“My sons? It may
Unman my heart, and the poor boys will weep;
And what can I reply, to comfort them,
Save with some hollow hopes, and ill-worn smiles?”
_Sardanapalus_.
My Lord Howe did not at first recognise us, in our hunting-shirts. With
Guert Ten Eyck, however, he had formed such an acquaintance, while at
Albany, as caused him to remember his voice, and our welcome was both frank
and cordial. We inquired for the ----th, declaring our intention to join
that corps, from the commander of which all three of us had reiterated and
pressing invitations to join his mess. The intention of seeking our friend
immediately, nevertheless, was changed by a remark of our present host if
one may use such a term as applied to the commander of a brigade of boats.
“Bulstrode's regiment is in the centre, and will be early in the field,” he
said; “but not as early as the advanced guard. If you desire good living,
gentlemen, I am far from wishing to dissuade you from seeking the
flesh-pots of the ----th; there being a certain Mr. Billings, in that
corps, who has an extraordinary faculty, they tell me, in getting up a good
dinner out of nothing; but, if you want service, we shall certainly be the
first brigade in action; and, to such fare as I can command, you will be
most acceptable guests. As for anything else, time must show.”
After this, no more was said about looking for Bulstrode; though we let our
noble commander understand, that we should tax his hospitality no longer
than to see him fairly in the field, after driving away the party that it
was expected the enemy would send to oppose our landing.
Susquesus no sooner learned our decision, than he took his departure,
quietly paddling away towards the eastern shore; no one attempting to
intercept a canoe that was seen to quit the batteau that was known to carry
the commander of the advanced brigade.
The wind freshened, as the day advanced, and most of the boats having
something or other in the shape of a sail, our progress now became quite
rapid. By nine o'clock we were fairly in the Lower Lake, and there was
every prospect of our reaching our point of destination by mid-day. I
confess, the business we were on, the novelty of my situation, and the
certainty that we should meet in Montcalm an experienced as well as a most
gallant foe, conspired to render me thoughtful, though I trust not timid,
during the few hours we were in the batteau. Perfectly inactive, it is
not surprising that so young a soldier should feel sobered by the solemn
reflections that are apt to get possession of the mind, at the probable
approach of death--if not to myself, at least to many of those who were
around me. Nor was there anything boastful or inflated in the manner or
conversation of our distinguished leader, who had seen much warm service in
Germany, in the wars of his reputed grandfather and uncle, young as he
was. On the contrary, My Lord Howe, that day, was grave and thoughtful, as
became a man who held the lives of others in his keeping, though he was
neither depressed nor doubting. There were moments, indeed, when he spoke
cheerfully to those who were near him; though, as a whole, his deportment
was, as I have just said, grave and thoughtful. Once I caught his eye
fastened on me, with a saddened expression; and, I suppose that a question
he soon after put me, was connected with the subject of his thoughts.
“How would our excellent and respectable friend, Madam Schuyler, feel, did
she know our precise position at this moment, Mr. Littlepage? I do believe
that excellent woman feels more concern for those in whom she takes an
interest, than they often feel for themselves.”
“I think, my lord, that, in such a case, we should certainly receive the
benefit of her prayers.”
“You are an only child, I think she told me, Littlepage?”
“I am, my lord; and thankful am I that my mother cannot foresee this
scene.”
“I, too, have those that love me, though they are accustomed to think of me
as a soldier, and liable to a soldier's risks. Happy is the military
man who can possess his mind, in the moment of trial, free from the
embarrassing, though pleasing, and otherwise so grateful ties of affection.
But, we are nearing the shore, and must attend to duty.”
This is the last conversation I held with that brave soldier; and these
were the last words, of a private nature, I ever heard him utter. From that
moment, his whole soul seemed occupied with the discharge of his duty, the
success of our arms, and the defeat of the enemy.
I am not soldier enough to describe what followed in a very military or
intelligible manner. As the brigade drew near the foot of the lake, where
there was a wide extent of low land, principally in forest, however, some
batteaux were brought to the front, on which were mounted a number of
pieces of heavy artillery. The French had a party of considerable force
to oppose our landing; but, as it appeared they had not made a sufficient
provision of guns, on their part, to contend with success; and our grape
scouring the woods, we met with but little real resistance. Nor did we
assail them precisely at the point where we were expected but proceeded
rather to the right of their position. At the signal, the advanced brigade
pushed for the shore, led by our gallant commander, and we were all soon on
_terra firma_, without sustaining any loss worth naming. We four, that is,
Guert, Dirck, myself and Jaap, kept as near as was proper to the noble
brigadier, who instantly ordered an advance, to press the retreating foe.
The skirmishing was not sharp, however, and we gained ground fast, the
enemy retiring in the direction of Ticonderoga, and we pressing on their
rear, quite as fast as prudence and our preparations would allow. I could
see that a cloud of Indians was in our front, and will own, that I felt
afraid of an ambush; for the artful warfare practised by those beings of
the wood, could not but be familiar, by tradition at least, to one born and
educated in the colonies. We had landed in a cove, not literally at the
foot of the lake, but rather on its western side; and room was no sooner
obtained, than Gen. Abercrombie got most of his force on shore, and formed
it, as speedily as possible, in columns. Of these columns we had four, the
two in the centre being composed entirely of King's troops, six regiments
in all, numbering more than as many thousand men; while five thousand
provincials were on the flanks, leaving quite four thousand of the latter
with the boats, of which this vast flotilla actually contained the large
number of one thousand and twenty five! All our boats, however, had not yet
reached the point of debarkation; those with the stores, artillery, &c.,
&c., being still some distance in the rear.
Our party was now placed with the right centre column, at the head of which
marched our noble acquaintance. The enemy had posted a single battalion in
a log encampment, near the ordinary landing; but finding the character of
the force with which he was about to be assailed, its commandant set fire
to his huts and retreated. The skirmishing was now even of less moment than
it had been on landing, and we all moved forward in high spirits, though
the want of guides, the density of the woods, and the difficulties of the
ground, soon produced a certain degree of confusion in our march. The
columns got entangled with each other, and no one seemed to possess the
means of promptly extricating them from this awkward embarrassment. Want of
guides was the great evil under which we laboured; but it was an evil that
it was now too late to remedy.
Our column, notwithstanding, or its head rather, continued to advance, with
its gallant leader keeping even pace with its foremost platoon. We four
volunteers acted as look-outs, a little on its flank; and I trust there
will be no boasting, if I say, we kept rather in advance of the leading
files, than otherwise. In this state of things, French uniforms were seen
in front, and a pretty strong party of the enemy was encountered,
wandering, like ourselves, a little uncertain of the route they ought to
take, in order to reach their entrenchments in the shortest time. As a
matter of course, this party could not pass the head of our column, without
bringing on a collision, though it were one that was only momentary. Which
party gave the first fire, I cannot say, though I thought it was the
French. The discharge was not heavy, however, and was almost immediately
mutual. I know that all four of us let off our rifles, and that we halted,
under a cover, to reload. I had just driven the ball down, when my eye
caught the signs of some confusion in the head of the column, and I saw the
body of an officer borne to the rear. It was that of Lord Howe! He had
fallen at the first serious discharge made by the enemy in that campaign!
The fall of its leader, so immediately in its presence, seemed to rouse the
column into a sense of the necessity of doing something effective, and it
assaulted the party in its front with the rage of so many tigers,
dispersing the enemy like chaff; making a considerable number of prisoners,
besides killing and wounding not a few.
I never saw a man more thoroughly aroused than was Guert Ten Eyck, in this
little affair. He had been much noticed by Lord Howe, during the residence
of that unfortunate nobleman at Albany; and the loss of the last appeared
to awaken all that there was of the ferocious in the nature of my usually
kind-hearted Albany friend. He acted as our immediate commander; and he led
us forward on the heels of the retreating French, until we actually came in
sight of their entrenchments. Then, indeed, we all saw it was necessary to
retreat in our turn; and Guert consented to fall back, though it was done
surlily, and like a lion at bay. A party of Indians pressed us hard, in
this retreat, and we ran an imminent risk of our scalps; all of which, I
have ever believed, would have been lost, were it not for the resolution
and Herculean strength of Jaap. It happened, as we were dodging from tree
to tree, that all four of our rifles were discharged at the same time; a
circumstance of which our assailants availed themselves to make a rush at
us. Luckily the weight of the onset fell on Jaap, who clubbed his rifle,
and literally knocked down in succession the three Indians that first
reached him. This intrepidity and success gave us time to reload; and
Dirck, ever a cool and capital shot, laid the fourth Huron on his face,
with a ball through his heart. Guert then held his fire, and called on Jaap
to retreat. Fie was obeyed; and under cover of our two rifles, the whole
party got off; the red-skins being too thoroughly rebuked to press us very
closely, after the specimen they had just received of the stuff of which we
were made.
We owed our escape, however, as much to another circumstance, as to this
resolution of Jaap, and the expedient of Guert. Among the provincials was a
partisan of great repute, of the name of Rogers. This officer led a party
of riflemen on our left flank, and he drove in the enemy's skirmishers,
along his own front, with rapidity, causing them to suffer a considerable
loss. By this means, the Indians before us were held in check; as there was
the danger that Major Rogers's party might fall in upon their rear, should
they attempt to pursue us, and thus cut them off from their allies. It was
well it was so; inasmuch as we had to fall back more than a mile, ere we
reached the spot where Abercrombie brought his columns to a halt, and
encamped far the night. This position was distant about two miles from the
works before Ticonderoga; and consequently at no great distance from the
outlet of Lake George. Here the army was brought into good order, and took
up its station for some little time.
It was necessary to await the arrival of the stores, ammunition and
artillery. As the bringing up these materials, through a country that was
little else than a virgin forest, was no easy task, it occupied us quite
two days. Melancholy days they were, too; the death of Lord Howe acting
on the whole army much as if it had been a defeat. He was the idol of the
King's troops, and he had rendered himself as popular with us Americans, as
with his own countrymen. A sort of ominous sadness prevailed among us each
common man appearing to feel his loss as he might have felt that of a
brother.
We looked up the ----th, and joined Bulstrode, as soon as we reached the
ground chosen for the new encampment. Our reception was friendly, and even
kind; and it became warmer still, as soon as it was understood that we
composed the little party that had skirmished so freely on the flank of the
right centre column, and which was known to have gone farther in advance
than any one else, in that part of the field. Thus we joined our corps with
some _éclat_, at the very outset, everybody welcoming us cordially, and
with seeming sincerity.
Nevertheless, the general sadness existed in the ----th, as well as in all
the other corps. Lord Howe was as much beloved in that regiment, as in
any other; and our meeting and subsequent intercourse could not be called
joyful. Bulstrode had an extensive and important command, for his rank and
years, and he certainly was proud of his position; but I could see that
even his elastic and usually gay temperament was much affected by what had
occurred. That night we walked together, apart from our companions, when he
spoke on the subject of our loss.
“It may appear strange to you, Corny,” he said, “to find so much depression
in camp, after a debarkation that has certainly been successful, and a
little affair that has given us, as they assure me, a couple of hundred
prisoners. I tell you, however, my friend, it were better for this army to
have seen its best corps annihilated, than to have lost the man it has.
Howe was literally the soul of this entire force. He was a soldier by
nature, and made all around him soldiers. As for the Commander-In-Chief, he
does not understand you Americans, and will not use you as he ought; then
he does not understand the nature of the warfare of this continent, and
will be very likely to make a blunder. I'll tell you how it is, Corny; Howe
had as much influence with Abercrombie, as he had with every one else; and
an attempt will be made to introduce his mode of fighting; but such a man
as Lord Howe requires another Lord Howe to carry out his own conceptions.
That is the point on which, I fear, we shall fail.”
All this sounded very sensible to me, though it sounded discouragingly; I
found, however, that Bulstrode did not entertain these feelings alone, but
that most around me were of the same way of thinking. In the mean time, the
preparations proceeded; and it was understood that the 8th was to be the
day that was to decide the fate of Ticonderoga; The fort proper, at this
celebrated station, stands on a peninsula, and can only be assailed on one
side. The outworks were very extensive on that side, and the garrison was
known to be formidable. As these outworks, however, consisted principally
of a log breastwork, and it could be approached through open woods, which
of itself afforded some cover, it was determined to carry it by storm, and,
if possible, enter the main work with the retreating enemy. Had we waited
for our artillery, and established batteries, our success would have been
certain; but the engineer reported favourably of the other project; and
perhaps it better suited the temper and impatience of the whole army, to
push on, rather than proceed by the slow movements of a regular siege.
On the morning of the 8th, therefore, the troops were paraded for the
assault, our party falling in on the flank of the ----th, as volunteers.
The ground did not admit of the use of many horses, and Bulstrode marched
with us on foot; I can relate but little of the general movements of that
memorable day, the woods concealing so much of what was done, on both
sides. I know this, however; that the flower of our army were brought into
the line, and were foremost in the assault; including both regulars and
provincials. The 42d, a Highland corps, that had awakened much interest in
America, both by the appearance and character of its men, was placed at a
point where it was thought the heaviest service was to be performed. The
55th, another corps on which much reliance was placed, was also put at the
head of another column. A swamp extending for some distance along the only
exposed front of the peninsula, these two corps were designated to carry
the log breastwork, that commenced at the point where the swamp ceases;
much the most arduous portion of the expected service, since this was the
only accessible approach to the fortress itself. To render their position
more secure, the French had placed several pieces of artillery in battery,
along the line of this breastwork; while we had not yet a gun in front to
cover our advance.
It was said, that Abercrombie did not take counsel of any of the American
officers with him, before he decided on the attack of the 8th of July. He
had directed his principal engineer to reconnoitre; and that gentleman
having reported that the defences offered no serious scientific obstacles,
the assault was decided on. This report was accurate, doubtless, agreeably
to the principles and facts of European warfare; but it was not suited to
those of the conflicts of this continent. It was to be regretted, however,
that the experience of 1755, and the fate of Braddock, had not inculcated
a more extensive lesson of discretion among the royal commanders, than was
manifested by the incidents of this day.
The ----th was placed in column directly in the rear of the Highlanders,
who were led, on this occasion, by Col. Gordon Graham; a veteran officer of
great experience, and of an undaunted courage. [36] Of course, I saw this
officer and this regiment, being as they were directly in my front, but I
saw little else; more especially after the smoke of the first discharge was
added to the other obstacles to vision.
A considerable time was consumed in making the preparations; but, when
everything was supposed to be ready, the columns were set in motion. It was
generally understood that the troops were to receive the enemy's fire, then
rush forward to the breastwork, cross the latter at the bayonet's point, if
it should be necessary, and deliver their own fire at close quarters; or on
their retreating foes. Permission was given to us volunteers, and to divers
light parties of irregulars, to open on any of the French of whom we might
get glimpses, as little was expected from us in the charge.
Nearly an hour was consumed in approaching the point of attack, owing to
the difficulties of the ground, and the necessity of making frequent halts,
in order to dress. At length the important moment arrived when the head of
the column was ready to unmask itself, and consequently to come under
fire. A short halt sufficed for the arrangements here, when the bagpipes
commenced their exciting music, and we broke out of cover, shouting and
cheering each other on. We must have been within two hundred yards of the
breastwork at the time, and the first gun discharged was Jaap's, who, by
working his way into the cover of the swamp, had got some distance ahead of
us, and who actually shot down a French officer who had got upon the logs
of his defences, in order to reconnoitre. That assault, however, was
fearfully avenged! The Highlanders were moving on like a whirlwind, grave,
silent and steady, cheered only by their music, when a sheet of flame
glanced along the enemy's line, and the iron and leaden messengers of death
came whistling in among us like a hurricane. The Scotsmen were staggered by
that shock; but they recovered instantly and pressed forward. The ----th
did not escape harmless, by any means; while the din told us that
the conflict extended along the whole of the breastwork, towards the
lake-shore. How many were shot down in our column, by that first discharge,
I never knew; but the slaughter was dreadful, and among those who fell was
the veteran Graham, himself. I can safely say, however, that the plan
of attack was completely deranged from this first onset; the columns
displaying and commencing their fire as soon as possible. No men could have
behaved better than all that I could see; the whole of us pushing on for
the breastwork, until we encountered fallen trees; which were made to serve
the purpose of chevaux-de-frise. These trees had been felled along the
front of the breastwork, while their branches were cut, and pointed like
stakes. It was impossible to pass in any order, and the troops halted
when they reached them, and continued to fire by platoons, with as much
regularity as on parade. A few minutes of this work, however, compelled
different corps to fall back, and the vain conflict was continued for four
hours, on our part almost entirely by a smart but ineffective fire of
musketry; while the French sent their grape into our ranks almost with as
much impunity as if they had been on parade. It had been far better for our
men had they been less disciplined, and less under the control of their
officers; for the sole effect of steadiness, under such circumstances, is
to leave the gallant and devoted troops, who refuse to fall back, while
they are unable to advance, only so much the longer in jeopardy.
Guert had shouted with the rest; and I soon found that by following him for
a leader, we should quickly be in the midst of the fray. He actually led us
up to the fallen trees, and, finding something like a cover there, we three
established ourselves among them as riflemen, doing fully out share of
service. When the troops fell back, however, we were left in a manner
alone, and it was rather dangerous work to retire; and finding ourselves
out of the line of fire from our own men, no immaterial point in such a
fray, we maintained our post to the last. Admonished, after a long time,
of the necessity of retreating, by the manner in which the fire of our own
line lessened, we got off with sound skins, though Guert retired the whole
distance with his face to the enemy, firing as he withdrew. We all did the
last, indeed, using the trees for covers. Towards the close we attracted
especial attention; and there were two or three minutes during which the
flight of bullets around us might truly, without much exaggeration, be
likened to a storm of hail!
Jaap was not with us in this sally, and I went into the swamp to look for
him. The search was not long, for I found my fellow retreating also, and
bringing in with him a stout Canadian Indian as a prisoner. He was making
his captive carry three discharged rifles, and blankets; one of which had
been his own property once, and the others that of two of his tribe, whom
the negro had left lying in the swamp as bloody trophies of his exploits. I
cannot explain the philosophy of the thing, but that negro ever appeared to
me to fight as if he enjoyed the occupation as an amusement.
These facts were scarcely ascertained, when we learned the important
intelligence that a general retreat was ordered. Our proud and powerful
army was beaten, and that, too, by a force two-thirds less than its own! It
is not easy to describe the miserable scene that followed. The transporting
of the wounded to the rear had been going on the whole time, and, as
usually happens, when it is permitted, it had contributed largely to thin
the ranks. These unfortunate men were put into the batteaux in hundreds,
while most of the dead were left where they lay. So completely were our
hopes frustrated, and our spirits lowered, that most of the boats pulled
off that night, and all the remainder quitted the foot of the lake early
next day.
Thus terminated the dire expedition of 1758 against Ticonderoga, and with
it our expectations of seeing Montreal, or Quebec, that season. I dare say,
we had fully ten thousand bayonets in the field that bloody day, and quite
five thousand men closely engaged. The mistake was in attempting to carry a
post that was so nearly impregnable, by assault; and this, too, without the
cover of artillery. The enemy was said to have four or five thousand men
present, and this may be true, as applied to all within the defences;
though I question if more than half that number pulled triggers on us, in
the miserable affair. There is always much of exaggeration in both the
boasting and the apologies of war.
Our own loss, on this sad occasion, was reported at 548 slain, and 1356
wounded. This was probably within the truth; though the missing were said
to be surprisingly few, some thirty or forty, in all; the men having no
place to repair to but the boats. Of the Highlanders, it was said that
nearly half the common men, and twenty-five, or nearly _all_ the officers,
were either killed or wounded! One account, indeed, said that _every_
officer of that corps, who was on the ground, suffered. The 55th, also, was
dreadfully cut up. Ten of its officers were slain outright, and many were
wounded. As for the ----th, it fared a little better, not heading a column;
but its loss was fearful. Bulstrode was seriously wounded, early in the
attack, though his hurt was never supposed to be dangerous. Billings was
left dead on the field, and Harris got a scratch that served him to talk of
in after life.
The confusion was tremendous after such a conflict and such a defeat. The
troops re-embarked without much regard to corps or regularity of movement;
and the boats moved away as fast as they received their melancholy cargoes.
An immense amount of property was lost; though I believe all the customary
military trophies were preserved. As the provincials had been the least
engaged, and had suffered much the least, in proportion to numbers, a large
body of them was kept as a rear-guard, while the regular corps removed
their wounded and _matériel_.
As for us three or four, including Jaap, who stuck by his prisoner, we
scarcely knew what to do with ourselves. Everybody who felt any interest in
us, was either killed or wounded. Bulstrode we could not see; nor could we
even find the regiment. Should we succeed in the attempt at the last, very
few now remained in it who would have taken much, or indeed any concern
in us. Under the circumstances, therefore, we held a consultation on the
lake-shore, uncertain whether to ask admission into one of the departing
boats, or to remain until morning, that our retreat might have a more manly
aspect.
“I'll tell you what it is, Corny,” said Guert Ten Eyck, in a somewhat
positive manner, “the less _we_ say about this campaign, and of our share
in it, the petter. We are not soldiers, in the regular way, and if we keep
quiet, nobody will know what a t'rashing we t'ree, in particular, haf
receivet. My advice is, t'at we get out of this army as we got into
it--t'at is, py a one-sided movement, and for ever after-holt our tongues
about our having had anyt'ing to do with it. I never knew a worsted man any
the more respected for his mishap; and I will own, that I set down flogging
as a very material part of a fight.”
“I am quite sure, Guert, I am as little disposed to brag of my share in
this affair, as you or any one can possibly be; but it is much easier to
talk about getting away from this confused crowd than really to do the
thing. I doubt if any of these boats will take us in; for an Englishman,
flogged, is not apt to be very good-natured; and all our friends seem to be
killed or wounded.”
“You want go?” asked a low Indian voice at my elbow. “Got 'nough, eh?”
Turning, I saw Susquesus standing within two feet of me. Our consultation
was necessarily in the midst of a moving throng; and the Onondago must have
approached us, unnoticed, at the commencement of our conference. There
he was, however, though whence he came or how he got there, I could not
imagine, at the time, and have never been able to learn since.
“Can you help us to get away, Susquesus?” was my answer. “Do you know of
any means of crossing the lake?”
“Got canoe. That good. Canoe go, though Yengeese run.”
“That in which we came off to the army, do you mean?”
The Indian nodded his head, and made a sign for us to follow. Little
persuasion was necessary, and we proceeded at his heels, in a body, in the
direction he led. I will confess, that when I saw our guide proceeding
eastward, along the lake-shore, I had some misgivings on the subject of his
good faith. That was the direction which took us towards, instead of _from_
the enemy; and there was something so mysterious in the conduct of this
man, that it gave me uneasiness. Here he was, in the midst of the English
army in the height of its confusion, though he had declined joining it
previously to the battle. Nothing was easier than to enter the throng, in
its present confused state, and move about undetected for hours, if one had
the nerve necessary for the service; and, in that property, I felt certain
the Onondago was not deficient. There was a coolness in the manner of
the man, a quiet observation, both blended with the seeming apathy of a
red-skin, that gave every assurance of his fitness for the duty.
Nevertheless, there was no remedy but to follow, or to break with our guide
on the spot. We did not like to do the last, although we conferred together
on the subject, but followed, keeping our hands on the locks of our rifles,
in readiness for a brush, should we be led into danger. Susquesus had no
such treacherous intentions, however, while he had disposed of his canoe
in a place that denoted his judgment. We had to walk quite a mile ere we
reached the little bush-fringed creek in which he had concealed it. I have
always thought we ran a grave risk, in advancing so far in that direction,
since the enemy's Indians would certainly be hanging around the skirts of
our army, in quest of scalps; but I afterwards learned the secret of the
Onondago's confidence, who first spoke on the subject after we had left the
shore, and then only in an answer to a remark of Guert's.
“No danger,” he said; “red-man gettin' Yengeese scalps, on the war-path.
Too much kill, now, to want more.”
As both governments pursued the culpable policy of paying for human scalps,
this suggestion probably contained the whole truth.
Previously to quitting the creek, however, there was a difficulty to
dispose of. Jaap had brought his Huron prisoner with him; and the Onondago
declared that the canoe could not carry six. This we knew from experience,
indeed, though five went in it very comfortably.
“No room,” said Susquesus, “for red-man. Five good--six bad.”
“What shall we do with the fellow, Corny?” asked Guert, with a little
interest. “Jaap says he is a proper devil, by daylight, and that he had a
world of trouble in taking him, and in bringing him in. For five minutes,
it was heads or tails which was to give in; and the nigger only got the
best of it, by his own account of the battle, because the red-skin had the
unaccountable folly to try to beat in Jaap's brains. He might as well have
battered the Rock of Gibraltar, you know, as to attempt to break a nigger's
skull, and so your fellow got the best of it. What shall we do with the
rascal?”
“Take scalp,” said the Onondago, sententiously; “got good scalp--war-lock
ready--paint, war-paint--capital scalp.”
“Ay, that may do better for you, Master Succetush”--so Guert always called
our guide, “than it will do for us Christians. I am afraid we shall have to
let the ravenous devil go, after disarming him.”
“Disarmed he is already; but he cannot be long without a musket, on this
battle-ground. I am of your opinion, Guert; so, Jaap, release your prisoner
at once, that we may return to Ravensnest, as fast as possible.”
“Dat berry hard, Masser Corny, sah!” exclaimed Jaap, who did not half like
the orders he received.
“No words about it, sir, but cut his fastenings”--Jaap had tied the
Indian's arms behind him, with a rope, as an easy mode of leading him
along. “Do you know the man's name?”
“Yes, sah--he say he name be Muss”--probably Jaap's defective manner of
repeating some Indian sound; “and a proper muss he get in, Masser Corny,
when he try to cotch Jaap by he wool!”
Here I was obliged to clap my hand suddenly on the black's mouth, for the
fellow was so delighted with the recollection of the manner in which he
had got the better of his red adversary, that he broke out into one of the
uncontrollable fits of noisy laughter, that are so common to his race. I
repeated the order, somewhat sternly, for Jaap to cut the cords, and then
to follow us to the canoe, in which the Onondago and my two friends had
already taken their places. My own foot was raised to enter the canoe, when
I heard heavy stripes inflicted on the back of some one. Rushing back to
the spot where I had left Jaap and his captive, Muss, I found the former
inflicting a severe punishment, on the naked back of the other, with the
end of the cord that still bound his arms. Muss, as Jaap called him,
neither flinched nor cried. The pine stands not more erect or unyielding,
in a summer's noontide, than he bore up under the pain. Indignantly I
thrust the negro away, cut the fellow's bonds with my own hands, and drove
my slave before me to the canoe.
[Footnote 36: Holmes's Annals say, that Lord John Murray commanded the 42d,
on this occasion. I presume, as Mr. Littlepage was there, and was posted
so near the corps in question, he cannot well be mistaken. Mrs. Grant, of
Laggan, who was at Albany at the time, and whose father was in the
battle, agrees with Mr. Littlepage, in saying that Gordon Graham led the
42d.--EDITOR.]