EAR after year the free dwellers upon Rhode Island had beheld a scene like that described by the poet, and more cruel wintery storms, piling their huge snow-drifts, had howled around their dwellings, but never in their history had the March winds and April floods appeared to them so cheerless and mournful as in the spring of 1777. They had cheerfully brooked all the sufferings attendant upon a new settlement, and gladly breasted the tempest on land or sea in pursuit of wealth or social enjoyment, while freedom was their daily companion and solace: but now the oppressor was in their midst; his iron heel was upon their necks; their wives and daughters were exposed to the low ribaldry, profanity, and insults of an ignorant and brutal soldiery; their peaceful dwellings were made noisy barracks; their beautiful shade-trees, pleasant groves, and broad forests were destroyed, and the huge right arm of general plunder was plying its strength incessantly. Enslaved and impoverished, the bright sun and warm south winds, harbingers of on-coming summer and the joyous season of flowers, brought no solace to them, but were rather a mockery. At home all was desolation; abroad all was doubt and gloom. 1777. Early in May the British troops left the houses of the inhabitants and returned to their camp. This was some relief, yet plunder and insolence were rife. General Clinton, with nearly half of the invading army, soon afterward left the island for New York, and the command of those who remained to hold possession devolved upon Brigadier-general Prescott, infamous in the annals of that war as one of the meanest of petty tyrants when in power, and of dastards when in danger. He had been nurtured in the lap of aristocracy, and taught all its exclusive precepts. Possessing a narrow mind, utterly untutored by benevolence or charity; a judgment perverse in the extreme; a heart callous to the most touching appeals of sympathy, but tender when avarice half opened its lips to plead, he was a most unfit commander of a military guard over people like those of Rhode Island, who could appreciate courtesy, and who might be more easily conquered by kindness than by the bayonet. He was a tyrant at heart, and, having the opportunity, he exercised a tyrant's doubtful prerogatives.' 1 Mr. Ross, in his Historical Discourse, mentions several circumstances illustrative of Prescott's tyranny. His habit while walking the streets, if he saw any of the inhabitants onversing together, was to shake his cane at them, and say, "Disperse, ye rebels !" He was also in the habit, when he met citizens in the streets, of com.manding them to take off their hats, and unless the order was instantly complied with, it was enforced by a rap of his cane. One evening, as he was passing out of town to his country quarters, he overtook a Quaker, who did not doff his hat. The general, who was on horseback, dashed up to him, pressed him against a stone wall, knocked off his hat, and then put him under guard. Prescott caused many citizens of Newport to be imprisoned, some of them for months, without any assigned reason. Among others thus deprived of liberty, was William Tripp, a very respectable citizen. He had a large and interesting family, but the tyrant would not allow him to hold any communication with them, either written or verbal. Bad Conduct of General Prescott. Colonel Barton's Plan for capturing him. Biographical Sketch of Barton. Incensed by the conduct of Prescott, the inhabitants devised several schemes to rid them selves of the oppressor. None promised success, and it was reserved for Lieutenant-colonel Barton, of Providence,' to conceive and execute one of the boldest and most hazardous enterprises undertaken during the war. It was accomplished on the night of the 10th of July, 1777. At that time General Prescott was quartered at the house of a Quaker named Overing, about five miles above Newport, on the west road leading to the ferry, at the north part of the island. Barton's plan was to cross Narraganset Bay from the main, seize Prescott, and carry him to the American camp. It was a very hazardous undertaking, for at that time there were three British frigates, with their guard-boats, lying east of Prudence Island, and almost in front of Prescott's quarters. With a few chosen men, Colonel Barton embarked in four whale-boats, with muffled oars, at Warwick Point, at nine o'clock in the evening, and passed unobserved over to Rhode Island, between the islands of Prudence and Pa The first intelligence he received from them was by a letter, baked in a loaf of bread, which was sent to him by his wife. In this way a correspondence was kept up during his confinement of many months. During his incarceration, his wife sought an audience with the general to intercede for the liberty of her husband, or to obtain a personal interview with him. She applied to a Captain Savage, through whom alone an interview with the general could be obtained. She was directed to call the following day, when the savage by name and nature, echoing his master's words, roughly denied her petition for an interview with the general, and with fiendish exultation informed her, as he shut the door violently in her face, that he expected her husband would be hung as a rebel in less than a week! I was informed that when Prescott took possession of his town quarters, he had a fine sidewalk made for his accommodation some distance along Pelham and up Spring Street, for which purpose he took the door-steps belonging to other dwellings. The morning after the evacuation, the owners of the steps hastened to Prescott's quarters, each to claim his door-stone. It was an exciting scene, for sometimes two or three persons, not positive in their identification, claimed the same stone. Prescott's fine promenade soon disappeared, and like Miss Davidson's "Forty old bachelors, some younger, some older, the worthy citizens of Newport bore off their long-abased door-steps. 1 William Barton was a native of Providence, Rhode Island. He was appointed to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the militia of his state, and held that position when he planned and executed the expedition for the abduction of General Prescott. For that service Congress honored him by the presentation of a sword, and also by a grant of land in Vermont. By the transfer of some of this land he became entangled in the toils of the law, and was imprisoned for debt in Vermont for many years, until the visit of La Fayette to this country in 1825. That illustrious man, hearing of the incarceration of Colonel Barton and its cause, liquidated the claim against him, and restored his fellow-soldier to liberty. It was a noble act, and significantly rebuked the Shylock who held the patriot in bondage, and clamored for "the pound of flesh." This circumstance drew from Whittier his glorious poem, The Prisoner for Debt, in which he exclaims, "What has the gray-hair'd prisoner done? For this he shares a felon's cell, The fittest earthly type of hell! For this, the boon for which he pour'd His young blood on the invader's sword, His blood-gain'd liberty is lost. Down with the law that binds him thus! No refuge from the withering curse tion, and then, with the strictest order and profound silence, they advanced toward the house. The main portion of the expedition passed about midway between a British guard-house and the encampment of a company of light horse, while the re mainder was to make a circuitous route to approach Prescott's quarters from the rear, and secure the doors. As Barton and his men approached the gate, a sentinel hailed them twice, and then demanded the countersign. We have no countersign to give," Barton said, and quickly added, "Have you seen any deserters here PRESCOTT'S HEAD-QUARTERS.2 to-night?" The sentinel was misled by this question, supposing Open the prisoner's living tomb, And usher from its brooding gloom To the free sun and air of God! No longer dare, as crime, to brand The chastening of the Almighty's hand!" Colonel Barton was wounded in the action at Bristol Ferry in 1778, and was disabled from further service during the war. He died at Providence in 1831, aged eighty-four years. The portrait here given is from a painting of him executed soon after the close of the Revolution, and now in possession of his son, John B. Barton, Esq., of Providence, who kindly allowed me to make a copy. Mr. Barton, by request, furnished me with the following list of the names of those who accompanied his father on the perilous expedition : OFFICERS. Andrew Stanton, Eleazer Adams, Samuel Potter, John Wilcox. PRIVATES.-Benjamin Pren, James Potter, Henry Fisher, James Parker, Joseph Guild, Nathan Smith, Isaac Brown, Billington Crumb, James Haines, Samuel Apis, Alderman Crank, Oliver Simmons, Jack Sherman, Joel Briggs, Clark Packard, Samuel Cory, James Weaver, Clark Crandall, Sampson George, Joseph Ralph, Jedediah Grenale, Richard Hare, Darius Wale, Joseph Denis, William Bruff, Charles Hassett, Thomas Wilcox, Pardon Cory, Jeremiah Thomas, John Hunt, Thomas Austin, Daniel Page (a Narraganset Indian), Jack Sisson* (black), and Howe, or Whiting, boat-steerer. This house is on the east side of the west road, about a mile from the bay. The view is from the road where the small stream crosses, after leaving the pond seen in the picture. It is a beautiful summer resi * In Allen's American Biography, the name of the black man is written Prince, and he says that he died at Plymouth in 1821, aged seventy-eight years. The name given by Mr. Barton must be correct, for he has the original paper of his father. Entrance to Prescott's Room. Seizure of the General and his Aid-de-camp. Barton rewarded by Congress. July 11, 1777. them to be friends, and was not undeceived until his musket was seized, and himself bound and menaced with instant death if he made any noise. The doors had been secured by the division from the rear, and Barton entered the front passage boldly. Mr. Overton sat alone, reading, the rest of the family being in bed. Barton inquired for General Prescott's room. Overton pointed upward, signifying that it was directly over the room in which they were standing. With four strong men, and Sisson, a powerful negro who accompanied them, Barton ascended the stairs and gently tried the door. It was locked; no time was to be lost in parleying; the negro drew back a couple of paces, and using his head for a battering-ram, burst open the door at the first effort. The general, supposing the intruders to be robbers, sprang from his bed, and seized his gold watch that was hanging upon the wall. Barton placed his hand gently upon the general's shoulder, told him he was his prisoner, and that perfect silence was now his only safety. Prescott begged time to dress, but it being a hot July night, and time precious, Barton refused acquiescence, feeling that it would not be cruel to take him across the bay, where he could make his toilet with more care, at his leisure. So, throwing his cloak around him, and placing him between two armed men, the prisoner was hurried to the shore. In the mean time, Major Barrington, Prescott's aid, hearing the noise in the general's room, leaped from a window to escape, but was captured. He and the sentinel were. stationed in the center of the party. At about midnight captors and prisoners landed at Warwick Point, where General Prescott first broke the silence by saying to Colonel Barton, Sir, you have made a bold push to-night." "We have been fortunate," coolly replied Barton. Captain Elliot was there with a coach to convey the prisoners to Providence, where they arrived at sunrise. Prescott was kindly treated by General Spencer and other officers, and in the course of a few days was sent to the head-quarters of Washington, at New Windsor, on the Hudson. On his way the scene occurred in the Alden Tavern at Lebanon, mentioned on page 35. Prescott was exchanged for General Charles Lee' in April following, and soon afterward resumed his command of the British troops on Rhode Island. This was the same Prescott who treated Colonel Ethan Allen so cruelly when that officer was taken prisoner near Montreal in the autumn of 1775. On account of the bravery displayed and the importance of the service in this expedition, Congress, having a "just sense of the gallant behavior of Lieutenant-colonel Barton, and the brave officers and men of his party, who distinguished their valor and address in making prisoner of Major-general Prescott, of the British army, and Major William Barrington, his aid-de-camp," voted Barton an elegant sword; and on the 24th of December following, he was promoted to the rank and pay of colonel in the Continental army.' General Sullivan was appointed to the command of the American troops in Rhode Island in the spring of 1778, at about the time when Prescott resumed his command of the enemy's forces. The latter, incensed and mortified by his capture and imprisonment, determined to gratify his thirst for revenge. Under pretense of an anticipated attack upon the isl and, he sent a detachment of five hundred men up the bay on the 24th of May, to de- 1778. stroy the American boats and other property that fell in their way. At daylight the next morning they landed between Warren and Bristol, and proceeded in two divisions to execute their orders. One party, who proceeded to the Kickemuet River, destroyed seventy flat-bottomed boats and a state galley; the other burned the meeting-house and a number of dwellings at Warren, and plundered and abused the inhabitants in various ways. females were robbed of their shoe-buckles, finger-rings, and other valuables, and live stock were driven away for the use of the British army. They then proceeded to Bristol, and fired 1778. July 25, 1777. The dence, the grounds around it being finely shaded by willows, elms, and sycamores. The present occupant kindly showed me the room in which Prescott was lying at the time of his capture. It is on the second floor, at the southwest corner of the house, or on the right as seen in the engraving. It is a well-built frame house, and was probably then the most spacious mansion on the island out of Newport. 1 General Lee had been captured at Baskingridge, in New Jersey, in December, 1776, while passing from the Hudson to join Washington on the Delaware. * Journals of Congress, iii., 241. 3 Ibid., 459. Predatory Excursions. French Fleet for America. Count d'Estaing. France and England. Excitement in Parliament. the Episcopal church (mistaking it for a dissenters' meeting-house), burned twenty-two dwellings, and carried off considerable plunder. A few days afterward, another marauding party of a hundred and fifty burned the mills at Tiverton, and attempted to set fire to and plunder the town, but a resolute band of twenty-five men kept them at bay, effectually disputing their passage across the bridge. Satisfied with this great display of prowess and vengeance, Prescott refrained from further hostile movements, until called upon to defend himself against the combined attacks of an American army and a French fleet. I have noticed on pages 86 and 87, vol. i., the treaty of alliance and commerce concluded between the United States and France on the 6th of February, 1778.' Pursuant to the stipulations of that treaty, a French squadron for the American service was fitted out at Toulon, consisting of twelve ships of the line, and four frigates of superior size. Count d'Estaing, a brave and successful naval officer, was 1778. 1778. Estoing appointed to the command, and on the 13th of April the fleet sailed for America. Silas Deane, one of the American commissioners, and M. Gerard, the first appointed French minister to the United States, came passengers in the Languedoc, D'Estaing's flag-ship. Authentic information of the sailing of this expedition reached the British cabinet on the 4th of May. Some of the ministers being out of town, a cabinet council was not held until the 6th, when it was determined speedily to dispatch a powerful squadron, then at Portsmouth, to America. On the 20th, Admirals Byron and Hyde Parker, with twenty-two ships of the line, weighed anchor. Doubtful of the destination of D'Estaing, and not knowing that Deane and Gerard were with him, ministers countermanded the order for sailing, and the squadron, overtaken by an express, returned to Plymouth, where it remained until the 5th of June, when it again sailed under the command of Admiral Byron alone.' The conduct of the French government, in thus openly giving aid, by treaty and arms, to the revolted colonies, aroused the ire, not only of ministers, but of the people of Great Britain, in whose bosoms the embers of ancient feuds were not wholly extinct. In Parliament, which was just on the eve of adjournment, ministers moved an appropriate address to the king. The opposition proposed an amendment requesting his majesty to dismiss the ministry! A furious debate arose, but the original address was carried by a majority of two hundred and sixty-three against one hundred and thirteen in the Commons, and an equally The French envoy, De Noailles (uncle of La Fayette's wife), delivered a rescript to Lord Weymouth on the 17th of March, in which he informed the British court of the treaty. While in it he professed in the name of the government a desire to maintain amicable relations with Great Britain, and declared that the 66 court of London" would find in his communication " new proofs of his majesty's [Louis XVI.] constant and sincere disposition for peace," he plainly warned it that his sovereign, "being determined to protect effectually the lawful commerce of his subjects, and to maintain the dignity of his flag, had, in consequence, taken effectual measures, in concert with the Thirteen United and Independent States of America." This note greatly incensed the British ministry, for they considered it more than half ironical in language, and intentionally insulting in spirit. Orders were issued for the seizure of all French vessels in English ports. A similar order was issued by the French government. War thus actually commenced between the two nations, though not formally declared. 2 Charles Henry Count d'Estaing was a native of Auvergne, in France. He was under the famous Count Lally, governor general of the French possessions in the East Indies, in 1756. He was taken prisoner by the English, but escaped by breaking his parole. He was commander at the taking of Grenada after his services in America. He became a member of the Assembly of Notables in the French Revolution, and, being suspected of unfriendliness to the Terrorists, was guillotined on the 29th of April, 1793. 3 Admiral Byron carried with him to Earl Howe, the naval commander on the American coast, a permit for that officer to return to England, pursuant to his own urgent request. Byron became his successor in the chief command. |