Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1854-07-20
WHOLE NO 1882.

\ of every town in the State, took down his
fathers fire-lock, which hung ready by the,
wall. ....r t.
The men of Rhode Island were upon.
\ Bunker's Hill, as soon rs their fellow patriots
from Connecticut, New Hampshire and Mas
sachusetts and there, in deep conlederated.
ranks they stood not only to do, but il
need were, to die! They went not in the
Il panopy of war, as war is exhibited by the
H well trained bands of martial kings. No
\ "hury crests, of their resplendent casques,
kiss'd close at every nod; :" but in the hour
/ Of deadly eonil,s. With the foe, then, as in
/ the days of Homer, aShield, helmet, man,
II pressed helmet, man and shield"
\ 1t is well known that when the rumors of
Bunker's Hill first reached the ears of Ger
eral Washington, he eagerly asked II the
militia stood the first fire of the regulars
II and being told that they not only stood that
Il fire, but returned it again and again, until
| troops, disciplined and brave rs any in the
world, broke from their ranks and fed;
"thank God p said he, "then the liberties
of the country are safep And Samuel
/ Adams walking in the fields with friend,
the day after the battle of Lexington, OBJ
II served to him "this is fine day / mean it
=
| posed that the English had then struck
blow, which would surely rebound to lnde-
II pendence; an event for which he most fer
! yently longcd, and did much to accomplish.
II And although his fame has become obscured,
in some degree, by the bright blaze of mill
| tary glory in others yet it can never be for
gotten, to their immortal honor, that the
l nancs of Samuel Adams and John Hancock,
tal .,c
when general pardon was offered to the
i rebels of Massachusetts. Nay futhcr: af-
| ter the revolution, the Secretary of War
II represented to Congress, that there were in
u the arsenals of the United States, two brass
cannon, which constituted one haJ' of the
| fsld artillery, with which the war, on our
Il part was commenced: and that they were
| the property of Massachls tits. On one of
these guns were engraved, "The Hancock
sacred to Liberty! On the other "The
/ Adams" Both had been used in many en-
| gagements and were never taken. Congress,
therefore, directed that the I" Hancock and,
l. Adams" should be marked with suitable in
scriptions and returned back to the State
|, which had originally sent them forth, as hal
lowed emisaries, in a ust and righteous
cause; and while memory endures the names
o. those fearless patriots, will never die.
| The farmers of New England on all oc-
casons, not only at Lexington and Concorsi.
and Bunkers Hill. but at Bennington ard
Saltwater and Saratoga, boldly confronted
the best drilled soldiers of Europe; and so
well they fought, that from the 10Th II
| April, l77j, down To the end of the revolu-
tionary war, the armies of the crown hail no
| resting place in any Of the northern Colon-
ics no, not even here, in Newport. which
| they held at the bayonets point, for three
iong years. 't'' -
/ Gage and Burgoync, and Howe aud Clin-
ton had learned from the beginning, and bv
experience, dearly bought, that the inhsbi-
tnts of New England would not be the first
to yield in struggle, to which they had
| pledged their lives, their fortunes and
their sacred honors," and they, therefore,vers
wisely resolved, to abandon all parts of q
country, defended by people so stiff neck
ed and stubborn, except one point OF rem
| devious anl concentration. Ii seemed alb
saiutely necessary to retain some foot-hold
! here, and for this reason, although Boston
was abandoned on the 18th of March l776
/ yet ON the ST. day Of the following Oc-'
| tobcr, the very day Of General Washing
! dishcartening treat over the Delaware, a
/ strong English force, bicked by a powerful
sqlmdrl n, took possession Of Rhode Island.
/ The excellence of our harbor, and its it,
| tcrmcdiatc situation between the great
! Colonies of Virginia, New York and Mass
chusettS, made it a matter of the last impor-
tancc, that this port should not only be tax
/ en-, but held as lpng as possible.
/, And besides all this the p, oplc Of your
| State had made them exceedingly obnoxious
to the British crown. They were known to
be not only rcbclicps, tut maratime, homo
geneous united und resolved For, be it
remembered, that in the days of the Reyo-
luton, the colony Of Rhode Island, SO small
in territory, was Of infinitely more relative
\ importance and weight, than she is now.
4 In the autumn OF 1915, after the battle of
/, BunkcrS Hill, and Lcorc tie Declaration
/ Of lndcIen !encc, the Continental Congress
/ had no, single warike vessel to pr ,tect Their
own commerce OF annoy that Of he enemi =:
\ but the States OF Rhode Island, Connecti-
I cut and Massachusetts,, had zach of them.
\ armed and equipped iico ships of war at their
4 own expense and in this preparation Rhode
!! Island was rs forward as Massachusetts,
Il Their services were eagerly demanded on
the part OF Congress and AS promptly rem
II dered, for General Washington was inform
/ cd by Governor Cook, as early as October,
II 10, that the armed vessels Oft his State wcrs
| entirely at his disposal.
II Again we find that when contingcnts ot
men, or money, were resolved upon by Con-
| grcss, according To the scale "f wealth, pop
! uation and ability; New York was consid:
cred only twice as powerful as Rhode Island,
| and whenever the former was called upon to
! enroll four battllions, the litter furnished
\ two. She did more than this she sent forth
whole host in the person of Nathaniel
Greene, an officer second to none, oxceptthc
great commander himself, who welded the
ll dcstinies Of his country, by nlarshaling It's
II armies; that renowned Hero who receiy-
ed from Frederick the Great OF Prussia u
sword, inscribed with the words, "The oldest
general in the world, to tie bea." Whe,
H Sir Henry Clinton came here in T6 with
four brigades of British and lIessians, and
Sir Peter Parker With a squadron of men Of
war, there was not, Of course, any force adc~
II quatc TO the resistance Of an armament,
and so important vas tbs post TO the British
commanders, that they fortified all parts OF
the Island, with great care and skill. They
n had a Gordon ui rcdoul,ts 'ataoss It's north
Il end n line of forts and civilizations COM
II plctc. encircled this city, from Contours Is
\ land, as il was then called, around all the
hills, south Of Coddington's cove, down 10