LOUIS ANSART.
BY CLARA CLAYTON.
One of the notable citizens of Revolutionary times was Colonel Louis Ansart. He was a native of France, and came to America in 1776, while our country was engaged in war with England. He brought with him credentials from high officials in his native country, and was immediately appointed colonel of artillery and inspector-general of the foundries, and engaged in casting cannon in Massachusetts. Colonel Ansart understood the art to great perfection; and it is said that some of his cannon and mortars are still serviceable and valuable. Foundries were then in operation in Bridgewater and Titicut, of which he had charge until the close of the Revolutionary War.
Colonel Ansart was an educated man—a graduate of a college in France—and of a good family. It is said that he conversed well in seven different languages.
His father purchased him a commission of lieutenant at the age of fourteen years; and he was employed in military service by his native country and the United States, and held a commission until the close of the Revolutionary War, when he purchased a farm in Dracut and resided there until his death. He returned to France three times after he first came to this country, [pg 387] and was there at the time Louis XVI was arrested, in 1789.
Colonel Ansart married Catherine Wimble, an American lady, of Boston, and reared a large family in Dracut—in that portion of the town which was annexed to Lowell in 1874. Atis Ansart, who still resides there, in the eighty-seventh year of his age, is a son of Colonel Ansart; also Felix Ansart, late of New London, Connecticut, and for twenty-four years an officer of the regular army, at one time stationed at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina, and afterwards at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he remained eight years, and died in January, 1874.
There were five boys and seven girls. The boys were those above named, and Robert, Abel, and Louis. The girls were Julia Ann, who married Bradley Varnum; Fanny, who died in childhood; Betsey, who married Jonathan Hildreth, moved to Ohio, and died in Dayton, in that State; Sophia, who married Peter Hazelton, who died some twenty years ago, after which she married a Mr. Spaulding; Harriet, who married Samuel N. Wood, late of Lowell; Catherine, who married Mr. Layton; and Aline, who died at the age of eighteen years.
Colonel Ansart was trained in that profession and in those times which had a tendency to develop the sterner qualities, and was what would be termed in these times a man of stern, rigid, and imperious nature. It is said he never retired at night without first loading his pistols and swinging them over the headboard of his bed.
After settling in Dracut,—and in his best days he lived in excellent style for the times, kept a span of fine horses, rode in a sulky, and "lived like a nabob,"—he always received a pension from the government; but his habits were such that he never acquired a fortune, but spent his money freely and enjoyed it as he went along.
Before he came to America he had traveled in different countries. On one occasion, in Italy, he was waylaid and robbed of all he had, and narrowly escaped with his life. He had been playing and had been very successful, winning money, gold watches, and diamonds. As he was riding back to his hôtel his postilion was shot. He immediately seized his pistols to defend himself, when he was struck on the back of the head with a bludgeon and rendered insensible. He did not return to consciousness until the next morning, when he found himself by the side of the road, bleeding from a terrible wound in his side from a dirk-knife. He had strength to attract the attention of a man passing with a team, and was taken to his hôtel. A surgeon was called, who pronounced the wound mortal. Mr. Ansart objected to that view of the case, and sent for another, and with skilful treatment he finally recovered.
It is said that he was a splendid swordsman. On a certain occasion he was insulted, and challenged his foe to step out and defend himself with his sword. His opponent declined, saying he never fought with girls, meaning that Mr. Ansart was delicate, with soft, white hands and fair complexion, and no match for him, whereupon the young Frenchman drew his sword to give him a taste of his quality. He flourished it around his opponent's head, occasionally stratching his face and hands, until he was covered with wounds and blood, but he could not provoke him to draw his weapon and defend himself. After complimenting [pg 388] him with the name of "coward," he told him to go about his business, advising him in future to be more careful of his conduct and less boastful of his courage.
During the inquisition in France, Colonel Ansart said that prisoners were sometimes executed in the presence of large audiences, in a sort of amphitheatre. People of means had boxes, as in our theatres of the present day. Colonel Ansart occupied one of these boxes on one occasion with his lady. Before the performance began, another gentleman with his lady presented himself in Colonel Ansart's box, and requested him to vacate. He was told that he was rather presuming in his conduct and had better go where he belonged. The man insisted upon crowding himself in, and was very insolent, when Colonel Ansart seized him and threw him over the front, when, of course, he went tumbling down among the audience below. Colonel Ansart was for this act afterward arrested and imprisoned for a short time, but was finally liberated without trial.
History informs us that a combined attack by D'Estaing and General Sullivan was planned, in 1778, for the expulsion of the British from Rhode Island, where, under General Pigot, they had established a military dépôt. Colonel Ansart was aide-de-camp to General Sullivan in this expedition, and was wounded in the engagement of August 29.
On a certain occasion he was taking a sleigh-ride with his family, and in one of the adjacent towns met a gentleman with his turn-out in a narrow and drifted part of the road, where some difficulty occurred in passing each other. Colonel Ansart suggested to him that he should not have driven into such a place when he saw him coming. The man denied that he saw the colonel, and told him he lied. Colonel Ansart seized his pistol to punish him for his insolence, when his wife interfered, an explanation followed, and it was ascertained that both gentlemen were from Dracut. One was deacon of the church, and the other "inspector-general of artillery." Of course the pistols were put up, as the deacon didn't wish to be shot, and the colonel wouldn't tell a lie.
In his prime, our hero stood six feet high in his boots, and weighed two hundred pounds. He died in Dracut, May 28, 1804, at the age of sixty-two years.
Mrs. Ansart was born in Boston, and witnessed the battle of Bunker Hill, and often described the appearance of the British soldiers as they marched along past her residence, both in going to the battle and in returning. She was thirteen years of age, and recollected it perfectly. She said they were grand as they passed along the streets of Boston toward Charlestown. The officers were elegantly dressed and were in great spirits, thinking it was only a pleasant little enterprise to go over to Charlestown and drive those Yankees out of their fort; but when they returned it was a sad sight. The dead and dying were carried through the streets pale and ghastly and covered with blood. She said the people witnessed the battle from the houses in Boston, and as regiment after regiment was swept down by the terrible fire of the Americans, they said that the British were feigning to be frightened and falling down for sport; but when they saw that they did not get up again, and when the dead and wounded were [pg 389] brought back to Boston, the reality began to be made known, and that little frolic of taking the fort was really an ugly job, and hard to accomplish.
Mrs. Ansart died in Dracut at the age of eighty-six years, January 27, 1849. She retained her mental and physical faculties to a great degree till within a short time before her death. She was accustomed to walk to church, a distance of one mile, when she was eighty years of age. Colonel and Mrs. Ansart were both buried in Woodbine Cemetery, in the part of Lowell which belonged to Dracut at the time of their interment.