Rifles and Muskets on the Swatara: Clandestine Hummelstown Factory Armed the Revolution: Chapter 3--Time to Move Again
By mid-1778 the focus of battle had changed. Washington had survived the winter and the French were assisting the Patriots. Their combined forces were having some success on the battlefields of New York and New Jersey, due in no small part to their willingness to wage both conventional warfare with muskets as well as unconventional sniper attacks with the rifled guns. But things were not as quiet as they had been around the gun factory. Now the invasion was coming from the frontier to the north.
On July 3, 1778, a group of colonial militiamen met an invading army of British soldiers, sympathizers, and Indians in the Wyoming valley near modern Exeter south of Scranton. The militia was routed and driven into a disorganized retreat, and the Indians scalped all soldiers that could be found. Civilians, crops, and livestock were destroyed. The news of the massacre immediately spread south along the Susquehanna River with the fleeing survivors. Hundreds of settlers followed them as they came down the river in an exodus now known as the "Great Runaway."
The terror that befell the inhabitants of central Pennsylvania was overwhelming. The atmosphere is caprured in a letter sent from Paxtang to Council Vice President Bryan, July 12, 1778, by Col. Matthew Smith, an experienced soldier. Sir, I am this moment arrived at Mr. Harrises Ferry, & just now behold the greatest scenes of distress I ever saw, the numerous poor ran away from their habitations & left their all, & several familys have lost part, killd & scalp'd; on the retreat the most cruel butcheries ever known is practiced, wounded and others thrown into the fires while yet living...Northumberland County is evacuated, not more than one hundred men with Col. Hunter, at Sunbury; the Blue Mountains is now the frontier, & I am afraid Lancaster County will shortly follow the example of the other county; the stores at Carlisle is something very considerable; I doubt not their object is to destroy that place...This party is large, have Col. Butler at their head, 100 regular troops at first, about the same number of Tories, but is increasing to two or three times that number, several hundred Indians all armed in a most formidable manner every one of them, exclusive of guns and tomahacks, as usual, each one hath a large spontoon; and as soon as engag'd rushes on in a most dreadful manner; it is said they have field pieces or swivels, & a number of light horse...Send an order for what arms is ready at Lancaster and Hummelstown, also for ammunition,,,I am your most obedient serv't, Matthew Smith
Dehaven was clearly aware of the impending threat to the gun making facility. On July 12, he, too, penned an urgent leter to Council Secretary Col. Timothy Matlack. Writing from Hummelstown he told of his awareness of the threatneing conditions, and said he had just attended Mr. Elder's militia meeting (at Paxton) where they agreed to call out the battalions. They applied to me for some arms, which I promised to let them have 50 or 60 with out your consent, as it was so distressing, & you were so far off, that I could not get an order from you. I should be glad to know, the first opportunity, if you don't think it will be prudent to move the factory to French Creek, or to Philad'a, or to some other place wher you may think more safe. This significant entry identifies Dehaven as a direct associator with the Paxton militia and accounts for a substantial wagonload of arms which Dehaven took the risk of dispensing directly to the local defenders. Two days later Council ordered that Cumberland and York counties were to have arms supplied from Carlisle by the Board of War, and if this supply is not sufficient, application must be made to Mr. Rittenhouse or Mr. Dehaven at Hummelstown.
A massive onslaught never occurred in Paxton or Derry, though skirmishes are well recorded. After this critical period, reports between Council and the factory are less frequent. The seat of government had returned to Philadelphia by mid-summer, and on October 10, 1778, Council discussed discontinuing operations at the manufatory. By all accounts, December marked the end of the state's gun making endeavor at Hummelstown. On December 11, Rittenhouse and Dehaven offered to form a partnership to buy the facility, provided that the Council allow us the materials now on hand at the first cost. After further negotiations, it appears that the men settled the accounts of the factory early in 1779 and divided up the tools, machines and small inventory that remained.
Regarding guns for the Continental Army, what happened next? Dehaven and Rittenhouse both returned home to Philadelphia where they continued administrative work for the revolutionary cause. Both muskets and rifles continued to be built by skilled craftsmen in the gunmaking centers of Lancaster, York and Philadelphia, as well as at more rural locations. Most of the arms were built in small shops by private contractors in what was somewhat of a regional "cottage industry," and longrifles are often identified by their county characteristics. Coordinators would collect the arms and deliver them to Council and to the army, then do their best to see that the builders got paid. While gunsmiths throughout the southeast quadrant of Pennsylvania continued to supply the revolutionary cause with arms, the hammers fell silent on the Swatara.
