Chapter 6

[Footnote 169: Communications are thus had between belligerent armies. By common consent, as a rule of war, a person approaching one army from another, with a white flag, is respected as a neutral; and to "fire upon a flag," as the phrase is when the bearer is fired upon, is considered a great breach of faith and honor.]

the 16. Nothing remarkable hapned Colonel Reeds Laidy came down to reveu the Regiment and treated them[170] nothing more this day.

[Footnote 170: The wives of officers often visited permanent camps, and formed pleasant social parties. Mrs. Washington visited her husband at Cambridge, while he remained there. She also spent a portion of the winter with him at Valley Forge, and likewise at Morristown.]

the 17. I went a chesnuting up to neutown[171] and at night our floating Baterys went up towards the canon and fired 13 shots but unlucky for them one of their 9 pounders split and killed one man dead and wounded 8 more one of them it is thought mortally.

[Footnote 171: Newton, seven miles north from Boston.]

the 18. I went upon the creek guard and John Bates was Lanch corporeal also in the afternoon their was 3 Boston men came out under pretence of fishing but they made their escape to Dorchester point.

the 19. Was rainy and nothing remarkable hapned.

the 20. The things that were taken at the Light house were vendued and went very high[172] Nothing more remarkable hapned this day at night their was a regular deserted from the enimy.

[Footnote 172: When Major Tupper destroyed the lighthouse on Nantasket point, he carried away all the furniture and the great lamp by which it was lighted.]

the 21. I went upon the creek guard[173] and it rained all day nothing remarkable hapned.

[Footnote 173: The creek referred to is Stony brook, northward from Roxbury fort.]

the 22. Being Sunday nothing remarkable this day.

the 23. Nothing remarkable hapned at night I went upon the piquet and nothing hapned worth a mentioning.

the 24. Nothing remarkable hapned this day onely we heard that the french were a going to join us upon conditions that we would trade with them.[174]

[Footnote 174: As early as July, 1775, Dr. Franklin had suggested the propriety of a political confederation of all the colonies, and the establishment of governmental relations with foreign powers, especially with France, which, it was well known, hated England. In November of that year, Benjamin Harrison, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Johnson, John Dickenson, and John Jay, were appointed a committee to open and carry on correspondence with foreign governments; and in March following, Silas Deane was appointed a special agent of Congress to the court of France. Rumors of such intentions appear to have reached the army, according to our Journalist, as early as the 24th of October, 1775.]

the 25. We turned out and went to the Larm post and it was very cold and we came home and there was a high go of Drinking Brandy and several of the company were taken not well prety soon after[175] nothing more this day.

[Footnote 175: A very natural consequence.]

the 26. This morning early their was several Laidies came down from wrentham and they went to cambridg and the rest of their acts are they not writen in the Lamentations of Samuel Haws, finis.

the 27. This day I went upon fatigue and we got our Stents done about noon.

the 28. Nothing remarkable this day onely I was chose cook for our room consisting of 12 men and a hard game too.

the 29. Being Sunday the officers had hard work to get hands for meting it was so cold nothing more this day.

the 30. This day nothing remarkable hapned.

the 31. Nothing remarkable.[176]

[Footnote 176: During the whole of October, affairs were very quiet, and no skirmish of importance occurred. The "Essex Gazette" of the 19th said, "Scarcely a gun has been fired for a fortnight." On the 4th, a small fleet, under Captain Mowatt, sailed from Boston harbor, and destroyed Falmouth (now Portland), Maine. On the 15th, a committee from Congress arrived, to consult with Washington concerning the future, and a reorganization of the army.]

NOVEMBER 1775.

the 1. Las night the fire ran over Samuel Hawes's hair and that provoket him to wrath Nothing very remarkable hapned this day that I know of.

the 2. their was Some gentlemen and Laidies came down from Wrentham and they went to cambridg.

the 3. It was a very rainy day and we went to childses and had an old fudg fairyouwell my friends.

the 4. Nothing remarkable hapned this day onely the gentry went home to Wrentham.

the 5. Being the memorial 5th of novem. the enemy fired from every Ship in the harbour nothing more remarkable this day.

the 6. Nothing remarkable hapned this day.

the 7. Their was a vendue opened att this house and their was not Less than a hundred and twenty Dollars worth of things vendued and sold at private sale and Swapt.

the 8. Nothing remarkable hapned this day that I know of.

the 9. Nothing remarkable hapned this day that is worth amentioning.[177]

[Footnote 177: On this day there was quite a severe skirmish occurred at Lechmere's point, now Cambridgeport.]

the 10. This day I went home upon furlow,[178] yesterday Sergent Yett went home.

[Footnote 178: That is, a written permission from his commanding officer, to leave for a specified time.]

the 11. I went to captain whitings and nothing remarkable hapned.

the 12. Being Sunday I went to meting Nothing more this day.

the 13. This day the Long faced People trained at Wrentham and Serg Felt went upon the piquet and fired several times upon the centrys.

the 14. This day I came down from Wrentham with Serg Felt and at night their was three men deserted from the floating Battery this day we had a Lottery and Serg Foster drawd a pair of Breeches[179] worth 5 Dollars and their was considerable other tradeing caried on at night their was 8 men more deserted.

[Footnote 179: At that time leather breeches were much in vogue, because they were durable. The more costly ones of buckskin were worn only by officers.]

the 16. Nothing remarkable hapned captain Pond Listed three or four men for the next campaign[180] att night it was very cold.

[Footnote 180: Late in October a new organization of the army took place, and enlistments for a certain term were commenced. Hitherto there had been great confusion in the matter. The army had gathered around Boston from sudden impulse, and it was continually changing. The excitement which had brought them together had in a measure subsided, and enlistments went on slowly. After a month's exertions, only five thousand names were enrolled; and Washington, lamenting the dearth of public spirit, almost despaired. Alluding to the selfishness exhibited in camp, he says: "Such stock-jobbing and fertility in all low arts, to obtain advantages of one kind and another, I never saw before, and pray God I may never witness again."]

the 17. Very blustering and their was a man Whipt thirty and nine Lashes for Stealing and getting Drunk and running away and afterwards he was drummed out of the camps thus he &c.

the 18. Nothing remarkable hapned this day that I know of.

the 19. This day being Sunday it was very pleasant and we had Preaching Nothing more this day.

the 20. This day nothing very remarkable at night their was a regular deserted and Swam over to Dorchester and escaped.

the 21. This day Nothing very remarkable this day the piquet was made easier by half &c. &c.

the 22. To morrow is thanksgiveing this day ended without any thing remarkable.

the 23. Being thanksgiveing I went with Serg Felt up to newtown and kept thanksgiveing their and returnd to our Barricks at night and we had not ben a bed long when our captain came to us and ordered us all to Lye upon our arms by order of General Washington Lesemo[181] of the American Army incampt at cambridg and roxbury and other places[182] nothing more this day that I know of onely 2 regulars deserted at night on cambridg side.[183]

[Footnote 181: Generalissimo.]

[Footnote 182: On the previous day, General Putnam, with a strong detachment, broke ground at Cobble hill, where the M'Lean Asylum now stands. The object was to erect batteries for the purpose of cannonading Boston. It was expected the British troops would sally out of the city and attack them, and that expectation caused Washington to issue the order for _all_ the troops to be ready for action at a moment's warning.]

[Footnote 183: Frothingham says, "Two British sentinels came off in the night to the detachment" of General Putnam.]

the 24. Nothing hapned very remarkable this day that I know of.

the 25. This morning Captain Pond inlisted several men for the next campaign; o you nasty Sloven how your Book Looks.[184]

[Footnote 184: This remark refers to several blots of ink which disfigure the page of his Journal on which he was writing.]

the 26. Being Sunday it was Stormy Nothing remarkable this day.

the 27. Nothing very remarkable hapned this day.

the 28. Nothing very Strange onely Peperiss curacle came out of Boston that old tory Dog.

the 29. Nothing remarkable onely one of our Privateers took a prize richly Laden.[185]

[Footnote 185: That was the British storeship _Nancy_, captured off Cape Anne, and carried into that harbor, by Captain John Manly, commander of the American armed schooner _Lee_, one of the six vessels fitted out at Boston under the direction of Washington, before Congress had yet taken any measures to establish a navy. So valuable were the stores of the _Nancy_, that Washington supposed General Howe would immediately make efforts to recover her, and he had an armed force sent to Cape Anne to secure them. There were two thousand muskets, one hundred thousand flints, thirty thousand round shot for one, six, and twelve pounders, over thirty thousand musket-shot, and a thirteen-inch brass mortar that weighed twenty-seven hundred pounds. The arrival of these produced great joy in the camp. Colonel Moylan, describing the scene, says: "Old PUT [General Putnam] was mounted on the mortar, with a bottle of rum in his hand, standing parson to christen, while god-father Mifflin [afterward General Mifflin] gave it the name of _Congress_."

On the 29th of November, Washington commenced planting a bomb-battery on Lechmere's point, with the intention of bombarding the British works on Bunker hill. They completed it in the course of a few days, entirely unmolested.]

the 30. Nothing extreordenary this day that I know of.

DECEMBER.

the 1. Nothing remarkable this day.

the 2. This day I with a number of rispectable gentlemen went[186]....

[Footnote 186: The author did not expect to have his Journal published, or he would have omitted the entry here made. There seems nothing in it derogatory to his character, yet he has chosen words to express his thoughts not suited "to ears polite."]

the 3. Being Sunday it rained nothing remarkable hapned this day.

the 4. Nothing remarkable hapnd this day at night we were ordered to Ly upon our arms.[187]

[Footnote 187: Washington was now in hourly expectation of an attack from the British, and, knowing his own weakness, he considered his situation very critical. In vigilance alone seemed a security for safety.]

the 5. Nothing Strange hapned this day.

the 6. Nothing comical this day only their was considerable of tradeing caryd on.[188]

[Footnote 188: The Yankee love of trade and barter appears to have been very prevalent in the camp.]

the 7. This day nothing Strang.

the 8. This day I with several more inlisted for the year 1776 under captain Oliver Pond.

the 9. Nothing remarkable this day.

the 10. This day the Long faced People[189] arived here from wrentham and other places.

[Footnote 189: New militia recruits from the country, who had never seen service.]

the 11. This day I past muster before general Spencer[190] nothing more this day.

[Footnote 190: General Joseph Spencer, of East Haddam, Connecticut. He remained in service until 1778, when he resigned, left the army, and became a member of Congress. He held rank next to Putnam in the army at Boston. He died in 1789, at the age of seventy years.]

the 12. This day it was very cold and the melitia had to mount guard that is good for them.

the 13. This day I went to cambridg and viewed the works on copple[191] hill.[192]

[Footnote 191: Cobble.]

[Footnote 192: These, it is said, were the most perfect of any of the fortifications raised around Boston at that time.]

the 14. This day I went to Watertown[193] with Lieutenant Bacon and a number of others in order to get some coats but we could not find any that suited us and so we returned.[194]

[Footnote 193. Seven miles northwest from Boston. It was then the seat of the revolutionary government in Massachusetts.]

[Footnote 194: Washington issued a notice, on the 28th of October, that tailors would be employed to make coats for those who wished them.]

the 15. This day nothing very remarkable.

the 16. This day nothing strange at night their was an atempt made to blow up A Ship but it failed also this night we heard that Quebeck was taken.[195]

[Footnote 195: This was a mistake. On the 13th of September, Colonel Benedict Arnold left Cambridge with a detachment to cross the country by the way of the Kennebec, to invade Canada and capture Quebec. Arnold's army suffered terribly on the march, and arrived at Point Levi, opposite Quebec, on the 9th of November, and prepared to attack the city. He was obliged to postpone his attack, and Quebec never fell into the hands of the patriots.]

the 17. Being Sunday it was foul weather nothing remarkable hapned this day onely the enemy fired at our men on Lechmers[196] Point and wounded one and our men returned the fire from copple hill.

[Footnote 196: Lechmere's.]

the 18. This day the Ship moved out of the Bay and the Enemy threw Bombs from mount Hoordom[197] but did no Damage.

[Footnote 197: A nickname given to Bunker's hill.]

the 19. This day nothing remarkable hapned.

the 20. Nothing strange this day.

the 21. This day it was very cold nothing strange this day.

the 22. Nothing remarkable this day.

the 23. Nothing strange this day.

the 24. Ditto Ditto Ditto.

the 25. Good.

the 26. Very cold this day nothing remarkable this day.

the 27. Nothing remarkable to day.

the 28. Nothing strange this day.

the 29. Nothing strange this day Last Night our men made an atempt to take Bunker hill but their Scheem was frustrated &c.[198]

[Footnote 198: On the night of the 28th, an unsuccessful attempt was made to surprise the British outposts on Charlestown neck, and then to attack the enemy on Bunker's hill. The Americans started to cross from Cobble hill, on the ice. One of the men slipped and fell when they were half way across, and his gun went off. This alarmed the British, and they were on their guard. It was computed that, from the burning of Charlestown, on the 17th of June, until Christmas day, the British had fired more than two thousand shot and shells. They hurled more than three hundred bombshells at Plowed hill, and one hundred at Lechmere's point. Gordon says that, with all this waste of metal, they "killed only seven men on the Cambridge side, and just a dozen on the Roxbury side."]

the 30, 31. Nothing remarkable.

JANUARY.

the 1. A Happy new year 1776 Behold the man three score and ten upon a Dying Bed he'se run his race and get no Grace and Awful Sight indeed Nothing very remarkable this 1 day of January 1776 Anoquedomina.[199]

[Footnote 199: Anno Domini.]

the 2. Nothing strange this day.

the 3. 20 men out of each Regement in Roxbury side to cut fachines[200] I believe we have it by and by.

[Footnote 200: Fascines.]

the 4. Nothing remarkable this day.

the 5-7. Nothing strange.

the 8. At night some of our brave heroick Americans went Past the Enemys Brest Work at Bunker hill and burnt several housen at the foot of Bunker hill and took 5 men and 1 woman Prisoners and came of as far as copple hill when the flames began to extend and the enemy that were in the fort perceiving a number of men gather round the fire & suposing them to be our men they kept up a bright fire for the space of near half an hour upon their own men devillightfooly[201] they[202]....

[Footnote 201: Delightfully.]

[Footnote 202: When Charlestown was burned, fourteen houses escaped the flames. These were occupied by the British; and, on the 8th of January, General Putnam sent Major Knowlton (afterward killed at Harlem), with a small party, to set those houses on fire. The affair was injudiciously managed, and, before all could be fired, the flames of one alarmed the British in the fort. They discharged cannons and small-arms in all directions, in their confusion and affright. At that moment a play, called "The Blockade of Boston," written for the occasion by General Burgoyne, was in course of performance in the city. In the midst of the scene in which Washington was burlesqued, a sergeant dashed into the theatre and exclaimed, "The Yankees are attacking Bunker's hill!" The audience thought it was part of the play, until General Howe said, "Officers, to your alarm-posts!" Then women shrieked and fainted, and the people rushed to the streets in great confusion.]

the 9. Nothing remarkable this day.

the 10. Nothing very remarkable this day it was very cold.

the 11. Nothing very remarkable this day.

the 12. All furlows stopt this day.

the 13. Nothing strange this day.

the 14. Being Sunday nothing remarkable this day.

the 15. This day we heard that the regulars had taken Providence and burnt all the housen except two.[203]

[Footnote 203: Sir James Wallace commanded a small British flotilla in Narraganset bay, during the summer and autumn of 1775. He was really a commissioned pirate, for he burnt and plundered dwellings, and stores, and plantations, wherever he pleased. The fact above alluded to was the plunder and destruction of the houses on the beautiful island of Providence (not the town of Providence) by that marauder, at the close of November, 1775. He also desolated Connanicut island, opposite Newport; and every American vessel that entered that harbor was seized and sent to Boston.]

the 16. Nothing remarkable hapened this day at night we were all ordered to Ly upon our arms.

the 17. This day we had the disagreeable news that our men were defeated that went to Quebeck and that General montgomery and colonel Arnold were either killed or taken Prisoners but we Pray God thy news may prove falce[204] at night it was thought their was a spy out from Boston and our centrys fired at him but we dont know the Sertainty of it cold weather for the Season.

[Footnote 204: Arnold, with only seven hundred men, appeared before Quebec on the 18th of November, and demanded its surrender. He was soon compelled to retire, and, marching up the St. Lawrence twenty miles, he there met, in December, General Montgomery, with a small force, descending from Montreal. They marched against Quebec, and, early in the morning of the 31st of December, proceeded to assail the city at three distinct points. Montgomery was killed, Morgan and many of the Americans were made prisoners, and Arnold, who was severely wounded, retired to Sillery, three miles above Quebec.]

the 18. Nothing strange this day.

the 19. This day we heard that our men had taken a Ship Loaded with Gunpowder the truth of it we have not yet Learned but we hope it will prove true.[205]

[Footnote 205: Several of the prizes captured by Manly and others contained powder and arms; and late in December, Colonel (afterward General) Knox arrived from Ticonderoga with forty-two sled-loads of cannons, mortars, lead, balls, flints, &c. By the close of January, powder became quite plentiful in the American camp.]

the 20. Nothing remarkable this day.

the 21. Ditto.

the 22. Nothing strange.

the 23. Nothing remarkable.

the 24. This day capt Pond came from Wrentham Nothing remarkable.

the 25. Nothing remarkable this day.

the 26. Nothing very remarkable.

the 27. Nothing remarkable this day.

the 28. Nothing remarkable.

the 29. This day we moved to Dorchester into the widow Birds house.

the 30. Nothing strange this day.

the 31. Ditto.

FEBRUARY.

the 1. This day nothing remarkable.

the 2. Ditto.

the 3. Nothing Remarkable this day.

the 4. Ditto.