The Military Journals of Two Private Soldiers, 1758 1775
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Abraham Tomlinson >> The Military Journals of Two Private Soldiers, 1758 1775
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the 2. their was Some gentlemen and Laidies came down from Wrentham
and they went to cambridg.
the 3. It was a very rainy day and we went to childses and had an old
fudg fairyouwell my friends.
the 4. Nothing remarkable hapned this day onely the gentry went home
to Wrentham.
the 5. Being the memorial 5th of novem. the enemy fired from every
Ship in the harbour nothing more remarkable this day.
the 6. Nothing remarkable hapned this day.
the 7. Their was a vendue opened att this house and their was not Less
than a hundred and twenty Dollars worth of things vendued and sold at
private sale and Swapt.
the 8. Nothing remarkable hapned this day that I know of.
the 9. Nothing remarkable hapned this day that is worth
amentioning.[177]
[Footnote 177: On this day there was quite a severe
skirmish occurred at Lechmere's point, now
Cambridgeport.]
the 10. This day I went home upon furlow,[178] yesterday Sergent Yett
went home.
[Footnote 178: That is, a written permission from
his commanding officer, to leave for a specified
time.]
the 11. I went to captain whitings and nothing remarkable hapned.
the 12. Being Sunday I went to meting Nothing more this day.
the 13. This day the Long faced People trained at Wrentham and Serg
Felt went upon the piquet and fired several times upon the centrys.
the 14. This day I came down from Wrentham with Serg Felt and at
night their was three men deserted from the floating Battery this day
we had a Lottery and Serg Foster drawd a pair of Breeches[179] worth 5
Dollars and their was considerable other tradeing caried on at night
their was 8 men more deserted.
[Footnote 179: At that time leather breeches were
much in vogue, because they were durable. The more
costly ones of buckskin were worn only by
officers.]
the 16. Nothing remarkable hapned captain Pond Listed three or four
men for the next campaign[180] att night it was very cold.
[Footnote 180: Late in October a new organization
of the army took place, and enlistments for a
certain term were commenced. Hitherto there had
been great confusion in the matter. The army had
gathered around Boston from sudden impulse, and it
was continually changing. The excitement which had
brought them together had in a measure subsided,
and enlistments went on slowly. After a month's
exertions, only five thousand names were enrolled;
and Washington, lamenting the dearth of public
spirit, almost despaired. Alluding to the
selfishness exhibited in camp, he says: "Such
stock-jobbing and fertility in all low arts, to
obtain advantages of one kind and another, I never
saw before, and pray God I may never witness
again."]
the 17. Very blustering and their was a man Whipt thirty and nine
Lashes for Stealing and getting Drunk and running away and afterwards
he was drummed out of the camps thus he &c.
the 18. Nothing remarkable hapned this day that I know of.
the 19. This day being Sunday it was very pleasant and we had
Preaching Nothing more this day.
the 20. This day nothing very remarkable at night their was a regular
deserted and Swam over to Dorchester and escaped.
the 21. This day Nothing very remarkable this day the piquet was made
easier by half &c. &c.
the 22. To morrow is thanksgiveing this day ended without any thing
remarkable.
the 23. Being thanksgiveing I went with Serg Felt up to newtown and
kept thanksgiveing their and returnd to our Barricks at night and we
had not ben a bed long when our captain came to us and ordered us all
to Lye upon our arms by order of General Washington Lesemo[181] of the
American Army incampt at cambridg and roxbury and other places[182]
nothing more this day that I know of onely 2 regulars deserted at
night on cambridg side.[183]
[Footnote 181: Generalissimo.]
[Footnote 182: On the previous day, General Putnam,
with a strong detachment, broke ground at Cobble
hill, where the M'Lean Asylum now stands. The
object was to erect batteries for the purpose of
cannonading Boston. It was expected the British
troops would sally out of the city and attack them,
and that expectation caused Washington to issue the
order for _all_ the troops to be ready for action
at a moment's warning.]
[Footnote 183: Frothingham says, "Two British
sentinels came off in the night to the detachment"
of General Putnam.]
the 24. Nothing hapned very remarkable this day that I know of.
the 25. This morning Captain Pond inlisted several men for the next
campaign; o you nasty Sloven how your Book Looks.[184]
[Footnote 184: This remark refers to several blots
of ink which disfigure the page of his Journal on
which he was writing.]
the 26. Being Sunday it was Stormy Nothing remarkable this day.
the 27. Nothing very remarkable hapned this day.
the 28. Nothing very Strange onely Peperiss curacle came out of Boston
that old tory Dog.
the 29. Nothing remarkable onely one of our Privateers took a prize
richly Laden.[185]
[Footnote 185: That was the British storeship
_Nancy_, captured off Cape Anne, and carried into
that harbor, by Captain John Manly, commander of
the American armed schooner _Lee_, one of the six
vessels fitted out at Boston under the direction of
Washington, before Congress had yet taken any
measures to establish a navy. So valuable were the
stores of the _Nancy_, that Washington supposed
General Howe would immediately make efforts to
recover her, and he had an armed force sent to Cape
Anne to secure them. There were two thousand
muskets, one hundred thousand flints, thirty
thousand round shot for one, six, and twelve
pounders, over thirty thousand musket-shot, and a
thirteen-inch brass mortar that weighed
twenty-seven hundred pounds. The arrival of these
produced great joy in the camp. Colonel Moylan,
describing the scene, says: "Old PUT [General
Putnam] was mounted on the mortar, with a bottle of
rum in his hand, standing parson to christen, while
god-father Mifflin [afterward General Mifflin] gave
it the name of _Congress_."
On the 29th of November, Washington commenced
planting a bomb-battery on Lechmere's point, with
the intention of bombarding the British works on
Bunker hill. They completed it in the course of a
few days, entirely unmolested.]
the 30. Nothing extreordenary this day that I know of.
DECEMBER.
the 1. Nothing remarkable this day.
the 2. This day I with a number of rispectable gentlemen went[186]....
[Footnote 186: The author did not expect to have
his Journal published, or he would have omitted the
entry here made. There seems nothing in it
derogatory to his character, yet he has chosen
words to express his thoughts not suited "to ears
polite."]
the 3. Being Sunday it rained nothing remarkable hapned this day.
the 4. Nothing remarkable hapnd this day at night we were ordered to
Ly upon our arms.[187]
[Footnote 187: Washington was now in hourly
expectation of an attack from the British, and,
knowing his own weakness, he considered his
situation very critical. In vigilance alone seemed
a security for safety.]
the 5. Nothing Strange hapned this day.
the 6. Nothing comical this day only their was considerable of
tradeing caryd on.[188]
[Footnote 188: The Yankee love of trade and barter
appears to have been very prevalent in the camp.]
the 7. This day nothing Strang.
the 8. This day I with several more inlisted for the year 1776 under
captain Oliver Pond.
the 9. Nothing remarkable this day.
the 10. This day the Long faced People[189] arived here from wrentham
and other places.
[Footnote 189: New militia recruits from the
country, who had never seen service.]
the 11. This day I past muster before general Spencer[190] nothing
more this day.
[Footnote 190: General Joseph Spencer, of East
Haddam, Connecticut. He remained in service until
1778, when he resigned, left the army, and became a
member of Congress. He held rank next to Putnam in
the army at Boston. He died in 1789, at the age of
seventy years.]
the 12. This day it was very cold and the melitia had to mount guard
that is good for them.
the 13. This day I went to cambridg and viewed the works on
copple[191] hill.[192]
[Footnote 191: Cobble.]
[Footnote 192: These, it is said, were the most
perfect of any of the fortifications raised around
Boston at that time.]
the 14. This day I went to Watertown[193] with Lieutenant Bacon and a
number of others in order to get some coats but we could not find any
that suited us and so we returned.[194]
[Footnote 193. Seven miles northwest from Boston.
It was then the seat of the revolutionary
government in Massachusetts.]
[Footnote 194: Washington issued a notice, on the
28th of October, that tailors would be employed to
make coats for those who wished them.]
the 15. This day nothing very remarkable.
the 16. This day nothing strange at night their was an atempt made to
blow up A Ship but it failed also this night we heard that Quebeck was
taken.[195]
[Footnote 195: This was a mistake. On the 13th of
September, Colonel Benedict Arnold left Cambridge
with a detachment to cross the country by the way
of the Kennebec, to invade Canada and capture
Quebec. Arnold's army suffered terribly on the
march, and arrived at Point Levi, opposite Quebec,
on the 9th of November, and prepared to attack the
city. He was obliged to postpone his attack, and
Quebec never fell into the hands of the patriots.]
the 17. Being Sunday it was foul weather nothing remarkable hapned
this day onely the enemy fired at our men on Lechmers[196] Point and
wounded one and our men returned the fire from copple hill.
[Footnote 196: Lechmere's.]
the 18. This day the Ship moved out of the Bay and the Enemy threw
Bombs from mount Hoordom[197] but did no Damage.
[Footnote 197: A nickname given to Bunker's hill.]
the 19. This day nothing remarkable hapned.
the 20. Nothing strange this day.
the 21. This day it was very cold nothing strange this day.
the 22. Nothing remarkable this day.
the 23. Nothing strange this day.
the 24. Ditto Ditto Ditto.
the 25. Good.
the 26. Very cold this day nothing remarkable this day.
the 27. Nothing remarkable to day.
the 28. Nothing strange this day.
the 29. Nothing strange this day Last Night our men made an atempt to
take Bunker hill but their Scheem was frustrated &c.[198]
[Footnote 198: On the night of the 28th, an
unsuccessful attempt was made to surprise the
British outposts on Charlestown neck, and then to
attack the enemy on Bunker's hill. The Americans
started to cross from Cobble hill, on the ice. One
of the men slipped and fell when they were half way
across, and his gun went off. This alarmed the
British, and they were on their guard. It was
computed that, from the burning of Charlestown, on
the 17th of June, until Christmas day, the British
had fired more than two thousand shot and shells.
They hurled more than three hundred bombshells at
Plowed hill, and one hundred at Lechmere's point.
Gordon says that, with all this waste of metal,
they "killed only seven men on the Cambridge side,
and just a dozen on the Roxbury side."]
the 30, 31. Nothing remarkable.
JANUARY.
the 1. A Happy new year 1776 Behold the man three score and ten upon a
Dying Bed he'se run his race and get no Grace and Awful Sight indeed
Nothing very remarkable this 1 day of January 1776 Anoquedomina.[199]
[Footnote 199: Anno Domini.]
the 2. Nothing strange this day.
the 3. 20 men out of each Regement in Roxbury side to cut
fachines[200] I believe we have it by and by.
[Footnote 200: Fascines.]
the 4. Nothing remarkable this day.
the 5-7. Nothing strange.
the 8. At night some of our brave heroick Americans went Past the
Enemys Brest Work at Bunker hill and burnt several housen at the foot
of Bunker hill and took 5 men and 1 woman Prisoners and came of as far
as copple hill when the flames began to extend and the enemy that were
in the fort perceiving a number of men gather round the fire &
suposing them to be our men they kept up a bright fire for the space
of near half an hour upon their own men devillightfooly[201]
they[202]....
[Footnote 201: Delightfully.]
[Footnote 202: When Charlestown was burned,
fourteen houses escaped the flames. These were
occupied by the British; and, on the 8th of
January, General Putnam sent Major Knowlton
(afterward killed at Harlem), with a small party,
to set those houses on fire. The affair was
injudiciously managed, and, before all could be
fired, the flames of one alarmed the British in the
fort. They discharged cannons and small-arms in all
directions, in their confusion and affright. At
that moment a play, called "The Blockade of
Boston," written for the occasion by General
Burgoyne, was in course of performance in the city.
In the midst of the scene in which Washington was
burlesqued, a sergeant dashed into the theatre and
exclaimed, "The Yankees are attacking Bunker's
hill!" The audience thought it was part of the
play, until General Howe said, "Officers, to your
alarm-posts!" Then women shrieked and fainted, and
the people rushed to the streets in great
confusion.]
the 9. Nothing remarkable this day.
the 10. Nothing very remarkable this day it was very cold.
the 11. Nothing very remarkable this day.
the 12. All furlows stopt this day.
the 13. Nothing strange this day.
the 14. Being Sunday nothing remarkable this day.
the 15. This day we heard that the regulars had taken Providence and
burnt all the housen except two.[203]
[Footnote 203: Sir James Wallace commanded a small
British flotilla in Narraganset bay, during the
summer and autumn of 1775. He was really a
commissioned pirate, for he burnt and plundered
dwellings, and stores, and plantations, wherever he
pleased. The fact above alluded to was the plunder
and destruction of the houses on the beautiful
island of Providence (not the town of Providence)
by that marauder, at the close of November, 1775.
He also desolated Connanicut island, opposite
Newport; and every American vessel that entered
that harbor was seized and sent to Boston.]
the 16. Nothing remarkable hapened this day at night we were all
ordered to Ly upon our arms.
the 17. This day we had the disagreeable news that our men were
defeated that went to Quebeck and that General montgomery and colonel
Arnold were either killed or taken Prisoners but we Pray God thy news
may prove falce[204] at night it was thought their was a spy out from
Boston and our centrys fired at him but we dont know the Sertainty of
it cold weather for the Season.
[Footnote 204: Arnold, with only seven hundred men,
appeared before Quebec on the 18th of November, and
demanded its surrender. He was soon compelled to
retire, and, marching up the St. Lawrence twenty
miles, he there met, in December, General
Montgomery, with a small force, descending from
Montreal. They marched against Quebec, and, early
in the morning of the 31st of December, proceeded
to assail the city at three distinct points.
Montgomery was killed, Morgan and many of the
Americans were made prisoners, and Arnold, who was
severely wounded, retired to Sillery, three miles
above Quebec.]
the 18. Nothing strange this day.
the 19. This day we heard that our men had taken a Ship Loaded with
Gunpowder the truth of it we have not yet Learned but we hope it will
prove true.[205]
[Footnote 205: Several of the prizes captured by
Manly and others contained powder and arms; and
late in December, Colonel (afterward General) Knox
arrived from Ticonderoga with forty-two sled-loads
of cannons, mortars, lead, balls, flints, &c. By
the close of January, powder became quite plentiful
in the American camp.]
the 20. Nothing remarkable this day.
the 21. Ditto.
the 22. Nothing strange.
the 23. Nothing remarkable.
the 24. This day capt Pond came from Wrentham Nothing remarkable.
the 25. Nothing remarkable this day.
the 26. Nothing very remarkable.
the 27. Nothing remarkable this day.
the 28. Nothing remarkable.
the 29. This day we moved to Dorchester into the widow Birds house.
the 30. Nothing strange this day.
the 31. Ditto.
FEBRUARY.
the 1. This day nothing remarkable.
the 2. Ditto.
the 3. Nothing Remarkable this day.
the 4. Ditto.
the 5. The Lobsters came out almost to copple hill and took 3 cows and
killed them and were fired upon from copple hill and they were obligd
to mak of Leaving their Booty behind them.
the 6. The melitious men[206] marched from Wrentham and arived in camp
at Dorchester.
[Footnote 206: Militia-men.]
the 7. Nothing very remarkable this day.
the 8. Their was a number of our men went a Scating on the Bay near
Bosston common and the Enemy fired upwards of a hundred small arms
that did no damage.
the 9. Nothing very remarkable at night their was thre of our Amarican
Boys made their escape from the Enemy in Boston and were taken up by
our men who were Patroling on Dorchester Point to and they brought of
things to considerable value.
the 10. Nothing Strange this day.[207]
[Footnote 207: Here the Journal ends abruptly, and
we have no clew to the writer afterward. As he had
enlisted for the campaign of 1776, he doubtless
remained with the army until after the expulsion of
the British from Boston, in March following, unless
he was killed in some of the skirmishes that
frequently occurred, or was obliged to leave the
army on account of sickness. Whatever was his fate,
the veil of oblivion is drawn over it, for he was
one of the thousands who with warm hearts and stout
hands struggled in the field for the liberties of
their country, lie in unhonored graves, and have
had no biographers. If he lived until the conflict
ended, and died in his native town, no doubt his
grave is in the old churchyard at Wrentham. His
family was among the earliest settlers there, for
Daniel Haws was a resident of the village when it
was burnt, in the time of King Philip's war, almost
two hundred years ago; and on a plain slab in that
old burial-place is the name of Ebenezer Haws, who
died in 1812, at the age of ninety-one years.]
SUPPLEMENT,
CONTAINING
OFFICIAL PAPERS ON THE SKIRMISHES AT LEXINGTON AND CONCORD,
AND A LIST OF REVOLUTIONARY ARTICLES IN THE POUGHKEEPSIE MUSEUM.
SUPPLEMENT.
OFFICIAL PAPERS CONCERNING THE SKIRMISHES AT LEXINGTON AND CONCORD.
In the preceding Journal of a Soldier, in 1775, his narrative
commences on the day of the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, the
opening conflicts of the Revolution. Some official matters relating to
those events, which are inaccessible to the general reading-public,
will doubtless be acceptable, as they certainly are appropriate, in
this connection.
The skirmishes occurred on the 19th of April, 1775. On the 22d, the
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts assembled, and, deeming it
important to have the whole truth known, appointed a committee to take
depositions in relation to the transactions of the British troops in
their route to and from Concord. Another committee was appointed the
following day, consisting of Dr. Church, Elbridge Gerry, and Thomas
Cushing, to draw up a narrative of the massacre. The committee to
take depositions held their sessions at Concord and Lexington, on the
23d and 25th of April. Feeling it to be expedient to send an account
immediately to England, a committee, consisting of Dr. Warren, Mr.
Freeman, Mr. Gardiner, and Colonel Stone, was chosen to prepare a
letter to Dr. Franklin, the colonial agent in London. They reported a
letter, and also an "Address to the Inhabitants of Great Britain," on
the same day. Captain Richard Derby, of Salem, was employed to proceed
immediately with the despatches. He placed them in the hands of Doctor
Franklin on the 29th of May, and on the following day the address was
printed and circulated. It gave the first intelligence of the
skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, to the British public.
The following, copied from the Journals of the Continental Congress,
are the several papers referred to:--
"_To the Hon. Benjamin Franklin, Esq., at London._
"IN PROVINCIAL CONGRESS, WATERTOWN, _April 26, 1775_.
"SIR: From the entire confidence we repose in your faithfulness
and abilities, we consider it the happiness of this colony that
the important trust of agency for it, in this day of unequalled
distress, is devolved on your hands, and we doubt not your
attachment to the cause and liberties of mankind will make every
possible exertion in our behalf a pleasure to you; although our
circumstances will compel us often to interrupt your repose, by
matters that will surely give you pain. A singular instance
hereof is the occasion of the present letter. The contents of
this packet will be our apology for troubling you with it.
"From these you will see how, and by whom, we are at last plunged
into the horrors of a most unnatural war.
"Our enemies, we are told, have despatched to Great Britain a
fallacious account of the tragedy they have begun; to prevent the
operation of which to the public injury, we have engaged the
vessel that conveys this to you, as a packet in the service of
this colony, and we request your assistance in supplying Captain
Derby, who commands her, with such necessaries as he shall want,
on the credit of your constituents in Massachusetts Bay.
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