Early in March General Washington planted these cannon upon Dorchester Heights. This so surprised General Howe, who succeeded General Gage, that he concluded to withdraw his army from Boston. And on the 17th of March the British Army sailed away from Boston for Halifax, N. S., accompanied by about one thousand tories.

The day that General Howe evacuated Boston, General Washington entered the city, amidst great rejoicing. The inhabitants were overjoyed to be once more free, as the British Army had occupied Boston for nearly a year.

At an adjourned session of the annual town meeting held on the first day of "Apriel 1776":

   Votted "That the town dismiss the old commitee of Inspection and chuse another in their Room."
   Votted "James Eaton, Capt Joseph Little, Moses Well, Joseph Buzwell, be said comitee."

At a special town meeting held on Tuesday "the 30 Day of Apriel" the people were called to act upon the following "artickle":

   to See if the Town will chuse a committee of Safety and inspection, agreeable to the Direction of the Honorable Continental Congrass, or at Least Chuse as many as will make up a Commitee with those that Do Except the offer that have Been already Chosen.
   And in accordance with the foregoing artickle, Moses Wells, Joseph Buzzel, Will^m McDole, Thos Kennedy and Job Dow were chosen a committee of Inspection.

On of the duties of the Committee of Safety was to ascertain the loyalty of the inhabitants of the township, and also report to the Provincial Congress those hostile and inimical to the colonies.

The late Rev. C. A. Downs of Lebanon, N. H., assigns the following necessity, and defines the duty of the Committee of Safety:

   "This body of men was a necessity of the times in which it originated. In the sudden breaking up of the royal authority, before there was any organization to bind them together, and to be a channel for legitimate authority this organization was devised. It had both legislative and executive powers. That of the state was only active when the assembly was not in session, as they had at that time no distinct executive body. The committees of the towns were elected annually and were clothed with ample powers."

The Committees of Safety of neighboring towns consulted together, and thereby devised a uniformity of action, and also ascertained each other's views. An example illustrative of this will be seen in the trial of Rev. John Houston, Minister of Bedford.

Judge Patten speaks of the trial:

   July 17th 1775, "There was 4 of Goffstown Committee and 4 of Merrymac and 2 from Derryfield met in Bedford by the desire of Bedford commitee to judge of Mr. Houston being an Enemy to this country they judged him Guilty and confined him to the county without leave from the majr part of one of the commitees of the towns who judged him we broke up the next morning after day break."

A short time after this he was dealt with more summarily as will be seen from the description of the punishment inflicted upon him. The people determined to take his case into their hands, and meeting at Col. Moses Kelley's, on the Mast Road, they sent a committee to Bedford who brought him to Kelley's tavern. He was accused of holding tory opinions, and after some parleying he was placed upon a wooden horse, and transported back to Bedford. But even after this he refused to sign the test.

In New Hampshire, the Committee of Safety had a resolution printed in a circular, and sent to every town in the state. The circular was as follows:

Colony of New Hampshire, Committee of Safety.

April 12, 1776

On the 4th of July, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed, the colonies declared themselves free and independent. The thirteen colonies of England now ceased to exist. In their place was the free and independent United States of America.

This act was accompanied by great rejoicing as soon as known throughout the land, and people everywhere received it with pleasure. The people now realized that they were a nation of themselves, and by their own acts they had sundered the ties that politically bound them to Great Britian.

From 1751 to 1772 their warrants for town meeting were headed "Province of New Hampshire." Then the state was divided into counties, their warrants were headed "Province of New Hampshire, County of Hillsborough," until July 4, 1775, then it was the "Colony of New Hampshire, County of Hillsborough," and after the Declaration of Independence "State of New Hampshire" until June 3, 1777, when it read "State of New Hampshire, Hillsborough County."

On the 26th of October, 1776, the following warrant was posted, calling a town meeting:

And in accordance with the foregoing warrant John Goffe of Derryfield was elected assemblyman for the year. Wiseman Clagget and Jonathan Blanchard, Esq^r, Councellors and Thomas Shirla, Alex^dr Gilchrest, Capt. Joshua Martin of Goffstown, David Starret, Capt. Sam^l Moore of Derryfield a committee to give instructions to said delegates.

In November of this year the town elected Joseph Buzwell a delegate to attend the convention to be held at Dracut on the 26th of November instant. Goffstown was classed with Derryfield for the purpose of sending a representative, and a Committee of Instructions as will be seen, was made up from Goffstown and Derryfield.

At the annual meeting of March 3, 1777, W^m McDole, Thomas Kennedy, Joseph Buzwell, Job Dow, Moses Wells were chosen a committee of Inspection and Safety.

At the commencement of the year 1777, things were dark and gloomy, and the affairs of the Americans were in a desperate condition. The army under Washington was poorly clad, and poorly fed; the currency had depreciated, and there was little money in the treasury to carry on a war.

At a special meeting called in Goffstown April 7, 1777, it was:

   Votted "that there be a Commitee to Exemine into the affairs of what the Inhabitence of Goffes Town hath don in the Continential Servis in the war."
   Votted "Capt Sam^el Richards, Capt Joshua Martin, Thomas Shirla be said Commitee."

The meeting adjourned for one week, when they again met according to adjournment and votted "that the Selectmen be impowered to provide Town Stock of Ammunition as Set forth in Law."

An article was also inserted in the warrant "to choose a committee to record all the names of all the soldiers that has been in the service of their country, whether living or dead, as well for the time hereafter, as the present."

Somebody evidently had the idea that posterity would care to hold in remembrance the names of those who took part in the struggle for independence. If the names of such were ever recorded the record was lost. There was another article which was dismissed: "To Know the minds of the Town, whether they will choose a comm^te who shall make Enquiry into the Service that Each Soldier or person has Done during the present Dispute with Great Brittian, and to Value therie time according to there Best Judgment and Report the same at the adjournment of this or aney other meeting Legally warned, all which is to be done with a Designe of Doing Justice to Each person."

This article was passed over and the same thing was brought up again the next year, with no better success; they evidently thinking that it was better to let the matter remain where it was than to assume individual responsibilities.

   Voted "that Sam^l Blodget Esq^r and Co^l Moses Kelley be a commite to petition the general court for a new precipt exclusive of any connection with any other Town."

There was an article in the warrant "To see if the Town will choose one or more persons to look up the arms that were taken by the Selectmen for the service of this state as they are supposed to be at Medford or Cambridge store, being stopped by Gen. Washington's order."

There was an article in the warrant "To see if the Town will choose one or more persons to look up the arms that were taken by the Selectmen for the service of this state as they are supposed to be at Medford or Cambridge store, being stopped by Gen. Washington's order."

This article was not acted upon, they evidently thinking as Dr. Carr says "they were in good hands and doing good execution."

On account of the depreciation of the currency and scarcity of provisions, prices ruled high and the necessities of life with some could scarcely be obtained.

On Jan. 1, 1777, silver and continental paper were equal in value, but continental paper soon began to depreciate and in

Jan., 1778, one dollar in silver equalled $3.25 continental money
"     1779    "      "      "    "           "         7.42          "            "   
"     1780    "      "      "    "           "       30.00          "            "  
"     1781    "      "      "    "          "       75.00          "            "  
June, 1781    "     "      "    "           "      120.00          "            "   

The town chose a committee consisting of Philip Noyes, Richard Colby and Robert Richardson to stipulate the price of things set forth in the law. There is no record of report of said committee, and we apprehend that it made little difference what they did report, but the inference we draw from subsequent transactions is, that the inhabitants bought and sold and fixed their own prices the same after, as they did before appointing the committee. On the 18th of January, 1777, an act was passed by the house and concurred in by the Council of New Hampshire "to regulate the price of sundry articles," largely including the necessities of life for the household and soldiers in the field; a scale of prices was fixed and traders were not allowed to sell at over 20 per cent of wholesale price, and labor on farms not to exceed 3s. and 4d. per day.

The colonies had been very seriously annoyed by persons claiming to be loyal to the King, who called themselves Loyalists, and by the patriots were called Tories. The Committees of Safety had dealt with some and the association test had been circulated in most towns, and a return made of those who signed the same, and of those who refused to sign.

But something more was needed giving the state more direct authority, accordingly an act was passed, entitled an act for taking up, imprisoning or otherwise restraining persons dangerous to this state.

This act gave the Committee of Safety for the state authority to issue a warrant for the arrest of any person whose personal liberty was dangerous, and confine the same in the county jail. It also gave the sheriff authority to break and enter buildings where they supposed such persons were concealed, and make arrest. It also empowered the Committee of Safety to summon suspicious persons before them and conduct an examination.

The result of the act was several parties in New Hampshire who had been hostile to the cause of the colonies, were arrested and tried, some were banished and their property confiscated. I find no record of any association test ever being circulated in Goffstown, certainly no list was ever returned to the Committee of Safety.

Potter says in his history: "There was not a man in Derryfield disaffected to the cause of America. And Goffstown was free of tories."

But in the year 1779, November 4th, we find a record of the following vote passed by the General Assembly:

   Voted "A committee to join a committee of the Board to consider the petition of sundry of the inhabitents of Goffstown, Dunbarton, &c. praying leave to remove sundry tory families from them towns."

We do not know what proportion of "sundry of the inhabitants" belonged to Goffstown, but we think Judge Potter was right in his assertion in regard to Goffstown being free of Tories, as an examination of the lists will show. It may seem strange to the people of the present day to realize, that the jails of Rockingham and Hillsborough Counties were used as places of confinement for Tory prisoners outside of the state, but such is the fact as shown by the following record. The committee of both houses of the assembly appointed to consider the case of the New York Tory prisoners at Amherst, made report as follows:

   "That they be immediately sent off under a Guard of a sergeant and six men, to the Executive Authority of the state of New York."
   "That Lieut.-Col. Moses Kelley be desired to provide the said guard; that such of said prisoners as are in actual need of shoes, stock^gs, or clothing for their march, be supplied by said Kelley; and the Secretary write to the Executive Authority of New York giving reasons for sending them and state that the accounts for their safe keeping in this state will be transmitted."

Whether the Tories were rebellious or disaffected with the sheriff, or complained of their boarding place is not stated, in the reasons for sending them, but the inference we should draw would be, that it was not profitable business, for the state of New Hampshire to run a boarding house for New York gentry, inasmuch as we had a large army in the field to clothe and feed, many of whom were suffering for necessities of life.

In January, 1777, soon after the battle of Princeton, Colonel Stark came home to recruit another regiment. This was a very difficult thing to do, but he did it in the midst of many difficulties, some of which we have already mentioned. On account of the promotion of Colonel Poor who was promoted a general, Stark resigned his commission as colonel. The Council and house upon his resignation passed a vote of thanks in very complimentary language.

Colonel Stark upon his resignation retired to his home in Derryfield, now Manchester. In the spring of 1777, General Clinton occupied the city of New York. General Burgoyne, with a well organized and a well disciplined army, was situated at Quebec. The British realizing that they had the New England colonies in their control, as regards their receiving aid by way of the seacoast, conceived the idea of isolating them from the rest of the country, and thus starve them out. Accordingly General Burgoyne with his army was to march down the old Indian track by way of Lake Champlain, and meet General Clinton at some objective point near Albany, and thus sever New England from New York and the west. Ticonderoga was regarded as an impregnable fortress, and the New Hampshire troops had been ordered to rendezvous there.

In accordance with well arranged plans General Burgoyne overcoming every obstacle in his way, spread dismay among the patriots of the country, and the Tories were overjoyed. He made an attack upon Crown Point which he soon captured.

The advance upon Ticonderoga was followed up with vigor. This fortress was supposed to be manned by five thousand men, but in reality there was not half of that number, and many of these, particularly the New Hampshire troops, were sick with putrid fever and smallpox.

Accordingly on the 6th day of July Ticonderoga was evacuated, and fell into the hands of the enemy. On the retreat Colonel Hale's Regiment of New Hampshire was detailed to guard the rear of the invalids, and was thus far behind the main army. The advance guard of the British Army came upon him at Hubbardton, Vt., and a severe skirmish ensued, in which several officers, and one hundred men were taken prisoners. The remainder of the army retreated to Saratoga by way of Fort Ann where a second battle ensued. The news of the evacuation spread rapidly throughout New Hampshire; all was intense excitement. It may not be inappropriate to here state that in the older portion of the cemetery at Grasmere stand two headstones, one bearing the inscription Matthew Kennedy "died at Mt. Independend October 1776"; the other, in memory of James McCurdy, who died at Ticonderoga July 19, 1776, "In the Scarvis of his country."

The towns on the Connecticut River were in fear of an invasion. The legislature of New Hampshire assembled at once to consider the state of affairs, and to raise soldiers and supplies. They immediately took decisive and effectual steps for the defence of the country. They divided the militia into two brigades, giving the command of one to William Whipple, and the second to John Stark. They ordered one-fourth of Stark's brigade and one-fourth of Whipple's brigade to march immediately under General Stark to stop the progress of the enemy on our frontier.

The treasury was empty. It was an easy thing for the state to vote to raise troops, but it could not pay them. In this emergency John Langdon, speaker of the House of Representatives, came to the rescue. He offered to loan the country his cash, and the avails of his plate, and West India goods, briefly stating an invoice. This patriotic offer roused the assembly. They voted the money, and appointed Stark brigadier-general, which was received with great enthusiasm throughout New Hampshire. Volunteers were eager to enlist under Stark for the defense of the frontier towns. Charlestown on the Connecticut River was made a rendezvous, and here Stark made his headquarters, and as fast as troops arrived he dispatched them to Manchester, Vt. (twenty miles north of Bennington), to join the forces there assembled under Colonel Warner. Here Stark joined them.

General Schuyler, commander of the northern department, sent General Lincoln to conduct the militia to the west side of the Hudson River. Stark refused to obey, assigning as his reason that he was in the service of New Hampshire, and her interests required his presence at Bennington. He, therefore, collected his forces at Bennington, and left Warner with his regiment at Manchester. General Burgoyne, with the main body of his army, lay at Fort Edward, from which point he detached Lieutenant-Colonel Baum, with a force of about sixteen hundred men, to invade the towns as far east as the Connecticut River, for the purpose of securing horses and provisions for the army.

Stark sent Colonel Gregg to stay the advance of the Indians who preceded Baum's main army. Gregg retreated before the Indians; the next day Stark came to his relief, and a skirmish followed, in which thirty of the Indians were killed. This was on the 14th day of August, 1777. The next day a heavy rain storm occurred.

On the 16th day of August Stark was re-enforced by a company of militia from New Hampshire, and another from the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. His army now amounted to sixteen hundred men. He placed a detachment in the rear of the enemies' right and left wing. He also placed a detachment of men in front to draw their attention. When the battle commenced in the rear upon the enemies' right and left wing, Stark himself advanced with the main body. The plan of attack was executed with precision and promptness. General Stark looked to the detail so closely, that he instructed the militia to put a corn husk in each of their hat bands, in order that they might not be mistaken for the Tories, who were similarly clad. The attack began at three o'clock in the afternoon, and lasted two hours, at the end of which, the enemy retreated. Shortly after General Stark received intelligence that another body of the enemy was near at hand, which proved to be a detachment under Colonel Breyman; fortunately Colonel Warner came up with his regiment from Manchester and stopped them. Stark rallied his men and renewed the conflict, which lasted until the going down of the sun, and completely routed the enemy capturing artillery, baggage, wagons and horses. He pursued the enemy as late as he could see and then halted, on account of the darkness. Two hundred and twenty-five men of the enemy, including Colonel Baum, the commander, were killed, and between seven and eight hundred made prisoners. Thus ended the Battle of Bennington, and the boast of Colonel Baum that he would march through Vermont to Boston, which might have been literally fulfilled. Historians have said that the Battle of Bennington may be called the decisive battle of the Revolution, for there can scarcely be any doubt if the result had been otherwise, the British Army would have devastated and laid waste New England.

Upon the arrival of the news of this victory at Yorktown, Pa., Congress passed a vote of thanks to General Stark, and the officers, and soldiers under him, and appointed him brigadier-general in the army of the United States. After the Battle of Bennington, Stark marched his troops towards the Hudson, and joined the main army under General Gates.

On the 18th of September the time of enlistment of his troops being up, General Gates was desirous that they should re-enlist, and General Stark urged them to remain for the further term of six weeks, but having accomplished the object for which they had enlisted, they decided they must return to their farms as their crops were ready for the harvest. Again General Stark was without a command, and he returned to New Hampshire to raise a new force with which to confront Burgoyne. He soon raised any army of three thousand volunteers, marched with his soldiers to the neighborhood of the Hudson; arriving at Fort Edward, he took possession of the same, and then descended the Hudson, and so arranged his troops as to prevent the retreat of Burgoyne. The next engagement was on the 19th of September at Stillwater, about twenty-five miles north of Albany on the Hudson River, where several brave officers and men of New Hampshire were killed; both armies claimed the advantage, but Burgoyne certainly gained none. Again on the 7th of October the two armies met at the decisive battle of Saratoga. New Hampshire troops deserve a large share of the honor of this great victory.

Both parties fought with desperation. The enemy yielded and were pursued to their entrenchments. Night closed the battle. The next day Burgoyne realized his helpless and hopeless condition; hemmed in on all sides, with scanty rations, and no help from General Clinton, he called a council of war.

The American batteries commanded the British Camp. While a council of war was in session in Burgoyne's tent, an eighteen pound cannon shot passed directly over the table, above their heads, which speedily influenced the council to arrive at the decision to surrender. The entire army thus surrendered.

The news of the surrender of Burgoyne diffused joy throughout all the army, and was everywhere received in the United States with great delight. Immediately after the surrender, the New Hampshire troops marched forty miles in fourteen hours, to intercept the advance of General Clinton. But, hearing of the surrender of Burgoyne, he returned to New York. The New Hampshire troops pushed on, and joined General Washington at Germantown, Pa., and shortly after moved to Valley Forge where they passed that fearful winter, the sufferings of which can scarcely find a parallel in history. With the surrender of Burgoyne's army all danger of an invasion from Canada ceased, and the seat of war was largely removed to the south.

It is interesting to know the readiness with which the soldiers from Goffstown responded to the call for volunteers. Many times at a day's notice they had to equip and arm themselves, and report at some place of rendezvous.

Appended are the names of the Goffstown militia of Capt. John Duncan's Company under the command of Lieut. Moses Kelley which went from Goffstown to Ticonderoga on the alarm of July 1, 1777, and marched as far as Charlestown:

Many of the above named persons were prominent citizens of Goffstown, some of whom had well tilled farms, but they realized the danger of Burgoyne's advance, and were ready at short notice to check the invasion. Nathan Hawes was a boy of sixteen; he lived in that part of Goffstown now within the limits of Hooksett. He was the grandfather of Mrs. Charles Morgrage and Mrs. William Morgan. Jonathan Bell lived on the place where George A. Bell now lives, and was the grandfather of the late Ira L. Bell. Robert Spear lived between the Uncanoonuc Mountains, northeast of the John G. Dodge place. Thomas Shirley lived near the residence of the late Edward C. Shirley, and was his great grandfather. William Madole or McDole lived where James Barlett now lives. Benjamin Stevens, Jr., lived where B. F. Stevens, lately deceased, lived and was his grandfather.

The following is a list of names of Goffstown soldiers who marched from Goffstown in July, 1777, and joined the army at Bennington, in General Stark's brigade:

These men were at the Battle of Bennington on the 16th day of August, 1777, in General Stark's brigade, and pursued Burgoyne's forces as far west as the Hudson River. These militia soldiers of Goffstown were in the thickest of the fight in the Battle of Bennington, and to them belongs a part of the honor of deciding the battle of that day, which turned back the tide of the British Army, and sounded the keynote of success of the American Revolution.

During the year 1777 the town of Goffstown had in the northern Continental Army the following named soldiers:

¹Was wounded. See T. P., Vol. XII, P. 34. Return

       

ALHN Hillsborough County

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