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CHAPTER XXI

GENERAL ARTEMAS WARD. -- THE OLD HOMESTEAD

SHREWSBURY

      THERE are many houses in New England still cherished because of their association with the opening Revolution; among them is one from which went the organizer of that volunteer army of April 19, 1775. It is in the town of Shrewsbury, and is known as the Ward homestead. It may be seen to-day in much the same condition as when General Artemas Ward rushed to the front door upon seeing in the distance on the king's highway a galloping steed, " bloody with spurring and dripping with sweat," and heard from the excited rider, "To arms! To arms! the war's begun!"
      This house has never passed out of the family possession; and the great-grandchildren cross the same threshold which their illustrious ancestor trod when after hasty preparations he mounted his horse and galloped off to Cambridge, reaching there with the gathering volunteers on the day following the experiences at Lexington, Concord, and Cambridge.

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      Artemas Ward, famous as scholar, soldier, and jurist, was born in Shrewsbury, Worcester County, in 1727. He was a graduate of Harvard College, and for some years a teacher of distinction.
      He married a great-granddaughter of Rev. Increase Mather, and settled in the house which has ever since been a family dwelling of peculiar

[Photo - "Ward Homestead"]

interest. It was first looked upon by the people of the county as a place of justice, young Ward having been commissioned one of his Majesty's justices. In this house the expounder of the law had his office; and many an offender was from its narrow apartments sent to the whipping-post, stocks, or pillory. Ward, being of an ambitious turn of

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mind, devoted a second apartment to a store, and there dealt out rum, molasses, broadcloth, and that combination of necessaries found at that time in all well-regulated stores.
      The rum, says a descendant and present occupant, was bought by the barrel in Boston of Joshua Winslow, and the cloth of John Hancock, the affluent merchant, who inherited his uncle's famous mart of trade, with much other property.
      Dealing out rum in one room, and meting out justice in another, seem like contradictory employments; but both were profitable, and regarded as equally honorable in those days.
      Young Ward was made captain of the first military company raised in the town, and this dwelling was the headquarters of the militia. He was raised to the rank of major in the Third Regiment in 1755, and three years later was made lieutenant-colonel in the regiment of footmen under command of Colonel Williams that set out for the invasion of Canada in May of 1758.
      Colonel Ward kept a journal during this campaign. It is held by his family at the old home, and is full of interest. In it he wrote: --

      Aug. 9. "News from Rogers that he had got forty scalps And two prisoners; he lost 20 and had 50 men wounded: two brought into Fort Edward that was scalped, but alive. Ye truth is they gave ye enemy a good drubbing this time."
      20. "This day news came to headquarters from a letter from Gov. Hutchinson of ye surrender of Cape Breton, that it surrendered ye 26 of July last."

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      The Ward family treasure a bayonet and other military trappings of that expedition in which their illustrious ancestor acted a creditable part.
      In 1763 this popular man of the Province was given the commission of colonel, and regularly conducted the training required in all towns at that time. He had urged his men to fight for the king against the French, but now showed them their duty to prepare to resist the encroachments of George III.
      The royal governor, Francis Bernard, in his luxuriant living at Boston, heard of the disloyalty of Colonel Ward, and sent a messenger to this house with a letter. The colonel was not at home, but was found at the meeting-house superintending workmen. The mounted agent of Bernard handed the letter to the leading man of the town.
      The scarlet-coated messenger aroused the curiosity of the workmen; and they paused to learn the nature of the message, which Colonel Ward read aloud: --

BOSTON, June 30, 1766.

To ARTEMAS WARD, ESQ.
      Sir, -- I am ordered by the Governor to signify to you that he has thought fit to supersede your commission of Colonel in the regiment of militia lying in part in the County of Worcester, and partly in the County of Middlesex, and your said commission is superseded accordingly.
      I am, sir, your most ob't and humble serv't,
            JNO. COTTON, Deputy Secretary.

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      Not to be disconcerted in such a manner, the young officer manifested the gentleman and patriot by replying thus: --
      "Give my compliments to the governor, and say to him that I consider myself twice honored but more in being superseded than in being commissioned, and" (holding up the letter) "that I thank him for this, since the motive that dictated it is evidence that I am, what he is not, a friend to my country.
      As the governor's messenger rode away the people shouted, "Colonel Ward forever!"
      Artemas Ward added to a good literary education a practical training in law, and also a thorough military discipline. He was an ardent Whig, and did not withhold his opinions on the state of government, although he knew his free expression must result in the disapproval of the Loyalist leaders in the Province.

[Photo - "General Ward's Sword"]

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      His sentiments were approved by his townsmen, who sent him to act as governor's councillor; but the enraged minion of King George Ill. would not accept him as an adviser, and ordered him to retire.
      He was then sent as a representative to the General Court, where he acted according to his belief. He went from his home to the Provincial Congress, which held their first session at Salem Court House. Before their adjournment to the meeting-house of Concord, they chose a committee of thirteen "to consider what is necessary to be done now for the defence and safety of the Province."
      Colonel Ward was one of this committee, and of the Committee of Safety raised to regulate the militia. The Provincial Congress selected Artemas Ward as one of the general officers; and it was doubtless through his advice that Worcester, so near his home, was selected as one of the places for the deposit of the materials for an army. During the winter of 1774-5 he directed the movements of the patriots near his home, and also attended the meetings of the Congresses. At the adjournment on Saturday the 15th of April, General Ward left Concord for his home, John Hancock for his lodgings at Lexington, and others for other homes in the vicinity.
      The associations and experiences for months had kept General Ward familiar with the move-

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ments of the British in Boston; and he, with his townsmen, were well prepared for the message which called him from his home on the 19th.
      Despite the proclamation of Governor Gage, that all rebels taken in arms should be brought to the gallows, General Ward was found on duty at Cambridge, April 20, when as the senior general officer he relieved General Heath, and became commander-in-chief.
      He established his headquarters at the house of Jonathan Hastings, now known as the Holmes House.
      Even an army of volunteer patriots required discipline, and General Ward found it difficult to bring order out of the condition into which the unrestrained volunteers naturally fell. On the 19th of the following month the Provincial Congress issued his commission as commander-in-chief of the Massachusetts forces.

The Congress of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay to the Honorable Artemas Ward, Esquire, greeting: --

      We, reposing especial trust and confidence in your courage and good conduct, do by these presents, constitute and appoint you, the said Artemas Ward, to be general and commander-in-chief of all the forces raised by the Congress aforesaid for the defence of this and the other American colonies.
      You are therefore carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of a general in leading, ordering, and exercising

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the forces in army, both inferior officers and soldiers, and to keep them in good order and discipline, and they are hereby commanded to obey you as their general; and you are yourself to observe and follow such orders and instructions as you shall from time to time receive from this or any future Congress or House of Representatives of this colony, or the Committee of Safety, so far as said committee is empowered by this commission to order and instruct you for the defence of this and the other colonies; and to demean yourself according to the military rule and discipline established by said Congress, in pursuance of the trust reposed in you.

By order of the Congress.       Dated 19th May, A.D. 1775.             JOS. WARREN,                   Pres. pro tem.

      The army met by General Ward at Cambridge was enough to excite the laugh which they received from the British soldiers. Some of them were dressed in the long-tailed linsey-woolsey coats and breeches which had been spun and woven in farmhouse kitchens; some wore smock frocks like a butcher, also of home manufacture; some wore suits of British broadcloth, so long used for Sunday clothes that they were the worse for wear; and every variety of dress and fashion figured in these motley ranks.
      This tatterdemalion army had gone out with the idea of fighting the British on the first day, then and there to settle the whole matter.
      General Ward's first order after leaving his peaceful home at Shrewsbury was issued at Cam-

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bridge on the 20th, "That a captain, one lieutenant, two sergeants, and fifty-two rank and file march immediately to bury the dead and take care of the wounded."
      Love had prompted the Americans along the route to care for their dead and wounded, and of necessity many of the enemy had received Christian attention.
      The distance did not prevent correspondence between the Shrewsbury home and the headquarters of their honored citizen at Cambridge. When the poor were sent out of the besieged town of Boston, thirty-two found homes among the neighbors of General Ward.
      Their arrival aroused the sympathy and curiosity of the people who were left at home; and a son of General Ward, with a boy companion, set out and walked to Cambridge, reaching there on the unfortunate day of the battle at Charlestown.
      The General was not well pleased to see his son there at that time, for the battle was already begun. His look of disapproval, and "How is this, Tommy?" struck the boy as not propitious for a long visit; and "You must go right back," settled the matter. It was the order of the commanderin-chief, and must be obeyed; and so these sons of soldiers, who were brought up to obey in times of peace, turned their backs on the camp and all they had walked so far to see, and set their

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faces homeward, even though the balls from the Lively and Somerset, men-of-war in the harbor, were flying over at the intrenchments on Bunker Hill, and the redcoats would soon march up the hill to their death. The rattle of musketry reached their ears, and the flames of burning Charlestown were in sight, when they turned to look back after they were well out of town. They had seen the camp, and had heard the noise of battle; they had that to remember; and they could remember also that like good soldiers they had obeyed orders.
      General Ward's authority did not extend at first beyond the colony of Massachusetts, but later was extended to the command of the New Hampshire forces. The affairs were in a very precarious situation when the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to be commander-in-chief of all the forces, and he took command at Cambridge on July 3.
      Washington arranged the army into three grand divisions, each consisting of two brigades, or twelve regiments, in which the troops from the same colony, as far as practicable, were brought together.
      The right wing, under Major-General Ward, consisted of two brigades, commanded by Generals Thomas and Spenser, and was stationed at Roxbury and its southern dependencies. The left wing was placed under the command of General

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Lee, and consisted of the brigades of Sullivan and Green; the former was stationed on Winter Hill, the latter upon Prospect Hill. The centre station was commanded by General Putnam, and consisted of two brigades, one of which was commanded by Heath, and the other by a senior officer of less rank than that of brigadier. Thomas Mifflin, who accompanied Washington from Philadelphia as aid-de-camp, was made quartermaster-general. Joseph Trumbull, son of the patriot governor of Connecticut, was appointed commissary-general; and upon Joseph Reed of Philadelphia was bestowed the post of secretary to the commander-in-chief. In a short time Reed returned to Philadelphia, and was succeeded in office by Robert H. Harrison, a lawyer of Maryland.
      General Ward was now in charge of the forces at Roxbury, where he directed the movements of the patriot army.
      It would naturally be expected that the people of Shrewsbury, neighbors and friends of General Artemas Ward, would make liberal sacrifice to aid the cause of the patriots, which they most cheerfully did.
      In the preparations for war being made at Cambridge, it was found that the number of firelocks was not equal to the number of enlisted men; and a call was made upon the towns to forward any in their possession to Watertown, where they would be duly paid. Twenty-two were sent from

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Shrewsbury; and there were found in that town five barrels of powder, which, with the exception of one-half of a barrel, were sent off to the army.
      A large number of the citizens were soon found at Cambridge, following in the footsteps of their beloved fellow-citizen from that remote town. They were with their honored townsman, and of the army that threw up the fortification at Dorchester Hills, the work of which General Howe said, "The rebels have done more in one night than 'my whole army would have done in a month."
      In a correspondence which passed between Generals Washington and Ward at this time, there is allusion to the plan of filling barrels with sand to roll down upon an advancing enemy. Of this Washington writes: "As I have a very high opinion of the defence which may be made with Barrels from either of the Hills, I could wish you to have a number over. Perhaps single Barrels would be better than linking of them together, being less liable to accidents. The Hoops should be well nailed, or else they will soon fly and the casks fall to pieces."
      After the evacuation, came the entry of Washington to the dilapidated town of Boston. When the commander-in-chief was preparing to go with most of his army to New York, he wrote to General Ward, asking him to remove into Boston (if he were not afraid of the small-pox), and to take

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command of the five regiments to be left there for the defence of the town, direct the erection of works, and attend to matters in general.
      He took command as requested, and found the town in a state of confusion, disorder, disease, and poverty. His task to restore order, and cleanse, fortify, and defend the place, was most discouraging. He wrote to John Hancock in the autumn of 1776: "I had everything to do, and nothing to do with."
      General Ward escaped the fearful scourge, small-pox; but not so fortunate were all his townsmen, as a gravestone in Granary Burying-Ground bears witness.

HERE LIES INTERRED
YE BODY OF MR. JOTHAM BUSH OF SHREWSBURY,
WHO DIED WITH THE SMALL-POX
FEBRUARY YE IST, A. DOM. 1776,
IN YE 49TH YEAR OF HIS AGE.

      While stationed in Boston, General Ward received a letter from John Hancock, which speaks for itself, and reminds us of that bold act of the people, by which the 4th of July became an occasion of joy to all Americans.

PHILADELPHIA, July, 6, 1776.

      Sir, -- The enclosed Declaration of Independence, I am directed to transmit to you with a request that you will have it proclaimed at the head of the Troops under your command in the Way you shall think most proper. I have only time

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to add, that the importance of it will naturally suggest the Propriety of proclaiming it in such a manner, as that the whole army may be fully appraised of it.

I have the honor to be, sir,             Your most obed. and very h'ble ser.                   JOHN HANCOCK,                               Presdt.

      The reading of the Declaration of Independence was ordered in every department of the army and in every town in the colonies.[1] It was the minister who read it, generally, in the towns; and the public reading was followed by a record of the immortal document being made in the town's book by the clerk.
      If the patriot of to-day would put himself in touch with the patriots of 1776, let him visit the old meeting-house at Sandown, N.H., or at Rocky Hill in Salisbury, Mass., or at Rockingham, Vt., in either of which he will see the meetingplace of the people in its primitive simplicity, as when the minister from the high pulpit unrolled the scroll, and read to his congregation the act of the Continental Congress, to the support of which they had pledged their lives and fortunes.
      I have stood in each of these rude meeting-houses until I have seen rise up in fancy from the great square pews the whitened head of the

[Photo - "Rocky Hill Church, Salisbury"]


[1] The Declaration of Independence was first read in Boston amid great rejoicing from the balcony of the Town House on July 18,

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aged father, extending his form in earnestness, with hand raised behind his ear to enable him to catch the words as they fell from the minister's lips. I have seen the mother in sable mantle bow her head in cheerful assent, while she wiped away the tears from eyes that would not cease their weeping since the loss of a noble son at Bunker Hill. I could read in the tell-tale countenance of some half-persuaded Tory, "Let them maintain it if they can." From the upper gallery I have detected the shining face of a negro slave, ready to smile assent to what he saw gave pleasure to his master in the pew below, little realizing that it meant ultimately freedom to himself. I have stood outside when the congregation, having sung "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," have come out, gathered in groups, and discussed the grave questions of the hour.
      At the close of the year 1776 General Ward's duties in the army ceased, through his resignation occasioned by ill health; but his service as a patriot was not over. In the following year he was elected president of the Executive Council of the colony, and in 1779 appointed a member of the Continental Congress.
      The method of travel of the patriots of the Revolution is seen in the manner in which General Ward set out from his home on the 16th of May, 1780, for Philadelphia, to take his seat in Congress. He was accompanied by Daniel New-

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ton of the same town, who went with him as servant, each on horseback, the horses being purchased for the trip; the expense of the journey being $2041.50 in old currency. In the following year Mr. Samuel Adams being in Philadelphia, and wishing to return to Massachusetts, young Newton was sent as his escort, who returned immediately, and accompanied General Ward back to his Shrewsbury home. My acquaintance with the family warrants me in extending an invitation to my readers to accompany me to the home of the famous patriot and of the generations who have succeeded him.
      The old homestead retains much of its colonial grandeur and distinction. Standing away from the village, surrounded by ample grounds, it suggests in a limited manner the home of Washington at Mt. Vernon, or of Lee at Arlington, with the Potomac for their highway.
      Here are the hand-made window-sashes and heavy blinds, the great locks and hinges on the doors, and the hospitable fireplace, around which the general sat with his family as he told them of the experiences of camp-life, as well as of Bunker Hill, of which he made the simple record, "The battle is going on at Charlestown." There is the old wainscoting, each panel of which seems to serve as the background for a picture of colonial grandeur.
      If there was any feeling of dislike for Washing-

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ton when he superseded the noted patriot of Shrewsbury, it all passed from the breast of General Ward when the Father of his Country visited that town in 1789. He was entertained at the Farrar Tavern, then in its full glory as a hostlery. The room is still indicated where the general sat and drank his wine, while those of inferior rank stood up to the bar and drank together after the more common social manners of the time.
      A souvenir of that trip made by Washington is preserved. It is a silver quarter of a dollar, and was obtained in the following way, says the historian, a descendant of General Artemas Ward.
      "When it became known that the hero of the Revolution was to pass this way, the school-children received an extra lesson in making their manners, that they might greet the chieftain with proper respect; and so it happened that as General Washington was riding by in his carriage drawn by two bay horses, preceded by his guard on dapple-gray horses, his attention was attracted to a row of children on each side of the road, the boys on one side making their bows, and the girls sweeping their graceful courtesies on the other.
      "The outriders in their uniforms, bright with scarlet cloth and gold lace, were so splendid that the children hardly noticed the stopping of the carriage, until a gentleman in plain brown dress alighted, and Washington himself stood before

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them, speaking to every child, and shaking hands with the older ones.
      "A daughter of the tavern-keeper was among them; her expectations of seeing some wonderful being were disappointed when the tall man plainly dressed appeared before her; and she turned her back, refusing her courtesy to the 'Father of his Country,' exclaiming, 'He is nothing but a man!'
      "This amused Washington, who, calling her to him, presented her with a silver quarter."

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