + +<p>Macdonough's vessels were anchored in a line extending north from Crab +Island and parallel with the west shore, the Eagle, Captain Henly, at +the head of the line, next the Saratoga, Commodore Macdonough's +flagship; the schooner Ticonderoga next; and at the south end of the +line the sloop Preble, so close to Crab Island Shoal as to prevent the +enemy from turning that end of the line. Forty rods in the rear of this +line lay ten gunboats, kept in position by their sweeps; two north and +in rear of the Eagle, the others opposite the intervals between the +larger craft.</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock the hostile fleet came to anchor in a line about three +hundred yards from ours, Captain Downie's flagship, the Confiance, +opposed to the Saratoga; his brig Linnet to the Eagle; his twelve +galleys to our schooner, sloop, and a division of galleys; while one of +the sloops taken <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>from us the year before assisted the Confiance and +Linnet, the other the enemy's galleys. The British fleet had 95 guns, +and 1,050 men; the American, 86 guns, and 820 men. In such position of +the fleets the action began.</p> + +<p>The first broadside of the Confiance killed and disabled forty of the +Saratoga's crew. The head of one of his men, cut off by a cannon-shot, +struck Macdonough in the breast and knocked him into the scuppers. A +shot upset a coop and released a cock, which flew into the shrouds and +crowed lustily, and the crew, cheering this augury of victory, served +the guns with increased ardor. The Eagle, unable to bring her guns to +bear, cut her cable and took a position between the Saratoga and the +Ticonderoga, where she greatly annoyed the enemy, but left the flagship +exposed to a galling fire from the British brig. Nearly all the +Saratoga's starboard guns were dismounted, and Macdonough winded her, +bringing her port guns to bear upon the Confiance, which ship attempted +the same manœuvre, but failed. After receiving a few broadsides, her +gallant commander dead, half her men killed and wounded, with one +hundred and five shots in her hull, her rigging in tatters on the +shattered masts, the British flagship struck her colors.</p> + +<p>The guns of the Saratoga were now turned on the Linnet, and in fifteen +minutes she surrendered, as the Chub, crippled by the Eagle's broadsides +and with a loss of half her men, had done some time before.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>The Finch, driven from her position by the Ticonderoga, drifted upon +Crab Island Shoals, where, receiving the fire of a battery on the island +manned by invalids, she struck and was taken possession of by them. The +galleys remaining afloat made off. Our galleys were signaled to pursue, +but were all in a sinking condition, unable to follow, and, the other +vessels being crippled past making sail, the galleys escaped.</p> + +<p>The havoc wrought in this conflict proves it to have been one of the +hottest naval battles ever fought. A British sailor who was at Trafalgar +declared that battle as "but a flea-bite to this." The British lost in +killed and wounded one fifth of their men, the commander of the fleet, +and several of his officers; the Americans, one eighth of their men. +Among the killed were Lieutenant Stansbury of the Ticonderoga, and +Lieutenant Gamble of the Saratoga. The Saratoga was twice set on fire by +the enemy's hot shot, and received fifty-five shots in her hull. At the +close of the action, not a mast was left in either squadron on which a +sail could be hoisted.<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a></p> + +<p>The result, so glorious to the Americans, was due to the superior +rapidity and accuracy of their fire.</p> + +<p>For more than two hours the unremitting thunder-peal of the battle had +rolled up the Champlain valley to thousands who listened in alternating +hope and fear. For a time, none but the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>combatants and immediate +spectators knew how the fight had gone, till the lifting smoke revealed +to the anxious watchers on the eastern shore the stars and stripes alone +floating above the shattered ships; then horsemen rode in hot speed +north, east, and south, bearing the glad tidings of victory.</p> + +<p>The opening of the naval fight was the signal for the attack of the +British land force. A furious fire began from all the batteries. At two +bridges, and at a ford above Plattsburgh, its strength was exerted in +attempts to cross the Saranac. The attacks at the bridges were repulsed +by the American regulars, firing from breastworks formed of planks of +the bridges. At the ford, the enemy were met by the volunteers and +militia. A considerable number succeeded in crossing the river, but an +officer riding up with news of the naval victory, the citizen soldiers +set upon the enemy in a furious assault, and with cheers drove them +back.</p> + +<p>A fire was kept up from the English batteries until sundown, but when +the evening, murky with the cloud of battle, darkened into the starless +gloom of night, the British host began a precipitate retreat, abandoning +vast quantities of stores and munitions, and leaving their killed and +wounded to the care of the victors. They had lost in killed, wounded, +prisoners, and deserters 2,500; the Americans, 119. But bitterest of all +to the vanquished invaders was the thought that they who had overcome +the armies of Napoleon were now beaten <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>back by an "insignificant +rabble" of Yankee yeomen.</p> + +<p>The retreat had been for some hours in progress before it was +discovered, and a pursuit begun, which, after the capture of some +prisoners, and covering the escape of a number of deserters, was stopped +at Chazy by the setting in of a drenching rainstorm.</p> + +<p>Three days later, their present service being no longer necessary, the +Vermont volunteers were dismissed by General Macomb, with thanks of warm +commendation for their ready response to his call, and the undaunted +spirit with which they had met the enemy.</p> + +<p>Through General Strong they received the thanks of Governor Chittenden, +and, later, the thanks of the general government "to the brave and +patriotic citizens of the State for their prompt succor and gallant +conduct in the late critical state of the frontier."</p> + +<p>Their promptness was indeed commendable, for they had rallied to +Macomb's aid, and the battle was fought, four days before the government +at Washington had issued its tardy call for their assistance. The State +of New York presented to General Strong an elegant sword in testimony of +"his services and those of his brave mountaineers at the battle of +Plattsburgh," and the two States united in making a gift to Macdonough +of a tract of land on Cumberland Head lying in full view of the scene of +his brilliant victory.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>The army of Sir George Prevost was beaten back to Canada, but it was +still powerful, and the danger of another invasion was imminent. +Governor Chittenden issued another proclamation, unequivocal in its +expressions of patriotism, enjoining upon all officers of the militia to +hold their men in readiness to meet any invasion, and calling on all +exempts capable of bearing arms to equip themselves and unite with the +enrolled militia when occasion demanded.</p> + +<p>As there was nothing to apprehend from any naval force which could be +put afloat this season by the British, Macdonough requested that he +might be employed on the seaboard under Commodore Decatur. On the +approach of winter, the fleet was withdrawn to Fiddler's Elbow, near +Whitehall, never again to be called forth to battle. There, where the +unheeding keels of commerce pass to and fro above them, the once hostile +hulks of ship and brig, schooner and galley, lie beneath the pulse of +waves in an unbroken quietude of peace.</p> + +<p>There were rumors of a projected winter invasion from Canada to destroy +the flotilla while powerless in the grip of the ice. It was reported +that an immense artillery train of guns mounted on sledges was +preparing; that a multitude of sleighs and teams for the transportation +of troops, with thousands of buffalo robes for their warmth, had been +engaged and bought. Vermont did not delay preparation for such an +attack.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>The rancor of politics among her people had given place to a nobler +spirit of patriotism, and, without distinction of parties, all good men +stood forth in defense of their country, and those who had opposed the +war were now as zealous as its advocates in prosecuting it to an +honorable close.</p> + +<p>Major-General Strong issued a general order to the militia to be ready +for duty at any moment, requested the exempts to aid them, and urged the +selectmen to make into cartridges the ammunition with which the towns +were supplied, and place them at convenient points for distribution. All +responded promptly, and, moreover, matrons and maids diligently plied +their knitting-needles in the long winter evenings to make socks and +mittens for the brave men who would need them in the bitter weather of +such a campaign.</p> + +<p>But, instead of the expected invasion, came the good news of the treaty +of peace, signed at Ghent on the twenty-fourth day of December.</p> + +<p>Peace was welcome to the nation, though the treaty was silent concerning +the professed causes of the declaration of war, and the only +compensation for the losses and burdens entailed by the conflict, so +wretchedly conducted by our government, was the glory of the victories +gained by our little navy and undisciplined troops over England's +invincible warships and armies of veterans.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> <i>Niles' Register.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> October 27, 1812.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Macdonough's report, Palmer's <i>Lake Champlain</i>.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h3>OLD-TIME CUSTOMS AND INDUSTRIES.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Peace was indeed welcome to a people so long deprived of an accessible +market as had been the inhabitants of Vermont.</p> + +<p>The potash fires were relighted; the lumberman's axe was busy again in +the bloodless warfare against the giant pines; new acres of virgin soil +were laid bare to the sun, and added to the broadening fields of tilth. +White-winged sloops and schooners, and unwieldy rafts, flocked through +the reopened gate of the country, and the clumsy Durham boat spread its +square sail to the favoring north wind, and once more appeared on the +broad lake where it had so long been a stranger. The shores were no +longer astir with military preparations, but with the bustle of awakened +traffic; soldiers had again become citizens; the ravages of war had +scarcely touched the borders of the State, and in a few months there +remained hardly a trace of its recent existence.</p> + +<p>There had not been, nor was there for years after this period, a marked +change in the social conditions of the people, for the old fraternal +bonds of interdependence still held pioneer to pioneer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>almost as +closely as in the days when the strong hand was more helpful than the +long purse.</p> + +<p>Class distinctions were marked vaguely, if at all, and there was no +aristocracy of idleness, for it was held that idleness was disgraceful. +The farmer who owned five hundred acres worked as early and as late as +he who owned but fifty, and led his half-score of mowers to the +onslaught of herdsgrass and redtop with a ringing challenge of whetstone +on scythe, and was proud of his son if the youngster "cut him out of his +swathe."</p> + +<p>The matron taught her daughters and maids how to spin and weave flax and +wool. The beat of the little wheel, the hum of the great wheel, the +ponderous thud of the loom, were household voices in every Vermont +homestead, whether it was the old log-house that the forest had first +given place to, or its more pretentious framed and boarded successor. +All the womenfolk knitted stockings and mittens while they rested or +visited, the click of the needles accompanied by the chirp of the +cricket and the buzz of gossip.</p> + +<p>For workday and holiday, the household was clad in homespun from head to +foot, save what the hatter furnished for the first and the traveling +cobbler for the last.</p> + +<p>Once a year the latter was a welcome visitor of every homestead in his +beat, bringing to it all the gossip for the womenfolk, all the weighty +news for the men, and all the bear stories for the children which he had +gathered in a twelve months' <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>"whipping of the cat," as his itinerant +craft was termed. These he dispensed while, by the light of the wide +fireplace, he mended old foot-gear or fashioned new, that fitted and +tortured alike either foot whereon it was drawn on alternate days.</p> + +<p>The old custom of making "bees," instituted when neighborly help was a +necessity, was continued when it was no longer needed, for the sake of +the merry-makings which such gatherings afforded. There were yet +logging-bees for the piling of logs in a clearing, and raising-bees when +a new house or barn was put up; drawing-bees when one was to be moved to +a new site, with all the ox-teams of half a township; and bees when a +sick or short-handed neighbor's season-belated crops needed harvesting.</p> + +<p>When the corn was ripe came the husking-bee, in which old and young of +both sexes took part, their jolly labor lighted in the open field by the +hunter's moon or a great bonfire, around which the shocks were ranged +like a circle of wigwams; or, if in the barn, by the rays sprinkled from +lanterns of punched tin. When the work was done, the company feasted on +pumpkin pie, doughnuts, and cider. Then the barn floor was cleared of +the litter of husks, the fiddler mounted the scaffold, and made the +gloom of the roof-peak ring with merry strains, to which twoscore +solidly clad feet threshed out time in "country dance" and "French +four."</p> + +<p>The quilting party, in its first laborious stage, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>was participated in +only by the womenkind; but, when that was passed, the menfolk were +called in to assist in the ceremony of "shaking the quilt," and in the +performance of this the fiddler was as necessary as in the closing rites +of the husking-bee.</p> + +<p>When the first touch of spring stirred the sap of the maples, +sugar-making began, a labor spiced with a woodsy flavor of camp life and +small adventure. The tapping was done with a gouge; the sap dripped from +spouts of sumach stems into rough-hewn troughs, from which it was +gathered in buckets borne on a neck-yoke, the bearer making the rounds +on snowshoes, and depositing the gathered sap in a big "store trough" +set close to the boiling-place. This was an open fire, generously fed +with four-foot wood, and facing an open-fronted shanty that sheltered +the sugar-maker from rain and "sugar snow," while he plied his daily and +nightly labor, now with the returning crow and the snickering squirrel +for companions, now the unseen owl and fox, making known their presence +with storm-boding hoot and husky bark. The sap-boiling was done in the +great potash kettle that in other seasons seethed with pungent lye, but +now, swung on a huge log crane, sweetened the odors of the woods with +sugar-scented vapor. Many families saw no sweetening, from one end of +the year to the other, but maple sugar and syrup, the honey from their +few hives, or the uncertain spoil of the bee-hunter. All the young folks +of a neighborhood were invited to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>the "sugaring off," and camp after +camp in turn, during the season of melting snow and the return of +bluebird and robin, rung with the chatter and laughter of a merry party +that was as boisterous over the sugar feast as the blackbirds that swung +on the maple-tops above them rejoicing over the return of spring.</p> + +<p>In the long evenings of late autumn and early winter, there were apple +or paring bees, to which young folk and frolicsome elder folk came and +lent a hand in paring, coring, and stringing to dry, for next summer's +use, the sour fruit of the ungrafted orchards, and, when the work was +done, to lend more nimble feet to romping games and dances, that were +kept up till the tallow dips paled with the stars in the dawn, and +daylight surprised the coatless beaux and buxom belles, all clad in +honest homespun.</p> + +<p>Very naturally, weddings often came of these merry-makings, and were +celebrated with as little ostentation and as much hearty good +fellowship. The welcome guests brought no costly and useless presents +for display; there were no gifts but the bride's outfit of home-made +beds, homespun and hand-woven sheets, table-cloths, and towels given by +parents and nearest relations. The young couple did not parade the +awkwardness of their newly assumed relations in a wedding journey, but +began the honeymoon in their new home, and spent it much as their lives +were to be spent, taking up at once the burden that was not likely to +grow <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>lighter with the happiness that might increase. But if the burden +became heavy, and the light of love faded, there was seldom separation +or divorce. If there were more sons and daughters than could be employed +at home, they hired out in families not so favored without loss of caste +or sense of degradation in such honest service. They often married into +the family of the employer, and their position was little changed by the +new relation.</p> + +<p>For many years the wheat crop in Vermont continued certain and abundant, +and formed a part of almost every farmer's income, as well as the +principal part of his breadstuff, for the pioneer's Johnny-cake had +fallen into disrepute among his thrifty descendants, who held it more +honorable to eat poor wheat-bread than good Johnny-cake, and despised +the poor wretch who ate buckwheat. It is quite possible that the first +demarcation between the aristocrats and the plebeians of Vermont was +drawn along this food line.</p> + +<p>Wool-growing was fostered in the infancy of the State by public acts, +and almost every farmer was more or less a shepherd. A marked +improvement in the fineness and weight of the fleeces began with the +introduction of the Spanish merinos in 1809.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> By the judicious +breeding by a few intelligent Vermont farmers, the Spanish sheep were +brought to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>a degree of perfection which they had never attained in +their European home, and Vermont merinos gained a world-wide reputation +that still endures; while the wool product of the State, once so famous +for it that Sheffield cutlers stamped their best shears "The True +Vermonter," has become almost insignificant, compared with that of +states and countries whose flocks yearly renew their impoverished blood +with fresh draughts from Vermont stock. Shearing-time was the great +festival of the year. The shearers, many of whom were often the +flock-owner's well-to-do neighbors, were treated more as guests than as +laborers, and the best the house afforded was set before them. The great +barn's empty bays and scaffolds resounded with the busy click of +incessant shears, the jokes, songs, and laughter of the merry shearers, +the bleating of the ewes and lambs, and the twitter of disturbed +swallows, while the sunlight, shot through crack and knot-hole, swung +slowly around the dusty interior in sheets and bars of gold that dialed +the hours from morning till evening.</p> + +<p>A distinctive breed of horses originated in Vermont, and the State +became almost as famous for its Morgan horses as for its sheep. But, +though Vermont horses are still of good repute, this noted strain, the +result of a chance admixture of the blood of the English thoroughbred +and the tough little Canadian horse, has been improved into extinction +of its most valued traits.</p> + +<p>The laborious life of the farmer had an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>occasional break in days of +fishing in lulls of the spring's work, and between that and haymaking; +of hunting when the crops were housed, and the splendor of the autumnal +woods was fading to sombre monotony of gray, or when woods and fields +were white with the snows of early winter.</p> + +<p>The clear mountain ponds and streams were populous with trout, the lakes +and rivers with pike, pickerel, and the varieties of perch and bass; and +in May and June the salmon, fresh run from the sea and lusty with its +bounteous fare, swarmed up the Connecticut and the tributaries of Lake +Champlain.</p> + +<p>The sonorous call of the moose echoed now only in the gloom of the +northeastern wilderness, but the deer still homed in the mountains, +often coming down to feed with domestic cattle in the hillside pastures. +The ruffed grouse strutted and drummed in every wood, copse, and cobble. +Every spring, great flights of wild pigeons clouded the sky, as they +flocked to their summer encampment; and in autumn, such innumerable +hordes of wild fowl crowded the marshes that the roar of their startled +simultaneous uprising was like dull thunder. These the farmer hunted in +his stealthy Indian way, and after New England fashion,—the fox on +foot, with hound and gun; and so, too, the raccoon that pillaged his +cornfields when the ears were in the milk. When a wolf came down from +the mountain fastnesses, or crossed the frozen lake from the Adirondack +wilds, to ravage the folds, every arms-bearer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>turned hunter. The +marauder was surrounded in the wood where he had made his latest lair; +the circle, bristling with guns, slowly closed in upon him; and as he +dashed wildly around it in search of some loophole of escape, he fell to +rifle-ball or charge of buckshot, if he did not break through the line +at a point weakly guarded by a timid or flurried hunter. His death was +celebrated at the nearest store or tavern with a feast of crackers and +cheese,—a droughty banquet, moistened with copious draughts of cider, +beer, or more potent liquors, and the bounty paid the reckoning. The +bounty, and the value of the skins and grease of bears were added +incentives to the taking off of these pests, which was frequently +accomplished by trap and spring-gun.</p> + +<p>Many farmers made a considerable addition to their income by trapping +the fur-bearers, for though the beaver had been driven from all but the +wildest streams, and the otter was an infrequent visitor of his old +haunts, their little cousins, the muskrat and mink, held their own in +force on every stream and marsh; and the greater and lesser martins, +known to their trappers as fisher and sable, still found home and range +on the unshorn mountains. A few men yet followed for their livelihood +the hunter's and trapper's life of laziness and hardship, for the most +part unthrifty, and poor in everything but shiftless contentment and the +wisdom of woodcraft. There were exceptions in this class: at least one +mighty hunter laid the foundation of a fortune when he set his traps. +When the trapping season <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>was ended, he sold his peltry in Montreal, +bought goods there, and peddled them through his State till the falling +leaves again called him to the woods. He gained wealth and a seat in +Congress, but neither is likely to be the reward of one who now follows +such a vocation in Vermont.</p> + +<p>The annual election of legislators, justices, judges, state officers, +and members of Congress, which falls on the first Tuesday of September, +had then other than political excitement to enliven the day in the +wrestling matches and feats of strength that were interludes of the +balloting. In one instance the name of a town was decided by the result +of a wrestling match on election day. One figure constant at the +elections of the first half of this century, and by far the most +attractive one to the unfledged voters who never failed in attendance, +was he who dispensed, from his booth or stand, pies, cakes, crackers, +cheese, and spruce beer to the hungry and thirsty. When the result of +the election was announced, the successful candidate for representative +bought out the remaining stock of the victualer, and invited his friends +to help themselves, which they did with little ceremony. Nothing less +than a reception given at the house of the representative-elect will +satisfy the mixed multitude in these progressive times. The once +familiar booth and its occupant have drifted into the past with the +wrestlers, the jumpers, and pullers of the stick.</p> + +<p>Gradually the primitive ways of life, the earliest industries, and the +ruder methods of labor gave <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>way to more luxurious living, new +industries, and labor-saving machinery.</p> + +<p>The log-house, that was reared amid its brotherhood of stumps, decayed +with them, and was superseded by a more pretentious frame-house, whose +best apartment, known as the "square room," came to know the luxury of a +rag carpet, or at least a painted floor, that heretofore had been only +sanded, and a Franklin stove, a meagre apology for the generous breadth +of the great fireplace whose place it took. There was yet a fireplace in +the kitchen, down whose wide-throated chimney the stars might shine upon +the seething samp-pot swinging on the trammel and the bake-kettle +embedded and covered in embers. Great joints of meat were roasted before +it on the spit, biscuits baked in a tin oven, and Johnny-cakes tilted on +oaken boards. Around this glowing centre the family gathered in the +evening, the always busy womenfolk sewing, knitting, and carding wool; +the men fashioning axe-helves and ox-bows, the children popping corn on +a hot shovel, or conning their next day's lessons; while all listened to +the grandsire's stories of war and pioneer life, or to the +schoolmaster's reading of some book seasoned with age, or of the latest +news, fresh from the pages of a paper only a fortnight old. The fire +gave better light for reading and work than the tallow dips, to whose +manufacture of a year's supply one day was devoted, marked in the +calendar by greasy discomfort. For the illumination of the square room +on grand occasions, there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>were mould candles held in brass sticks, +while these and the dips were attended by the now obsolete snuffers and +extinguisher. Close by the kitchen fireplace, and part of the massive +chimney stack, whose foundations filled many cubic yards of the cellar, +the brick oven held its cavernous place, and was heated on baking days +with wood specially prepared for it. Oven and fireplace gave away after +a time to the sombre but more convenient cook-stove, and with them many +time-honored utensils and modes of cookery fell into disuse.</p> + +<p>Wool-carding machines were erected at convenient points, and +hand-carding made no longer necessary. Presently arose factories which +performed all the work of cloth-making (carding, spinning, weaving, and +finishing), so that housewife, daughter, and hired girl were relieved of +all these labors, and the use of the spinning-wheel and hand-loom became +lost arts. When it became cheaper to buy linen than to make it, the +growing of flax and all the labors of its preparation were abandoned by +the farmer. As wood grew scarcer and more valuable than its ashes, the +once universal and important manufacture of pot and pearl ashes was +gradually discontinued; and as the hemlock forests dwindled away, the +frequent tannery, where the farmers' hides were tanned on shares, fell +into disuse and decay.</p> + +<p>Early in this century the dull thunder of the forge hammer resounded, +and the furnace fire glared upon the environing forest, busily working +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>up ore, brought some from the inferior mines of Vermont, but for the +most part from the iron mines of the New York shore. This industry +became unprofitable many years ago, and one by one the fires of forge +and furnace went out. With the decline of this industry, the charcoal +pit and its grimy attendants became infrequent in the new clearings, +though for many years later there was a considerable demand for charcoal +by blacksmiths. Of these there were many more then than now, for the +scope of the smith's craft was far broader in the days when he forged +many of the household utensils and farming tools that, except such as +have gone out of use, are now wholly supplied by the hardware dealer. A +common appurtenance of the smithy, when every farmer used oxen, was the +"ox-frame," wherein those animals, who in the endurance of shoeing belie +their proverbial patience, were hoisted clear of the ground, and their +feet made fast while the operation was performed. The blacksmith's shop +was also next in importance, as a gossiping place, to the tavern +bar-room and the store. At the store dry-goods, groceries, and hardware +were dealt out in exchange for butter, cheese, dried apples, grain, +peltry, and all such barter, and generous seating conveniences and +potations free to all customers invited no end of loungers.</p> + +<p>The merchant's goods were brought to him by teams from ports on Lake +Champlain and the Connecticut, and from Troy, Albany, and Boston, +whither by the same slow conveyance went the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>product of the farms,—the +wool, grain, pork, maple sugar, cheese, butter, and all marketable +products except beef, which was driven on the hoof in great droves to a +market in Boston and Albany.</p> + +<p>Daily stage-coaches traversed the main thoroughfares, carrying the mails +and such travelers as went by public conveyance, to whom, journeying +together day after day, were given great opportunities for gossip and +acquaintance. There was much journeying on horseback. Families going on +distant visits went with their own teams in the farm wagon, whose +jolting over the rough roads was relieved only by the "spring of the +axletree" and the splint bottoms of the double-armed wagon chairs. They +often carried their own provisions for the journey, to the disgust of +the innkeepers, and this was known as traveling "tuckanuck," a name and +custom that savors of Indian origin.</p> + +<p>Such were the means of interstate commerce, mail-carriage, and travel +until two long-talked-of railroad lines were completed in 1849, running +lengthwise of the State, east and west of the mountain range. The new +and rapid means of transportation which now brought the State into +direct communication with the great cities wrought great changes in +trade, in modes of life, and in social traits.</p> + +<p>There was now a demand for many perishable products which had previously +found only a limited home market, and a host of middlemen arose in eager +competition for the farmer's eggs, poultry, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>butter, veal calves, +potatoes, and fruit, as well as for hay, for which until now there had +been only a local demand.</p> + +<p>The luxuries and fashions of the cities were in some degree introduced +by the more rapid and easy intercourse with the outer world; for many +strove to make display beyond their means, to the loss of content and +comfort. With homespun wear and simple ways of life, the old-time social +equality became less general, and neighborly interdependence slackened +its generous hold.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Chancellor Livingston brought merinos to this country as +early as 1802. In 1809 William Jarvis, our consul at Lisbon, brought a +considerable number of merinos to Vermont, and from his famous +Weathersfield flocks most of the Vermont merinos are descended.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<h3>RELIGION, EDUCATION, AND TEMPERANCE.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Being almost wholly of New England origin, the settlers of Vermont and +their descendants were in the main a religious people, and held to +church-going when there was no place for public worship but the +schoolhouse and the barn. In such places the members of the poorer and +weaker sects held their meetings till within the memory of men now +living. This was particularly the case of the Baptists and Methodists, +who were viewed with slight favor by the predominant Congregationalists. +This sect organized the first religious society in Vermont at Bennington +in 1762, and first erected houses of worship. These structures were +unpretentious except in size, and for years were unprovided with means +of warming. When the bitter chill of winter pervaded them, the +congregation kept itself from freezing with thick garments and little +foot-stoves of sheet-iron; the minister, with the fervor of his +exhortations. Folks went to church with no display of apparel or +equipage. Homespun was the wear, till some ambitious woman aroused the +envy of her kind by appearing in a gown of calico, or some gay gallant +displayed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>his many-caped drab surtout of foreign cloth. The sled or +wagon that served for week days on the farm was good enough for Sunday +use, when its jolting was softened with a generous cushioning of buffalo +robes for such as did not go to church on horseback, or on foot across +lots.</p> + +<p>Late in summer, after the earlier crops were gathered, the Methodists +were wont to congregate in the woods at camp-meetings. These meetings +were celebrated with a fervor of religious warmth, and whether by day +the white tents and enthusiastic worshipers were splashed and sprinkled +with sunlight shot through the canopy of leaves, or lit at night by the +lateral glare of the pine-knot torches flaring from a score of scaffolds +set on the tree-trunks, the scene was weird and picturesque beyond what +the fancy can conjure from the modern fashionable camp-meeting, with its +trim cottages and steadily burning lamps and unmoved throng, and one can +but think that another fire than that of the old pine torches burned out +with them.</p> + +<p>There were few Episcopalians, though the royal charters had given them +two glebe lots, and two for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign +Parts, and there were so few Roman Catholics that no priest of that +faith established himself in the State till 1833. In parts of the State +there were many Friends, commonly called Quakers, who, by reason of +their non-resistant principles, were exempted from military service.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>The state grants gave in each town two lots of two hundred acres each to +the first settled minister of the gospel, of whatever persuasion he +might be. The rental of all these grants, except that of the Society for +the Propagation of the Gospel, now goes to the support of public +schools, with that of a similar grant originally made for that purpose.</p> + +<p>The schoolhouse was one of the earliest recognized necessities, when the +settlement of the State was fairly established. The pioneers built the +schoolhouse of logs, like their dwellings, and its interior was even +ruder than that of those. Rough slabs set on legs driven into +augur-holes furnished the seats, and the desks, if there were any, were +of like fashion. In winter, when the school was largest, if indeed it +was held at all in the busier seasons, a great fireplace diffused its +fervent heat through half the room, while a chill atmosphere pervaded +the far corners. Among such cheerless surroundings many a Vermonter of +the old time began his education, which was completed when he had +learned to read and write and could cipher to the "rule o' three." Many +of the scholars trudged miles through snow and storm to school, and the +master, who always boarded around, had his turns of weary plodding with +each distant dweller. The boy whose home was far away was in luck when +he got the chance of doing chores for his board in some homestead near +the schoolhouse. Increase of population and of prosperity brought better +schoolhouses, set in districts of narrower bounds.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>As early as 1782, nine years before the admission of the State into the +Union, provision was made by legislative enactment for the division of +towns into districts, and the establishment and support of schools. It +directed that trustees for the general superintendence of the schools of +each town should be appointed, and also a prudential committee in each +district; and empowered the latter to raise half the money needed for +the support of the schools on the grand list, the other half on the +polls of the scholars or on the grand list, as each district should +determine.</p> + +<p>At one time the school fund, derived from the rental of lands and from +the United States revenue distributed among the States in 1838, was +apportioned among the heads of families according to the number of +children of school age, without regard to attendance, or restriction of +its use to school purposes. This singular application of the funds could +not have greatly furthered the cause of education, though it may have +stimulated the increase of population, for to the largest families fell +the greater share in the distribution of the school money.</p> + +<p>In 1827 the legislature provided for the examination and licensing of +teachers, and for the supervision of schools by town committees; and +also for a board of state commissioners, to select text-books and report +upon the educational needs of the State. These provisions were repealed +six years later, and there was no general supervision of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>schools till +1845, when an act provided for the appointment of county and town +superintendents, but the first office was soon abolished. In 1856 a +state board of education was created, empowered to appoint a secretary, +who should devote his whole time to the promotion of education. J. S. +Adams, the first secretary, served eleven years, and by his earnest +efforts succeeded in awakening the people to a livelier interest in the +public schools. During his service, normal schools were established, for +the training of teachers; and graded schools in villages, with a +high-school department, became a part of the school system.<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></p> + +<p>In 1874 a state superintendent was appointed in place of the board of +education; while in 1888 a system of county instead of town supervision +was introduced, which after an unsatisfactory trial was abolished in +1890, and the town superintendent was restored. He now has a general +charge over the schools in his town, but the teachers are licensed by a +county examiner appointed by the governor and state superintendent.</p> + +<p>The common schools are now supported entirely at public expense, and are +free to every child between the ages of five and twenty, and in all +large villages there are free high schools, so that it is now rare to +find a child of ten or twelve years who cannot read and write, and a +fair education is within the reach of the poorest.</p> + +<p>By the act of 1782, already referred to, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>judges of the county +courts were authorized to appoint trustees of county schools in each +county, and, with the assistance of the justices of the peace, to lay a +tax for the building of a county schoolhouse in each. In most of the +townships granted by Vermont, one right of land was reserved for the +support of a grammar school or academy; but as less than one half of the +towns were so granted, many of the schools derived little aid from this +source, and in fact the establishment of county schools was not +generally effected; and though there are many grammar schools and +academies in the State, few of them are endowed, but depend on the +tuition fees for their support. The Rutland County grammar school at +Castleton was established in 1787, and is the oldest chartered +educational institution in Vermont. This school, together with the +Orange County and Lamoille County grammar schools, became a State Normal +School in 1867. These three institutions are under the supervision of +the State Superintendent of Education, and the State offers to pay the +tuition of one student from each town, thus encouraging the better +preparation of teachers for the common schools.<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></p> + +<p>The union of the sixteen New Hampshire towns with Vermont brought +Dartmouth College within the limits of the latter State. After the +dissolution of the union in 1785, Vermont, upon application of the +president of the college, granted a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>township of land to that +institution in view of "its importance to the world at large and this +State in particular,"<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> and, encouraged by this success, the trustees +asked for the sequestration to their use of the glebe and society lots +granted in the New Hampshire charters, and of the lands granted by +Vermont for educational purposes, promising, in return, to take charge +of the affairs of education in the State. This gave rise to an agitation +of the subject which resulted in the establishment of the University of +Vermont at Burlington, for which purpose Ira Allen offered to give, +himself, £4,000. A bill incorporating the university was passed in 1791. +Three years later land was cleared, and a commodious house built for the +president and the accommodation of a few students. Ten years later the +erection of the university building was begun, and so far completed in +1804 that the first commencement was held in that year. During the War +of 1812 the building was used for the storage of arms, and as quarters +for the soldiery. President, professors, and students retired before +this martial invasion, and collegiate exercises were suspended till the +close of the war. This building was destroyed by fire in 1821 and +rebuilt in 1825, the corner-stone being laid by General Lafayette. The +medical department of the university was fully organized in 1822, and a +course of lectures was kept up for eleven years, when they were +suspended, but resumed later. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>The department is now flourishing and of +acknowledged importance, and occupies a fine building erected especially +for its use. Large endowments and valuable gifts, made by generous and +grateful sons of the university, have erected handsome new buildings, +notably the fine library edifice, and improved the old to worthy +occupancy of the noble site.</p> + +<p>Upon the suggestion of Dr. Dwight, who visited Middlebury during his +travels in New England, a college charter was obtained of the +legislature, but all endowment by the State was refused. The institution +was immediately organized with seven students, and held its first +commencement in 1802. The first building, erected four years before, was +of wood, but the college now occupies three substantial structures of +limestone.</p> + +<p>A military academy, under the superintendence of Captain Alden +Partridge, was established in 1820 at Norwich. Some years later this was +incorporated as Norwich University. It was removed to Northfield in +1866. Its distinctive feature is the course of instruction in military +science and civil engineering. It contributed 273 commissioned officers +to the Mexican and Civil wars,<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> and many, especially in the latter +war, served their country with distinction.</p> + +<p>The first course of medical lectures in Vermont was given in Castleton, +by Doctors Gridley, Woodward, and Cazier in 1818, and laid the +foundation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>of a medical academy at that place, which in 1841 was +incorporated as Castleton Medical College. This, and another medical +college established at Woodstock some years previously, no longer exist.</p> + +<p>The State now gives thirty scholarships to each of her three colleges, +which pays the tuition and room-rent of a student. These appointments +are made by the state senators, or by the trustees of the colleges. +Though there is much interest in all these higher institutions of +learning, as well as in the normal schools and academies, many of which +are prosperous and important, yet the common schools more particularly +engage the attention of the people and of the successive legislatures, +resulting in a complication of school laws scarcely balanced by the +improvement in the school system.</p> + +<p>The early inhabitants of Vermont, though, for the most part, they were +rough backwoodsmen, were imbued with a strong desire for useful and +instructive reading, and this led to the formation of circulating +libraries in several towns, almost as soon as the settlers had fairly +established themselves in their new homes. This was notably the case in +Montpelier, where a library was begun in 1794, only seven years after +the first pioneer's axe broke the shade and solitude of the wilderness. +Its two hundred volumes were well chosen, being histories, biographies, +and books of travel and adventure, while all works of fiction and of a +religious nature were excluded, the one class being deemed of an immoral +tendency, the other apt to breed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>dissension in the sparse and +interdependent community.<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> In many other towns similar libraries +were formed; though perhaps not with like restrictions, yet, as far as +one may judge now by the scattered volumes, they were of excellent +character. A rough corner cupboard in the log-house kitchen, or a closet +of the "square room," held the treasured volumes of gray paper in +unadorned but substantial leather binding. What a treasure they were to +those isolated settlers, to whom rarely came even a newspaper, can +scarcely be imagined by us who are overwhelmed with the outflow of the +modern press.</p> + +<p>It is a pathetic picture to look back upon, of the household reading of +the one volume by the glare of the open fire, spendthrift of warmth and +light, eldest and youngest member of the family listening eagerly to the +slow, high-keyed words of the reader, while between the pauses was heard +the long howl of the wolf, or the pitiless roar of the winter wind. Yet +it is questionable if they were not richer with their enforced choice of +a few good books than we with our embarrassment of riches and its +bewildering encumberment of dross. In 1796 an act was passed +incorporating the Bradford Social Library Society,<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> the first +corporate body of the kind of which there is any record. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>Similar +associations in Fairhaven and Rockingham were incorporated soon after.</p> + +<p>In recent years several large public libraries have been instituted, +such as the libraries of St. Johnsbury, St. Albans, Rutland, and +Brattleboro, the Norman Williams Library at Woodstock, the Fletcher Free +Library at Burlington, and others, founded by wealthy and +public-spirited Vermonters. The library of the Vermont University +comprises forty thousand volumes, including the valuable gift of George +P. Marsh. This now occupies one of the finest edifices of the kind in +New England, the Billings Library Building. Such a wealth of literature +as is now accessible to their descendants could hardly have been dreamed +of by the old pioneers, even while they laid its foundation.</p> + +<p>The first printing-office in Vermont was established at Westminster in +1778 by Judah Paddock Spooner and Timothy Green,<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> the first of whom +and Alden Spooner were appointed state printers. The enactments of the +two preceding legislatures had been published only in manuscript, a +method of promulgation which one would think might have curbed +verbosity. Judah Spooner and his first partner began the publication of +the pioneer newspaper of the State, the "Vermont Gazette, or Green +Mountain Post Boy," at Westminster in February, 1781. It was printed on +a sheet of pot size, issued every Monday. Its motto, characteristic of +its birthplace, was:—</p> + +<div style="margin-left: 25%; margin-right: 20%;"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> +"Pliant as Reeds where Streams of Freedom glide,<br /> +Firm as the Hills to stem Oppression's tide."</div> + +<p>Its publication was continued but two years. "The Vermont Gazette or +Freeman's Depository," the second newspaper of the State, was published +at Bennington in 1783, and continued for more than half a century. About +this time George Hough removed the Spooner press to Windsor, and in +company with Alden Spooner began the publication of a weekly newspaper +entitled "The Vermont Journal and Universal Advertiser," which was +continued until about 1834. The fourth paper, "The Rutland Herald or +Courier," was established in 1792 by Anthony Haswell, and is still +continued in weekly and daily issues, being the oldest paper in the +State. William Lloyd Garrison edited "The Spirit of the Times," at +Bennington, not long before he became the foremost standard-bearer of +the anti-slavery cause, with which his name was so intimately +associated. In 1839 "The Voice of Freedom" was begun at Montpelier, as +the organ of the anti-slavery society of the State, and was afterward +merged in "The Green Mountain Freeman," published in the interest of the +political Abolitionists or Liberty Party. The publication of "The +Vermont Precursor," the first paper established at Montpelier, was begun +in 1806, and soon after changed its name to "The Vermont Watchman." For +more than fifty years this paper was conducted by the Waltons, father +and sons, and is still continued. In 1817 they began the publication <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>of +"Walton's Vermont Register," which is issued annually, bearing the name +of its founder, and is a recognized necessity in every household and +office in the State. Eliakim P. Walton, one of the sons, also rendered +his State most valuable service in editing the records of the governor +and council.</p> + +<p>A majority of the newspapers have displayed with justifiable pride the +name of the State in their titles. A number have had but a brief +existence, scarcely remembered now but for the names of their founders +or their own strange titles, such as the "Horn of the Green Mountains," +"The Post Boy," "Tablet of the Times," "Northern Memento," and "The +Reformed Drunkard." The Spooners seem to have been intimately connected +with early newspapers and printing in the young commonwealth, for at +least four of this name were engaged in such business. The famous +Matthew Lyon edited for a while "The Farmer's Library," and Rufus W. +Griswold the "Vergennes Vermonter;" D. P. Thompson, the novelist, "The +Green Mountain Freeman," and C. G. Eastman, the poet, "The Spirit of the +Age," and "The Argus."</p> + +<p>The dingy little papers of the olden time, with their month-old news, +the brief oracular editorial comments, their advertisements of trades +and industries now obsolete, their blazoning of lotteries and the sale +of liquors, now alike illegal, were welcome visitors in every household; +and the weekly round of the post-rider was watched for with an eagerness +that can hardly be understood by people <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>to whom come daily and hourly, +by mail and telegraph, news of recent events in all quarters of the +globe. To those old-time readers of blurred type on gray paper, scanned +by the ruddy glare of pine knots or the feeble light of tallow-dips, the +tidings of foreign events which had happened months before came fresher +than to us what but yesterday first stirred the heart of Europe.</p> + +<p>Now, every considerable village in the State has its weekly paper, the +larger towns these and daily papers. When Zadock Thompson published his +"Vermont Gazetteer" in 1840, there were thirty papers published in the +State, where now are, according to Walton's Register for 1891, sixty-one +daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals.</p> + +<p>For many years liquor-drinking was a universal custom, and a householder +suffered greater mortification if he had no strong waters to set before +his guest than if the supply of bread and meat was short. The cellar of +every farmhouse in the apple-growing region had its generous store of +cider, some of which went to the neighboring still to be converted into +more potent apple-jack, here known as cider-brandy. This and New England +rum were the ordinary tipple of the multitude, and the prolific source +of hilarity, maudlin gabble, and bickerings at bees, June trainings, and +town meetings. Drunkenness was disgraceful, but the limit was wide, for +a man was not held to be drunk as long as he could keep upon his feet. +When he fell, and clung to the grass to keep himself from rolling off +the heaving <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>earth, he became open to the charge of intoxication, and +fit for the adornment of the stocks. Many a goodly farm, that had been +uncovered of the forest by years of labor, floated out of its owner's +hands in the continual dribble of New England rum and cider-brandy.</p> + +<p>The signboard of the wayside inn swung at such frequent intervals along +the main thoroughfares that the traveler must be slow indeed who had +time to grow thirsty between these places of entertainment. The old-time +landlord was a very different being from his successor, the modern hotel +proprietor. Though a person of consideration, and maintaining a certain +dignity, he received his guests with genial hospitality, and at once +established a friendly relationship with them which he considered gave +him a right to their confidence. Ensconced in his cage-like bar, paled +from counter to ceiling, the landlord drew from his guests all the +information they would give of their own and the world's affairs,—their +whence-coming and whither-going,—while he dispensed foreign and +domestic strong waters, or made sudden sallies to the fireplace where +lay the ever-ready flip-iron, blushing in its bed of embers. Good old +Governor Thomas Chittenden was a famous tavern-keeper, and as +inquisitive concerning his guests' affairs as other publicans of those +days. He used to tell with relish of a rebuff he got from a wayfarer who +stopped to irrigate his dusty interior at the governor's bar. "Where +might you come from, friend?" the governor asked.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>"From down below," was the curt reply.</p> + +<p>"And where might you be going?"</p> + +<p>"To Canada."</p> + +<p>"To Canada? Indeed! And what might take you there?"</p> + +<p>"To get my pension."</p> + +<p>"A pension? And what might you get a pension for, friend?"</p> + +<p>"For what you never can, as I judge."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! And what is that?"</p> + +<p>"For minding my own business."</p> + +<p>Temperance began to have earnest advocates, men who, for the sake of +their convictions, suffered unpopularity and persecution. A Quaker +miller refused to grind grain for a distillery, and the owners brought a +suit against him to compel him to do so. After a long and vexatious +suit, the case was decided against him, but he persisted in his refusal, +and the distillery was finally abandoned. Some would no longer comply +with the old custom of furnishing liquor to their help in haymaking and +to their neighbors who came to give a helping hand at bees, and by this +infraction of ancient usage made themselves unpopular till a better +sentiment prevailed.</p> + +<p>There were zealots who cut down acres of thrifty orchard, as if there +were no use for apples but cider-making. Through moral suasion and the +honest example of good men, a great change was wrought in the sentiment +of the people, till at last temperance became popular enough to become a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>matter of politics. Moral suasion was in the main abandoned, and the +old workers dropped out of sight.</p> + +<p>Vermont followed the lead of Maine in legislation for the suppression of +the liquor traffic, and in 1852 passed a prohibitory law. Each +succeeding assembly has legislated to increase the stringency and +efficiency of the prohibitory statutes. Yet the fact remains that, after +forty years' trial, prohibition does not prohibit, and presents the +anomaly of an apparently popular law feebly and perfunctorily enforced.</p> + +<p>It is a question whether the frequent and unnoticed violations of this +law, and the many abortive prosecutions under it, have not made all laws +less sacredly observed, and the crime of perjury appear to the ordinary +mind a merely venial sin.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> Conant, <i>Geography, History, and Civil Gov. of Vermont</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> Conant, <i>Geography, History, and Civil Gov. of Vermont</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> Thompson's <i>Vermont</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> Conant, <i>Geography, History, and Civil Gov. of Vermont</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> <i>History of Montpelier</i>, by Daniel P. Thompson. D. P. +Thompson is best known as the author of <i>The Green Mountain Boys</i>, <i>The +Ranger</i>, and other tales that picture quite vividly early times in +Vermont.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> <i>Governor and Council</i>, vol. iv.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> <i>Vermont</i>, by Zadock Thompson, an invaluable history.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<h3>EMIGRATION.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>When the tide of emigration began to flow from New England to the newly +opened land of promise in the West, Vermont still offered virgin fields +to be won by the enterprising and ambitious young men of the older +States. Thousands of acres, capable of bounteous fruitfulness, still lay +in the perpetual shadow of the woods, untouched by spade or plough; and +the forest growth of centuries was itself a harvest worth the gathering, +while wild cataracts still invited masterful hands to tame them to +utility.</p> + +<p>Some decades elapsed before the young State began to furnish material +for the founding and growth of other new commonwealths, except such +restless spirits as can never find a congenial place but in the foremost +rank of pioneers. Such an one was Matthew Lyon, who, having borne his +part in the establishment of the first State of his adoption, early in +the century removed to Kentucky, then farther westward to Missouri, in +whose territorial government he had become the most prominent figure +when death set a period to his enterprise and ambition.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>Though there were yet vast tracts in Vermont awaiting the axe and the +plough, the fertile lands of the West began to draw from the State a +steadily increasing flow of emigration. The tales of illimitable acres +unencumbered by forest, and warmed by a genial climate, were attractive +to men tired of warfare with the woods, and the beleaguering of bitter +winters. The blood of their pioneering fathers was fresh in their veins, +and impelled them to found new homes and new States.</p> + +<p>The first migrations were made in wagons drawn by horses or oxen, and +beneath whose tent-like covers were bestowed the bare necessities of +household stuff and provision for the tedious journey.</p> + +<p>After leave-takings as sad as funerals, the emigrants sorrowfully yet +hopefully set forth. Slowly the beloved landmarks of the mountains sank +as the miles lengthened behind them, and slowly unfolded before them +level lands and sluggish streams. The earlier stages of the journey were +relieved by trivial incidents, and the new experience of gypsy-like +nightly encampment by the wayside; but as day after day and week after +week passed, the new and unfamiliar scenes, still stranger and less +homelike, grew wearisome to the tired men and jaded, homesick women and +children, and incident became a monotonous round of discomfort.</p> + +<p>In 1825 a swifter and easier path was opened to the West when, two years +after the Champlain Canal had connected the waters of Lake Champlain and +the Hudson, the Erie Canal was completed. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>new thoroughfare was +thronged with emigrants, of whom Vermont furnished her full share of +families, and of enterprising young men seeking to better their fortunes +in the land of plenty known there in common speech as "The 'Hio," or in +that farther region of prairies whose western bound was the golden +sunset, and where they whose plough had turned no virgin soil till the +axe had first cleared its path should behold the miracle of fertile +plains that had never been shadowed by forest. When the long journey was +accomplished, a quarter of the continent lay between them and the old +home; and though they lived out the allotted days of man, the separation +of kindred and friends was often as final as that of death.</p> + +<p>Mails were weeks in making the passage that is now accomplished in a few +days; and the grass might be green on the graves of kindred and friends +in the old or the new home before tidings of their death brought a new +and sudden grief from the distant prairie, or from the New England +hillside, where its pain had already grown dull with accustomed loss.</p> + +<p>The course of emigration tended westward nearly within the parallels of +latitude that bound New England, and but few pioneers of Vermont birth +diverged much below the southward limit of a region whose climate, +kindred, emigrants, and familiar institutions, transplanted from the +East, most attracted them.</p> + +<p>The fertile lands of Ohio were chosen by many, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>while more were drawn to +Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, in all of whom +Vermonters took their place as founders of homes and free commonwealths, +and gave each some worthy characteristic of that from which they came. +When gold was discovered in California, many Vermonters flocked thither +in quest of fortune, and many remained there to become life-long +citizens of the State in whose marvelous growth they were a part.</p> + +<p>From their inauguration, the great railroad systems of the West have +made another and continuous drain upon the best population of the East; +and in every department of the enormous business men of Vermont birth +and training are found conspicuously honored for their ability and +integrity.</p> + +<p>The rapidly growing cities, the immense sheep and cattle ranches, and +all the new enterprises of the whole West, have drawn great numbers of +ambitious young Vermonters to every State and Territory of the wonderful +region. Indeed, there is not a State in the Union in which some +Vermonters have not made their home; but however far they may have +wandered from the land of their birth, they cherish the mountaineer's +love of home, and a just pride in the goodly heritage of their +birthright.</p> + +<p>Wherever in their alien environment they have congregated to any +considerable number, they are associated as Sons of Vermont. Chicago +boasts the largest society, as its State does the greatest number of +citizens, of Vermont birth.<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> St. Louis <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>has a large association of +the kind, as have other Western cities. Even so near their old home as +Boston,<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> Worcester, Providence, and Brooklyn, the Sons of Vermont +gather annually to refresh fond memories, and celebrate the virtues of +their beloved State.</p> + +<p>To fill the place left by this constant drain on its population, the +State has for the most part received a foreign element, which, though it +keeps her numbers good, poorly compensates for her loss.</p> + +<p>Invasions of Vermont from Canada did not cease with the War of the +Revolution, nor with the later war with Great Britain. On the contrary, +an insidious and continuous invasion began with the establishment of +commercial and friendly relations between the State and the Province. +Early in the century, a few French Canadians, seeking the small fortune +of better wages, came over the border, and along the grand waterway +which their noble countryman had discovered and given his name, and over +which so many armies of their people had passed, sometimes in the +stealth of maraud, sometimes in all the glorious pomp of war. At first +the few new-comers were tenants of the farmers, for whom they worked by +the day or month at fair wages, for the men were expert axemen, familiar +with all the labors of land-clearing, and as handy as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>Yankees with +scythe and sickle; while their weather-browned wives and grown-up +daughters could reap and bind as well as they, and did not hold +themselves above any outdoor work.</p> + +<p>After a while some acquired small holdings of a few acres, or less than +one, and built thereon log houses, that with eaves of notched shingles +and whitewashed outer walls, with the pungent odor of onions and +pitch-pine fires, looked and smelled as if they had been transplanted +from Canada with their owners.</p> + +<p>When the acreage of meadow land and grain field had broadened beyond +ready harvesting by the resident yeomen, swarms of Canadian laborers +came flocking over the border in gangs of two or three, baggy-breeched +and moccasined habitants, embarked in rude carts drawn by shaggy +Canadian ponies. After a month or two of haymaking and harvesting, they +jogged homeward with their earnings, whereunto were often added some +small pilferings, for their fingers were as light as their hearts. This +annual wave of inundation from the north ceased to flow with the general +introduction of the mowing-machine; and the place in the meadow once +held by the rank of habitants picturesque in garb, swinging their +scythes in unison to some old song sung centuries ago in France, has +been usurped by the utilitarian device that, with incessant chirr as of +ten thousand sharded wings, mingling with the music of the bobolinks, +sweeps down the broad acres of daisies, herdsgrass, and clover.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>Many Canadians returned with their families to live in the land which +they had spied out in their summer incursions, and so in one way and +another the influx continued till they have become the most numerous of +Vermont's foreign population.</p> + +<p>For years the State was infested with an inferior class of these people, +who plied the vocation of professional beggars. They made regular trips +through the country in bands consisting of one or more families, with +horses, carts, and rickety wagons, and a retinue of curs, soliciting +alms of pork, potatoes, and breadstuffs at every farmhouse they came to, +and pilfering when opportunity offered. In the large towns there were +depots where the proceeds of their beggary and theft were disposed of. +They were an abominable crew of vagabonds, robust, lazy men and boys, +slatternly women with litters of filthy brats, and all as detestable as +they were uninteresting. They worked their beats successfully, till +their pitiful tales of sickness, burnings-out, and journeyings to +friends in distant towns were worn threadbare, and then they gradually +disappeared, no one knows whither.</p> + +<p>Almost to a man, the Canadians who settled in Vermont were devout +Catholics when they came; but after they had been scattered for a few +years among such a preponderant Protestant community, most of them were +held very loosely by the bonds of mother church. Except they were +residents of the larger towns they seldom saw a priest, and enjoyed a +comfortable immunity from fasting, penance, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>and all ecclesiastic +exactions on stomach or purse. On New Year's Day, perhaps the members of +the family confessed to the venerable grandsire, but after that suffered +no religious inconvenience until the close of the year. Now and then one +strayed quite out of the fold and took his place boldly among the +heretics, and apparently did not thereby forfeit the fellowship of his +more faithful compatriots. But when the flock had become large enough to +pay for the shearing, shepherds of the true faith were not wanting. With +that steadfast devotion to the interests of their church which has +always characterized the Catholic priesthood, these men began their work +without ostentation, and have succeeded in drawing into the domination +of their church a large majority of the Canadian-born inhabitants of +Vermont and of their descendants, as completely as if they were yet +citizens of the province, which Parkman truly says, is "one of the most +priest-ridden communities of the modern world."</p> + +<p>What this leaven may finally work in the Protestant mass with which it +has become incorporated is a question that demands more attention than +it has yet received.</p> + +<p>The character of these people is not such as to inspire the highest hope +for the future of Vermont, if they should become the most numerous of +its population. The affiliation with Anglo-Americans of a race so +different in traits, in traditions, and in religion must necessarily be +slow, and may never be complete.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span>No great love for their adopted country can be expected of a people that +evinces so little for that of its origin as lightly to cast aside names +that proudly blazon the pages of French history for poor translations or +weak imitations of them in English, nor can broad enlightenment be hoped +for of a race so dominated by its priesthood.</p> + +<p>Vermont, as may be seen, has given of her best for the building of new +commonwealths, to her own loss of such material as has made her all that +her sons, wherever found, are so proud of,—material whose place no +alien drift from northward or over seas can ever fill.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> "The first president of this association was Guerdon S. +Hubbard, a Vermonter, who was instrumental in founding and establishing +the city of Chicago, who went there in 1819, and later, ten years +afterwards, when Chicago only had a fort and one house."—George Edmund +Foss.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> S. E. Howard.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<h3>"THE STAR THAT NEVER SETS."</h3> +<br /> + +<p>There is little to interest any but the politician in the political +history of the State during the uneventful years of three decades +following the War of 1812. At the next election after the close of the +war the Republican party proved strong enough to elect to the +governorship its candidate, Jonas Galusha, who was continued in that +office for the five succeeding terms. When, in consequence of the +abduction of Morgan, the opposing parties were arrayed as Masonic and +anti-Masonic in the battle of ballots, the Masonic party of Vermont went +to the wall.</p> + +<p>When the two great parties of the nation rallied under their distinctive +banners as Whigs and Democrats, Vermont took its place with the first, +and held it steadfastly alike through defeats and infrequent triumphs of +the party until its dissolution. So constantly was its vote given to the +state and national candidates of the Whigs that it gained the title of +"The Star that never sets."</p> + +<p>From the adoption of its Constitution<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> in 1777, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span>which prohibited +slave-holding, Vermont has been the opponent of slavery. The brave +partisan leader, Captain Ebenezer Allen, only expressed the +freedom-loving sentiment of the Green Mountain Boys when he declared he +was "conscientious that it is not right in the sight of God to keep +slaves," and set free those taken prisoners with the British troops on +Lake Champlain.</p> + +<p>It was natural that among the descendants of those people, the +inhabitants of a mountain land such as ever nourishes the spirit of +liberty and wherein slavery has never found a congenial soil, there +should be found many earnest men ready to join the crusade which, under +the leadership of Garrison, began in 1833 to assail the great national +sin with a storm of denunciation.</p> + +<p>They denounced the scheme of African colonization, which had a +respectable following in Vermont, as a device of the slave power to rid +itself of the dangerous element of free blacks, under pretense of +Christianizing Africa while here gradual emancipation should be brought +about; and thus they aroused the antagonism of the body of the clergy, +who had been hoodwinked by the pious plausibility of the plan.</p> + +<p>A line of the Underground Railroad held its hidden way through Vermont, +along which many a dark-skinned passenger secretly traveled, concealed +during the day in the quiet stations, at night passing from one to +another, helped onward by friendly hands till he reached Canada and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>gained the protection of that government which in later years was to +become the passive champion of his rebellious master.</p> + +<p>The star-guided fugitive might well feel an assurance of liberty when +his foot touched the soil that in the old days had given freedom to +Dinah Mattis and her child, and draw a freer breath in the State whose +judge in later years demanded of a master, before his runaway slave +would be given up to him, that he should produce a bill of sale from the +Almighty.<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></p> + +<p>The abolitionists were no more given than other reformers to the choice +of soft words in their objurgations of what they knew to be a sin +against God and their fellow-men; yet they were men of peace, almost +without exception,—non-resistants,—and freedom of speech was their +right. It is humiliating to remember that there was an element in this +State base enough to oppose them by mob violence. An anti-slavery +meeting convened at the capital in 1835 was broken up by a ruffianly +rabble, who pelted the speakers with rotten eggs, and became so violent +in their demonstrations that it was unsafe for the principal speaker, +Rev. Samuel J. May of Boston, to leave the building, till a Quaker lady +quietly stepped forward, and, taking his arm, walked out with him +through the turbulent crowd, which, though noisy and threatening, had +decency enough to respect a lady and her escort. There were like +disturbances in some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>other Vermont towns where the abolitionists +gathered to advocate their cause, but the intensity of bitterness +against them gradually wore away, and they continued to gain adherents, +till the question of the extension of slave territory became the +all-absorbing subject of political controversy.</p> + +<p>In 1820 the representatives of Vermont in Congress opposed the admission +of Missouri as a slave State, though her senators were divided. In 1825 +the legislature passed resolutions deprecating slavery as an evil, and +declaring, "This General Assembly will accord in any measures which may +be adopted by the general government for its abolition in the United +States that are consistent with the right of the people and the general +harmony of the States." Ten years later, in the same year that the +anti-slavery meeting was broken up by the rabble in the very shadow of +the capitol, the legislature assembled there declared, that "neither +Congress nor the state governments have any constitutional right to +abridge the free expression of opinions, or the transmission of them +through the public mail," and that Congress possessed the power to +abolish slavery in the District of Columbia.</p> + +<p>In 1841 the anti-slavery sentiment had so far increased in the State as +to take political form, and votes enough were cast for the candidate of +the Liberty party for governor to prevent an election by the people. Two +years later the assembly enacted that no officer or citizen of the State +should seize or assist in the seizure of "any person for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>reason +that he is or may be claimed as a fugitive slave," and that no officer +or citizen should transport or assist in the transportation of such +person to any place in or out of the State; and that, for like reason, +no person should be imprisoned "in any jail or other building belonging +to the State, or to any county, town, city, or person therein." When +Congress in 1850, after a fierce storm of debate, passed the odious +Fugitive Slave Law, which made United States marshals, and at their +behest every citizen of the republic, servants of the arrogant slave +power, and withheld from whoever might be claimed as a slave the right +of testifying in his own behalf, Vermont was faithful to freedom and the +spirit of her Constitution. Her legislature of the same year passed an +act requiring States' attorneys "diligently and faithfully to use all +lawful means to protect, defend, and procure to be discharged, every +such person so arrested or claimed as a fugitive slave," and judicial +and executive officers in their respective counties to inform their +State's attorney of the intended arrest of any person claimed as a +fugitive slave.</p> + +<p>In many of the Northern States slave-hunting waxed hot and eager under +the national law, but the hunters never attempted to seize their prey in +the land of the Green Mountain Boys, though there were fugitive slaves +living there, and an occasional passenger still fared along the +mysterious course of the Underground Railroad.</p> + +<p>Consequent upon the annexation of Texas came <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>war with Mexico,—a war +waged wholly in the interest of slavery extension, and forced by the +great republic upon her younger sister, weak and distracted by swiftly +recurring revolutions.</p> + +<p>Having a purpose so opposite to the interest and sentiment of the people +of Vermont, no possible appeal to arms could have been less popular +among them. Yet upon the call of President Polk for volunteers, a +company was soon recruited in the State. Under Captain Kimball of +Woodstock, it formed a part of the 9th regiment, whose colonel was +Truman B. Ransom, a Vermonter, who had been a military instructor in the +Norwich University, and in a similar institution at the South. The 9th +was attached to the brigade of General Pierce, in General Pillow's +division, under General Scott. The army of Americans, always +outnumbered, often three to one, by the enemy, could not have fought +more bravely in a better cause; and the little band of Green Mountain +Boys gave gallant proof that, in the more than thirty years which had +elapsed since they were last called forth to battle, the valor of their +race had not abated. Colonel Ransom fell while leading his regiment in a +charge at Chepultepec; and the Vermont company was one of the foremost +at the storming of the castle, it being claimed for Captain Kimball and +Sergeant-Major Fairbanks that they hauled down the Mexican colors, and +raised the stars and stripes above the captured fortress.<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span>Upon the dissolution of the Whig party, the least subservient to the +slavery propagandists of the two great political parties in the North, +Vermont at once took her place under the newly unfurled banner of the +Republicans,—a place which she has ever since steadfastly maintained +through victory and defeat. In 1856 her vote was cast for Fremont, and +four years later, by an increased majority, for Lincoln. Few who cast +their votes at this memorable election foresaw that its result would so +soon precipitate the inevitable conflict. But five brief months passed, +and all were awakened to the terrible reality of war.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> E. P. Walton, in <i>Governor and Council</i>, vol. i. p. 92, +says, "This was the first emancipation act in America."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> Theophilus Harrington.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> Dana's <i>History of Woodstock</i>.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<h3>VERMONT IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The dreariness of the long Northern winter was past. The soft air of +spring again breathed through the peaceful valleys, wafting the songs of +returning birds, the voice of unfettered streams, and the sound of +reawakened husbandry. Though far off in the Southern horizon the cloud +of rebellion lowered and threatened, men went about their ordinary +affairs, still hoping for peace, till the tranquillity of those April +days was broken by the bursting storm of civil war.</p> + +<p>With the echo of its first thunder came President Lincoln's call for +troops, and Vermont responded with a regiment of her sons, as brave, +though their lives had been lapped in peace, as the war-nurtured Green +Mountain Boys of old. The military spirit had been but feebly nursed +during many tranquil years, yet, at the first breath of this storm, it +blazed up in a fervor of patriotic fire such as never before had been +witnessed.</p> + +<p>At the outbreak of the Rebellion, no Northern State was less prepared +for war than Vermont. Except in the feeble existence of four skeleton +regiments, her militia was unorganized, the men subject <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>to military +service not being even enrolled. Some of the uniformed companies were +without guns, others drilled with ancient flintlocks; and the State +possessed but five hundred serviceable percussion muskets, and no tents +nor camp equipage; while the Champlain arsenal at Vergennes, like other +United States arsenals in the North, had been stripped by Floyd, the +Secretary of War, of everything but a few superannuated muskets and +useless cannon. The continual outflow of emigration had drawn great +numbers of the stalwart young men of the rural population to the Western +States, in whose regiments many of them were already enlisting, and she +had not the large towns nor floating population which in most other +States contributed so largely the material for armies.</p> + +<p>The governor, Erastus Fairbanks, immediately issued a proclamation, +announcing the outbreak of rebellion, and the President's call for +volunteers, and summoning the legislature to assemble on the 25th of +April. His proclamation bore even date with that of the President, and +is believed to have antedated by at least a day the like proclamation of +any other governor.<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></p> + +<p>In the brief interval between the summoning and the assembling of the +legislature, in all parts of the State men were drilling and +volunteering. Banks and individuals tendered their money, railroad and +steamboat companies offered free transportation for troops and munitions +of war, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>patriotic women were making uniforms of "Vermont gray" for +the ten companies of militia chosen on the 19th of April to form the 1st +regiment.</p> + +<p>The train which brought the legislators to the capital was welcomed by a +national salute from the two cannon captured at Bennington. Without +distinction of party, senators and representatives met the imperative +demands of the time with such resolute purpose that in forty-eight hours +they had accomplished the business for which they were assembled, and +had adjourned. A bill was unanimously passed appropriating one million +dollars for war expenses. Provision was made for raising six more +regiments for two years' service, for it was forecast by the legislature +that the war was not likely to be confined to one campaign, nor an +insignificant expenditure of money. Each private was to be paid by the +State seven dollars a month in addition to the thirteen dollars offered +by the United States. If his aged parents or wife and children should +come to want while he was fighting his country's battles, they were not +to become town paupers, but the wards of the commonwealth.</p> + +<p>The ten companies were rapidly filled, their equipment was completed, +and they assembled at Rutland on the 2d of May, with John W. Phelps as +colonel, a native of Vermont, who had served with distinction in the +Mexican War as lieutenant, and captain in the regular army. No fitter +choice <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span>could have been made of a commander for the regiment than this +brave and conscientious soldier, who, though a strict disciplinarian, +exercised such fatherly care over his men that he won their love and +respect.</p> + +<p>After some delay the regiment was mustered into the United States +service on the 8th. It was the opinion of the Adjutant-General that +there were troops enough already at Washington for its defense, and that +the 1st Vermont might better be held in its own State for a while. But +when General Scott learned that a regiment of Green Mountain Boys, +commanded by Phelps, was awaiting marching orders, he wished them sent +on at once. "I want your Vermont regiments, all of them. I remember the +Vermont men on the Niagara frontier," and he remembered Captain Phelps +at Contreras and Cherubusco. A special messenger was dispatched to +Rutland with orders to march, and on the 9th of May, the eighty-sixth +anniversary of the mustering of Allen's mountaineers for the attack of +Ticonderoga, this regiment of worthy inheritors of their home and name +set forth for Fortress Monroe. There were heavy hearts in the cheering +throng that bade them Godspeed and farewell,—heavier than they bore, +for to them was appointed action: to those they left behind, only +waiting in hope and fear and prayer for the return of their beloved. On +its passage through New York, the regiment attracted much admiration for +the stature and soldierly bearing of its members, each of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>whom wore in +his gray cap, as proudly as a knight his plume, the evergreen badge of +his State.</p> + +<p>Each succeeding regiment bore this emblem to the front, to be drenched +in blood, to be scathed in the fire of war, to wither in the +pestilential air of Southern prisons, but never to be dishonored.</p> + +<p>"Who is that tall Vermont colonel?" one spectator asked, pointing to the +towering form of Colonel Phelps.</p> + +<p>"That," answered another, "is old Ethan Allen resurrected!"</p> + +<p>The 1st was stationed at Fortress Monroe, and remained there and in the +vicinity during its term of service. At Big Bethel, in the first +engagement of the war worthy the name of a battle, it bore bravely its +part, though the ill-planned attack resulted in failure. The throngs of +fugitive slaves who sought refuge with Colonel Phelps were not returned +to their masters, but allowed to come and go as they pleased, and +thereafter were safe when they had found their way into the camps of +Vermonters, though they were given up by the officers of other +volunteers and of the regulars. General Butler, in command at Fortress +Monroe, assuming that they were contraband of war, refused to return +them to slavery, and put them to efficient service in the construction +of fortifications. The regiment returned to Vermont early in August, and +was mustered out, but of its members five out of every six reëntered the +service in regiments subsequently raised, and two hundred and fifty held +commissions. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span>Their colonel, now appointed brigadier-general, remaining +at Fortress Monroe, greatly regretted their departure. "A regiment the +like of which will not soon be seen again," he said to Colonel Washburn. +Yet, before the leaves had fallen that were greening the Vermont hills +when the 1st regiment left them, five other regiments in no wise +inferior had gone to the front, to a more active service and bloodier +fields.</p> + +<p>The 2d Vermont, its ten companies selected from over 5,600 men who +offered themselves, went to the front in time to take part in the first +great battle of the war at Bull Run. Thenceforth till the close of the +war this splendid regiment took part in almost every battle in which the +Army of the Potomac was engaged. Its ratio of killed and mortally +wounded was eight times greater than was the average in the Union army. +The 3d regiment followed in July, the 4th and 5th were rapidly filled +and sent forward in September, the 6th in October. These five regiments +formed the First Brigade of the Sixth Corps. The heroic service<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> of +this brigade is interwoven with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span>history of the Army of the Potomac. +The estimation in which it was held is shown by the responsible and +dangerous positions to which it was so often assigned, and in the praise +bestowed upon it by distinguished generals under which it served. When +the Sixth Corps was to be hurried with all speed to the imperiled field +of Gettysburg, Sedgwick's order was, "Put the Vermonters in front, and +keep the column well closed up." "No body of troops in or out of the +Army of the Potomac made their record more gallantly, sustained it more +heroically, or wore their honors more modestly."<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a></p> + +<p>At the time of the draft riots in New York, in July, 1863, the First +Vermont Brigade, with other most reliable troops to the number of twelve +thousand, were sent thither to preserve order during the continuance of +the draft. It was a strange turn of time that brought Vermont regiments +to protect the city whose colonial rulers had set the ban of outlawry +upon the leaders of the old Green Mountain Boys. These later bearers of +the name performed their duty faithfully and without arrogance, and +received warm praise of all good citizens for their orderly behavior +during what was holiday service to such veterans.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span>Vermont horses had won a national reputation as well as Vermont men, and +it seemed desirable that the government should avail itself of the +services of both. Accordingly, in the fall of 1861, a regiment of +cavalry was recruited under direct authority of the Secretary of War; +and in forty-two days after the order was issued, the men and their +horses were in "Camp Ethan Allen" at Burlington. But one larger +regiment, the 11th, went from the State, and none saw more constant or +harder service. It brought home its flag inscribed with the names of +seventy-five battles and skirmishes.</p> + +<p>The 7th and 8th regiments of infantry and two companies of light +artillery were raised early in 1862, and were assigned to service in the +Gulf States, in the department commanded by General Butler. Arrived at +Ship Island, much to their gratification, they were placed under the +immediate command of their own general, Phelps. Faithful to the spirit +of his State and his own convictions of justice, he had issued<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> a +proclamation to the loyal citizens of the Southwest, declaring that +slavery was incompatible with free government, and the aim of the +government to be its overthrow. Fugitive slaves found a safe refuge in +his camp here, as in Virginia, and in May, 1862, he began drilling and +organizing three regiments of blacks. But upon his requisition for +muskets to arm them, he was peremptorily ordered by General Butler to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span>desist from organizing colored troops, and he resigned his commission. +"The government," says Benedict in "Vermont in the Civil War," "which +before the war closed had 175,000 colored men under arms, thus lost the +services of as brave, faithful, and patriotic an officer as it had in +its army, one whose only fault as a soldier was that he was a little in +advance of his superiors in willingness to accept the aid of all loyal +citizens, white or black, in the overthrow of rebellion."</p> + +<p>In July, 1862, the 9th regiment, commanded by Colonel Stannard, went to +the front, being the first under the recent call for three hundred +thousand men. Its initial service was at Harper's Ferry, where it +presently suffered the humiliation of surrender with the rest of Miles's +force. In the little fighting that occurred, the raw regiment bore +itself bravely. Colonel Stannard begged Miles to let him storm London +Heights with his command alone, and then to cut his way out of the +beleaguered post, but both requests were refused. The 9th passed several +months under parole at Chicago, was exchanged, and at length took its +place in the Army of the Potomac. A portion of this regiment was the +first of the Union infantry to carry the national flag into the rebel +capital.</p> + +<p>The 10th and 11th regiments were speedily forwarded in the fall of 1862. +The former joined the army in Virginia. The latter, recruited as heavy +artillery, spent two years in garrison duty in the defenses of +Washington. When Grant began the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span>campaign of the Wilderness, it joined +the First Vermont Brigade as an infantry regiment, and its fifteen +hundred men outnumbered the five other thinned regiments of the brigade +that had so often been winnowed in the blasts of war, which soon swept +its own ranks with deadly effect.</p> + +<p>Before these two regiments were organized came the President's call for +three hundred thousand militia to serve nine months, under which +Vermont's quota was nearly five thousand. The five regiments were +quickly raised and sent forward, and to three of them, just before their +term of enlistment expired, fell a full share of the glories of +Gettysburg, under the intrepid leader, General Stannard. The charge of +his Vermont Brigade beat back Pickett's furious assault, and decided the +fate of the day.<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> Once more the brave little commonwealth was called +on to furnish a regiment, and the 17th was sent to the front with ranks +yet unfilled. Its third battalion drill was held on the battlefield of +the Wilderness. The untried troops were hurled at once into the thick of +the fight and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span>suffered fearful loss, and henceforth were almost +continually engaged with the enemy till the fall of Richmond.</p> + +<p>Besides these seventeen regiments of infantry and one of cavalry, the +State furnished for the defense of the Union three light batteries and +three companies of sharpshooters, who well sustained the ancient renown +of the marksmen whom Stark and Warner led, and at the close of the war +Vermont stood credited with nearly thirty-four thousand men. Thus +unstintingly did she devote her strength to the preservation of the +Union to which she had been so reluctantly admitted. What manner of men +they were, Sheridan testified when, two years after the war, standing +beneath their tattered banners in Representatives' Hall at Montpelier, +he said: "I have never commanded troops in whom I had more confidence +than I had in the Vermont troops, and I do not know but I can say that I +never commanded troops in whom I had as much confidence as those of this +gallant State," and the torn and faded battle-flags under which he stood +told more eloquently than words how bravely they had been borne through +the peril of many battles, and honorably returned to the State that gave +them.</p> + +<p>When, after four weary years, the war came to its successful close, the +decimated regiments of Green Mountain Boys returned to their State, +received a joyful but sad welcome, and then, with all the embattled host +of Union volunteers, dissolved into the even, uneventful flow of +ordinary life. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span>Notwithstanding the remoteness of the State from the +arena of war, Vermont suffered a rebel raid from a quarter whence of old +her enemies had often come, though of right none should come now. A +majority of the people of Canada were in warm sympathy with the +rebellion, their government was indifferent, and the Dominion swarmed +with disloyal Americans, who were continually plotting to aid their +brethren at the front by covert attacks in the rear. The federal +government was on its guard, but a blow fell suddenly at an unexpected +point.</p> + +<p>On the 19th of October, 1864, while Vermont troops under Sheridan were +routing the rebels at Cedar Creek, a rather unusual number of strangers +appeared in the village of St. Albans, a few miles from the Canadian +border. Moving about singly or in small groups, and clad in citizen's +dress, they attracted no particular attention, till, at a preconcerted +signal, three small parties of them entered the banks, and with cocked +and leveled pistols forced the officials to deliver up all the moneys in +their keeping. Other armed men in the streets at once seized and placed +under guard every citizen found astir, while some attempted to fire the +town by throwing vials of so-called Greek fire into some of the +principal buildings. Having possessed themselves of the treasure in the +banks, amounting to two hundred thousand dollars, in specie, bills, and +bonds, the party took horses from the livery stables, and rode out of +town, firing as they went a wanton <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span>fusillade which wounded several +persons, but happily killed only a recreant New Englander who was in +sympathy with their cause. They proved to be a band of rebel soldiers, +commanded by a Lieutenant Young, who held a commission in the +Confederate army. They beat a hurried retreat with their booty beyond +the line, whither they were pursued by a hastily gathered party of +mounted men under the lead of Captain Conger, who had served in the +Union army. None of the raiders were taken, but later fourteen were +captured in Canada, with $87,000 of the booty, by Captain Conger's men, +acting under orders of General Dix, and aided by Canadian officials. +During their brief imprisonment they were entertained as honored guests +in the Montreal jail, and, after undergoing the farce of a trial in a +Canadian court of justice, they were set at liberty amid cheers, which +evinced the warm sympathy of the neutral Canadians. It appeared in the +testimony of a detective that Colonel Armitinger, second in command of +the Montreal militia, was aware of the contemplated raid, but took no +measures to prevent it. "Let them go on," he said, "and have a fight on +the frontier; it is none of our business; we can lose nothing by it."</p> + +<p>The affair formed an important point of consideration in the Geneva +arbitration, and Secretary Stanton declared it one of the important +events of the war,—"not so much as transferring in part the scenes and +horrors of war to a peaceful, loyal State, but as leading to serious and +dangerous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span>complications with Great Britain, through the desires and +efforts of the Southern people to involve Canada, and through her +Britain, in a war on behalf of their Southern friends."<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> The +unfriendly attitude which the Canadians held toward our government, +throughout the struggle for its maintenance, might be profitably +considered whenever the frequently arising project of annexation comes +to the surface.</p> + +<p>The Fenian irruptions of 1866 and 1870, abortive except for the panic +which they created in Canada, with more than the ordinary certainty of +poetic justice, formed their base of operations at St. Albans, the point +of rebel attack in Vermont.</p> + +<p>Impelled by the military spirit which the war had aroused, the +legislature made provision for the organization of a uniformed volunteer +militia, to which every township furnished its quota. Under the +instruction of veterans of the war, the militia made commendable +progress in drill and discipline. But after a few years it was +disbanded, and the commonwealth has drifted back into almost the +condition of unpreparation which existed at the beginning of the war. +For the most part, the young men who have become of military age since +those troublous days are more unlearned than their mothers in the school +of the soldier.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> G. G. Benedict, <i>Vermont in the Civil War</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> The limits of this work preclude detailed account of the +noble services of Vermont troops, which are fully and graphically +related in G. G. Benedict's valuable work, <i>Vermont in the Civil War</i>. +Of many noble examples of heroic self-devotion where Vermonters +unflinchingly endured the storm of fire, the record of the 5th regiment +at Savage's Station is memorable,—in the space of twenty minutes, every +other man in the line was killed or wounded. Company E went into the +fight with 59 officers and privates, of whom only seven came out unhurt +and 25 were killed or mortally wounded. Five brothers named Cummings, a +cousin of the same name, and a brother-in-law, all recruited on one +street of the historic town of Manchester, were members of this company. +All but one were killed or mortally wounded in this action, and he +received a wound so severe that he was discharged by special order of +the Secretary of War.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> Adjutant-General McMahon of the Sixth Corps.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> December, 1861.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> On this historic field Vermont has marked with monuments +the position held by her troops. Where the war-worn First Brigade stood +waiting but uncalled to stem the tide of battle, a crouching lion, alert +for the onslaught, rears his majestic front, like the lion couchant of +the Green Mountains. Another monument stands where the Second Brigade +beat back the impetuous fury of the rebel charges; another where the +Vermont cavalry dashed like a billow of fire and steel upon the foe; and +two where, at the Hornet's Nest and the Peach Orchard, the unerring +rifles of Vermont's three companies of sharpshooters rained their +constant fire upon the enemy.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> <i>History of the St. Albans Raid</i>, p. 48, by E. A. +Sowles.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<h3>THE VERMONT PEOPLE.</h3> +<br /> +373 + +<p>In the years of peace that have passed since the great national +conflict, many changes have taken place in the commonwealth. The +speculative spirit which arose from the inflation of values during that +period in some degree affected almost every one, and still survives, +when all values but that of labor have sunk to nearly their former +level. Too great a proportion of the people sought to gain their living +by their wits as speculators,—go-betweens of the producer and consumer, +agents of every real or sham business and enterprise, largely increasing +the useless class who really do nothing, produce nothing, and add +nothing to the wealth of a State. This class is largely drawn from the +greatly predominant agricultural population.</p> + +<p>Farmers, who in the years before the war could only bring the year +around by the strictest economy, suddenly became rich men, as farmers +count wealth, by the doubled or trebled value of their land, and the +same increase of price of all its products, and fell into ways of +extravagance that left them poorer than before, when prices went down, +and withal more discontented with their lot. Men <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span>bought land at the +prevailing extravagant prices, and a few years later found themselves +stranded, by the subsiding tidal wave, on the barren shores of hopeless +debt, and many such became ready recruits for the insane army of +Greenbackers.</p> + +<p>The extravagance of their employers infected the wage-earners, and led +them to the same silly emulation of display beyond their means, rather +than to the founding of comfortable homes,—the ambition for something +not quite attainable, which brings inevitable unrest and discontent.</p> + +<p>Sheep husbandry, the old and fostered industry of the State, with which +it was so long identified, deserves more than a passing mention. As has +been said in a former chapter, early in the century Vermont flocks were +greatly improved by the introduction of the Spanish merinos. During 1809 +and 1810, William Jarvis, our consul at Lisbon, obtained about 4,000 +merinos from the confiscated flocks of the Spanish nobles, and imported +them to this country. The flocks of pure blood bred on Mr. Jarvis's +beautiful estate at Weathersfield "Bow," lying on the western bank of +the Connecticut, and half inclosed by the river, were not excelled by +any in this country. From the Jarvis importation, and from a small flock +of the Infantado family imported about the same time by Colonel +Humphreys, our minister to Spain, the most valued merinos are descended.</p> + +<p>From various causes the value of sheep and wool has exhibited remarkable +fluctuations. During the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>years 1809 and 1810, half-blood merino wool +sold for seventy-five cents a pound, and full blood for two dollars, and +during the war with England rose to the enormous price of two dollars +and a half a pound; full-blood rams sold for sums as great as the price +of thoroughbred stallions, even ram lambs bringing a thousand dollars +each: but such a sudden downfall followed the peace that, before the end +of 1815, full-blooded sheep sold for one dollar each.</p> + +<p>During the next ten years the price of wool continued so low that nearly +all the flocks of merinos were broken up, or deteriorated through +careless breeding. At that time an increase in the duties on fine wool +revived the prostrate industry, but unhappily led to the general +introduction of the Saxon merinos, a strain bearing finer but lighter +fleeces, and far less hardy than their Spanish cousins. The cross of the +puny Saxon with these worked serious injury to the flocks, but was +continued for twenty years, and then abandoned so completely that all +traces of the breed have disappeared. The Spanish sheep again became the +favorites, or rather their American descendants, for these, through +careful breeding by a few far-sighted shepherds, now surpassed in size, +form, and weight of fleece their long neglected European contemporaries, +if not their progenitors from whom in their best days the importations +had been drawn.</p> + +<p>Sheep-husbandry became the leading industry of Vermont, so generally +entered upon that even <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span>the dairyman's acres were shared by some number +of sheep, till every hillside pasture and broad level of the great +valleys, rank with clover and herdsgrass, was cropped by its half +hundred or hundreds of these unconscious inheritors of mixed or +unadulterated blue blood of the royal Spanish flocks.</p> + +<p>Along all thoroughfares, from the Massachusetts border to the Canadian +frontier, the traveler, as he journeyed by stage or in his own +conveyance, saw flocks dotting the close-cropped pastures with white or +umber flecks, or huddled in the comfort of the barnyard, and the +quavering bleat of the sheep was continually in his ears; nor was the +familiar sound left quite behind as he journeyed along the lonely +woodland roads, for even there he was like to hear it, and, chiming with +the thrush's song, the intermittent jangle of the tell-tale bell that +marked the whereabouts of the midwood settler's half-wild flock.</p> + +<p>The "merino fever" again raged, and fabulous prices were paid for +full-bloods, while unscrupulous jockeys "stubble sheared" and umbered +sheep of doubtful pedigree into a simulation of desired qualities that +fooled many an unsuspecting purchaser. Breeders and growers went to the +opposite extreme from that which had been reached during the Saxon +craze, and now sacrificed everything to weight of fleece, and Vermont +wool fell into ill-repute. Prices went down again, and again the +descendants of the Paulars and Infantados went to the shambles at prices +as low as were paid for plebeian natives.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span>The wool-growing industry of the East now began to find a most +formidable rival in the West, the Southwest, and Australia, in whose +milder climates and boundless ranges flocks can be kept at a cost far +below that entailed by the long and rigorous winters of New England, and +in numbers that her narrow pastures would scarcely hold. At the same +time lighter duties increased the importation of foreign wools, so there +was nothing apparently for Vermont shepherds to do but to give up the +unequal contest, and most of them cast away their crooks and turned +dairymen.</p> + +<p>But gifted with a wise foresight, a few owners of fine flocks kept and +bred them as carefully as ever, through all discouragements, and in time +reaped their reward, for it presently became evident that the flocks of +milder climates soon deteriorate, and frequent infusions of Eastern +blood are necessary to obtain the desired weight of fleece, so that +sheep-breeding is still a prosperous industry, though, as has been +stated, wool-growing has become insignificant.</p> + +<p>Dairy products have largely increased, so that now they are far more +important than wool among the exports, and almost everywhere the broad +foot of the Jersey, the Ayrshire, the Shorthorn, and the Holstein has +usurped the place of the "golden hoof."</p> + +<p>The butter and cheese of the State were in good repute even in the +primitive days of the earthen milkpan, the slow and wearisome +dash-churn, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span>the cheese-press that was only a rough bench and lever, +as rude in construction as the plumping-mill, and when a summer store of +ice was a luxury that the farmer never dreamed of possessing. The +simplest utensils and means were in vogue, and modern devices and +improved methods were unknown. The good, bad, and indifferent butter of +a whole township went as barter to the village store, where with little +assorting it was packed in large firkins, and by and by went its slow +way to the city markets, in winter in sleighs, in the open seasons on +lumbering wagons or creeping boats, with cargoes of cheese, pork, +apples, dried and in cider sauce, maple sugar, potash, and all yields of +farm and forest. Even after such long journeying, the mixed product of +many dairies retained some flavor of the hills that commended it to the +palates of city folk, and was in favor with them.</p> + +<p>Cheeses were not packed, as now, each in its own neat box, but four or +five together in a cask made especially for the purpose, whose +manufacture kept the cooper busy many days in the year. His wayside +shop, with its resonant clangor of driven hoops and heaps of fresh +shavings piled about it, distilling the wholesome odor of fresh wood, +was a frequent wayside landmark, now not often seen. Cheese was the +chief product of the dairy, and was always home-made, while now it is +almost entirely made in factories, to which the milk of neighboring +dairies is brought, but by far the larger part of the milk goes to +creameries for the making of butter.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span>As the carding, spinning, and cloth-making went from the household in +the day of a former generation, and the title of "spinster" became only +the designation of unmarried women, so the final labor of the dairy is +being withdrawn from the farm to the creamery and cheese factory, to +make an even product, better than the worst, if never so good as the +best, of that of the old system, and the buxom dairymaid will exist for +coming generations only in song and story.</p> + +<p>The enormous mineral wealth of the State lay for years hidden or +unheeded, copper and copperas in the hills of Vershire and Strafford, +granite in the bald peaks of Barre, slate in long lines of shelving +ledges here and there, and marble cropping out in blotches of dull white +among the mulleins and scrubby evergreens of barren sheep pastures. Some +of these resources developed slowly to their present importance, others +have flourished and languished and flourished again, and others sprang +from respectable existence into sudden importance.</p> + +<p>Copper ore was discovered in Orange County about 1820,<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> and was +afterwards mined and smelted in Vershire, in a small way, by a company +formed of residents of the neighborhood and styled the "Farmers' +Company." In 1853 the mine was purchased by residents of New York, who +were granted a charter under the title of "Vermont Copper Mining +Company," and they began more extensive operations under the direction +of a skilled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span>Cornish miner. In the years which have elapsed since then, +the work has at times been actively carried on with excellent results, +and fifty tons or more of superior copper produced each month; at times +it has languished, till the populous mining village was almost deserted, +and neighboring hill and vale, scathed by the sulphurous breath of +roast-bed and furnace, became more desolate than when the primeval +forest clothed them; again it has seasons of prosperity, when the +Vershire vale is as populous with Pols, Tres, and Pens as a Cornish +mining town.<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> Granite, upheaved from the core of the world, is found +in immense masses in the central portions of the State. At Barre there +are mountains of it; though there so overtopped by the lofty peaks of +Mansfield and "Tah-be-de-wadso," they bear such humble names as Cobble +Hill and Millstone Hill. The pioneer hunters who trapped beaver and +otter in the wild streams,<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> and the settlers who here first brought +sun and soil face to face, little dreamed that greater wealth than +fertile acres bear was held in these barren hills. Yet something of it +became known more than half a century ago, and the second State House +was built of this Barre granite, hauled by teams nine miles over the +hilly roads. For many years the working <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span>of the quarries increased only +gradually, but within comparatively a few years it has become an immense +business. The hills are noisy with the constant click of hammer and +drill, the clang of machinery, and the sullen roar of blasts, and the +quiet village has suddenly grown to be a busy town, with two railroads +to bear away the crude or skillfully worked products of the quarries. In +a single year a thousand Scotch families came to this place, bringing +strong hands skilled in the working of Old World quarries to delve in +those of the New, and a savor of the Scotch highlands to the highlands +of the New World.</p> + +<p>Slate of excellent quality exists in Vermont in three extensive ranges, +one in the eastern part of the State, another in the central, and +another in the western. Each is quarried to some extent at several +points, but the last named most extensively in Rutland County. Slabs +taken from the weathered surface rock were long ago used for tombstones, +and may be seen among the sumacs and goldenrods of many an old +graveyard, still commemorating the spiritual and physical excellences of +the pioneers who sleep beneath them. No quarries were opened until 1845, +nor was much progress made for five years thereafter, when an +immigration of intelligent Welshmen brought skilled hands to develop the +new industry, and made St. David a popular saint in the shadow of the +Taconic hills.</p> + +<p>The existence of marble in Vermont was known <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span>long ago. On the Isle La +Motte, a quarry of black marble was worked before the Revolution; and +early in the present century, quarries were opened in West Rutland, and +worked in rude and primitive fashion, the slabs so obtained being mostly +used for headstones. A quarry was opened in Middlebury, and it is +claimed that the device of sawing marble with sand and a toothless strip +of iron was invented by a boy of that town, named Isaac Markham, though +in fact it was known to the ancients and used by them centuries ago. But +little more than fifty years ago, the site of the great quarries of West +Rutland was a barren sheep-pasture, shaggy with stunted evergreens, and +the wealth it roofed was undreamed of, and so cheaply valued that the +whole tract was exchanged for an old horse worth less than one of the +huge blocks of marble that day after day are hoisted from its depths. +The working of these quarries was begun about 1836, and within ten years +thereafter three companies were formed and in operation. But the growth +of the business was slow, for there were no railroads, and all the +marble quarried had to be hauled by teams twenty-five miles to +Whitehall, the nearest shipping-point. Furthermore, its introduction to +general use was difficult, for though its purity of color and firmness +could not be denied, its durability was doubted. Fifty years of exposure +in our variable and destructive climate have proved Vermont marble to +exceed in this quality that of any foreign country. In 1852 a line of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span>railroad running near at hand was completed, and the marble business of +Rutland began to assume something of the proportions which now +distinguish it as the most important of the kind on the continent.</p> + +<p>One of the most remarkable changes in the commerce of Vermont has been +in the lumber trade, which no longer flows with the current of Champlain +and the Richelieu to Canada, but from the still immense forests of the +Dominion up these waterways to supply the demands of a region long since +shorn of its choicest timber. Of this great trade Burlington is the +centre, and one of the busiest lumber marts in New England.</p> + +<p>The pine-tree displayed on the escutcheon of Vermont is now no more +significant of the products of the commonwealth than is the wheat sheaf +it bears; for almost the last of the old pines are gone with the century +that nursed their growth, and the ponderous rafts of spars and square +timber that once made their frequent and unreturning voyages northward +have not been seen for more than half a century. The havoc of +deforesting is not stayed, nor like to be while forest tracts remain. +The devouring locomotive, spendthrift waste thoughtless of the future, +the pulp-mill, and kindred wood consumers gnaw with relentless +persistence upon every variety of tree growth that the ooze of the swamp +or the thin soil of the mountain side yet nourishes.</p> + +<p>In 1808, only a year after Fulton's successful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span>experiment on the +Hudson, a steamer was launched at Burlington on Lake Champlain, and +astonished her spectators by her wonderful performance as she churned +her way through the waters at the rate of five miles an hour. In 1815 a +company was granted the exclusive right of the steam navigation of Lake +Champlain, but the unjust monopoly was presently canceled. In later +years the steamers of the lake were celebrated for the excellence of +their appointments and superior management, a reputation which they +still maintain, though the railroads that skirt their thoroughfare on +either side have drawn from them the greater share of the patronage +which they once enjoyed.</p> + +<p>All the various industries have been given an impetus by the railroad +system which now meshes the State, and knits it closer to the others of +the Union.</p> + +<p>With these changes in business and methods, and this constant +intercourse with all inhabitants of the republic, the quaint +individuality of the earlier people is fast dissolving into commonplace +likeness, so that now the typical Green Mountain Boy of the olden time +endures only like an ancient pine that, spared by some chance, rears its +rugged crest above the second growth, still awaiting the tempest or the +axe that shall lay it low; yet as the pine, changing its habit of growth +with changed conditions, is still a pine, so the Vermonter of to-day, +when brought to the test, proves to be of the same tough fibre as were +his ancestors.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span>From the turbulent day of her birth through the period during which she +maintained a separate and independent existence, and during the hundred +years that she has borne her faithful part as a member of the great +republic, the history of Vermont is one that her people may well be +proud of. Such shall it continue to be, if her sons depart not from the +wise and fatherly counsel of her first governor, "to be a faithful, +industrious, and moral people," and in all their appointments "to have +regard to none but those who maintain a good, moral character, men of +integrity, and distinguished for wisdom and abilities." So may the +commonwealth still rear worthy generations to uphold and increase her +honorable fame, while her beautiful valleys continue, as in the +long-past day of their discovery, "fertile in corn and an infinitude of +other fruits."</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> <i>Geology of Vermont.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> <i>Hearth and Home</i>, October, 1870.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> One of the first of these, named Stevens, was found in +his cabin near the mouth of the stream which bears his name, dead on his +piled treasure of rich peltry, with a kettle of unavailing medicinal +herbs hanging over the ashes of his burned-out fire.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>INDEX.</h2> + + + +<ul><li> Abercrombie, General, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</li> + +<li> Abolitionists, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</li> + +<li> Academy, military, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.</li> + +<li> Adams, Secretary J. S., <a href="#Page_311">311</a>.</li> + +<li> Alien and sedition laws, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</li> + +<li> Allen, Ebenezer, captures Mount Defiance, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> frees Dinah Mattis, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;</li> + <li> at New Haven Fort, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Allen, Ethan, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> outlawed, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li> + <li> petition to king, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li> + <li> attempt to take Montreal by, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li> + <li> capture of, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> + <li> return to Bennington of, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>;</li> + <li> pamphlets written by, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;</li> + <li> receives letter from B. Robinson, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li> + <li> quells rebellion in Guilford, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>;</li> + <li> sent to Cumberland County, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> + <li> death of, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Allen, Herman, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</li> + +<li> Allen, Ira, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> secretary of Council of Safety, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</li> + <li> commissioner with Fay, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</li> + <li> commissioner to Isle aux Noix, <a href="#Page_208">208-220</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Allen, Parson, at Bennington, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li> + +<li> Amherst, General, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + +<li> Arnold, Benedict, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> expedition to Canada of, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> + <li> naval battle of, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> + <li> retreat of, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> + </ul> +<br /> +</li> + + +<li> Baker, Remember, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> at Otter Creek Falls, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> + <li> outlawed, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Barnum, Lieut. Barnabas, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>.</li> + +<li> Baum, Colonel, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li> + +<li> Beach, Major Gershom, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> + +<li> Bees, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.</li> + +<li> Bennington, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> convention at, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> + <li> legislature at, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Big Bethel, First regiment at, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.</li> + +<li> Bills of credit, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> + +<li> Boundary line, settlement of, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li> + +<li> Bowker, Joseph, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</li> + +<li> Bradley, Stephen R., pamphlet of, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</li> + +<li> Brattleboro, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> + +<li> Breckenridge, James, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li> + +<li> Breyman, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> retreat of, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Brown, John, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</li> + +<li> Burgoyne, Sir John, at the Bouquet, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> proclamation of, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li> + <li> sends Baum to Bennington, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li> + <li> retreat of the army of, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Burlington, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> lumber trade at, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>;</li> + <li> steamer launched at, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>.</li> + </ul> +<br /> +</li> + + +<li> Canada, expeditions against, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> conquest of, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li> + <li> invasion of, <a href="#Page_115">115-131</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Canal, Champlain, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> Erie, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>;</li> + <li> ship, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Carleton, General, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> at Crown Point, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> + <li> threatens Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Carpenter, Isaiah, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</li> + +<li> Catamount Tavern, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>.</li> + +<li> Champlain, Lake, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> Waubanakee name of, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</li> + <li> Iroquois name of, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> + <li> seigniories on, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Champlain, Sieur Samuel, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>.</li> + +<li> Charlestown, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> legislature at, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Charlotte, County of, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> + +<li> Chimney Point, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + +<li> Chittenden, Gov. Martin, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>.</li> + +<li> Chittenden, Thomas, president of Council of Safety, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> appointed governor, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li> + <li> his letter to Washington, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>;</li> + <li> answer to Congress of, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>;</li> + <li> letter of, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>;</li> + <li> death of, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</li> + <li> anecdote of, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>;</li> + <li> counsel of, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Church, Timothy, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li> + +<li> Clark, Col. Isaac, at St. Armand, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.</li> + +<li> Clay, Capt. James, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> + +<li> Clinton, Governor, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</li> + +<li> Cockran, Robert, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>.</li> + +<li> Cognahwaghnah Indians, claims of, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> + +<li> Colden, Governor, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li> + +<li> Colleges, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</li> + +<li> Commissioners of Sequestration, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> + +<li> Committees of Safety, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> decrees of, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> + <li> answer of, to New York resolutions, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> + <li> "Association" of, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Conger, Captain, captures raiders, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span></li> + +<li> Congress, vacillating course of, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li> + +<li> Connecticut, letters from, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.</li> + +<li> Constitution adopted, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.</li> + +<li> Controversy between New Hampshire and New York, <a href="#Page_56">56-67</a>.</li> + +<li> Copper mines, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>.</li> + +<li> Council of Safety, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> acts of, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Crown Point, fort built by Amherst at, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> + +<li> Cumberland County, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li> + +<li> Cummings, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Dairying, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>.</li> + +<li> Debeline's attack on Number Four, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li> + +<li> Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li> + +<li> Deerfield, destruction of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> + +<li> Delaplace, Captain, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</li> + +<li> Dellius, Godfrey, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> + +<li> Derby, raid on, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.</li> + +<li> Dorset, convention at, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li> + +<li> Dummer, Fort, built, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> truck house at, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Dummerston, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Eaton, Capt. William, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>.</li> + +<li> Election day, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> customs of, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Enos, General, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</li> + +<li> Equivalent lands, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Fairbanks, Gov. Erastus, proclamation of, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.</li> + +<li> Fay, Dr. Jonas, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</li> + +<li> Fay, Major Joseph, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li> + +<li> Fay, Capt. Stephen, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + +<li> Fees for grants, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + +<li> First Brigade, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>.</li> + +<li> Forts, Bridgman's, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> Crown Point, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li> + <li> Number Four, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</li> + <li> Ranger, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</li> + <li> St. Anne, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> + <li> St. Frederic, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> + <li> Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</li> + <li> Vengeance, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</li> + <li> Warren, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Francis, Colonel, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> death of, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> French Canadians, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</li> + +<li> French River, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> + +<li> French, William, murder of, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li> + +<li> Frontenac, expeditions by, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> + +<li> Fugitive Slave Law, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Galusha, Gov. Jonas, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</li> + +<li> Gates, General, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li> + +<li> Granite quarries, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>.</li> + +<li> Green Mountain Boys, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> + +<li> Green Mountains, Republic of, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</li> + +<li> Gregg, Lieutenant-Colonel, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li> + +<li> Growler and Eagle, loss of, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.</li> + +<li> Guilford, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Haldimand, General, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> correspondence of, <a href="#Page_203">203-221</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Hale, Colonel, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> + +<li> Hampton, Gen. Wade, inaction of, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</li> + +<li> Hay, Col. Udney, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> + +<li> Headee, Mrs., <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</li> + +<li> Henry, John, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.</li> + +<li> Herrick, Captain, captures boats at Skenesborough, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> colonel, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>;</li> + <li> receives thanks of council, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Hobbs, Capt. Humphrey, scout of, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> + +<li> Horses, Morgan, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> + +<li> Houghton, Daniel, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.</li> + +<li> Howe, Caleb, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> + +<li> Hubbardton, battle of, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Indians, forays of, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> routes of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> + <li> St. Francis, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Iroquois, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> Montreal sacked by, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Isle aux Noix, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> taken by Haviland, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li> + <li> conference with British at, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Izard, General, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Johnson, Sir John, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.</li> + +<li> Johnson, Sir William, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Kent, Cephas, innholder, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Land embargo, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li> + +<li> Legislature, acts of, <a href="#Page_255">255-257</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> promptcalls for troops, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Libraries, early, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> endowment of, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Lincoln, Abraham, President, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> action of, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Lincoln, General, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</li> + +<li> Liquor drinking, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>.</li> + +<li> Louisburg, capture of, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>.</li> + +<li> Lumbering, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>.</li> + +<li> Lydius, John Henry, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Macdonough, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> builds fleet at Vergennes, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> + <li> fleet of, enters the lake, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>;</li> + <li> naval victory of, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> McIntosh, Donald, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> + +<li> Manchester, jail at, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> Stark at, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</li> + <li> Lincoln at, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> + <li> Warner's regiment left at, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Marble quarries, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>.</li> + +<li> Massachusetts, claims of, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</li> + +<li> Monro, Esquire, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.</li> + +<li> Monroe, Colonel, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> + +<li> Montcalm, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> + +<li> Montgomery, General, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> killed, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Montpelier, the capitol at, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> early library of, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Montreal, taken by Amherst, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> attempt on, by Ethan Allen, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> + <li> taken by Montgomery, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Mott, Captain, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.</li> + +<li> Mount Defiance, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> occupied by British, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</li> + <li> taken by Ebenezer Allen, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Mount Independence, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> evacuation of, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</li> + <li> ibid. by British, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</li> + </ul> +<br /> +</li> + +<li> New Connecticut, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span></li> + +<li> New Hampshire, controversy of, concerning boundaries, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> obedience of, to king, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> + <li> prompt action of, to repel invasion of Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;</li> + <li> sixteen towns of, join Vermont, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> New Hampshire Grants, <a href="#Page_57">57-67</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.</li> + +<li> New York, claims of, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> frontiers of, protected by Allen's treaty, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>;</li> + <li> appoints commissioners to treat concerning boundary, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</li> + <li> draft riots of the city of, quelled by Vermont troops, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Newspapers, early, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>.</li> + +<li> Number Four, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> defense of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</li> + <li> road from, to Crown Point, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> + </ul> +<br /> +</li> + + +<li> Otter, Great, mills destroyed at First Falls of, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> fort at, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>;</li> + <li> Macdonough's fleet winters in, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> + <li> boats built at, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> + <li> British attack at mouth of, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>;</li> + <li> arsenal at, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.</li> + </ul> +<br /> +</li> + + +<li> Papers, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.</li> + +<li> Petowbowk, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</li> + +<li> Phelps, Charles, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li> + +<li> Phelps, Col. John W., <a href="#Page_342">342</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> his treatment of fugitives, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>;</li> + <li> his proclamation and resignation, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Phipps, Sir William, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> + +<li> Plattsburgh, raid on, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> battle of, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Plumping-mill, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> + +<li> Point à la Chevalure, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> + +<li> Political parties, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</li> + +<li> Postal service, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</li> + +<li> Prevost, Sir George, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> defeat of, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Printers and printing, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>.</li> + +<li> Putnam, Gen. Israel, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Quebec, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> fall of, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> + <li> trade with, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li> + </ul> +<br /> +</li> + + +<li> Ransom, Truman B., <a href="#Page_338">338</a>.</li> + +<li> Reid, Col. John, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</li> + +<li> Religious societies, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> + +<li> Robinson, Col. Beverly, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.</li> + +<li> Robinson, Moses and Samuel, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li> + +<li> Robinson, Samuel, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li> + +<li> Rogers, Major Robert, expedition of, <a href="#Page_34">34-41</a>.</li> + +<li> Royalton, Indian massacre at, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Sancoick, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> + +<li> Savage's Station, Vermonters at, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>.</li> + +<li> Schools, support of, <a href="#Page_309">309-311</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> laws concerning, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>;</li> + <li> grammar, state, normal, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Schuyler, General, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> favors claims of Vermont, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Schuyler, Capt. John, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li> + +<li> Schuyler, Major, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> + +<li> Scott, General, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>.</li> + +<li> Seigniories, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + +<li> Sheep, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> importation of merino, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>;</li> + <li> breeding of, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Shelburne, British attack on block-house at, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>.</li> + +<li> Sherwood, Captain, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</li> + +<li> Skene, Colonel, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> supposed charter of, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Skene, Major, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>.</li> + +<li> Slate quarries, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>.</li> + +<li> Slavery prohibited, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> + +<li> Smuggling, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> + +<li> Smugglers, device of, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>.</li> + +<li> Sobapsqua, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li> + +<li> Sons of Vermont, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>.</li> + +<li> St. Albans, protest of, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> rebel raid on, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>;</li> + <li> Fenians at, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> St. Anne, Fort, building of, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>.</li> + +<li> St. Clair, General, at Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> retreat of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> St. Frederic, Fort, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> Vaudreuil's expedition from, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> + <li> abandoned by French, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> St. John's, surrender of, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>.</li> + +<li> St. Leger, General, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> abandons Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Stannard, General, colonel of 9th regiment, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> at Gettysburg, <a href="#Page_349">349</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Stark, Gen. John, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> at Number Four, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</li> + <li> at Bennington, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Steele, Zadock, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li> + +<li> Stevens, Capt. Phineas, defense by, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li> + +<li> Stoddard, Col. John, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li> + +<li> Sugar-making, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.</li> + +<li> Sunderland, Peleg, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Taverns, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>.</li> + +<li> Taxes, payment of, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> + +<li> Temperance, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>.</li> + +<li> Ten Eyck, Sheriff, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li> + +<li> Tichenor, Governor, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li> + +<li> Ticonderoga, Fort, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> Abercrombie's attack on, <a href="#Page_29">29-32</a>;</li> + <li> captured by Amherst, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> + <li> ibid. by Green Mountain Boys, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;</li> + <li> commanded by St. Clair, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>;</li> + <li> commissioners sent to, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> + <li> evacuation of, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</li> + <li> occupied by British, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li> + <li> evacuated by British, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Tryon, Governor, <a href="#Page_73">73-76</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> proclamation of, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Tupper, Sergeant, killed, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Underground railroad, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> + +<li> Union of New Hampshire towns, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> the west, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Unions dissolved, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Valcour, Island of, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li> + +<li> Vaudreuil, expeditions of, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> surrender of Canada by, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Vergennes, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li> + +<li> Vermont, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> its constitution, <a href="#Page_147">147-187</a>;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span></li> + <li> militia of, called out, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li> + <li> agents appointed by, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> + <li> refusal of, to break the Unions, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li> + <li> an independent republic, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</li> + <li> included in territory of the United States, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>;</li> + <li> admission of, to the Union, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>;</li> + <li> unpopularity of war with England in, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>;</li> + <li> raises troops, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>;</li> + <li> in the Mexican war, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>;</li> + <li> unprepared for war in 1861, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>;</li> + <li> characteristics of the people of, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Vermontensium Res Publica, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Walbridge, Colonel, and General Gansevoort, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> + +<li> Warner, Seth, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> takes Crown Point, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li> + <li> appointed commander of Green Mountain Boys, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</li> + <li> recalled to Canada, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</li> + <li> retreat covered by, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> + <li> New York demands recall of commission of, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> + <li> repels Indian invasion, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> + <li> letter of, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> + <li> at Hubbardton, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li> + <li> at Bennington, <a href="#Page_175">175-177</a>;</li> + <li> death of, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Washington, General, letter from, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> opinion of, concerning Vermont, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Waters, Constable Oliver, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li> + +<li> Waubanakee, name of, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> + +<li> Wentworth, Gov. Benning, grants by, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li> + +<li> Westminster, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> massacre at, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>;</li> + <li> convention at, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> + <li> declaration of independence at, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Wilderness, the, country of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> + +<li> Wilkinson, General, movements of, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.</li> + +<li> Windsor, convention at, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> first legislature at, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Winooski, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>.</li> + +<li> Winthrop, John, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.</li> + +<li> Wohjahose, Rock Dunder, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</li> + +<li> Wool-growing, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>; + <ul class="nest"> + <li> insignificance of, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>.</li> + </ul> +</li> + +<li> Wright, Captain, scout of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Young, Dr. Thomas, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>.<br /><br /></li> + + +<li> Zooquagese, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + + +<p class="cen"><span style="font-size: 120%;"><b>American Commonwealths.</b></span><br /> + +Edited by Horace E. Scudder.</p> +<br /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">VIRGINIA. A History of the People. By John Esten Cooke, +author of "Life of Stonewall Jackson," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">OREGON. The Struggle for Possession. By William Barrows, D. D.</p> + +<p class="hang">MARYLAND. The History of a Palatinate. By William Hand Browne, +Associate of Johns Hopkins University.</p> + +<p class="hang">KENTUCKY. A Pioneer Commonwealth. By Nathaniel S. Shaler, S. +D., Professor of Palæontology, Harvard University.</p> + +<p class="hang">MICHIGAN. A History of Governments. By Thomas McIntyre Cooley, +LL. D., formerly Chief Justice of Michigan.</p> + +<p class="hang">KANSAS. The Prelude to the War for the Union. By Leverett W. +Spring, formerly Professor in English Literature in the +University of Kansas.</p> + +<p class="hang">CALIFORNIA. From the Conquest in 1846 to the Second Vigilance +Committee in San Francisco. A Study of American Character. +By Josiah Royce, Assistant Professor of Philosophy in +Harvard University, formerly Professor in the University of +California.</p> + +<p class="hang">NEW YORK. The Planting and the Growth of the Empire State. By +the Hon. Ellis H. Roberts, Editor of the Utica Herald. In +two volumes.</p> + +<p class="hang">CONNECTICUT. A Study of a Commonwealth Democracy. By Professor +Alexander Johnston, author of "American Politics."</p> + +<p class="hang">MISSOURI. A Bone of Contention. By Lucien Carr, M. A., +Assistant Curator of the Peabody Museum of Archæology.</p> + +<p class="hang">INDIANA. A Redemption from Slavery. By J. P. Dunn, Jr., author +of "Massacres of the Mountains."</p> + +<p class="hang">OHIO. First Fruits of the Ordinance of 1787. By Hon. Rufus +King.</p> + +<p class="hang">VERMONT. By Rowland E. Robinson.</p></div> + + +<p class="cen"><i>In Preparation.</i></p> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">NEW JERSEY. By Austin Scott, Ph. D.</p> + +<p class="hang">ILLINOIS. By E. G. Mason.</p> + +<p class="hang">SOUTH CAROLINA. By Edward McCrady, Jr.</p></div> + +<p class="cen"><i>With Maps. Each volume, 16mo, gilt top, $1.25.</i></p> + +<p class="cen">HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY,<br /> +<span class="smcap">4 Park St., Boston; 11 East 17th St., New York.</span></p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><span style="font-size: 120%;"><b>American Men of Letters.</b></span><br /> +Edited by Charles Dudley Warner.</p> +<br /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">WASHINGTON IRVING. By Charles Dudley Warner, author of "In +the Levant," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">NOAH WEBSTER. By Horace E. Scudder, author of "Stories and +Romances," "A History of the United States of America," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">HENRY D. THOREAU. By Frank B. Sanborn.</p> + +<p class="hang">GEORGE RIPLEY. By Octavius Brooks Frothingham, author of +"Transcendentalism in New England."</p> + +<p class="hang">JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. By Thomas R. Lounsbury, Professor of +English in the Scientific School of Yale College.</p> + +<p class="hang">MARGARET FULLER OSSOLI. By Thomas Wentworth Higginson, author +of "Malbone," "Oldport Days," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">RALPH WALDO EMERSON. By Oliver Wendell Holmes, author of "The +Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">EDGAR ALLAN POE. By George E. Woodberry, author of "A History +of Wood Engraving."</p> + +<p class="hang">NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS. By Henry A. Beers, Professor of +English Literature in Yale College.</p> + +<p class="hang">BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. By John Bach McMaster, author of "History +of the People of the United States."</p> + +<p class="hang">WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. By John Bigelow, author of "Molinos the +Quietist," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS. By William P. Trent, Professor of +English Literature in the University of the South, Sewanee, +Tenn. </p></div> + +<p class="cen"><i>Other volumes to be announced hereafter. Each volume,<br />with Portrait, +16mo, gilt top, $1.25; half morocco, $2.50.</i></p> + +<p class="cen">HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY. <span class="smcap"><br /> +4 Park St., Boston; 11 East 17TH St., New York.</span></p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><span style="font-size: 120%;"><b>American Statesmen.</b></span><br /> +Edited by John T. Morse, Jr.</p> +<br /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. By John T. Morse, Jr., author of "A Life +of Alexander Hamilton," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">ALEXANDER HAMILTON. By Henry Cabot Lodge, author of "The +English Colonies in America," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">JOHN C. CALHOUN. By Dr. H. von Holst, author of the +"Constitutional History of the United States."</p> + +<p class="hang">ANDREW JACKSON. By Prof. William G. Sumner, author of "History +of American Currency," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">JOHN RANDOLPH. By Henry Adams, author of "New England +Federalism," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">JAMES MONROE. By D. C. Gilman, President of Johns Hopkins +University, Baltimore.</p> + +<p class="hang">THOMAS JEFFERSON. By John T. Morse, Jr.</p> + +<p class="hang">DANIEL WEBSTER. By Henry Cabot Lodge.</p> + +<p class="hang">ALBERT GALLATIN. By John Austin Stevens, recently editor of +"The Magazine of American History."</p> + +<p class="hang">JAMES MADISON. By Sydney Howard Gay, author (with William +Cullen Bryant) of "A Popular History of the United States."</p> + +<p class="hang">JOHN ADAMS. By John T. Morse, Jr.</p> + +<p class="hang">JOHN MARSHALL. By Allan B. Magruder.</p> + +<p class="hang">SAMUEL ADAMS. By James K. Hosmer, author of "A Short History +of German Literature," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">THOMAS HART BENTON. By Theodore Roosevelt, author of "Hunting +Trips of a Ranchman," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">HENRY CLAY. By Hon. Carl Schurz. 2 vols.</p> + +<p class="hang">PATRICK HENRY. By Moses Coit Tyler, author of "History of +American Literature," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. By Theodore Roosevelt.</p> + +<p class="hang">MARTIN VAN BUREN. By Edward M. Shepard.</p> + +<p class="hang">GEORGE WASHINGTON. By Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge. In two volumes.</p> + +<p class="hang">BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. By John T. Morse, Jr.</p> + +<p class="hang">JOHN JAY. By George Pellew, author of "Woman and the +Commonwealth."</p> + +<p class="hang">LEWIS CASS. By Prof. Andrew C. McLaughlin, of the University +of Michigan. </p></div> + +<p class="cen"><i>Other volumes to be announced hereafter. Each volume, uniform,<br /> + 16mo, gilt top, $1.25; half morocco, $2.50.</i></p> + +<p class="cen">HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY,<br /> +<span class="smcap">4 Park St., Boston; 11 East 17th St., New York.</span></p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><span style="font-size: 120%;"><b>American Religious Leaders.</b></span><br/></p> + +<p class="cen">A Series of Biographies of Men who have had great influence on<br /> Religious +Thought and Life in the United States.</p> +<br /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">JONATHAN EDWARDS. By Professor A. V. G. Allen, author of "The +Continuity of Christian Thought."</p> + +<p class="hang">DR. MUHLENBERG. By Rev. William Wilberforce Newton.</p> + +<p class="hang">WILBUR FISK. By Professor George Prentice, of Wesleyan +University.</p> + +<p class="hang">FRANCIS WAYLAND. By Professor J. O. Murray, of Princeton.</p> + +<p class="hang">CHARLES G. FINNEY. By Professor G. Frederick Wright.</p> + +<p class="hang">MARK HOPKINS. By President Franklin Carter, of Williams +College.</p></div> +<br /> + +<p class="cen"><i>In Preparation.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="hang">HENRY BOYNTON SMITH. By Professor L. F. Stearns, of Bangor +Theological Seminary, Bangor, Me.</p> + +<p class="hang">ARCHBISHOP HUGHES. By John G. Shea, LL. D., author of "The +Catholic Authors of America," etc.</p> + +<p class="hang">CHARLES HODGE. By President Francis L. Patton, of Princeton.</p> + +<p class="hang">THEODORE PARKER. By John Fiske, author of "The Idea of God," +"Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy," etc. </p></div> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="noin">This series includes biographies of eminent men who represent +the theology and methods of the various religious denominations +of America. The Series when completed will not only depict in a +clear and memorable way several great figures in American +religious history, but will indicate the leading characteristics +of that history, the progress and process of religious +philosophy in America, the various types of theology which have +shaped or been shaped by the various churches, and the relation +of these to the life and thought of the Nation. </p></div> + +<p class="cen"><i>Other volumes to be announced hereafter.<br /> Each volume, 16mo, gilt top, +$1.25.</i></p> + +<p class="cen">HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY,<br /> +<span class="smcap">4 Park St., Boston; 11 East 17th St., New York.</span></p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Transcriber's Note</p> +<br /> + +Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in +the original document has been preserved.<br /> +<br /> +Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br /> +<br /> +Page 63 controvery changed to controversy<br /> +Page 69 Morter changed to Mortar<br /> +Page 105 Agreeably changed to Agreeable<br /> +Page 121 fusilade changed to fusillade<br /> +Page 127 Point au changed to Pointe aux<br /> +Page 156 impossibile changed to impossible<br /> +Page 166 unsheath changed to unsheathe<br /> +Page 181 comander changed to commander<br /> +Page 216 appearance' changed to appearance's<br /> +Page 255 brillant changed to brilliant<br /> +Page 275 succcessful changed to successful<br /> +Page 279 neverthless changed to nevertheless<br /> +Page 330 ricketty changed to rickety<br /> +Page 352 fusilade changed to fusillade<br /> +Page 358 fold changed to hold<br /> +Page 367 Boquet changed to Bouquet<br /> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Vermont, by Rowland E. 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