At the beginning of the second half of the 18th century, Haverhill was a town of some distinction, the result of its commerce, industry and diligent citizens. Merchants prospered while ships transported goods to and from the wharves along the banks of the Merrimack River. America was, however, beginning to experience growing pains. The inhabitants of Haverhill, like those of other settlements, resented the duties and taxes that England was imposing on the colonies to replenish its own Treasury that was depleted by the war with France.
As early as 1765, town meetings were agitating about excise taxes being imposed on tea and coffee. Of equal concern to Haverhill townsmen was an act relating to the preservation of "the King's woods." To the extreme disadvantage of local sawmills, the act was used to seize trees and timber in Northern New England for the use of the Royal Navy. As discontent simmered in Boston, Haverhill began to prepare for the possibility of open revolt. Funds from the town treasury were set aside for arms and powder. The purchase and sale of goods from the mother country were forbidden, with harsh penalties for non-compliance.
Even the esteemed Colonel Richard Saltonstall was reviled for his Loyalist sentiment and badgered by his fellow townsmen to the point where he fled his home for Boston and later sailed to England. Although sympathizing with the Tories, Colonel Saltonstall refused to take a command in the Royal Army to fight against his fellow-countrymen. His brother, Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall, remained in Haverhill, called himself a Whig, and was a firm and devoted patriot throughout the Revolution.
Meanwhile the town lost no time in raising a military company of Minutemen commanded by Captain James Brickett. They met twice each week before sunset to conduct drills. These were men, steadfast in their duty and loyal to the cause of liberty. At a meeting convened on March 21, 1775, it was "voted, that [they] dress in a uniform consisting of a blue coat, turned up with buff, and yellow plain buttons, the coat cut halfway at the thigh; and the pockets a slope. Voted also that [they] have buff or nankeen waistcoat & breeches, and white stockings with half boots or gaiters. Also that the hats be cocked alike. And that each one have a bright gun, bayonet and steel ramrod."
Born February 16, 1738 in Newbury, Massachusetts, James Brickett was the son of James Brickett and Susanna Pillsbury. He and Edna Merrill were married in October 1759 in West Newbury. Dr. Brickett established a physician's practice in Haverhill and shortly thereafter, began his medical career as a surgeon's mate in the French and Indian Wars. By 1774, Brickett was the first Captain to lead the Haverhill Light Artillery Company and was soon elevated to Lieutenant Colonel.
On the morning of April 19, 1775, one hundred five men, including three commissioned officers, were enlisted when the first shots were fired at Lexington. Word of the skirmish reached Haverhill around noontime. By nightfall, Captain James Sawyer's Minutemen were in hot pursuit of the action, followed by two other companies led by Captain Ebenezer Colby and Lieutenant Samuel Clements, arriving in Cambridge the next day.
The first battle of the Revolution was at Bunker Hill, and Haverhill Minutemen under the regimental command of Colonel Brickett were present in large numbers, with fifty-two in Captain Sawyer's company and seventy-four altogether. Among the volunteers was a young private from Haverhill named Bartholomew Pecker. Bart Pecker would later distinguish himself as a member of "Washington's Life Guards," an elite unit of the Continental Army that protected General Washington in all of his battles throughout the Revolution.
The battle began on June 17 at Breeds Hill above Charlestown. Colonel Brickett was at the side of General Israel Putnam on the adjacent Bunker Hill when a cannonball struck close to where they stood and knocked them both to the ground. Brickett was wounded in the foot and retreated to the north side of the hill with other surgeons where he attended to other casualties. At the end of the day, 115 patriots were killed, including two from Haverhill, John Eaton and Simeon Pike. The British took the ground but suffered 226 dead and 828 wounded, the highest casualty count that would be suffered by the British in the entire war. It was a pyrrhic victory for the Redcoats and an inspiration for the colonists.
Brickett was promoted to Brigadier General as the war expanded. He led an expedition to Canada and Fort Ticonderoga. Later, he commanded a regiment of a volunteer Massachusetts Militiamen that marched from Haverhill to reinforce the Northern Army at Saratoga, where British General Burgoyne famously surrendered to General Horatio Gates. This was the historic turning point in the war. The Americans prevented the British from dividing New England from the rest of the colonies and caused France to join in the war as our ally. After the surrender, General Brickett took command of a detachment of soldiers that escorted the prisoners from the Hudson River battlegrounds to Cambridge, a march of nearly 200 miles.
Brickett, who unwisely advanced his own funds to pay for provisions and accommodations for his troops, was subsequently caught in a paradox of rules and never received reimbursement, despite his petition. Massachusetts claimed that the United States government was responsible for the debt, while the Congress took the position that Brickett was under commission from Massachusetts and not an officer of the Continental Army. In spite of this act of bureaucratic unfairness he remained firm in his commitment serving as a member of the Constitutional Convention at Boston in June 1780.
The war for independence lasted until 1783. An early historian once recalled of Haverhill: "There were but few towns that so freely sent their sons to the field of strife. They were willing to spend their treasure and shed their blood; and when there was scarcely room to hope, the votes which were passed in their town meetings, show a spirit of coolness, determination, and patriotism, which is truly astonishing."
Art Veasey of West Newbury is a regular contributor to The Haverhill Gazette.
