"Had the land troops of the British gone away also, Captain?" asked
Evelyn.
"No," he replied. "Early in May the British troops left the houses of
the town and returned to their camp. It was some relief to the poor,
outraged people whose dwellings had been turned into noisy barracks,
their pleasant groves, beautiful shade-trees and broad forests
destroyed, their property taken from them, their wives and children
exposed to the profanity, low ribaldry, and insults of the ignorant and
brutal soldiery; but there was by no means entire relief; they were
still plundered and insulted.
"Clinton had gone to New York with about one half the troops, but a
far worse tyrant held command in his place, Major-General Prescott by
name; he was a dastardly coward when in danger, the meanest of petty
tyrants when he felt it safe to be such, narrow minded, hard hearted
and covetous,--anything but a gentleman. A more unfit man for the place
could hardly have been found.
"When he saw persons conversing together as he walked the streets, he
would shake his cane at them and call out, 'Disperse, ye rebels!'
Also, he would command them to take off their hats to him, and unless
his order was instantly obeyed, enforce it by a rap with his cane."
"That must have been hard indeed to bear," remarked Violet.
"Yes," cried Max hotly. "I'd have enjoyed knocking him down."
"Probably better than the consequences of your act," laughed his
father; then went on: "Prescott was passing out of town one evening,
going to his country quarters, when he overtook a Quaker, who of course
did not doff his hat. Prescott was on horseback; he dashed up to the
Quaker, pressed him up against a stone wall, knocked off his hat, and
then put him under guard.
"He imprisoned many citizens of Newport without giving any reason. One
was a man named William Tripp, a very respectable citizen, who had
a wife and a large and interesting family, with none of whom was he
allowed to hold any communication.
"But Tripp's wife had contrivance enough to open a correspondence with
her husband by sending him a loaf of bread with a letter baked in the
inside. Whether he could find means to send a reply I do not know, but
it must have been some consolation to hear from her and his children.
"While Tripp was still in prison she tried to see Prescott, to beg that
her husband might be set free, or she allowed a personal interview with
him. She was told to come again the next day. Her application had been
made to a Captain Savage, the only person through whom she might hope
to gain the coveted interview with Prescott; but when she again went to
him, at the appointed time, he treated her very roughly, refusing her
request to see the general, and as he shut the door violently in her
face, telling her with fiendish exultation that he expected her husband
would be hung as a rebel in less than a week."
"Truly, his was a most appropriate name," remarked Grandma Elsie.
"And did they hang the poor man, Papa?" asked Gracie.
"I do not know, my darling," he answered, "but I hope not. Would you
all like to hear something more about his persecutor, Prescott?"
"Yes, sir, yes," came promptly from several young voices.
"You may be sure," the Captain went on, "that the people of Newport
grew very tired of their oppressor, and devised various plans for
ridding themselves of him. None of these proved successful, but
at length a better one was contrived and finally carried out by
Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, of Providence. Lossing speaks of it as one
of the boldest and most hazardous enterprizes undertaken during the
war. It was accomplished on the night of the 10th of July, 1777.
"At that time Prescott was quartered at the house of a Quaker named
Overing, about five miles above Newport, on the west road leading to
the ferry, at the north part of the island.
"Barton's plan was to cross the bay under cover of the darkness, seize
Prescott, and carry him off to the American camp. But it was a very
dangerous thing to attempt, because three British frigates, with their
guard-boats, were lying in the bay almost in front of Overing's house.
But taking with him a few chosen men, in four whale-boats, with muffled
oars, Barton embarked from Warwick Point at nine o'clock, passed
silently between the islands of Prudence and Patience over to Rhode
Island, hearing on the way the cry of the British sentries from their
guard-boats, 'All's well.'
"They--the Americans--landed in Coddington's Cove, at the mouth of a
small stream which passed by Overing's. Barton divided his men into
several squads, and assigned to each its station and duty. Then in
the strictest order and profound silence they made their way to the
house, the larger portion of them passing between a British guard-house
and the encampment of a company of light-horse, while the rest of the
party were to reach the same point by a circuitous route, approaching
it from the rear, then to secure the doors.
"As Barton and his men drew near the gate they were hailed by a
sentinel stationed there. He hailed them twice, and then demanded the
countersign. Barton answered, 'We have no countersign to give,' then
quickly asked, 'Have you seen any deserters here to-night?'
"That query allayed the sentinel's suspicions, so putting him off
his guard, and the next moment he found himself seized, bound, and
threatened with instant death if he attempted to give the alarm.
"While Barton and his party had been thus engaged the division from the
rear had secured the doors, and Barton now walked boldly into the front
passage and on into a room where he found Mr. Overing, seated alone,
reading, the rest of the family having already retired to their beds.
"Barton asked for General Prescott's room, and Overing silently pointed
to the ceiling, intimating that it was directly overhead. Barton then
walked quietly up the stairs, four strong white men and a powerful
negro named Sisson, accompanying him. He gently tried Prescott's door,
but found it locked. There was no time to be lost; the negro drew back
a couple of paces, and using his head for a battering-ram, burst open
the door at the first effort.
"Prescott, who was in bed, thought the intruders were robbers, and
springing out, seized his gold watch which hung upon the wall. But
Barton, gently laying a hand on his shoulder, said, 'You are my
prisoner, sir, and perfect silence is your only safety.'
"Prescott asked to be allowed to dress, but Barton refused, saying
there was not time; for he doubtless felt that every moment of delay
was dangerous to himself and his companions, and as it was a hot July
night there was no need for his prisoner to fear taking cold. He
therefore threw a cloak about him, placed him and his _aide_, Major
Barrington (who, hearing a noise in the general's room, had taken the
alarm and leaped from a window to make his escape, but only to be
captured by the Americans) between two armed men, hurried them to the
shore where the boats were in waiting, and quickly carried them over
the water to Warwick Point. When they reached there Prescott ventured
to break the silence that had been imposed upon him by saying to
Colonel Barton, 'Sir, you have made a bold push to-night.'
"'We have been fortunate,' replied Barton coolly.
"Prescott and Barrington were then placed in a coach which Captain
Elliott had waiting there for them, and taken to Providence, arriving
there about sunrise."
"I wonder," remarked Lulu, "if Prescott received the harsh treatment
from our men that he deserved."
"No," replied her father, "I am proud to be able to say that American
officers rarely, if ever, treated their prisoners with anything like
the harshness and cruelty usually dealt out by the British to theirs.
Prescott was kindly treated by General Spencer and his officers, and
shortly after his capture was sent to Washington's headquarters at
Middlebrook, on the Raritan.
"But it seems that at a tavern on the way he received something better
suited to his deserts. At Lebanon a Captain Alden kept a tavern, and
there Prescott and his escort stopped to dine. While they were at the
table Mrs. Alden brought on a dish of succotash."
"What's that, Papa?" queried little Elsie, who had climbed to her
favourite seat upon her father's knee.
"Corn and beans boiled together," he replied; "a dish that is quite
a favourite with most people in that part of the country; but was, I
presume, quite new to Prescott, and he exclaimed indignantly, 'What!
do you treat me with the food of hogs?' Then taking the dish from the
table he strewed its contents over the floor.
"Some one presently carried the news of his doings to Captain Alden,
and he walked into the dining-room armed with a horse-whip and gave
Prescott a severe flogging."
"I think it served him right," remarked Lulu, "for his insolence, and
for wasting good food that somebody else would have been glad to eat."
"Prescott must surely have been very badly brought up," said Rosie,
"and was anything but a gentleman. I pity the poor Newport people if he
was ever restored to his command there. Was he, brother Levis? I really
have quite forgotten."
"Unfortunately for them, he was," replied the Captain. "He was
exchanged for General Charles Lee the next April, and returned to his
former command.
"While he was still there the Newport people sent a committee--Timothy
Folger, William Rotch and Dr. Tupper--to him to arrange some matters
concerning the town. They found some difficulty in gaining an
interview; and when at length Folder and the doctor succeeded in
so doing, Prescott stormed so violently at the former that he was
compelled to withdraw.
"After the doctor had told his errand and Prescott had calmed down, he
asked, 'Wasn't my treatment of Folger very uncivil?'
"The doctor answered in the affirmative, and Prescott went on to say,
'I will tell you the reason; he looked so much like a Connecticut man
that horse-whipped me that I could not endure his presence.'"