The Mirror — Concord, N.H., 1798-02-27 00:00:00, page 2

well affected people were dioved
away. This letter, was either ne
glefted or answered with a frefh
order for marching. The order
was obeyed ; but the foldieri con
sidered themfelvei facrificed to the
interest of those perlons who bo'c
'the crops for a trifle, and wanted
to get our party there to eat them
at the public expence. I opposed
1 those murmurs with all the argu
ments in my power. I used fre
quently to urge with them, that
the absolute government of the ar
% my most be with the general ; he
could not be omnifeient and we
ought to submit with cheerfulorfi
and hope for the best. In this fit
nation our little garrifoo, which
-contained about 60 men, btfidei
invalids, were alarmed by the In
dians taking feme per font from a
house about a mile distant. Con
fternatkm prevailed; I immedi
ately called for volunteers, and
with about twenty men went to
the house where the prisoner shad
been taken ; from thence took a
circuit in the woods round the gar
rison, in order to fee if there were
any parties or appearances of the
enemy. Finding none [returned
and obtained leave to take about
five and twenty of the best men
and putfue the enemy towards the
lake ; where we supposed they
had gone. I had proceeded about
two miles when two runners from
the commanding officers, bro't
me pofiive orders <0 return, with
intelligence that a subaltern officer
had'returned from a scout tb the
lake Champlain, about twelve
miles diftaoce. where he saw five
or fix hundred Indians.
On my return I found the sol
diers more than ever nnxiouiK
bout their fixation. They com e
plained bitterly of the orders
which bound them to the North
fide of Onion River, more than
twenty poles wide, at that time
opt fordable, an,d but a single
(mail canoe to cross with. I^f
deavored to encourage them with
assurances that we could withstand
; ^any number of Indians in our log
house and an hovel or two which
stood near, and, after a battle, if
we fboud find the flemy too
[ CTOublefome we migh^etreat with
I honor. I, urged then# to their du-
I ty as foldieri and patriots. Every
I preparation was made to repel the
lattack which was, expected from
riteenemy tfirt nigh^ [ Being fa-
I tigued and off duty I had laid-
I down to rest with my teeinmy
TrotnOTnuvcTrfi 00 miiei
in advance of the army towards
Canada ; from whence the army
had retreated, and about the fame
distance from any body of inhab
itants ; and the General instead of
di(charging, ordered me to join
one of the other companies. ^
The idea of the people and of
the committee of the N. Hamp
shire Grants, was, that these fix
companies, if they had been rais
ed, would have been Rationed
feme where near Middlebury,
which is opposite Crown-Point,
and about 12 miles east therefrom,
and nearly forty miles southward of
the places appointed by the gentr.
al.
The commanding officer wrote
to the general representing the
situation of the country, and the
impossibility of our being of any
service ar Onion River, as all the
with a cry of " Turn out ! Turn
out !" I ran out ancl enquired
where the enemy were difeovered,
and was answered, no where
The foldiets were paraded, and I
fcuhd by what was said by the
lergeanty, and that they were a
bout to* march off and cross the
1 rive-. I expostulated with them
long and earnestly, pointing out
the dishonor which such an adion
would rtflea on their country. —
I urged them to stay the event of
a battle, and I (poke the truth,
when { assured them that I prefer
red death in battle, to the dishon
or of quiting our post.
All entreaties were ineffectual,
they declared they had been abus
ed, there was no chance for their
lives there, and they marched off
for the Sotith fide of the river. A
Sergeant returned with some fo|-
dier, a<d called upon the officers
to croft the river.-— As they were
going to take the canoe to the
other fide, they infilled on our go
ing and threatened violence if we
refufed. The other officers,
which were two captains and one
Lieutenan. seemed willing to go,
and I did not think it m, duty to
relift alone. In the morning the
foldier# offered to return to fubor.
dination if the commanding offi
cer would lead them to a Small
block fort at N. Haven, about 30
miles to the Southward —the effi
cers held a consultation, in this I
refuted to do any thing but go
back to the Ration we were order
ed to maintain. We were at this
place joined by a Lietenant and a
few men who had gone,tea mill
near Crown Point co get wheat 1
, ground, and I was sent exprtfs, to
head quarters, to carry letters and
inform the general of what had
happened ; but some of the wheat
Speculators had arrived before me,
arid so exasperated the general,
] that when I arrived he was enraged
to the highest pitch, he (wore we
Should all be hanged, and ordered
me into weft. Within a few
days the other officers and some
ofghe soldiers were brought into
head quarters. We bad a trial,
by a court martial, appointed by
the exasperated general, who now
(wore we Should all be broke. I
proved every thing with refpea to
myfelf that is here Slated (the per
sons are yet a rive by whom I prov
ed it and are really to repeat it)
notwithstanding which I was in
cluded in the general Sentence of
cashiering; nor did even the lieu
tenant,who was abfeot at the mill
escape the awfpl condemnation.—
The Soldiers were Sentenced to
corporal punishment—but on gen./
[Carleton's coming down to attack
Ticonderoga, they were all libetat
.ed.
The mortification of being cashiered,
and that very undeservedly, without any
other aggravation, was, I believe, quite
tothe extent of my power to bear; had
any indignant ceremony been to be per
formed, they would not have had my
company at [s, as the implements of death
were in my power..,fl r
, The Geo. lent for us to his own house,
and there, in a mild manner, communi
cated to us the sentence, no one present
I believe but his Aid, and we took cur
<own time and manner of quitting Ticon
deroga. I have always understood he re
-Iverfed |he sentence-
Perhaps my spirit would not have lMen'
able to have borne up under this afflic
tion, had not all my acquaintance ac-,,
quitted me of every colour of misbeha
vior ; nor did the bitterest enemy ever
seriously between he and me, before the
It appears alSo, by the testimony, that
Mr. Gfifwold, in Mr. Harper's feat gave
mea most cutting insult. The Speaker
who I was in conversation with, heard it
as well as some others ; they teftify that
I did not appear to hear it. Why not
, hearit as well as they ? for no other rea
fdn than to keep rip the prevailing food
^humor. But Mr. Grilwoid not Satisfied ,
with the insult already given, fays to
one of th^bvrioeHes " lit does net heir ,
n,e," and removes and intrude jthimfrU
to my fide, pulls me by ty arm ,j cab
mytitter rion, and then more particularly
repeats fe inftlt; knowing it to be the
most provoking abuse that one gerroc
man could possibly offer another ,
;W *W° circurnftances. I can
not but entertain the folleft assurance
that I ftandjustified for the repulse ot that
daiberate insult offered by Mr. Grifald
in the view of the committee of the house
of Representatives, and of every man of
honor or feeling who Shall ever hear the
"°' y ° •
§ lA Beautyul Gbofc
tr^t amrf fur, r fl account of ?ht A„ari
{tto, or Gbo, of 4 woman, that ba<ap.
,%¥t^festal o@,tt poftin fa n^jail,
r >''< d^X 4'•'•• it : ,'¥ J : ',^3%
bad the wit and raillery of five or fit
, gentlemen from New. York and Connec
ticut, to withstand and reply to, it ap
pears that I Supported it with good hu
mor.
der authority of the state of Vermont,
whieh had newly formed a confutation
and set up government.
In the year 1778,1 was appointed a
member of the Legislature, in which sta
tion I Served my country ever Since, five
two years, until my appointment to
Congress.. I held a Ration in the militia,
until the command of the regimtat Hiv.
ed in, with a fall Colonel's commission
was given to me. I moved to where I
now refine, about the close of the war, &
I have had no concern with military
matters, nor been a candidate for any
military appointment since.
Tfyus circumstanced, gentlemen of the
Committee, I must appeal to your own
feelings whether it belonged tp me to re
ceive with impunity the aggravated in
fult offered me by that young gentleman,
Mr. Griswold. The station I now hold
points cut to you the propriety of giving
full credit to the plaLifW I te» yot,
especially as it is corroborated by evi
dence. The proper testimony to Sup
port this narrative, I will procure and
lay before the public a^foon as the Situa
tion of the evidence, will admit.
I Shall conclude with making some ob
servations on the testimony, all of which
corroborates, that I was standing without
the bar^ conveifipg with rhe Speaker who
fat on an outside chair, the fubjed I be
lieve it is apparent was Mr. Nicholas'
motion? I did not likeNrihe opposition
given to it by the Connecticut members.
1 insisted they did net 'ad according to
the sense and understanding crithe peo
ple of that ftae.—This led me\o fay
many other things, though my ditcoqrfe
was direfled to the Speaker, it appear!,!
Twenty one years have ehuf-d since the
unfortunate ff ir, Jibing which it has
Slept in oblivion, until party rage and
party tiewfpapers cere open the wound in
my breast.
To puffin the narra ise ; Gen. St.
Clair who prefixed at fheowt-marriil,
which condemned me, in the former
(acceding that misfortune, recommend
ed me to Geri. Schuyler, informing him
(as I supposed) of my ill nfige and of my
fobfequent services, and obtained for me
a cummiffion of Paymifter to a coolin' n
tal regiment commanded by Col. Serb
Warner, which cox a 'ffim enti led me
tothe rank of Capt. Inthis I was again
(unfortunately led into trouble, as the of
ficers of the regiment had previous to my
appointment petitioned Congress for the
rest nation of the former pay-master who
had beep cashiered and was a son of a
Congressman of Connecticut. 1
giment almost all had become reconciled
and, wished my stay. Immediately on
m y resignation I was appointed Capt. in
the militia, and Several civil officers un-
Notwithstanding the coldoefs this cre
ated towards me and the consequent bi; k
erings, no officer ever thought proper to
mention to me the unhappy affair of the
preceding fammer. In this regiment, I
Served at the capture of Burgoyne, and
the Succeeding Spring, when my family
could return to my plantation, from
which Burgoyne's inv^fion had drove
them, at the felicitation of Gov. Chit
tenden, and many otheefriends, I resign
ed, at a time when the officers of the re-
oners, many n! \ubom ar«^#„^ r? # -;•
the truth of it ca ofltb. r
Captain Filh declarer, ihac.fcr
fevers flight past, the appear
of a woman hit haunted the fin
from room to room th* and the
I,ft wetk, followed and encircled
by a radiant light, drefrd in a
white flowing robe, atd a turban
on her head, Seemingly of a pletf
ing hqt dejfflel countenance. —
Cipt, Frill declares, th^t abou: 12
o'clock on Friday night thn 'p
petition came to hi? bed fide, and
drew the curtains, (coking ftedlaft
ly at him for some time, which fa
Lightened him, that he adjured
her in the nfeme of the Father,
Son and Holy Ghost, to tell him
who (he W3C, or why (he came in.
" so questionable i ?Chape ;" when
ffie, caftipg a look of sorrow, ac
companied vyith rhe most ineffable
fweetneft, gradually disappeared in
the fight of several other prisoners ,
who were in the room, and are
ready to testis, the truth of what
it here advanced.
Mr. Miller, another debtor in
the fame room, going to the up
per hall about one in the morning,
wat met by the fame woman, who
pulled him by the coat; which
io alarmed and frighted him, that
he Rood p trified at a statue ; —
when became a little to himfeif,
he law her gradually advance to
the window, from which she van
ifbed. He then called to the
watchman to &fk him if he had
seen it; he declared he had seen
st vanish ham the fame window
several nighty fecce flively.
Mr. Milter further declares, that,
after she WM gone, a large globe
of fire, of the most beautiful 'and
diverfified colours, rolled up and
,down the hall for the (pace of five
minutes, and then on a hidden
burst with a dreadful explosion,
which left him in total darkness,
that frighted him Rill worse than
(the firft rencounter of the appari
tion ; when making but one step
from the top of the ftairi to the
bottom, he recovered his room, in
a condition ofiodefcribable terror.
The Friday following, Mr. Ev
ans, being aßeep in bis bed, was
fuddeniy awakened by something
drawing open the curtains of hit
bed, when he perceived the figure
of a beautiful woman, arrayed in
white, looking Redfaftty on him;
I which, much afarmed him ; he
communicated^ hit fear to another
man who watfi the bed with him,
who a)(o forty; with terror ^d
aftopifhmeot. (Continued a con
fiderabie time by the^bed fide in
a contemplative poftife, often*
putting her hand on the left fide
of her robe, which seemed tinged
wish blood, and then, heaving a
deep figh^ vanished through the
wall.'
Mr. Hewit, a short time after,
in the dead of the night, being &
farmed in hit deep, suddenly leap
ed out of bed ; and the firft things
prefenied to hit view, was the apA
parition of this woman, who, with
the most placid countenance, seem
ed to claim bis pity ; but, fright
ened to the greatest degree at so
uncommon an appearance, and
fear closing hit power of utter-
Qc% he leaped into bed again,
coveting him fed over head (nd
ears , with every parried
furniture that wai within hisgrafr.;'
Ln a few minutes after, this 'appari
tion disappeared; which wat ac