The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-10-16
Forgotten
III EROES
BY
ELMO SCOTT WATSON
Haymakers-Sailors' Victory


ington reached Machias. Maine. the
| citizens of that town, considering that
| affair the beginning of open warfare,
determined to do their share in
striking a blow at the British Oppres-
sors of the American colonies by at
tempting the capture of an armed
British schooner, the Margaretta,
| commanded by Captain Moore, which
was then lying i'm port. But Captain
| Moore got wind of the plot and sailed
a short distance down the bay.
Thereupon jeremiah O'Brien, IAN
athletic gallant man" and leader in
the village, took command of the vol
unteers who had seized a British lum-
Der sloop in the harbor and proposed
to go after the Magaretta. 1t is
doubtful if any other naval expedi-
ton in history had such an armament
as these Maine haymakers assembled
for their project. There were 20
guns, one of which was a wall-piece,"
musket so heavy that it needed
wall to support its weight when it
was fired. For all these guns there
were but GO bullets and GO charges
of powder Their most formidable
| weapons were 13 pitchforks and IL
axes. So the 30 volunteers, thus
equipped, sailed away to attack the
British ship. carrying crew of 40
men armed with four six-pound-
ers and 20 swivels-guns firing one
pound ball and mounted on swivels on
the vessels rail.
AS the Americans hove into sight,
Captain Moore, wishing to avoid
trouble, hOisted the anchor and ran
away. But the sloop was a swifter
vessel than the schooner and soon
overhauled it, which was made
easier by the fact that Captain Moore
became so illustrated that he handled
his ship badly and nearly wrecked it.
AS the Americans bore down upon
him the crew of the Margaretta
opened fire and killed one of the
men on the sloOp. ThereupOn the
men in charge of the walI-piece opened
fire and luckily picked off the helms
man of the schooner, so that she
floundered around without guidance.
AS the soOp crashed into the
schooner, the men from Machias with
appraised pitchforks and swinging axes
sprang over the rail. There was a
short, desperate confict-pitchforks
and axes against guns and hand
grenades. Captain Moore was shot
down and his crew surrendered. In
all, 20 men were killed and wounded
before the fight ended. After shift
ing the armament of the Margaretta
to his swift slOop. Captain" OBrien
set out for new conqueStS.
His opportunity came a short time
later when two British schooners
were sent from Halifax to capture
him and bring him to trial. By skill
full handling of his sloop. O'Brien
separated the two schooners and cap
tured them one at a time. Then he
sailed in triumph to WatertOwn, Mass,
and delivered his prize over to the
provincial legislt iure there.
The Story of Christian Schell
a PIONEER in tie Mohawk valley in
4 New York du.ing the Revolution
would have been forgotten hero had
not his deeds been preserved in one
of the most typical native ballads
e-W composed in this country. 1t is
ballad of endless number of verses,
the gist of which is this:
Christian Schell, or Shell, was q
German settler near the village Of
Herkimer at place still called
Shells Bush where he built a block
house of his own for the protection
of his wife and six sons, the youngest,
twins but eight years old. One Au-
gust afternoon in 1871 party of 66
Indians and Tories, led by a noto-
rious Loyalist named Mcdonald, ap-
peared near Shells Bush.
The battle began at two O'clock and
continued until dark. At first Melon
aid and his savage allies attempted
to burn out the little garrison, but
| failing in this made a direct assault
which was thrown back by the fire
of the defenders. During another at
tack the Tory leader. while attempt
ing to force the door with a crowbar
was wounded by Shell, who quickly
opened the door and pulled his enemy
inside.
Disconnected by the loss of their
leader, the Tories and Indians drew
off for a short time and the sturdy
old pioneer mounted the stairs to
the upper part of the blockhouse
where he devoted himself to singing
Justify the hymn which was the ia
vorite of Luther during the perils of
that great Reformer. But Immediate
~ afterwards the enemy returned to
the attack and rushing up to the
of their guns through loopholes.
Instantly Mrs. Shell caught up an
ak and with mighty blows upon the
barrels bent them so that they were
useless. Again the hot fire Of Shell
and his sons drove the enemy back.
Then just as twilight settled down
Shell ran again to the second story
and calling out to his wife informed
her that help had arrived from Fort
Dayton. Captain Small. march your
company around to this side of the
house" he shouted. Captain Getman,
you had better wheel your men off to
the left and come up on that side"
His bluff worked beautifully. The
enemy fled with a loss of IL killed
and 10 wounded.
&C. 1881. Western Newspaper Union.l
~