The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-02-23

passable, travelling all night, not even halting to rest the faithful beast that bore him. At sunrise the next morning the veteran hero, then sixty years Of age, rode into Concord, having been in the saddle eighteen hours, and In that time covered one hundred miles. When it was known that Putnam had taken the field, other patriots from all parts of the colony initiated his exam pie. They came dropping into Cam bridge where his regiment was station ed, gentlemen and yeomen, sometimes in parties of ten or twelve, all in home spun clothes and animated with the same spirit of resistance to the late oppressive acts of parliament. Late In April a band of one hundred men marched from Norwich under com mand of Lieutenant Huntington. This company had been brought together and partly disciplined. It was made up of excellent marksmen, who proved their skill and bravery month later when at the battle of Bunker Hlll the ranks of General Howe's regulars fell, column after column, before their fatal aim.
 "When the news of the affair called the battle of Lexington reached New Haven, Captain Benedict Arnold com- | manded the Governors Guards, and he called his company together and pa- raded before the tavern where the com- | mittee of safety was in session. He applied for powder and ball, which the committee declined furnishing. Arnold, with that reclslessness of all authority which led him to become finally the arch traitor of the Revolution threat ened to take the needful supply by | force if necessary.
 Colonel Wooster went out and en- deavored to persuade him to wait for proper orders before starting for the scene of conflict. The fiery Arnold answered, None but Almighty God ! shall prevent my marching The com mittee, seeing his determination, sup | piled him and he marched off instantly, and with his company reached the | American quarters in Cambridge, April | 29.
 'In relating the part that Connecti- cut took in the Revolution, must not | omit one very important transaction. | The expedition of the British against l Concord and Lexington was for the purpose of the capture or destruction l of some stores that the colonists had l gathered at Concord. The destruction 1 of these stores by the British very | naturally suggested a reprisal. The | general assembly was in session in l Hartford when the news of the battle l of Lexington was received and the l plan was devised and at once entered into of surprising Ticonderoga, and l capturing it's immense stores of war | material arms and ammunition. Sev- 1 eral gentlemen borrowed the money to | defray the expenses of the expedition l from the colonial treasury and gave their individual obligations with secur- | ity. The names of the men were Sam 1 uel Wyllys, Samuel Bishop, William l Williams, Thomas Mumford, Adam l Babcock, and four others. Two years
 later, May, TIT, MT. Parsons addressed
 a memorial to the general assembly
 asking that their notes in the treasury
 be cancelled, amounting to the sum of | eS10. The memorial was granted
 CAPTURE OF TICONDEROGA.
 "A committee was appointed by the leaders of this daring project to com plete all the arrangements. This com- mittee selected sixteen and then pro- ceeded to Berkshire, where they elicit l ed the sympathy and cooperation of 1 the people and were reinforced by forty men. Then they advanced to Benning- ton, where they were joined by Colonel
 Ethan Allen, who soon raised a lot of Green Mountain boys, rough and rug ged as their native mountains, and 250 strong proceeded to attack a strong fortress held by garrison of British soldiers. You all remember the result La surprise and surrender to the sum-
 mons of Colonel Allen: Tn the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental
 Congress! although the latter author ity I believe had not yet convened. It
 is an interesting fact that the ubiqui- tous Benedict Arnold appeared on the scene, having been commissioned by
 the Massachusetts committee of safety
 to capture the fort. He demanded the
 chief command, but Colonel Allen could
 not be bullied, and chaf1ng at his unex-
 pected rebuff, Arnold finally consented
 to serve as an assistant to Colonel All
 len.
 What would emphasize here is the
 historic fact that the taking of Ticon-
 deroga was planned in Connecticut and
 the expenses of the expedition paid for
 by Connecticut money!
 Thus Connecticut had the honor ot
 striking the first successful blow at the
 British power in America! God bless her!
 '"The fall of Ticonderoga gave to the
 patriots 120 iron cannon, fifty swivels
 two mortars, ten tons of musket balls
 three cart loads of flints, thirty new
 carriages 100 stands of arms, ten bar
 rels of powder and a vast quantity oi
 provisions. The news of this great
 achievement was heralded all over the
 country. On the floor of congress the
 chiefs of the expedition were welcomed
 and thanked I have thus dwelt upor
 this Ticonderoga victory at length be.
 cause 1t was Connecticut's victory SC largely.
 ''The next important event in whicf Connecticut was prominent was Bun
 ker Hill Here she was very much fl evidence by the presence of her patri. ot regiments and her veteran general
 Israel Putnam, the instigator and di rector of the redoubts, and 1t was his presence among the men, now for tht
 first time facing soldier foes, that gave
 steadiness and nerve. It was Putnam's
 command, too. Don't fire until you set
 the whites of their eyes, and then ain