Excerpted from "The History of Martha's Vineyard: how we got to where we are;" by Arthur R. Railton. "Grey's Raid: An Attack or a Shopping Expedition?" published in association with the Martha's Vineyard Museum by Commonwealth Editions.
Images courtesy of Martha's Vineyard Museum Drawing of the historic event by Chilmark student Bo Hurwitz from the 2005 student-made book, "The Story of Grey's Raid."
It was getting late in the day. To have livestock from all over the Island delivered to Holmes Hole by 2 pm the next day must have seemed an impossibility to Colonel Norton. During the night he was able to have Grey's orders delivered to his five captains: "You are hereby ordered to muster your company of Militia by Day Light tomorrow morning & Collect all the oxon & Sheep in your Destrect and Bring them with your armes, acutorment & Ammunition to home's hole harbour By two oClock tomorrow, there to Receive further orders."
It must have been a frantic night on the Vineyard as the militiamen rode from house to house arousing residents and ordering them to drive their animals to Holmes Hole. No numbers were given; the order simply said, "Collect all the oxon & Sheep," and get them to Holmes Hole by 2 pm.
A record of livestock, hay, and beef each Vineyarder provided the British soldiers.
A number of years later, while seeking restitution for the livestock taken by Grey, Beriah Norton described in detail his meeting aboard the Carisfort:
"On General Grey's arrival...I was one that immediately waited upon him, and I solemnly affirm that he did not at the time suggest in my hearing any intention of punishing the Inhabitants by military exactions... He required that they should deliver up their arms (which were the same they had formerly used as a Militia under the King's Government) and this was instantly complied with.
He also required a large quantity of Stock, Cattle and Sheep, these were also immediately collected at the landing, persons were appointed to take an invoice of them and appraise them and every formality of a contract was observed, nor was there during General Grey's continuance there a single circumstance which resembled depredation of Enemies or levying a contribution upon the Inhabitants...."
The following morning, September 11, 1778, about 450 troops from the 4,300 aboard the transports went ashore in Holmes Hole, setting up camp in the open area near Bass Creek (about where Five Corners now is in Vineyard Haven). Grey promised that the residents would not be bothered by the troops if his demand for 10,000 sheep and 300 oxen, plus hay, was promptly met.
Colonel Norton's order brought quick result. Before noon the next day livestock from nearby farms began arriving at Holmes Hole, creating much confusion around the harbor. For the next two days, flocks of sheep kept coming in. Controlling them became a nightmare. The tiny village was in turmoil, its downtown alive with the sounds of baaing sheep. By the end of the day, twenty vessels had sailed into the harbor from Newport and anchored close to shore, waiting to load the livestock.
It was a remarkable accomplishment, but General Grey was not satisfied. The number of weapons that had been turned in, 229 guns and not much ammunition, did not meet the number he knew was in the hands of the militia. He sent one regiment to Edgartown to pressure the inhabitants, and the men took Colonel Norton and his captains into confinement until all the weapons were turned in.
A warship and some troops were also sent to Edgartown to collect the tax money held in the country courthouse. The soldiers, happy to have something to do, busied themselves by destroying two small vessels in the harbor. There was no resistance reported.
For two days the frenzy continued. All the collecting was being done by residents. The English troops were present to intimidate, not to harass. Most of the sheep came from up-Island, but no troops had been sent there. In the owners' minds, they were selling their livestock. It was an involuntary sale, to be sure, but it was a sale nonetheless.
In Holmes Hole the men in charge began loading the animals onto the transports. The confusion began to subside. As each animal was loaded, a record was made of its owner, condition, and estimated weight. By the end of the day the transports were filled, and they left for Newport with orders to return immediately for the rest of the animals.
Soon after they left, a vessel arrived with orders from Lord Howe, who was still at Block Island. Grey was ordered to sail his fleet back to New York at once. No explanation was given. More than four thousand sheep were still in Holmes Hole. Grey ordered them loaded onto his ships. While that was being done, the troops that had been sent to Edgartown were recalled. By the evening of September 14, all the men and most of the animals were on board the ships.
...Few documents written by Vineyarders who took part in the events of those momentous days have survived. The Martha's Vineyard Historical Society does have three statements that were written by Chilmark men. The purpose of those statements (which seem to be affidavits) appears to have been to determine how many sheep had been taken from individuals so that a fair compensation could be made. The first is from forty-year-old Moses Lumbert:
"I was near the house of Simon Mayhew's in Chilmark in Company with Johnathan Allen when I see a large Drove of Sheep Driving in the highway or road Leading from the Neck of Land Caled Squipnocket. Mr. Allen observed that those Sheep Might be from that Neck of Land [and] if they were he had Sheep at that Place & [they would] likely be among them. Your Deponant was of the Same mind having Sheep at the same place...The Sheep was then Drove of[f] Towards the Harbour where the British Fleet Lay for General Gray, as the Drovers said, the Drovers to that flock being Four in Number, all belonging to Chilmark."
Arthur R. Railton, author and Island historian, was the long-time editor of the Martha's Vineyard Museum's "Dukes County Intelligencer."
