{"id":1781,"date":"2020-09-01T11:11:21","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T15:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nelights.com\/blog\/?p=1781"},"modified":"2025-03-06T12:00:37","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T17:00:37","slug":"daughters-of-keeper-save-scituate-lighthouse-during-war-of-1812","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nelights.com\/blog\/daughters-of-keeper-save-scituate-lighthouse-during-war-of-1812\/","title":{"rendered":"Daughters of Keeper Save Scituate and Lighthouse During War of 1812"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Scituate<\/a>

Scituate Lighthouse in Massachusetts<\/p><\/div>\n

Scituate Lighthouse\u2019s “Army of Two” During the War of 1812<\/span><\/h2>\n

In Massachusetts, Scituate Lighthouse<\/a> <\/strong>was built in 1811, just before the War of 1812 broke out between the new America and the British. Scituate\u2019s first Keeper was Simeon Bates, who stayed on until he died in 1834. He and his wife lived with their nine children at the lighthouse. Two of their daughters, Abigail and Rebecca Bates, became famous heroic figures in saving the town from a British invasion.<\/p>\n

British warships frequently raided New England coastal towns during the War of 1812. On June 11, 1814, British forces burned and plundered several ships around Scituate\u2019s Harbor. The keeper fired a small cannon twice at a British warship as it departed from the harbor, although it missed, and the ship continued without retaliation. After the incident, the townspeople, including the keeper and his family at the lighthouse, were on constant watch for another possible invasion into the town.<\/p>\n

\"Scituate<\/a>

Scituate lighthouse near sunset.<\/p><\/div>\n

On September 1, 1814, most of the Bates family had gone into town to gather supplies and visit with other family members. Twenty-one-year-old Rebecca was left in charge of the lighthouse with her younger sister, Abigail. The sisters enjoyed playing a fife and drum together, as the older Rebecca could play four military tunes with her fife, including \u201cYankee Doodle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anchored outside Scituate Harbor, the sisters noticed to their horror, a British warship in the distance, with two boats of “red coats” leaving from the ship, rowing towards the mainland. Knowing that firing shots from a musket from the lighthouse may only wound or kill a couple of soldiers as they neared, and fearing the British were about to attack the town, Rebecca decided to try another approach. She grabbed her fife and told Abigail to grab her drum. The two girls then ran into a nearby group of cedar trees out of sight of the British and began to play \u201cYankee Doodle,\u201d as they had practiced many times before. They kept playing louder and louder in hopes of making the British believe a local regiment was organizing nearby to protect the town. They had succeeded in deceiving the commander of the British warship, as they could see the boats returning to the ship and the vessel starting to sail out of site. The famous “Lighthouse Army of Two” became local heroes for preventing a British Naval Force from sacking the town.<\/p>\n

In their later years, both Rebecca and Abigail received pensions from Congress in recognition of their heroism. Many years after their deaths, some locals claimed to have seen the daughters’ ghosts, and there have been many accounts of fife and drum military music playing by the lighthouse.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another famous account from Scituate also occurred previously during the War of 1812. In 1813, a renowned sea battle occurred, seen from the lighthouse between the American USS Chesapeake<\/em> and the British HMS Shannon<\/em>. The sea battle itself is not so famous, but the USS Chesapeake’s Commander, Captain James Lawton’s final words are well known when he cried, “Don’t give up the ship!” although the American vessel lost the battle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Scituate Lighthouse is the country’s oldest complete original lighthouse tower and keeper\u2019s house combination.<\/p>\n