by john scales, dover, n. h.
that old roman, sallust, says: “surely fortune rules all things. she makes everything famous or obscure rather from caprice than in conformity with truth. the exploits of the athenians, as far as i can judge, were very great and glorious, something inferior, however, to what fame has represented them. but because writers of great talent flourished there, the actions of the athenians are celebrated over the world as the most splendid achievements. thus the merit of those who have acted is estimated at the highest point to which illustrious intellects could exalt it in their writings.”
also, that latest of classical authors, josh billings, says: “young man, blow your own horn!” these quotations express exactly the way in which the illustrious intellects of authors in modern athens (of america) have exalted the deeds of massachusetts’ heroes to such a degree that most people, outside of new hampshire, do not suppose our state had much to do at the battle of bunker hill, whereas new hampshire men constituted nearly four fifths of all the men and officers in that battle. therefore i think i have just cause to “blow my horn” for my native town, and my ancestors who fought in that battle.
old nottingham comprised a tract of land supposed to be ten miles square, and which is now nottingham, deerfield and northwood. it was incorporated in 1722, and settlements commenced in it soon after, at the “square,” a beautiful ridge of land about 450 feet above the sea level. at the beginning of the revolution, nottingham had 999 inhabitants, deerfield 929, and northwood 313. the records show that the people were making preparations for the coming conflict, and had sent generous assistance to the “industrious poor sufferers of the town of boston” during the siege. during the winter of 1774–5, dr. henry dearborn had a company of men which met at the square to drill from time to time. in november, 1774, a town-meeting was held and a committee appointed to “inspect into any person,” suspected of being a tory.
on the 20th of april, 1775, news reached the square that a battle had been fought the day before, and in the evening a large number of citizens assembled at the store of thomas bartlett. on the 21st, at 4 o’clock, a company of nearly one hundred men commenced their march for boston, being armed and equipped as best they could at such short notice.
some say that joseph cilley was the leader of this band of heroes, but others say dr. henry dearborn was captain, and probably he was, as he had been drill-master all winter, and was captain of the company after they arrived in cambridge. they marched on foot all night, and arrived in medford at eight o’clock on the morning of the 22d, some of the company having traveled, on foot, more than eighty miles since the previous noon, and over roads which were far from being in the best condition for rapid traveling.
i have searched records a great deal and inquired of the “oldest inhabitant,” whenever i could find him, that i might secure a complete list of the men who constituted this company, but of the hundred i can only give the following names with certainty. if any reader of this article can add a name he will do me a great favor by forwarding it to me:
dr. henry dearborn, joseph cilley, jr., thomas bartlett, henry butler, zephaniah butler, john simpson, nathaniel batchelder, daniel moore, peter thurston, maj. andrew mcclary, benjamin johnson, cutting cilley, joseph jackson, andrew neally, samuel 208johnson, robert morrison, william woolis, eliphlet taylor, william blake, nathaniel twombly, simon batchelder, abraham batchelder, simon marston, moses gilman, william simpson, john nealey, and samuel sias. let us briefly glance at the record of some of these men in the years that came after.
henry dearborn was born in hampton, feb. 23, 1751. he studied medicine and settled at nottingham square as a physician, in 1772. he married mary d. bartlett, daughter of israel, and sister of thomas bartlett of nottingham. he was always fond of military affairs, and is said to have been a skilful drill-master and well posted in the tactics in use previous to the revolution. he fought with his company at the battle of bunker hill. in the september following, he joined arnold’s expedition to quebec, accompanied by these nottingham men,—james beverly, john p. hilton, samuel sias and moses gilman. they marched up the kenebec river, through the wilds of maine and canada. in the assault upon that city, captain dearborn was taken prisoner. peter livias, the tory councilor at quebec, influenced the authorities to parole and send him home, on condition that dearborn should forward his wife and children to him from portsmouth to quebec, which was done as agreed. in april, 1777, capt. dearborn was appointed major in scammel’s regiment. he was in the battles of stillwater and saratoga and fought with such bravery, having command of a distinct corps, as to win the special commendation of gen. gates. in 1778, he was in the battle of monmouth, with col. cilley acting as lieut. col., and helped retrieve lee’s disgraceful retreat. he was with gen. sullivan in his expedition against the indians, in 1779, and was at yorktown at the surrender of cornwallis in 1781. upon the death of scammel, the gallant colonel of the third n. h. reg., at the hands of a barbarous foe, dearborn was made colonel and held that position to the end of the war. after the war, he settled in maine, where he was marshal by appointment of washington. he was two terms a member of congress; sec’y of war under jefferson from 1801 to 1809; collector of the port of boston between 1809–12; senior maj. general in u. s. army, 1812–13,and captured york in canada, and fort george, at the mouth of niagara. he was recalled by the president, july 6, 1813, and put in command of the military district of n. y. city, which recall was, no doubt, a great mistake. in 1822 he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to portugal; recalled in 1824, at his own request: died at roxbury, mass. june 6, 1829. general dearborn was a man of large size, gentlemanly deportment, and one of the bravest and most gallant men of his time.
joseph cilley, son of capt. joseph cilley of nottingham, was born in 1734; died 1799. he was engaged in the attack upon fort william and mary, in 1774; appointed major in col. poor’s regiment by the assembly of n. h. in 1775; he was not present in the battle of bunker hill, as his regiment was engaged in home defence. he was made lieut. col. in 1776, and april 2, 1777, was appointed colonel of the 1st. n. h. reg. of three years’ men, in place of col. stark, resigned. he fought his regiment bravely at bemis’s heights, near saratoga; and two weeks later was among the bravest of the brave, when burgoyne made his final attack before surrendering his entire army of six thousand men. so fierce was the battle, that a single cannon was taken and retaken five times; finally, col. cilley leaped upon it, waved his sword, and “dedicating the gun to the american cause,” opened it upon the enemy with their own ammunition. he was with washington’s army at valley forge, 1777–8; was at the storming of stony point; at monmouth he was one of the heroes in retrieving gen. lee’s retreat; was at the surrender of cornwallis at yorktown, and in other hard-fought battles of the revolution. after the war he was major-general of the 1st div. n. h. militia, and as such headed the troops which quelled the insurrection at exeter in 2091786, with his own hand arresting the leader in the midst of his armed followers. gen. cilley was a man of great energy and industry, of strong passion, yet generous and humane. he was repeatedly elected representative, senator and councillor.
thomas bartlett was born oct. 22, 1745; married sarah, daughter of gen. joseph cilley; was town-clerk twenty-six years; selectman thirty years; was the first representative from nottingham to the general court in 1784; was one of the committee of safety which managed the colonial affairs of new hampshire during part of the revolution; was captain of the 5th company of “six weeks” men at winter hill in 1775; was lieut. col. in col. gilman’s regiment, in 1776; lieut. col. in col. whipple’s regiment at rhode island, in 1778; also was lieut. colonel under stark at the capture of burgoyne. in 1780 he was colonel of a regiment at west point, when arnold betrayed that fort. in 1790 he was appointed justice of the court of common pleas, and retained that office till his death in 1805. he was major-general of first division of new hampshire militia from 1799 to 1805, in which office he was preceded by gen. joseph cilley, and followed by gen. henry butler.
henry butler was a son of rev. benjamin butler, the first settled minister in nottingham, and was born april 27, 1754. he was captain of a company in col. thomas bartlett’s regiment at west point, in 1780. he held many town and state offices; was the first postmaster in nottingham, when gideon granger was postmaster-general; and was major-general of the first division of new hampshire militia from 1805, for several years.
zephaniah butler, brother to rev. benjamin, was a school teacher in nottingham for many years preceding the revolution, and was one of col. cilley’s staff officers during several campaigns. he married a sister of col. cilley; gen. b. f. butler, whom everybody knows, is his grandson, he being son of capt. john butler of deerfield, who was son of zephaniah.
cutting cilley, brother of col. joseph cilley, was born in 1738, and died in 1825; he held many town offices, and was captain of a company in one of the new hampshire regiments during the revolution.
john simpson, born in 1748, and dying in 1810, is said to have been the man who fired the first gun at the battle of bunker hill. in 1778, he was lieutenant in capt. simon marston’s company, col. peabody’s regiment; and was subsequently promoted to major. his brother, robert, who also served in the revolutionary army, is the great grandfather of general ulysses simpson grant.
nathaniel batchelder, who was a brother-in-law of col. cilley, fought in the battle of bunker hill, under capt. dearborn, and was adjutant in col. drake’s regiment, which did brave service in the battle of stillwater, saratoga, and the surrender of burgoyne. he died of fever at valley forge, march 28, 1778.
daniel moore kept the first tavern at deerfield parade; fought at bunker hill and in subsequent battles; was captain in col. stark’s regiment, and did valiant service during the war.
andrew mcclary was from epsom and belonged to a family distinguished for its military men. he was plowing in his field on the 20th of april, 1775, when he heard a horn blow, which, on the instant, he knew was the tocsin of war; he left his plow in the furrow, and after the speediest preparation, hastened to deerfield parade and thence to nottingham square, where he joined capt. dearborn’s company. after they arrived in cambridge he was active in helping organize the new hampshire men into companies and was himself appointed major in col. stark’s regiment. he fought with his regiment at bunker hill, and was killed after the battle, in attempting to have “another shot at the enemy.”
robert morrison was born and lived on the square; he was a member of dr. dearborn’s company, which drilled during the winter of 1774–5, and a private in capt. dearborn’s company 210in the battle of bunker hill. in the september following he was bearer of dispatches from washington to the committee of safety in new hampshire, by whom he was treated with distinguished honors. in 1777 he was a private in col. stark’s regiment, and fought bravely in all the battles till the surrender of burgoyne. his son, robert morrison, esq., resides in northwood at the present time.
joseph jackson was sergeant in capt. dearborn’s company at bunker hill, afterwards served in several campaigns and was captain of a company.
samuel johnson was not in the bunker hill fight, but was in the campaign of 1777, at bennington, stillwater and saratoga, and took an active part under a commission which gave him the rank of colonel. he was one of the first settlers of northwood at the narrows, and was one of the selectmen of the town for fifteen years.
simon marston was from deerfield, having settled on the longfellow farm in 1763; he lived in the garrison house, erected by jonathan longfellow. he was sowing wheat when the courier, shouting the news of the battle of lexington, rode past the field where he was at work. marston left the measure, from which he was sowing, rushed to the house, filled his knapsack with pork and other necessaries, seized his gun, and hurried down to the square. he acted in the capacity of an officer in col. reed’s regiment at bunker hill; was an officer under lieut. col. senter; was captain of 1st co. col. peabody’s regiment; was afterwards commissioned major and fought at bennington, stillwater and saratoga. he was a brave man in war and energetic in peace. the others named, although they held no office of rank, were no less brave and faithful in performing perilous duties, and deserve to have their names recorded where they will never be forgotten.
after the nottingham men arrived in cambridge, and saw there was no danger of another attack immediately by the troops in boston, several returned home and commenced more thorough preparation for the coming conflict, but dr. dearborn and most of the men remained and were organized into a company, and dearborn was elected captain the company became a part of col. stark’s regiment and was stationed at medford, whence they marched on the 17th of june and participated in the glories of “breed’s hill.” captain dearborn’s company was no. 8, but he marched from medford to the “railfence,” by the side of col. stark.
the following list of men comprising this company is no doubt correct, as it was furnished by judge nesmith for cogswell’s “history of nottingham, deerfield and northwood,” and the judge is one of the best authorities in the state in such matters. the men were nearly all from old nottingham:
captain, henry dearborn, nottingham.
1st lieut., amos morrill, epsom.
2d lieut., michael mcclary, epsom.
1st sergt., jona. clarke, nottingham.
2d sergt., and. mcgaffey, epsom.
3d sergt., jos. jackson, nottingham.
1st corp., jonah moody, nottingham.
2d corp., andrew field, nottingham.
3d corp., jona. gilman, deerfield.
4th corp., and. bickford, deerfield.
privates.—simon dearborn, gideon glidden, james garland, john harvey, david mudgett (of gilmanton), simon sanborn, robt. morrison, john runnels, john neally, joseph place, abram pettengale, andrew nealley, peter severance, john wallace, theop. cass (of epsom), israel clifford, nathaniel batchelder (of deerfield), jacob morrill, john simpson, john wallace, jr., neal mcgaffey (of epsom), jonah libbey, moses locke, francis locke, zebulon marsh, solomon moody, chas. whitcher, marsh whitten, noah sinclair (drummer), james randell (fifer), nich. brown, benj. berry (of epsom), john casey, jona. cram (of deerfield), jeremiah conner, elisha hutchinson, dudley hutchinson, benj. judkins, josh. wells, jere. dowe, jona. dowe, john dwyer, david page, jr., beniah libbey, william rowell, weymouth wallace (of epsom), thomas walsh and william mccrellis (of epsom).
