** Kendall, in his Travels, published in 1809, describes this rock and

the inscription, and gives the following Indian tradition: "Some ages

past, a number of white men arrived in the river in a bird [sailing

vessel], when the white men took Indians into the bird as hostages. They

took fresh water for their consumption at a neighboring spring, and

while procuring it, the Indians fell upon and murdered some of them.

During the affray, thunder and lightning issued from the bird, and

frightened the Indians away. Their hostages, however, escaped." The

thunder and lightning spoken of evidently refers to fire-arms, and, if

the tradition is true, the occurrence must have taken place as late as

the latter part of the fourteenth century, for gunpowder, for warlike

purposes, was not used in Europe previous to 1350. In a representation

of the battle of Cressy (which was fought in 1343) upon a manuscript

Froissart, there are no pictures of fire-arms, and probably they were

not in common use at that time; yet there is a piece of ordnance at

Amberg, in Germany, on which is inscribed the year 1303. Roger Bacon,

who died in 1292, was acquainted with gunpowder, and the Chinese and

other Eastern nations were familiar with it long before that time.

First Wind-mill at Newport.--Inquiries respecting the Tower.--

"Antiquitates Americana."--Inscription on Dighton Rock.

634The rain ceased at ten o'clock, and a westerly wind dispersed the

clouds, but made the day unpleasant by its blustering breath.

I sketched the house on the corner of Spring and Peck-

Prescott's Head-quarters in Newport.--Old Cemetery.--Perry's Monument.--

Runic Inscriptions elsewhere.

635ham Streets, now owned by Mr. Joshua Sayre, which was occupied as his

city head-quarters by the petty tyrant, General Prescott, while he was

in command of the British troops on Rhode Island.

His acts will be noted presently. About noon I strolled up to the

cemetery in the northern part of the city, where lie the remains of a

great multitude of the early inhabitants of Newport. Workmen were

employed in regulating it, by placing the old grave-stones upright and

grave-stones upright, and painting them so as to bring out their half-

effaced inscriptions, and in beautifying the grounds in various ways.

There, beneath a broad slab of slate, repose the bodies of John and

William Cranston, father and son, who were governors of Rhode Island--

the former in 1679, the latter from 1698 to 1726. Near by is the tomb of

William Jefferay, who, tradition says, was one of the judges of Charles

I. It is covered by a large slab of gray-wacke, ornamented, or, rather,

disfigured, at the head, by a representation of a skull and cross-bones,

below which is a poetic epitaph. He died January 2d, 1675. On the top of

the slope on which a portion of the cemetery lies, is a granite obelisk,

erected to the memory of Commodore Perry, by the State of Rhode Island,

at a cost of three thousand dollars. It is formed of a single stone,

twenty-three feet in height, standing upon a square pedestal ten feet

high,

Tonomy Hill.--Hubbard's House and Mill.--Inscription on Perry's Monument

636having white marble tablets. It is inclosed by an iron railing, and

has an imposing appearance.*

About a mile and a half northward of Newport rises a bold, rocky

eminence, called "'Tonomy Hill (the first word being an abbreviation of

Miantonômoh), celebrated as the seat of the Narraganset sachem of that

name, and the commanding site of a small fort or redoubt during the war

of the Revolution.

Thitherward I made my way from the old cemetery, passing several wind-

mills that were working' merrily in the stiff breeze which swept over

the island from the west. The absence of streams of sufficient strength

to turn water-wheels is the cause of the retention of these ancient

mills, which give Rhode Island an Old England appearance. One of them,

standing near the junction of the main road and the lane leading up to

"'Tonomy Hill," is a patriarch among the others, for its sails revolved

when the Gaspee lorded over the waters of the Narraganset. It is

invested with associations of considerable interest. The mill and the

old house near by were owned by a man named Hubbard. When the British

took possession

* The inscriptions upon the monument are as follows: East side.--"Oliver

Hazard Perry. At the age of 27 years he achieved the victory of Lake

Erie, September 10, 1813." North side.--"Born in South Kingston, R. I.,

August 23d, 1785. Died at Port Spain, Trinidad, August 23d, 1819, aged

34 years." West side.--"His remains were conveyed to his native land in

a ship of war, according to a resolution of Congress, and were here

interred, December 4, 1826." South side--"Erected by the State of Rhode

Island."

** This view is from the north side of the hill, looking south. The wall

appearance is a steep precipice of huge masses of pudding-stone,

composed of pebbles and larger smooth stones, ranging in size from a pea

to a man's head. It is a very singular geological formation. In some

places the face is smooth, the stones and pebbles appearing as if they

had been cut with a knife while in a pasty or semi-fluid state. On the

top of this mound are traces of the breast-works that were thrown up,

not high, for the rocks formed a natural rampart, on all sides but one,

against an enemy. Here Miantonômoh had his fort, and here his councils

were held when he planned his expeditions against the Mohegans. The

observatory is a strong frame, covered with lattice-work. On the right

is seen the city of Newport in the distance.

*** The house and the mill are covered with shingles instead of clap-

boards. This view is from the lane, looking east. The ocean is seen in

the distance, on the left.

Oppression of the Whigs by Prescott.--View from 'Tonomy Hill.--Mrs.

Hutchinson and Sir Henry Vane.

637of Rhode Island, Prescott turned many of the families of the Whigs

(and there were but few others) out of their houses, to take shelter in

barns and other coverts, while his soldiers occupied their comfortable

dwellings. Mr. Hubbard and his family were thus driven from their house,

and compelled to live for nearly two years in their mill, while insolent

soldiery, ignorant and vile, occupied their rooms. The family of Mr.

Hubbard took possession of the house on the evening after the

evacuation, but all was desolation, the enemy having broken or carried

away every article the family had left there.

'Tonomy Hill is said to bo the highest land upon the island, except

Quaker Hill, toward the northern end. On its southern slope is the

mansion of Mr. Hazzard, where families from a distance have a pleasant

home during the warm season, while the younger fashionables are sporting

at the Ocean House on the shore. On the top of the hill Mr. Hazzard has

erected an observatory, seventy feet high, over a cellar which was dug

by the Indians, and in which is a living spring of water. The hill is

two hundred and seventy feet above the bay, and the top of the

observatory commands one of the most beautiful panoramic views in the

world. Stretching away northward was seen Narraganset Bay, broken by

islands and pierced by headlands, and at its remote extremity the spires

of Providence were glittering in the sun. On its western shore were

glimpses of Warwick, Greenwich, and Wick-ford, and on the east were seen

Warren and Bristol, and the top of Mount Hope, the throne of King

Philip. On the south and west were the city and harbor of Newport, the

island of Canonicut with its ruined fort, and the smaller islands in the

harbor, with the remains of fortifications. Beyond the city, looking

oceanward with a spy-glass over the ramparts of Fort Adams, was seen the

dim outline of Block Island, like a mist lying upon the waters There

rolled the dark and boundless Atlantic, with no limit but the blue

horizon, no object but a few sails. Turning the glass a little more

eastward, there was a faint apparition of Gayhead, on Martha's Vineyard,

and of some of the islands in Buzzard's Bay. The cultivated fields of

more than one half of Rhode Island, upon which I stood, were spread out

like a map around me, rich in Nature's bounties and historical

associations. From our lofty observatory, let us take a field survey

with the open chronicle before us.

We have seen Roger Williams expelled from Massachusetts because of

alleged heresy. The rulers of that colony had scarcely recovered their

equanimity, before similar difficulties arose from an unexpected

quarter. Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, a Lincolnshire lady of good birth,

education, and great energy of character, had been leavened by the

tolerant principles of Williams before he left, and assumed the right to

discuss religious dogmas and to detect the errors of the clergy. A

privilege had been granted to hearers, at the end of sermons, to ask

questions "wisely and sparingly." Mrs. Hutchinson put so many searching

questions upon abstruse points in theology, in a manner which convinced

the ministers that she well understood the subject, that they were

greatly annoyed. She held conferences at her own house every Sabbath

evening, which were fully attended, and her brother-in-law, a minister

named Wheelwright, who was of the same mind with her, drew crowds to his

chapel every Sunday. Henry Vane, a young man of splendid talents, heir

to a princely fortune, and son to Charles the First's chief secretary,

had just arrived in the colony, and took up his residence with the

Reverend Mr. Cotton, who treated Mrs. Hutchinson's views with

gentleness, if not with favor. Vane (afterward Sir Henry Vane) was

elected governor the following year, and being imbued with the spirit of

toleration, was on terms of intimacy with Mrs. Hutchinson. The ministers

were alarmed; their churches were thinned, while the chapel of Mr.

Wheelwright could not contain the hundreds that flocked to hear him. A

clamor was raised by the old party of ministers and their friends, and

the next year Mr. Winthrop was elected governor, and Vane soon afterward

returned to England.

A general synod of ministers now assembled at Salem, consisting of the

preachers, August 30, 1637 deputies from the congregations, and

magistrates, and after a session of three weeks, marked by stormy

debates, unanimously passed sentence of censure against Mr. Wheelwright,

Mrs. Hutchinson, and their adherents. Continuing to hold her

conferences, Mrs. Hutchinson was ordered to leave the colony within six

months; and a similar command was

Persecution of Mrs. Hutchinson and her Friends.--Settlement of Rhode

Island.--Its first Constitution.--Royal Charter.

638given to Mr. Wheelwright, Mr. Aspinwall, and others. They, like the

Tories in the Revolution, were required to deliver up their arms. With

their departure ended the Antinomian strife in Massachusetts.

Wheelwright and his friends went to the banks of the Piscataqua, and

founded the town of Exeter at its head waters; but the larger number of

Mrs. Hutchinson's friends, led by John Clarke and William Coddington,

proceeded southward, designing to make a settlement on Long Island, or

with the Swedes on the Delaware. On their way through the wilderness

Roger Williams gave them a hearty welcome, and by his influence and the

name of Henry Vane as their friend, obtained for them from Miantonômoh,

chief of the Narragansets, a gift of the beautiful island of Aquitneck.

* A deed signed by Canonicus and Miantonômoh was given them in March,

1638. Naming the beautiful land the _Isle of Rhodes_, because they

fancied that it resembled the island of that name in the eastern

Mediterranean, they bound themselves as a community of freemen, by these

solemn words, to found a new state, appealing to the great Searcher of

Hearts for aid in the faithful performance of their promises:

"We, whose names are underwritten, do swear solemnly, in the presence of

the Great Jehovah, to incorporate ourselves into a body politic; and as

he shall help us, will submit our persons, lives, and estates unto the

Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and to all those

most perfect laws of his, given us in his most holy word of truth, to be

guided and judged thereby."

This was a simple declaration, but a broad and sure foundation upon

which to build a state. Mr. Clarke and eighteen others began their new

settlement at Pocasset (Portsmouth), on the north part of the island;

borrowed the forms of the administration of laws from the Jews; elected

Coddington "judge in the new Israel," and prospered greatly. Soon after

the arrival of these pioneers, Mrs. Hutchinson, with her children, made

her way through the wilderness to the settlement of Roger Williams, and

paddling down the Narraganset in a canoe, joined her friends on Rhode

Island. She had been left a widow, but blessed with affectionate

children. Her powerful mind continued active; young men from the

neighboring colony were converted to her doctrines, and so great became

her influence that "to the leaders of Massachusetts it gave cause of

suspicion of witchcraft," and they sought to ensnare her. Rhode Island

seemed no longer a place of safe refuge for her, and the whole family

removed into the territory of the Dutch, in the neighborhood of Albany.

The Indians and Keift, the Dutch governor, were then at enmity. The

former regarded all white people as enemies, and Mrs. Hutchinson and her

whole family, except one child, were murdered by the savages, and their

dwelling burned. **

So rapid was the increase of the Rhode Island settlement at Pocasset,

that another town was projected. Newport was founded in 1639. Settled by

persecuted men holding the same liberal views, the republic of Roger

Williams at Providence, and that upon Aquitneck, governed by no other

than the Divine laws of the Bible, felt themselves as one political

community, and were so regarded by the other colonies. Under the

pretense that the Providence and Rhode Island Plantations had no

charter, and were claimed by Plymouth and Massachusetts, they were

excluded from the confederacy that was formed in 1643. Perceiving the

disadvantages of an entire independency of the imperial government,

Roger Williams proceeded to England, and in March, 1644, through the

influence of his personal character, and of Henry Vane, obtained a free

charter of incorporation from Parliament, then waging a fierce war with

King Charles the First. The two plantations were united by it under the

same government, and the signet for the state was ordered to be a

"sheafe of arrows," with the motto "Amor vincet omnia"--_Love is all

powerful_.

In 1647, the General Assembly of the several towns met at Portsmouth,

and organized the government by the choice of a president and other

officers. They adopted a code of

* This Indian name of Rhode Island is variously spelled: Aquiday,

Aquitnet, and Aquitneck. It is a Narraganset word, signifying peaceable

isle.

** Bancroft, i., 388, 393. Winthrop, i., 296. Callender, Gorton, in

Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, i., 73.

Toleration in Rhode Island.--Separation and Reunion of the Plantations.-

-Newport.--Destruction of the Sloop Liberty.

639laws by which entire freedom of thought in religious matters, as well

as a democracy in civil affairs, was guarantied. Churchmen, Roman

Catholics, Quakers, were all tolerated; and none were excluded from the

ballot-box on account of their religious opinions. Consequently, many

Quakers settled in Rhode Island, and they have ever formed a large and

influential class of the population.

The two plantations were separated for a brief time, when, in 1651, Mr.

Coddington was appointed by the supreme authority of England, Governor

of Rhode Island alone. The people, alarmed at the apparent danger of

having their freedom abridged by depriving them of the choice of their

own rulers, sent Roger Williams to England, who obtained a revocation of

the appointment. Mr. Coddington retired to private life, the Plantations

were reunited, and from that time until the Revolution they were

prosperous and happy, disturbed only by the alarms produced by King

Philip's War, to be noticed presently, and the distant conflicts with

the French and Indians during the first half of the eighteenth century.

A charter of incorporation was obtained in 1663 from Charles II., by

which the province was constituted a body politic, by the name of "The

Governor and Company of the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in

New England, in America." Under this charter the state has been governed

until the present time. Rhode Island quietly submitted to the brief

usurpation of Andross, and its charter was undisturbed. On his

imprisonment, the people assembled at Newport, resumed their former

charter privileges, and re-elected the officers whom that petty tyrant

had displaced.

The fine harbor of Newport and its healthy location made that place one

of the most important sea-port towns on the American coast; * and soon

after the Revolution it was said that if New York continued to increase

as rapidly as it was then growing it would soon rival Newport in

commerce! The navies of all Europe might safely ride at anchor in its

deep and capacious harbor, and for a long time Newport was regarded as

the future commercial metropolis of the New World. During the wars with

the French, English and colonial privateers made Newport their chief

rendezvous. In the course of one year, more than twenty prizes, some of

them of great value, were sent into that harbor.

During all the occurrences preliminary and relative to the Revolution,

the people of Rhode Island, thoroughly imbued with the principles of

freedom, took a firm stand against British oppression, and were ever

bold in the annunciation and maintenance of their political views.

Indeed, Newport was the scene of the first overt aet of popular

resistance to royal authority other than the almost harmless measures of

opposition to the Stamp Act in 1765. This was the destruction of the

British armed sloop Liberty, which the commissioners of customs had sent

to Narraganset Bay on an errand similar to that of the Gaspee

subsequently. This vessel was boarded, her cable cut, and having drifted

to Goat Island, she was there scuttled and set on fire, after her stores

and armaments had been thrown July, 1769 overboard. **

* Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, in an article published in the Boston

Intelligencer, in 1824, says, "The island of Rhode Island, from its

salubrity and surpassing beauty, before the Revolutionary war so sadly

defaced it, was the chosen resort of the rich and philosophie from

nearly all parts of the civilized world. In no spot of the thirteen, or,

rather, twelve colonies, was there concentrated more individual

opulence, learning, and liberal leisure." "In 1769," says Mr. Ross,

"Newport rivaled New York in foreign and domestic navigation. The

inhabitants of New Haven, New London, &c., depended entirely upon

Newport for a market to supply themselves with foreign goods, and here

they found a ready market for the produce of their own state."--See

Historical Discourse by Reverend Arthur A. Ross of Newport: 1838, page

29.

** A sloop and a brig belonging to Connecticut had been seized and

brought into Newport. The wearing apparel and sword of the captain of

the brig were put on board the Liberty, and going for them he was

violently assaulted. As his boat left the sloop a musket and brace of

pistols were discharged at him. This act greatly exasperated the people

of Newport. They demanded of Captain Reid, of the Liberty, that the man

who fired on Captain Packwood, of the brig, should be sent ashore. The

request was denied, or rather, a wrong man was sent each time, until the

populace determined not to bo trifled with longer. A number of them went

on board, cut her cables, and set her adrift, with the result mentioned

in the text. Her boats were dragged up the Long Wharf, thence to the

Parade, through Broad Street, at the head of which, on the Common, they

were burned. The "Newport Mercury," of July 31, 1769, contained this

announcement: "Last Saturday the sloop Liberty was floated by a high

tide, and drifted over to Goat Island, and is grounded near the north

end, near the place where the pirates were buried. What this

prognosticates we leave to the determination of astrologers." The same

paper observed, August 7, "Last Monday evening, just alter the storm of

rain, hail, and lightning, the sloop Liberty, which we mentioned in our

last as having drifted on Goat Island near where the pirates were

buried, was discovered to be on fire, and continued burning for several

days, until almost entirely consumed."--See Ross's Discourse.

Admiral Wallace in Narraganset Bay.--Disarming of the Tories.--Skirmish

in the Harbor.--Engagement at Sea.

October 7.640The first warlike menace made against Rhode Island was in

the autumn of 1775. We have already noticed the alacrity with which the

people armed and hastened toward Boston when they received intelligence

of the affair at Lexington. Admiral Wallace commanded a small British

fleet in the harbor of Newport during that summer, and the people became

convinced that it was his intention to carry off the live stock from the

lower end of the island, with which to supply the British army at

Boston. Accordingly, on a dark night in September, some of the

inhabitants went down and brought off about one thousand sheep and fifty

head of cattle. Three hundred minute men drove up to Newport a large

number more, and Wallace was foiled in his attempts at plunder. Enraged,

he threatened the town with destruction. He laid the people under

contributions to supply his fleet with provisions, and, to enforce the

demand, he cut off' their supplies of fuel and provisions from the main.

The inhabitants were greatly alarmed, and about one half of them left

the town, among whom were the principal merchants, with their families.

By consent of the state government and the Continental Congress, a

treaty was entered into. The people agreed to supply October l, 1775 the

fleet with beer and fresh provisions, and Wallace removed all

restrictions upon their movements. He then sailed up the bay to Bristol,

and demanded from the inhabitants there three hundred sheep. They

refused compliance, and the town was bombarded, the assault commencing

at about eight o'clock in the evening. The rain was pouring in torrents.

The house of Governor Bradford, with some others, was burned, and in the

midst of the darkness women and children fled to the open fields, beyond

the reach of the invaders' missiles, where they suffered dreadfully.

This Wallace was the same officer who was afterward sent up the Hudson

River to plunder and destroy, laying Kingston in ashes, and desolating

the farms of innocent men because they loved freedom better than tyranny

and misrule. * He was a commissioned pirate in the Narraganset Bay, and

for a month reveled in the wanton destruction of property. Every

American vessel that came into Newport harbor was captured and sent into

Boston. He burned and plundered the dwellings upon the beautiful island

of Providence, in the bay; and at the close of November passed over to

Canonicut, and destroyed all the buildings near the ferry.

These outrages aroused the vengeance of the people, and the few Tories

upon the island who favored the marauders were severely dealt with.

Washington, then at Boston, sent General Charles Lee, with some

riflemen, to their assistance. Lee arrested all the Tories he could

find, deprived them of their arms, and imposed upon them the severest

restrictions.

Wallace maintained possession of the harbor until the spring of 1776. On

the 6th of April, American troops, with two row-galleys, bearing two

eighteen pounders each, arrived from Providence. The British fleet was

then anchored about a mile above Newport. Two eighteen pounders, brought

by the provincial troops, were planted on shore in view of the enemy,

and without any works to protect them. These, commanded by Captain

Elliot, with the row-galleys, under Captain Grimes, promised Wallace

such great and immediate danger, that he weighed anchor and left the

harbor with his whole squadron without firing a shot. Soon afterward,

the Glasgow, of twenty-nine guns, came into the harbor and anchored near

Fort Island, having been severely handled in an engagement with Admiral

Hopkins off Block Island. ** Colonel Richmond, the same evening, ordered

several pieces of heavy artil-

* See page 388.

** This engagement occurred on the same day when Wallace left Newport.

Hopkins, with his little fleet, was on a cruise eastward, having left

the Capes of the Delaware in February, visiting the Bermudas, and was

now making his way toward Massachusetts Bay. On the 4th of April (1776)

he fell in with a British schooner on the east end of Long Island, and

took her. About one in the morning of the 6th he fell in with the

Glasgow, of twenty-nine guns and one hundred and fifty men. The American

brigantine Cabot, Captain Hopkins, Junior, and the Columbus, Captain

Whipple, raked her as she passed. The American brig Annadona and sloop

Providence were also in the engagement, yet the Glasgow escaped and fled

into Newport Harbor, whither Hopkins thought it not prudent to follow.

Of the American navy of the Revolution and its operations in general I

have given an account in the Supplement, page 637.

Continued Hostilities in Newport Harbor.--Privateers.--Arrival of a

large British Force.--Conduct of the Enemy

April 15.641lery to be brought to bear upon the Glasgow from Brenton's

Point, where a slight breastwork was thrown up. On the following morning

such a vigorous fire was opened from this battery upon the Glasgow and

another vessel, that they cut their cables and went to sea.

A few days after these events, the British ship of war Scarborough, of

twenty guns and two hundred and twenty-five men, and the Scymetar, of

eighteen guns and one hundred and forty men, came into the harbor with

two prize ships, and anchored a little south of Rose Island. The

Americans resolved to attempt the rescue of the prizes. The Washington

galley, Captain Hyers, attacked the Scarborough, and at the same time

Captain Grimes and his men, of the Spitfire galley, boarded one of the

prizes and took it. The guns upon the North Battery and upon Brenton's

Point were well manned, to give aid if necessary. The Scarborough

attempted to recapture her prize, and the other schooner in her custody

tried to get under the protecting wing of that vessel; but the hot

cannonade from the Washington and the North Battery arrested the

progress of both, and the schooner was captured and sent to Providence.

The Scarborough and Scymetar now came to anchor between Canonicut, and

Rose Island; but a battery upon the former, unknown to the enemy, poured

such a shower of well-directed balls upon them, that, finding no safe

place in the harbor, they determined to take refuge in the broad expanse

of the ocean. As they passed out of the harbor, they were terribly

galled by a cannonade from Brenton's Point and Castle Hill. * For eight

days War held a festival upon the waters of Newport Harbor, yet in all

that time the Americans did not lose a man, and had only one slightly

wounded!

The summer of 1776 was a season of comparative quiet for the people of

Rhode Island. They were active, however, in fitting out privateers, and

in preparations for future invasions. ** Early in the fall intelligence

reached them that the British fleet and army, which had been so roughly

received and effectually repulsed at Charleston, in South Carolina, were

on the way to take possession of Rhode Island. These forces arrived on

the 26th of December, the day on which Washington crossed the Delaware

and accomplished his brilliant achievement at Trenton. The squadron was

commanded by Sir Peter Parker, and the land forces, consisting of about

an equal number of British and Hessians, in all between eight and ten

thousand men, were commanded by General Clinton and Earl Percy. The

squadron sailed up on the west side of Canonicut, crossed the bay at the

north point of the island, and landed the troops in Middletown, about

four and a half miles above Newport. They were encamped upon the

southern slope of two hills (Gould's and Winter's), except a few who

landed at Coddington's Cove and marched into Newport. When the enemy

entered the harbor, there were two Rhode Island frigates (the Warren and

Providence) and several privateers at anchor. These, with the weak land

force, were insufficient to make a successful resistance, and the island

was left at the mercy of the invaders. *** The American frigates and

privateers fled up the bay to Providence, whence, taking advantage of a

northeast gale, and eluding the vigilance of the blockading squadron,

they escaped, and went to sea. A system of general plunder of the

inhabitants was immediately commenced by the troops, and, after one

week's encampment, the British soldiers were unceremoniously quartered

in the houses of the inhabitants, from ten to forty in each, according

to the size and convenience of the edifice. The beautiful Aquitneck, or

_Isle of Peace_, soon became the theater of discord, misery, and

desolation.

* These localities will be better understood by reference to the map of

Narraganset Bay on page 648.

** These privateers captured about seventy-five prizes (some of them

very valuable) during the season and sent them to Providence, New

London, and one or two other ports.

*** On hearing of the approach of the enemy, the people of the island

drove large quantities of sheep and cattle from it, crossing to the main

at Howland's Ferry.

Condition of Rhode Island in 1777.--Re-encampment of the British.--

General Prescott.--His Character.

642

CHAPTER XXVIII.

"The winds of March o'er Narraganset's Bay

Move in their strength; the waves with foam are white;

O'er Seckonk's tide the waving branches play;

The winds roar o'er resounding plain and height.

'Twixt sailing clouds, the sun's inconstant ray

But glances on the scene, then fades from sight.

The frequent showers dash from the passing clouds,

The hills are peeping through their wintery shrouds."

Durfee's "What Cheer?"

EAR after year the free dwellers upon Rhode Island had beheld a scene

like that described by the poet, and more cruel wintery storms, piling

their huge snow-drifts, had howled around their dwellings, but never in

their history had the March winds and April floods appeared to them so

cheerless and mournful as in the spring of 1777. They had cheerfully

brooked all the sufferings attendant upon a new settlement, and gladly

breasted the tempest on land or sea in pursuit of wealth or social

enjoyment, while freedom was their daily companion and solace: but now

the oppressor was in their midst; his iron heel was upon their necks;

their wives and daughters were exposed to the low ribaldry, profanity,

and insults of an ignorant and brutal soldiery; their peaceful dwellings

were made noisy barracks; their beautiful shade-trees, pleasant groves,

and broad forests were destroyed, and the huge right arm of general

plunder was plying its strength incessantly. Enslaved and impoverished,

the bright sun and warm south winds, harbingers of on-coming summer and

the joyous season of flowers, brought no solace to them, but were rather

a mockery. At home all was desolation; abroad all was doubt and gloom.

Early in May the British troops left the houses of the inhabitants and

returned to their camp. This was some relief, yet plunder and insolence

were rife. General Clinton, with nearly half of the invading army, soon

afterward left the island for New York, and the command of those who

remained to hold possession devolved upon Major-general Prescott,

infamous in the annals of that war as one of the meanest of petty

tyrants when in power, and of dastards when in danger. He had been

nurtured in the lap of aristocracy, and taught all its exclusive

precepts. Possessing a narrow mind, utterly untutored by benevolence or

charity; a judgment perverse in the extreme; a heart callous to the most

touching appeals of sympathy, but tender when avarice half opened its

lips to plead, he was a most unfit commander of a military guard over

people like those of Rhode Island, who could appreciate courtesy, and

who might be more easily conquered by kindness than by the bayonet. He

was a tyrant at heart, and, having the opportunity, he exercised a

tyrant's doubtful prerogatives. *

* Mr. Ross, in his Historical Discourse, mentions several circumstances

illustrative of Prescott's tyranny. His habit while walking the streets,

if he saw any of the inhabitants conversing together, was to shake his

cane at them, and say, "Disperse, ye rebels!" He was also in the habit,

when he met citizens in the streets, of commanding them to take off

their hats, and unless the order was instantly complied with, it was

enforced hy a rap of his cane. One evening, as he was passing out of

town to his country quarters, he overtook a Quaker, who did not doff his

hat. The general, who was on horseback, dashed up to him, pressed him

against a stone wall, knocked off his hat, and then put him under guard.

Prescott caused many citizens of Newport to be imprisoned, some of them

for months, without any assigned reason. Among others thus deprived of

liberty, was William Tripp, a very respectable citizen. He had a large

and interesting family, but the tyrant would not allow him to hold any

communication with them, either written or verbal The first intelligence

he received from them was by a letter, baked in a loaf of bread, which

was sent to him by his wife. In this way a correspondence was kept up

during his confinement of many months. During his incarceration, his

wife sought an audience with the general to intercede for the liberty of

her husband, or to obtain a personal interview with him. She applied to

a Captain Savage, through whom alone an interview with the general could

be obtained. She was directed to call the following day, when the savage

by name and nature, echoing his master's words, roughly denied her

petition for an interview with the general, and with fiendish exultation

informed her, as he shut the door violently in her face, that he

expected her husband would be hung as a rebel in less than a week! I was

informed that when Prescott took possession of his town quarters, he had

a fine sidewalk made for his accommodation some distance along Pelham

and up Spring Street, for which purpose he took the door-steps belonging

to other dwellings. The morning after the evacuation, the owners of the

steps hastened to Prescott's quarters, each to claim his door-stone. It

was an exciting scene, for sometimes two or three persons, not positive

in their identification, claimed the same stone. Prescott's fine

promenade soon disappeared, and like Miss Davidson's

"Forty old bachelors, some younger, some older, Each carrying a maiden

home on his shoulder,"

* the worthy citizens of Newport bore off their long-abased door-steps.

Bad Conduct of General Prescott.--Colonel Barton's Plan for capturing

him.--Biographical Sketch of Barton

643Incensed by the conduct of Prescott, the inhabitants devised several

schemes to rid themselves of the oppressor. None promised success, and

it was reserved for Lieutenant-colonel Barton, of Providence, * to

conceive and execute one of the boldest and most hazardous enterprises

undertaken during the war.

It was accomplished on the night of the 10th of July, 1777. At that time

General 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 Narraganset

Bay from the main, seize Prescott, and carry him to the American camp.

It was a very hazardous undertaking, for at that time there were three

British frigates, with their guard-boats, lying east of Prudence Island,

and almost in front of Prescott's quarters. With a few chosen men,

Colonel Barton embarked in four whale-boats, with muffled oars, at

Warwick Point, at nine o'clock in the evening, and passed unobserved

over to Rhode Island, between the islands of Prudence and Pa-

* William Barton was a native of Providence, Rhode Island. He was

appointed to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the militia of his state,

and held that position when he planned and executed the expedition for

the abduction of General Prescott. For that service Congress honored him

by the presentation of a sword, and also by a grant of land in Vermont.

By the transfer of some of this land he became entangled in the toils of

the law, and was imprisoned for debt in Vermont for many years, until

the visit of La Fayette to this country in 1825. That illustrious man,

hearing of the incarceration of Colonel Barton and its cause, liquidated

the claim against him, and restored his fellow-soldier to liberty. It

was a noble act, and significantly rebuked the Shylock who held the

patriot in bondage, and clamored for "the pound of flesh." This

circumstance drew from Whittier his glorious poem, 'The Prisoner for

Debt, in which he exclaims,

"What has the gray-hair'd prisoner done? Has murder staind his hands

with gore? Not so; his crime's a fouler one: God made the old man poor.

For this he shares a felon's cell. The fittest earthly type of hell! For

this, the boon for which he pour'd His young blood on the invader's

sword, And counted light the fearful cost--His blood-gain'd liberty is

lost. Down with the law that hinds him thus! Unworthy freemen, let it

find No refuge from the withering curse Of God and human kind! Open the

prisoner's living tomb, And usher from its brooding gloom The victims of

your savage code To the free sun and air of God! No longer dare, as

crime, to brand The chastening of the Almighty's hand!"

* Colonel Barton was wounded in the action at Bristol Ferry in 1778, and

was disabled from further service during the war. He died at Providence

in 1831, aged eighty-four years. The portrait here given is from a

painting of him executed soon after the close of the Revolution, and now

in possession of his son, John B. Barton, Esq., of Providence, who

kindly allowed me to make a copy.

Expedition to capture Prescott.--Prescott's Quarters.--A Sentinel

deceived.--Names of Barton's Men.

644tience. * They heard the cry, "All's well!" from the guard-boats of

the enemy, as they passed silently and unobserved, and landed in

Coddington's Cove, at the mouth of a small stream which passed by the

quarters of Prescott. Barton divided his men into several squads,

assigning to each its duty and station, and then, with the strictest

order and profound silence, they advanced toward the house.

The main portion of the expedition passed about midway between a British

guard-house and the encampment of a company of light horse, while the

remainder was to make a circuitous route to approach Prescott's quarters

from the rear, and secure the doors. As Barton and his men approached

the gate, a sentinel hailed them twice, and then demanded the

countersign. "We have no countersign to give," Barton said, and quickly

added, "Have you seen any deserters here to-night?" The sentinel was

misled by this question, supposing

* Mr. Barton, by request, furnished me with the following list of the

names of those who accompanied his father on the perilous expedition:

Officers.--Andrew Stanton, Eleazer Adams, Samuel Potter, John Wilcox.

Non-commissioned Officers.--Joshua Babcock and Samuel Phillips.

Privates.--Benjamin Pren, James Potter, Henry Fisher, James Parker,

Joseph Guild, Nathan Smith, Isaac Brown, Billington Crumb, James Haines,

Samuel Apis, Alderman Crank, Oliver Simmons, Jack Sherman, Joel Briggs,

Clark Packard, Samuel Cory, James Weaver, Clark Crandall, Sampson

George, Joseph Ralph, Jedediah Grenale, Richard Hare, Darius Wale,

Joseph Denis, William Bruff, Charles Hassett, Thomas Wilcox, Pardon

Cory, Jeremiah Thomas, John Hunt, Thomas Austin, Daniel Page (a

Narraganset Indian), Jack Sisson* (black), and ------ Howe, or Whiting,

boat-steerer.

** This house is on the east side of the west road, about a mile from

the bay. The view is from the road where the small stream crosses, after

leaving the pond seen in the picture. It is a beautiful summer

residence, the grounds around it being finely shaded by willows, elms,

and sycamores. The present occupant kindly showed me the room in which

Prescott was lying at the time of his capture. It is on the second

floor, at the southwest corner of the house, or on the right as seen in

the engraving. It is a well-built frame house, and was probably then the

most spacious mansion on the island out of Newport.

* In Allen's American Biography, the name of the black man is written

Prince, and he says that he died at Plymouth in 1821, aged seventy-eight

years. The name given by Mr. Barton must be correct, for he has the

original paper of his father.

Entrance to Prescott's Room.--Seizure of the General and his Aid-de-

camp.--Barton rewarded by Congress

645them to be friends, and was not undeceived until his musket was

seized, and himself bound and menaced with instant death if he made any

noise. The doors had been secured by the division from the rear, and

Barton entered the front passage boldly. Mr. Overton sat alone, reading,

the rest of the family being in bed. Barton inquired for General

Prescott's room. Overton pointed upward, signifying that it was directly

over the room in which they were standing. With four strong men, and

Sisson, a powerful negro who accompanied them, Barton ascended the

stairs and gently tried the door. It was locked; no time was to be lost

in parleying; the negro drew back a couple of paces, and using his head

for a battering-ram, burst open the door at the first effort. The

general, supposing the intruders to be robbers, sprang from his bed, and

seized his gold watch that was hanging upon the wall. Barton placed his

hand gently upon the general's shoulder, told him he was his prisoner,

and that perfect silence was now his only safety. Prescott begged time

to dress, but it being a hot July night, and time precious, Barton

refused acquiescence, feeling that it would not be cruel to take him

across the bay, where he could make his toilet with more care, at his

leisure. So, throwing his cloak around him, and placing him between two

armed men, the prisoner was hurried to the shore. In the mean time,

Major Barrington, Prescott's aid, hearing the noise in the general's

room, leaped from a window to escape, but was captured. He and the

sentinel were stationed in the center of the party. At about midnight

captors and prisoners landed at Warwick Point, where General Prescott

first broke the silence by saying to Colonel Barton,

"Sir, you have made a bold push to-night."

"We have been fortunate," coolly replied Barton. Captain Elliot was

there with a coach to convey the prisoners to Providence, where they

arrived at sunrise. Prescott was kindly treated by General Spencer and

July 11, 1777 other officers, and in the course of a few days was sent

to the head-quarters of Washington, at Middlebrook on the Raritan. On

his way the scene occurred in the Alden Tavern at Lebanon, mentioned on

page 603. Prescott was exchanged for General Charles Lee * in April

following, and soon afterward resumed his command of the British troops

on Rhode Island. This was the same Prescott who treated Colonel Ethan

Allen so cruelly when that officer was taken prisoner near Montreal in

the autumn of 1775.

On account of the bravery displayed and the importance of the service in

this expedition, Congress, having a "just sense of the gallant behavior

of Lieutenant-colonel Barton, and the brave officers and men of his

party, who distinguished their valor and address in making prisoner of

Major-general Prescott, of the British army, and Major William

Barrington, his aid-de-camp," ** voted Barton an elegant sword; and on

the 24th of December July 25, 1777 following, he was promoted to the

rank and pay of colonel in the Continental army.

General Sullivan was appointed to the command of the American troops in

Rhode Island in the spring of 1778, at about the time when Prescott

resumed his command of the enemy's forces. The latter, incensed and

mortified by his capture and imprisonment, determined to gratify his

thirst for revenge. Under pretense of an anticipated attack upon the

island, he sent a detachment of five hundred men up the bay on the 24th

of May, to destroy the American boats and other property that fell in

their way. At daylight the next morning they landed between Warren and

Bristol, and proceeded in two divisions to execute their orders. One

party, who proceeded to the Kickemuet River, destroyed seventy flat-

bottomed boats and a state galley; the other burned the meeting-house

and a number of dwellings at Warren, and plundered and abused the

inhabitants in various ways. The females were robbed of their shoe-

buckles, finger-rings, and other valuables, and live stock were driven

away for the use of the British army. They then proceeded to Bristol,

and fired

* General Lee had been eaptured at Baskingridge, in New Jersey, in

December, 1776, while passing from the Hudson to join Washington on the

Delaware.

** Journals of Congress, iii., 241.

*** Ibid., 459.

Predatory Excursions.--French Fleet for America.--Count d'Estaing.--

France and England.--Excitement in Parliament.

646the Episcopal church (mistaking it for a dissenters' meeting-house),

burned twenty-two dwellings, and earned off considerable plunder. A few

days afterward, another marauding party of a hundred and fifty burned

the mills at Tiverton, and attempted to set fire to and plunder the

town, but a resolute band of twenty-five men kept them at bay,

effectually disputing their passage across the bridge. Satisfied with

this great display of prowess and vengeance, Prescott refrained from

further hostile movements, until called upon to defend himself against

the combined attacks of an American army and a French fleet.

I have noticed on pages 86 and 87, _ante_, the treaty of alliance and

commerce concluded between the United States and France on the 6th of

February, 1778. * Pursuant to the stipulations of that treaty, a French

squadron for the American service was fitted out at Toulon, consisting

of twelve ships of the line, and four frigates of superior size. Count

d'Estaing, a brave and successful naval officer, was 1778 appointed to

the command, and on the 13th of

April the fleet sailed for America. Silas Deane, one of the American

commissioners, and M. Gerard, the first appointed French minister to the

United States, came passengers in the Languedoc, D'Estaing's flag-ship.

Authentic information of the sailing of this expedition reached the

British cabinet on the 4th of May. Some of the ministers being out of

town, a cabinet council was not held until the 6th, when it was

determined speedily to dispatch a powerful squadron, then at Portsmouth,

to America. On the 20th, Admirals Byron and Hyde Parker, with twenty-two

ships of the line, weighed anchor. Doubtful of the destination of

D'Estaing, and not knowing that Deane and Gerard were with him,

ministers countermanded the order for sailing, and the squadron,

overtaken by an express, returned to Plymouth, where it remained until

the 5th of June, when it again sailed under the command of Admiral Byron

alone. ***

The conduct of the French government, in thus openly giving aid, by

treaty and arms, to the revolted colonies, aroused the ire, not only of

ministers, but of the people of Great Britain, in whose bosoms the

embers of ancient feuds were not wholly extinct. In Parliament, which

was just on the eve of adjournment, ministers moved an appropriate

address to the king. The opposition proposed an amendment requesting his

majesty to dismiss the ministry! A furious debate arose, but the

original address was carried by a majority of two hundred and sixty-

three against one hundred and thirteen in the Commons, and an equally

* The French envoy, De Noailles (uncle of La Fayette's wife), delivered

a rescript to Lord Weymouth on the 17th of March, in which he informed

the British court of the treaty. While in it he professed in the name of

the government a desire to maintain amicable relations with Great

Britain, and declared that the "court of London" would find in his

communication "new proofs of his majesty's [Louis XVI.] constant and

sincere disposition for peace," he plainly warned it that his sovereign,

"being determined to protect effectually the lawful commerce of his

subjects, and to maintain the dignity of his flag, had, in consequence,

taken effectual measures, in concert with the Thirteen United and

Independent States of America." This note greatly incensed the British

ministry, for they considered it more than half ironical in language,

and intentionally insulting in spirit. Orders were issued for the

seizure of all French vessels in English ports A similar order was

issued by the French government. War thus actually commenced between the

two nations, though not formally declared.

** Charles Henry Count d'Estaing was a native of Auvergne, in France. He

was under the famous Count Lally, governor general of the French

possessions in the East Indies, in 1756. He was taken prisoner-by the

English, but escaped by breaking his parole. He was commander at the

taking of Grenada after his services in America. He became a member of

the Assembly of Notables in the French Revolution, and being suspected

of unfriendliness to the Terrorists, was guillotined on the 29th of

April, 1793.

*** Admiral Byron carried with him to Earl Howe, the naval commander on

the American coast, a permit for that officer to return to England,

pursuant to his own urgent request. Byron became his successor in the

chief command.

The King's Speech.--Boldness of the Opposition.--The British and French

Fleets.--Sandy Hook and Amboy Bay.

647decided majority in the Upper House. Parliament soon afterward

adjourned, and did not meet again until November, when the king, in his

speech at the opening, directed the attention of the Legislature to the

conduct of France. After speaking of the good faith of Great Britain,

and the quiet then prevailing in Europe, he said, "In a time of profound

peace, without pretense of provocation or color of complaint, the court

of France hath not forborne to disturb the public tranquillity, in

violation of the faith of treaties and the general rights of sovereigns;

at first by the clandestine supply of arms and other aid to my revolted

subjects in North America; afterward by avowing openly their support,

and entering into formal engagements with the leaders of the rebellion;

and at length by committing open hostilities and depredations on my

faithful subjects, and by an actual invasion of my dominions in America

and the West Indies." He alluded to the want of success in America, the

means that had been put forth to suppress the rebellion, the complete

failure of the commissioners to conclude a peace, and the evident

preparations for hostilities which Spain was making. He closed his

address by calling upon Parliament to put forth their utmost energies

which the crisis demanded, assuring them that his cordial co-operation

would always be extended, and informed them that he had called out the

militia for the defense of the country. In fact, the king carefully

avoided casting censure upon ministers for the late miscarriages in

America, and, by implication, fixed the blame upon the commanders in

that service. The address was warmly opposed in both houses, and in the

Commons the king was accused of falsehood--uttering "a false, unjust,

and illiberal slander on the commanders in the service of the crown;

loading them with a censure which ought to fall on ministers alone." Yet

ministers were still supported by pretty large majorities in both

houses, while the war-spirit, renewed by the French alliance, was hourly

increasing among the multitude without. *

After a voyage of eighty-seven days, the French squadron arrived on the

coast, and anchored at the entrance of Delaware Bay. Howe, with his

fleet, had July 8,1778 fortunately for himself, left the Delaware a few

days before, and was anchored off Sandy Hook, to co-operate with the

British land forces under Clinton, then proceeding from Philadelphia to

New York. ** On learning this fact, Deane and Gerard proceeded

immediately up the Delaware to Philadelphia, where Congress was then in

session. *** After communicating with that body, D'Estaing weighed

anchor and sailed for Sandy Hook. Howe was within the Hook, in Raritan

or Amboy Bay, **** whither D'Estaing could not with safety attempt to

follow him with his large vessels, on account of a sand-bar extending to

Staten Island from Sandy Hook. (v) He anchored near the Jersey shore,

not far from the mouth of the Shrewsbury River.

On the 22d of July, D'Estaing sailed with his squadron, at the urgent

request of Washington, to co-operate with General Sullivan, then

preparing to make an attempt 1778

* Lossing's "1776," p. 274.

** It was during this progress of the British army toward New York that

the Americans, under the immediate command of Washington, pursued and

overtook them near Monmouth court-house, in New Jersey, where a severe

battle occurred on the 28th of June, 1778.

*** Congress had sat at York, in Pennsylvania, from the time of the

entrance of the British into Philadelphia in the autumn of 1777, until

the 30th of June, 1778, after the evacuation of that city by the enemy

under Clinton.

**** Howe's fleet consisted of only six 64 gun ships, three of 50, and

two of 40, with some frigates and sloops. Several of D'Estaing's ships

were of great bulk and weight of metal, one carrying 90, another 80, and

six 74 guns each. Had D'Estaing arrived a little sooner, and caught

Howe's fleet in the Delaware, he might easily have captured or destroyed

it; and doubtless the land forces of the enemy would have shared the

fate of those under Burgoyne at Saratoga.

* (v) Sandy Hook, in form and extent, has been greatly changed since the

time in question. According to a map, in my possession, of the State of

New York, published under the direction of Governor Tryon, in 1779,

Sandy Hook was a low point, extending northward from the Highlands of

Ncversink or Navesink. The sandy bar on which the Ocean House, at the

mouth of the Ncversink River, now stands, forming a sound many miles in

extent, was not then in existence; and it was not until the sea made a

breach across the neck of Sandy Hook in 1778, that there was a passage

within it along the base of the Highlands from the Raritan or Amboy Bay.

Now the water is from thirty to forty feet in depth in the main ship

channel, immediately above the cast beacon on Sandy Hook, quite

sufficient to allow ships as heavy as D'Estaing's to enter.

General Spencer's Expedition against Rhode Island.--His Resignation.--

French Fleet off Newport.--American Land Forces

1778.648to expel the enemy from Rhode Island. In consequence of the

failure, on the part of General Spencer, to carry out the plan of an

expedition against the British on Rhode Island in 1777, Congress ordered

an inquiry into the cause. This expedition was arranged by General

Spencer at considerable expense, and with fair promises of success. The

Americans September, 1777 were stationed at Tiverton, near the present

stone bridge, and had actually embarked in their boats to cross over to

Rhode Island to surprise the enemy, when Spencer prudently countermanded

the order. He had ascertained that the British commander was apprised of

his intentions, and seeing no effort on the part of the enemy to oppose

his landing, apprehended some stratagem that might be fatal.

Such, indeed, was the fact. The British had determined to allow the

Americans to land and march some distance upon the island, when they

would cut off their retreat by destroying their boats, and thus make

them captives. General Spencer, indignant at the censure implied in the

proposed inquiry of Congress, resigned his commission, and General

Sullivan was appointed in his place. *

The French fleet appeared off the harbor of Newport on the 29th of July,

and the next morning, to the great joy of the inhabitants, the vessels

of the allies were anchored near Brenton's Reef, where General Sullivan

had a conference with the admiral, and a plan of operations was agreed

upon. One of the ships ran up the channel west of Canonicut, and

anchored at the north point of that island.

Washington had directed Sullivan to call upon Rhode Island,

Massachusetts, and Connecticut for five thousand militia. The call was

made, and promptly responded to. The Massachusetts militia marched under

John Hancock as general; ** and so great was the enthusiasm engendered

by the presence of the French squadron, that thousands of volunteers,

gentlemen and others, from Boston, Salem, Newburyport, Portsmouth, &c.,

engaged in the service. *** Two brigades of Continental infantry, under

La Fayette, were sent from the main army; and the whole force, ten

thousand strong, was arranged in two divisions, under the immediate

command of Generals Greene **** and La Fayette.

On the morning of the 5th of August, D'Es-

* Joseph Spencer was born at East Haddam, in Connecticut, in 1714. He

was a major in the colonial army in 1756, and was one of the first eight

brigadiers appointed by the Continental Congress in 1775. He was

appointed a major general in August, 1776, and in 1777 was in command of

the American forces on Rhode Island. After his resignation he was

elected a delegate to Congress from his native state. He died at East

Haddam in January, 1789, aged seventy-five years.

** Hildreth, iii., 252.

*** Gordon, ii., 369.

**** General Greene was then the quarter-master general of the

Continental army. His prudence, military skill, and the fact that he was

a Rhode Islander, induced Washington to dispatch him to that field of

operations at that time.

* (v) The letters upon the map indicate the position of the following

named objects: A, head-quarters of Prescott when he was captured; C D,

the two British lines across the island, the former extending from

'Tonomy Hill, H, and the latter crossing the slope near Rose Island,

near Newport; E, the American lines between Quaker and Turkey Hills and

Butts's Hill, at the north end of the island; F, the position of the

Americans, with their batteries, when preparing to attack the British

lines and waiting for D'Estaing; G, Barker's Hill, fortified by the

British; H, 'Tonomy Hill; 0, the west or Narraganset passage of the bay;

P, the middle; and Q, the east or Seaconet passage. The Bristol Ferry,

across which the Americans retreated, is named on the map. It was at the

narrowest place, a line to the right of the word Butts. There were

fortifications upon Gold, Rose, Goat, and Contour Islands, as well as

upon Canonicut, ruins of which are still visible. The short double lines

upon the map, immediately above the letter N in Newport, mark the site

of the present Fort Adams, the Castle Hill of the Revolution, and

opposite, upon a point of Canonicut, is the Dumplings Fort, or Fort

Canonicut, now a picturesque ruin.

Destruction of British Vessels.--Landing of Americans on Rhode Island.--

Naval Battle.--Great Storm.

649taing commenced operations. Two of his vessels approached to the

attack of four British frigates (the Orpheus, Lark, Juno, and Cerberus)

and some smaller vessels, lying near Prudence Island. Unable to fight

successfully or to escape, the enemy set fire to all these vessels, and

soon afterward sunk two others (the Flora and Falcon), to prevent their

falling into the hands of D'Estaing. Unfortunately, the American troops

were not quite prepared to co-operate with the French fleet. Although

Sullivan had every thing in readiness at Providence, a delay in the

arrival of troops prevented his departure for Rhode Island, and it was

nearly a week before he was prepared to make a descent upon it. This

delay was the occasion of great difficulty, and proved fatal to the

enterprise.

On the 10th, according to agreement, the whole American force, in two

August, 1778 divisions, crossed from Tiverton in eighty-six flat-

bottomed boats, * prepared under the direction of the energetic Major

Talbot, and landed on the north end of the island, where it was to be

joined by four thousand marines from the French squadron. The British

had just been re-enforced, and were about six thousand strong, under the

immediate command of Sir Robert Pigot. They abandoned their works on the

north part of the island when the Americans landed, and retired within

their strongly-intrenched lines about three miles above Newport.

Perceiving this movement, Sullivan ordered the Americans to advance,

without waiting for the landing of the French troops. They moved from

the ferry, and in the afternoon encamped upon the high ground known as

Quaker Hill, between ten and eleven miles north of Newport.

Within five days after D'Estaing left Sandy Hook, four British men-of-

war had arrived singly at New York. With this re-enforcement Howe

determined to proceed to the relief of his majesty's army on Rhode

Island. He appeared off Newport harbor with a August, 1778 fleet of

twenty-five sail on the afternoon of the 9th; and the next morning,

D'Estaing, instead of landing his marines according to agreement, spread

his sails to a favorable breeze, and sailed out of the harbor, under a

severe cannonade from the British batteries, to attack Admiral Howe. It

was about eight o'clock in the morning when the August 10, 1778 French

fleet went out into the open sea, and all that day the two naval

commanders contended for the weather-gage. ** This maneuvering prevented

an engagement. The next morning the wind had increased to a gale, and a

violent tempest, that raged for nearly forty-eight hours, *** separated

the belligerents. Two of the French ships were dismasted, and the

count's flag-ship lost her rudder and all her masts. In this condition

she was borne down upon by a British frigate under full sail, from which

she received a broadside, but with little damage. Another of the French

disabled vessels was attacked in the same way, the assailants sheering

off after firing a single broadside; but the junction of six sail of the

French squadron on the 14th prevented other attacks on the crippled

ships. On the 16th, the French seventy-four gun ship Cæsar and the

British fifty gun ship Iris had a

* These boats were capable of bearing one hundred men each. They were

fitted out with great dispatch, and Talbot, who directed the operations,

became so wearied by over-exertions, that he slept soundly, for a long

time, under one of them, while the hammers of the caulkers, who were at

work by candle-light, were rattling over his head.--Tuckerman's Life of

Talbot, p. 47.

** A ship is said to have the weather-gage when she is at the windward

of another vessel. In naval engagements, obtaining the weather-gage is

an important desideratum for the contending squadrons.

*** This storm is still spoken of by the older inhabitants of Newport as

"the great storm," accounts of which they had received from their

parents. So violent was the wind, that the spray was brought by it from

the ocean, and incrusted the windows in the town with salt.

State of the American Troops.--Refusal of the French to co-operate.--

They sail for Boston.--Protests

650severe engagement for an hour and a half, in which both vessels were

much injured. This ended the contest, and D'Estaing, with his disabled

vessels, appeared off the harbor of Newport on the 20th.

The Americans, greatly disappointed and chagrined by the abandonment of

them by their allies, nevertheless continued their preparations for

attack with vigor. They had suffered much from the gale and the rain. On

the night of the 12th, not a tent or marquee could be kept standing.

Several soldiers perished, many horses died, and all the powder

delivered to the troops was ruined by the rain. The troops were in a

deplorable state when the August, 1778 storm ceased on the 14th, yet

their courage and ardor were not abated. On the 15th, in expectation of

the speedy return of the French squadron, as promised by the admiral,

they marched forward in three divisions, took post within two miles of

the enemy's lines, commenced the erection of batteries, and soon

afterward opened a fire of balls and bombs upon the British works. * On

the night of the reappearance of D'Estaing, Generals Greene and La

Fayette proceeded to visit him on board his vessel, to consult upon

measures proper to be pursued. They urged the count to return with his

fleet into Newport harbor; for the British garrison, disappointed and

dispirited on account of not receiving provision and ammunition from

Howe, would doubtless surrender without resistance. D'Estaing was

disposed to comply, but his officers insisted upon his adherence to the

instructions of his government to put into Boston harbor for repairs in

the event of injuries being sustained by his vessels. Such injuries had

been sustained in the late gale and partial engagement, and, overruled

by his officers, he refused compliance, sailed for Boston, and left the

Americans to take care of themselves. ** Greene and La Fayette returned

on the night of the 21st with a report of the resolution of the French

admiral, and the next day Generals Sullivan and Hancock sent letters of

remonstrance to him. A protest against the count's taking the fleet to

Boston, signed by all the general officers except La Fayette, was sent

to him, declaring such a measure derogatory to the honor of France,

contrary to the intentions of its monarch, destructive to the welfare of

the United States, and highly injurious to the alliance formed between

the two nations. *** D'Estaing affected to be offended at this protest,

and returned August 23, 1778 a spirited answer, just as he weighed

anchor for Boston, which drew from Sullivan a sarcastic reflection, in

general orders, the following morning. *** From Boston the count wrote

an explanatory and vindicatory letter to Congress, in which he

complained of the protest and of Sullivan's ungenerous innuendoes. The

whole matter was finally amicably adjusted.

Disgusted at what they deemed the perfidy of the French commander, and

despairing

* General Sullivan quartered about five miles from Newport, at what is

now called the Gibb's Farm La Fayette quartered on the east side of the

island, at what was then called the Boiler Garden Farm; and Greene had

his quarters in Middletown, on the farm now owned by Colonel Richard K.

Randolph.--Ross's Historical Discourse, page 53.

** It is asserted that D'Estaing was disliked by his officers, not on

account of personal considerations, but from the fact that he had been a

land officer, and they considered it an affront that he was placed over

them. They therefore cast every impediment in his way, where

opportunities were presented in which he might gain personal

distinction. In the case in question, all his officers insisted upon his

proceeding to Boston, and entered into a formal protest against his

remaining at Newport.

*** This protest was signed by John Sullivan, Nathaniel Greene, John

Hancock, J. Glover, Ezekiel Cornell, William Whipple, John Tyler,

Solomon Lovell, and John Fitzconnel.

**** "The general can not help," said Sullivan, in his orders,

"lamenting the sudden and unexpected departure of the French fleet, as

he finds it has a tendency to discourage some who placed great

dependence upon the assistance of it, though he can by no means suppose

the army or any part of it endangered by this movement." Sullivan was

doubtless correct in his opinion, intimated in the last clause, that the

French alliance was of little advantage to the Americans, as will be

hereafter seen. This same Admiral d'Estaing subsequently abandoned the

Americans at the South, at a most critical juncture, under pretense that

he must seek _safe winter quarters_, although it was then only in the

month of October! The English and Americans were both duped by "his

most-Christian majesty" of France; and, as I have elsewhere said, a

balance-sheet of favors connected with the alliance will show not the

least preponderance of service in favor of the French, unless the result

of the more vigorous action of the Americans, caused by the hopes of

success from that alliance, shall be taken into the account.

Retreat of the Americans to Butts's Hill.--Battle of Quaker Hill.--Scene

of the Engagement.--Loss of the Belligerents.

651of success, between two and three thousand of the American volunteers

left for home on the 24th and 25th. The American force was thus reduced

to about the number of that of the enemy. Under these circumstances, an

assault upon the British lines was deemed hazardous, and a retreat

prudent. La Fayette was dispatched to Boston, to solicit the return of

D'Estaing to Newport, but he could only get a promise from that officer

to march his troops by land to aid the Americans in the siege, if

requested. It was too late for such a movement.

On the night of the 28th, the Americans commenced a retreat with great

August, 1778 order and secrecy, and arrived at the high grounds at the

north end of the island, with all their artillery and stores, at three

the next morning. Their retreat having been discovered by the enemy, a

pursuit was undertaken. The Americans had fortified an eminence called

Butts's Hill, about twelve miles from Newport. Here they made a stand,

and at daylight called a council of war. General Greene proposed to

march back and meet the enemy on the west road, then approaching in

detachments, and consisting only of the Hessian chasseurs and two

Anspach regiments under Lossberg. On the east road was

General Smith, with two regiments and two flank companies. To the former

were opposed the light troops of Lieutenant-colonel Laurens, and to the

latter those of Colonel Henry B. Livingston. Greene's advice was

overruled, and the enemy were allowed to collect in force upon the two

eminences called respectively Quaker and Turkey Hill. * A large

detachment of the enemy marched very near to the American left, but were

repulsed by Glover, and driven back to Quaker Hill. About nine o'clock

the British opened a severe cannonade upon the Americans from the two

hills, which was returned from Butts's Hill with spirit. Skirmishes

continued between advanced parties until near ten, when two British

sloops of war and other armed vessels, having gained the right flank of

the Americans, began a fire upon that point simultaneously with a

furious attack there by the land forces of the enemy. This attempt to

gain the rear of the Americans, and cut off a retreat, brought on an

almost general action, in which from twelve to fifteen hundred of the

patriots were at one time engaged. The enemy's line was finally broken,

after a severe engagement, in attempts to take the redoubt on the

American right, and they were driven back in great confusion to Turkey

Hill, leaving many of their dead and wounded in the low grounds between

the contending armies, where the hottest of the battle occurred. This

was between two and three o'clock in the afternoon of a very sultry day,

and a number on both sides perished from the effects of the heat and

fatigue. A cannonade was kept up by both parties until sunset, when the

battle ceased. The skirmishing and more general action continued seven

hours without intermission, and the most indomitable courage was evinced

by both parties. The Americans had thirty killed, one hundred and

thirty-two wounded, and forty-

* The three eminences, Butts's, Quaker, and Turkey Hill, are seen in the

picture, the former on the left, its slopes covered with the American

tents, Quaker Hill in the center, and Turkey Hill on the right. The

house in the fore-ground, on the right, belonged to a Mr. Brindley, now

near the site of the residence of Mr. Anthony.

Evacuation of Rhode Island by the Americans.--Return of La Fayette from

Boston.--Expedition against New Bedford.

652four missing. The British lost, in killed and wounded, two hundred

and ten, and twelve missing.

So nearly matched were the belligerents, that both willingly rested in

their respective camps during the night, and the next morning each

seemed reluctant to renew the battle Sullivan had good cause to refrain

from another engagement, for at break of day a messenger arrived from

Providence, informing him that Howe had again sailed for Newport, was

seen off Block Island the day before, and probably, before night, would

be in August, 29 Newport harbor. * Under these circumstances, Sullivan

thought it prudent to evacuate Rhode Island, a measure concurred in by

his officers. There were difficulties in the way, for the first

indications of a retreat on the part of the Americans would bring the

repulsed enemy upon them in full force. The sentinels of the two armies

were only four hundred yards apart, and the greatest caution was

necessary to prevent information of Sullivan's design from reaching Sir

Robert Pigot. Fortunately, Butts's Hill concealed all movements in the

rear of the American camp. During the day, a number of tents were

brought forward by the Americans and pitched in sight of the enemy, and

the whole army were employed in fortifying the camp. This was intended

to deceive the British, and was success-ful. At the same time, and,

indeed, during the engagement of the previous day, the heavy baggage and

stores were falling back and crossing Bristol ferry to the main. At dark

the August 30, 1778 tents were struck, fires were lighted in front at

various points, the light troops,

with the baggage, marched down to the ferry, and before midnight the

whole American army had crossed in flat-bottomed boats to the main, in

good order, and without the loss of a man. During the retreat, La

Fayette arrived from Boston, whither, as we have seen, he had been sent

to persuade D'Estaing to proceed with his squadron to Newport again. He

was greatly mortified at being absent during the engagement. **

Anticipating that a battle would take place, he traveled from Rhode

Island to Boston, nearly seventy miles, in a little more than seven

hours, and returned in six and a half. *** Although denied the laurels

which he might have won in battle, he participated in the honors of a

successful retreat.

The evacuation of Rhode Island was a mortifying circumstance to General

Sullivan, for Newport had been almost within his grasp, and nothing

could have saved the British army

* The fleet of Lord Howe had on board Sir Henry Clinton, with four

thousand troops destined for Rhode Island; but on approaching Newport,

and hearing of the retreat of Sullivan (for the fleet did not arrive

until the 31st, the day after) and the sailing of the disabled French

squadron to Boston, Howe changed his course, and sailed for the latter

port, where he arrived on the 1st of September. Perceiving no chance of

success in attacking D'Estaing, Howe prudently withdrew, after throwing

the town of Boston into the greatest consternation, and, with the

disappointed Sir Henry Clinton, sailed for New York. On the way, Clinton

ordered his marauding officer, General Grey, to land with the troops at

New Bedford, on the west side of the Acushnet River, and proceed to

destroy the shipping in the harbor. They landed upon Clark's Neck, at

the mouth of the river, and between six o'clock in the evening on the

5th of September and twelve the next day, destroyed about seventy sail

of vessels, many of them prizes taken by American privateers, and

several small craft; burned the magazine, wharves, stores, warehouses,

vessels on the stocks, all the buildings at M'Pherson's wharf, the

principal part of the houses at the head of the river, and the mills and

houses at Fairhaven, opposite. The amount of property destroyed was

estimated at $323,266. Grey and his troops then embarked, and proceeded

to Martha's Vineyard, where they destroyed several vessels, and made a

requisition for the militia arms, the public money, three hundred oxen,

and ten thousand sheep. The defenseless inhabitants were obliged to

comply with the requisition, and the marauders returned to New York with

a plentiful supply of provisions for the British army.

** La Fayette had advised a retreat from Newport six days before. On the

24th he gave his opinion in writing, as follows: "I do not approve of

continuing the siege. The time of the militia is out, and they will not

longer sacrifice their private interests to the common cause. A retreat

is the wisest step." Writing to Washington after the retreat, he

expressed his mortification, and said, "That there has been an action

fought where I could have been, and was not, will seem as extraordinary

to you as it seems to myself." He arrived while the army was retreating,

and brought off the rear guard and pickets in the best manner. His

feelings were soothed by the resolutions of Congress, adopted on the

19th of September, thanking General Sullivan and those under his command

for their conduct in the action and retreat, and specially requesting

the president to inform the marquis of their due sense of his personal

sacrifice in going to Boston, and his gallantry in conducting the

pickets and out-sentries in the evacuation.--Journals of Congress, iv.,

378.

*** Gordon, ii., 376.

Murmurings against the French.--Evacuation of Rhode Island by the

British.--Severe Winter.--Sir Robert Pigot

653from capitulation had D'Estaing co-operated. Policy, at that time,

dictated the course of Congress in withholding the voice of censure, but

the people unhesitatingly charged the failure of the expedition upon the

bad conduct of the French. The retreat was approved of by Congress, in a

resolution adopted on the 9th of September. It was not unanimously

agreed to, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to reconsider it. With

this event 1778 closed the Eastern campaign, neither party in the

contest having gained any thing. *

The British held possession of Rhode Island until the autumn of 1779,

when Sir Henry Clinton, desirous of making a further demonstration at

the South, and apprehending an attack upon New York from the combined

forces of the American and French, supposed to have been concerted

between Washington and D'Estaing, dispatched a number of transports to

bring off the troops from Newport to strengthen his position at head-

quarters. They embarked on the 25th of October, leaving Rhode Island in-

possession of the Americans, after an occupation of three years by the

enemy. During their stay, they had 1779 desolated the island. Only a

single tree of the ancient forest is left, a majestic sycamore, standing

near the bank of the Seaconet channel, on the eastern side of the

island. When they left, they burned the barracks at Fort Adams and the

light-house upon Beavertail Point.

They also carried away with them the town records. These were greatly

injured by being submerged in the vessel that bore them, which was sunk

at Hell Gate. They were recovered and sent back to Newport, but were of

little service afterward. This event produced some embarrassment in

respect to property, but they were as nothing compared to the sufferings

of the impoverished inhabitants when they returned to their mutilated

dwellings and desolated farms. The winter of 1779--80 was a terrible one

for the people of Rhode Island. **

It is proper to remark, that after Sir Robert Pigot superseded Prescott

in command of the British forces in Rhode Island, the people were

greatly relieved of the annoyances they had been subject to under the

rule of the latter. Private property was respected, plunder ceased, the

people were treated with respect, and, when the evacuation took place,

no violence marked the departure of the enemy. General Gates was then at

Providence with a small force, and kept a vigilant eye upon the

movements of the British, **** anticipating predatory excursions along

the coast; but General Pigot

* Washington, in a letter to Brigadier-general Nelson of Virginia,

written on the 20th of August, says: "It is not a little pleasing nor

less wonderful to contemplate that, after two years' maneuvering, and

undergoing the strangest vicissitudes that perhaps ever attended any one

contest since the creation, both armies are brought back to the very

point they set out from, and that the offending party in the beginning

is now reduced to the use of the spade and pickaxes for defense. The

hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be

worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more wicked, that has not

gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations."--Sparks's Life and

Writings of Washington, vi., 36.

** This was the severest winter ever experienced in America. Narraganset

Bay was frozen over; and the reader will remember the faet already

mentioned, that the Bay of New York was so firmly bridged that troops

and heavy field-pieces crossed from the city to Staten Island. The

British having destroyed the trees on Rhode Island, fuel was very

scarce. It was sold in Newport for twenty dollars a cord. Food, also,

was very scarce; corn sold at four silver dollars a bushel, and potatoes

at two dollars. A tax of ten thousand dollars was levied for the relief

of the poor, and Tiverton and neighboring towns contributed generously

to their aid.--Ross's Historical Discourse, p. 59.

*** This tree stands, solitary and peerless, within a few rods of the

water. It is upon the land of Mr. Thomas R. Hazzard, and between his

fine mansion and the river. It is thirty-two feet in circumference

within twelve inches of the ground. It is yet vigorous, though storms

have riven some of its topmost branches. When I made the sketch it was

leafless, the autumn winds having defoliated it.

**** During the occupation of the island by the British, after the

retreat of Sullivan, Gates was in constant receipt of intelligence

respecting the movements of the enemy, by means of secret letters and a

sort of telegraphic communication. Lieutenant Seth Chapin employed a

woman, residing in Newport, to write down every thing of importance, and

conceal the letter in a hole in a certain rock. By setting up poles, as

if to dry clothes, and by other signals agreed upon, the lieutenant was

informed of the presence of a letter in the secret post-office, and of

perfect safety in coming to receive it. He would then row across from

the opposite shore of Little Compton, get the packet, and send it off to

Gates. After the evacuation, the lieutenant and his aids received one

thousand five hundred dollars, Continental money, for their services,

the whole amount being worth then only about seventy dollars in specie.

Return of La Fayette to France.--His Zeal and Success.--Washington

appointed Lieutenant-general by the French King

654was no marauder, and scorned to do, even under command, what Tryon,

Wallace, and Grey seemed to take great delight in.

Early in the summer of 1779 the Marquis de La Fayette obtained leave of

absence for one year, and returned to France. But this absence was not a

season of idleness among his old associates, or of forgetfulness of the

Americans on the part of La Fayette. On the contrary, the chief design

of his visit to his native country was to enlist the sympathies of his

people and government more warmly in the cause of the Americans, and to

procure for them more substantial aid than they had hitherto received.

After passing a few days with his beautiful and much loved wife, he

addressed a long letter to the Count de Vergennes, one of the French

ministers, on the subject of furnishing an army, well-appointed in every

particular, to fight in America. In making such a request, a soul less

ardent and hopeful than the youthful general's would not have perceived

the least probability of success. He was acting without instructions

from the American Congress, or even its sanction or the full approval of

Washington. It seemed but too recently that French and American troops

were battling in opposition in the Western World, to hope that they

would freely commingle, though Britons were still the foes of the

French. La Fayette, however, understood French character better than

Washington and Congress did, and he knew that success would attend the

measure. "He had that interior conviction which no argument or authority

could subdue, that the proposed expedition was practicable and'

expedient, and he succeeded in imparting his enthusiasm to the

ministers." * He was only twenty-two years old, and held a subordinate

rank in the army of his king; he, therefore, had no expectation of being

commander of any force that might be sent; his efforts were

disinterested. ** Nothing could divert him from his object, and, with a

joyful heart, he returned to America the following spring, bearing to

the patriots the glad tidings that a French squadron, with an May, 1780

army of more than four thousand men, admirably officered and equipped,

and conveying money for the United States Treasury, was about to sail

for our shores. The marquis also brought a commission from Louis XVI.

for Washington, appointing him lieutenant general of the armies of

France, and vice-admiral of its fleets. This was a wise measure, and

operated, as intended, to prevent difficulties that might arise

respecting official etiquette. It was stipulated that the French should

be considered as auxiliaries, and always cede the post of honor to the

Americans. Lieutenant-general the Count de Rochambeau, the commander of

the French expedition, was to place himself under the American

commander-inchief, and on all occasions the authority of Washington was

to be respected as supreme. This arrangement secured the best

understanding between the two armies while the allies remained in

America. ***

* Everett's Eulogy on La Fayette.

** At the request of Count de Vergennes, La Fayette drew up a statement

containing a detailed plan of the proposed expedition. It is a paper of

great interest, and exhibits genius of the highest order, of which a

general of threescore might be proud. The number and disposition of the

troops, the character of the officers proper to accompany them, the

appointments of the fleet and army, the time of embarkation, proper

place for landing, and the probable service to which the fleet and army

would be called, were all laid out with a minuteness and clearness of

detail which seemed to indicate almost an intuitive knowledge of the

future. The whole expedition was arranged in accordance with the plan of

the marquis.

*** This arrangement was conceived by La Fayette, and he made it a

fundamental point. Not content with soliciting troops for America, La

Fayette requested large supplies of clothing, guns, and ammunition for

the Republican army. They were promised, but only a part were sent. Such

was the importunity of La Fayette, and such the disinterested enthusiasm

with which he represented the wants and claims of his Republican

friends, that the old Count Maurepas, who was then prime minister, said

one day in the Council,

"It is fortunate for the king that La Fayette does not take it into his

head to strip Versailles of its furniture, to send to his dear

Americans, as his majesty would be unable to refuse it." La Fayette

purchased, on his own account, a large quantity of swords and other

military equipages, which he brought with him and presented to the

officers of the light infantry whom he commanded during the campaign.--

See Appendix to vol. vii. of Sparks's Life and Writings of Washington,

where will be found interesting documents relating to this expedition.

Good Tidings brought by La Fayette.--Their effect.--Arrival of the

Allies.--Encampment at Newport.

655Great was the joy of the American Congress produced by the tidings

brought by La Fayette, and assurance possessed the minds of that

assembly that the next campaign would secure peace and independence to

the States. Although policy forbade giving publicity to the fact that

aid from abroad was near at hand, sufficient information leaked out to

diffuse among the people pleasant hopes for the future. The return of La

Fayette was hailed with delight. Congress, by resolution, (a) testified

their satisfaction at his return, and a May 15,1780 accepted with

pleasure a tender of the further services of so gallant and meritorious

an officer. * Three days afterward Congress resolved that bills be

immediately drawn on Dr. Franklin for twenty-five thousand dollars, and

on Mr. Jay for the same amount, payable at sixty days' sight; and that

the money be applied solely to the bringing of the army into the field,

and forwarding them supplies in such a manner as the exigency and nature

of the service shall require. Also, that the States of Virginia,

Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut,

Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay, and New Hampshire, he most earnestly

called upon to pay into the Continental treasury, within thirty days,

ten millions of dollars. It was also resolved that the Legislatures,

from New Hampshire to Virginia, be requested to invest their executive

authority, or some other persons, with such powers as would enable them,

on the application of the committee at the head-quarters of the army, to

draw forth the resources of the state. ** The Carolinas and Georgia were

exempt from the requisition, because they were then bearing the heavy

burden of an active campaign within their own limits. Congress thus

began to prepare for the most energetic co-operation with the allies

when they should arrive.

The French fleet, under the command of Admiral de Ternay, sailed from

Brest early in April, and appeared off the coast of Virginia on the 4th

of July. ** On the evening of the 10th it entered Newport harbor, on

which occasion the town was brilliantly illuminated, and every

demonstration of joy was made by the inhabitants. General Heath, then in

command on Rhode Island, was present to receive Rochambeau and his

troops on landing, and to put them in possession of the batteries upon

the island. On the 24th, the General Assembly, then in session,

presented complimentary addresses to Rochambeau and Ternay; and General

Washington, having heard of their arrival, recommended, in general

orders at his camp in the Hudson Highlands, to the officers of the

American army, to wear cockades of black and white--the ground being of

the first color, and the relief of the second--as a compliment to, and a

symbol of friendship and affection for their allies. **** The American

cockade, at that time, was black; the French white.

As soon as intelligence was received of the arrival of the allies, La

Fayette set out for Newport, under instructions from Washington, to

concert measures with Rochambeau for future operations. The French

troops were pleasantly encamped southeast of Newport, but they were not

suffered to remain quiet. When intelligence of the sailing of Ternay

from Brest reached the British cabinet, they dispatched Admiral Graves,

with six ships of the line, to re-enforce Admiral Arbuthnot, the

successor of Byron, then commanding the squadron on the American coast.

Graves arrived at New York three days after Ternay entered New-1780.

* Journals of Congress, vi., 49. While in France, La Fayette was

presented with an elegant sword, prepared there under the directions of

Franklin, by order of Congress. Franklin sent it to the marquis from

Passy, by his grandson. An account of this sword, and drawings will be

found on page 119, vol. ii.

** Journals of Congress, vi., 50, 51.

*** The fleet consisted of two ships of eighty guns each, one of

seventy-four, four of sixty-four, two frigates cf forty, a cutter of

twenty, a hospital-ship, pierced for sixty-four, a bomb-ship, and

thirty-two transports. The land forces consisted of four regiments, a

battalion of artillery, and the legion of the Duke de Lauzun, amounting

in all to about six thousand men.

**** Thacher, p. 200. Gordon, iii., 65.

British Blockade of Narraganset Bay.--Clinton's Expedition.--Death of

Temay.--Washington in Newport

July 13, 1780656port harbor. The English fleet, now stronger than the

French, proceeded immediately to attempt a blockade of the latter in

Narraganset Bay. On the 19th, four British ships, the advance sail of

the fleet rendezvousing at Block Island, appeared off Newport. The next

morning, as soon as the wind would permit, three French frigates went in

pursuit of them, but, falling in with nine or ten ships of the enemy

that were approaching, made sail for the harbor, under full chase.

Intelligence was received that General Clinton, lately returned to New

York from the South, was preparing to proceed in person, with a large

part of his army, to attack Rhode Island. Menaced by sea and land,

General Heath called earnestly upon Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and

Connecticut for troops, and his requisition was promptly complied with,

so promptly, that, before any enemy appeared, the allied forces felt

quite competent to oppose the largest army that Clinton could possibly

bring into the field. Sir Henry actually sailed from New York with eight

thousand troops, but proceeded no further than Huntington Bay, in Long

Island Sound. Informed there of the fortified position of the French at

Newport, the rapid gathering of the militia, and the approach of

Washington toward New York City, Clinton abandoned the expedition and

returned to his head-quarters.

While these events were taking place on our coast, the French and

English fleets were striving for the mastery in the West Indies. The

former was commanded by Admiral de Guichen, the latter by Admiral

Rodney. It was the understanding when Ternay and Rochambeau left France,

that they were to be joined at Rhode Island by the squadron of De

Guichen. Events unforeseen prevented this junction. The arrival of

Rodney at St. Lucie, and subsequent maneuvers and encounters, detained

De Guichen in the West Indies until July; and five days before Ternay

arrived at Newport, De Guichen left St. Domingo July 5 for Europe his

ships having suffered greatly in the engagements, and the land troops

which they carried having been terribly diminished by sickness. The

failure of this co-operation, the great number of invalids among the

French troops at Newport, and the expectation of an attack there, or an

attempt to blockade the squadron, made it inexpedient to break up the

encampment on Rhode Island and attempt any operations at a distance. It

was concluded to pass the winter there. Lauzun and his legion, as we

have seen, were cantoned at Lebanon, in Connecticut. Three thousand five

hundred militia were kept under arms at Newport, to assist in guarding

the French squadron, and the allies became a burden, rather than an aid,

to the Americans. The conference between Washington and Rochambeau, and

the final departure of the French troops in 1781, to form a junction

with the American army on the Hudson, have been noticed on page 436.

The Chevalier de Ternay died at Newport soon after the arrival of the

fleet, and was buried with distinguished honors in Trinity Church-yard,

where a slab was afterward erected March, 1781 to his memory. Admiral de

Barras succeeded him in command early in the following Spring, about

which time Washington arrived at Newport, and held a conference with

Rochambeau. The town was illuminated on the occasion of his visit, and

from that time until the departure of the allies, quiet prevailed on

Rhode Island. Active military operations ceased there, and, until the

close of the war, the people were undisturbed, except by occasional

menaces from English vessels in pursuit of American privateers, of which

a large number hailed from Narraganset Bay, or made its waters their

place of refuge when in danger upon the coast. * Newport suffered

terribly during the war. Its population of eleven thousand in 1774, was

reduced to about six thousand in 1782; and, according to an

* It is believed that Newport furnished more seamen for the naval

service of the United States during the Revolution than any other port

on the continent, except Boston. At least one thousand men were shipped

for service in the navy from that port, one half of whom fell into the

hands of the enemy and died in prison-ships. The naval commanders in the

war who belonged to Rhode Island were John Grimes, Benjamin Pierce,

Joseph Gardiner, William Dennis, James Godfred, Remembrance Simmons,

Thomas Stacy, Oliver Read, Captain Bently, Samuel Jeffers, John

Coggeshall, William Finch, Captain Jaques, James Phillips, Ezekiel

Burroughs, John Murphy, Isaac Frabor, William Ladd, Joseph Sheffield,

and Captain Gazzec. These either sailed from Newport previous to its

possession by the enemy, or subsequently from other ports of New

England.--Ross, page 62. Silas Talbot, also, belonged to Rhode Island.

Property destroyed in Newport.--Ride to Butte's Hill.--Hospitality.--

Fort on Butts's Hill.--View of the Battle-ground.

657estimate of a committee of the General Assembly, appointed for the

purpose, the value of private property destroyed was six hundred and

twenty-four thousand dollars, silver money.

The sun has gone down behind Conannicut and the hills of the Narraganset

country; the broad sails of the wind-mills are still; the voices of the

milkers come up from the neighboring farm-yard, and twilight is

spreading its mysterious veil over the bay, the islands, and the ocean.

Let us descend from our observatory on the hill of Miantonômoh and

return to the city, and in the morning visit the places hallowed by

events just viewed in the speculum of history.

The morning of the 23d was cold and blustering; the ground was hard

frozen; October, 1848 ice covered the surface of the pools, and the

north wind was as keen as the breath of December. I started early in a

light rockaway for the battle-ground at the north end of the island,

making a brief call on the way (or, rather, out of the way) upon Mr.

Nathaniel Greene, a grandson of the eminent general of the Revolution

who bore that name. He resides about three miles above Newport, and

kindly furnished me with explicit directions respecting the localities I

was about to visit. About a mile north of his estate I came to the head-

quarters of Prescott, printed on page 76, which I sketched in haste, for

my fingers were too soon benumbed with cold to hold the pencil expertly.

Twelve miles from Newport I came to the residence of Mr. Anthony, which

is, I believe, the "Brindley House" in the picture on page 83. An

introductory line from his brother, David Anthony, Esq., was a key to

his generous hospitality; and after accompanying me to the top of

Butts's Hill, and pointing out the places of interest included in the

view from its summit, he kindly invited me to dine with him when my

sketching should be finished, an invitation heartily accepted, for a

ride of twelve miles in the cold morning air was a whetstone to my

usually good appetite.

The remains of the old fort on Butts's Hill, the embankments and fosse,

with traces of the hastily-constructed ravelins, are well preserved.

Even the ruts made by the carriage-wheels of the cannons, at the

embrasures (for the ordnance was composed of field-pieces), were

visible. The banks, in some places, are twenty feet high, measuring from

the bottom of the fossé. Fortunately for the antiquary, the works were

constructed chiefly upon a rocky ledge, and the plow can win no treasure

there; the banks were earth, and afford no quarry for wall builders, and

so the elements alone have lowered the ramparts and filled the ditches.

Southward from this eminence, I had a fine view of Quaker and Turkey

Hills--indeed, of the whole battle-ground. Sitting upon the exterior

slope of the southern parapet, and sheltered from the wind by a clump of

bushes and the remains of one of the bastions, I sketched the above

view, which includes all the essential portions of the field of

conflict. The eminence in the center, on which stands a 'wind-mill, is

Quaker Hill; that on the right is Turkey Hill, on the northern slope of

which is seen the west road. In the hollow at the foot of these hills

the hottest of the battle was waged. On the left is seen the little

village of Newton, beyond which is the Eastern or Seaconet Channel,

stretching away to the ocean, and bounded on the left by the cultivated

slopes of Little Compton. The undulations in the foreground are the

embankments of the fort.

North View from Butts's Hill.--The Narraganset Country.--Masaasoit and

his Sons.--King Philip.

658Northward the view is more extensive, and in some respects more

interesting. The houses near the center of the picture mark the site of

the old Bristol ferry, over which the Americans, under Sullivan,

retreated to the main land.

A little to the left, lying upon the cast shore of the Narraganset, was

Bristol; beyond was a glimpse of Warren; and in the far distance,

directly over the steam-boat seen in the picture, the church spires of

Providence were visible. On the right the high promontory of Mount Hope

loomed up; and turning eastward, beyond the limits of the sketch, stood

Tiverton and its old stone bridge, already mentioned. I could find no

sheltered nook in making the sketch; upon the bleak summit of the hill I

plied the pencil, until I could hold it no longer; but the drawing was

finished.

From this eminence the vision takes in some of the most interesting

portions of the Narraganset country and of the domains of Massasoit, the

fast friend of the English. There were old Pocasset and Pokanoket, and,

more conspicuous and interesting than all, was Mount Hope, the royal

seat of King Philip, the last of the Wampanoags. It is too cold to turn

the leaves of the chronicle here; let us wrap our cloaks around us, and,

while gazing upon the beautiful land over which that great sachem held

sway, read the records upon the tablets of memory, brief but

interesting, concerning "King Philip's War."

"'Tis good to muse on nations pass'd away

Forever from the land we call our own;

Nations as proud and mighty in their day,

Who deem'd that everlasting was their throne.

An age went by, and they no more were known!

Sublimer sadness will the mind control,

Listening time's deep and melancholy moan;

And meaner griefs will less disturb the soul;

And human pride falls low at human grandeur's goal."

Robert C. Sands.

We have observed how Massasoit, the sagamore of the Wampanoags, whose

dominions extended from Narraganset Bay to that of Massachusetts,

presenting the hand of friendship and protection to the white settlers,

remained faithful while he lived. His residence was near Warren, on the

east side of the Narraganset; and so greatly was his friendship prized

by the Pilgrim Fathers, that Winslow and others made a long journey to

visit him when a March, 1623 dangerously ill. (a ) Recovering, he

entered into a solemn league of friendship with the whites, and

faithfully observed it until his death, which occurred thirty-two b 1655

years afterward. (b) Alexander, his eldest son, succeeded him, and gave

promise of equal attachment to the whites; but his rule was short; he

died two years after the death of his father, and his brother *

Pometacom or Metacomet, better known as King Philip, became the head of

his nation. He was a bold, powerful-minded warrior, and al-

* Bancroft and Hildreth say nephew. Earlier historians disagree. Prince

and Trumbull say he was grandson to Massasoit, and Hutchinson and

Belknap call him his son. Governor Prince, it is said, named Alexander

and Philip after the great Macedonians, in compliment to Massasoit,

indicating his idea of their character as warriors. They were doubtless

sons of Massasoit.

Jealousy of King Philip.--Treaties with the Whites.--Curtailment of his

Domains.--His chief Captains.--John Eliot.

1662.659ready his keen perception gave him uneasiness respecting the

fate of his race.

Year after year the progress of settlement had curtailed the broad

domains of the Wampanoags, until now they possessed little more than the

narrow tongues of land at Pocanoket and Poeas-set, now Bristol and

Tiverton yet Philip renewed the treaties made with Massasoit, and kept

them faithfully a dozen years; but spreading settlements, reducing his

domains acre by acre, breaking up his hunting-grounds, diminishing the

abundance of his fisheries, and menacing his nation with the fate of the

landless, stirred up his savage patriotism, and made him resolve to

sever the ties that bound him, with fatal alliance, to his enemies. His

residence was at Mount Hope; and there, in the solitude of the primeval

forest, he ealled his warriors around him and planned with consummate

skill, an alliance of all the New England tribes against the European

intruders. *

For years the pious Eliot *** had been preaching the gospel among the

New England tribes;

* The number of Indians in New England at that time has been variously

estimated. Dr. Trumbull, in his History of the United States (i., 36),

supposes that there were thirty-six thousand in all, one third of whom

were warriors. Hutchinson (i., 406) estimates the fighting men of the

Narragansets alone at two thousand. Hinckley says the number of Indians

in Plymouth county in 1685, ten years after Philip's war, was four

thousand. Church, in his History of King Philip's War, published in

Boston in 1716, estimated the number of Indian warriors in New England,

in the commencement of that war, at ten thousand. Bancroft (ii., 94)

says there were probably fifty thousand whites and hardly twenty-five

thousand Indians in New England, west of the Piscataqua; while east of

that stream, in Maine, were about four thousand whites and more than

that number of red men.

** I copied this and the annexed marks of Philip's chief captains, from

an original mortgage given by the sachem, to Constant Southworth, on

land four miles square, lying south of Taunton. The mortgage is dated

October 1, 1672. It was drawn up by Thomas Leonard, and is signed by

himself, Constant Southworth, and Hugh Cole. It was acknowledged before,

and signed by, John Alden. * This interesting document is in the

possession of that intelligent antiquary, S. G. Drake, Esq., of Boston,

to whose kindness I am indebted for these signatures. No. 1 is the sign

of Munashum, alias Nimrod; No. 2, of Wonckom-pawhan; No. 3, of Captain

Annawan, the "next man to Philip," or his chief warrior.

*** John Eliot, usually called the Apostle of the Indians, was minister

of Roxbury, Massachusetts. He was born in Essex county, England, in

1604, and came to America in 1631. Educated thoroughly at Cambridge

University, he soon obtained great influence among the settlers. Touched

by the ignorance of the Indians respecting spiritual things, his heart

yearned to do them good, and for many years he labored assiduously among

them, with great success. He founded, at Natick, the first Indian church

in America, in 1660. The next year he published the New Testament in the

Indian language, and in a few years the whole Bible and other books. He

died May 20th, 1690, aged about eighty-six. The venerable apostle was

buried in the Ministers' Tomb ** in the first burying-ground at Roxbury,

which is situated on the east side of the great avenue across the Neck

to Boston. The residence of Eliot was opposite the house of Governor

Thomas Dudley, on the other side of the brook. Dudley's mansion was

taken down in 1775, and a redoubt was erected upon the spot. The site is

now occupied by the Universalist church. Reverend Dr. Putnam, of

Roxbury, is the fifth pastoral successor of the apostle in the first

church. The remains of his predecessors all lie in the Ministers' Tomb.

The commissioners of the Forest Hills Cemetery have designated the

heights on its western border as the Eliot Hills, and there the citizens

of Roxbury are about to erect a beautiful monument to the memory of the

apostle, Daniel Gookin, whose signature is given above, was the friend

of, and a zealous co-worker with, Mr. Eliot. He came to Virginia, from

England, in 1621. He went to Massachusetts with his family in 1644, and

settled in Cambridge. He was soon called to fill civil and military

offices, and in 1652 was appointed superintendent of the Indians. This

office he held until his death, in 1687, at the age of seventy-five

years. Gookin wrote an historical account of the New England Indians,

and was the firm friend of the red man through life. His remains are in

the old burying-ground at Cambridge. Lieutenant Gookin of our

Revolutionary army was his lineal descendant.

* Alden was a passenger in the May Flower, and one of the immortal

forty-one who signed the instrument of civil government, given on pages

437 and 438, vol. I, of this work, where also is the signature of

Southworth.

** In 1724-5, a citizen of Roxbury, named William Bowen, was made

prisoner by the Turks. The people of his town raised a sum of money

sufficient for his ransom. Before it could be applied they received

intelligence of his det±. The money was then appropriated to the

building of a tomb for the ministers of the church.

Enlightenment of the Indians.--Sassamon.--Rising of the New England

Tribes.--Daniel Gookin.

660no pains were spared to teach them to read and write; and in a short

time a larger proportion of the Massachusetts Indians could do so than,

recently, of the inhabitants of "Russia. * Churches were gathered among

the natives; and when Philip lifted the hatchet, there were four hundred

"praying Indians," as the converts were called, who were firmly attached

to the whites; yet Christianity hardly spread beyond the Indians on Cape

Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket, and the seven feeble villages

around Boston. Philip, like Red Jacket of our days, opposed meddling

with the religion of his fathers, and, two years before the war, boldly

and openly, at the head of seven hundred warriors, boasted of his own

and their attachment to the ancient belief.

A "praying Indian" named John Sassamon, who had been educated at

Cambridge, and employed as a teacher, had fled to Philip on account of

some misdemeanor, and became a sort of secretary to the sachem. Being

persuaded to return to the whites, he accused Philip of meditated

treason. For this he was waylaid by the savages, and slain. Three of

Philip's men, suspected of the murder, were tried by a jury of half

English and half Indians, convicted, and hanged. The evidence on which

they were convicted was slender, and the Wampanoags were greatly

irritated. Philip was cautious; his warriors were impetuous. Overruled

by their importunities, and goaded by a remembrance of the wrongs and

humiliations he had suffered from the English, ** he trampled solemn

treaties beneath his feet, and lighted the flame of war. Messengers were

sent to other tribes, to arouse them to co-operation, and, with all the

power of Indian eloquence, Metacomet exhorted his followers to curse the

white men, and swear eternal hostility to the pale faces.

"Away! away! I will not hear

Of aught but death or vengeance now;

By the eternal skies I swear

My knee shall never learn to bow!

I will not hear a word of peace,

Nor clasp in friendly grasp a hand

Link'd to the pale-brow'd stranger race,

That work the ruin of our land.

* Bancroft, ii., 94.

** In 1671, Philip was suspected of secret plottings against the

English, and, notwithstanding his asseverations to the contrary, was

ordered to give up his fire-arms to the whites. This was a fortunate

occurrence for the English; for, had the Indians possessed those arms in

the war that ensued, their defeat would have been doubtful.

Philip's Appeal.--Condition of the Indians.--Commencement of

Hostilities.--Canonchet.--Mather's Magnalia.

661

"Before their coming, we had ranged

Our forests and our uplands free;

Still let us keep unsold, unchanged,

The heritage of Liberty.

As free as roll the chainless streams,

Still let us roam our ancient woods;

As free as break the morning beams,

That light our mountain solitudes.

"Touch not the hand they stretch to you;

The falsely-profferd cup put by;

Will you believe a coward true?

Or taste the poison'd draught, to die?

Their friendship is a lurking snare;

Their honor but an idle breath;

Their smile the smile that traitors wear;

Their love is hate, their life is death.

"And till your last white foe shall kneel,

And in his coward pangs expire--

Sleep--but to dream of brand and steel;

Wake--but to deal in blood and fire."

C. Sherry.

Although fierce and determined when once aroused, no doubt Philip was

hurried into this war against his best judgment and feelings, for his

sagacity must have forewarned him of failure. The English were well

armed and provisioned; the Indians had few guns, and their subsistence

was precarious. "Phrensy prompted their rising. It was but the storm in

which the ancient inhabitants of the land were to vanish away. They rose

without hope, and therefore they fought without mercy. For them as a

nation there was no to-morrow."

Bancroft has given a condensed, yet perspicuous and brilliant narrative

of this war. "The minds of the English," he says, "were appalled by the

horrors of the impending conflict, and superstition indulged in its wild

inventions. At the time of the eclipse of the moon, you might have seen

the figure of an Indian scalp imprinted on the center of its disk. The

perfect form of an Indian bow appeared in the sky. The sighing of the

wind was like the whistling of bullets. Some distinctly heard invisible

troops of horses gallop through the air, while others formed the

prophecy of calamities in the howling of the wolves. **

"At the very beginning of danger, the colonists exerted their wonted

energy. Volunteers from Massachusetts joined the troops from Plymouth,

and, within a week from the commencement of hostilities, the insulated

Pokanokets were driven from Mount Hope, and January 29, 1675 in less

than a month Philip was a fugitive among the Nipmucks, the interior

tribes of Massachusetts. The little army of the colonists then entered

the territory of the Narragansets, and from the reluctant tribe extorted

a treaty of neutrality, with a promise to give up every hostile Indian.

Victory seemed promptly assured; but it was only the commencement of

horrors. Canonchet, the chief sachem of the Narragansets, was the son of

Miantonômoh; and could he forget his father's wrongs? And would the

tribes of New England permit the nation that had first given a welcome

to the English to perish unavenged? Desolation extended along the whole

frontier. Banished from his patrimony,

* Bancroft, ii., 101.

** Cotton Mather, in his Magnalia, ii., 486, says, "Yea, and now we

speak of things ominous, we may add, some time before this [the

execution of three Indians for the murder of Sassamon], in a clear,

still, sunshiny morning, there were divers persons who heard in the air,

on the southeast of them, a great gun go off, and presently thereupon

the report of small guns, like musket shot, very thick discharging, as

if there had been a battle. This was at a time when there was nothing

visible done in any part of the colony to occasion such noises; but that

which most of all astonished them was the flying of bullets, which came

singing over their heads [beetles? See page 574, vol. i.], and seemed

very near to them; after which the sound of drums, passing along

westward, was very audible; and on the same day, in Plymouth colony, in

several places, invisible troops of horse were heard riding to and fro."

No credence is to be attached to this book of Mather's.

Indian Method of Warfare.--Destruction of New England Villages.--

Terrible Retaliation by the Whites.

662where the Pilgrims found a friend, and from his cabin, which had

sheltered the exiles, Philip and his warriors spread through the

country, arousing their brethren to a warfare of extermination.

"The war, on the part of the Indians, was one of ambush and surprise.

They never once met the English in open field; but always, even if

eight-fold in number, fled timorously before infantry. But they were

secret as beasts of prey, skillful marksmen, and in part provided with

fire-arms, fleet of foot, conversant with all the paths of the forest,

patient of fatigue, mad with passion for rapine, vengeance, and

destruction, retreating into swamps for their fastnesses, or hiding in

the green-wood thickets, where the leaves muffled the eyes of the

pursuers. By the rapidity of their descent, they seemed omnipotent among

the scattered villages, which they ravaged like a passing storm; and for

a full year they kept all New England in a state of terror and

excitement. The exploring party was waylaid and cut off, and the mangled

carcasses and disjointed limbs of the dead were hung upon the trees to

terrify pursuers. The laborer in the field, the reapers as they went

forth to harvest, men as they went to mill, the shepherd's boy among the

sheep, were shot down by skulking foes, whose approach was invisible.

Who can tell the heavy hours of woman? The mother, if left alone in the

house, feared the tomahawk for herself and children; on the sudden

attack, the husband would fly with one child, the wife with another, and

perhaps only one escape; the village cavalcade, making its way to

meeting on Sunday, in files on horseback, the farmer holding the bridle

in one hand and a child in the other, his wife seated on a pillion.

behind him, it may be with a child in her lap, as was the fashion of

those days, could not proceed safely; but, at the moment when least

expected, bullets would whiz among them, discharged with fatal aim from

an ambuscade by the wayside. The red men hung upon the skirts of the

English villages 'like the lightning on the edge of the clouds.'

"What need of repeating the same tale of horrors? Brookfield was set on

a August 12 fire, (a) rescued only to be abandoned. Deerfield was

burned. (b) Hadley b September 11 surprised during a time of religious

service, * was saved only by the daring of Goffe, the regicide, now

bowed with years, a heavenly messenger of rescue, who darted from his

hiding-place, rallied the disheartened, and, having achieved a safe

defense, sank away in his retirement, to be no more seen. The plains of

Northfield were wet with the blood of a September 23 Beers (a) and

twenty of his valiant associates. Lathrop's company of young men, the

very flower of Essex, culled out of the towns of that county, were b

September 28. butchered; (b) hardly a white man escaped; and the little

stream whose channel became red with their life currents, is called

Bloody Brook to this day."

The Narragansets played false to the white men, and in winter sheltered

the foe that wasted their settlements. It was resolved to treat them as

enemies, and through the deep snows of December, a thousand men, levied

by the united colonies, marched to the great fort of the tribe. ** Its

feeble palisades quickly yielded, and fire and sword soon "swept away

the humble glories of the Narragansets. Their winter stores, their

wigwams, and all the little comforts of savage life, were destroyed; and

more, their old men, their women, their babes, perished by hundreds in

the fire." ** It was a terrible blow for the Indians. Cold, hunger, and

disease followed, and were the powerful allies of the English in the

decimation of the tribe. Yet Canonchet did not despair, and he fought

gallantly, until, being taken prisoner by the English, he was put to

death.

In the spring, the spirit of revenge and retaliation began its work.

Weymouth, Groton, Medfield, Lancaster, and Marlborough, in

Massachusetts, were laid in ashes;

* See page 420, of this vol.

** The fort was situated upon an island containing four or five acres,

imbosomed in a swamp. The island was encompassed by high and strong

palisades, with abatis outside, and there three thousand of the

Narragansets were collected to pass the winter. This swamp is a short

distance southwest of Kingston village, in the township of Kingston,

Washington county, Rhode Island. The Stonington and Providence rail-way

passes along the northern verge of the swamp.

*** Bancroft, ii., 105.