The Story of Moses Sleeper
September, 1781. One of the northernmost skirmishes of the Revolutionary War occurred
in the town of Greensboro, NH near a block house on the Baley-Hazen Road along Caspian
Lake (then called Lake Beautiful).
After the Baley-Hazen Road was completed in 1779, a few block houses were constructed
at various intervals along the road to make the route safe for transporting troops and
supplies. These structures were garrisoned by American troops from time to time and on
various occasions they were attacked by Indian allies of the British who came down along
the Hazen road from Canada.
One of these block houses was built in 1779 along the western shore of Caspian Lake,
but it remained unoccuppied until the fall of 1781. That summer a number of Indians had
attacked Peacham and taken many prisoners back to Canada with them. Somewhat later, the
local commandant, Capt. Nehemiah Loveland, sent a scouting party up the Hazen Road as far
as Greensboro so as to prevent a repetition of the Peacham raid.
Soon after they arrived at the Greensboro block house in early September, they were
surprised while walking near their base by a large band of Indians from Canada. A fierce
struggle followed, but the soldiers were badly outnumbered and were soon defeated. The
soldiers managed to kill one Indian with their muskets, but the Indians in turn killed two
of the soldiers, Constant Bliss and Moses Sleeper, and captured the other two soldiers.
Bliss and Sleeper were scalped and abandoned while the other soldiers were taken to a
prison in Quebec where they were held until the end of the war.
Today there is a stone marker on the Hazen Road in Greesboro commemorating the courage
of the two soldiers, Constant Bliss and Moses Sleeper. (Photo taken by Clarence W. Sleeper
of Littleton, NH)