MASSACHUSETTS BILL BALLER

m IS KNOW ABOUT MIISTARY mobilization in colonial America. Some L historians contend that then, as now, the poor shouldered most of war's burdens, while others argue that patriotism, age, ethnicity, religious en- thusiasm, and nationalism determined who went to war. Revolutionary soldiers in Massachusetts rarely spoke about what prompted them to fight and their infrequent references to independence, patriotism, past injustices, and economics have left messages too mixed for historians to draw defin- itive conclusions about the motivation for enlistment. However, sufficient military and personal records exist to reveal that culture influenced the mobilization of revolutionary troops, while kinship kept men inside and outside the ranks.1

Two towns in Massachusetts provide valuable evidence for a study of colonial mobilization. Marblehead, with a population of 4,386 in 1 7 7 h n e of the ten largest towns in all the thirteen colonies-sent as many as 1,780 people or 40.5 percent of its population to war. Worcester, with 1,935 residents, sent 436 men or 225 percent of its population to war; at least 119 Worcester men completed a minimum of one tour of duty with the Conti- nental Army. Both towns were important economic centers. Marblehead was the foremost fishing port in colonial America. Worcester, besides being a farming community, had been made a shire town, and its location on the Boston Post Road made it a significant commercial center. Although located only fifty miles apart, the two towns had very different economies and

Bill Baller recently received his Ph.D. from CInrk University and is a oisiting assistant professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He wishes to thank colleagues Professon Steven Bullock of WPI and Kenneth 1. Moynihan of Assumption College for their suggestions.

Richard Kohn, "The Social History of the American Soldier: A Review and Prospectus for Research," American Historical Ratiew 86 (1981): 553. Mobilization is de- fined as "the process by which the armed forces or part of them are brought to a state of readiness for war or other national emergency. This includes assembling and organizing personnel, supplies, and materials for active military service." Trevor Dupuy, comp., Dictionary of Military Terms (New York, 1986), 151.

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cultures. In Marblehead the workings of the sea culture and family facilitated mobilization, while in Worcester, the farming culhm and familial concerns of an agrarian economy slowed military mobilization2

Generations from Marblehead pursued careers at sea and customarily went to war. Many served on gun boats during the warfaxe of the 1740s. Still more fought during the French and Indian War; on the passage homeward from the Battle of Quebec, 35 Marblehead veterans died. Marblehead's civilians had suffemd as much from the events of the French and Indian War as any other Community in colonial Mas~achusetts.~

Contemporaries characterized Marblehead as prepared for w a r f a , but such readiness did not mean people eagerly awaited the opportunity to display their combat skills. By 1758, Marblehead maintained a full militia n+nent of 1,000 men. In 1766, one minister remarked

When I first came [to Marblehead], there were two companies of poor, smokedried, rude, ill-clothed men, trained to no military discipline . . . whereas now, and for years past, we are a distinct regiment, consisting of seven full companies, well clad, of bright countenances, vigorous and active men, well trained in the use of their arms. . . . I have heard some colonels of other regiments and a brigadier General say, they never saw throughout the country . . . so goodly an appearance of spirited men, and so well exercised a regiment.

The Loyalist New York Gazette commented that "the madmen of Marblehead are preparing for an early campaign against his majesty's troops."4

Marblehead's mobilization figures are based on the data supplied in Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Rewlutionay War, 17 vols. (Boston, 1896-1908), Marblehead Town Records, the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, the Lindsey Papers, and other records of the Marblehead Historical Society; Samuel Green et al., Histoy of Worcester, Massafhusetfs (Philadelphia, 1889); a complete listing of Woxcester soldiers can be found in Charles Nutt, Histoy of Worcester and Its People (New York, 1919), 1557-65; Raymond McFarland, A Histoy of the New England Fisheries (New York, 1911), 123-4; George Billias, Geneml john Glowr and His Marblehead Mariners (New York, 1960), 26; Samuel E. Morison, Maritime H i s t o y of Massachusetts 1783-1860 (Cambridge, 1921; reprint, Boston, 1%1), 23; Edward Cook, Jr., The Fathers of the Towns (Baltimore, 1976), 33,174.

Samuel Roads, Jr., The Histoy and Traditions of Marblehead (Cambridge, 1880), 64-69; Christine Heyrman, Commerce and Culture: The Maritime Communities of Colonial Massachusetts (New York, 1984), 333-4, Massachusetts Archives 63:408; Massachusetts Archives115 6.

"Autobiography of Reverend John Barnard," Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 3d Ser., 5 (1836): 239; "Letters of John Andrews," PIOceedings of the Mass- achusetts Historical Society (1865): 372; Essex Gcuette, 22-29 November 1774; 14-21 February 1775.

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While Marblehead men contributed more or less anonymously to the colonial wars, their efforts in the Revolution did not go unnoticed. After Congress authorized a navy in late summer 1775, ”the first Armed Vessell, fitted out in the service of the United States” was Marblehead’s Hannah, which belonged to the community‘s celebrated military commander, John Glover. The Hannah and other Marblehead ships soon made their pl.esence known on the seas, and Glover directed the most crucial amphibious operations of the war?

Although the chances for American success at sea had improved by late 1776, the situation had deteriorated on land for the patiots. With George Washington’s Continental forces in disarray and the British preparing to overwhelm the Americans, Glover‘s Marblehead regiment skillfully evac- uated 9,000 Continentals from Long Island on 29 August. Shortly thereafter, Glover and his regiment were again called upon to rescue the war effort. Demonstrating their capabilities on land as well as sea, 450 Marblehead men held off 4,000 British and Hessian soldiers while Washington’s troops made their way towards White Plains. Had Glover’s regiment not obstructed the route of the advancing forces, Washington‘s retreating soldiers might have been captured. The effort of Glover’s regiment at the Battle of Pelham Bay has largely gone unrecognized, but Washington lavished praise on the men of Marplehead for bravery.6

Washington called on Glover’s regiment yet again when he attacked Trenton on 26 December. Glover’s troops conveyed Washington‘s regiment across the Delaware River under perilous conditions: jagged cakes of ice, strong winds, and a violent snowstorm made the night-time crossing even more treacherous than Washington had expected. Colonel Henry Knox observed that “perseverance accomplished what at first seemed impos- sible.” Following the victory at Trenton, Glover’s brigadewithout having slept for nearly thirty-six hours-had to convey the trmps, artillery, and prisoners-of-war back a m the Delaware. Impressed by the courage of the Marblehead men, Knox reported that ’There, sir went the fishermen of Marblehead, alike at home and upon land or water . . . ardent, patriotic, and unflinching whenever they unfurled the flag of the co~ntry.”~

Although they fought well on land, most Marblehead men preferred service at sea. In 1780, for example, Marblehead sent 335 men and boys to fight with the patriots; incomplete service records disclose that 284 of the men served aboard privateers, and between 40 and 47 of the recruits fought

R. Donald Higginbotham, The War of American Independence (New York, 1971), 99.

bid., 160-1; Billias, General John Glover, 111,123.

7Higginbotham, The War of American Independence, 166-7; Billias, General John Glmer, 9,165; Roads, Traditions of Marblehead, 156.

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with the Continental Army. Privateering perfectly suited Marblehead's temperament and its traditions. In some instances, men went to war in the very vessels they had used to catch and transport fish. One naval historian observed that the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and the whalefishery furnished an unsurpassed school for mariners who served aboard such wartime vessels. Conceivably, a privateer might go to war with the same crew used in peacetime. It was the peacetime custom for fishermen to "go on their own hook," and in a sense the sharing of their catch continued in wartime. The desire for quick profits motivated some privateersmen, although few mariners got wealthy. Other Marblehead men considered privateers the "fishermen's revenge": an effective response to the Fishery Act of 1774, which barred fishing off the Grand Banks and robbed Marble head of its main source of income.*

Regardless of why Marblehead men privateered, they made crucial contributions to the war. After eleven tours of duty on seven different privateers following service with Glover and the coast guard, Samuel Giles was captured by the British. He request& a transfer to be closer to his ailing mother, but the British commander informed Gila that if he had his way the exchange of al l privateersmen would stop until the end of the war. "Our Merchants," complained the admiral, "can't get a ship across the ocean for you, and your privateersmen. . . do us more injury than your Army and Navy ~ombined."~

One aide-de-camp also believed that the privateersmen played an important role in the colonial victory. His report of Captain Mugford's capture of the British ship Hope, with 1,500 barrels of powder, came at a time when there was a critical shortage because the patriots as yet had not begun manufacturing any. One contemporary concluded that "the country owes in some degree its independence to [Mugford].'"O

Early training served Marblehead well during the Revolution. What Glover accomplished in amphibious land warfare, Commodore Samuel Tucker of Marblehead accomplished at sea. Few naval captains gained more victories and captured more British prizes than Tucker. In 1769, at the age of twelve, Tucker had run away from home to join the crew of an English man- of-war bound for Louisbourg. Tucker's family saw a direct link between his youthful seafaring experiences and the leadership skills he demonstrated during the Revolution: "His life on board the frigate, though subjected to

8Gardner Allen, A Naaal History of the American Revolution (Boston, 1913), 1:l; Raymond McFarland, A Histoy of the New England Fisheries (New York, 1911), %; Billias, General John Gloaer, 31; Geoffrey Perret, A Country Made by War (New York, 1989), 19.

9Murbleheud Ledger, 18 July 1860.

lo Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historicnl Society 1 (January 1809): 204-5.

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hard and sometimes cruel discipline, gave him the rudiments of that education and experience in naval affairs which made him the efficient and daring commander he afterwards became, and enabled him to do such good service in the cause of his country."ll

Life at sea demanded bravery and courage, qualities similarly required of a good soldier. One Marblehead man who knew the community's Revolutionary pensioners observed that "all considered Marbleheaders brave and daring to a fault" Another contemporary commented "no men ~IP qual to them in things which they know how to do from habit. No one more persevering or so fearless." Marblehead sailors approached the British force with less fear than other servicemen because their careers at sea had accustomed them to potentially fatal experiences. A ship in many ways was an institution that inured seafarers to regimentation, discipline, and hard- ship. Marblehead men who went to war often did not find their new surroundings all that different from what they had experienced before, since ships did not provide much privacy or mmfort.12

Marblehead civilians put their skills to use during the war. Thomas Bowden and Henry Hamson worked as carpenters both in civilian life and during their tours of military service. Robert Pearce, a sailmaker, made tents for the Continental Army. His pension file contains the notation "granted a pension and later removed because he was a sailmaker and not a soldier." John Graves, another sailmaker, made tents during his tour of duty in 1775.13

Life in a maritime world also prepared Marblehead women for wartime hardships. Unlike female inhabitants of agrarian societies, the women of Marblehead were used to sons and husbands being away from home for long periods. Marblehead women also learned to live with loneliness and anxiety. With their husbands at sea, they assumed responsibility for child- rearing and household management. Similarly, Marblehead women had long borne responsibility for securing food and fuel, a significant achievement in a town short on both commodities. The women of Mar- blehead found it especially difficult to discharge their duties during the

l1 Roads, Traditions of Murbleheud, 190-1; Tucker Family History, Marblehead Town Hall.

12 "Continental Army Letters," File 5976, Lee Mansion, Marblehead, Massachusetts; Murblehead Ledger, 18 July 1860; Dennis Family History, Marblehead Town Hall; Billias, Genml John Glowr, 6; Hohman, S m e n Ashore: A Study of the United Seaman's Service and the Mahunt Seaman in Port (New Haven, 1952), 4; Idem, History of American Merchant Seamen (Hamden, Conn., 1956), 20.

13Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors, Revolutionary War Pension Application File of Robert Pearce, roll 1895, R8029; Revolutionary War Pension Application File of John Graves, roll 1111, S17451.

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Revolutionary years because the war followed in the wake of a series of peacetime disasters.l4

Just as tradition and experience had equipped women to accomplish their Revolutionary duties, the maritime culture shaped women's attitudes toward fighting. The women of Marblehead had long had a reputation for toughness, having experienced much death and hardship. A century earlier, during King Philip's War, Marblehead women nprtedly murdered two In- dians who had been captured and brought into the harbor after raiding a ketch. Three decades after the Revolution, women tarred and feathered a skipper who had refused to come to the aid of Marblehead sailors clinging to a sinking wreck. Marblehead women did not glamorize war since they had learned that the risks of war almost always outweighed its possible rewards!5

Although the sea culture precluded women from going to sea, young Marblehead males fought in the Revolution. One town offiaal who worked closely with many of the Marblehead veterans observed:

It was no uncommon thing for persons even under sixteen years of age to perform the duties of soldiers in the old war. We have one pensioner of the law of 1818 in this town, Richard Frost, who, it is alleged and believed, was in service and full pay at West Point and in Colonel Tupper's [Regiment] in 1782-at the age of twelve. He was, however, a large and able person for his age.'6

The active involvement of the young men of Marblehead from all classes in the Revolution was culturally based, since most boys were brought up as fishermen and went to sea with a relative. One Marblehead minister consoled the survivors of a 1769 storm by recalling, "On one side of you, was a near and dear companion; on the other side, a kind father, or a beloved son, or, it may be, many relations and friends in the same vessel." Boys and older males who went to sea without a relative usually served

l4 Laurel Ulrich, "Daughters of Liberty: Religious Women in Revolutionary New England," in Women in the Age of the American Revolution, ed. Ron Hoffman (Charlottesville, 1989), 228-31,234. See in particular "A New Touch on the T i : Well adapted to the distressing Situation of every Sea-port Town" (broadside, Marblehead, Massachusetts), from the collection of the New York Historical Society, New York City. Hoffman, Women in the Age of the Americnn Revolution, 221.

l5 James Axtell, ed., 'The Vengeful Women of Marblehead: Robert Roule's Deposition of 1677," William and M a y Quarterly, 3d Ser., 31 (October 1974): 648; "Skipper Ireson's Ride," from The PoeriCal Works oflohn Greenltxzf Whittier (Boston, 1975), 55-56; Heyrman, Commerce and Culture, 379-80.

16Revolutionary War Pension Application File of Thomas Cloutman, roll 583, W1227, BLWT 13879-16G58.

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together on the same vessel and seem to have received special treatment. For example, all but 3 of the 21 youths who sailed on a privateer unaccompanied by a relative served on one of four ships1’

The practice of families going to sea together continued throughout the Revolution as Marblehead’s culture sanctioned the young going to sea. Since the ships transported older men to the battlefield and eliminated combat‘s marching and portering imperatives, Marblehead maximind its potential for mobilizing men for the Revolution. Besides, the sea culture had readied Marblehead men for the challenges that awaited them.18

Mobilizing men for war proved much more difficult in Worcester, where military reauiters and farmers all needed young males. Since young men were the backbone of both the military and the agrarian economy, such competition complicated recruitment. If kin relations in Marblehead prompted young men to enlist, family relations in Worcester inhibited military recruitment. Moreover, Worcester’s civilian experiences and endeavors clashed with mobilization’s imperatives. New Englanders were a martial people, but various obstacles blocked the path Worcester’s soldiers followed to the battlefield.19

Worcester fathers exerted tremendous control over their sons. Ebenezer Whitney, a Revolutionary veteran and farm owner in a rural community west of Worcester, virtually controlled his son’s financial affairs. Apollas Whitney stated,

I labored diligently for my said father, receiving no compensation except my board and clothing, which were in a plain and unex- pressive style. That on the day and year last aforesaid my father in order to compensate me for my services and to induce me to remain with him gave me a deed of an undivided half his farm in said Montague, which at that time was considered as worth more than it was afterwards, is herein after mentioned sold for. At the same time for the purpose of securing a comfortable maintenance during his life I gave him a lease of my interest in the estate for his life.20

l7Hqmnan, C m m e and Culture, 255, notes that young boys routinely enlisted in the privateering service with relatives. See Massachusetts Soldiers and S a h and the Lindsey Papers, Marblehead Historical society, Marblehead Town Hall. At least 31 Marblehead boys went to war at sea, including members of some of Marblehead’s most intluential families.

la John Keegan, “Every Man A Soldier,” in The Second World War (New York, 1989), 14; Fred Anderson, A People‘s Army: h4assachusetb Soldiers and Society in the Sewn Years‘ War (Chapel Hill, 1984), 70.

l9 Roy Harvey Pearce, ed., Nathaniel Hawthorne (New York, 1982), 261, quoted in Anderson, A People’s Army, 61.

2o Redutionary War Pension Application File of Ebenezer Whitney, W6490.

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Fathers intervened when the specter of military service threatened family stability and the operation of the family farm. In July 1777, one of Worcester's most successful reauiters, Ebenezer Lovell, turned his attention to one recruit's father. James McFarland d e d that Lovell "took me aside and urged me to give my son Leave to go if he pleased.'' Although he refused at first, McFarland dented after hvell pleaded that if his son should "turn out as a Volunteer, it would encourage some others to do the Like" and this proved to be the case. Another area recruiter, Thomas Morris, complained about paternal power when his plans for a substitute went awry:

It is as much my Duty to stand for the Right of my Bargain As it is for the Colonies to stand for the Right of their Charter-If Danielson will come here and give me from under his hand that his son will serve in the Colonie Service I will pay him money to fit him out.21

Farming obligations in Worcester regularly slowed military recruitment. Many farmers needed their sons at home to help with haying and the harvest. Although proud of his military service with the Minutemen, Ephraim Miller hesitated to d t because his tour of duty expired during the fall harvest Relatively few Worcester soldiers deserted, but those who did generally left the ranks in July, when haying required as many hands as possible, or during the fall. This pattern of desertion had been evident in earlier wars: Worcester residents who fought in the French and Indian War consistently refused to go to war during July.=

One historian claims that the ideal of family continuity dominated the concerns of the members of the farming community. Similarly, farm families carefully calibrated family duties and responsibilities. To protect continuity and to meet the mobilization demands of the Revolution, Worcester families continued with a modified practice of primogeniture: younger brothers went to war while the eldest bmther remained home to care for the family farm. However, the eldest son served if the remaining brothers were too young for military service. An investigation of the backgrounds of the first soldiers

21 American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. Revolution Collec- tion, Rev., box 2, folder 6, Deposition of James McFarland; Letter from Thomas Moms to Worcester's Committee of Safety, 19 August 1776, American Antiquarian Society, Rev., box 2, folder 2.

22 Revolutionary War Application File of Ephraim Miller, S29327; Richard Buel, Jr., Dmr Bet ty (Middletown, Conn.: 1980). 72-3,100,114,122,159,197 also notes that plant- ing and harvesting duties interfered with mobilization in Connecticut; Susan Geib, "'Changing Works': Agriculture and society in Brookfield, Massachusetts, 1785-1820" (Ph.D. diss., Boston University, 1981), 108,150; Nutt, History of Womter, 1:518-9; Ellery Crane, "Ihe Early Militia System of Massachusetts," Proceedings of the Worctster Society of Anfipify 9 (1888): 118, observes that few Worcester men deserted. k r t i o n notices appear in the Massachusetts Spy on 9 Octokr 1776,3 July 1777,30 October 1777,21 May 1778,16 July 1778, and 8 April 1779.

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Worcester sent to war reveals that this pattern held for the 27 of the 43 men for whom a comparison of birth order and military seMce is possible.3

Younger sons remained prime candidates for mobilization throughout the Revolution; their preponderance in the ranks ebbed at the end of the war as more recruits were drawn from less affluent families and a younger pop ulation base. Of the 24 men who pined Worcester's war effort after 1777, at least 8 were the second eldest sons in the families where the oldest son did not fight in the ~ev0lution.U

Worcester families continued to shape the war effort after families se lected members for service. Brothers commonly fought in the same regi- ments. Even when brothers could not enlist together, they attempted to ease the strain on the sibling going to war. A member of one prominent Worcester family related that "he was a soldier in the Revolution at the Lexington alarm and his brother Wfiiam went, though but eleven years old, to take back the conveyance in which the soldiers rode." Fathers, too, often went to war with their sons.=

Family concerns occasionally disrupted mobilization. For example, one Worcester man returned after "being obliged to leave the service on account of the situation of his family." Samuel Heminway's pension application states that two weeks after enlisting "when in consequence of an accident, which happened to his father he left the service, and returned home." When one brother returned home, another often served as a substitute. Some sons occasionally completed tours of duty begun by their fathers. Military au-

23 Philip Greven, Jr., Four Genemtions: Population, Land, and Family in Colonial Andowr (Ithaca, 1970), 11-12,40,73,81,141; James Henretta, "Families and Farm: Mentalit6 in PIP Industrial America," William and May Quarterly 35 (January 1978): 3-32; John Waters, "Patrimony, Succession, and Social Stability: Guilford, Connecticut in the Eighteenth Century," Perspectives in American History 10 (1970): 147; Buel, D a r Liberty, 95 notes that Connecticut legislators adopted measures aimed at limiting the wholesale disruption of local economies and family operations during mobilization. Pauline Maier, 'The 'Rans- forming Impact of Independence, Reaffirmed: 1776 and the Definition of American Social Structure," in The Transformation of Early Ammican History, ed. James Henretta (New York, 1991), 202-3. Maier notes that in the course of the 1780s Americans grew more convinced that primogeniture clashed with republican ideals.

24 Elder sons also displayed a greater tendency than their younger brothers to remain in Worcester following the Revolution; see examples from Nutt, History of Worcester, Worcester's vital records, and Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors. In The World of John Clameland: Family and Community in Eighteenth-Century New England (New York, 1979), 7, 83-4, Christopher Jedrey observes a similar but less complex pattern during peacetime and King Philip's War.

25Within the ranks of Timothy Bigelow's company, there were at least eight sets of brothers; some families sent three sons to war with Bigelow. See Nutt, History of W m t e r , 1:264, 1:211, 160; Revolutionary War Pension Application File of Jeremiah Batchellor, w20654.

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thorities did not interfere with this informal system of substitutions that p m t e e d the integrity of both the family and the military?6

As with Marblehead fathers, the strict parental control Worcester fathers exercised over their sons’ military service rivaled the authority exerted by civilian officials. Joseph Batchellor first went to war as a waiter to his father, an ensign in a Worcester area militia company Joseph said little about his mili- tary duties, but he commented that his father “took all the charge of his time and of receiving his pay.” If young Batchellor resented his father’s taking his pay, military officials evidently saw no reason to intervene. It was, after all, common for fathers during the colonial era to exercise complete control over the family finances. Similarly, Uriah Johnson’s father insisted that his son give him a share of his bounty after Uriah completed his military service in 1780.27

Getting and keeping men in the ranks was only half the battle for mobi- lization officials. Although one historian has linked agrarian attributes and soldierly qualities, the adjustment to a military camp proved difficult for many. The absence of friends, lack of privacy, and additional limits on per- sonal freedom distressed men who had not experienced life outside of Worcester until mobilized for war. The Worcester-based Massachusetts Spy raised more pressing concerns for Worcester’s new recruits: ”although natu- rally brave and of good understanding for want of experience in military life, have yet little knowledge of diverse things most essential to the preservation of health and even life.” Personal hygiene and sound eating habits were also lacking, the Muswhusetts Spy continued: ’The youth in the army are not pos- sessed of the absolute necessity of cleanliness in their dress, and lodging, con- tinual exercise, and strict temperance, to preserve them from disease fre- quently prevailing in camps; especially among those, who, from their childhood have been used to a laborious life.” With little experience of life in dense settlements, rural men did not understand the importance of following proper sanitation procedures. Similarly, military camps harbored diseases new to inhabitants of Massachusetts farming communities.28

Revolutionary War Pension Application File of Simeon Duncan, roll 239; Revolu- tionary War Pension Application File of Samuel Heminway, 98440. Revolutionary War Pension Application File of Jeremiah Batchellor, W20654; Nutt, History of Worcester, 1:234; Revolutionary War Pension Application File of William McFarland. Buel, Dear Liberty, SO, reports that relatives came to camp to help family members injured during the course of the Revolution.

27 Revolutionary War Pension Application File of Jeremiah Batchellor, W20654; Revolutionary War Pension Application File of Uriah Johnson, W1194.

28R. Donald Higginbotham, ”The Martial Spirit in the Antebellum South: Some Further Speculations in a National Context,” The Iournal of Southern History 58 (February 1992): 12-3. Massachusetts Spy, 12 July 1775; Anderson, A People‘s Army, 77-8,96-8; 101; Buel, Dear Liberty, 71.

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Farmers lacked some of the experiences and habits crucial for success on the battlefield. Although long hours and hard labor endowed farmers with great physical strength, they often lacked the discipline to become good soldiers. British soldiers who fought with Worcester militiamen in King George’s War believed that farmers lacked the necessary discipline to fight effectively. Farmers usually worked alone and set their own hours and work pace, and were never exposed to the dangers of sudden death that seamen faced. Even when a group of Worcester farmers helped capture the French fortress at Louisbourg, British soldiers continued to believe that farming and fighting did not mix. Yet the colonial military forces that de- feated the British in the Revolution were composed primarily of farmers. Although the farm cultwe slowed mobilization, Worcester sent 436 men to war. And while Worcester’s soldiers served anonymously and capably, they never won the accolades collected by Marb1ehead.B

In 1775, William Emerson was fascinated by the Cambridge military encampment that housed soldiers from Marblehead and Worcester: ’Tis also very diverting to walk among the camp. They are as different in their form as the owners are in their dress.” The housing arrangements in partic da r caught his attention. “Every tent is a portraiture of ye temper and taste of ye person that camp in it,” observed the patriotic minister. Emerson found tents composed of boards, stone, turf, birch, brush, and sailcloth or a combination of materials. As Emerson discovered, culture was such an integral part of military life that it influenced many aspects of warfare. Just as diffemt types of tents made up the Cambridge military encampment, so did various cultures contribute to the Revolution. Rather than being a single struggle, the Revolution may be more aptly characterized as a series of conflicts waged by all kinds of colonial communities.30

Some cultures were better prepared for the war than others. Worcester’s Uriah Eaton survived loneliness, inadequate clothing, camp life, and Valley Forge, but the young soldier eventually s u m b e d to the war‘s demands. After he returned from the war, Eaton’s daughter noticed that “father became disaffected and unsteady and neglected to provide for his family as he ought.” Marblehead coped better with war‘s adversities. Survival at sea and success in war required similar discipline and regimentation. Accustomed to working together under stress, Marblehead men were at home both aboard their warships and on the Revolutionary battlefields. Residents of Worcester, unlike those of Marblehead, did not regularly journey to distant places for

29 Anderson, A People’s Army, 61, 757; Margaret Erskine, Heart of the Commonwealth. Worcester (Woodland Hills, CA., 1981), 27.

30William Emerson to his wife, 17 July 1775, quoted in Allen French, The First Ymr of the American Revolution (Boston, 1934), 300.

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months at a time to earn a living. Work at sea routinely exposed Marblehead men to the hardships that tested Uriah Eaton's fortitude. Toiling throughout the night under dreadful conditions readied Marblehead sailors for combat Seafaring also exposed Marblehead men to the different cultures they encountered during the Revolution. Finally, life at sea prepared the men and women of Marblehead for the mental anguish that accompanied warfare. By the time they pined the Revolution, the people of Marblehead had learned to live with a staggering number of deaths that most colonial communities only experienced during wartime?l

31 Revolutionary War Pension Application File of Uriah Eaton, W1771.