IN WHICH THE RANGERS ENGAGE WITH THE FRENCH AND INDIANS
On the 10th of March we set forth on snowshoes and travelled through the
thick forest. That night we encamped at a brook. The Rangers built
shelters of boughs in a short time. Big fires were made, and after we
had our suppers and a pull at the pipe, we rolled ourselves up in our
blankets and went to sleep.
The next morning we reached Lake George, and saw the blackened ruins of
Fort William Henry, where the massacre had taken place some eight months
before.
Of course I knew the story, but Martin had been there, and told me how
the fort was besieged by Montcalm; and after it was battered to pieces,
the garrison surrendered. They had given up their arms and were
marching back to the English army, when the drunken Indians set upon
them and killed and scalped most of the force. Martin caught up a little
boy whose parents had been killed, and escaped through the dense woods.
[Sidenote: AN ALARM]
We marched down the lake in three files, threading our way among the
islands and skirting the steep cliffs. The lake stretched out before us,
covered with thick ice. On the further side were the woods and
mountains.
We camped near the First Narrows that night. The next day we turned away
from the lake and went to a cape called Sebattis Point.
"What's the matter, Martin? Why do we halt?"
"Didn't you see a dog run across the lake, some distance down?"
"Yes, I saw something go across."
"Well, it was a dog, and if there was a dog, there were probably Indians
with him. What would a dog be doing out here alone?"
We camped in the woods, and after it was dark skated down the lake.
Our advanced guard sent back word that they thought they had seen a fire
on an island. We hid our hand-sleighs and packs and went there, but
could find no signs of a fire.
Rogers said that very likely it was the light from some old rotten
stumps, but Martin was not of this opinion.
"There was a fire there. First we see the dog, and then the fire. The
fire could be put out, and it would be difficult to find the burnt
sticks in the dark. If it were the light from old wood, some one of all
this party would have seen it. The French are no fools. They knew we
were coming, and some Indians are watching us. We'll have a hot time
before we get back."
We now left the lake, lest we should be seen, and marched through the
woods back of the mountain which overlooked Fort Ticonderoga. At noon we
halted.
Rogers said: "We are about two miles from the advanced guard of the
French. We will wait here a couple of hours, and then go on. When night
comes, we will make an ambush in the paths, and capture some of the
guards as they come out in the morning."
[Sidenote: AN AMBUSCADE]
We started on again, with a brook on our left and a steep mountain on
our right.
We kept a sharp watch on the brook, for the enemy would probably travel
on it, as the snow was four feet deep.
Our advanced guard came back and reported that the enemy were ahead.
That there were ninety of them, mostly Indians. They were coming down
the brook. The bank of the brook was higher than the ground where we
were, and Rogers gave the order:--
"Come, boys! Stretch out in a line behind the bank. Lie down and keep
hidden. Wait till I give the signal by firing my gun, and then jump up
and give it to them."
Rogers hid in a clump of bushes, from which he could look over the bank.
We lay without stirring, till Rogers fired and shouted, "Now, boys."
We jumped up and fired at them. It was the first time I had seen
Indians, and very hideous they looked, as I stood up and saw them on the
brook, dressed in moccasins, leggings, and breech clout, with a mantle
or cloak of skins over their shoulders, a feather in the scalp-lock, and
their faces and breasts painted with stripes of red and black.
When we fired, a great number of them fell, and the rest ran away. We
supposed that they were defeated, and pursued them. But we got into a
hornets' nest. For this was only the advanced guard, and as we ran after
them, several hundred more French and Indians came up, fired at us, and
killed nearly fifty of our men. I could hear the bullets whistle by me,
and men dropped at my side.
We rallied and retreated; and having reloaded, poured a volley into them
that drove them back again.
"What do you think about that fire on the island, Ben?" asked Martin.
They came on a third time, in front and on both sides of us. We kept up
a continual fire and drove the flanking parties back, and they retreated
once more.
[Sidenote: WARM WORK]
When that great body of French and Indians appeared and their fierce
war-whoops sounded through the woods, when the firing began and the men
fell down close by me, I must confess I was nervous and frightened. But
I looked on either side, and there stood the grim, stern frontiersmen
picking off their men as cool as if they were at a turkey shoot. This
brought my confidence back at once, and as the fight became hot, I found
myself filled with an angry rage. I wanted to kill, to kill as many as I
could, and pay off the old score.
We backed up against the steep mountain. The Indians now tried to go up
it on our right, but a party was sent out and repulsed them. Another
party attempted to ascend on our left. They, too, were driven back.
Edmund, Amos, and I were with the main body, fighting, loading, and
shooting as fast as we could. No time for talk. Sometimes the Indians
were twenty yards from us, and at times we were all mixed up with them,
fighting hand to hand.
When I had fired, I pulled out my hatchet, and as these
devilish-looking savages in their red and black paint rushed at me, I
cut and hacked with my hatchet in my right hand, and holding my firelock
in my left, warded off the blows with it. A blow on my arm knocked the
hatchet from my hand. Then I used my gun as a club. It was a long,
heavy, old firelock, and anger and excitement added to my strength, so
that it was a terrible weapon. I smashed away with it till nothing was
left but the bent barrel.
When we drove them back, I picked up a French gun and a hatchet. There
were plenty of them, for dead and dying men lay in heaps on the ground.
We struggled with them an hour and a half, during which time we lost
over one hundred men.
Rogers was in the thick of the fight most of the time. Yet he saw what
was going on round us, and directed our movements. Toward dark he cried
out: "It's no use, boys; we must get out of this place. Follow me."
We ran up the mountain to a spot where Lieutenant Phillips and some men
were fighting a flanking party of Indians, and there we had another
lively scrimmage. We went along the side of the mountain. I had lost my
rackets. One couldn't think of them and fight, as we had been fighting,
too.
[Sidenote: AN ENCOUNTER]
Rogers shouted: "Scatter, boys! Every man for himself. Meet at the First
Narrows."
I loaded my gun and floundered along in the deep snow, making all
possible haste.
Looking behind, I saw that an Indian on snowshoes was following me. I
started up a side hill, where his rackets would not give him an
advantage.
He fired, but missed me. I turned and shot him, as he raised his hand to
throw his tomahawk. He fell and was quite dead by the time I reached
him.
It's no pleasant sight to look on the face of a man you have just
killed, even though you have right on your side, and he be only a
redskin.
One glance at that face and the staring eyes was enough. I felt weak and
guilty as I knelt by him, and picked up his rackets, gun, and
ammunition. I took his fur mantle, too, for I had thrown away my
blanket, and knew that I should be cold before the night was over.
I wandered through the woods till the moon rose, and gave me the
direction to take. Then I came to the lake and went out on it, and at
last got to the Narrows, where I found what was left of our party.
Edmund and Amos were with them. Rogers had sent a messenger for
assistance.
Over two-thirds of our party were killed or missing. And of those who
remained, there were but few who did not have some cut or bullet wound.
We were exhausted. The men had thrown away their blankets, and the night
was bitter cold.
We could not have fires, as they would have been beacon lights to the
enemy, showing them where we were.
We huddled together like sheep for warmth, and I gave my mantle to a
poor fellow who was badly wounded.
[Sidenote: THEY RETURN TO FORT EDWARD]
When the day began to break, we marched up the lake, and were met by
Captain Stark with reenforcements, and sleds for our wounded, and then
proceeded to Fort Edward.
The next day, as Edmund, Amos, and I were talking the fight over, Rogers
came to us. He laughed, and said: "Well, boys! You haven't been here
long. But you've had lots of fun, haven't you?"
"Yes, sir. Plenty! We are satisfied. We can stand a long spell of dull
times now."
The Rangers lost so heavily in this fight that but little was required
of them for some time. A few scouting-parties were sent out, but they
were of little consequence.