Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1898-09-08
ON SPECIAL DUTY.
An Episode of the Siege of Boston.
" CYRUS II. sTowELI.

aDouI v CloCh, uiahlHS q WHO ciICult
of the Battery. The night was cold
and cloudy. and there was not much
danger of being seen. Although mid
winter there was no snow on the
ground. A landing was made without
| difficulty OH the beach near Milk
street, and, leaving orders for the boat
to wait, 1 started quickly up towards
| the centre of the town. l did not ex-
pect any trouble in the first part of
my duty. Many people were about,
the men being dressed Just as I was,
| for, of course, did not wear my uni
| form, and the streets were dark in
spite of the lamps put up by the Sc
lectmen at long intervals. 1 was
armed only with my sword and dag
ger, and these would cause no com
ment, because it was common GUS
| tom to wear ornamental rapiers, al
| though few of them would be service
able in combat.
| On turning into Marlborough street
I came upon the old Province House,
| the residence of General Gage, the
governor. Here. almost two months
later, an event happened that caused
laugh to go through the entire
American army when it became known.
! The soldiers celebrated Feb. %, l776,
in honor of General Washington, it
being his first birthday anniversary
while with the army. The men were
| greatly amused to hear that the Brit
ish had unintentionally done the
same. This celebration was in the
form of grand ball, the most impor-
! tant and last of the season in the
| Province House, called the Queens
ball.
I kept to the right, by the Old South
Meeting House, and then crossed over
and went up School street to Trea-
mount Here / found the Perkins
house without trouble and, going eau
tiously to the rear, knocked on the
door. 1t was opened by middle
aged man, who said softly before I had
time to speak: ooh, it's you, captain,
is it? Come in here. Don't make
any noise" 1 Istepped inside the porch,
and he left me. but soon came back
with small paper packet. Here
are the papers,, he said in whisper;
'now get out of Boston as soon as
you can" 'But 1 was told to look
around little, I answered. eff you
stay here after 10 you will be captured,
for General Gage has issued orders
for the arrest of anyone found ii the
streets after 10 o'clock without a pass
from him." said the man, whom now
know was Samuel Perkins. "All
right" replied, "I'll get away by
that time. Good night" ''Good
night and good luck to you," he whis-
perea back, and then, after putting
| the papers in an inside pocket, l left
him and went out on the street.
After thinking the matter over I
| had come to the conclusion that the
best place to overhear conversation
relating to the condition of the town
would be in the riding school the Brit
ish officers had established in the Old
South Meeting House. So, when I
reached this place, I entered boldly
with the other spectators and went
upstairs to the balcony. Seeing a
vacant seat behind several officers, 1
sat down there without disturbing
them. They were watching the riders
below, who were then racing their
horses around the floor and jumping
them over bar fixed just in front of
the pulpit and discussing the merits
of various men. This did not interest
me, but l listened more attentiveiy
when one asked, ''Are you going to
| the performance in Faneuil hall next
Monday, Frank?" whats that?"
''Why, General Burgoyne's play, The
| Blockade of Boston, All the officers
in the town will be there, and most of
those at the works in Charlestown
will come over" This bit of informa-
ton was of use to the American cause
when made it known. General Sui
livan had planned raid on Charles
town several days before l left the
camp, but the ice on the river was not
hard enough to allow the men to cross
on it, and so the plan was given up.
Taking advantage of the thick ice and
the absence Of the officers in Boston
on the night of the play, January 8,
he sent over Major knowlton, who
commanded the rail fence on the day
of the battle on Breeds Hill, and the
major burned several buildings, in
Guiding a bakehouse, and captured a
number of prisoners. This raid
caused general alarm in Boston and
broke up the play in Faneuil hall.
A short time before 10 the specta-
tors began to leave the church. As
the officers in front of me arose, one
of them turned around and gave a
surprised start. Without looking
straight at him, could see that he
was cycling me sharply, and l knew
at once that he must have seen me
somewhere before. To give him the
impression that was an acquaintance
whom he had met in the town, 1 looked
up and bowed with "Good evening,
lieutenant He returned my bow,
saying, pardon me, but will you
please tell me who you are?" 81 am
a citizen of Boston," answered. The
lieutenant looked at me, as if trying
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