saddle, bearing the news to Suffield, as fast as his steed could carry him. On every side there was "hurrying to and fro ;" in every home the agitation of sudden departure and the tremulous tones of farewell words. Ere many hours had elapsed, an "alarm party" of twenty-three men, under command of Capt. Nathaniel Hayden, had left Windsor, on their march to Lexington. The following are the names of those gallant sons of Windsor, who first responded to the call of liberty, copied from the original pay list, signed by each member of the party. Capt. NATHAN'L HAYDEN, Corp'l CORNELIUS RUSSELL, EZRA HAYDEN, OLIVER HAYDEN, THOMAS HAYDEN, REUBEN DENSLOW, MARTIN DENSLow, JOHN ALLYN, JOHN ALLYN, Jr., Sgt. SAMUEL GIBBS, WILLIAM DAVIS, LEMUEL WELCH, EBENEZER WOOLWORTH, GERSHOM WEST, OLIVER LEE, WILLIAM THRALL, Jr., WILLIAM PARSONS, JOHN ROBERTS, EBENEZER FITCH BISSELL, DAVID THRALL. They left Windsor about 21st of April, and the receipt is signed July 17, 1775, which was probably about the time of their return. The expenses of the expedition were about £69 15s 6d. The struggle for independence was now fairly commenced. The capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen, "in the name of Jehovah and the Continental Congress," on the 10th of May, and the hotly contested battle of Bunker Hill in June following, inspired confidence in the patriot arms, and committed them to a war from which there was no retreat. The first item which appears upon the records of Windsor, relative to the Revolutionary war, is the appointment, in December, 1775, of a Committee of Inspection, composed of the following persons, all of them eminent citizens and true patriots. The chief duty of this committee was of a peculiarly delicate nature, warranted only by the circumstances of the times. It was nothing more or less than a patriotic and searching espionage into the principles, actions and private affairs of every member of the community, without regard to station, profession or character. It was necessary to know how each man stood affected towards the war whether his feelings were enlisted in his country's behalf, or whether secretly or publicly he was aiding and abetting the enemy. Lukewarmness in action, an unguarded word, or an equivocal deed, was sufficient in those days of trial to excite distrust; and woe to the unlucky man, whatever his rank in life, who fell under the suspicion of "the people." Undoubtedly many innocent persons were unjustly suspected, yet, on the whole, the influence of this Vigilance Committee was as salutary as it was certainly necessary. After the battle of Bunker Hill, the American army commenced the construction of various fortifications and defences upon the heights adjacent to Boston, which was held by the British troops. Upon these lines, which were situated on Winter and Prospect Hills, at Roxbury, and from thence to the Charles River, the troops were mostly engaged during the fall and winter of 1775-6. Quite a number of Windsor men are known to have been here, under Gen. Putnam, but their names can not be fully ascertained. EBENEZER FITCH BISSELL was second lieutenant of a company from Simsbury. "He was a gentleman, though not of the most easy and familiar turn; yet for his steady, correct attention to the duties of his station, he was well respected." He was advanced, while in camp, to the captaincy of the 7th company, 17th regiment. ELIJAH STOUGHTON, was ensign in the same company. "Sickness detained him long out of camp. He was a tall, well-made man, and possessed a good military appearance." THOMAS HAYDEN was sergeant of this Simsbury company. From his letters to his family we have mostly gleaned the following names: DAVID GIBBS, sick, Oct., 1775. HEZEKIAH HAYDEN. MARTIN DENSLOW, sick, Oct., 1775. DANIEL BROWN; sick. JESSE WALL, sick. ALPHEUS MUNSELL, served at Roxbury, as an army blacksmith. Mr. RoE, sick with pleurisy. ELIJAH HOSKINS (Wby), died, in March, in camp at Roxbury, aged about 42. ELIPHALET LOOMIS (Wby), died in April, on return from the camp, aged about 20 years. * * * A lifelike picture of the winter encampment is given by the Rev. William Emerson, chaplain in the army. "The generals, Washington and Lee, are upon the lines every day. New orders from his excellency are read to the respective regiments every morning after prayers. The strictest government is taking place, and great distinction is made between officers and soldiers. Every one is made to know his place, and keep in it, or to be tied up and receive thirty or forty lashes, according to his crime. Thousands are at work every day from four till eleven o'clock in the morning. It is surprising how much work has been done. * It is very diverting to walk among the camps. They are as different in their form as the owners are in their dress, and every tent is a portraiture of the temper and taste of the persons who encamp in it. Some are made of boards, and some of sail cloth; some partly of one and partly of the other. Again, others are made of stone or turf, brick or brush. Some are thrown up in a hurry; others are curiously wrought with doors and windows, done with wreaths and withes in the manner of a basket. Some are your proper tents and marquees, looking like the regular camp of the enemy." To complete the picture we will quote the words of a Simsbury soldier: "For every six soldiers there was a tent provided. The ground it covered was about six or seven feet square. This served for kitchen, parlor and hall. The green turf, covered with a blanket, was our bed and bedstead. When we turned in for the night we had to lie perfectly straight, like candles in a box: this was not pleasant to our hip bones and knee joints, which often in the night would wake us, and beg to turn over. Our household utensils, altogether, were an iron pot, a canteen. or wooden bottle holding two quarts, a pail and wooden bowl. Each had to do his own washing, and take his turn at the cooking." It has been our privilege to read many of the letters written home by the soldiers in this motley camp to their friends and families in Windsor. Though not of sufficient importance to publish, yet they contain many homelike passages of touching interest; queries of, and kind messages for friends; little bits of camp gossip and daily incident-with not unfrequently a request to be furnished with a new vest, or blanket, or a cheese. And these were not minor wants or luxuries, but necessities. For at this time the army was suffering for want of means and food. Recruits came in tardily, the army itself was weakened, its spirit was lowered, and as the cold weather approached it sorely felt the necessity of fuel and comfortable clothing. Some regiments ate their rations raw for want of fuel to cook them. Sickness was raging in the camp, and the terms of enlistment beginning to expire, many of the soldiers preferred to go home. Added to these trials was the dispiriting effect of the failure of the expedition against Quebec. In the month of August previous, a plan had been devised to invade Canada, by an expedition, which, entering that country by way of the Kennebec River, should co-operate with another under Gen. Schuyler, approaching by the northern lakes. Eleven hundred hardy men, accustomed to frontier life, many of them veterans of the old French war, were selected from the army for this service. The chief command was given to Col. Benedict Arnold, whose eminent bravery and acquaintance with the country to be invaded, peculiarly fitted him for the perilous undertaking. His subordinate officers were Lieut. Cols. Reger Enos, of Windsor, and Christopher Greene; and Majors Meigs and Bigelow; while the rifle corps were commanded by Captain Daniel Morgan, famous as a partizan leader in the subsequent history of the war. Arnold's detachment marched from Cambridge on the 13th of September, 1775, and embarking at Newburyport on eleven transports, set sail for the mouth of the Kennebec River. At Gardiner they found 200 batteaux awaiting them, and in these they pushed on to Norridgewock Falls. Here began the perils and toils of a march which has no parallel in the history of our Revolutionary struggle. The hardy voyageurs were obliged to carry all their batteaux, provisions and stores around the falls, into navigable water, a mile and a quarter above. This severe labor consumed seven days, and had to be repeated at Carremtuc Falls. At length, however, in spite of a current so rapid that the men waded through the stream, pushing their boats before them, the little band reached the great carrying-place, twelve miles below the junction of the Dead River with the Kennebec. By this time their number had been reduced by sickness and desertion, to about 950, yet their spirits were cheerful and their courage unshaken. Twenty-five days' provisions still remained, and Arnold determined to push on to the French settlements on the Chaudiere, estimated at ten days' distance. "The great carrying-place was a portage of fifteen miles, broken by three ponds. Oxen dragged the batteaux part of the way on sleds, and the baggage and stores were carried on the shoulders of the men. Over craggy knolls and tangled ravines, through deep morasses, creeks and ponds, they pursued their journey, sometimes carrying their vessels, and the vessels sometimes bearing them, until they reached the Dead River. The ponds afforded an abundance of delicious salmon-trout, and want of food had not yet been among their privations. The surface of the Dead River was smooth, and the waters flowed on in a gentle current in the midst of the magnificent forest, now rendered gorgeous by the brilliant hues imparted to foliage by early frost. Occasional falls interrupted their progress, but the labors of the men were far less severe than hitherto. Suddenly the monotony of the vast forest was broken by the appearance of a lofty mountain covered with snow, at the foot of which Arnold encamped three days, raising the Continental flag over his tent. When the expedition moved forward, a heavy rain set in, which sent down such heavy torrents from the hills that the river arose eight feet in one night, overflowing its banks and filling its channels with rafts of drift-wood. So suddenly did this freshet occur, that the water came roaring down the valley |