66 



CIVIL HISTORY' OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



DEATH OF SERGEANT TUPPER. 



EFFECT OF C0RNWAX,I-IS' SCRRENDER. 



muiiication and the apparel were publicly 

 delivered to General Enos, and were the 

 occasion of much murmuring among the 

 troops. 



Letters were immediately written by 

 General Enos and Colonels Fletcher and 

 Walbridge, and forwarded by express to 

 Governor Chittenden at Charlestown. 

 The bearer, .Mr. Hathaway, not being in 

 the secret of the negotiation with the 

 British, proclaimed the extraordinary 

 message of General St. Leger in the 

 streets of Charlestown, in consequence 

 of whicli the people followed him in 

 crowds to tlie governor's apartment to 

 hear tlie news. In the room with the 

 governor were several persons, some of 

 whom were in the secret, and some who 

 were eager after information that they 

 might make an ill use of it. On opening* 

 the letters, they were found, besides an- 

 , nouncing the arrival of Gen. St. Leger, 

 to contain information respecting the ne- 

 gotiation which it was not deemed pru- 

 dent to make public. 



While these letters were passing round 

 among those who were in the secret, Maj. 

 Runnels entered tlie room and demanded 

 of Colonel Ira Allen why Gen. St. Leger 

 should be sorry Tupper was killed. Allen 

 said he could not tell. Runnels repeated 

 the question ; and Allen replied that good 

 men were sorry when good men were 

 killed, which might be the case with St. 

 Leger. This answer enraged Runnels, 

 and he again loudly demanded what rea- 

 sons could j)ossibly induce a British gen- 

 eral to be sorry when his enemy was 

 killed, and to send his clothes to the wid- 

 ow. Colonel Allen tlien requested Major 

 Runnels to go to his regiment, and, at the 

 head of that, demand of St. Leger the 

 reasons of liis sorrows ; and not stay there, 

 asking impertinent questions and eating 

 up the country's provisions, when the 

 frontiers were invaded. Some hioli words 

 followed between them, which called the 

 attention of those present from the let- 

 ters, and Runnels soon after left the room. 



The governor then convened the board 

 of war, all of whom were in the secret, 

 and Hathaway was left to detail the news 

 to the populace. New letters were then 

 made out from those received, in which 

 every thing relating to the negotiation 

 and armistice was suppressed. These 

 were substituted for the originals,andwere 

 publicly read before the council and as- 

 sembly for tlie satisfaction of the people. 

 In the mean time Col. Allen and Major 

 Fay wrote to the British agents that mat- 

 ters were going on favorably to their de- 

 signs, but as a report prevailed tJiat Corn- 

 wallis and his army had surrendered to 



the Americans, which was doubtless un- 

 founded, they thought it inexpedient to 

 publish the proposed proclamation till 

 more favorable news should remove all 

 doubts with regard to the ability of the 

 British to sustain Vermont in the meas- 

 ures which she should adopt. 



About an hour after this communica- 

 tion was delivered at Ticonderoga, an ex- 

 ])ress arrived there from the south, with 

 the news of the capture of Cornwallis and 

 his whole army, and before night the Brit- 

 ish embarked all their troops and stores, 

 and returned to Canada. Thus were the 

 negotiators in Vermont relieved from their 

 embarrassment and danger, which would 

 have been much increased by the publi- 

 cation of the proposed proclamation ; and 

 thus was terminated the campaign of 1761, 

 in which a few sagacious and daring in- 

 dividuals, secured, by their negotiations 

 and management, the extensive frontier 

 of Vermont, ^\■hich was exposed to an 

 army often thousand of the enemy. 



In the winter of 1782, the British in 

 Canada were extremely anxious to ascer- 

 tain how the people of Vermont were af- 

 fected by the capture of Cornwallis. Their 

 agents wrote, on the 2Sth of February, 

 and again on the 22d of April, in the most 

 pressing terms for information, and sta- 

 ting that the commander-in-chief had 

 full powers to confirm every article whicli 

 had been agreed upon at a former inter- 

 view for the establishment of Vermont as 

 a royal government. Impatient at not 

 receiving an answer, they wrote again on 

 the 30tli of April, making new offers and 

 promises, and designating several indi- 

 viduals in Vermont for whom his excel- 

 lency was authorized and disposed to pro- 

 vide in the distribution of the royal favors, 

 and in several cases assured tliem what 

 commissions they should receive.'" 



In July, Colonel Ira Allen was asrain 

 sent to Canada with a letter from Gov- 

 ernor Chittenden to General Haldiinand, 

 requesting tiic release of two officers, be- 

 longing to Vermont, who were then pris- 

 oners in the hands of the British. The 

 British agents tliought this a favorable 

 opportunity for bringing the negotiations 

 with Vermont to a decision, and used 

 every art to persuade Vermont immedi- 

 ately to declare herself a British province. 

 Allen employed every argument to justify 

 Vermont for delaying it, and to prevent 

 the renewal of hostilities. Haldimand 

 was finally prevailed upon to continue the 

 armistice, and to liberate the prisoners 

 above mentioned. He then wrote to Gov- 

 ernor Chittenden, announcing his pacific 



* See Slade'a State Paper.^, p. 155. 



