Even casual students of the American Revolution are familiar with the military leaders who led the American cause. George Washington was the commander of the American military. Ethan Allen led the Vermont troops, and John Sullivan and John Stark commanded the New Hampshire troops.
From 1775 to 1783, the area faced unsettling fear and civil
unrest. While there were no significant battles, there was a constant
apprehension of invasion from the north. There was also considerable and
troubling interaction between those who supported the American cause and those
who were loyal to the King. Add to that
the controversies surrounding the creation of Vermont and its relations with
neighboring states.
This article focuses on the Revolutionary military leaders
of our area of the Upper Valley who led their families, friends and neighbors
during this period of strife. They included Jacob Bayley, Moses Hazen, Israel
Morey, and Timothy Bedel.
While each individual is presented separately here, they
were contemporaries who interacted repeatedly in the Patriot cause. They met
frequently and corresponded, and sometimes served on the same campaign.
General Bayley was the highest-ranking officer in the local
forces. He was born in Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1726. Around 1746, he
relocated to Hampstead, New Hampshire.
During the French and
Indian War, he served as a unit commander for New Hampshire militiamen and saw
action at the battle for Fort William Henry near Lake George in 1757. When the
fort fell to the enemy and the defeated group was attacked by the British and
Native allies, Bayley escaped the massacre by running barefoot 12 miles to Fort
Edward.
He was subsequently promoted to the rank of Colonel of the
New Hampshire Provincial Militia and was involved in the recapture of Fort
Ticonderoga and Crown Point and the battle for Montreal. When returning from
Canada, he traveled through this area and was attracted to it.
In 1763, Bayley and Timothy Bedel received charters from the
royal governor of New Hampshire for Newbury and Haverhill, and Bayley settled
in Newbury.
When the Revolution began, Bayley used his influence with
the native tribes to enlist them as scouts to keep watch in the northern areas.
In May 1775, he raised a company of local minutemen. When he
realized some of the company did not have guns, he mortgaged his considerable
land to purchase supplies.
He wrote that he could raise additional troops, adding that
“we only want to live as we have lived heretofore. We do not want to fight if
they would leave us alone.”
In July 1776, he met with the Committee of Safety in Hanover
and was given the authority “to direct and order the affairs” of the local
area. He appointed a brigadier-general of militia in 1776, and the following
year he was made commissary general of the northern division of the Continental
Army.
At the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777, Bayley commanded
2,000 New Hampshire militiamen and played a role in the American victory.
During the years following 1777, the area was kept in “a
state of continual and increasing alarm.” His frequent letters to Washington
conveyed the information gathered by his spies and, despite the failure of the
1775 invasion, encouraged another expedition into Canada. He believed that the
safety of the area and, in fact, New England lay in the conquest of Canada.
Bayley corresponded
with Washington about constructing a military road from Wells River to St.
John’s on the Richelieu for an invasion of Canada. He argued that such a route
would be 10 days quicker than a route from Lake Champlain. In 1776, construction
was begun with much of the expense fronted by Bayley. The initial work was
discontinued near Peacham.
In 1777, as Vermont declared its own independence, Bayley
was one of five members of the Vermont Committee of War.
Bayley was often at odds with Ethan Allen and had a
“deep-seated distrust” of his political motives and religious attitudes. In
1778, Bayley sponsored the petition of 16 New Hampshire towns to enter Vermont.
That would have given him greater influence over Vermont’s affairs. The Vermont
assembly rejected the petition.
Bayley also rejected Allen's negotiations with the British
in Canada. The so-called Haldimand negotiations proposed to annex Vermont to
Canada. While it was a ruse meant to strengthen Vermont’s relationship with the
American government, Bayley was suspicious and therefore opposed it.
The British authorities therefore made plans to kidnap
Bayley from his Newbury home. The attempt in June 1782 was nearly successful,
but Bayley was forewarned and made a last-minute escape.
After the war, Bayley served in Governor Chittenden's
administration as a counselor. He also served as a judge. His appeals to
Congress for payment for the debts he incurred when he personally financed
military supplies, soldiers’ wages, and portions of the military road left him
impoverished. He died at age 88 and is buried in his hometown.
One of the most controversial officers was Moses Hazen.
Although he never lived locally, his career influenced the area's development.
He was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1733. He saw
action in the French and Indian War both as part of Rogers’ Rangers and as an
officer in the British-affiliated Rangers. Some of the actions his company saw
were especially brutal. Late in the war, he was commissioned into the British
Army. He retired in Quebec and made extensive land purchases.
Through his connections with his brother John Hazen and
Jacob Bayley, he acquired shares in Newbury and Haverhill and land in Mooretown
(Bradford), but continued to live in St. John, Quebec.
When the Americans invaded Canada in 1775, Hazen found
himself distrusted by both the Americans and the British authorities. Each side
imprisoned him in turn. His loyalties vacillated as he considered the impact on
his property.
Despite the damage the Americans had done to his property,
Hazen joined the American cause and was commissioned as a colonel. He
dispatched Timothy Bedel to fortify The Cedars upriver from Montreal.
When, in May 1776, the American forces surrendered in the
Battle of the Cedars, both Hazen and Bedel faced reprisals from General
Benedict Arnold.
Despite that, Hazen continued to build his regiment, and by
June 1777, it had reached upward of 700 members. Some of those men were
French-speakers from Quebec, who saw the regiment as an outlet for their
anti-British attitudes.
His regiment was active in the battles for Philadelphia and
Brandywine. The fighting was often extensive, and in the Battle of Monmouth in
New Jersey, he lost one half of his regiment. His regiment suffered among the
highest casualties of any American unit in the war. With a reputation for extraordinary
leadership, he was given command of a brigade.
He continued to promote the American interest in Canada and,
in 1778, was assigned to a position planning a possible invasion. Even after
that plan was canceled, Hazen continued to advocate completing the road from
Newbury to St. John.
In 1779, his regiment, along with that of Timothy Bedel,
worked to construct what became known as the Bayley-Hazen Road. Work was
abandoned after the British threatened the construction workers. General
Washington never intended to use the road other than as a ruse to sidetrack
British attention.
Hazen continued to serve in the Continental Army and, in
June 1781, was promoted to brigadier general and involved in the siege of
Yorktown.
After the war, Hazen, unable to return to Quebec, settled on
a grant in northern New York. He died there in 1803.
Timothy Bedel was born in Salem, New Hampshire in 1737. He
served as a Lieutenant in the New Hampshire Provincial Regiment during the
French and Indian War.
In 1763, he moved his family to Haverhill. He was a grantee
of Newbury, Haverhill, and Bath and spent time in both of the latter
communities.
With the outbreak of the Revolution, he was commissioned as
a Captain and charged with recruiting a company of rangers from the Coos area.
He was so successful in the recruiting efforts that eight companies were
raised, and he was commissioned as a Colonel. His regiment was tasked with
protecting the northern frontier.
The regiment joined the Continental Army during the invasion
of Canada. In May 1776, while Bedel was away, the regiment surrendered to the
enemy at the Battle of the Cedars.
Charges were brought against Bedel for leaving his post. At
trial, Bedel explained that he was meeting with native leaders. His return was
delayed by illness from smallpox. Bedel was found guilty and cashiered. His
regiment was disbanded when their enlistments expired.
But Bedel’s loyalty to the American cause burned deep. Within
a year, Bedel began passing along intelligence information received from scouts
in Canada. He continued to hold a commission in the militia and served at the
Battle of Bennington.
Twice in 1777-1778, the Continental Congress considered
another invasion of Canada. Bedel was
commissioned to raise a regiment in each case. When the invasion plans were
abandoned, the regiments were disbanded despite Bedel's opposition.
One argument for disbanding was the reduced threat from
Canada. It has also been suggested that “neither the Continental Congress nor
the state of New Hampshire wanted to support a regiment which might be used
against its own forces relating to the oftentimes strained relations
surrounding the creation of the state of Vermont.”
Israel Morey, a pioneer settler of Orford, was that town’s Revolutionary
leader. Born in Lebanon, Connecticut in 1735, he and his family came to Orford
in 1766. In the years that followed, he built a network of enterprises and
landholdings and became a leading citizen in the community.
In 1775, he was a delegate to the Provincial Congress and a
member of the committee that drafted the new state’s first constitution. He
served on the state’s Committee of Safety and as a colonel of the regional
militia. As with Bayley, Morey procured supplies and money for the regiments
and, advancing his own money for the effort, put himself in serious debt.
In 1776, Morey organized scouts against possible invasion
from the north. Throughout the war, he “traveled far and wide, recruiting,
forwarding supplies and keeping up lines of communication.” He was described as exercising constant
attention to the defense of the area.
In 1777, in response to the British invasion of New York,
Col. Morey led his troops at the Battle of Saratoga. He also raised his
regiment for a possible invasion of Canada, an expedition that never
materialized.
In 1778, Morey was a prime instigator of the attempt by New
Hampshire towns along the Connecticut River to join Vermont. His opposition to
the so-called Exeter government stemmed from the system of taxation that
reduced the area’s representation. Morey felt each town should have a
representative.
Four years later, the Vermont assembly excluded the New
Hampshire towns. Retributions against Morey included the loss of his command
and his homestead. He moved to Fairlee, where he became an influential citizen.
He was given command of the division’s militia as a brigadier general. In 1794,
he retired from military life. He died in 1809 and is buried in Orford.
There were many lower-ranking officers who supported the
efforts of these four superior officers. The story of Capt. Jeremiah Post of
Orford is remarkable. He was born in Hebron, Connecticut in 1745 and entered
service as an officer in the 11th Regiment of the New Hampshire Militia.
In August 1777, he left his wife Ann behind to follow his
regiment to confront the British at the Battle of Bennington. There, he engaged
in a face-to-face contest with any old friend,Tory Col. John Peters. Post
wounded Peters with his bayonet before Peter shot him.
Post died of his wounds. Peters later wrote that Post was
“an old playmate, school fellow and cousin of his wife.” Post’s headstone
included the following: “Brave Capt. Post once did die for the defense of our
liberty.”
In subsequent columns, I will describe the commitment of
ordinary soldier patriots to the American cause. That will be followed by a
column on the actions and plight of those who supported the British in the
conflict.
