Morning journal and courier., 1885-02-10
NEW HAVEN COLONY SOCIETY.

Ahe AuLOD1OSfaphy O1 capt. Th0maS
 Painter of West EHaven-Nr. Howe
 Reads the Concluding Portion.
 There was a fine audience last evening at the rooms of the Historical society when MT. Henry Howe resumed the reading of the autobiography of Captain Thomas Painter He began at the point where he had arrived at his home in West Haven after his escape from the prison ship in the harbor of New York. He soon enlisted in an artillery com pany consisting of about one hundred men raised for the defense of New Haven. This company was in three divisions, one at East Haven under Lieutenant Pierpont, one at West Haven under Lieutenant Azi1 Kimber- ly and the third at New Haven under the captain of the company, Phineas Bradley. This gentleman was silversnith who lived on the site of the police office. He was grandfather of Colonel Luther P. Bradley, U. S. A. This company did gallant service in the invasion of our city.
 The night that the enemy came it happened | that MT. Painter was on guard at the Old | Field shore, West Haven, and discovered the approach of the enemys fleet. He at once hastened up to his uncle Stevens, with whom | he then lived in the old red house still stand | ing the last house in the village where the railroad leaves it on the west, to inform the family of the danger. Having tied the few | clothes and valuables he had in bundle, he buried them in the garden and then with three others armed with muskets went down to oppose the enemy's landing. He says:
 ''We then went to the Old Field shore where we watched until the sun rose, when a gun was fired from the commodore as a sig
 nal for landing Instantly string of boats
 was seen dropping astern of every transport ship full of soldiers and pulling directly for the shore about the middle of the Old Fields | The tide was full so the boats could come plump up to the shore. As soon as they
 came within point blank range we four men
 fired into them and continued to fire until they were within a few yards of us, when thought it was time either to retreat or sur render and beg for quarters rather than to
 run the risk of running over the plain open | field, under the shower of shot that I knew
 must soon follow us. I should have pre-
 ferred to surrender, but I well knew that
 after had been so foolish as to come and fire at an army of men all huddled in their
 boats without any possibility of answering any other good purpose than killing and
 wounding few, that I should be immediate ly cut to pieces and perhaps deservedly SO.
 therefore decided to run and abide the con l sequences and so started at my full speed
 across the field, the Outlets following after | me like shower of hail which seemed to cut down all the grass around me. 1 Fortunately I escaped, it were, by | miracle and retreated to another good stand | by the rock pasture and awaited the approach l of the ene1.ly Then would fire few more | shots and again retreat and so I continued to do until had come nearly up to the Milford | turnpike road where Adjutant Campbell of the enemy was killed and left behind By this | time the main body of the enemy which kept the main road had passed on their way
 through Allingtown on their way to Thomp-
 sons bridge, now Westville, on the Derby
 road. Our people had got some field pieces
 on the east side of the Allingtown bridge in
 order to rake the causeway if necessary; but It being supposed by the enemy that the
 bridge had been blown up, which was at tempted, was the reason of their taking the upper route te New Haven"
 l In the succeeding October, having obtained his discharge from the artillery company, in company with neighbor Ebenezer Thomp- son shouldered his pack and walked to New | buryport, where they shipped as sailors in | the brig Marquis, merchant vessel, s'Seth l Thomas, one of our old neighbors, con- mander," for a voyage to the island of Gau- daloups The voayge was safely made and they started back under the convoy of two letters of msrque. Arrived safe at Newbury- port, "where, :" says Painter, 'for two weeks I took full one years comfort over Landlord Greenleaf's freside." Then the twain again shou1dered their packs and trudged for home. This was in the cold winter of 17SO when the west end of Long Isl and was frozen over and people crossed on the ice on foot from Connecticut to Long