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THE close of the war in Europe had not only enabled the
English to strengthen their land forces in America, but had also liberated
many of their warships, and the result was felt all along our coast.
The enemy's purpose to conquer territory, which might be
retained after the war, apparent enough before, was now definitely
proclaimed.
In July, Sir Thomas Hardy, commander of the British fleet
before New London, received orders to capture Moose Island, in Passamaquoddy
Bay, and sailed thither with five ships of war and transports containing
about fifteen hundred troops. The Americans had here a small fort,
garrisoned by only fifty men, under Major Putnam, who made no resistance to
the enemy, but surrendered at once, July 11th. Sir Thomas then took
formal possession not only of the town of Eastport, which at that time
contained about one thousand inhabitants, but of the whole island, and issued
a proclamation in which he declared that all the islands in the bay had been
surrendered and were thenceforth British territory. He gave the
inhabitants one week in which to make their choice, either to swear
allegiance to the British Crown or move away.
About two thirds of the people took the oath, supposing
they would thereby be admitted to the privileges of British citizenship; but
a month later the Provincial Council of New Brunswick ordered that they
should be treated as a conquered province and placed under martial law.
The fortifications of Eastport were greatly strengthened, the six guns being
increased to sixty, and a large garrison placed there. But provisions
were extremely scarce, the men deserted in great numbers, and the British
officers were often seen on the ramparts, doing duty as sentinels.
On the 1st of September, another British force entered
Penobscot River. The small American garrison at Castine blew up the
fort and retreated, and the enemy took possession, and soon issued a
proclamation declaring all that part of Maine east of the Penobscot to be
conquered territory. It contained about forty villages, with an
aggregate of more than thirty thousand inhabitants.
Captain Morris, after a successful cruise, had recently
arrived in the Penobscot with the American frigate Adams, and taken her to
Hampden, thirty-five miles up the river, for repairs. The British
commander sent up an expedition of about a thousand men to capture her, and
Captain Morris made all possible preparations for defense. He erected
several batteries on the shore, collected a small force of militia from the
neighborhood, and, as they were unarmed, put the ship's muskets into their
hands. But on the approach of the British regulars, the militia ran
away; and Morris, seeing that he could not save his vessel, sent away his
sailors and marines, who retreated across a bridge over a deep creek.
He and a few men whom he had retained for the service then set a slow match
to the magazine, and, as their retreat by the bridge had been cut off, swam
the stream and escaped. The frigate was blown to pieces, and the enemy
returned to Castine with neither prisoners nor plunder. But they made
thenceforth frequent incursions among the towns of the neighborhood, and
freely robbed the inhabitants of what little property they had that was worth
taking.
The next orders issued to the British Commodore, Sir Thomas
Hardy, were to destroy the town of Stonington, Connecticut; which he found a
very different task from the capture of Moose Island. With two frigates, a
brig, and a bomb-vessel, he appeared before the town on the 9th of August,
and sent in word that he should begin a bombardment in one hour. The
women and children were hastily removed, and the men repaired to the defenses
of the place. These consisted of a small breastwork and three pieces of
artillery — two eighteen-pounders, and a six-pounder. A rude flagstaff
was erected, and a small flag nailed to it. Those who had been trained
as artillerists took their places at the guns, and the remainder, with
muskets, were placed behind the breastwork. Word was sent to General
Gushing, commanding at New London, and couriers on horseback rode through the
surrounding country to rally the militia.
It was toward evening when Hardy opened his ports and fired
upon the town every kind of missile in use at that day — round-shot,
grapeshot, canister, bombshells, carcasses, rockets, and stinkpots. A
carcass was a cylindrical cage or framework of iron, covered with canvas and
filled with combustibles, intended to set the buildings on fire. About
eight o'clock, while the bombardment was still going on, five barges and a
launch filled with men and carrying several guns approached the shore.
The Americans permitted them to come within close range, and then poured such
a fire of grapeshot into them from the two eighteen-pounders that they were
very soon compelled to retire. They then sailed around to the eastern
side of the little peninsula, where they supposed it was defenseless.
But the Americans dragged the six-pounder across, and were ready for them.
With this gun alone, so rapidly was it served and so skillfully handled, they
again drove off the fleet of barges.
The bombardment was kept up till midnight, and next day the
fleet was increased by the arrival of another brig. The vessels now
took a position nearer the shore, and the action was reopened. One brig
was anchored within pistol-shot of the battery, at which it directed its
guns. But the old eighteen-pounders sent several balls through her
between wind and water, compelling her to haul off and repair damages.
The barges made an attempt to land a force, as on the day before; but met a
similar reception and once more retired. One of the barges was
completely torn to pieces by the fire of the six-pounder. The fleet
then drifted out of reach of the battery, but kept up the bombardment at long
range during that and the following day. On the 12th, Sir Thomas, who
had lost twenty-one men killed and more than fifty wounded, bore up and
sailed away.
Of the Americans, six had been slightly wounded, and one
mortally. Of the hundred houses in Stonington, forty had been more or less
injured, ten of them badly, and two or three were entirely destroyed.
The enemy had thrown in more than sixty tons of metal. Colonel Randall,
the commanding officer, received high praise for the manner in which he had
conducted the defense, as did also Lieutenants Lathrop and Hough.
There were smaller affairs of the same nature, at various
points along the New England coast. At Wareham the enemy landed in
safety by means of a flag of truce, and then burned a large cotton factory
and the vessels at their moorings. At Scituate also they burned the
shipping. But at Boothbay the militia rallied and drove them off with
considerable loss. The attempt to land was repeated on several different
days, but every time without success.
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