American Army of Two

Last updated

The American Army of Two, sometimes called American Lighthouse Army of Two, is the name commonly given to Rebecca and Abigail Bates of Scituate, Massachusetts. They were lighthouse keeper Simeon Bates' daughters.

Contents

History

In September, 1814, Bates was away from the Old Scituate Light station with most of his family when the British landed a warship, the La Hogue, near the harbor with the intent of sending a raiding party into the town. Soon the ship launched two long boats filled with soldiers. Rebecca and Abigail, then aged 21 and 17, [1] left alone with their mother at the station, realized that there was no time to warn citizens of the impending attack. Seizing a fife and drum that had been left behind at the station, they began to play. The soldiers, assuming that the sound signaled the approach of the town militia, retreated hastily. [2]

Personal lives

The sisters lived to be quite old, and Rebecca took to selling affidavits for ten cents apiece in later years, always swearing the story to be true.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Aransas, Texas</span> City in Texas, United States

Port Aransas is a city in Nueces County, Texas, United States. This city is 180 miles southeast of San Antonio. The population was 2,904 at the 2020 census. Port Aransas is the only established town on Mustang Island. It is located north of Padre Island and is one of the longest barrier islands along the Texas coast. Corpus Christi Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, the Lydia Ann Ship Channel, and the Corpus Christi Ship Channel make up the surrounding waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshfield, Massachusetts</span> Town in Massachusetts, United States

Marshfield is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Massachusetts's South Shore. The population was 25,825 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scituate, Massachusetts</span> Town in Massachusetts, United States

Scituate is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 19,063 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Shore (Massachusetts)</span> Region of Massachusetts in the United States

The South Shore of Massachusetts is a geographic region stretching south and east from Boston toward Cape Cod along the shores of Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay. It is subject to varying descriptions including municipalities in eastern Norfolk and Plymouth counties. The South Shore is an affluent area. The median income of the region as of 2020 is $104,691. The median home value of the region as of 2020 is $574,831.

HMS <i>La Hogue</i> 1811 Vengeur-class ship of the line

HMS La Hogue was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 October 1811 at Deptford. She was named after the 1692 Battle of La Hogue. "The La Hogue of 1811 [...] sported a green and chocolate lion, its grinning mouth displaying rows of white teeth and a huge red tongue."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto Rico campaign</span> Military campaign of the Spanish–American War

The Puerto Rico campaign was the American military sea and land operation on the island of Puerto Rico during the Spanish–American War. The offensive began on May 12, 1898, when the United States Navy attacked the capital, San Juan. Though the damage inflicted on the city was minimal, the Americans were able to establish a blockade in the city's harbor, San Juan Bay. On June 22, the cruiser Isabel II and the destroyer Terror delivered a Spanish counterattack, but were unable to break the blockade and Terror was damaged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Woodworth</span> American poet (1784–1842)

Samuel Woodworth was an American author, literary journalist, playwright, librettist, and poet. He is best remembered for the poem "The Old Oaken Bucket" (1817), but he is also the first American to write a historical novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Shoal Light</span> Lighthouse in Florida, United States

The Rebecca Shoal Light was located on a treacherous coral bank, Rebecca Shoal, 6.2 miles (10 km) west of the Marquesas Keys and 31 miles (50 km) east of the Dry Tortugas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minot's Ledge Light</span> Lighthouse in Massachusetts, US

Minot's Ledge Light, officially Minots Ledge Light, is a lighthouse on Minots Ledge, one mile offshore of the towns of Cohasset and Scituate, Massachusetts, to the southeast of Boston Harbor.The current lighthouse is the second on the site, the first having been washed away in a storm after only a few months of use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Light</span> Lighthouse in Massachusetts, United States

Boston Light is a lighthouse located on Little Brewster Island in outer Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. The first lighthouse to be built on the site dates back to 1716, and was the first lighthouse to be built in what is now the United States. The current lighthouse dates from 1783. It is the second oldest working lighthouse in the United States and is the only lighthouse to still be actively staffed by the United States Coast Guard despite its automation in 1998. The structure was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Scituate Light</span> Historic lighthouse Scituate, Massachusetts, United States

Old Scituate Light also known simply as Scituate Light is a historic lighthouse located on Cedar Point in Scituate, Massachusetts. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as Scituate Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Godfrey Weitzel</span> Union Army general

Godfrey (Gottfried) Weitzel was a German-American major general in the Union army during the American Civil War. He was the acting Mayor of New Orleans during the Union occupation of the city and also captured and occupied the Confederate capitol, Richmond, Virginia. Weitzel also is known for his post-war accomplishments with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in designing and constructing internal improvements, particularly along the Ohio River and the Great Lakes region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Island (Massachusetts)</span> Island in Boston Harbor

Long Island is located in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. The island is part of the City of Boston, and of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. The island is 1.75 miles (2.82 km) long and covers 225 acres (0.9 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Five Mile Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Connecticut, United States

Five Mile Point Light, also known as Five Mile Point Lighthouse or Old New Haven Harbor Lighthouse, is a U.S. lighthouse in Long Island Sound on the coast of New Haven, Connecticut. Located at the entrance to New Haven Harbor, the beacon's name derives from its proximity to Downtown New Haven, about five miles (8 km) away. The original lighthouse consisted of a 30-foot (9.1 m) octagonal wooden tower built in 1805 by Abisha Woodward. In 1847, a new 80-foot (24 m) octagonal tower was constructed by Marcus Bassett with East Haven brownstone. This new beacon was illuminated by 12 lamps with reflectors which were positioned 97 feet (30 m) above sea level. Also constructed at this time was a 2+12-story brick house which supplanted the previous, deteriorating keeper's dwelling. A fourth-order Fresnel lens replaced the lamps in 1855 and a fog bell was added in the 1860s. The Five Mile Point Light was deactivated in 1877 when the nearby Southwest Ledge Light was completed. Currently, the lighthouse is contained within Lighthouse Point Park and, along with the keeper's house, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Barber's Point Light is an inactive lighthouse on Lake Champlain in New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Hunstanton Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

Old Hunstanton Lighthouse is a former lighthouse located in Old Hunstanton in the English county of Norfolk, generally called Hunstanton Lighthouse during its operational life. It was built at the highest point available on this part of the coast, on top of Hunstanton Cliffs, and served to help guide vessels into the safe water of Lynn Deeps. Although the present lighthouse was built in 1840, there had been a lighthouse on the site since the 17th century. Prior to the establishment of the Lynn Well light vessel in 1828, Hunstanton Lighthouse provided the only visible guide to ships seeking to enter The Wash at night.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Massachusetts, United States

Long Point Light Station is a historic lighthouse at the northeast tip of Long Point in Provincetown, Massachusetts. As a navigational aid, it marks the southwest edge of the entrance to Provincetown Harbor. The United States Coast Guard Light List describes it simply as a "white square tower". The light it casts is green, occulting every 4 seconds, and, at a focal height of 35.5 feet (10.8 m) above mean sea level, has a visible range of 8 nautical miles. When the weather affords low-visibility, one can hear the station's fog horn – sounding a single blast for two seconds, and repeating every 15 seconds – as it seems to call out for its nearly-identical closest neighbor, the Wood End Light.

Minots Ledge, sometimes appearing as Minot's Ledge and also known as the Cohasset Rocks, is a reef off the harbor of Cohasset, Massachusetts, 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Boston, Massachusetts.

Nathan Cushing was a justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1790 to 1800. He was appointed by Governor John Hancock to the seat vacated by the elevation of Nathaniel Sargent to chief justice.

References

  1. Thompson, Ruth. "Army of Two legend turns 200" . Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  2. "Scituate Lighthouse". Scituate Historical Society. Retrieved 2019-03-13.