Each plantation was to have its corn ground, and one-half baked in biscuit. It was furthermore ordered that there should be furnished "one good hogshead of beer, for the captain, minister and sick men;" and "if there be only three or four gallons of strong water, two gallons of sack." Mr. Pyncheon's shallop was employed for the occasion. Thus equipped, the troops of the several towns, rendezvoused at Hartford May the 10th, where they found a "pink, a pinnace and a shallop" awaiting them. Here, also, they were joined by seventy Mohegan and River Indians, under Uncas. The staff of command was duly delivered to Captain Mason, by the venerable and reverend Dr. Hooker, of Hartford, whose colleague, the Rev. Mr. Stone, accompanied the expedition as chaplain. Dr. Thos. Pell, of the Saybrook Fort, was the surgeon. The soldiers were "encouraged by the Rev'd ministers," a night was spent in earnest prayer, and the next morning, followed by the tears and lingering gaze of the relatives and friends, whom they left behind that little fleet of "pink, pinnace and shallop," with "many Indian canoes," dropped down the stream. Never before nor since, did the placid bosom of the Connecticut bear a more precious freight. - It is not our purpose to accompany them during this short but decisive campaign, the details of which are to be found in every history of New England. Let us, however, return to those who were left at home within the Palizado of Windsor. What their feelings and forebodings were in the absence of their friends, we can learn from the following letter, written May 17th, two weeks after the departure of the expedition. It is addressed by Mr. Ludlow to Mr. Pyncheon, who, with a few others, had commenced a settlement at Agawam, now Springfield, Mass. He says: "I have received your letter, wherein you express that you are well fortified, but few hands. I would desire you to be careful and watchful that you be not be betrayed by friendships. For my part, my spirits is ready to sink within me, when upon alarms, which are daily, I think of your condition, that if the case be never so dangerous, we can neither help you, nor you us. But 1 See Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc'y. I must confess both you and ourselves do stand merely by the power of our God; therefore he must and ought to have all the praise of it." Further on, in reply to Mr. Pyncheon's urgent request to have some assistance sent to him at Agawam, he says: "I can assure you it is our great grief we can not, for our plantations are so gleaned by that small fleet we sent out, that those that remain are not able to supply our watches, which are day and night, that our people are scarce able to stand upon their legs; and for planting, we are in a like condition with you; what we plant is before our doors, little anywhere else. Our fleet went away tomorrow will be seven-night." But the decisive battle of May 26th had been fought the Pequod power was broken, the victorious little army was on its homeward march, full of joy and of gratitude for success such as they had hardly dared to hope. Mason was "nobly entertained with many great guns" by Capt. Gardiner at the Saybrook Fort, and the welcome which awaited his gallant troops on their arrival home, was indescribably warm and enthusiastic. A day of special thanksgiving was proclaimed throughout the colonies, and everywhere the song of exultant victory was blended with prayer and praise to Him who ruleth on high. In all these rejoicings, we may well believe that the good people of Windsor had their full share. Captain Mason, the "very foremost man of them a'," was their townsman. So was brave Sergeant Alvord. So were Edward Barber and David Pattison, whose valiant right arm caused seven Indians to "bite the dust."1 So were lucky Thomas Stiles and John Dyer, who were singularly fortunate in escaping with their lives, being each of them struck by arrows, which stuck in the knots of their neckhandkerchiefs, a twin-like coincidence, which is justly commemorated by Capt. Mason in his account of the battle, as among the "wonderful providences" of the day. Nor was the 1 See Niles's Indian Wars, and "A Brief History of the Pequot War: Especially of the memorable taking of the Fort at Mistick in Connecticut, in 1637, written by Major John Mason, a principal actor therein, as their chief Captain and Commander of Connecticut forces;" published at Boston in 1736, and republished in the Collections of the Mass. Hist. Soc'y, ví, 2d series. 1 valiant Captain himself, without his "special providences" in that fearful fray, though with a modesty as characteristic as his bravery, he makes no mention of it. Yet we have it upon good authority, that in the thickest of the fight, an Indian drew "an arrow to its head" full upon the Captain, whose life was only saved by an opportune thrust of a comrade's sword, which cut the bowstring. We may well imagine that wondering childhood crept closer to the knee of manhood, and that woman's fair cheek alternately paled and flushed as the marvelous deeds and hairbreadth escapes of the "Pequot fight" were rehearsed within the Palizado homes of Windsor. Nor were they without more tangible proofs. The Pequods were so thoroughly subdued, that they were hunted down like wild beasts, by small parties of those very River Indians, to whom, but a few days before, their name had been a terror; and for a long time their ghastly grinning heads were brought into Windsor and Hartford, and there exhibited as trophies.. It would be interesting to have a complete list of the thirty gallant soldiers, whom Windsor contributed to the Pequod ex 1 Trumbull says that this was Sergt. Davis. But Capt. Mason himself mentions Davis as one of the party who attacked the other entrance of the fort, and were driven back by the flames of the burning wigwams. It seems certain, from accounts of the battle, as well as from tradition, that William Hayden of Hartford was the lucky man who saved the Captain's life. At the commencement of the attack, the Captain, Lt. Seely, and sixteen others, effected an entrance into the fort, and in the hand to hand fight which ensued, Wm. Hayden distinguished himself by his daring and prowess. Mason in his own narrative, while modestly omitting any reference to himself, especially mentions the gallantry of Hayden; and Wolcott, in a poetical account of the battle, written in 1721, thus intimates that Hayden came to the general's assistance at a very critical juncture. "But fate that doth the rule of action know, Did this unequal combat disallow, For quite too much to force one man alone, To beat an army, take a garrison, Sent Hayden in, who with his sun-steeled blade That soon the Pequots ceased to oppose, A sword now in possession of the Conn. Hist. Soc'y, at Hartford, is said to have been the one used by Wm. Hayden in this battle. Its line of descent from him, is at least, unimpeachable. pedition. Unfortunately, however, we can only name fifteen who are certainly known to have belonged to this town.1 They were absent three weeks and two days. Every soldier received 1s. 3d per day (reckoning six days in the week); Sergeants, 20d per day; Lieutenants, 20s per week. The Captain 40s per week. A large grant of land was also given to each soldier, and to this day, the memory of an ancestor in the Pequot fight, is an honorable heirloom in every Connecticut family. The next month, thirty men were raised from the three river plantations, who, under command of Lieut. Seeley, were "to set down in the Pequot Country and River, in place convenient to maintain our right, that God by conquest hath given us." To this army of occupation, Windsor furnished ten men, also twenty bushels of Corn and thirty pounds of Butter.2 By an order of the next court, June 26, 10 soldiers were added to this company, of which 5 were from Windsor. The town was also obliged to furnish the following additional supplies: "1 Ramgoat; 201b of butter; C of cheese; 1 gallon of strong water; 3 bushels of Malt." In the fall, also, Mr. Ludlow and Mr. Haines were deputed to visit the Bay, and enter into arrangements with the authorities there, for an offensive and defensive alliance against the enemy; and for a permanent settlement in the Pequot Country. But though the cloud of war had passed, still 1 This list is the result of much careful research, and may be depended upon as reliable, as far as it goes. By availing ourselves of the Yankee privilege of guessing, we could easily fill up our list, and probably with much correctness, but we prefer to state merely what we know, and no more. 2 From Mason's account we infer that Sgts. Palmer and Staires, of Windsor, were engaged in this expedition. a new danger threatened the Colonies. The necessary expenses and supplies of the late expedition, although promptly and cheerfully met, had left the country impoverished and burdened with debt. Every article of clothing and food was purchased only at the dearest rates; and the army had so drained the fields of laborers that their farms had been but partially tilled, and did not yield enough to supply their wants. The Court, foreseeing the great scarcity of provisions, contracted (February, 1638) with Mr. Pyncheon to furnish the Colonies with 500 bushels of Indian corn, or more if it could be procured. The inhabitants were also forbidden to bargain for it privately, and it was limited to certain prices, lest individual speculation should interfere with the public good. A vessel, belonging to Elias Parkman of Windsor, was also ordered to be sent to Narragansett, to buy corn of the natives there. The winter was very severe, and Winthrop says, that "the snow lay on the ground from the 4th of November to the 23d of March. It was sometimes four and five feet deep. Once it snowed for two hours together flakes as big as English shillings." It appears from the records of the next court, that Mr. Pyncheon, being apprehensive that he should not be able to procure enough corn, Captain Mason and Mr. Ludlow were authorized to "trade to supply their own necessities and the necessities of some others that are in want." In spite of these precautions, however, corn became so scarce that it rose to the extraordinary price of 12s per bushel. Thereupon, a committee was sent to the Indian village of Pocomtock (since Deerfield, Mass.), where they purchased so largely that "the Indians came down to Windsor and Hartford with fifty canoes at a time full of corn." February 9, 1638, the court levied a war tax upon the towns, of which the Windsor proportion was £158:2s, to be paid "either in money, in wampum four a penny, or in good and merchantable beaver at 9s per pound." Shortly after (March 8) the court order "that there shall be 50 costletts (or coats of armor) provided in the plantation, viz, Hartford 21, Windsor 12, Wethersfield 10, Agawam 7, within 6 months" Also "it is ordered that Captain Mason shall be a public military officer of the plantations of Connecticut, and shall train the military men |