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��MANNERS AND CUSTOMS IN HOPKINTON.
��MANNERS AND CUSTOMS IN HOPKINTON— No. 4.
��BY C. C. LORD.
��MILITARY.
��In a previous article, we have given a sketch of military affairs in this town, viewing the subject in its more ab- stract relations. It is now our purpose to mention the local military element as an integral part of our earlier social system. In the colonial days of New Hampshire, the militia was in almost constant demand in anticipation of pos- sible conflicts with the Indians. The first garrisons were manned by soldiers who were the natural protectors of the local settlement. The attendance of the military at public gatherings was often required. Arms bristled in the air, when, in 1757, the first ordination of a minister took place in Hopkinton. It is said that the present prevailing custom of seating the male members of religious congregations in the heads of pews arose from the primitive habit of locating the soldiery in a similar man- ner. It must be remembered, however, that, in the earlier times in this vicinity, every able-bodied man was considered in a general sense a person of military precautions, if not one of actual martial occupation.
The existence of an organized sol- diery implies the practice of military evolution, or drill. A "training-field," for the accommodation of military prac- tice, was selected very early in this town. The spot was on the top of Putney's Hill, a few rods distant from Putney's Fort. The determination of American Independence incurred a re-establish- ment of a military system. Under the new political regime, the law of 1792, with some modifications, provided for all the accidental, local military facts, it is necessary, in this connection, to to mention, till the year 1851. This ancient law provided for practice at arms at least three times each year,
��by all persons liable to military duties. In compliance with legal provisions, for many years, the soldiery of Hopkinton were accustomed to practice tactics once in May and once in September, the days selected being known respec- tively as spring and fall training days, upon, which company drill alone was practiced. A regimental muster oc- curred annually in the month of Sep- tember, the date of the occasion being determined "by the official authority of the regiment ; the place of assembling was in some one of the towns represent- ed in the command, the practice of alternating locations being in vogue.*
A soldier of the regular infantry was required to appear at training or mus- ter, armed with a gun and bayonet of his own purchase, as well as equipped with a knapsack, canteen, cartridge- box and belt, priming-wire and brush, and two extra flints. In later years of the old military service, a member of an "independent " or uniformed com- pany was furnished a gun by the state. Commissioned officers were required to procure their own arms. At company trainings, the three commissionedofficers — captain, lieutenant and ensign, or 2d lieutenant — were charged with the duty of inspecting arms and equipments, im- posing corresponding fines if any were found deficient in number or quality ; at musters a similar duty devolved upon the regimental inspecting officer. The inspection finished, the company or regi- ment was duly exercised in military ev- olutions and in the manual of arms.
Public military parade was usually conducted with a decorum appropriate
- The plains land south of Contoocook
village, the interval below Tyler's bridge, on the south side of the river, and the spot occupied by the new graveyard, east of the lower village, have been used as muster fields in this town.
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