®l)c jTavmcr's illontljln bisitor. 



125 



nn opportunity for an interview on Monday 

 morning', Aug. 7. We found him at the place 

 where he is always busied at work (he would he 

 out of his element if not at work) upon rainy 

 days, and such limes as he cannot be in the open 

 field, lie has been a Shaker (first at Enfield in 

 the year 1789 and at Canterbury since I792)fifty- 

 , nine years: he bought a good lot of land alter 

 the revolution ; but he fell in with and was of 

 that people first gathered in New Hampshire at 

 Enfield and heard, as he says, the " first sound of 

 the gospel" there. All the time enthusiastic as 

 if under a divine impulse in his religious pro- 

 fession, never halting in the zeal and confidence 

 which inspire him to lively activity even at this 

 great age, this man in the last sixty years has be- 

 sides probably performed more manual labor 

 than possibly any other man who has ever lived 

 in the State. Within the last twenty years, taking 

 charge of the cultivated fields of the first family, 

 he has done the work often of full two common 

 men: his diligence has always been unwearied, 

 and he has scarcely ever known one hour of ill 

 health. At this great age, under still severe la- 

 bor, [be has taken care of and hoed over two 

 acres of beans four times the present summer] 

 his sleep is as sound as that of an infant. He 

 said to us speaking of his capacity, " People 

 sometimes lose their regulator before they are 

 seventy years old : I do not see but my regulator 

 now is as good as it ever was." He says he can 

 remember back to the time when he sucked his 

 mother, and once when she was absent he re- 

 membered to have sucked a woman by the name 

 of Collins — he believes he can now remember 

 as well as ever in his whole life. 



The father of John Wadleigh was a soldier of 

 the French war of 1759, and returned from his 

 last campaign in that war when he was three 

 years old. He heard on his return that an elder 

 brother had come back sick of the small pox: 

 he went to see him, the mother requesting him 

 to keep hack the house dog as liable to bring 

 home the infection — he found the brother dead. 

 John Wadleigh had eight brothers, Benjamin, 

 Jonathan, Joseph and Thomas, older than him- 

 self; Moses, Aaron, Epbraiin and Henry, young- 

 er: of these Aaron, aged 80, at Sutton, Eph- 

 raim, 76, in Canada, and Henry, 74, at Newport, 

 are still living. There were three daughters: 

 Judy, four years younger than himself is the wife 

 of Moses Atwood of Hill, Betsey, who married 

 John Kent of Canterbury, died at the age of 75, 

 and Susan, wife of Hon. Benjamin Evans late of 

 Warner, aged 70, died the present year. Few 

 families in New England have been so nume- 

 rous, so long lived, so respectable, so patriotic 

 ami so useful as this family, brothers and sisters, 

 of Wadleighs. 



Several of the sons settled early in the town 

 of Sutton, where the father purchased and own- 

 ed a thousand acres of land in one tract: Tho- 

 mas Wadleigh many years represented that town 

 in the State legislature when it was classed with 

 Fishersfield, now Newbury. 



John Wadleigh, the Shaker, was a soldier of 

 the revolution five years: he was at the battle of 

 Bunker hill — at Ticonderoga ami the taking of 

 Burgoyne in 1777 — in the Rhode Island expedi- 

 tion of 1778, and the surrender of Cornwnllis at 

 Yorktown at the closing up of the contest. He 

 has never applied for or received the pension to 

 which the laws of the country have entitled him, 

 his doctrine leading, as he says, "not to covet 

 silver and gold." 



His description of the battle of Bunker Hill, 



truthful and vivid as it is, is such an account as 

 it will be rare to hear from the mouth of a pre- 

 sent living witness. lie states that previous to 

 going upon the hill hts company in the morning 

 drew a barrel of strong beer; that when they 

 went upon the hill, that they might be unincum- 

 bered, they deposited their canteens and knap- 

 sacks near the Charlestown neck in the building 

 which was riddled by the fire of the enemy's ar- 

 tillery, when re-entering it fur them on the re- 

 treat. He describes the position of the men be- 

 hind the rail-fence, with a hay covering, on the 

 advance of the compact hues of the British 

 grenadiers at the rallying to the three successive 

 onsets. He said the main spring of his own gun 

 broke at the first discharge, and rendered his 

 weapon useless : standing beside his brother 

 Thomas, without a gun, he told him he would 

 load while his brother fired : this he did so 

 quickly as to make the piece too hot for holding ; 

 but the two brothers with one gun were able to 

 load and fire all the ammunition of both before 

 they left their position. He pointed his brother 

 to an officer on horseback, on which, resting his 

 piece and aiming it over the fence, he saw the 

 officer fall at the discharge. He said while this 

 deliberate firing was going on the British regu- 

 lars " dropped like pigeons off of a stand." Un- 

 til the want of ammunition obliged the retreat 

 from the bill, he said the Americans had not 

 thought of the annoyance which was to meet 

 them going over the neck sweeped both ways 

 from the enemy's guns upon the water. Our 

 troops at this passing suffered their most severe 

 loss: they were brought within two fires. The 

 wounded men dropped and cried out for help. 

 When he retreated he was very dry, having left 

 his knapsack — he stopped at a spring at the foot 

 of the hill surrounded with willow bushes — 

 while lying down to drink a cannon ball struck 

 and dashed into the spring near by him: he 

 caught in his hands as much water as he could 

 hold, retreating towards the neck where he saw 

 the greatest danger. Avoiding the most exposed 

 point by creeping eireuitously, he got off" as well 

 as he could. He says the brave Maj. Andrew 

 M'Clary was killed on the neck not until after he 

 and the troops had retired to Ploughed hill, re- 

 turning nearly half a mile without the neck, de- 

 claring when reminded of the danger, that the 

 bullet was never cast which could kill him: Mr. 

 Wadleigh recollects that he saw the dead body 

 of this gallant officer the day afrer he was shot. 

 Moses Trussell, waiter to Maj. M'Clary, followed 

 him hack to the neck, and at the same time had 

 his arm shattered so as to suffer amputation : 

 Trussell was a pensioner many years residing in 

 New London. 



Of the other events of the revolution we hail 

 time oidy to listen to the Shaker soldier's state- 

 ment of his services and what he saw in the 

 Rhode Island expedition. He was with General 

 Sullivan on the island of Rhode Island in Au- 

 gust 1778. The troops, he says, crossed at 

 Tiverton ferry, and their expectation was to go 

 immediately into battle. Contrary to this expec- 

 tation, the British army retreated from that side, 

 having filled the wells of water with old cow- 

 hides and other offensive matters. The Ameri- 

 cans halted to clear their way, following the 

 British over the length of the island and shut- 

 ting them into Newporr. The French fleet lay- 

 ing off WOB disabled in a storm, changing the as- 

 pect of affairs. On the last day of August it 

 was deemed expedient that the Americans 

 should retire. Mr. Wadleigh mentioned the 



double deception in the case of a British ser- 

 geant-major coining into camp pretending to bo 

 a deserter: — retiring at night and disclosing as 

 he supposed to a British officer (who proved to 

 be an American) how a detachment of about a 

 thousand men might be surprised and captured, 

 he was remanded back, tried and hung before 

 the camp on the instant. 



The Americans retiring from the island were 

 in their turn pursued and annoyed : going upon 

 one hill the whole British army appeared on the 

 following opposite hill, that bad been just left. A 

 ship lying off was driven from her stand of an- 

 noyance by the Americans on shore, being 

 obliged to cut her cables. Col. Read's regiment 

 fired on from a redoubt, maintained its position 

 and drove back the British: at this point a can- 

 non ball striking an applelree directly over the 

 head of our hero, passeil on and killed a lieuten- 

 ant The British were beaten by the Americans 

 in this hard ami close fighting and skirmishing 

 The enemies kept their position one entire day 

 in sight of each other. Major (afterwards Judge) 

 Cogswell of Gilmauton was the commanding 

 officer of the guard left upon the island when 

 the main body retired unmolested, and finally 

 the guard itself, leaving a single sentinel, who 

 was in his turn taken off at Tiverton ferry. 



The Americans pitched their tents off Tiver- 

 ton, where flat-bottomed boats were prepared to 

 pass the British ferry. The British having pos- 

 session of the deep waters of the bay, the boats 

 were carried over land in the night to a 

 point where they were used to cross the army 

 over the bay to Greenwich. The last company 

 was finally taken over this ferry in safety, the 

 British pursuing force being driven from the 

 shore. The Americans, some time encamped at 

 Greenwich, afterwards weirt to Point Judith, 

 where they fortified and laid until the 1st ol De- 

 cember, when the army at that point was 

 discharged and the soldiers returned to their 

 homes. 



The old gentleman is full of stories of the 

 events occurring in the army all of which now 

 are interesting as coming within his personal 

 recollection, lie states how well the army of 

 Sullivan was daily exercised and kept in active 

 duty. That watchful officer was constantly oir 

 the alert. Receiving information of a to"y re- 

 siding five miles oirt of Newport within the 

 Amercan lines and trading with the enemy oir 

 the island, the general ordered a sergeant's guard 

 to surprise and delect him: this was done and 

 the lory, caught in the act, the enemy pretending 

 friendship, was brought in to bo exposed to 

 the scorn and derision of the whole American 

 camp. 



If the half hour's conversation had been ex- 

 tended to half a clay, the veteran Shaker soldier 

 could not have tired in relating events, the full 

 detail of which might take up an entire num- 

 ber of the Visitor. 



Potato Rot i.n Maine. — A letter from Car- 

 mel, Penobscot county, says — " All the potatoes 

 iir this region are spoiled with the rust or rot. 

 Oilier kinds of vegetation, wheat, oats and rye, 

 and in fact every thing with the exception of the 

 potato, never looked better." 



Get married. — If you are fortunate, get mar- 

 ried ; for a good wife will increase your prosper- 

 ity, and render you "twice blessed" in the en- 

 joyment of your riches. 



If you are unfortunate, get married. The 

 cares ol the world are lessened by having a wile 

 who takes pleasure in bearing them with yon. 



