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"The Project Gutenberg eBook of Reminiscences of the Military Life and Sufferings of Col. Timothy Bigelow, Commander of the Fifteenth Regiment of the Massachusetts Line in the Continental Army, during the War of the Revolution, by Charles Hersey The Project Gutenberg EBook of Reminiscences of the Military Life and Sufferings of Col. Timothy Bigelow, Commander of the Fifteenth Regiment of the Massachusetts Line in the Continental Army, during the War of the Revolution, by Charles Hersey This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Reminiscences of the Military Life and Sufferings of Col. Timothy Bigelow, Commander of the Fifteenth Regiment of the Massachusetts Line in the Continental Army, during the War of the Revolution Author: Charles Hersey Release Date: February 18, 2008 [EBook #24634] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REMINISCENCES COL. TIMOTHY BIGELOW *** Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) REMINISCENCES OF THE MILITARY LIFE AND SUFFERINGS OF COL. TIMOTHY BIGELOW, Commander of the Fifteenth Regiment of the Massachusetts Line in the Continental Army, during THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. BY CHARLES HERSEY. WORCESTER: PRINTED BY HENRY J. HOWLAND, 212 Main Street. 1860. Transcriber’s Note: Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note. A table of contents, though not present in the original publication, has been provided below: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. A MONUMENT TO COL. BIGELOW. EARLY EFFORTS FOR LIBERTY. THE MINUTE MEN. MAJOR BIGELOW A PRISONER. IN PENNSYLVANIA. AT VALLEY FORGE. THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH. THE SLAUGHTER AT WYOMING. -1- The Project Gutenberg eBook of Reminiscences of the Military Life and Sufferings of Col. Timothy Bigelow, Commander of the Fifteenth Regiment of the Massachusetts Line in the Continental Army, during the War of the Revolution, by Charles Hersey 9. 10. 11. 12. TO SCOUTING. DISASTERS AT THE SOUTH. BATTLE AT YORKTOWN. CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION. COL. T. BIGELOW LAWRENCE, A GREAT GRANDSON OF THE HERO OF THESE PAGES, I Dedicate this feeble effort. It is written to perpetuate the memory of one of WORCESTER’S MOST ILLUSTRIOUS SONS, and also of HIS COMPANIONS IN ARMS, WHO FOR EIGHT YEARS STRUGGLED SO HARD TO GAIN THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE COLONIES. [v] INTRODUCTION. The writer of the following pages was dandled upon the knee of a worthy sire, who had spent eight years of his life in the struggle for Independence, and taught me the name of Col. Bigelow, long before I was able to articulate his name. Many have been the times, while sitting on my father’s lap around the old hearthstone, now more than fifty years since, that I listened to affecting reminiscences of Col. Bigelow and others, until his voice would falter, and tears would flow down his aged and careworn face, and then my mother and elder members of the family would laugh, and inquire, "what is there in all of that, that should make you weep?" but I always rejoiced with him, and wept when I saw him weep. After the death of my father, having engaged in the active scenes of life, those childish memories in some degree wore away, but the happiest moments of my life have been spent in company with some old Revolutionary Patriot, while I listened to the recital of their sufferings and their final conquest. The first history of the American Revolution I ever read, is found in Morse’s Geography, published in 1814. This I read until I had committed the whole to memory. The next was what may be found in Lincoln’s History of Worcester, published in 1836, and from which I have taken liberal extracts. The next is the History of the War of Independence of the United States of America, written by Charles Botta, translated from the Italian by George Alexander Otis, in 1821; from this also, I have taken extracts. I have also consulted Lossing’s Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution. In neither of these histories (except Lincoln’s) does the name of Col. Bigelow occur. Therefore I have depended principally upon tradition, coming from his own brethren in arms, and corroborated by history. It has been exceedingly difficult to trace the course and conduct of Col.[vi] Bigelow from any history of the war; but history, aided by tradition, makes up the history of any man. To illustrate: I get the account of Col. Bigelow’s conduct at the battle of Monmouth, as stated in section vii, from Mr. Solomon Parsons, which I received from his own lips more than forty years ago, and saw in his journal; and more than thirty years since, I heard Gen. Lafayette and Mr. Parsons refer to those scenes,[A] the -2- The Project Gutenberg eBook of Reminiscences of the Military Life and Sufferings of Col. Timothy Bigelow, Commander of the Fifteenth Regiment of the Massachusetts Line in the Continental Army, during the War of the Revolution, by Charles Hersey remembrance of which drew tears from each of their eyes, and also from many of the spectators. I find that Mr. Parsons was in Lafayette’s detachment, Gen. Green’s division, Gen. Glover’s brigade, and Col. Bigelow’s regiment. All of this I knew forty years ago, from tradition. From history we all know that Gen. Lafayette and Gen. Green were at that battle, and I am happy to say this whole subject has very recently become an item of history, which may be found on page 260 of Washburn’s History of Leicester. In this way, and from such sources, I have gathered the facts embodied in these pages. As to the personal appearance of Col. Bigelow, I have procured from witnesses who were as well acquainted and familiar with him and his physiognomy, as the old residents of this city are with our venerable friend Gov. Lincoln. Some of them are still living. There is one man now living in this city, who was thirty years of age when Col. Bigelow died. This man is a native of Worcester, and knew Col. Bigelow as well as he did any man in town, and heard him speak in the Old South Church many times, against the tories.[B] These articles have appeared in the Daily Spy of this city, and at the suggestion of several distinguished individuals who wished to see them in a more durable form for reading and preservation, I have concluded to present them to the public, in the following pages. FOOTNOTES: [A] Lafayette’s visit, 1824. [B] Ebenezer Moore, born 1760, Oct. 10. [7] COL. TIMOTHY BIGELOW. I. A MONUMENT TO COL. BIGELOW. It is well known in this community, that one of the descendants of Col. Bigelow is about to erect a monument to his memory within the enclosure of our beautiful central park. Col. Timothy Bigelow Lawrence of Boston, a great grandson of the subject of this notice, received permission from the city government, last year, to enclose a lot of sufficient size, and to erect such a monument as he might deem suitable and proper. It is understood that Col. Lawrence will commence this benevolent and patriotic work in the spring or early summer.[C] Let me suggest to him, to the mayor and council, and to all whom it may concern, the propriety of laying the foundation stone of this monument on the 19th day of April, which will be the eighty-fifth anniversary of the marching of the "minute men" from Worcester, under the command of Capt. Bigelow. It seems to me that Worcester cannot "afford" to let this opportunity pass without making some signal recognition of the event. Cannot the citizens of Worcester, for the first time in eighty-five years, gather with their families around the grave containing the last remains of her noble son? -3- The Project Gutenberg eBook of Reminiscences of the Military Life and Sufferings of Col. Timothy Bigelow, Commander of the Fifteenth Regiment of the Massachusetts Line in the Continental Army, during the War of the Revolution, by Charles Hersey FOOTNOTES: [C] June, 1860. We are happy to say, that Col. Lawrence has the work now in successful progress. [8] II. EARLY EFFORTS FOR LIBERTY. The name of Timothy Bigelow stands conspicuous in the history of Worcester. As early as 1773, we find him on a committee with Wm. Young, David Bancroft, Samuel Curtis, and Stephen Salisbury, to report upon the grievances under which the province labored, and also upon what was then called the "Boston Pamphlet," which had been introduced at the town meeting in March. The writer of this article thinks that this "Boston Pamphlet" was John Hancock’s oration in commemoration of the "Bloody Massacre" of the 5th of March, 1770. At the adjourned meeting, in May following, this committee made an elaborate report, recommending a committee of correspondence. The town adopted the report, and elected as the committee, Wm. Young, Timothy Bigelow, and John Smith. In December following, the leading whigs of the town assembled and formed a society, which afterwards took the name of the American Political Society, and Nathan Baldwin, Samuel Curtis, and Timothy Bigelow, were chosen a committee to report a constitution. This society, with Timothy Bigelow for a leader, did good service to the town and to the country. Their last and most powerful blow was struck in town meeting, 7th of March, 1774, when the society presented a long preamble and resolutions, which were considered by the royalists to be treasonable and revolutionary. "When these resolutions were read," said an eye-witness of the scene to the writer, "fear, anxiety and awful suspense, sat upon the countenance of every man of the whig party except Timothy Bigelow, the blacksmith; while the tories were pale with rage." After a few moments, James Putnam, the leader of the tories, arose. Putnam was said to be "the best lawyer in North America. His arguments were marked by strong and clear reasoning, logical precision and arrangement, and that sound judgment whose conclusions were presented so forcibly as to command assent." He made such a speech against the resolutions as had never before been heard in Worcester; and when he sat down, the same informant[9] said that "not a man of the whig party thought a single word could be said,—that old Putnam, the tory, had wiped them all out." Timothy Bigelow at length arose, without learning, without practice in public speaking, without wealth,—the tories of Worcester had, at that day, most of the wealth and learning,—but there he stood upon the floor of the Old South Church, met the Goliath of the day, and vanquished him. The governor of Massachusetts Bay, and the crown and parliament of Great Britain, were brought to feel the effect of his sling and stone. Suffice it to say, the resolutions were carried triumphantly. This was the first grand public effort made by Col. Timothy Bigelow, in his part of the great drama of the American revolution. -4- The Project Gutenberg eBook of Reminiscences of the Military Life and Sufferings of Col. Timothy Bigelow, Commander of the Fifteenth Regiment of the Massachusetts Line in the Continental Army, during the War of the Revolution, by Charles Hersey III. THE MINUTE MEN. In August, 1774, a company of minute men were enrolled under the command of Capt. Bigelow, and met each evening after the labors of the day, for drill and martial exercise. Muskets were procured for their arming from Boston. Their services were soon required for the defence of the country. At eleven o’clock, A. M., April 19th, 1775, an express came to town, shouting, as he passed through the street at full speed, "To arms! to arms! the war is begun!" The bell rang out the alarm, cannons were fired, and in a short time the minute men were paraded on the green, under the command of Capt. Timothy Bigelow. After fervent prayer by Rev. Mr. Maccarty, they took up the line of march. When they arrived at Sudbury, intelligence of the retreat of the enemy met them, and a second company of minute men from Worcester, under command of Capt. Benjamin Flagg, overtook them, when both moved on to Cambridge. The writer cannot forbear to mention a few of the names of these soldiers of freedom. Most of them have descendants now living, and living on the same farms that their illustrious sires or grandsires left, when they started with Captains Bigelow and[10] Flagg, to repel the enemy at Lexington. Eli Chapin was the father of Mrs. Jonathan Flagg and Mrs. Capt. Campbell; Wm. Trowbridge was the father of Mrs. Lewis Chapin; Jonathan Stone, grandfather of Emory Stone, Esq., who now owns and occupies the same estate; Asa Ward, grandfather of Wm. Ward; Simon Gates, father of David R., who now lives on and owns the same estate; David Richards was in Capt. Flagg’s company, but after he returned, concluding there was going to be "hot work," to use his own words forty years afterwards, he turned over to the tories. The organization of the army was immediately made at Cambridge, and Timothy Bigelow was appointed Major in Colonel Jonathan Ward’s regiment. In the autumn of 1775, Major Bigelow volunteered his services, with his men from Worcester, in that expedition against Quebec, alike memorable for its boldness of conception, the chivalrous daring of its execution, and its melancholy failure. During their march from Cambridge to Quebec, Major Bigelow and his noble band endured severe hardships, reduced by hunger to the necessity of eating their camp dogs, and in their last extremity, cutting their boots and shoes from their feet to sustain life. Had that winter march through the wilderness been the exploit of a Grecian phalanx or Roman legion, the narrative of suffering and danger would have been long since celebrated in song and story. One of the three divisions, penetrating through the forest by the route of the Kennebec, was commanded by Major Bigelow; and during a day’s halt of the troops on this memorable march, Major Bigelow ascended a rugged height about forty miles northwest from Norridgewock, for the purpose of observation. This eminence still bears the name of Mount Bigelow. In the attack on Quebec, on the night of the 31st of December, Major Bigelow was taken prisoner, with those of his men who were not killed, and remained in captivity until the summer of 1776. [11] -5- The Project Gutenberg eBook of Reminiscences of the Military Life and Sufferings of Col. Timothy Bigelow, Commander of the Fifteenth Regiment of the Massachusetts Line in the Continental Army, during the War of the Revolution, by Charles Hersey IV. MAJOR BIGELOW A PRISONER. We left Major Bigelow a prisoner of war. Whether he was confined in Canada, transported to Halifax, or placed aboard an English prison ship, does not appear on the record. But tradition has it, that he went aboard one of those tory vessels, so noted in the history of George the Third. The severe treatment and cruelty he received here, did not cool his ardor. His motto was, "I have not begun to fight yet." An exchange having been effected in the summer of 1776, after an imprisonment of seven months, he returned and was immediately called into the service with the rank of lieutenant colonel; and the next February, he was appointed colonel of the fifteenth regiment of the Massachusetts line in the continental army. His regiment was composed principally of men from Worcester, though there were some from Leicester, Auburn, Paxton and Holden, and a braver band never took the field, or mustered for battle. High character for courage and discipline, early acquired, was maintained unsullied to the close of their service. His troops being drilled, Col. Bigelow marched to join the northern army, under the command of Gen. Gates, and arrived in season to join the main army at Saratoga, and to assist in the capture of Gen. Burgoyne. At this scene of blood and carnage, Col. Bigelow, with his regiment from Worcester, behaved with uncommon gallantry. It was said by our informant, who was on the spot at the time, that the 15th regiment, under the command of Col. Bigelow, was the most efficient of any on the ground. Col. Bigelow was of fine personal appearance; his figure was tall and commanding; his bearing was erect and martial, and his step was said to have been one of the most graceful in the army. With taste for military life, he was deeply skilled in the science of war, and the troops under his command and instruction exhibited the highest degree of discipline. Col. Bigelow possessed a vigorous intellect, an ardent temperament, and a warm and generous heart. [12] V. IN PENNSYLVANIA. We left Col. Bigelow with the American army, under the command of Gen. Gates, on the banks of the Hudson, exulting over the capture of Burgoyne and the flower of the British army. The next we hear of him, he, with his regiment, together with Col. Morgan’s celebrated rifle corps and one or two other regiments, are ordered to march to the relief of the army in Pennsylvania, under the command of Gen. Washington. This campaign in Pennsylvania was very disastrous to the American army. Being poorly clothed, and more poorly fed, they were not in condition to meet the tried veterans of the English army. It was said of this reinforcement from Gen. Gates’ army, that they were men of approved courage, and flushed with recent victory, but squalid in their appearance, from fatigue and want of necessaries. But when Col. Bigelow led his regiment into line with the main army at White Marsh, a small place about fourteen miles from Philadelphia, he was recognized by the commander-in-chief, as the very identical Capt. Bigelow whom he had seen at Cambridge with a company of minute men from Worcester; and while Washington held -6- The Project Gutenberg eBook of Reminiscences of the Military Life and Sufferings of Col. Timothy Bigelow, Commander of the Fifteenth Regiment of the Massachusetts Line in the Continental Army, during the War of the Revolution, by Charles Hersey Col. Bigelow by the hand to introduce him to his brother officers, he said, "This, gentlemen officers, is Col. Bigelow, and the 15th regiment of the Massachusetts line under his command. This, gentlemen, is the man who vanquished the former royalists in his own native town. He marched the first company of minute men from Worcester at the alarm from Lexington. He shared largely in the sufferings of the campaign against Quebec, and was taken prisoner there. After his exchange he raised a regiment in his own neighborhood, and joining the northern army under Gen. Gates, participated in the struggle with Burgoyne, and shares largely in the honor of that victory." It was said by an eye-witness, that "this was an exceedingly interesting and affecting event, and could not fail to satisfy every one of the high estimation in which the commander-in-chief held Col. Bigelow."[13] The American army was now watching the movements of Sir William Howe, commander of the British army, who soon landed his troops at the head of Elk river, in two columns, the right commanded by Gen. Knyphausen, the left by Lord Cornwallis. After several skirmishes, the two armies met upon the banks of the Brandywine. In this battle, the Americans were unsuccessful, and soon after the British army took possession of Philadelphia, and the American army took their position at Germantown, which is six miles northwest from Philadelphia. Here again the Americans are repulsed, and each army retires to winter quarters, the British to Philadelphia, the American to Valley Forge. VI. AT VALLEY FORGE. Valley Forge is on the west side of the Schuylkill, twenty miles from Philadelphia, and this is where Col. Bigelow spent the winter of 1777-78, with his regiment, and here is where the soldiers of freedom suffered most intensely. The British general had deriv..."

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