Loammi's Story. . .continued

westmohney
Jun 16, 2023
10 min read

Updated: Sep 19, 2024

The people that came out of Boston. . .are in a most Shocking Condition. . . ~ Loammi Baldwin to George Washington

Loammi in Chelsea

While Ben was sojourning with the British in Boston, Loammi was seven miles away in Chelsea protecting the livestock and storehouses there. He was stationed there due to an important but often overlooked battle known as Chelsea Creek which had taken place in May of 1775. When British supplies in Boston were running low, they decided to raid the colonist's cache in Chelsea. The battle, only the second of the war, was a victory for the Americans. They managed to move the supplies to a safe place and destroy the British schooner Diana to boot. The weaponry salvaged from the ship was added to the American arsenal.

One of our cousins, Paul Lunt (3C8X), was there for the action. He kept a diary from May to December in the year 1775. Paul's post for May 27th describes the battle:

A number of men (about six hundred) marched to Chelsea with two cannon, in order to burn some hay and drive off a number of cattle and sheep from Hog and Noddle's Island. There came an armed schooner against them from Boston, and ran aground between the islands and began a battle. Our men burnt the vessel without the loss of a man. . .

Note: We'll have more on Paul and his brother Cutting Lunt (3C8X) in a future post.

Chelsea was close enough to Boston, just across the Boston Harbor, that the area then needed constant protection.

(1) Boston, held by British (2) Chelsea (3) Cambridge, American HQ

By July, Loammi had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and put in charge of a regiment consisting of eight companies, three of which were stationed at Chelsea. His frequent, almost daily correspondence with Generals George Washington and our cousin Artemis Ward (4C10X) in Cambridge can be found among his papers which are housed in the Hollis Library at Harvard University. Chelsea had become "the furthest extremity of the left wing of the Continental Army" and Loammi kept the generals apprised of such events as British ship movement, minor skirmishes, desertions in his regiment and lack of proper housing for his men.

A continuing problem that required the attention of all three men was the influx of refugees fleeing Boston for Chelsea.

refugees in Chelsea

Katy Turner Getty, a frequent contributor to the Journal of the American Revolution wrote an excellent article about the Chelsea refugees titled "The Route is by Way of Winnisimit." The Winnisimit ferry ran across the harbor from Boston to Chelsea. In her article, Getty wrote that "people were desperate to escape" Boston and cited a letter written by Belcher Noyes to his son: “Provisions scarce and bad; no fuel nor money. . . Last week there was a notification posted up, that all those who were desirous to leave the Town, to give in their names to James Urquhart, Town-Mayor; and in two days time upwards of two thousand entered their names, and passes are now granted. . .The route is by way of Winnisimit."

Getting out of Boston, however, proved harder than simply putting one's name on a list. The process "proved to be erratic and unpredictable. People attempting to leave encountered various oppressive and inconsistent policies." The British wouldn't allow any merchandise or provisions to leave the city. Guards examined all "trunks, boxes, beds, and everything else to be carried out;" Noyes wrote that "these have proceeded such extremities, as to take from the poor people a single loaf of bread, and half pound of chocolate; so that no one is allowed to carry out a mouthful of provisions.”

Due to Gage's unpredictable schedule of release, the men stationed at Chelsea were often surprised by boats suddenly arriving with refugees. On July 29, Loammi wrote to General Washington of just such an arrival:

We wase all allarm’d by the approach of a Boat to Winnisimmit Ferry & by a Signal Soon found them to be friends who Landed with their Houshold good. . .I would Beg your Excelency would Send me Some Assistence as the Boats are to Continue passing (That is if we can believe General Gage) and Somthing may Escape for want of Proper assistenc that may turn to our disadvantage.

Washington immediately formed a committee to investigate the situation. The committee's job was to “inspect the state and characters of such inhabitants of Boston. . .and be empowered and ordered to do and direct every thing that they shall find absolutely necessary for the safety of the Country, and the immediate relief of any helpless and indigent persons.”

Loammi's chief concern was the prevention of smallpox that might be communicated from the refugees to his soldiers. He was relieved to be informed that the Provincial Congress would provide him with aid in caring for “the poor people Sent to Chelsea from Boston.”

The committee created by Washington took over the management of the refugees so Loammi could deal with other, more pressing issues. One of the members of this committee was our outspoken publisher cousin Joseph Greenleaf (4C7X). We wrote of Joseph in our "Prelude to Revolution" post. He evidently sent a plan to General Washington detailing how the refugees should be dealt with.

Frequent skirmishes with the British just across the harbor kept Loammi busy. He wrote a letter to General Washington about an incident that happened the night of August 6th. As the details about the incident in Loammi's letter were vague, the National Archives used a post from our cousin Paul Lunt's diary as a reference for the event: “In the afternoon the Regulars went from Bunker’s Hill and set fire to a house at Penny Ferry; they fired a number of cannon from their floating batteries, but did no damage; we returned the fire and silenced them.”

In early September, Loammi became worried about quarters for his men with the impending winter. He wrote to General Washington of those concerns and also about the difficulties endured by the townspeople of Chelsea:

May it Please your Excellecy

The exposed situation of the Town Induced the Committee of Safty in may last to give orders for a Company to be raised to keep a guard. . .some time after General (Artemas) Ward . . .ordered detachment of three companies to be Stationed at Chelsea. . .The inhabitants of Chelsea Seem ready to do as far as their Abilities will possibly admit in their present impoverished Circumstances to accommodate Sd. Companies in winter Quarters but are utterly unable to provide for them unless Somthing of a Barrack kind Should be erected for 70 or 80 Men The Select men pray that your Excellency would direct that a Barrack be built . . .& they will provide for the rest. . .They plead the Inhabitants are vastly destressed and impoverished by repeated difficulties, Such as Alarms removing their stocks &c.

. . .I would beg leave to give it as my opinion that a barrack had better be erected but your Excellencies pleasure Shall be punctually observed by your very humble Servant

Loammi Baldwin

Below is a portion of the above letter from Loammi to Washington:

As winter approached, Loammi also became increasing concerned about the scourge of smallpox infecting his men. General Washington shared his concerns and, in early October, suggested to the provincial congress that the ferry be shut down. Congress agreed:

Therefore, Resolved, That the Committee appointed to attend at Chelsea be ordered to retire, and give no further attendance, and that no boats pass and repass that ferry, from and to Boston; and whenever it shall appear to this Court that General Gage is disposed to comply with his engagement for a general liberation of the inhabitants of Boston and their effects, this Court will be ready to receive and make suitable provision for said inhabitants.

On October 22, Loammi received orders that “no more Boats come over to Winnisimet . . .If you have not already apprized the Boatmen of this Order you are to do it the first opportunity & in Case they persist after being warned to the Contrary you are to fire upon them.”

At least one more boat did arrive in November, however, carrying thirty-two people, including children. Among the passengers was our cousin Samuel Greenleaf (4C7X), along with his wife and three children who were lucky enough to get out. Under the passenger list a note had been written by someone in Boston saying “According to orders I have forbid the boat coming out again.”

Loammi wrote to General Washington about the condition of the people arriving:

The people that came out of Boston. . .are in a most Shocking Condition. . .there was one dead and other Just Dieing upon the Beach Sevral other very Sick no bread

I take it, by your Excellencys not writing Yesterday that I am to let the people come of from Point Shirly & pass where they Please The committee Say there is an Act of the General Court against any more of the Inhabitants of Boston coming out & therefore they are not free in providing for them. I am not Obdurate Enough to Confine them on the Point where they must Perish with hunger & Cold unless I have it in Command from your Excellency

This from your Excy most Obd. & Vry H. Sv.

L.B. L[ieutenant] C[olonel]

a little espionage, anyone?

Another story about Cousin Loammi in Chelsea comes to us from the prolific J. L. Bell in his Boston 1775 blog. A letter to Loammi from George Washington's secretary, Joseph Reed, had to do with a plan Washington wanted to put in motion:

In full Confidence of your prudence & Secrecy as a Soldier, a Man of Honour & a Friend to your Country, the General has directed me to communicate to you a Scheme he is about to put in Execution to obtain constant & authentick Intelligence from Boston.

Loammi's mission, should he choose to accept it, was to deliver a letter to a man called Dewskbury (probably Tewksbury) who would then convey it to to a secret agent, John Carnes, living amongst the British in Boston. Reed further wrote:

As the Success of the Project & the life of the Man in Boston may depend upon your Conduct let it not escape you to the nearest Friend on Earth & for fear of Accident destroy this Letter as soon as you are sufficiently Master of its Contents—

When you see Dewksbury give him the above Caution in the strongest Terms: And so to pass from him to the other—Your good Conduct & Discretion in this Matter will not fail to be duly noticed.

Loammi, far from being discreet, had no problem writing to General Washington about the affair. He sneakily only used John Carnes' initials but then identified him as a grocer:

I hope to be able tomorrow to forward to your Excellency a letter from the Mr. J— C— the Grocer I heard from him yesterday Informing that he Expected to git further Information by tomorrow if it comes to hand Shall forward it with all Convenient Speed.

J.L. Bell writes of the affair:

Carnes’s letters do not survive in Washington’s files, but the news they brought did not remain secret. In fact, that information spread with Carnes’s name still attached—a major security breach. On August 20, a refugee from Boston named Ezekiel Price wrote in his diary: "in the afternoon, Mr. Hill, of Providence, was here. . .and says, that this morning a woman got out of Boston, who brought a letter from Parson Carnes, which mentioned that the Regulars in Boston intended to come out this night or tomorrow night,—in consequence of which, preparations were making in the several American encampments to receive them."

Carnes' chances of remaining undercover appeared pretty slim. A Loyalist wrote to British General Thomas Gage letting Gage know that something was afoot:

A few days ago a Gentn. of your acquaintance, whom I shall not name, called upon me.—He said he had intelligence of much importance to you from the Rebel Camp [?]. He put it under cover to Majr. Sherriff (our cousin Stephen Greenleaf (4C7X)). . .

As it turned out, bandying Carnes' name about had been of no consequence. He had been nicked from the start. The letter that Washington's secretary had asked Loammi to send on had been written by Dr. Benjamin Church, Jr., the Continental Army’s top surgeon. What the Patriots didn't know at the time was that Church was also a paid agent of British General Thomas Gage.

Luckily for Carnes, he was simply banished from Boston without any punishment for his role as a wannabe spy in Boston. According to Bell, "Some historians of American espionage . . .have cited “Carnes” as the first American undercover agent who can be identified as using 'cut outs,' or intermediaries, to transmit their messages while avoiding suspicion themselves." And Cousin Loammi? In spite of his instructions to destroy the letter from Washington's secretary, Loammi saved it and it remains part of his papers today.

Below is a portrait of Loammi drawn by an unknown artist:

Loammi's house

In 1650, Henry Baldwin (8U) of Woburn had come to America with his brother, our grandfather John Baldwin (8GGF) of Billerica. Henry built a home in Woburn in 1661. The house eventually passed to Henry's grandson Loammi, who enlarged it and made several improvements. Today, the Baldwin House is the oldest home in Woburn. When Loammi owned the property, the grounds encompassed 212 acres. Loammi's son and grandson lived in the home before it was sold out of the family in 1887.

The house then became a boarding house/restaurant where, evidently, some of the Baldwin family took rooms. Years passed and the house fell in disrepair. It was set to be razed in June of 1971. A massive protest by the citizens of Woburn managed to save the house and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was then moved to its current location on Alfred Street, situated next to the Middlesex Canal that Loammi was so instrumental in helping to create.

I found a newspaper article, written In 1982, which mentioned a new Baldwin Landing Restaurant that would soon be open to the public. Today another restaurant occupies the former home of Cousin Loammi Baldwin. I was unable to find the year that the Sichuan Garden, featuring Chinese food, opened but, by 2017, a bar called the Baldwin & Sons Trading Company opened on the top floor. That year the bar was featured in Esquire Magazine's list of Best Bars in America.