Essex County, Massachusetts - Chapter 45, 1888

Military And Martial

The Situation. - Although this town had a very fortunate situation as regards the Indians, yet, in the same manner, though not to the same extent, as the frontier towns, our ancestors were obliged to be ever on the alert, and ever ready to meet an active display of the treachery, perfidy and jealousy of the red man. As our later New England ancestors planted the school-house by the church, very truly and wisely our early ancestors planted a fort also. The Eastern Indians were jealous, blood-thirsty and cruel, and any day or night their war canoes might float in our harbor. They were active, among other tribes, in plotting mischief and instilling a spirit of dissatisfaction. At the south - in Eastern Connecticut and Western Rhode Island, and extending frona the sea several leagues to the north - were the Pequods, a race, the quintessence of jealousy, cruel mischief and murder. Their emissaries were in every camp ; they were a scourge from the very first. Every hamlet, every home, was in jeopardy and fear. The sudden rush of attack and the startling war-whoop were their declaration of war, and whoever was surprised thereby paid the penalty with his blood and scalp.

Caution. - This condition of circumstances occasioned a careful carriage, and an adequate protection of some weapon of defence. The musket was the white man's vade mecum upon the road, in the field and workshop, and at church and home. To meet this emergency the town's people maintained watches and erected forts ; powder was kept in store under penalty; night signals and day signals of alarm were established; companies were formed, and the entire populace were minute-men.

Means. - In 1633 it was ordered that Saugus, Salem and Agawam assist Boston in building a fort. The next year the Ipswich assistant is ordered to solicit funds for a movable fort at Boston ; every man must be trained for service. Daniel Denison and Nicholas Easton have charge of the powder here. The town was to receive its proportion of muskets, bandoleers and rests, just then imported, and to have

Ill 1635 the company was ordered to maintain its officers ; eight swords were added to their equipments. In 1636 the military force of the jurisdiction was divided into three regiments - Saugus, Salem, Ipswich and Newbury making one, with John Endicott, Esq., of Salem, colonel ; and John Winthrop, Jr., of Ipswich, lieutenant-colonel. The next year it was ordered that " no person shall travel above a mile from his dwelling, except where other dwellings are near, without some arms, upfi)n pain of 12.s. for every default ; " each town must have a watch-house, and keep a watch; eight annual trainings were ordered; Daniel Denison was commissioned captain.

The Pequod War. - This year occurred the memorable Pequod War, wherein Ipswich was represented by twenty-three soldiers and William Fuller as gunsmith. History depicts the overwhelming disaster of the Indians. Therein Francis Wainwright attacked a knot of Pequods, expended his ammunition, broke his gun over them and brought in two scalps. John Wedgewood was wounded and taken prisoner, and John Sherman was wounded in the neck. The following-named persons were granted from two to ten acres of land for their services : John Andrews, John Burnum, Robert Castell, Robert Cross, Robert Filbrick, Edward Lumus, Andrew Story, William Swynder, Palmer Tingley, Francis Wainwright and William Whitred. In 1668 Edward Thomas was granted six acres of land for services rendered at some time, against the Indians.

Other Means. - In 1639 a reservation is made for a fort on Castle Hill, where the land was granted John Winthrop, Jr. The town has two barrels of powder, and may sell, on the county's account, at two shillings per pound ; and the following year the meeting-house was used as a watch-house. In 1642 there was a general suspicion and alarm. It was thought the various tribes of Indians had conspired to annihilate the white man, and Ipswich, Rowley and Newbury were ordered to disarm the Merrimac sachem. Forty men went the next day, and not tiuding the chief, they took away his son as a hostage. The town record allows " twenty men 12d. each per day for three days." That year a retreat for wives aud children must be provided ; twelve saker bullets were allowed to the town ; the town must have special alarms - sentinels who, going to the houses, shalb in case of attack, cry : " Arm, Arm ! " This general suspicion and alarm of the colonists was the precursor of the famous colonial league of March 19, 1643, and its earnest, unanswerable though silent advocate. In 1643 worshippers must go in arms to meeting on Lord's day. In 1644 the counties of Essex and Norfolk - which extended from the Merrimac River and included Exeter, Dover and Portsmouth in New Hampshire, while Essex then extended only to the Merrimac - form one regiment,

In 1645 all lads from ten to sixteen must be drilled in the use of the musket, the half-pikes and of bows and arrows. Thomas Whittingham was lieutenant, and Thomas Howlett ensign of the Ipswich company; every town must set a guard, a pike-man and a musketeer, about sunset, and must keep a daily guard on the outskirts and scour the woods for lurking foes; each company was divided in two-third musketeers and one-third pikemen, who were to wear corselets and head-pieces.

In 1648 boys, allowed by their parents or guardians on the training fields, were to be "exercised " in military discipline. In 1649 each town must provide for each fifty soldiers, one barrel of powder, one hundred and fifty pounds of musket bullets, and twenty-eight pounds of match, which, for a long time, subserved the use of flint.

In 1652 a company was to consist of sixty-four or more privates, and to have at least two drums, and the military aflairs of each town were to be administered by a committee of magistrates and three chief officers. In 1653 John Appleton was commissioned lieutenant of the troop of horse for the Essex regiment. General Daniel Denison ordered a squad of twenty-seven men from Ipswich and Rowley, to "descry the distant foe, where lodged, or whither fled ; or if for fight in motion or in halt;" for it was reported, as ten years before, that a general conspiracy had been formed to sweep the white man from the soil. Each private was allowed a shilling, the sergeant two shillings, and two troopers two shillings, six pence a day for four days.

Officers. - In 1664 the following were confirmed as the officers of the Ipswich Company : Thomas French, ensign ; Thomas Burnam, Jacob Perkins and Thomas Wait, sergeants; and Thomas Hart and Francis Wainwright, corporals ; and in 1668, John Appleton, captain, and John Whipi^le, cornet, of the troop. In 1672 a new fort was built; Gen. Denison wrote the Governor that great fear and alarm prevailed ; that the enemy had crossed the Merrimac, and that a detachment of fifty men, under Capt. John Appleton, was proceeding to Andover. The following year Ipswich was required to furnish her quota of one hundred men for service against the Dutch.

Philip's War. - The year 1675 is memorable for the beginning of King Philip's War. It was a long, agonizing struggle. Philip was sagacious, crafty, of great native mental strength, and as chief of a civilized people, would have been known as their patriotic defender. He was, with all, a powerful monarch, chief of thirty tribes and the powerful Passaconaway was his ally. His eagle-eye scanned the encroachments of the English upon his lauds, their usurpation of his fruitful hunting-grounds, their growth in numbers and power, and in all this and more, the doom of his race, which he could no longer brook.

Further Means. - "The Indians lurked in every forest and covert; they watched for the lonely settler as he opened his door in the morning, as he was bu.sy at his work in the field, as he rode out on business or followed the forest path to church." The fearful war-whoop, the deadly tomahawk and the treacherous ambuscade were a terror to every English home. The soldiers of every town were ordered to scour and ward to prevent the skulking and lurking of the enemy about it and give notice of danger ; the brush along the highway must be cut up ; and the watch must not come in till sunrise, when the scouts go out ; the inhabitants shall flee to the garrisons for defense, if invaded.

Fearful Cost of the War. - The war cost the Colonial League a million of dollars and six hundred lives, of which Ipswich's j^roportion must have been about forty. Every eleventh house in the colony was burned, and every eleventh soldier killed. Ipswich was represented in Capt. Prentice's troop, and in the " Flower of Essex," that perished at Deerfield, and she furnished her quota of the four hundred and sixty men levied the next year and led by Maj. Samuel Appleton ; of eighty men called for sixty days; and of seventy for service in the East.

Fatalities. - In this war fell Edward Coburn, Thomas Scott, Benjamin Tappan, Freegrace Norton, sergeant John Pettis. John Cogswell was a prisoner. In the great battle of tlie war, - with the Narragansetts, - three were killed and twenty-two were wounded in the Ipswich Company. One of the saddest events of the war was " the Deerfield Massacre." Of a company of eighty men, known as the " Flower of Essex," forty perished by one fell swoop of the savages. Here Robert Dutch was prostrated by a ball which wounded his head, was mauled with a hatchet, stripped and left for dead. After several hours he was discovered and restored to consciousness. In a list of the names of the slain the following look like Ipswich names : Thomas Manning, Caleb Kimball, Jacob Wainwright, Samuel Whittridge, Josiah Dodge, William Day, John and Thomas Hobbs.

Officers. - In 1680 Ipswich had three companies ; the year following a magazine is kept in the meetinghouse, and in 1682 the companies' officers were: Capt. Samuel Appleton, Lieut. Thomas Burnum, En. Simon Stacey ; Capt. Daniel Eppes, Lieut. John Appleton, En. Thomas Jacobs, Lieut. John Andrews and En. William Goodhue, Jr. In October, Thomas Wade was cornet in place of John Whipple, promoted to lieutenant in place of Lieut. Appleton, who assumed command of the troop upon the death of Capt. John Whipple ; and in 1689 Thomas Wade was captain, John Whipple lieutenant, John Whipple, Jr., quarter-master ; and under Maj, Samuel Appleton, Simon Stacey was lieutenant and Nehemiah Jewett ensign. That year wards were ordered to guard the churches, during service.

William's War. - This year began King William's War, which, by sympathy, extended to and involved New England. Ipswich contributed her proportion of three hundred soldiers to be raised in the county. The Ipswich troops rendezvoused at Haverhill. The following year she furnishe.il her quota of sixty-five recruits from the Essex Middle Regiment, composed of Ipswich, Rowley, Wenham, Gloucester, Topsfield and Boxford, and her quota of four hundred from the Province. Nathaniel Rust was quarter-master in the expedition against Canada, and in 1691 Samuel Ingalls was lieutenant, and Robert Kinsman quaner-master in Thomas Wade's troop. About 1700 the town voted to purchase three field-pieces; to supply themselves with powder and flints ; and to repair the watch-house and fort near the meeting-house. The town's proportion of fourteen men from the Essex Middle Regiment was called for; Maj. Samuel Appleton led sixty men to defend Gloucester ; Col. Symonds Eppes was ordered to "empress" a man into the service at Y'ork in place of Archelaus Adams, whose time had expired, and the colonel was also to hold his regiment for immediate service. The town furnished her quota of ninety men ; she stored her powder in the meetinghouse ; her troops use carbines. In 1697 William Wade was killed and Abraham Foster was wounded. These particulars, in which we have thus far indulged, serve to show the small beginning, the inadequate means, the slow but steady growth and the peculiar phases of primitive warfare.

Annes, George's and French Wars. - Queen Anne's War followed ; it fell with merciless force upon New England. Ipswich was true to English instincts ; she honored every call for men with her quota, and gave a devoted and efficient service. Ipswich was rejsresented at Port Royal, in 1707, where Samuel Appleton had a command. In 1710 William Cogswell was killed, and ten years later Samuel Clark was wounded. In 1737 John Hobbs was wounded, and ten years later asked of the General Court pay for his care of the sick at Cape Breton.

So in the Austrian succes'<ion, known as King George's War, wherein Louisburg, the Gibraltar of America, was reduced by four thousand fishermen and farmers of New England, with whom served the strength and support of Ipswich homes.

Peace returned in 1748, but it was of short duration ; it served only for recuperation and preparation for an intenser struggle. This was known as the French and Indian War, and was waged for conquest; for long years of conflict had demonstrated that the French and English could not live contiguously in peace. Five points of attack were agreed upon, and Ipswich men served at three. Crown-point, Quebec and Nova Scotia. In 1756 the town appropriated <£50 for powder and other military stores. Dr. John CalefFe was surgeon in the expedition to Quebec ; Abraham Smith and Philemon How died at Louisburg. Mr. Smith made his will about the time of enlisting, and gave " the residue and remainder '' of his property to Linebrook Parish. In 1760 the town voted that "such private soldiers, as are in the war, exclusive of tradesmen and carpenters, shall be excused from their poll-tax." Besides the town's occasional individual appropriations, she met with promptness every provincial demand for men and tax.

This war solved an old and vexatious problem, whicli is stated and illustrated in Longfellow's unique and beautiful Evangeline, and is called The French Neutrals. In the distribution of that people, Essex County had about two hundred. Ipswich had the families of Francis and John I^andrey and Paul Breau, twenty persons. At the expense of the State, the town rented them a house and furnished them with provisions, in which were included, as the State archives show, items of " Cyder and Rum," at a total cost of about a shilling per week for each person. In June, 1758, the General Court ordered that the ''sick, infirm and aged" among them be maintained at the expense of the government, but that others must earn their living. In 1760 the province distributes its entire ward among the various towns according to the rate of taxation. Ipswich's proportion was twentythree. The original number of twenty had been augmented at the time of the distribution by four births, and there had been one death, or else one was removed, to adjust the proportion. Our next notice of them was August 18, 1766, when the town refused to appropriate money to convey them to Canada, and November 25th following, when £20 was voted for their support for that year. They probably soon after removed to Canada. They were apparently a clever, sober, industrious people, and on the whole desirable citizens.

The Revolutiox. - Our narrative has now advanced a century and a quarter. Ipswich has assisted, by her treasures and skill and bravery, in silencing the fierce Tarratines, in annihilating the Pequods, in forcing the Narragansetts to sue for peace, in burying King Philip and four thousand of his brave warriors, in gathering scalps in the North for the bounty, in keeping at bay the powerful Pennacooks, and has fought the allied French and Indians, to defend their homes, their religion and their country. What a fearful cost. "The dear purchase of our fathers." But that, appalling as it was, was only part of the price. The war-whoop had hardly ceased its terror, when the precursor of another ordeal stalked through the land and inaugurated the War of The Revolution.

Though occasional irritations from the same source had been felt from the early days of the colony, this contest was unexpected. Our fathers had faithfully labored and hoped; they had "fought and bled and died" with only one purpose in reference to their nationality, and that purpose was to be Englishmen " first, last, midst and without end." But while they were English the same spirit that made them true and devoted patriots, gave them a deep sense of justice, so that they could not brook a scathing insult or endure a flagrant wrong, though they be inflicted by a brother.

For nearly a hundred years they had fought for their homes and freedom to worship God, in the wildest, most barbarous and bloodiest wars. They had sued for no peace ; they had begged no quarter. Their brothers across the sea had furnished few troops, little money, and perchance no sympathy ; and when the strife for territorial acquisition came, when the valor of English arms was on trial, and the grand old flag beckoned them by its waving folds to service and duty, they stood shoulder to shoulder in the serried ranks with the confident regular; they fought while he fought; conquered where he fled. Mainly by their spirit and skill was English rule established over these verdant hills and picturesque vales, and English arts and arms extended from the Great River on the west to the ocean on the east, and from frozen seas on the north to the delightful savannahs of the south.

For all this devoted service and baptism of blood, not a word of sympathy, nor an expression of thanks, and only a pittance to reimburse an impoverished treasury. The service and baptism only inflamed old jealousies, fashioned new rigors and forged new chains. History is replete with the mockery of justice, the travesty of righteousness, by which a jealous hatred sought to stamp our ancestors as an inferior class and to bind them to perpetual dependence. But the flinty purpose that brought our forefathers to these shores struck fire upon the steel rigors of the laws forged for their subjugation. Magazines of indignation were fired from Maine to Georgia. Subjugate ! Why, as well attempt to draw out leviathan with a hook or to turn back Niagara by command. The seed sown in the compact penned in the cabin of the May Flower had its fruitage in the Declaration of Independence ; and while John Adams and Patrick Henry, in advocating the principles of that immortal document, electrified the people, the stout-hearted yeomanry, in town-meeting assembled, voted and recorded the sentiments, and by their votes pledged money and life to the cause. Ipswich met the issue on the threshold with no uncertain voice. "No representation, no taxation," was a sentiment indigenous to her very soul. She recorded her instructions to her representatives, October 21, 1765 : " We must maintain the Charter. When our fathers left their native land, they left its laws, its Constitution and its peculiar institutions and customs, - all but what was secured by their Charter. Three things are necessary to make this otherwise : first, the migrations should have been authorized and regulated by legal authority ; second, the expense of the colonization should have been borne by the government ; and third, the colony should have been sent to settle some place or territory that the nation had before, in some way or other, made their own, as was usual - if not always - the case with the ancient Romans. But neither of them obtained in this case. Our only hope of freedom in religion and law, and our only ground of patriotism and manhood, is the Charter." Again, August 11, 1768, the town recorded a vote of thanks to the ninety-two members of the House who stood firm against rescinding the resolves of the last House, and so declared anew the righteousness of the cause and their determination. The town voted Captain Michael Farley delegate to Convention at Boston, to advise measures for the peace and safety of the people. A meeting was " called for February 28, 1770, to determine upon some satisfactory method to prevent the use of that pernicious weed called Tea," to advise in the matter of withholding our custom from those merchants who traffic in it. A committee, to whom the questions involved were submitted, reported, "That we retrench all extravagances; and that we will, to the utmost of our power and ability, encourage our own manufactures; and that we will not, by ourselves or any for or under us, directly or indirectly, purchase any goods of the persons who have imported, or continued to import, or of any person or trader who shall purchase any goods of said importers, contrary to the agreement of the merchants in Boston and the other trading towns in this government and the neighboring colonies, until they make a public retraction or a general importation takes place." It was voted also, " that we will abstain from the use of tea ourselves and recommend the disuse of it in our families, until all the revenue acts are repealed."

The Crisis Approaching. - Affairs grew in interest and importance; the situation became more trying ; but their brave hearts grew braver and stronger. Learning the action of Boston in the crisis, the town, December 17, 1772, recounted the common grievances at length, complimented the metropolis for the stand she had taken, pledged her support and chose the following "Committee of Correspondence'' : Captain Farley, Mr. Daniel Noyes and Major John Baker. In December, 1773, the town was gratified with the action taken by Boston and records resolutions of sympathy and firmness of purpose. The people are now fully aroused. June 29, 1774, Daniel Noyes, Deacon Stephen Choate, Captain Michael Farley, John Choate and Nathaniel Farley were voted a committee to see what could be done " in the distressing state of afiairs." The same year a lot of land, fifty by twentyfive feet, east of the town-house, was granted for military discipline ; a committee was chosen to fix the compensation of "Minute-Men ; " the proposals and resolves of the Continental Congress were adopted ; a committee of eleven members was chosen to see that "said resolves are most punctually observed;" and Colonel Michael Farley and Daniel Noyes were members of the Great and General Court ordered to meet at Salem, and, meeting in the absence of the Governor, resolved themselves into a Provincial Congress and adjourned to Concord.

The next year was 1775, the ever-memorable one in the annals of the province. In April Ipswich met with other towns, by committee, to plan for coast defences; the town voted to hire money to pay " minute men." Then came the clash of arms the 19th. In May five men were chosen a committee of intelligence; a watch was set on Castle Hill, lest an apmed cutter come and take away cattle ; Michael Farley and Dummer Jewett were chosen to represent the town in the Provincial Congress at Watertown. It was now time to put none but Americans on guard. Congress ordered that committees of safety and correspondence be sworn. Hence such committees were dismissed, and these chosen and sworn in their stead, - Daniel Noyes, Captain Daniel Rogers, Captain Isaac Dodge, John Crocker, Samuel Lord, Captain Ephraim Kindall, Major Jonathan Cogswell, Captain Abraham Howe, Mr. John Patch, 3d.

The Alarm. - It was a beautiful moonlight evening of the 18th of April, 1775, when Governor Gage sent out Lieutenant-Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn, with eight hundred regulars, to seize the stores at Concord. It was Paul Revere and William Dawes who simultaneously started and gave the alarm. The ringing of bells and the firing of guns told the patriots of their needed presence and valor. Early on the 19th, the day when the bloody die was cast, five Ipswich companies of infantry and a troop of horse left their homes for the scene of conflict. They Avere led by Cajitains Thomas Burnhani, Daniel Rogers, Abraham Dodge, Elisha Whitney, Abraham Howe and Nathaniel Wade, and Colonel John Baker. As Putnam left his cattle yoked in the field, so no less, if not the same, did Ipswich men. Nearly three hundred stout-hearted yeomanry marched to the defence of righteousness against tyranny, with banner streaming and drums beating and hurried pace, " while their zeal outran their footsteps."

The following rolls of Ipswich minute-men have been gleaned from the State archives, and will doubtless gratify many a patriotic interest. They marched upon the alarm of April 19th.

Company Three

The distance for most of this company was eighty miles, and their total pay was £22 6s. 8d. 2f. Those marked with a star (*) belonged to Kowley-Liuebrook, and perhaps two or three others.

Company Four Troop Of Horse

Ipswich hamlet furnished thirty-eight minute-men, under Captain Elisha Whitney. They were out three days, and returned to Cambridge, 1st of May.

The War. - They, however, soon returned ; but enlistments immediately began. Captain Abraham Dodge enlisted forty men ; Caiptain Gideon Parker, twenty-two; Captain Elisha Whitney, thirty-nine; Captain Daniel Rogers, fiftj'--one; Captain Nathaniel Wade, sixty-nine. Our statement is necessarily short. Enlistments were constant. The only business that received first attention was the war. The citizens contributed of their service, their sympathy, their kindness, their money, their prayers for the one great end. They were represented in every department. Our soldiers fought at Bunker Hill, and helped drive Howe from Boston. They fought under Gates at the North, on Long Island, in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. They helped conquer Burgoyne, and they guarded his troops at Pro-spect Hill, near Boston. They suffered in the retreat through New Jersey and at Valley Forge.

Colonel Hodgkins wrote February 22, 1778: "What our soldiers have suffered this winter is beyond expression, as one-half has been barefoot and all most naked all winter; the other half very badly on it for clothes of all sorts; and to com Pleat our messery, very shorte ont for provisions. Not long since our brigade drue but an half days Lounce of meet in eight days. But these defettis the men bore with a degree of fortitude becoming soldiers." The bloody foot-track in the " Flight through Jersey " and the extreme sufferings at Valley Forge are no myth. "These benign institutions, the dear purchase of our fathers, are ours," bought at a price unparalleled. On June 10,1776, "Voted that this Town instruct their representatives that if the Continental Congress should, for the safety of the said Colonies, declare them independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain, they, the said inhabitants, will solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes to support them in the measure." The town had expended November 28, 1777,

£1737 5s. That year was voted £1000 for recruits. In February the town voted to pay, in addition to Continental and State bounty, £18 for three years, or during the war, or in lieu of it, £6 for the first year, £8 for the second, and £10 for the third, if detained so long.

In May £16 was voted for eight months' men. Voted in September that the selectmen supply the families of soldiers, who were enlisted for three years, or during the war. In November a committee was chosen for that purpose according to law, and it was voted to raise £100 for the purpose. In April, 1777, at a very full meeting, the town approved the General Court's order to prevent monopoly and oppression, and instructed the selectmen " not to approbate any innholder or retailer that does not strictly adhere to it." In 1778 the town instructed her representatives to vote for the "Articles of Confederation," and voted to hire £900 to supply the families of soldiers in the Continental Army. In 1779 voted to raise £3000 for town charges and war services, and £12,000 (old tenor) to pay men to be hired, if need be. In 1780 the town's proportion of supplies is 106 shirts, 106 pairs of shoes and stockings, 33 blankets and 31,800 pounds of beef. Voted £1200 for hire of soldiers. In March, 1781, voted £1000 to pay interest, - taxed for that purpose alone. In 1781 voted £500 for soldiers' pay, £220 for Rhode Island service, £400 for hiring four months' men, £200 for clothing, and £300 for beef. On January 1, 1782, the town earnestly desires instruction to be given the Commission for negotiating peace, that they make " the right of the United States to the fisheries an indispensable article of treaty." The town voted £440 to pay four men lately engaged, and old Continental soldiers. These extracts exhibit the town as among the foremost in sustaining the cause and the most discerning in the conditions of treaty. Our fathers hailed with joy the return to the arts of j^eace and the amenities of home.

Biographical. - Conspicuous in our Revolutionary history is the name of CoL. Nathaniel Wade. He began as captain of" Minute-Men," in the town during their "discipline" for service. He led his company out on the memorable 19th of April, and commanded them at Bunker Hill, where they rendered efficient service. He was afterwards in the siege of Boston, and participated in the joyous acclamations of the citizens, when Gen. Howe sailed with his army, navy and tories for Halifax. He was in the campaign on Long Island, participated in the dexterous manoeuvering of the troops through New York, and in the noble stands at Harlem Heights and White Plains. He suffered in the " Flight through New Jersey," where " many of the patriots had no shoes and left their blood-stained foot-prints on the frozen ground ; " and at Valley Forge, where a paucity of provisions and clothing severely tried their patience and endurance and cemented their patriotism. He attained the rank of colonel in the Continental Army. He waa actively engaged in the whole campaign in Rhode Island. He was president of a court-martial there, December 23, 1777. He was under Gen. Arnold at West Point in 1780, and upon Arnold's defection succeeded to the command of the fort. On this occasion Gen. Washington wrote him, under date of September 25, 1780 :

"Gen. Arnold has gone to the Enemy. . . . The command of the Fort for the present devolves upon you. I request you will be as vigilant as possible, and as the Enemy may have it in contemplation to attempt some enterprise even to-night, against those Posts, I wish j'ou to make, immediately after receipt of tliia, the best disposition you can of your force, so as to have a proportion of meu in each work on the west side of the River. You will hear from or see me to-morrow."

Col. Wade was suspicious for some time, that all was not right about Gen. Arnold ; but the general was so vigilant and adroit, that nothing could be obtained upon which to base a charge.

The most tearfully joyous occasion of the colonel's life was probably the greeting of Gen. Lafayette, when the latter visited this country in 1824. At a collation provided by Col. Treadwell in honor of the town's distinguished guest at which were delegations from Ipswich, Haverhill and Newburyport, Col. Wade was presented to the general. Their embrace was cordial and "affecting beyond description." They had been companions in arms ; they had planned together for success in the noble cause ; they had fought for the same purpose; they had hoped together for the fullest realization; and now they rejoiced together in the grand consummation and the glorious fruition of their hope. Their converse was earnest; their theme was familiar and involved points of the deepest interest; and their feelings at times bearing sway " became too strong for utterance."

Col. Wade retired from the army near the close of the war and returned home ; but upon the insurrection led by Captain Daniel Shays, he entered the service under Gen. Lincoln and commanded the Middle Essex Regiment. The winter campaign was particularly severe, and he often afterwards spoke of his sufferings. This campaign closed his martial career.

He enjoyed the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens, and held many important civil trusts as their gifts. He was town clerk from 1784 to 1814, and Repi'esentative to the General Court from 1795 to 1816 inclusive, and was county treasurer twenty-five years. He is said to have possessed a remarkable equanimity and mildness of temper. Says one, "He did not have a blot on his character." He died October 26, 1826, at the age of seventy-seven years.

Another pleasant name of Revolutionary memory is Col. Joseph Hodgkins. He was first a lieutenant in Captain Wade's company of " Minute-Men." He was one of the score or more who were voluntarily led by Captain Wade into the battle of Bunker Hill. He was in the siege of Boston, the campaign of Long Island, the battles of Harlem Heights, White Plains and Princeton. He witnessed the surrender of Bur- goyne's army and guarded it on parole near Boston. He wrote numerous letters to his family while he was in arms, valuable mementos of his noble patriotism and descriptive of his campaigns, his sentiments and his sufferings, to which reference is made in the quotation above. He succeeded Col. Wade as commander of the Middle Essex Regiment, was Representative to the General Court from 1810 to 1816 inclusive, and held various town offices. It is needless to speak of his exemplary character. He died* September 25, 1829, eighty-six years old.

Another illustrious man, the Gen. Denison of this period, who deserves an extensive notice, was Gen. Michael Farley. He was a man of commanding influence, of varied ability and comprehensive views. He was a tanner by trade. He excelled in Statecraft. He was elected for many years to the principal town offices. He was a long time town treasurer and feoffee of the grammar school. During the Revolutionary period he was vigilant, earnest, active, efficient, in meeting, in behalf of the town, the demands of the government, for men, clothing and provisions. He was a member of the General Court from 1775 to 1779 inclusive, and of the Provincial Congress 1774 and 1775. The General Court according to the Governor's warrant for the election was to convene at Salem October 5th. Gen. Farley was chosen a deputy. Meanwhile the Governor recalled his warrants, but ninety deputies, including Gen. Farley, appeared and after waiting a day for the Governor, resolved themselves into a Provincial Congress and adjourned to meet at Concord the 11th. He was high sheriff, was a major-general of the militia, and a member of the executive council, that administ^jed the government from 1775 to 1780. When Gen. Lafayette came to this country to offer his services to this government, he came to Ipswich and was the guest of Gen. Farley. The general was a very polite man, and "remarkably hospitable." Rev. Levi Frisbie wrote: " He was genei'ous, public-spirited, humane and impartial ; a great loss to the town and country." He died June 20, 1789, aged seventy years.

General Daniel Denison. - These annals of the wars would be very incomjjlete without some notice of General Daniel Denison, the foremost man of the times. He was born in England in 1612, and came to this country with his parents when about nineteen years old. He was at first a citizen of Roxbury, then of Newton, now Cambridge. He married Patience, daughter of Governor Thomas Dudley, and shortly after chose a permanent home in this town, then the home of his wife's father. He entered uj:)on jjublic life shortly after his majority, being elected depu'y in 1635. He was deputy the five following years and in 1648, 1649, 1651 and 1652. Three years he was speaker. He was town clerk in 1636, and probably held the office till Mr. Symonds was chosen in 1639. In 1636 he was made captain. In 1638 he, with others, began a plantation at Merrimack, now Salisbury. In 1641 he was one of a committee to advance trade in the town. In 1643 he had a grant of two hundred acres to encourage him to remain here. Soon after the union of the colonies, March 19, 1643, he was called as a military leader. In May of that year he was one of five who were to organize and equip an army and set up fortifications. He was chosen the leader or drill master of the Ipswich militia, and they agreed to pay him £24 7s. annually. Wonder-working Providence calls him "a good souldier, of quick capacity, not inferior to any other of these chief officers."

He was one of three commissioners with full powers to treat with D'Aulney in the La Tour-D'Alney imbroglio. In 1647 he was made a justice in the Inferior Court. He assisted in organizing and establishing the grammar school and was one of the feoffees. He was made major-general in 1653, and was appointed several times afterwards. In 1657 he was one of a committee to adjust the claims of Gorges to Kittery, York and other places, which they did with satisfaction. In May, 1658, he was requested by the General Court thoroughly to revise and codify the colonial laws, (or which service he received half of Block Island, which was sold in 1660 for four hundred pounds. In 1660 he joined the Ancient and Honorable Artillery and was chosen their commander. In June^ 1664, himself, Bradstreet and Symonds, who were sometime Ipswich men, prepared a " Narrative " defending the course of Massachusetts in " the great confederacy of colonial times,'' against the accusation of the other colonies. He entered the Quaker controversy with decided views, and advocated strenuous measures to prevent their " mischief." He took an active part in the controversy with the Dutch, and it was chiefly by his advocacy that war was averted. He was one year colonial secretary.

In the troubles between King and colony in 1660, Denison and Bradstreet counseled " the golden mean," basing their advocacy upon kingly prerogative and law, a course which was wise and prevailed. He was called to the front again when the Dutch took possession of New York. He was the general commanding the Bay forces in the King Philip's War. His general's commission for this war, dated June 26, 1675, is in the State Archives, 67: 206. This war closed his military career. In 1680 he was chosen assistant, an office which he held, by re-election, till his death, September 20, 1682.

He was continually in the public service, and we know nothing of his private life excejit as it is mirrored in that service. The fact that he was a deputy ten years, assistant twenty-nine years, major-general eleven years, inter-colonial commissioner eight years, shows, after allowing for double service, that his public career began soon after he attained his majority ; that he was continually honored by his towns- men shows his home life to have been exemplary, and that public honors crowned the service of his youth, his manhood and his age, exhibits him a man of varied talents and learning, of stout-hearted virtue, of fullest integrity and unswerving purpose. He was quick to adapt means to ends, was a persuasive advocate, a faithful, judicious and wise counselor. He was an earnest Christian man and defender of the faith. He was one of the greatest men of his day.

A Painful Incident. - It is proper here to digress a little and relate an incident of peculiar sadness, the capital punishment of a youth of sixteen, who Avas accidentally made partaker of a heinous crime.

Jabez Eoss was the father of seventeen children, of whom nine were living in 1775 - six sons and three daughters. Five of the sons were in the army of the Revolution ; four fought at Bunker Hill ; one perished in the army of ihe North; three were enlisted for three years, and one, Ezra, the youngest, for one year. This son, only sixteen years of age, is the subject of this narrative. He had served the term of his enlistment and was returning to the home of his parents. The toils, hardships and sufferings of the war had been too much for his tender years, and he fell sick at Brookfield. He was brought very low, and for a time his life depended upon kind attention and watchful care. Providence placed him in the home of Mr. John Spooner, whose wife gave him " every kind oflBce and mark of attention that could endear and make grateful a child of sixteen, sick and destitute.'' " After the evacuation of Ticonderoga, in his march to reinforce the Northern army, gratitude for past favors led him to call on his old benefactress, who then added to the number of her kindnesses and engaged a visit on his return."

The woman in question was Mrs. Bathsheba Spooner; she was the sixth and favorite child of Chief-justice Ruggles, a graduate of Harvard, a man of wealth, honor and social distinction. She was born February 17, 1745 ; was in the vigor of womanhood and well educated. She had inherited wealth and social pride, and was haughty and imperious. Mr. Spooner, her husband from 1766, was a retired trader, a weak character, and the marriage was not happy. Dissension followed dissension, till she hated him and flew to criminal indulgence. Ross had a fine physique, and stature far beyond his years. He was youthful, ruddy, active, social, handsome. His youth and inexperience unconsciously became the prey of the strong-minded, artful, seductive, profligate woman. Once in her toils, his youth furnished him with no power to extricate himself. He heard her hellish proposals and her flattering promises, but he " never attempted an execution of the detestable crime, notwithstanding repeated solicitation and as frequent opportunities, until on an accidental meeting he became a party with those ruffians who, without his privity, had fixed on the time and place."

The news of the deed spread far and wide ; the case became famous as the crime was heinous. Its secret could not long be kept ; the perpetrators were soon ferretted out, and Mrs. Spooner, two vagabond soldiers and young Ross were arrested. The trial was short, the evidence conclusive and the sentence severe and condign. Much sympathy was felt for the woman because of her delicate condition, and for Ross because of his accidental knowledge of the deed, his youth and inexperience; but several petitions for executive clemency, in both cases, were of no avail. The criminals met their fate upon the gallows, July 2, 1778. This history is a solemn warning to youth, and will ever excite our sympathy and pity.

Shays' Rebellion. - The town was active in suppressing the Shays' Rebellion in 1786-87. This grew out of the scarcity of money, caused by the interruption of trade and the long, tedious drain upon the energies and finances of the government by the late war, and was led by Captain Daniel Shays, who himself participated in the Nation's struggle for freedom. Ipswich furnished twenty-five men, who were out sixty days, a winter campaign of great severity.

War of 1812. - In speaking of the War of 1812, we must begin with the Embargo Act, or, as the opponents of the administration, spelling it backwards, called it "The 0-grab-me Act." England and France were in a desperate struggle. Between the "Berlin" and " Milan " decrees of Napoleon on the one hand and the "Orders in Council" of England on the other, the commerce of the United States suffered in the extreme. We reasoned, we remonstrated, we expostulated- - all in vain. England was haughty, morose, insulting. She vauntingly searched our vessels and impressed our seamen, with apparent imjiunity. This government retaliated by passing the "Embargo Act," by which all American vessels were prohibited from sailing for foreign ports, all foreign vessels from taking out cargoes, and all coasting vessels were required to give bonds to discharge their cargoes in the United States. The effect of this act was to embitter political parties more deeply and to work disastrously upon the remnant of our commerce. It fell particularly heavy upon Boston and Es?ex County, of which Ipswich was an important element and factor. The feeling was so intense in Massachusetts - and Ipswich representatives aided in expressing that feeling - that the President was informed " that New England, if the measure were persisted in, would separate from the Union, at least until the obstacles to commerce were removed ; that the plan had already been adjusted, and it would be supported by the people." In 1808 the obnoxious act was in part repealed.

But our difficulty with England continued. She stirred up the Indians to prey upon our western border; she searched our vessels upon the high seas ; she stationed vessels at the entrances of our harbors, and there searched our vessels and impressed our seamen under the pretense that they were English born. In eight years nine hundred American vessels were captured, and more than six thousand seamen had been impressed. These wrongs had to be avenged. The United States at last declared war June 19, 1812. It was a Democratic measure and was bitterly opposed by the Federalists, and the seaports were particularly bitter.

A short lime before the declaration of war our town held a convention to consider "the momentous subiect of our national affairs," to reply to communications from Boston and Salem and to pass upon addresses from Congress and the Legislature. They declared " that the county of Essex has of late been most grossly misrepresented to the agents of our country by men in whom this town have no confidence; they animadverted upon the administration; they " were not convinced that any war in am/ case should be declared ;" and they exclaimed, " Who is not convinced that enlarging the power of the authors and aiding the common enemy of free States was its prime object !" They heartily approved the minority address of Congress, and declared the address of the State House of Representatives to be a true expression of the will of the people. The records further declare " We are, nevertheless, determined to do our duty to bring our beloved and afflicted country to a better state of things."

A company of " Sea Fencibles" was raised, and commanded by Major Joseph Swasey, captain ; Colonel Joseph Hodgkins, first lieutenant; Jabez Farley, second lieutenant; and Colonel Thomas Wade, orderly. Of the three hundred men raised in Essex County, Ipswich furnished her quota, and October 3, 1814, voted to make the pay of drafted men seventeen dollars per month for the time in actual service. Ipswich commerce, however, never recovered from the stroke.

The last of these war veterans to fall was Thomas Smith. He died September 29th of last year, at the great age of ninety-three years, three months and twenty-six days. He was a hatter by trade, but had not worked at it since the use of machinery in that industry. He drew a pension for many years. He was a good kind of man, always well posted in Democratic measures and principles, was of a retiring disposition, generous and a good citizen. He never married.

The Rebellion. - The spirit with which Ipswich entered the war against the Rebellion was fervent and active. It was a vital resurrection of the same spirit that bearded the tyranny of Andros, and that pledged life and treasure to support the Declaration of Independence. She met the issue squarely and effectively. At an initial meeting she voted three thousand dollars in aid of the families of volunteers, which she supplemented from time to time with ample supply. Her bounties were commensurate with those of sister towns. She was instant in season and out of season in providing comforts and delicacies for the soldier upon the field and in the hospital. There were committees of the town, of the societies, of the churches, of the lodges and of the citizens, vying with each other in "the labor of love." The town's average enrollment during the war was about three hundred and eighty. She furnished about three hundred and seventy-five. She furnished her full quota upon every call. Fifteen of her men were commissioned officers. At the end of the war she had furnished a surplus of thirty-three men. She expended $52,692 ; $13,200 exclus-ively of State aid.

The Monument. - When the cruel war was over, in 1869 the town selected a conspicuous and central location, and erected upon the rock-ribbed earth, at a cost of two thousand eight hundred dollars, a i^ightly granite memorial, "a single shaft, simple and plain," commemorative of her patriot dead. The front panel, which faces the north, is inscribed, -

For Union And Liberty

The other panels record their names. On the plinth in front is the year " 1871," when the shaft was erected ; on the west, " Their deeds we cherish ; " on the south, " Our patriot Dead ; " and on the east, " Their record our union."

When the Roman matron, Cornelia, was asked to exhibit her jewels, she naively turned towards her boys and said, " These are my ornaments." These are our jewels.

The Roll of Honor. - [The roll includes the names of those who died in the service, and have their names upon the soldiers' monument. The first semi-colon is the name ; second, age ; third, company; fourth, branch of service ; fifth, mustered in ; !-ixth, mustered out ; seventh, remarks. The abbreviations are : B., battalion ; Bat., battery ; Cav., cavalry ; d., died, or dead ; H. A., heavy artillery ; I., infantry ; ss., sharpshooters ; tr., transferred ; V. R. C, veteran relief corps ; en., expiration of term of enlistment.]

A Noble Gift. - I cannot more fittingly close this chapter than by quoting from the records, page 367, the town's action of June 15, 1863, which is self-explaining and as follows :

" Whereas, Mr. Augustine Heard of this town, in conjunction with bis nephews, Mr. John Heard, Mr. Augustine Heard, Jr., Mr. Alfred F. Heard and Mr. George F. Heard, have placed in the hands of trustees ten thousand dollars to be applied for the relief of such persons belonging to this town as may suffer from sickness or wounds incurred in the service of their country in the present civil war, and for the relief of such persons as may be deprived of support by the loss of relations engaged in the like service ; therefore,

"Resolved, That the thanks of the citizens of Ipswich, assembled this day in town-meeting, be tendered to the above named gentlemen, respectively, for their munificent donation to so noble a cause, together with our best wishes for their continued health and prosperity ; that we receive with lively sensibility this token of their remembrance of the place of their nativity, rejoice in the anticipation of the relief which in future years will come to many of the suffering poor in Ipswich iu consequence of their generous gift.

"Resolved, That we sympathize with the gentlemen in their patriotic devotion to the welfare of the country, and that we hope their generous sacrifices will soon be amply rewarded by the restoration of the Union and the Constitution more complete and vital than ever, with every root of bitterness removed, with stable peace and enduring prosperity in all our borders, and with the stars and stripes floating with renewed and increased splendor and power over every American citizen by land and by sea, at home and abroad."