294 HISTORY OF CCII ASSET. 



Ambrose Bates, Private. Abraham Lincoln, Private. 



Joseph Briggs, „ Benjamin Jacobs, „ 



Bozworth Collier, „ Abner Bates, „ 



Thos. Pratt, „ William Collier, „ 



John Prichard, „ Luke Orcutt, „ 



Eli Lane, „ Stephen Stodder, „ 



Obediah Tower, „ 



November i, 1776, at Hingham, Captain Obediah Beal made 

 oath to the foregoing roll before me. 



BENJ. <Z\]'6\IW<G, Jus. Peace. 



It was a day of gladness for this town as well as for 

 Boston when on the seventeenth of March, 1776, the 

 British fleet was seen sailing out of the harbor to Halifax. 

 The brunt of the war never again came so close to our 

 thresholds ; but the coast guards at Hull and other places 

 were kept up, and forces were continually on the alert. 



An amusing incident of that period is told about a 

 British vessel loaded principally with rum which had not 

 learned the news of the withdrawal of Howe's fleet. 

 She catne sailing slowly towards Boston, in sight of our 

 shore, intending to supply the British soldiers with their 

 customary beverage ; but our sailors caught sight of her 

 and quickly organized an attack under James Stoddard, 

 who afterwards became a militia major. The becalmed 

 brig had nothing but Quaker guns for a make-believe 

 defense, and she therefore fell captive to our little priva- 

 teer crew. 



She was steered into our harbor as a prize of the daring 

 young men that captured her. It is a pity that nothing 

 better than rum should have been her cargo ; but in those 

 days rum was not a disgraceful commodity, and it readily 

 sold for good money. The town gossip for many days 

 was filled with reiterations of the incidents in this capture. 

 It was even proclaimed from the pulpit on Sunday, April 

 14, 1776. 



