wards repeatedly despatched, with smaller bodies of men, up
the Hudson river, and down Lake George and Lake Champlain
to reconnoiter the French forts. Some of these e.xpeditions-
e.xtended as far north as Crown Point and were enlivened with
sharp skirmishes. He was absent up the Hudson upon one of
these when the French were defeated at the battle of Lake
George and Baron Dieskan was made prisoner.
This year of 1755 was one of the most eventful of the early
American history. It marks the fatal defeat of the disciplined
little army of the intrepid but despotic General Kraddock, who
said that the savages might be formidable to raw American
militia, but could never make any impression upon the King's
regulars ; but who, had he survived the fight, would have seen
the remnants of his boasted regulars saved from utter annihila-
tion by the bravery of these same American raw militia, skil-
fully and valorously handled by the young American militia
colonel, George Washington.
'Upon the breaking out of the " Seven Years' War " John Stark
was commissioned by the governor as second lieutenant of
Rogers' company of Rangers, attached to Blanchard's regiment.
Captain Rogers mustered a company of rugged foresters, every
man of whom, as a hunter, could hit the size of a dollar at a hun-
dred yards distance ; could follow the trail of man or beast ; endure
the fatigue of long marches, the pangs of hunger, and the cold
of winter nights, often passed without fire, shelter, or covering
other than their common clothing, a blanket, perhaps a bear-
skin, and the boughs of the pine or hemlock. Their knowledge
of Indian character, customs, and manners was accurate. They
were principally recruited in the vicinity of Amoskeag falls,
' I'.eorge Stark.
2^4 IIISI'OUV Ol' NIW IIAMCSllIKE. L'755
where Rogers, a resident of the neighboring town of Dunbar-
ton, which then extended to the Merrimack river, was accus-
tomed to meet them at the annual fishing season. They were
men wiio could face with equal resolution the savage animals,
•or the still more savage Indians of their native woods, and
whose courage and fidelity were undoubted.
It was early in the summer of this stirring year of 1755 that
Rogers' company of Rangers received orders to march
Ihrougli the pathless forests to join their regiment at Fort
Edward, the head-quarters of General Johnson's army, which
place they reached early in August, a short time before the
desperate attack made on Johnson by the French and Indians
at the south end of Lake George, near Bloody pond, so named
from the slaughter on this occasion.
' In tlie spring of 1755, when an expedition was being fitted
out to attack the French at C.'rown Point, so little was known of
the country between the Merrimack and Lake Champlain, it
was supposed that the Upper Coos Meadows were upon the
direct route from Salisbury Fort (Franklin) to Crown Point,
hence Governor Wentworth directed Colonel Blanchard to stop
when on his march and build a fort at these meadows. While
he was delayed in making his preparations for the march, Captain
Robert Rogers, with his company of Rangers and detachments
from other companies, were sent forward to build a fort. It was
located on the east bank of the Connecticut, just south of the
nioutli of the Upper Ammonoosuc, and it was called Fort Went-
worth, in honor of the governor. , When completed, the com-
mand continued their march to Crown Point.
" In the spring of 1755, Jona. Lovewell was appointed by the
General Court of New Hampshire to warn a town meeting in
Bow, 22d of April, for the choice of officers, &c., which he ac-
cordingly did, and subsequently made return that he warned the
meeting and attended as moderator, at the place and time
appointed ; 'but tliat t/iov was but one inhabitant of said Bozu
ihat attended.' This apparent disregard of their authority seems
to have been resented by the government ; for, at the very next
â– J, H. Hantingloii.
17551 KovAi. rkoviNCK. 235
session, tliey jiassed what was called tlic ' Hinv Act,' foi- assess-
ing;" and collecting taxes in the ret'ractor\ town ; in which thev
set forth 'that in contempt of the la.w, and in defiance of the
government, the said town of Bow refused to meet at the time
and place appointed,' &c. As a remedy for this it was enacted
' That Ezra Carter antl Moses Foster, Esqs., and John Chand-
ler, gentlemen, all of said Bow — he assessors to assess the ]iolls
and estates within said town of Bow. * * the sum of five
Jiniidred and eiglity poniids and sixteen shillings, new tenor bills
of ])ublic credit.' Not having complied with the act, they were
doomed, and feeling themselves oppressed, petitioned for for-
bearance and a redress of grievances." ^
While the inhabitants of Rumford were thus complaining of
grievances and struggling with their difificulties, the proprietors
of How proper became sensible that the controversy in which
they were involved was detrimental to their interest, and, to
" save the great expense which inevitably attends contention,"
they proposed terms of "accommodation and agreement," having
respect, however, chiefly to settlers of Suncook, which resulted,
in 1759, in an act for incorporating a parish, partly within the
places known by the name of Suncook and Buck-street, bv the
name of Pembroke.
The Provincial government of New Hampshire never recog-
nized the existence of the township of Suncook. That part of
Allenstovvn lying north of the Suncook river was known as early
as the French and Indian war as Buck-street. According to
Holland's map of New Hampshire, published in England just
after the revolution, there was a gore of land between Bow and
AUenstown ungranted by the New Hampshire proprietors.
This gore can be traced in Canigain's map, published in 1816.
in Walling's map of Merrimack county, published in 1858, and
in the map accompanying Hitchcock's Geological Report, jjub-
lished in 1826. The place called Suncook in the charter from
New Hampshire evidently means to include this ungranted gore,
as it had no other name by which it could be briefly designated.
Upon the decease of Geaeral Braddock, Governor Shirley suc-
ceeded to the chief command of the English forces in North
' li.!,-.. rf ( ,>ncorcl.
C36 HISTOKV OK NEW 11 AM I'SII IKE. ['75^
America, and on the i Sth of March, 1756, Rogers received orders
from him to repair to Boston for a personal conference. He
reached Boston on the 23d of the same month, and as the result
of his inter\'ievv with the governor was commissioned to recruit an
independent corps of Rangers, to consist of sixty privates, an
ensign, a lieutenant, and a captain. The corps was to be
raised immediately. None were to be enlisted but " such as
were accustomed to travelling and hunting, and in whose cour-
age and fidelity the most implicit confidence ccukl be placed."
They were, moreover, " to be subject to military discipline and
the articles of war." The rendezvous was appointed at Albany,
" whence to proceed with whale-boats to Lake George, and
from time to time to use their best endeavors to distress the
I<'rench and their allies by sacking, burning, and destroying
their houses, barns, barracks, canoes, batteaux, etc., and by
killing their cattle of every kind, and at all times to endeavor to
waylay, attack, and destroy their convoys of provision, by land
and by water, where they could be found."
Within thirty days from the issuance of this commission, the
enlistment of the new corps of Rangers was complete, many of
his old company re-enlisting, and Rogers again selected John
Stark for his ensign, or second lieutenant. Although no impor-
tant military operations were attempted during this campaign,
the Rangers were constantly on foot, watching the motions of
the enemy at Crown Point and Ticonderoga, cutting off their
convoys of supplies, and often making prisoners of sentinels at
their posts. ^
The efficiency of the campaign of the next year (1756), which
contemplated the taking of Crown Point, Niagara and Fort Du
Ouesne, was seriously impaired by the repeated changes of
Commander-in-Chief ; Major General Shirley being superseded
in June by General Abercrombie, while he, about a month later,
yielded the command to the inefficient Lord Loudon. The
only occurrences of particular note during this campaign were
the capture of our forts at Oswego by General Montcalm and
the formal declarations of war by the- two licllignents.
1 J 1;. W .ilkti
1756] KOVAI, I'KiniNL'E. 237
»
Rogers and his men were stationed at Fort William Henry,
and made repeated visits to Ticonderoga and Crown Point, to
ascertain the power of the enemy, and to annoy him as they
had opportunity. They went down Lake George, sometimes by
land upon its shores, and sometimes by water and in boats. In
the winter their land marches were frequently upon snow-shoes,
and their boats were exchanged for skates. On such occasions
each Ranger was generally his 'in commissary, and carried his
own supplies.
In his journal for this year (1756) Rogers notes thirteen of
these expeditions as worthy of record. The first was down
Lake George on the ice, in January, with seventeen men,
resulting in the capture of two prisoners, and two sledges laden
with provisions.
The second was made in February, with a party of fifty men,
to ascertain the strength and operations of the French at Crown
Point. Having captured one prisoner at a little village near by
the fort, they were discovered and obliged to retire before the
sallying troops of the garrison. With very marked sangfroid
he closes his account of this reconnoissance by saying : " We
employed ourselves while we dared stay in setting fire to the
houses and barns in the village, with which were consumed large
quantities of wheat, and other grain ; we also killed about fifty
cattle and then retired, leaving the whole village in flames."
There often appears a ludicrous kind of honesty in the simple
narratives of this journal. He occasionally seized certain stores
of the enemy which a Ranger could destroy only -with regret.
He naively remarks, in narrating the capture in June, of this
same year, of two lighters upon Lake Champlam, manned by
twelve men, four of whom they killed : " We sunk and destroyed
their vessels and cargoes, which consisted chiefly of wheat and
flour, wine and brandy ; some few casks of the latter we care-
fully concealed."
His commands on such occasions varied greatly in numbers,
according to the exigency of the service, all the way from a
squad of ten men to two whole companies ; and the excursions
just mentioned afford fair specimens of the work done by the
Rangers under Rogers this year.
23'S HISTOKV OF NEW IIAMI'SHIKE. I 1 756
IJut Captain Rogers had qualities of a higher order, which
commended him to his superiors. His capacity as a Ranger
commander had attracted the notice of the ofificers on duty at
Lake George. The importance of this branch of the service
had also become apparent, and we shall not be surprised to
learn that he was commissioned anew as captain of an inde-
pendent company of Rangers, to be paid by the King. This
company formed the nucleus of the famous corps since known
as " Rogers' Rangers."
In July another company vvas raised, and again in December
two more, thereby increasing the Ranger corps to four compa-
nies. To anticipate, in a little more than a year this was far-
ther enlarged by the addition of five more, and Captain Rogers
was promotetl to the rank of Major of Rangers, becoming thus
the commander of the whole corps.
The character of the service expected of this branch of the
army was set forth in Major-General Shirley's orders to its com-
mander in 1756, as follows, viz. : "From time to time, to use
your best endeavors to distress the French and allies by sack-
ing, burning, and destroying their houses, barns, barracks,
canoes, and battoes, and by killing their cattle of every kind ;
and at all times to endeavor to way-lay, attack and destroy their
convoys of provisions by land and water in any part of the coun-
try where he could find them."'
The campaign of 1757 contemplated only the capture of
Louisburg. To the requisite preparations Lord Loudon di-
rected all his energies. Having collected all the troops which
could be spared for that purpose, he sailed for Halifa.x on the
twentieth of June, with six thousand soldiers, among them being
four companies of Rangers under the command of Major
Rogers. Upon arriving in Halifax his army was augmented by
the addition of five thousand regulars and a powerful naval
armament. We have neither time nor inclination to consider
the conduct of Lord Loudon on this occasion farther than to
say that his cowardice and imbecility seem wonderful. Find-
ing that, in all probabilitv, Louisburg could not be taken with-
1/5^] KOVAL lâ– KOVI^XE. 239
out some one getting hurt, he returned to New York without
striking a blow. If about this time our heroic commander of
the Rangers used some strong language far from sacred, it will
become us to remember " Zeke Webster" and think as chari-
tably of his patriotic expletives "as we can." He returned to
New York three weeks after the surrender of Fort William
Henry, where, with his Rangers, he might have done something,
at least, to prevent the horrible massacre which has tarnished
the fair fame of Montcalm indelibly.
England and America both were humbled in the dust by the
events of 1757 and 1758. Failure, due to the want of suffici-
ent resources is severe, but how utterly insufferable when,
with abundant means, incompetency to use them brings defeat.
Still, we are under greater obligation to Lord Loudon than
we are wont to think. His imbecility helped rouse the British
nation and recall William Pitt to power, whose vigor of pur-
pose animated anew the people of other countries and ])rom-
ised an early termination of French dominion in America. '
Sandown was incorporated in 1756.
^Rev. John Houston, the first pastor of the Presbyterian
church in Bedford, N. H., was born in Londonderry, N. H.,
in 1723. His parents were emigrants from the north of Ire-
land, and known as Scotch-Irish.
He was educated at Princeton, N. J., graduating in 1753.
He studied divinity in his native town with the Rev. David
McGregor, pastor of the church in the east parish of that town.
Mr. Houston received his call to Bedford in August, 1756,
and was ordained in September, 1757. His "stipend," as it
was called, was to be equal to forty pounds sterling, but there
was a provision by which the town, at its annual meeting, might
vote to dispense with any number of Sabbaths which they
chose, and the payment for those Sabbaths might be taken from
the salary.
By virtue of being the first settled minister in town, Mr.
Houston was entitled to certain lands reserved for that purpose
in the settlement of the town. These he received and they
' I. p.. Walker. - Rev. C. W. W.illace
240 UlSlllK^- HI- NEW IIAMl'SlllKE. L'7S^
added much to his small salary. He was also well-reputed for
classical and theological learning, and his settlement gave pro-
mise of usefulness and happiness.
From all we can learn he was thus useful and happy for a
number of years. Then commenced the dark and stormy
period in the history of our country. Bedford was especially
patriotic. Every man in town, over twenty-one years of
age, except the minister, signed the following paper :" We do
hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will, to the utmost
of our power, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, with arms
oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleets and armies
against the united American colonies." Mr. Houston gave the
following reasons for refusing to sign this declaration :
Firstly, because he did not apprehend that the honorable
â– committee meant that ministers should take up arms, as being
inconsistent with their ministerial charge. Secondly, because
he was already confined to the county of Hillsborough ; there-
fore he thinks he ought to be set at liberty before he should
sign the said obligation. Thirdly, because there are three men
belonging to his family already enlisted in the Continental
army.
These reasons were not regarded as sufficient, so. May 16,
177s, the following article is found in a warrant for town meet-
ing : "To see what method the town will take relating to Rev'd
John Houston in these troublesome times, as we apprehend his
praying and preaching to be calculated to intimidate the minds
of his hearers, and to weaken their hands in defense of their
just rights and liberties, as there seems a plan to be laid by
Parliament to destroy both."
We hear of no action on this article until June 15, 1775,
when a vote was unanimously passed in which it was stated :
â– " Therefore, we think it not our duty, as men or Christians, to
have him preach any longer for us as our minis^er."
Thus closed the ministry of Rev. John Houston to the people
of Bedford. From all the light which reaches us through the
dimness of an hundred years, we have no doubt that both par-
ties were truly sincere. Judged, however, by subsequent
1756] ROVAL l-KOVINCE. 24I
€vents, it is evident that the people were right and the minister
wrong. That is, they were right in their patriotism, and he was
wrong in his loyalty to the King. Still it is worthy of notice
that the removal of Mr. Houston from his pastoral office in Bed-
ford was followed by a long period of religious declension.
1 In the early part of the winter of 1756-57, the English
and French armies, under the respective commands of Lord
Loudon and Gen. Montcalm, confronting each other in the
vicinity of Lake George, retired to winter quarters ; the main
body of the English regulars falling back on Albany and New
York city, the provincial soldiers dismissed and sent to their
homes, and the French falling back to Montreal. Each gen-
eral, however, left his frontier posts well garrisoned, to be held
as the base of further military operations the following season ;
the force left by the French at their forts about Ticonderoga
and Crown Point, at the northerly end of Lake George, being
about 1 ,200 men, including Indians, and the English force at
Fort Edward and Fort William Henry, near the southerly end
of the lake, consisting mainly of four companies of Rangers,
two companies at each fort. The company of Lieutenant Stark
was posted at Fort Edward. All through the winter the
Rangers patrolled the lake, and kept a vigilant outlook upon the
French garrisons.
In the middle of this winter a desperate battle was fought in
the immediate vicinity of Ticonderoga, which, for numbers
engaged, was one of the most bloody of the war, and in which
Lieutenant John Stark won his commission as captain.
On the 15th of January, 1757, Captain Rogers, with Lieu-
tenant Stark and Ensign Page with fifty Rangers, left Fort
Edward to reconnoitre, in more than usual force, the situation
and condition of the enemy at the northerly end of the lake.
The snow was four feet deep on a level. They halted at Fort
William Henr}' one day to secure provisions and snow-shoes,
and on the 17th, being reinforced by Captain Spikeman,
Lieutenant Kennedy, and Ensigns Brewer and Rogers, with
* Gen. George Stark.
242 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. ['757
about thirty Rangers, they started down Lake George on the
ice, and at night encamped on the east side of the first
narrows.
On the morning of the iSth some ot the men who had been
overcome by the severe exertions of the previous day's march
were sent back, thus reducing the effective force to seventy-
four men, officers included. This day they proceeded twelve
miles farther down the lake, and encamped on the west shore.
On the 19th, after proceeding three miles farther on the lake,
they took to the west shore, put on their snow-shoes, and
travelled eight miles to the north-west, and encamped three
miles from the lake. On the 20th they travelled over the snow
all day to the north-east, and encamped three miles from the
west shore of Lake Champlain, half-way between Ticonderoga
and Crown Point. The ne.xt day, January 21st, being now in
the very heart of the enemy's country, they proceeded to watch
the passage of parties on Lake Champlain, going and coming
between the forts, and soon discovered a convoy of ten sleds
passing down the lake from Ticonderoga to Crown Point.
Lieutenant Stark was ordered, with twenty men, to capture the
leading sled, while the main body attempted to prevent the
others from going back. They succeeded in taking seven
prisoners, six horses, and three sleds. The remainder of the
sleds made good their escape, and gave the alarm at the fort.
Valuable information was obtained from these captives, and it
was also learned that the French garrisons had been recently
considerably reinforced, and were on the alert to cut off all
English scouting parties. The heavy French garrison at
Ticonderoga being now informed by the fugitives of this auda-
cious reconnaissance in their immediate vicinity, Rogers wisely
decided to retire with all expedition. But he unwisely departed
from the usual custom of the Rangers to return by a different
route from that on which they came, and, in defiance of the
counsels of his officers, retreated on his tracks.
The day was rainy. On reaching the fires that they had kin-
dled and camped by the night before, the Rangers halted to dry
their guns and otherwise prepare for the expected conflict. It
i757j KovAi TRnviNCE. 243
was past noon when the little battalion had completed their prep-
arations. F"orming in single file, with Captain Rogers in front,
Captain Spikeman in the centre, and Lieutenant Stark in the rear,
supported by their snow-shoes on the deep snow, they silently
took up their homeward march. Their path lay oyer hilly
ground and through thick woods, from whose dark depths they
had reason to believe they were watched by the savage scouts
of the enemy ; a belief but too soon verified, for on rising the
brow of the hill, not a mile from the fires of their late camp,
they received a volley of two hundred bullets, fired from the
guns of the unseen enemy in ambush, at distances from five to
thirty yards away. Rogers was wounded in the head, and sev-
eral of the men were killed or wounded by the volley ; but
fortunately the marksmanship of the enemy was, in this instance,
faulty, and the effect comparatively slight. The habitual tactics
of the Rangers, — to scatter when suddenly attacked by a supe-
rior force, and to rally again upon some supporting point, — now
stood them in hand. They had been under fire too many times
to be thrown into a panic. Each man was for the time being
his own commander. Each took his own way to the rallying
point, exchanging shots with the enemy as he ran. That rally-
ing point was John Stark, with his rear guard. Gathering
around him, they awaited their pursuers. The surrounding
trees of the thick forest were of large size. Each Ranger en-
deavored to so place himself that a tree covered him partially
from the shots of the enemy, and thus they awaited the second
onset. No soldiers ever had more at stake. The French offi-
cials at Montreal paid $11 each for EngUsh scalps, and ;^55 each
for English prisoners — sufficient inducement to excite the
savage cupidity of their Indian allies into desperate efforts to
kill or capture ; and oftentimes the alternative fate of a prisoner
was torture at the stake. The backwoodsman learned to give
no quarter, and to expect none, in fighting this savage foe.
All through the afternoon of this 21st of January, 1757, this
woods fight raged. The Ranger measured carefully his charge
of powder, rammed home the ball in a greased patch, and woe to
the enemy who exposed his body or limbs to these expert marks-
244 HISTORY OF NEW II AMI'SIIIKE. [^757
men. Two hundred and fifty of the enemy went into that day's
fight, and only one hundred and thirty-four came out of it ahve,
one hundred and sixteen having been killed on the spot or died
of wounds. The Rangers lost fourteen killed, six wounded, and
six taken prisoners.
As darkness came on, the surviving French and Indian force,
although still outnumbering the English, retired to the cover of
Ticonderoga. Captain Rogers having been disabled by two
wounds, and Captain Spikeman killed, early in the action the
command devolved upon Lieutenant Stark, who, as soon as
the enemy ceased to press him, carefully looked after the
wounded, secured the prisoners, and, taking both wounded and
prisoners with him, commenced the tedious march homeward.