\nWatervi lie has a right to be proud of its foremost Revolutionary soldier,\u00a0and I promised to tel I you tonight about that man who served longer in the Revolutionary\u00a0armies than any other man who ever settled in Central Maine.<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago I told you about Asa Redington’s boyhood, the tragic death\u00a0of his fa~her, his separation from his brothers and sisters, his hard lot as a\u00a0bound-out boy, and his later achievements and financial success after he came\u00a0to the Kennebec Valley and made himself a leading citizen of \\~atervi lie. I told\u00a0you that he enlisted in June, 1778. Let’s pick him up from that date and follow\u00a0him through his three enlistments in the armies of the Revolution.<\/p>\n
As I am sure most of you know, the Continental troops that fought the Revolution\u00a0were not organized into a coordinated force, as was the Army of the\u00a0United States, which augmented the regular U. S. Army in the Second World War.<\/p>\n
The troops were made up of local mi litia companies, usually recruited by local\u00a0leaders like Ethan AI len and Jonathan Stark, then later grouped under a commander\u00a0who had more or less authority over several regiments. In the beginning\u00a0that was true of the soldiers under Washington’s immediate command; but\u00a0after the dri II and maneuver tactics instituted by Baron Steuben, ~\/ashin9ton\u00a0had by 1778 a sma I I army under his direct personal command, which came nearer\u00a0being trained soldiers than simple, untrained yeomen. But that wasn’t the kind\u00a0of regiment that Asa Redington first joined. He became a member of Colonel\u00a0Peabody’s New Hampshire regiment with an enlistment of only six months. That\u00a0regiment, along with many others from various parts of New England, was hastily\u00a0recruited for the express purpose of raising a force large enough to attempt to\u00a0drive the British out of their strategic position On Rhode Island; and on\u00a0August 1, 1778 Asa Redington found himself in Providence, a part of the continenta\u00a0I army of Genera I Su II ivan.<\/p>\n
Now, before we relate what Asa had to say in his memoirs about that Rhode \u00a0Island campaign, let us see what a professional historian has told us about it,\u00a0So that we may seT Asa’s intimate account against the record of history~\u00a0In the firsT place we must not confuse the Rhode Island of Asa Redington’s\u00a0memoirs wiTh the present state of that name, but rather with the actual\u00a0is I and wh i ch gave the state its name. I n Narragansett Bay, east of the ma in\u00a0part of the present state of Rhode I s I and, there are three is lands, Prudence,\u00a0Conanicut and Rhode, the latter being the largest and containing the wei ,known\u00a0city of Newport which in colonial times was the largest town in the\u00a0province and one of the principal seaports of the North Atlantic coast. It was\u00a0that big island which the British held in the summer of 1778, with their headquarters\u00a0at Newport. PrOVidence, on the mainland, was in colonial hands. \u00a0Now let us see what the noted historian John Fiske says about that campaign\u00a0for Rhode I sland in which Asa Redington took part in that summer of 1778.<\/p>\n
Fiske says: “In December, 1776 the island which gives its name to the state\u00a0of Rhode Island, had been seized by Lord Percy and had ever since been occupied\u00a0by the British. From its commanding position at the entrance to Long Island\u00a0Sound, it threatened the Connecticut coast and stood as the constant threat of\u00a0a source of overland attack upon Boston. To rout this British post the New\u00a0England mi litia mustered in force, Massachusetts sending a strong contingent\u00a0under John Hancock. General Sui livan took command at Providence in Apri I. Washington\u00a0sent 1,500 of his trained continental troops under General Greene, who\u00a0had been born nearby and knew every inch of the region. The New England yeomanry\u00a0soon swel led this initial force to 9,000, and with the 4,000 French regu\u00a0I ars and Esti ang r S fleet, vi ctory seemed certa in. !!<\/p>\n
At some lengTh Fiske explains why the campaign fai led, and why the colonial\u00a0troops rather than the British were driven from the region. He says that the\u00a0French landed on Conanicut~ another of the three islands, planning to cross to\u00a0the north of Newport on Rhode Is land, whi Ie General Sui I ivan landed to the east.<\/p>\n
Seeing that the British had abandoned the commanding position on Butts Hi I I ~ in\u00a0order to strengthen Newport itself, Sui livan, without waiting for the French,h astened across the channel and occupied the undefended hi II, at the same time\u00a0notifying Estiang, the French commander, about what he was doing. The Frenchman\u00a0was offended by what he cons i dered S u II ivan’s undue haste and breach of agreement.\u00a0The next day Lord Howe, the British admiral, appeared off Block Island with\u00a013 sh ips. of the line and seven fri gates. Esti ang at once remembe red his troops\u00a0and put out to sea to engage Howe. A terrific storm arose, and instead of tryi\u00a0ng to destroy each other, both fleets had to bend every effort to save themselves.<\/p>\n
When Estiang brought his crippled ships into harbor, he insisted on\u00a0taking them on to Boston for repairs and taking his 4,000 French soldiers with\u00a0him. The Americans pointed out that there were both workmen and materials\u00a0ri ght at hand to make the repa i rs, and that even i f they had to be made in 30ston,\u00a0there was no reason for the Frenchman to take along the 4,000 soldiers, so\u00a0badly needed right where they were. But Estiang was too peeved at General\u00a0Su II i van to listen to reason. So on August 23 he left the Ameri can genera lin\u00a0the lurch.<\/p>\n
Then, to complicate matters, came insubordination among the colonial volunteers.\u00a0Some 3,000 of them, despairing of an early finish to the campaign\u00a0to capture Newport, and especially impatient at being kept from home at harvest\u00a0time, marched away in disgust, thus reducing Sullivan’s army to the same size\u00a0as the enemy’s and leaving him in no position to launch a bloody attack on a\u00a0strongly fortified position.<\/p>\n
On the scene at Rhode Island, on Butts Hil I, now held by the Americans, was\u00a0The gallant Frenchman, Lafayette. After Estiang’s departure, Lafayette mounted\u00a0his horse and rode the 70 mi les to Boston in seven hours, to beg his kinsman \u00a0Estiang to return as soon as possible. So contagious was Lafayette’s enthusiasm\u00a0and so persuasive his plea that Estiang agreed to bring his troops back by\u00a0land. Fired with this fresh hope, Lafayette spurred back the way he had come,\u00a0but when he arrived on the scene, all was over.<\/p>\n
After the Americans had retired to their lines on Butts Hi II, the British\u00a0“tried to carry the position by sTorm. The fight resembled that at Bunker Hi II,\u00a0except that this time the American powder did not give out and the British were\u00a0beaten back. The next day Sui livan received a dispatch from Washington with\u00a0“the news that Clinton, the British commander, had started from New York with\u00a05,000 men, to re i nforce the Bri ti sh at Newport. There was noth in 9 for S u II ivan\u00a0to do but abandonf the island. AI I the men and stores were ferried safely to\u00a0the mainland. The next day Clinton and his 5,000 men arrived, and the siege\u00a0of Newport was over.<\/p>\n
That is the historical background against which we must view what Asa Redi\u00a0ngton, many years afterward, wrote concerni ng his own reco Ilecti on of that\u00a0siege of Newport. So let us now turn to that part of Asa’s memoirs which deals\u00a0with that campaign. Asa wrote: “The regiment was quartered in Providence College,\u00a0and there I took my first degree in the science of war. About the first\u00a0of August we marched to attack the British on Rhode Island. crossed with the\u00a0army on Howland’s ferry on to the island and encamped about four mi les from Newport,\u00a0the stronghold of the enemy.<\/p>\n
HThe French fleet, under Esti ang, set out to engage the Bri ti sh fleet. As\u00a0those heavy ships of the line passed the enemy batteries at Newport, they fired\u00a0broadside after broadside at the fortifications and into the town. The British\u00a0kept up a constant return fire. There was a continuous roar of arti Ilery like\u00a0heavy thunder for nearly half an hour. I witnessed nothing to its equal during\u00a0the who Ie war.”<\/p>\n
Asa’s account conti nues: tt I n a few days the Ameri cans opened the i r batteries\u00a0against the town, and a cannonading was kept up by both parties for some\u00a0days. But the French fleet fa i led to make the attack by water as agreed. In\u00a0fact they had put into Boston for repai rs \u2022 Genera I Su II ivan, fi ndi ng he cou I d\u00a0not carry the place, especially after the British threw reinforcements into\u00a0Newport, made preparations to abandon the enterprise, and retreated by night\u00a0to the upper end of the island. The next day a severe action took place, which\u00a0ended by the enemy abandoning the field and retiring to a large eminenee called\u00a0Yankee Hi II. I!<\/p>\n
At thi s point the Redington memoir becomes definite Iy personal. fo..sa wrote:<\/p>\n
“Soon after the battle ceased, my regiment was ordered to take post on the\u00a0ground where the batt Ie was fought. Passi ng over the batt Ie ground, I saw the\u00a0blood of the slain and wounded. I was posted as a sentinel at the corner of a\u00a0farm house i nhab i ted by Quakers who had taken she Iter in the i r ce I I ar. About\u00a011 P.M. they came out of hiding, made a fire and cooked their supper. They\u00a0brought some of the food to me at my post, then they returned to the eel lar.\u00a0observed that musket ba lis th i ck Iy perforated the wa lis of the house. Early the\u00a0next morning, the British got their cannon to bear on us and opened a heavy\u00a0fire. The shot fell thickly about us and did considerable execution. Lt. Dearborn\u00a0of my company had his head carried away by a cannon ball and fel I dead at\u00a0my <\/em>feet. A young man, a messmate of mine named Hastings, had his leg carried \u00a0away by one of those missiles of destruction. Orders were soon given for us to\u00a0leave the ground and retire to the main body of our army. In doing this we had \u00a0to ascend a long stretch of rising ground in plain view of the enemy batteries,\u00a0whi ch poured a destructi ve fi re upon us unti I we passed over the high ground\u00a0and descended into a va Iley.”<\/p>\n Then Asa Redington tells the experience of being again under direct enemy\u00a0fire. He wrote: “Whi Ie we were marching up the ascending ground, a cannon\u00a0bal I struck a few feet behind me and threw a column of earth with such force\u00a0against me that I was hurled prostrate on my face. For a moment I hardly knew\u00a0whethe r I was a live or dead. I heard someone sing out ‘that fe I low i s dead’.\u00a0I soon convinced him of his error by springing up and resuming my place in the\u00a0ranks. ”<\/p>\n Then Asa tel Is about the final abandonment of the island and the end of the\u00a0attempt to take Newport. He wrote: nAt the app roach of night, our forces s i –\u00a0lently removed their arti fiery and passed guns and men over Howland’s fe1rry to the mainland. By daylight our whole army had left the island, and I sadly saw\u00a0the Sri ti sh take possessi on of the works we had abandoned.”<\/p>\n After the unsuccessful attempt to drive the British from Rhode Island, General\u00a0Sullivan’s -troops were dispersed to various places. Asa Redington’s New\u00a0Hampshire regiment was sent to East Kingston to guard the Narragansett. There~\u00a0with Conanicut Island between them and Newport, they remained, without firing\u00a0a shot at the enemy, unti I the middle of December, when the regiment was sent\u00a0to Providence, where most of the men were discharged, since their six months’\u00a0enlistment had now expired. Asa Redington quickly made his way home to Wi Iton,\u00a0New Hampshi re, where he spent the winter and spring. But the war fever was now\u00a0in hi s b food. In June, 1779 he was back in the army agai n, for a second si x\u00a0months’ enlistment. But we must leave hi s experi ences on that second stretch\u00a0to next week’s program. Then we sha II resume the story of what Watervi lie’s\u00a0early settler, Asa Redington, did in the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n Let us close tonight with an item selected from the Waldo Patriot of Apri I\u00a020, 1838. The item concerns what has, to this day, continued to be the most\u00a0controversi a I plum of po I iti cs in Ameri can towns, the choi ce of postmaster. !’To\u00a0the victor be long the spo i Is tt, 0 I d Hickory had preached, and that Jackson i an\u00a0dictrine dictated a change of local postmaster every time the dominant party\u00a0changed in the White House. It is only in very recent times that large numbers\u00a0of postmasters have come under the Civil Service. Well, anyhow, the editor of\u00a0the Waldo Patriot was indignant about the situation in Vassalboro. He editorialized\u00a0thus: “By some strange oversight of the Post Office Cepartment in Washington,\u00a0the East Vassalboro post office has ~ad a Whig postmaster unti I re~\u00a0cently. Amos Stickney has held the office for many years, to universal satisfaction.<\/p>\n Several attempts have been made to get up a petition against him, but\u00a0even his Democratic neighbors refused to sign it. The present incumbent, Mr.\u00a0Collins, went around privately and got three or four names for his own appointment,\u00a0and that petition, if it may be called such, prevai Jed in WaShington. Congressman\u00a0Evans, who represents the Kennebec district in Congress, has been to\u00a0the Post Offi ce Department and has asked to see the grounds for Sti ckney’ s removaI, but the Postmaster Genera I refuses to let him see the papers. That procedure\u00a0may be thought by some people to be new, but it is not so. It was practiced\u00a0for a long time by the Spanish Inquisition.”<\/p>\n Year: 1957<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read the script for “Little Talks” program #339, Broadcast May 26, 1957<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[761,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7740"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7740\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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