Our guide, professing to know every rock and tree in the mountain, now

left the cattle-path for a "shorter cut," but we soon wished ourselves

back again in the beaten track The old man was evidently "out of his

reckoning," but had too much "grit" to acknowledge it. For nearly an

hour we followed him through thickets tangled with vines, over the

trunks of huge trees leveled by the wind, and across a dry morass

covered with brakes and wire-grass shoulder high, where every trill of

the grasshopper sounded to our suspicious and vigilant ears like the

warning of a rattle-snake, until at length we were confronted by a wall

of huge broken rocks, almost perpendicular, and at least fifty feet

high. It seemed to extend north and south indefinitely, and we almost

despaired of scaling it. The guide insisted upon the profundity of his

knowledge of the route, and we, being unable to contradict his positive

assertions that he was in the right way, followed him up the precipice.

It was a toilsome and dangerous ascent, but fortunately the sun was yet

eastward of meridian, and we were in shadow. We at last reached a broad

ledge near the summit, where, exhausted, we sat down and regaled

ourselves with some mulberries which we had gathered by the way. A large

wolf-dog, belonging to our guide, had managed to follow his master, and

seemed quite as weary as ourselves when he reached us. Another scramble

of about twenty minutes, over broken rocks and ledges like a giant's

stair-case, brought us upon the bold, rocky summit of the mountain. The

view from this lofty hill is one of great interest and beauty, including

almost every variety of natural scenery, and a region abounding with

historical

* His father was a lieutenant in the English service, and belonged to

the Connecticut troops that were with Amherst when he took Ticonderoga.

While the English had possession of that post, before seizing Crown

Point, he was much annoyed by a swaggering English major, who boasted

that no American in the country could lay him upon his back. Lieutenant

Rice accepted the general challenge. For twenty minutes it was doubtful

who the successful wrestler would be. Rice was the more agile of the

two, and, by a dexterous movement, tripped his adversary and brought him

upon his back. The burly major was greatly nettled, and declared the act

unfair and unmanly. Rice made a rejoinder, and hard words passed, which

ended in a challenge from the major for a duel. It was accepted, and the

place and time of meeting were appointed. But the fact having reached

the ears of Amherst, he interposed his persuasion. The Englishman was

resolved on fighting, and would listen to no remonstrance until Amherst

touched his national and military pride. "Consider," he said, "how

glorious is our conquest. We have taken this strong fortress without

shedding one drop of blood. Shall Britons be such savages, that, when

they can not spill the blood of enemies, they will shed that of each

other?" The appeal had the desired effect, and the parties sealed their

reconciliation and pledged new friendship over a glass of grog. They

then tried their strength again. The major was prostrated in an instant

by a fair exertion of superior strength, and from that hour he was

Rice's warmest friend. The major's name was Church. He was a lieutenant

colonel under Prévost, and was killed at Savannah on the 16th of

September, 1779.

View from the Top of Mount Defiance.--Mount Independence, Ticonderoga,

the Lake, and the Green Mountains

131associations. The fore-ground of the picture represents the spot

whereon Burgoyne began the erection of a battery; and a shallow hole,

drilled for the purpose of making fastenings for the cannon, may still

be seen.

The sheet of water toward the left is the outlet of Lake George, where

it joins Lake Champlain, which sweeps around the promontory in the

middle ground, whereon Fort Ticonderoga is situated. Gray, like the

almost bald rock on which they stand, the ruins were scarcely

discernible from that height, and the Pavilion appeared like a small

white spot among the green foliage that embowers it. On the point which

the steam-boat is approaching is the _Grenadiers' Battery_ already

mentioned, and on the extreme right is seen a portion of Mount

Independence at the mouth of East Creek. This eminence is in Vermont--

Mount Defiance and Fort Ticonderoga are in New York. The point beyond

the small vessel with a white sail is the spot whence the Americans

under Allen and Arnold crossed the lake to attack the fort; and between

Mount Independence and the _Grenadiers' Battery_ is the place where the

bridge was erected. The lake here is quite narrow, and, sweeping in

serpentine curves around the two points, it flows northward on the left,

and expands gradually into a sheet of water several miles wide. The

hills seen in the far distance are the Green Mountains of Vermont,

between which lofty range and the lake is a beautifully diversified and

fertile agricultural country twelve miles wide, a portion of the famous

New Hampshire Grants. From this height the eye takes in a range along

the lake of more than thirty miles, and a more beautiful rural panorama

can not often be found. Let us retreat to the cool shadow of the

shrubbery on the left, for the summer sun is at meridian; and, while

gathering new strength to make our toilsome descent, let us open again

the volume of history, and read the page on which are recorded the

stirring events that were enacted within the range of our vision.

View from the Top of Mount Defiance.

Grown Point and Ticonderoga invested by Burgoyne. Material of his Army.

Weakness of the Garrison at Ticonderoga

132 Lieutenant-general Burgoyne, with a strong and well-appointed army

of more than seven thousand men, * including Indians, came up Lake

Champlain and appeared before Crown Point on the 27th of June. The few

Americans in garrison there abandoned the fort 1777 and retreated to

Ticonderoga. The British quietly took possession, and, after

establishing a magazine, hospital, and stores there, proceeded to invest

Ticonderoga on the 30th. Some light infantry, grenadiers, Canadians, and

Indians, with ten pieces of light artillery, under Brigadier-general

Fraser, were encamped on the west side of the lake, at the mouth of

Putnam's Creek.

These moved up the shore to Four Mile Point, so called from being that

distance from Ticonderoga. The German reserve, consisting of the

chasseurs, light infantry, and grenadiers, under Lieutenant-colonel

Breyman, were moved at the same time along the eastern shore, while the

remainder of the army, under the immediate command of Burgoyne himself,

were on board the Royal George and Inflexible frigates and several gun-

boats, which moved up the lake between the two strong wings on land. The

land force halted, and the naval force was anchored just beyond cannon-

shot from the American works.

Major-general Arthur St. Clair ** was in command of the American

garrison at Ticonderoga, a post of honor which Schuyler had offered to

Gates. He found the garrison only about two thousand strong; and so much

were the stores reduced, that he was afraid to make any considerable

addition to his force from the militia who were coming in from the east,

until a replenishment of provisions could be effected. Had the garrison

been well supplied with stores, six or eight thousand men might ha\'e

been collected there before the arrival of the enemy.

* The day when the British army encamped before Ticonderoga (July 1st),

the troops consisted of British, rank and file, three thousand seven

hundred and twenty-four; Germans, rank and file, three thousand and

sixteen; Canadians and provincials about two hundred and fifty, and

Indians about four hundred, making a total of seven thousand four

hundred and ninety.

** Arthur St. Clair was a native of Edinburgh, in Scotland. He was born

in 1734, and came to America with Admiral Boscawen in 1759. He served in

Canada in 1759 and 1760, as a lieutenant under General Wolfe, and, after

the peace of 1763, was appointed to the command of Fort Ligonier, in

Pennsylvania. In January, 1776, he AAras appointed a colonel in the

Continental army, and was ordered to raise a regiment destined for

service in Canada. Within six weeks from his appointment his regiment

was on its march. He was appointed a brigadier in August of that year,

and was an active participant in the engagements at Trenton and

Princeton. In February, 1777, he received the appointment of major

general, and on the 5th of June was ordered by General Schuyler to the

command of Ticonderoga. He reached that post on the 12th, and found a

garrison of two thousand men, badly equipped and very short of

ammunition and stores. He was obliged to evacuate the post on the 5th of

July following. In 1780 he was ordered to Rhode Island, but

circumstances prevented him from going thither. When the allied armies

marched toward Virginia, in 1781, to attack Cornwallis, St. Clair was

directed to remain at Philadelphia with the recruits of the Pennsylvania

line, for the protection of Congress. He was, however, soon afterward

allowed to join the army, and reached Yorktown during the siege. From

Yorktown he was sent with a considerable force to join Greene, which he

did at Jacksonville, near Savannah. He resided in Pennsylvania after the

peace; was elected to Congress in 1786, and was president of that body

in 1787. Upon the erection of the Northwestern Territory into a

government in 1788, he was appointed governor, which office he held

until 1802. when Ohio was admitted as a state into the Union, and he

declined an election to the post he had held. His military operations

within his territory against the Indians were disastrous, and when he

retired from office he was almost ruined in fortune. He made

unsuccessful applications to Congress for the payment of certain claims,

and finally died almost penniless, at Laurel Hill in Western

Pennsylvania, Aug. 31,1818, aged 84 years.

Outposts undefended.--Fort on Mount Independence.--Tardiness of Congress

in supplying Men and Munitions

133St. Clair was an officer of acknowledged bravery and prudence, yet he

was far from being an expert and skillful military leader. His self-

reliance and his confidence in the valor and strength of those under him

often caused him to be less vigilant than necessity demanded; and it was

this fault, in connection with the weakness of the garrison, which gave

Burgoyne his only advantage at Ticonderoga. He soon perceived, through

the vigilance of his scouts, that St. Clair had neglected to secure

those two important eminences, Mount Hope and Sugar Loaf Hill (Mount

Defiance), and, instead of making a direct assault upon the fortress,

the British general essayed to possess himself of these valuable points.

When Burgoyne approached, a small detachment of Americans occupied the

old French lines north of the fort, which were well repaired and guarded

by a block-house. They also had an outpost at the saw-mills (now the

village of Ticonderoga), another just above the mills, and-a block-house

and hospital at the entrance of the lake. Between the lines and the old

fort were two block-houses, and the Grenadiers' Battery on the point was

manned.

The garrison in the star fort, on Mount Independence, was rather

stronger than that at Ticonderoga, and better provisioned. The fort was

supplied with artillery, strongly picketed, and its approaches were well

guarded by batteries. The foot of the hill on the northwestern side was

intrenched, and had a strong _abatis_ next to the water. Artillery was

placed in the intrenchments, pointing down the lake, and at the point,

near the mouth of East Creek, was a strong circular battery. The general

defenses of the Americans were formidable to an enemy, but the tardiness

of Congress, in supplying the garrison with food, clothing, ammunition,

and re-enforcements, made them quite weak. * Their lines and works were

extensive, and instead of a full complement of men to man and defend

them, and to occupy Sugar Loaf Hill and Mount Hope, the whole force

consisted of only two thousand five hundred and forty-six Continentals

and nine hundred militia. Of the latter not one tenth had bayonets.

While at Crown Point, Burgoyne sent forth a pompous and threatening

proclamation, intended to awe the republicans into passiveness, and

confirm the loyalists in their position by a sense of the presence of

overshadowing power. ** In his proclamation the British commander set

forth the terrible character of the Indians that accompanied him,

greatly exaggerated their numbers, and magnified their eagerness to be

let loose upon the republicans, whether found in battle array or in the

bosom of their families. "I have," he said, "but to give stretch to the

Indian forces under my direction, and they amount to thousands, to

overtake the hardened enemies of Great Britain and America. I consider

them the same wherever they may lurk." Protection and security, clogged

with conditions, were held out to the peaceable who remained in their

habitations. All the outrages of war arrayed in their most terrific

forms, were denounced against those who persisted in their

* It was generally believed, until Burgoyne appeared at St. John's, that

the military preparations in progress at Quebec were intended for an

expedition by sea against the coast towns still in possession of the

Americans; and influenced by this belief, as well as by the pressing

demands for men to keep General Howe and his army from Philadelphia,

Congress made but little exertion to strengthen the posts on Lake

Champlain. This was a fatal mistake, and it was perceived too late for

remedy.

** This swaggering proclamation commenced as follows: "By John Burgoyne,

Esquire, lieutenant general of his majesty's forces in America, colonel

of the Queen's regiment of Light Dragoons, governor of Fort William, in

North Britain, one of the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament, and

commanding an army and fleet employed on an expedition from Canada," &e.

"From the pompous manner in which he has arrayed his titles," says Dr.

Thatcher, "we are led to suppose that he considers them as more than a

Match for all the military force which we can bring against them."--

Military Journal, p. 82. General Washington, from his camp at

Middlebrook, in New Jersey, issued a manifesto or counter proclamation,

which, in sincerity and dignity, was infinitely superior to that issued

by Burgoyne. He alluded to the purity of motives and devotion of the

patriots, the righteousness of their cause, and the evident guardianship

of an overruling Providence in the direction of affairs, and closed by

saying, "Harassed as we are by unrelenting persecution, obliged by every

tie to repel violence by force, urged by self-preservation to exert the

strength which Providence has given us to defend our natural rights

against the aggressor, we appeal to the hearts of all mankind for the

justice of our cause; its event we leave to Him who speaks the fate of

nations, in humble confidence that as his omniscient eye taketh note

even of the sparrow that falleth to the ground, so he will not withdraw

his countenance from a people who humbly array themselves under his

banner in defense of the noblest principles with which he has adorned

humanity."

Ticonderoga invested by the British.--Council of War in the American

Camp.--The British on Mount Defiance.

134hostility. But the people at large, and particularly the firm

republicans, were so far from being frightened, that they treated the

proclamation with contempt, as a complete model of pomposity. *

1777 On the 2d of July the right wing of the British army moved forward,

and General St. Clair believed and hoped that they intended to make a

direct assault upon the fort. The small American detachments that

occupied the outposts toward Lake George made but a feeble resistance,

and then set fire to and abandoned their works. Generals Phillips and

Fraser, with an advanced corps of infantry and some light artillery,

immediately took possession of Mount Hope, which completely commanded

the road to Lake George, and thus cut off all supplies to the patriot

garrison from that quarter. This accomplished, extraordinary energy and

activity were manifested by the enemy in bringing up their artillery,

ammunition, and stores to fortify the post gained, and on the 4th

Fraser's whole July corps occupied Mount Hope. ** In the mean while

Sugar Loaf Hill had been reconnoitered by Lieutenant Twiss, the chief

engineer, who reported that its summit had complete command of the whole

American works at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, and that a road to

the top, suitable for the conveyance of cannons, though difficult, might

be made in twenty-four hours. It was resolved to erect a battery on the

height, and, by arduous and prolonged labor, a road was cleared on the

night of the 4th. The Thunderer, carrying the battery train and stores,

arrived in the afternoon, and light twelve pounders, medium twelves, and

eight-inch howitzers were landed.

So completely did the enemy occupy the ground between the lake, Mount

Hope, and Sugar Loaf Hill, that this important movement was concealed

from the garrison; and when, at dawn on the morning of the 5th, the

summit of Mount Defiance *** glowed with the scarlet uniforms of the

British troops, and heavy artillery stood threateningly in their midst,

the Americans were paralyzed with astonishment, for that array seemed

more like the lingering apparitions of a night vision than the terrible

reality they were forced to acknowledge. From that height the enemy

could look down into the fortress, count every man, inspect all their

movements, and with eye and cannon command all the extensive works of

Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. St. Clair immediately called a

council of war, and presented to them the alarming facts, that the whole

effective strength of the garrison was not sufficient to man one half of

the works; that, as the whole must be constantly on duty, they could not

long endure the fatigue; that General Schuyler, then at Fort Edward, had

not sufficient troops to re-enforce or relieve them; that the enemy's

batteries were nearly ready to open upon them, and that a complete

investment of the place would be accomplished within twenty-four hours.

It seemed plain that nothing could save the troops but evacuation, and

the step was proposed by the commander and agreed to by his officers. It

was a critical and trying moment for St. Clair. To remain would be to

lose his army, to evacuate would Ju]y 6 1777 be to lose his character.

He chose to make a self-sacrifice, and at about two o'clock on the

following morning the troops were put in motion.

As every movement of the Americans could be seen through the day from

Mount Defiance, no visible preparations for leaving the fort were made

until after dark, and the purpose of the council was concealed from the

troops until the evening order was given. It was arranged to place the

baggage, and such ammunition and stores as might be expedient, on board

two hundred bateaux, to be dispatched, under a convoy of five armed

galleys, up the lake to Skenesborough (Whitehall), and the main body of

the army to proceed by land to

* Gordon, ii., 205.

** This title was given to it by General Fraser, in allusion to the hope

they entertained of dislodging the Americans.

*** I was informed by an old man, ninety years of age, residing at

Pittsford, not far from the battle-ground at Hubbardton, that the

British gave the name of Mount Defiance to Sugar Loaf Hill on the day

when they ereeted their battery upon it, for from that height they

defied the Americans either to resist or dislodge them. The old man was

one of the British regulars under Burgoyne, but soon afterward deserted

to the Continentals.

Retreat of the Americans from Ticonderoga and Mount Independence.--

Imprudence of Fermoy.--Pursuit by the Enemy.

135the same destination, by way of Castleton. The cannons that could not

be moved were to be spiked; previous to striking the tents, every light

was to be extinguished; each soldier was to provide himself with several

days' provisions; and, to allay any suspicions on the part of the enemy

of such a movement, a continued cannonade was to be kept up from one of

the batteries in the direction of Mount Hope until the moment of

departure.

These arrangements were all completed, yet so short was the notice that

a good deal of confusion ensued. The garrison of Ticonderoga crossed the

bridge to Mount Independence at about three o'eloek in the morning, the

enemy all the while unconscious of the escape of their prey. The moon

was shining brightly, yet her pale light was insufficient to betray the

toiling Americans in their preparations and flight, and they felt

certain that, before day light should discover their withdrawal, they

would be too far advanced to invite pursuit. But General De Fermoy, who

commanded on Mount Independence, regardless of express orders, set fire

to the house he had occupied as the troops left. The light of the

conflagration revealed the whole scene and every movement to the enemy,

and the consciousness of discovery added to the confusion and disorder

of the retreating republicans. The rear-guard, under Colonel Francis,

left the mount at about four o'eloek in the morning, and the whole body

pressed onward in irregular order toward Hubbardton, where, through the

energy and skill of the officers, they were pretty well organized after

a halt of two hours. The main army then proceeded to Castleton, six

miles further, and the rear-guard, with stragglers picked up by the way,

were placed under the command of Colonel Seth Warner, and remained at

Hubbardton until some, who were left behind, should come up. Here a

desperate, and, to the Americans, a disastrous battle was fought the

next morning, the details of which will be given hereafter.

As soon as the movement of the Americans was perceived by the British,

General Fraser commenced an eager pursuit with his pickets, leaving

orders for his brigade to follow. At daylight he unfurled the British

flag over Ticonderoga, and before sunrise he had passed the bridge and

Mount Independence, and was in close pursuit of the flying patriots. *

Major-general Riedesel and Colonel Breyman, with their Germans and

Hessians, soon followed to sustain Fraser, while Burgoyne, who was on

board the Royal George, prepared for an immediate pursuit of the bateaux

and convoy by water. The Americans placed great reliance upon their

strong boom at Ticonderoga, and regarded pursuit by water as almost

impossible; but the boom and bridge were speedily cleft by the enemy.

Long before noon a free passage was made for the gun-boats and frigates,

and the whole flotilla were crowding all sail to overtake the American

bateaux. These, with the baggage and stores, were all destroyed at

Skenesborough before sunset.

The evacuation of Ticonderoga, without efforts at defense, was loudly

condemned throughout the country, and brought down a storm of indignant

abuse upon the heads of Generals St. Clair and Schuyler, for much of the

responsibility was laid upon the latter because he was the commander-in-

chief of the northern department. The weakness of the garrison, the

commanding position of the enemy upon Mount Defiance, where they could

not be reached by the guns of the fort, and the scarcity of stores and

ammunition, were not taken into the account, and, consequently, the

verdict of an excited publie was very unjust toward those unfortunate

officers. Washington had placed great reliance upon them both; nor did

the event destroy his confidence in their ability and bravery, yet he

"was perplexed, ** and

* This was the third time in consecutive order that the fortress was

captured by an enemy to the garrison without bloodshed, namely, in 1759,

by the English under General Amherst; in 1775, by the New England

provincials under Colonel Ethan Allen, and now (1777) by the British

under Lieutenant-general Burgoyne.

** The chief thus wrote to General Schuyler on hearing of the disaster:

"The evacuation of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence is an event of

chagrin and surprise not apprehended nor within the compass of my

reasoning. I know not upon what principle it was founded, and I should

suppose it would be still more difficult to be accounted for if the

garrison amounted to five thousand men in high spirits, healthy, well

supplied with provisions and ammunition, and the Eastern militia were

marching to their succor, as you mentioned in your letter of the 9th

[June] to the Council of Safety of New York."

Washington's Recommendation of Arnold.--Acquittal of Schuyler and St.

Clair of Blame.--Return to Ticonderoga.

136 clearly foresaw that some other leader would be necessary to inspire

sufficient confidence in the minds of the Eastern militia to cause them

to turn out in force to oppose the progress of Burgoyne. Accordingly, he

recommended Congress to send an "active, spirited officer to conduct and

lead them (the militia) on." * But Congress went further. Unwisely

listening to and heeding the popular clamor, they suspended St. Clair

from command, and ap-, pointed Adjutant-general Gates to supersede

General Schuyler. St. Clair did not leave the army, but was with

Washington at the battle of Brandywine. By a general court-martial, held

in the autumn of 1778, he was acquitted of all blame, with the highest

honor, and this decision was fully confirmed by Congress in December

following. The noble conduct of General Schuyler toward Gates, and his

continued patriotic efforts in behalf of his country after suffering the

injustice inflicted by Congress, have been mentioned in another chapter.

After the lapse of several months the public mind was brought to bear

with calmness upon the subject, and, before the close of the war, both

generals were fully reinstated in the confidence of the people.

Our historic picnic upon the mountain-top is ended, and, being well

rested, let us "gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost," and

descend to the village of "Ty," by the way of the military road which

was made impromptu by General Phillips for his cannon, up the northern

slope of Defiance. Very slight traces of it are now visible, and these

consist chiefly of a second growth of timber, standing where the road

was cut.

We parted with our guide at the foot of the mountain. Our boy-driver and

the vehicle had disappeared, and we were obliged to walk in the hot sun

to the village. Our good tempers were not at all improved when we

learned the fact that the stage from Lake George had passed nearly an

hour before, and that no conveyance could be procured until toward

evening to take us to the fort, unless the boy, who had not returned,

should make his appearance; and where he had gone was a mystery. Dinner

at the Pavilion was an event only a half hour in the future, and two

miles in distance stretched between us and the viands. So we stopped

grumbling, trudged on, and, whiling away the moments by pleasant

conversation, we reached the Pavilion in time to take our places at

table, too much heated and fatigued, however, to enjoy the luxuries set

before us. Our Boston friends left that afternoon, but we tarried until

two o'clock the next morning, when we departed on the Burlington for

Whitehall.

The air was cool and the sky unclouded when we left Ticonderoga. The

moon had gone down, and it was too dark to see more than the outlines of

the romantic shores by which we were gliding, so we took seats upon the

upper deck and surveyed the clear heavens, jeweled with stars. The

Pleiades were glowing in the southern sky, and beautiful Orion was upon

the verge of the eastern horizon. Who can look upward on a clear night

and not feel the spirit of worship stirring within! Who can contemplate

those silent watchers in the firmament and not feel the impulses of

adoration!

"I know they must be holy things

That from a roof so sacred shine,

Where sounds the beat of angels' wings,

And footsteps echo* all divine.

Their mysteries I never sought,

Nor hearken to what science tells:

For oh, in childhood I was taught

That God amid them dwells."

Miller.

* In his letter to Congress (from which this sentence is quoted), dated

at Morristown, July 10th, 1777, Washington continues, "If General Arnold

has settled his affairs, and can be spared from Philadelphia, I would

recommend him for this business, and that he should immediately set out

for the northern department. He is active, judicious, and brave, and an

officer in whom the militia will repose great confidence. Besides this,

he is well acquainted with that country, and with the routes and most

important passes and defiles in it. I do not think he can render more

signal services, or be more usefully employed at this time, than in this

way. I am persuaded his presence and activity will animate the militia

greatly, and spur them on to a becoming conduct." Arnold was sent

accordingly, and his signal services at Bemis's Heights we have already

considered.

Arrival at Whitehall or old Skenesborough.--Historical Notice of the

Place.--Capture of Major Skene and his People.

137Just as the day dawned tiny spiral columns of vapor began to rise

from the lake, and before sunrise we were completely wrapped in a dense

fog. After passing the bay south of Mount Independence, the lake becomes

very narrow, and the channel is so sinuous that our vessel proceeded

very cautiously in the dense mist. At the _Elbow_, half a mile from

Whitehall Landing, a rocky point containing "Putnam's Ledge" projects

from the west, and occasions such a short and narrow turn in the lake,

that it is with much difficulty large class steam-boats make their way

through. It can only be done by the use of hawsers attached to the bow

and stern, and this process requires an annoying delay. We reached

Whitehall, at the mouth of Wood Creek, * at the head of the lake, about

seven in the evening, and found comfortable quarters at a well-conducted

temperance hotel near the landing. **

This is ancient Skenesborough, and was a point of considerable

importance during the wars on our northern frontier, from 1745 till the

close of the Revolution. Here armies halted, and provisions, ammunition,

and stores were collected and distributed. A picketed fort was erected

here during the French and Indian war, upon the brow of the hill east of

Church-street. Soon after the peace of Paris, in 1763, Philip K. Skene,

an English major under half pay, purchased several soldiers' grants

located here, and, to make his title secure, procured a royal patent. He

effected a small settlement at this point, and named it Skenesborough,

which title it bore until after the Revolution. He had procured a second

patent, and became possessor of the whole of the land comprised within

the present township of Whitehall, except four thousand acres on its

eastern border. He was a magistrate of the crown, the owner of black

slaves, and was sometimes honored with the title of governor, on account

of having held the office of Lieutenant-governor of Crown Point and

Ticonderoga. In addition to a stone residence, he erected another stone

edifice, one hundred and thirty feet long, for a military garrison and

depot, upon the spot used as a garden by the family of the late Judge

Wheeler. Near the east end was an arched gateway, the key-stone of which

is now in the north basement wall of the Baptist Church, and bears the

initials "P. K. S.," and date "1770."

Skenesborough was a point included in the programme of operations

against Ticonderoga in the expedition under Colonel Allen in 1775. The

council held at Castleton, where Allen was appointed commander-in-chief,

resolved to send thirty men, under Captain Herrick, to surprise

Skenesborough, capture the son of the proprietor (the latter was then in

Europe), his negroes and tenantry, seize all the boats and other vessels

that might be found there, and hasten down the lake with them to

Shoreham. The surprise was so complete, that the plan was all

accomplished without bloodshed. Major Skene the younger was captured

while out shooting; the twelve negroes and fifty tenants were secured,

and the governor's strong stone buildings were taken possession of by

the captors. In the cellar of his house was found the body of the wife

of the elder Skene, where it had been preserved many years to secure to

the husband an annuity devised to her "while she remained above ground!"

The Amer-

* In the older histories and in the geographies of the state of New York

the whole narrow part of Lake Champlain south of Ticonderoga was called

respectively Wood Creek and South River. For fifty years these names for

that portion of the lake have become obsolete, and as historians write

for the future, they should be careful to note these changes, so as not

to mislead the student. Mr. Headly carelessly observes, when speaking of

the retreat from Ticonderoga, that "their long procession of boats began

by moonlight to wind up Wood Creek," &c. Again, speaking of Putnam's

position when he attacked the French and Indians in their canoes, he

represents the place as upon "Wood Creek where it falls into the lake."

The fact is, the spot is upon the lake, about a mile below where Wood

Creek proper "falls into the lake." He says again, "A whole fleet of

canoes, filled with soldiers, was entering the mouth of the creek." The

mouth of the creek being a cascade, it would have been difficult for the

canoes to enter it. Wood Creek proper rises in French Pond, in Warren

county, and, flowing by Fort Anne in a deep and sluggish stream,

receives the waters of the Pawlet, and falls into Lake Champlain at

Whitehall.

** Whitehall is a growing and flourishing village. It is within a rocky

ravine at the foot of a high eminence called Skene's Mountain, at the

mouth of Wood Creek and the northern terminus of the Champlain Canal and

Railroad. It has a beautiful agricultural country behind it, and the

natural scenery in the vicinity is very picturesque. The Indian name of

the locality, when the whites first explored the neighborhood, was Kah-

cho-qua-na, which, literally interpreted, is, "place where dip fish."

Destruction of American Vessels at Skenesborough.--Flight of the

Americans toward Fort Anne.--Major Skene.

138icans buried the body in the rear of the house, and, embarking on

board a schooner in the harbor, belonging to Skene, they sailed down the

lake to join Allen at Shoreham. *

A garrison was stationed at Skenesborough in 1776, and there the vessels

of the little fleet which Arnold commanded in an action on the lake,

below Crown Point, were constructed and partially armed. The Americans

strengthened the military works there, and made it quite a strong post.

This was the stipulated point for rendezvous of the army under St.

Clair, on its retreat from Ticonderoga in 1777. I have already observed

that those who escaped by water were unsuspicious of pursuit, and that

the flotilla was scarcely moored at Skenesborough before the frigates

appeared and attacked the galleys. Two of them were captured, and the

other three were blown up. Unsupported by the feeble garrison at

Skenesborough or by detachments from the army retreating by land, ** and

conscious of the futility of contention with such a force as Burgoyne

presented, the Americans abandoned their bateaux, set fire to them,

together with the fort, mills, block-houses, &c., and fled toward the

camp of General Schuyler at Fort Edward. *** At Fort Anne they were

joined by a few other troops sent forward with provisions and ammunition

by General Schuyler, but it was a feeble reenforcement, for he had with

him at Fort Edward only about seven hundred Continentals and fifteen

hundred militia. The supplies which he sent so reduced the ammunition

and stores of his garrison, that they were several days without lead,

except a small quantity which they received from Albany, and which was

obtained by stripping the windows.

The troops borne by the flotilla under Burgoyne, and those that marched

from Ticonderoga in pursuit of the Americans, conjoined at

Skenesborough, where the British commander resolved to make thorough

preparations for pushing forward to the Hudson River. He was informed by

the people at Skenesborough that the Americans were retreating toward

Fort Edward. Lieutenant-colonel Hill, of the ninth regiment, was sent

forward on the July, 1777. 7th to take the post at Fort Anne and watch

the movements of the republicans. The rest of the British army were

encamped at Skenesborough and vicinity, where they remained nearly three

weeks, while detachments were repairing the roads and bridges, and

constructing new ones on the way to Fort Anne. Burgoyne and his staff

were entertained at the mansion of Major Skene, whose familiarity with

the country and the people caused him to be introduced into the military

family of the commander. He was considered a valuable acquisition, but

the result proved otherwise. He advised the disastrous expedition to

Bennington, and accompanied the enemy there. He was personally known to

many of the Americans engaged in that affair, who made great efforts to

capture him alive. Four horses were shot under him, but, mounting a

fifth, he made his escape, although the poor animal fell and expired

from the effects of a shot, after carrying his rider beyond the reach of

his foes. Skene was with Burgoyne when his army surrendered at Saratoga.

He dared not return home under his parole, but went to England. He

ordered his house to be burned, to prevent its falling into the hands of

the Americans. His lands were confiscated and sold by the state, ****

and soon after the Revolution the name of Skenesborough was repudiated

by the people, and that of Whitehall substituted. Hardly a vestige of

the Revolution

* See Reverend Lewis Kellogg's Historical Discourse, Whitehall, 1847.

** At Castleton St. Clair was informed of the approach of Burgoyne by

water, and, instead of marching to Skenesborough, he struck off into the

woods on the left, fearing that he might be intercepted by the enemy at

Fort Anne.

*** General Mattoon, late of Amherst, Massachusetts, was a subaltern in

the American convoy. According to his account, there were then only four

houses at Skenesborough, besides those belonging to Skene. While he was

in one of them, occupied by a French family, and just in the act of

partaking of some refreshments, a cannon-ball from the enemy's fleet

entered, crushed the table, and scattered the victuals in all directions

over the room.--Kellogg's Discourse, p. 6.

**** The place was very unhealthy at that time. The mortality from

sickness among the troops stationed there during the Revolution was

fearful; and so bad was the reputation of Whitehall in this particular

at the close of the war, that, when the lands of Skene were offered for

sale, no competitor appeared, and 29,000 acres were struck off at the

first offer of £14 10s. to an agent of the purchasers, John Williams.

Joseph Stringham, and John Murray.--Kellogg's Discourse, p. 14. A

remarkable case of longevity occurred near Whitehall. Henry Francisco, a

native of England, died near there in November, 1820, aged one hundred

and thirty-four years. He was present at the coronation of Queen Anne,

March 8th, 1702. He served in the French wars and in the Revolution, and

lived in this country nearly ninety years; since deceased.

Whitehall in 1814.--Ride to Fort Anne Village.--Site of the Fort.--

Present Appearance of the Locality

139is now left there. When another war was waged against us by the same

enemy, in 1812, this was again the theater of hostile preparations. The

block-house within the old fort was repaired, furnished with artillery,

and garrisoned for the defense of the place. Intrenchments and a

magazine were constructed on an island a few hundred yards north of the

village, and barracks were erected on the brow of the hill west of

Church Street, the remains of which have but recently been demolished.

The American fleet engaged in September 11, 1814 the battle of

Plattsburgh, with the vessels captured from the enemy in that

engagement, were anchored in the harbor at Whitehall soon after that

event; and the remains of some of the vessels of both nations may now be

seen decaying together in the lake, a short distance from the harbor.

After breakfast, on the morning of our arrival at Whitehall, I rode to

Fort Anne August 3, 1848 Village, eleven miles south, accompanied by the

editor of the "_Democrat_,"' whose inland attentions and free

communications of valuable knowledge concerning historical localities in

the vicinity contributed much to the pleasure and instruction of the

journey thither.

It is a pleasant little village, situated upon a gently undulating plain

near the junction of Wood Creek and East Creek, and exhibited a charming

picture of quiet and prosperity There I found a venerable kinsman,

nearly eighty years of age, who, in the vigor of manhood, fifty years

ago, purchased an extensive tract of land in this then almost unbroken

wilderness.

His dwelling, store-house, and barns occupy the site of Fort Anne, the

only traces of which are the stumps of the strong pine pickets with

which it was stockaded. It was built by the English, under General

Nicholson, in 1757, two years after the construction of Fort Edward. It

was a small fortress, and was never the scene of any fierce hostility.

Although ninety years had elapsed since its pickets were set in the

ground, what remained of them

* D. S. Murray, Esq.

** William A. Moore, Esq., president of the Whitehall Bank.

*** This view is from the bridge which crosses Wood Creek, looking

south. The distant building on the right is the dwelling of Mr. Moore.

Nearer is his store-house, and on the left are his out-houses. The

stumps of the pickets may be traced in a circular line from his dwelling

along the road to the crook in the fence, and so on to the barns and in

their yards.

Putnam and Rogers near Fort Anne.--Ambush of French and Indians. --

Desperate Battle.--Perilous Situation of Putnam.

140

exhibited but slight tokens of decay, and the odor of turpentine was

almost as strong and fresh when one was split as if it had been planted

but a year ago.

August, 1778 About a mile northwest of Fort Anne is the place where a

severe battle was fought between a corps of five hundred Rangers,

English and provincials, under Putnam and Rogers, and about the same

number of French and Indians, under the famous partisan Molang. Putnam

and Rogers were sent by Abercrombie to watch the enemy in the

neighborhood of Ticonderoga. When they arrived at South Bay, an

expansion of Lake Champlain near Whitehall, the two leaders separated,

taking with them their respective divisions, but, being discovered by

the watchful Molang, they deemed it expedient to reunite and return

immediately to Fort Edward. Their troops were marched in three

divisions, the right commanded by Rogers, the left by Putnam, and the

center by Captain Dalyell (sometimes written D'Ell).

They halted at evening on the border of Clear River, a fork of Wood

Creek before its junction with East Creek, and within a mile of Fort

Anne. Early in the morning, while the lines were forming, Major Rogers,

regardless of the teachings of the Ranger's great virtue, precaution,

amused himself by firing at a target with a British officer. The sound

reached the vigilant ears of Molang and his Indian allies, who, unknown

to the Americans, were then encamped within a mile of them. He had been

searching for the Rangers to intercept them, and the firing was a sure

guide. His men were posted in ambush along the paths which he knew they

must take, and as the Americans, just at sunrise, emerged from a dense

thicket into the open woods, Molang and his followers fell upon them

with great fury. Rogers seemed to be appalled by the fierce onslaught

and fell back, but Putnam and Dalyell sustained their position and

returned the fire. The conflict became desperate. At length Putnam's

fusee missed fire when the muzzle was within a few inches of the breast

of a giant savage, who thrust it aside and fell upon the major with the

fierceness of a panther, made him prisoner, bound him firmly to a tree,

and then returned to the battle. Captain Dalyell now assumed the

command. The provincials fell back a little, but, rallying, the fight

continued with great vigor. The tree to which Putnam was bound was about

midway between the combatants, and he stood in the center of the hottest

fire of both, utterly unable to move body or limb, so firmly had the

savage secured him. His garments were riddled by bullets, but not one

touched his person. For an hour he remained in this horrible position,

until the enemy were obliged to retreat, when he was unbound and carried

off by his savage captors. * Wounded, exhausted, and dispirited, Putnam

was forced to make a weary march over a rough country, led on by

* At one time, when the provincials fell back, and the Indians were near

him, a young warrior amused himself by trying his skill in throwing his

tomahawk as near Putnam's head as possible without hitting him. When he

was tired of his amusement, a French subaltern, more savage than the

Indian, leveled his musket at Putnam's breast, but it missed fire. The

major claimed the consideration due to a prisoner of war, but the

barbarous Frenchman was unmoved, and, after striking him a violent blow

upon his cheek with the butt end of his musket, left him to die, as he

thought.

Humanity of Putnam's Captor.--Preparation for Torture.-- Interposition

of Moling.--Battle-ground near Fort Anne.

141the savages, who had tied cords so tightly around his wrists that his

hands were swollen and dreadfully tortured. He begged for release either

from the pain or from life. A French officer interposed and unbound the

cords; and just then his captor came up, and, with a sort of savage

humanity, supplied him with moccasins, and expressed great indignation

because of the harsh treatment his prisoner had endured. I say _savage

humanity_, for it was present kindness, exercised while a dark and

atrocious intention for the future made the Indian complaisant--the

prisoner was reserved for the stake, and all those exquisite tortures

with which savage cruelty imbitters the death of its victims. Deep in

the forest he was stripped naked, and with green withes was bound fast

to a sapling. The wood was piled high around him, and the wild death-

songs of the savages, mingled with fierce yells, were chanted. The torch

was applied, and the crackling flame began to curl around the fagots,

when a black cloud, that for an hour had been rising in the west, poured

down such a volume of water that the flames were nearly extinguished.

But they burst forth again in fiercer intensity, and Putnam lost all

hope of escape, when a French officer dashed through the crowd of

savages, scattered the burning wood, and cut the cords of the victim. It

was Molang himself. Some relenting savage had told him of the horrid

orgies in the forest, and he flew to the rescue of Putnam, just in time

to save him. After enduring much suffering, he was delivered to Montcalm

at Ticonderoga, and by him sent to Montreal, where he experienced great

kindness from Colonel Peter Schuyler, a fellow-prisoner, through whose

influence he was exchanged for a prisoner taken by Colonel Bradstreet at

Fort Frontenac. *

About three fourths of a mile north of Fort Anne is a narrow, rocky

defile, through which Wood Creek and the Champlain Canal flow and the

rail-road is laid. Art has widened the defile by excavation, and

cultivation has swept away much of the primitive forest. Here in this

rocky gorge, then just wide enough for the stream and a narrow pathway,

a severe engagement occurred between the ninth British regiment, under

Lieutenant-colonel Hill, and a detachment of Americans, under Colonel

Long. This officer, with about five July 8, 1777 hundred republicans,

principally of the invalids and convalescents of the army, was posted at

Fort Anne by General Schuyler, with directions to defend it. Warned of

the approach of the enemy, Colonel Long prepared not only for defense,

but to go out and meet him. The Americans fit for duty were mustered,

and early in the morning they marched up to the southern edge of the

defile. "At half past ten in the morning," said Major

* See Humphrey's and Peabody's Biographies of Putnam.

** This sketch was taken from the rail-road, looking north. The forest

upon the left is the "thick wood" of the Revolution, but on the right

cultivated fields have taken the place of the forest to a considerable

extent. On the right is seen the Champlain Canal, here occupying the bed

of Wood Creek. The fence on the left indicates the place of the publie

road between Fort Anne and Whitehall When this sketch was made (1848)

the rail-road was unfinished.

Battle near Fort Anno.--Return to Whitehall.--Visit to "Putnam's Rock."-

-View of the Scene

142Forbes in his testimony on the trial of Burgoyne, "they attacked us

in front with a heavy and well-directed fire; a large body of them

passed the creek on the left, and fired from a thick wood across the

creek on the left flank of the regiment; they then began to recross the

creek and attack us in the rear; we then found it necessary to change

our ground, to prevent the regiment being surrounded; we took post on a

high hill to our right. As soon as we had taken post, the enemy made a

very vigorous attack, which continued upward of two hours; and they

certainly would have forced us, had it not been for some Indians that

arrived and gave the Indian hoop, which we answered with three cheers;

the rebels soon after that gave way." * The major's facts are correct,

but his inferences are wide of the mark. The Americans were not

frightened by the Indian war-hoop, for it was a sound very familiar to

their ears, but they "gave way" because their ammunition gave, out, Had

Colonel Long been well supplied with powder and ball, the British troops

would have been destroyed or made prisoners. Captain Montgomery, of

Hill's regiment, was severely wounded and captured by the Americans,

who, when they gave way, set fire to Fort Anne and retreated to the

headquarters of General Schuyler at Fort Edward.

We returned to Whitehall toward evening. The ride was delightful through

a country ever-changing and picturesque, particularly when approaching

the lake. On the left rise the lofty summits of the hills on Lake

George; on the east those of Vermont and Massachusetts; and down the

lake, northward, Mount Defiance may be plainly seen. After an early

evening meal, I procured a water-man and his boat, and, accompanied by

my traveling companion and Mr. M., proceeded to "Put's Bock," near "the

Elbow," a mile from the landing, and near the entrance of South Bay. **

The lake is here very narrow, and the shores on either side are abrupt,

rocky, and wooded. It was about sunset when we arrived at the scene of

Putnam's exploit, and the deep shadows that gathered upon the western

shore, where the famous ledge is situated, heightened the picturesque

character of the scenery and the force of the historical associations

which lionize the spot. Upon the rough ledge of rocks seen on the right

of the picture Major Putnam and fifty men boldly opened a musket battery

upon about five hundred French and Indian warriors under the famous

Molang, who were in canoes upon the water.3 This event occurred a few

days previous to the unfortunate battle

* Burgoyne's State of the Expedition, &c., p. 81.

** Here I will correct a serious geographical error which I find in

Peabody's Life of Putnam. He says. "Abercrombie ordered Major Putnam to

proceed with fifty men to South Bay, in Lake George." Again. "The

detachment marched to Wood Creek, near the point where it flows into

South Bay." South Bay is in Lake Champlain, and Wood Creek does not flow

into it at all. See note respecting Wood Creek, ante, page 137.

*** The view is taken front the Vermont shore, where rafts of timber and

piles of lumber (as seen on the left) betoken the chief article of

commerce here. The ledge of rocks, which rises about fourteen feet in

height, is on the New York side. From the perpendicular point, rugged

and broken, there is a gentle slope thickly covered with timber and

shrubbery, and affording an excellent place for an ambuscade. The small

trees in the distance mark the point at the Elbow, and the hill beyond

is a portion of Skene's Mountain which overlooks the harbor at

Whitehall.

Putnam and Rogers on Lake Champlain.--Attack of the former on the French

and Indians.--The Saratoga and Confiance

143near Fort Anne, where Putnam was taken prisoner. Major Rogers, who

was also sent by Abercrombie to watch the movements of the enemy, had

taken a station twelve miles distant, and Putnam and his fifty rangers

composed the whole force at this point. Near the front of the ledge he

constructed a parapet of stone, and placed young pine trees before it in

such a natural manner that they seemed to have grown there, and

completely hid the defense from observers on the water below. Fifteen of

his men, disabled by sickness, were sent back to the camp at Fort

Edward, and with his thirty-five he resolved to attack what ever force

might appear upon the lake. Four days he anxiously awaited the

appearance of the enemy, when early one evening he was gratified by the

intelligence that a large fleet of canoes, filled with warriors, was

leisurely approaching from South Bay. It was the time of full moon, the

sky was unclouded, and from his hiding-place every movement of the In

dians could be distinctly seen. Putnam called in all his sentinels, and

in silence every man was stationed where his fire might be most

effective. Not a musket was to be moved until orders were given by the

commander. The advanced canoes had passed the parapet, when one of the

soldiers hit his firelock against a stone. The sound was caught by the

watchful ears of Molang and his followers. The canoes in the van halted,

and the whole fleet was crowded in confusion and alarm directly beneath

the ledge. A brief consultation ensued, and then they turned their prows

back toward South Bay. As they wheeled the voice of Putnam shouted

"Fire," and with sure aim each bullet reached a victim. The enemy

returned the fire, but without effect, and for a time the carnage

produced by the Rangers was dreadful in that dense mass upon the waters.

Molang soon perceived by the firing that his assailants were few, and

detached a portion of his men to land below and attack the provincials

in the rear. Putnam had perceived this movement, and sent a party of

twelve men, under Lieutenant Durkee, who easily repulsed them when they

attempted to land. About daybreak he learned that the enemy had actually

debarked at a point below, and was marching to surround him. This fact,

and the failure of his ammunition, warned him to retreat. Nearly half

the number of the enemy perished on that fatal night, while Putnam lost

but two men, who were wounded. * While retreating through the thick

forest, an unexpected enemy fired upon them, but wounded only one man.

Putnam instantly ordered his men to charge, when his voice was

recognized by the other leader, who cried out, "Hold, we are friends!"

"Friends or foes," shouted Putnam, "you deserve to perish for doing so

little execution with so fair a shot." The party proved to be a

detachment sent to cover their retreat.

It was late in the evening twilight before I finished my sketch, but our

obliging waterman would not consent to row us back until we should go to

his house near by and see his "pullet and chickens"--his wife and

children. His dwelling was at the foot of the steep Vermont shore,

completely hemmed in by rocks and water, but embowered in shrubbery. His

children brought us fruit, and we were refreshed by draughts of water

from a mountain spring close by, of icy coldness. The moon was shining

brightly when we passed the Elbow on our return, and by its pale light

we could see the ribs and other decaying timber of the British ship of

war _Confiance_ and the American ship _Saratoga_. The former was sunk

there in 1814, and the latter, which was afterward used as a store-ship,

was scuttled by some miscreants while her officers and crew were at the

village participating in a Fourth of July celebration. It was about nine

in the evening when we reached the hotel. There I met that distinguished

and venerable divine, Rev. Mr. Pierce, of Brookline, Massachusetts, and

was charmed and edified by his conversation for more than an hour. **

His memory was

* These men, one a provincial, the other an Indian, were placed under an

escort of two others, and sent toward the camp. They were pursued and

overtaken by the Indians. The wounded men told the escort to leave them

to their fate, which they did. When the savages came up, the provincial,

knowing that he would be put to death, fired and killed three. He was

instantly tomahawked. The Indian was kept a prisoner, and from him

Putnam learned the above facts when they met some time afterward in

Canada.

** Mr. Pierce was seventy-five years old. He distinctly remembered

Washington's visit to Boston in 1789. The cavalcade halted near the

entrance to the city, and Washington was obliged to sit on horseback two

hours, while the state authorities and the selectmen decided a point of

etiquette--whose province it was to receive him. The selectmen carried

the day. He explained to me the nature of the apparent error in the

registration of the birth and christening of Dr. Franklin. The entries

of both events are upon the same day, Sunday, 17th of January, 1706. An

old man, who remembered the circumstance well, for it caused some gossip

at the time, told him that Dr. Franklin's mother went to church and

received the communion in the morning, gave birth to her son at noon,

and in the afternoon the child was christened.

Departure from Whitehall. Sholes's Landing. Ride to the Battle-ground of

Hubbardton. Picturesque Scenery.

144richly stored with historic learning, and our intercourse was to me a

pleasant and profitable appendix to the events and studies of the day.

Early the next morning we left Whitehall on the steamer _Saranac_, and

landed at Chip-man's Point, or Sholes's Landing, the port of Orwell, and

the most eligible point whence to reach the battle-ground of Hubbardton.

The morning was delightful, and the ride in a light wagon, accompanied

by the intelligent son of Mr. Sholes, proved to be one of peculiar

pleasure. Our route was through the pleasant little village of Orwell,

five miles southeast of the landing. There we turned southward, and

followed the margin of the broad ravine or valley through which the

retreating Americans and pursuing British passed when St. Clair

evacuated Ticonderoga. The road was made very tortuous to avoid the high

ridges and deep valleys which intersect in all directions, while at the

same time it gradually ascends for several miles. I never passed through

a more picturesque country. The slopes and valleys were smiling with

cultivation, and in every direction small lakes were sparkling in the

noonday sun. Within about six miles of the battle-ground we descended

into a romantic valley imbosomed in a spur of the Green Mountains-. We

passed several small lakes, lying one below another, over which arose

rough and lofty precipices, their summits crowned with cedar, hemlock,

pine, and spruce. The tall trunks of the pines, black and branchless,

scathed by lightning and the tempest, arose above the surrounding

forests like mighty sentinels, and added much to the wild grandeur of

the scene. From the rough and narrow valley we ascended to a high,

rolling table-land, well cultivated; and upon the highest part of July

7, 1777 this tract, surrounded on the south and east by loftier hills,

the battle of Hubbardton occurred.

General Fraser, whom I have already mentioned as having started after

the Americans July 6. from Ticonderoga, continued his pursuit of St.

Clair and his army through the day, and, learning from some Tory scouts

that they were not far in advance, he ordered his men to lie that night

upon their arms, to be ready to push forward at daybreak. About three in

the morning his troops were put in motion, and about five o'clock his

advanced scouts discovered the American sentries, who discharged their

pieces and retreated to the main body of the detachment, which was left

behind by St. Clair, under the command of Colonels Warner and Francis.

Their place of encampment was in the southeast part of Hubbardton,

Rutland county, near the Pittsford line, upon the farm of John Selleck,

* not far from the place where the Baptist meeting-house now stands. The

land is now owned by a son of Captain Barber, who was in the engagement.

He kindly accompanied me to the spot, and pointed out the localities,

according to the instructions of his patriotic father. The engraving on

the opposite page represents the general view of the place of encampment

and the battle-ground. When the British advanced guard discovered the

Americans, they were breakfasting near a dwelling which stood close by

the Baptist meeting-house, the two-story building seen in the center of

the picture. The dark spot near the fence, seen between the larger trees

in the foreground ("I" in the map of the battle), marks the remains of

the cellar of the old house. The road on the right is that leading

toward Ticonderoga; and the roofs of the houses, seen over the orchard

on the right, mark the direction of the road lead-

* The first settlement in this town was in the spring of 1774, and

consisted of only two families. In 1775 seven other families joined

them, among whom was Mr. Selleck, and these nine constituted the whole

population of the town when the battle occurred. On the day previous a

party of Indians and Tories, under Captain Sherwood, came upon the

inhabitants and made prisoners of two farmers named Hickock, and their

families, and two young men named Keeler and Kellogg. They captured two

or three others, and carried them all off to Ticonderoga, leaving their

families to shift for themselves. The sorrowing wives and children made

a toilsome journey over the mountains to Connecticut, whence they had

emigrated. The men remained prisoners at Ticonderoga (except two who

escaped) until after the surrender of Bur-goyne in October, when that

fortress was retaken by the Americans.--See Thompson's Gazetteer of

Vermont.

View of the Battle-ground.--The Battle.--Retreat and Surrender of

Colonel Hale.--His reasonable Excuse.

145ing down to the valley toward Castleton.

The large "boulder in front is famed by local tradition as the

observatory of the first man of the British van who discovered the

Americans; and it is related that he was shot by a sentinel before he

could leap down. The range of hills in the distance are the Pitts-ford

Mountains, over which a portion of the Americans fled toward Rutland. A

small branch of a tributary of Castleton Creek runs through the

intervale between the meeting-house and the hills beyond. The hottest of

the fight occurred upon the slope between the large tree and the

meeting-house. It was covered with ripe grain when I visited it, and

August, 1848 the achievements of the tiller gathering his sheaves seemed

more truly great than all the honors and renown which wholesale

slaughter ever procured for a warrior chieftain.

It was an excessively hot morning in July when the battle of Hubbardton

July 7, 1777 commenced. The American force consisted of the three

regiments of Warner, Francis, and Hale, and such stragglers from the

main army then at Castleton (six miles in advance) as had been picked up

on the way. The Americans were about thirteen hundred strong, and the

British, under Fraser, about eight hundred. Reidesel and his Germans

were still in the rear, but, expecting his arrival every moment, Fraser

began the attack at seven in the morning, fearing that the Americans

might escape if he delayed. The charge of the enemy was well received,

and the battle raged furiously. Had Warner been well sustained by the

militia regiment under Colonel Hale, he might have secured a victory;

but that officer, with his troops, fled toward Castleton, hoping to join

the main army there under St Clair, leaving the commander with only

seven hundred men to oppose the enemy. On the way, Hale and his men fell

in with an inconsiderable party of British soldiers, to whom they

surrendered, without offering any resistance, although the numbers were

about equal. * They

* Colonel Hale has been severely censured for this act of apparent

cowardice, but when every circumstance is taken into account, there is

much to induce a mitigation of blame. Himself and a large portion of his

men were in feeble health, and quite unfit for active service, and his

movement was one of precaution rather than of cowardly alarm. Rivals,

soon after he surrendered, circulated reports unfavorable to his

reputation. On hearing of them, he wrote to General Washington, asking

him to obtain his exchange, that he might vindicate his character by a

court-martial; but before this could be accomplished he died, while a

prisoner on Long Island, in September, 1780.

Battle of Hubbardton.--Defeat of the Americans.--Death of Colonel

Francis.

146were well stationed upon the brow of the hill, but so sudden and

unexpected was the attack, that no other breast-works could be thrown up

than such as a few trees afforded.

For a long time the conflict was severe, for Reidesel still did not make

his appearance. The British grenadiers occupied the Castleton road, and

prevented the Americans from retreating in that direction; but the

republicans poured in such a galling fire upon them, that they gave way

and victory was almost within the grasp of the patriots. At that moment

Riodesel with his companions appeared, his drums beating and banners

flying. The firing reaching his ears, he had pressed on as rapidly as

the rough forest road would allow. His Chasseurs, under Major Barner,

were immediately brought into action in support of Fraser's left flank.

At that moment the whole British line made a bayonet charge upon the

Americans with terrible effect. The latter, supposing that the Germans

in full force were coming upon them, broke and fled with great

precipitation, some over the Pittsford Mountains toward Rutland, and

others down the valley toward Castleton. * The Americans lost three

hundred and twenty-four in killed, wounded, and The brave Colonel

Francis was slain while gallantly fighting at the head of his regiment,

and twelve officers were made prisoners. The British loss was one

hundred and eighty-three, among whom were Major Pratt and about twenty

inferior officers. ** The British also captured about two hundred stand

of arms.

When General St. Clair heard the firing at Hubbardton, he attempted to

send a force to the relief of Warner, but the militia absolutely refused

to go, and the regulars and others were too far on their way to Fort

Edward to be recalled. St. Clair had just learned, too, that Burgoyne

was at Skenesborough, and he hastened forward to join General Schuyler,

which he did on the 12th, with his troops worn down by fatigue and lack

of provisions. The loss to the Americans by the evacuation of these

posts on the lake was one hundred and twenty-eight pieces of cannon and

a considerable quantity of ammu-

July, 1777.

* Explanation of the Map.--A, advanced corps of General Fraser, attacked

at B; C, position of the corps while it was forming; D, Earl of

Balcarras detached to cover the right wing; E, the van-guard and

Brunswick company of Chasseurs coming up with General Reidesel; F,

position of the Americans after Riedesel arrived. The lines extending

downward show the course of the retreat of the Americans over the

Pittsford Mountains. H, position of the British after the action; I,

house where the wounded were carried, mentioned in the description of

the picture on page 144; 0, position of the Americans previous to the

action. This map is a reduced copy of one drawn by P. Gerlach,

Burgoyne's deputy quartermaster general.

* Many of the Americans, in their precipitate retreat, threw away their

muskets to rid themselves of the encumbrance. Some have been found,

within a few years, in the woods on the line of the retreat. One of

them, of American manufacture, is in my possession, and dated 1774. The

bayonet is fixed, the flint is in the lock, and the powder and ball are

still in the barrel.

** The statements concerning the loss in this battle are various and

contradictory. Some accounts say that nearly six hundred, who were

wounded, crawled off into the woods and died; and others, again, put the

American loss down at less than three hundred. There is a preponderance

of testimony in favor of the number I have given, and it is, doubtless,

near the truth.

General Schuyler's Forces at Fort Edward.--Return to Lake Champlain.--An

old Soldier.--Mount Independence.

147nition and stores. In every respect the event was disastrous, and, as

we have seen, produced much discontent in the army and disappointment

throughout the country.

General Schuyler summoned the fragments of the broken armies to his camp

at Fort Edward. All united, numbered only four thousand four hundred

men, and this was the whole effective force opposed to the southward

progress of Burgoyne. Nearly one half of these deserted, not to the

enemy, but to their homes, before the end of the month. Yet the general

neither despaired nor remained idle. He kept his men busily engaged in

destroying bridges, felling trees, digging deep trenches, and making

other obstructions in the forest paths from Fort Anne to Fort Edward, to

delay the progress of the enemy; and this labor resulted in greatly

impeding Burgoyne's march, and in delaying his arrival upon the Hudson.

The subsequent events connected with these two armies, excepting the

battle of Bennington and the expedition of St. Leger, have already been

noticed in detail. The latter will be considered in their proper order.

I lingered upon the battle-ground in Hubbardton as long as time would

allow, for the view from that lofty table-land is both beautiful and

grand, particularly in the direction of Castleton, on the southwest. A

broad valley, bounded on either side by ranges of high hills, cultivated

to their summits, and diversified by rich intervales covered with ripe

harvests and dark green corn, spread out below us, a lovely picture of

peace and prosperity. The view at its further extremity is bounded by

the high hills near the Hudson, and on the left some of the higher

summits were dark with spruce and cedar trees. We returned to Sholes's

by the way of Hyde's, in Sudbury, where we dined. As usual, every

delicacy of the season was upon his table. Indeed, "a table equal to

Hyde's" has become a proverbial expression of praise among tourists, for

it is his justifiable boast that he spreads the choicest repasts that

are given between Montreal and New Orleans. His beautifully embowered

mansion is near the base of the Green Mountains, by the margin of a

charming lake, on the borders of a rich valley, about twelve miles east

of Lake Champlain, and a more delightful summer retreat can not well be

imagined. Our route thither was over a rough mountain road. Among the

rugged hills we met a venerable, white-haired man leaning upon two

canes, and greatly bowed by the weight of years. I accosted him with

reverence, and, in answer to my inquiry whether he was a soldier of the

Revolution, he informed me that he was with General Sullivan on Rhode

Island, and was on duty in the fort on Butt's Hill at the time of the

engagement there on the 29th of August, 1778, known as the battle of

Quaker Hill.

We arrived at Sholes's between five and six o'clock in the evening. Our

excellent host and his neighbor and friend, living at the foot of Mount

Independence, anticipating my wishes, had a skiff in readiness to convey

us across the bay to visit that memorable spot. Although I had ridden

forty miles during the day, and storm-clouds had been gathering thick

and fast for two hours, and now threatened a speedy down-pouring, I was

too anxious for the visit to allow fatigue or rain to thwart my purpose.

Accompanied by my companion and another young lady, the daughter of Mr.

S., we pushed across the bay--five of us in a light skiff, and the wind

rising--to the foot of Mount Independence, on its steep southern side.

We ascended by the old road constructed in 1776. The top of the summit

is flat tableland, and afforded a very eligible site for strong military

works. It was first occupied by the Americans early in 1776, when they

commenced the erection of batteries, barracks, and houses, with the view

of making it a place of general rendezvous, and a recruiting station for

the army of the north. * It was heavily timbered when they took

possession of it, but almost all the trees were felled for building

purposes and for fuel. A second growth of tim-

* Mount Independence is situated in the southwest corner of Orwell, in

Vermont, one mile north of Sholes's Landing, and contains about two

hundred and fifty acres of land, some of whieh is arable. The troops

stationed there in 1776 received the news of the adoption of the

Declaration of Independence, by the Continental Congress, with the most

extravagant demonstrations of joy. It was just after the reveille, on

the morning of the 18th of July, that a courier arrived with the glad

tidings; and, by a general order, a gala day for the soldiers ensued. At

sunset they fired a salute of thirteen guns, in honor of the

confederation, and named the place on which they were encamped Mount

Independence, in commemoration of the event.

Present Appearance of Mount Independence.--Graves of Soldiers.--

Vandalism.--Money-digging.

148ber now covers it, except where the parades were. The trees are

chiefly maple, some of them twenty inches in diameter. There are about

two hundred of them on the mount, large enough for the extraction of sap

for sugar. The young shoots never sprang up where the old parades were,

and they present bald spots, bearing only stinted vegetation.

During the summer and autumn of 1776 the Americans were diligent in

fortifying this spot. They erected a picketed fort and several

batteries, dug many wells, and constructed nearly three hundred houses

for the use of the soldiers. The remains of these are scattered in all

directions upon the mount; and the foundation walls of the hospital,

just commenced when the evacuation in 1777 took place, are now nearly as

perfect as when first laid. Narrow ditches, indicating the line of

pickets on the north part of the mount, and running in various

directions and at every angle, are distinctly seen; and the remains of

the "horseshoe battery," on the extreme north end, are very prominent.

Near this battery is a flint quarry, which seems to have been well known

and used by the Indians, for arrow-heads in every stage of manufacture,

from the almost unshapen flint to the perfect weapon, are found there, I

was told, in abundance. Toward the close of 1776 a fatal epidemic

prevailed in the garrison there, called the "camp distemper," and the

graves of the victims are thickly strewn among the trees.

At one time the deaths were so numerous that it was found impossible to

dig a grave for each, and the spot was shown to me where fourteen bodies

were deposited in a single broad grave, about daylight one morning.

Among the hundreds of these mounds of the dead, scattered over the

mount, there was only one individualized by an inscribed stone. The rude

monument is a rough limestone, and the inscription, "M. Richardson

Stoddard," appeared as if carved with the point of a bayonet. The tenant

was probably an officer of militia from a town formerly named Stoddard,

in Vermont. Already some Vandal visitor had broken off a "relic" from

its diminutive bulk, and ere this some patriotic antiquary has doubtless

slipped the whole stone into his pocket, and secured a legacy of rare

value for his wondering children! A propensity to appropriate to private

use a fragment of public monuments, and a pitiful ambition, allied in

kind to that of the Ephesian incendiary, to associate one's name by

pencil or penknife inscription with places of public resort, have

already greatly marred and disfigured a large proportion of our few

monuments, and can not be too severely condemned. Charity, that

"covereth the multitude of sins," has not a mantle broad enough to hide

this iniquity, for none but heartless knaves or brainless fools would

thus deface even the meanest grave-stone in a church-yard. Wolfe's

monument on the Plains of Abraham, and the monuments at Red Bank and

Paoli, bear mournful testimony of this barbarism which is abroad.

At various times Mount Independence, as well as Crown Point and other

localities in the neighborhood of Lake Champlain, has been scarred by

money-diggers. In 1815 a company came hither from Northern Vermont, to

search for military treasures which wise seers and the divining rod

declared were buried there. The chief of the party, entertaining

misgivings on his arrival as to the success of money-digging, purchased

land in the neighborhood, and while his more credulous companions were

digging deep into the mount, he was plowing deep into his land. He

raised grain and esculent roots--they raised gravel and worthless clay.

When their patience and money were exhausted, they shouldered their

picks and departed for Western New York. He remained, became a thrifty

farmer, and, by the unerring divining rod of industry, found the

treasure. Credulous people still dig at these localities, and several

pits were pointed out to me which had been recently excavated. *

* Three or four years ago the white wife of a negro dreamed three times-

-the cabalistic number--that at a certain place on Mount Independence

immense treasures were buried when the Americans evacuated that post.

They were, doubtless, the identical silver balls which calumny asserted

Burgoyne fired into St. Clair's camp as the price of treason. The negro

procured aid, and a pure white dog to watch them while digging. A

moonlight night was the chosen time. The secret leaked into the ears of

some boys, and set their mischievous wits at work. A large pumpkin was

emptied of its seeds, and staring eyes, wide nostrils and grinning teeth

were cut out of the rind, and a lighted candle was placed within the

sphere. This hideous head, with its fiery eyes and nostrils, was placed

on the caput of a bold boy, who marched up to the pit where the money-

diggers were at work. The dog first discovered the grinning specter, and

with a loud yell, leaped from the cavity and ran for life. The men

followed, leaving pick, spade, hat, and coat behind, quite sure that the

"gentleman in black" was close upon their heels -, and they have ever

since believed that he guards the treasures, and sometimes takes an

evening stroll on Mount Independence.

Return to Sholes's.--Darkness on the Lake.--View from Sholes's Landing.

149Darkness came on, and the rain pattered upon the leaves before we

descended to the shore; and by the time we were fairly out upon the lake

our destined haven was invisible.

The wind was fresh and the waters rough. One of the ladies guided the

helm, but her bright eyes could not discern the distant shore, and her

nautical skill was unavailing. The son of Mr. S., anticipating such a

dilemma, discharged a small swivel at the landing, and by its beacon

flash we were safely guided until we came within the rays of the candles

at the house. Wet and weary, we supped and retired early, to resume our

journey in the morning. *

* This is a view from Chipman's Point, or Sholes's Landing, looking

north. The high ridge on the right, in the distance, is Mount

Independence. The higher and more distant hill on the left, over the

cedar, is Mount Defiance, and the elevation beyond is Mount Hope. Fort

Ticonderoga is on the other side of Mount Independence, in a line with

the highest part.

Chimney Point.--First Settlement by the French.--Fort St. Frederic.--

Distant View of Crown Point

150

CHAPTER. VII.

"The green earth sends its incense up from every mountain shrine,

From every flower and dewy cup that greeted the sunshine.

The mists are lifted from the rills like the white wing of prayer

They lean above the ancient hills, as doing homage there.

The forest-tops are lowly cast o'er breezy hill and glen,

As if a prayerful spirit pass'd on nature as on men."

Whittier.

LIGHT mist was upon the water when we departed from Sholes's, but a

gentle breeze swept it off to the hills as we turned the point of Mount

Independence and entered the broader expanse near Ticonderoga. We caught

a last glimpse of the gray ruins as our boat sped by, and before nine

o'clock we landed at Chimney Point, opposite Crown Point, where the lake

is only half a mile wide. * Here the French established their first

settlement on Lake Champlain, in 1731, and commenced the cultivation of

the grains of the country. They erected a stone wind-mill in the

neighborhood, which was garrisoned and used as a fort during the wars

with the English colonies. When Professor Kalm, the Swedish naturalist

and traveler, during his botanical tour through New York and Canada in

1749, visited this settlement, five or six cannons were mounted in the

mill. The place was then called Wind-mill Point. **

The same year in which the French settled at Chimney Point, they built a

strong fort upon the shore opposite, and called it Fort St. Frederic, in

honor of Frederic Maurepas, the then Secretary of State. It was a

starwork, in the form of a pentagon, with bastions at the angles, and

surrounded by a ditch walled in with stone. Kalm says there was a

considerable settlement around the fort, and pleasant, cultivated

gardens adorned the rude dwellings.

There was a neat little church within the ramparts, and every thing

betokened a smiling future for a happy and prosperous colony. But the

rude clangor of war disturbed their repose a few years afterward; the

thunder of British artillery frightened them away, and they retired to

the north end of the lake. For many years the chimneys of their deserted

dwellings on the eastern shore were standing, and gave the name of

Chimney Point to the bold promontory. **

* Chimney Point is in the southwestern corner of Addison town, Vermont,

and is the proper landing-place for those who desire to visit the ruins

of Crown Point fortress, on the opposite side of the lake.

** From Kalm's account it appears probable that the wind-mill was upon

the shore opposite, at the point where now may be seen the ruins of what

is called the Grenadiers' Battery. He says it was "within one or two

musket-shots of Fort St. Frederic," a fortification immediately on the

shore opposite Chimney Point.

*** This view is taken from the green in front of the inn at Chimney

Point, looking west-southwest. The first land seen across the lake is

Crown Point, with the remaining barracks and other works of the

fortress, and the dwellings and outhouses of Mr. Baker, a resident

farmer. Beyond the point is Bulwaggy Bay, a broad, deep estuary much

wider than the lake at Chimney Point. Beyond the bay, and rising from

its western shore, is Bulwaggy Mountain, varying in perpendicular height

from four to nine hundred feet, and distant from the fort between one

and two miles. A little to the right of the larger tree on the shore is

the site of Fort St. Frederic, and at the edge of the circle on the

left, along the same shore, is the locality of the Grenadiers' Battery.

The wharf and bridge in the foreground form the steam-boat and ferry

landing at Chimney Point.

Visit to Crown Point.--Description of the Fortress.--Its present

Appearance.

151Anxious to leave in the evening boat for Burlington, we sent our

light baggage to the inn, and immediately crossed over to Crown Point on

a horse-boat, the only ferry vessel there. Mr. Baker, an aged resident

and farmer upon the point, kindly guided us over the remains of the

military works in the vicinity, where we passed between three and four

hours. We first visited old Fort St. Frederic, the senior fortress in

chronological order. It is upon the steep bank of the lake, and the

remains of its bomb-proof covered way, oven, and magazine can still be

traced; the form of its ramparts is indicated by a broken line of

mounds.

The average width of the peninsula of Crown Point is one mile, and the

principal works are upon its highest part, near the northern end. The

peninsula is made up of dark limestone, covered quite slightly with

earth. This physical characteristic lent strength to the post, for an

enemy could not approach it by parallels or regular advances, but must

make an open assault. _St. Frederic_, standing close by the water,

lacked this advantage; and the French, feeling their comparative

weakness, exercised the valor of prudence, and abandoned it on the

approach of the English and provincials under General Amherst, in 1759,

and retired to the Isle Aux Noix, * in the Sorel. The British commander

took July 26 immediate possession, but the works were so dilapidated

that, instead of repairing them, he at once began the erection of a new

and extensive fortress about two hundred yards southwest of it, and upon

more commanding ground.

The ramparts were about twenty-five feet thick, and nearly the same in

height, of solid masonry The curtains varied in length from fifty- to

one hundred yards, and the whole circuit, measuring along the ramparts,

and including the bastions, was eight hundred and fifty-three yards, a

trifle less than half a mile. A broad ditch cut out of solid limestone

surrounded it. The fragments taken from the excavation were used to

construct the reveting, and the four rows of barracks erected within. On

the north was a gate, and from the northeastern bastion was a covered

way leading to the lake. Within this bastion a well, nearly eight feet

in diameter and ninety feet deep, was sunk, from which the garrison was

supplied with water. This fortress was never entirely finished, although

the British government spent nearly ten millions of dollars upon it and

its outworks. Its construction was a part of the grand plan devised by

Pitt to crush French power in America, and hence, for

* This is pronounced O Noo-ah.

** There were four large buildings used for barracks within the fort,

the walls or chimneys of which were built of limestone. One of them has

been entirely removed, and another, two hundred and eighty-seven feet

long, is almost demolished. Portions of it are seen on the left, in the

foreground of the picture. The walls of the other two--one, one hundred

and ninety-two, and the other two hundred and sixteen feet long, and two

stories high--are quite perfect, and one of them was roofed and

inhabited until within two or three years. At each end, and between

these barracks, are seen the remains of the ramparts. The view is from

the northwestern angle of the fort, a little south of the remains of the

western range of barracks, and looking southeast. The hills in the

distance are the Green Mountains on the left, and the nearer range

called Snake Mountain, on the right.

* Explanation of the Plan.--A, B, C, the barracks,- D, the well; the

black line denotes the ramparts, with its parapet; the white space next

to it the ditch, and the shaded part outside, the covered way,

banquette, and glacis.

Proposed Attack on the French at Isle Aux Noix.--Approach of Winter. --

Appearance of Crown Point.--Inscriptions

152this as well as for every other part of the service here, the most

extraordinary efforts were made, and pecuniary means were freely

lavished. *

Amherst constructed several small vessels at Crown Point, and, leaving a

garrison to defend the partly finished fort, embarked with the rest of

his troops, and sailed down the lake, to attack the French in their new

position in the Sorel. Storm after storm arose upon the lake, and

greatly endangered the safety of his men and munitions in the frail

vessels. The season being considerably advanced, he abandoned the

design, and resolved not to risk the snow-storms that would soon ensue,

and the general barrenness of food and forage that now October 2, 1759

prevailed in an enemy's country. So he returned to Crown Point, and went

into winter-quarters.

The works at Crown Point are much better preserved than those at

Ticonderoga, and the present owner of the ground, with a resolution

which bespeaks his taste and patriotism, will not allow a stone to be

removed The view here given is from the parapet near the end of the

southeastern range of barracks, where the flag-staff was, looking down

the lake northwest. At the foot of the hills on the lake shore, toward

the left, is Cedar Point, at the entrance of Bulwaggy Bay, and a little

north of it is the village of Port Henry, the location of the There is a

ferry between this place and Chimney Point, the boats touching at Crown

Point.

In the gable wall of the nearest barracks in the view are two inscribed

stones, faced smooth where the inscription is carved. One bears the

initials "G. R.," George Rex or King; the rude form of an anchor, a mark

peculiar to Great Britain, and placed upon her cannon-ball? and other

military articles; and the date of the construction of the fortress,

"1759."

The other stone has the initial "G." without the R., the monogram of

Amherst, the anchor, and a number of rectangular and diagonal lines of

inexplicable meaning. The deep well, already alluded to, is close by the

covered way that leads to the lake, and a few rods northeast from the

eastern range of barracks. It was nearly filled with rubbish, and almost

hidden from view by the weeds and shrubbery upon its margin. I was

informed that a general impression prevailed in the vicinity, about

twenty-five years ago, that this deep well was the depository of vast

treasures, which were east into it by the French for conceal-

* For the campaign of 1759 the Legislature of New York authorized the

levy of two thousand six hundred and eighty men, and issued the sum of

five hundred thousand dollars in bills of credit, bearing interest, and

redeemable in 1768 by the proceeds of an annual tax.

Search for Treasure in the Well.---A venerable Money-digger. ---Capture

of Crown Point by the Patriots.--Seth Warner.

153ment when they abandoned the fort in 1759. Accordingly, a stock

company of fifty men, whose capital was labor, and whose dividends were

to be the treasure found, cleared the well of all its rubbish, in search

of the gold and silver.

One of the company furnished the whisky which was drunk on the occasion,

and agreed to wait for his pay until the treasure was secured. The men

"kept their spirits up by pouring spirits down," and before the work was

completed nearly three hogsheads of alcohol were swallowed by them. They

cleared and drained the well to its rocky bottom, and all the metal

which they found was iron in the form of nails, spikes, bolts, axes,

shovels, &c. The whisky and the labor were lost to the owners, but they

found the saying correct, that "truth lies at the bottom of a well," for

they discovered, when at the bottom, the important truth, which

doubtless taught them wisdom, that credulity is a faithless though

smiling friend, and a capricious and hard master to serve. Money-digging

still continues in the neighborhood, and several excavations within the

fort were pointed out as the scene of quite recent labor in that line.

In 1844 a venerable, white-haired man, apparently between eighty and

ninety years of age, leaning upon a staff and accompanied by two

athletic men, came to the fort and began to dig. They were observed by

Mr. B., and ordered away. The old man was urgent for leave to dig, for

he had come from the northern part of Vermont, was very poor, knew

exactly where the treasure was, as he had assisted in concealing it, and

asked but thirty minutes to finish his work. Mr. B. left them, and,

returning an hour afterward, saw quite a deep hole, but no man was near.

The diggers were gone, and the impression is that they really "found

something!" There has been a great deal of money-digging upon Snake

Mountain, on the eastern side of the lake, induced, to some extent, by

the wonderful discovery of a crucible there. Among those rugged hills

was doubtless the residence of "May Martin," the lovely heroine of the

"Money-diggers." *

Crown Point remained in the quiet possession of the British from 1759

until 1775, when it was surprised and taken by a small body of

provincials called "Green Mountain Boys," under Colonel Seth Warner. **

I have already mentioned the fact that he attempted its capture on the

same day that Delaplace surrendered Ticonderoga to Ethan Allen, but was

thwarted and driven back by a storm. That was on the 10th of May. The

attempt was renewed on the 12th, with success, and the garrison,

consisting of only a sergeant and eleven men, were made prisoners

without firing a shot. *** Among the spoils were a hundred and fourteen

cannons, of which only sixty-one were fit for service.

* See Thompson's pretty fiction, "May Martin, or the Money-diggers."

** Seth Warner was born in Woodbury, Connecticut, about 1744. He moved

to Bennington, Vermont, in 1773, and was noted for his skill in hunting.

He and Ethan Allen were the leaders of the people of the New Hampshire

Grants in their controversy with New York, and on the 9th of March,

1774, the Legislature of the latter province passed an act of outlawry

against them. After the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, he

received a colonel's commission from the Continental Congress, and

joined Montgomery in Canada. His regiment was discharged at St. John's,

and, after the death of his general, he raised another body of troops

and marched to Quebec. He covered the retreat of the Americans from

Canada to Ticonderoga, was with the troops when they evacuated that post

in 1777, and commanded the rear-guard that fought a severe battle at

Hubbardton. He was one of General Starks's aids at the battle of

Bennington, and then joined the army under Gates at Stillwater. His

health soon afterward gave way, and he died at Woodbury in 1785, aged

forty-one years. The state of Vermont gave his widow and children a

valuable tract of land.--Allen's American Biography.

** On the day when Allen captured Ticonderoga, he sent a message to

Captain Remember Baker, one of his colleagues in the violent boundary

disputes between the New Yorkers and the people of the New Hampshire

Grants, to join him at that post. Baker obeyed the summons, and when he

was coming up the lake with his party, he met two small boats with

British soldiers, going to St. John's with the intelligence of the

reduction of Ticonderoga, and to solicit a re-enforcement of the

garrison at Crown Point. Baker seized the boats, and with his prisoners

arrived at the fort just in time to join Warner in taking posses non of

it.--Sparks's Life of Ethan Allen.

Expeditions of Allen and Arnold against St. John's.--Preparations to

oppose General Carleton on the Lake.

154Arnold arrived at Ticonderoga the same evening, and on the 14th about

fifty men, who had enlisted in compliance with his orders given by the

way while hurrying on to Castleton to overtake Allen, arrived from

Skenesborough, and brought with them the schooner which belonged to

Major Skene. He manned this vessel instantly, armed it with some of the

guns taken at the fort, and sailed down the lake to St. John's, on the

Sorel. There he surprised and made prisoners the garrison, consisting of

a sergeant and twelve men; captured a king's sloop with seven men;

destroyed five bateaux; seized four others; put on board some of the

valuable stores from the fort, and with his prisoners, and favored by a

fair wind which had chopped around from south to north just as he had

secured his prizes, he returned to Ticonderoga. Colonel Allen, with one

hundred and fifty men in bateaux, started upon the same expedition, but

Arnold's schooner outsailed the flat-boats, and Allen met him within

fifteen miles of St. John's, returning with his prizes. Arnold was on

board the king's sloop, where Allen visited him, and, after ascertaining

the actual state of affairs, the latter determined to go on to St.

John's and garrison the fort with about one hundred men. He landed just

before night, marched about a mile toward Laprairie, and formed his men

in ambush to attack an expected re-enforcement for the enemy. He soon

learned that the approaching force was much larger than his own, and

retired across the river, where he was attacked early in the morning by

two hundred men. He fled to his boats and escaped to Ticonderoga, with a

loss of three men taken prisoners. Thus within one week the strong

fortresses of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, with all their dependencies

upon the lake, were snatched from the British by the bold provincials,

without their firing a gun or losing a man; and their little fleet upon

the lake, their only strength left, was captured and destroyed in a day.

These events aroused General Carleton, the governor of Canada, and a re-

enforcement of more than four hundred British and Canadians was speedily

sent to St. John's. It was determined to send small water craft from

Chambly and Montreal, to be armed and manned at St. John's; and other

measures were planned for dispatching a sufficient force up the lake to

recapture Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Tidings of these preparations

soon reached the ears of Arnold, and afforded him an opportunity to

sever his connection with Allen, so ill suited to his restless and

ambitious spirit. A fleet to oppose the enemy was now necessary, and,

having had some experience at sea in earlier life, Arnold assumed to be

the commander of whatever navy should be fitted out. His assumption was

not complained of, and he proceeded vigorously in arming and manning

Skene's schooner, the king's corvette, and a small flotilla of bateaux.

With these and about one hundred and fifty men, he took post at Crown

Point to await the approach of the enemy. There he organized his little

navy by the appointment of a captain and subordinate officers for each

vessel. He mounted six carriage guns and twelve swivels in the sloop,

and four carriage guns and eight swivels in the schooner He was also

active in sending off the ordnance from Crown Point to the army at

Cambridge, and at the same time he sent emissaries to Montreal and the

Caughnawagas to sound the intentions of the Canadians and Indians, and

ascertain what was the actual force under Carleton and the nature of his

preparations. He also wrote to the Continental Congress in June,

proposing a plan of operations whereby, he confidently believed, the

whole of Canada might be conquered by two thousand men. He asserted that

persons in Montreal had agreed to open the gates when a strong

Continental force should appear before the city; assured Congress that

Carleton had only five hundred and fifty effective men under him; and

offered to lead the expedition and to be responsible for consequences.

His representations were doubtless true, but Congress was not prepared

to sanction such an expedition. Allen, in a letter dated Crown Point,

June 2d, 1775, made a similar proposition to the Provincial Congress of

New York. In the mean while letters had been sent from Ticonderoga to

the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, complaining of Arnold's

arrogant assumptions, and otherwise dis-

Commission from Massachusetts.--Re-enforcements for the Lake Forts.--

Regiment of Green Mountain Boys.

155paraging his deeds. A committee of inquiry was appointed, who

proceeded to Lake Champlain. Arnold was at Crown Point, acting as

commandant of the fort and commodore of the navy, and, not suspecting

the nature of their visit, he was enthusiastic in his discourse to them

of his expected victories. The first intimation of their errand aroused

Arnold's indignation; and when he fully understood the purport of their

commission, he wrote them a formal letter of resignation, discharged his

men, and returned to Cambridge, uttering loud complaints of ill usage by

the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. Thus ended the naval

operations upon the lake in 1775.

When Ticonderoga and Crown Point were securely in the power of the

provincials, Colonel Easton went to Massachusetts and Connecticut, and

explained to the respective governments all the transactions connected

with the reduction of these important posts. The Massachusetts Assembly

wrote to Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, expressing their willingness

to allow that colony all the honor, and to withhold all interference in

future operations in that quarter. Trumbull immediately prepared to send

a re-enforcement for the garrisons, of four hundred men. Meanwhile

messages were sent to the Continental Congress, and, through courtesy,

to the Provincial Congress of New York, within whose jurisdiction the

fortresses were situated, to ascertain their views. The Continental

Congress approved the measures of Governor Trumbull, and requested the

Convention of New York to supply the troops with provisions. The four

hundred men were immediately sent, under Colonel Hinman, who superseded

Colonel Allen in the command at Ticonderoga. The latter, with Warner,

set off for the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, to procure pay for

their soldiers, whose terms had expired, and to solicit authority to

raise a new regiment in Vermont. The appearance of these men occasioned

a great sensation in Philadelphia, and they were introduced upon the

floor of Congress, to make their communications to that body orally.

Congress at once acquiesced in their wishes, granted the soldiers the

same pay as was received by those of the Continental army, and

recommended to the New York Convention that, after consulting General

Schuyler, they should "employ in the army to be raised in defense of

America those called Green Mountain Boys, under such officers as the

said Green Mountain Boys should choose." This resolution was dispatched

to the New York Convention, and thither Allen and Warner repaired, and

obtained an audience. * The Assembly resolved that a regiment of Green

Mountain Boys, consisting of seven companies, and not exceeding five

hundred men in number, should be raised. The matter was referred to

General Schuyler, who immediately notified the people of the New

Hampshire Grants, and ordered them to raise the regiment. Allen and

Warner were not members of the regiment, but soon afterward they both

joined General Schuyler at Ticonderoga, where he wras stationed with

about three thousand troops from New York and New England, August, 1775

preparatory to an invasion of Canada. Early in September Generals

Schuyler and Montgomery sailed from Ticonderoga and Crown Point with

their whole force, and appeared before St. John's, on the Sorel. Let us

for a moment take a general view of affairs having a relation to the

northern section of operations at this juncture and immediately

antecedent thereto.

* The Assembly of New York was embarrassed when Allen and Warner

appeared at the door of its hall and asked for admission, and a warm

debate ensued. During the then recent controversy of the Legislature of

New York with the people of the New Hampshire Grants, these men had been

proclaimed outlaws, and that attainder had never been wiped off by a

repeal. There were members of that body who had taken a very active

part, personally, in the controversy, and they were unwilling to give

their old enemies a friendly greeting. Their prejudices, and the

scruples of others who could not recognize the propriety of holding

public conference with men whom the law of the land had declared to be

rioters and felons, produced a strong opposition to their admission to

the hall. The debates were becoming very warm, when Captain Sears (the

noted "King Sears") moved that "Ethan Allen be admitted to the floor of

the House." It was carried by a very large majority, as was also a

similar resolution in regard to Warner. Allen afterward wrote a letter

of thanks to the New York Assembly, in which, after referring to the

formation of the battalion of Green Mountain Boys, he concluded by

saying, "I will be responsible that they will reciprocate this favor by

boldly hazarding their lives, if need be, in the common cause of

America."

General View of Affairs.--The "Canada Bill."--Opposition to it in

Parliament.--Denunciations of Barré.

156The British ministry, alarmed at the rapid progress of the rebellion

in America, and particularly at the disaffection to the royal government

which was manifest in Canada, and observing that all their coercive

measures in relation to Massachusetts had thus far augmented rather than

diminished the number and zeal of the insurgents in that colony,

determined, in 1774, to try a different policy with Canada, to secure

the loyalty of the people. A large proportion of the inhabitants were of

French descent, and members of the Romish communion. Those who composed

the most influential class were of the old French aristocracy, and any

concessions made in favor of their caste weighed more heavily with them

than any that might be made to the whole people, involving the extension

of the area of political freedom, an idea which was a mere abstraction

to them. Religious concessions to the other and more ignorant class were

a boon of great value, and by these means the king and his advisers

determined to quiet the insurrectionary spirit in Canada. A bill was

accordingly introduced into Parliament, "For making more effectual

provision for the government of the province of Quebec, in North

America." It provided for the establishment of a Legislative Council,

invested with all powers except that of levying taxes. It was provided

that its members should be appointed by the crown, and continue in

authority during its pleasure; that Canadian subjects professing the

Catholic faith might be called to sit in the Council; that the Catholic

clergy, with the exception of the regular orders, should be secured in

the enjoyment of their professions, and of their tithes from all those

who professed their religion; that the French laws without jury should

be re-established, preserving, however, the English laws, with trial by

jury, in criminal cases. The bill also provided that the limits of

Canada should be extended so as to inclose the whole region between the

lakes and the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, regardless of the just claims

of other colonies under old and unrepealed charters. * These liberal

concessions to the Canadians would have been highly commendable, had not

other motives than a spirit of liberality manifestly actuated ministers.

The most obtuse observer could plainly perceive their object to be to

secure a strong footing north and west of the refractory colonies, where

troops might be concentrated and munitions of war collected, to be used

at a moment's warning, if necessary, in crushing rebellion near. Such a

design was at once charged upon ministers by the ever-vigilant Colonel

Barré, on the floor of the British House of Commons. "A very

extraordinary indulgence," he said, "is given to the inhabitants of this

province, and one calculated to gain the hearts and affections of these

people. To this I can not object, if it is to be applied to good

purposes; but if you are about to raise a popish army to serve in the

colonies, from this time all hope of peace in America will be destroyed.

The Americans will look on the Canadians as their task-masters, and, in

the end, their executioners." It was urged by ministers that common

justice demanded the adoption of such a measure, for a very large

proportion of the people of Canada were Roman Catholics. ** Edmund

Burke, Thomas Townshend, Charles Fox, Sergeant Glynn, and others joined

Colonel Barré in his denunciations of the bill, particularly in relation

to the clauses concerning the Roman Catholic religion, and that

providing for the establishment of a Legislative Council to be appointed

by the crown. The former were considered a dangerous precedent for a

Protestant government, and the latter was regarded as shadowing forth

the ultimate design of the king and his ministers to subvert the popular

form of government in America, and to make the legislators mere

creatures of the crown. By its provisions the Governor of Canada was

vested with almost absolute and illimitable power, and permitted to be

nearly as much a despot, if he chose, as any of the old Spanish viceroys

of

* Thomas and John Penn, son and grandson of William Penn, then the

proprietaries of Pennsylvania and Delaware, entered a protest against

the boundary section of this bill, because it contemplated an

encroachment upon their territory. Burke, who was then the agent of the

colony of New York, also opposed this section of the bill for the same

reason, in behalf of his principal. The letter of that statesman to the

Assembly of New York on the subject is published among the Collections

of the New York Historical Society, and is said to be the only one known

to be extant of all those which he wrote to that body.

** Governor Carleton asserted, on oath, before a committee of

Parliament, that there were then only about three hundred and sixty

Protestants in Canada, while the Roman Catholics numbered one hundred

and fifty thousand.

Passage of the "Canada Bill."--Effect of the Measure in the Colonies.--

Boldness of Orators and the Press.

157South America. On this point Lord Chatham (William Pitt) was

particularly eloquent, and he also took ground against the religious

features of the bill, as an innovation dangerous to the Protestant faith

and to the stability of the throne. The bill, however, with all its

exceptionable clauses, was adopted by quite a large majority in both

Houses, and received the royal assent on the 22d of June. It was

introduced into the House of Lords by the Earl of Dartmouth, and passed

that House without opposition. This bill is refer red to in our

Declaration of Independence as one of the "acts of pretended

legislation" that justified the separation from the parent country.

While this act, with the Boston Port Bill, that for the subversion of

the charter of Massachusetts, and the law authorizing the transportation

of criminals to Great Britain for trial, were in transit through

Parliament and receiving the royal signature, the colonists were

preparing to make a successful resistance against further legislative

encroachments. Throughout the whole summer and autumn of 1774 the

greatest excitement prevailed. The committees of correspondence were

every where active and firm, and were constantly supplied with minute

knowledge of all the movements of the home government by secret agents

in the British metropolis. The people by thousands signed non-

importation agreements, and otherwise attested their willingness to make

personal sacrifices in the cause of freedom. The press spoke out boldly,

and orators no longer harangued in parables, but fearlessly called upon

the people to unite. The events of the French and Indian war had

demonstrated the prowess and strength of the Anglo-Americans against the

foes of Britain, and they felt confident in that strength against

Britain herself, now that she had become the oppressor of her children,

if a bond of union could be made that should cause all the colonies to

act in concert. A general Congress, similar to that which convened in

New York in 1765, was therefore suggested. Throughout the colonies the

thought was hailed as a happy one, and soon was developed the most

energetic action. The Congress met in September, adopted loyal addresses

to the king and Parliament, to the people of the colonies, of Canada, of

Ireland, and of Great Britain, and took precautionary measures

respecting future aggressions upon their rights. The people, highly

indignant, every where evinced the strength of that feeling by open

contempt for all royal authority exercised by officers of the crown. The

acts alluded to were denounced as "barbarous and bloody," the British

ministry were published in the gazettes, and placarded upon the walls as

_papists_ and as _traitors to the Constitution_, and the patriots even

had the boldness to lampoon the king and Parliament. (For an

illustration, see next page.)

Such was the temper of the Americans at the opening of the year 1775.

The events at Lexington and Concord added fuel to the flame of

indignation and rebellion. As we have seen, Ticonderoga and other posts

on Lake Champlain were assailed, and fell into the hands of the

Americans. In June the battle of Bunker Hill was fought. A Continental

June 17, 1775 army was speedily organized. Hope of reconciliation

departed. The sword was fairly drawn, and at the close of summer an

expedition was arranged to invade Canada, for which an armament was

collected at Ticonderoga. Such a step seemed essential for two reasons:

first, to confirm the Canada patriots (who were chiefly in the

neighborhood of Montreal) in their opposition to Great Britain by the

pressure of armed supporters; and, secondly, to secure the strong-hold

of Quebec while its garrison was yet weak, and before General Carleton

could organize a sufficient force to defend it. That officer, it was

well known, was vested with almost unlimited power as governor of the

province, under the act which we have just considered; and it was also

well known that he was using every means at his command to induce the

Canadians to take up arms against the rebellious colonists. Neither

bribes nor promises were spared. The imperial government resolved to

send out fifteen thousand muskets to arm the French Catholics, and

agents of the crown were busy among the Indian tribes upon the St.

Lawrence and the Ottawa, inciting them to an alliance with the army of

the king.

Congress had already sent an affectionate address "To the oppressed

inhabitants May 29, 1775 of Canada," and its effects were so palpable to

Governor Carleton, that he feared

The British Government caricatured.--Carleton's attempt to seduce the

Bishop of Quebec.--Consistency of the Prelate

158entire disaffection to the royal government would ensue. The people

were disappointed in the operations of the act of 1774, and all but the

nobles regarded it as tyrannical.

Unable to make an impression favorable to the king upon the Canadians by

an appeal to their loyalty, Carleton had recourse to the authority of

religion. He endeavored to seduce Brand, the Roman Catholic bishop of

Quebec, from his exalted duties as a Christian pastor, to engage in the

low political schemes of a party placeman, and publish a _mandement_, to

be read from the pulpit by the curates in time of divine service. He

also urged the prelate to exhort the people to take up arms against the

colonists. But the consistent bishop refused to exert his influence in

such a cause, and plainly told Carleton that such conduct would be

unworthy of a faithful pastor, and derogatory to the canons of the

Romish Church. A few priests, however, with the nobility, seconded

Carleton's views, but their influence was feeble with the mass of the

people, who were determined to remain neutral. The governor now tried

another scheme, and with better effect. He could make no impression upon

the masses by appeals to their loyalty or their religious prejudices,

and he determined to arouse them by

* The above engraving is an exact copy, reduced, of a caricature which I

found in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society at

Boston, entitled "Virtual Representation." On the back of it, apparently

in the hand-writing of the time, is the following:

* "A full explanation of the within print.--No. 1 intends the K--g of G.

B., to whom the House of Commons (4) gives the Americans' money for the

use of that very H. of C., and which he is endeavoring to take away with

the power of cannon. No. 2, by a Frenchman, signifies the tyranny that

is intended for America. No. 3, the figure of a Roman Catholic priest

with his crucifix and gibbet, assisting George in enforcing his

tyrannical system of civil and religious government. Nos. 5 and 6 are

honest American yeomen, who oppose an oaken staff to G--'s cannon, and

determine they will not be robbed. No. 7 is poor Britannia blindfolded,

falling into the bottomless pit which her infamous rulers have prepared

for the Americans. Nos. 8, 9 represent Boston in flames and Quebec

triumphant, to show the probable consequence of submission to the

present wicked ministerial system, that popery and tyranny will triumph

over true religion, virtue, and liberty. "N.B. Perhaps this may remind

the Bostonians of the invincible attachment of the Numantines * to their

liberty," &c.

** The Numantinee inhabited a city on the banka of the Douro, in Spain.

Twenty years they were besieged by the Romans, until at length the

younger Scipio Africanus entered their city (one hundred and thirty-

three years B.C, and twelve years after the destruction of Carthage).

The Numantinea, seeing all hope gone, set fire to their city and

perished in the flames rather than become slaves to their oppressors.

Royal Highland Regiment, how raised.--Our Departure from Crown Point.--

Split Rock.--War-feast on the Bouquet River

159appealing to their cupidity. Accordingly, he caused the drums to beat

up for volunteers in Quebec, and by offers of good pay, privileges, and

bounties, he succeeded in enrolling a few, under the title of the _Royal

Highland Regiment_. * About the same time Colonel July, 1775 Guy Johnson

arrived at Montreal with a large number of Indian chiefs and warriors of

the Six Nations, who, despite their solemn promises of neutrality, were

induced to join the soldiers of the king. They made oath of allegiance

to the crown in the presence of Carle-ton, and were held in readiness to

serve him when he should call.

A small number of regular British troops, with the volunteers and

Indians, composed the bulk of Carleton's army at the close of the summer

of 1775, the time when General Schuyler was preparing, at Ticonderoga

and Crown Point, for a campaign against Canada. We thus come back from

our historic ramble to our starting-place at Crown Point. The ruins are

sufficiently explored; let us pass over to Chimney Point and dine, for

the steamer will soon come down the lake to convey us to our Sabbath

resting-place at Burlington.

We left Chimney Point in the evening, a cool, gentle breeze blowing from

the northwest. The western shore is bold, and in many places

precipitous, and in the distance the blue peaks and lofty ridges of the

Adirondack Mountains skirt, the horizon. The eastern margin is the

termination of the pleasant slopes and beautiful intervales between the

Green Mountains and the lake, cultivated and wooded alternately to the

water's verge. At dusk we reached the famous _Split Rock_. The moon was

shining brightly in the west, where faint tints of daylight still

lingered, and we passed so near that we had a fine view of that

geological wonder. It is on the west side of the lake, about thirty

miles below Crown Point. Here is a sharp promontory jutting into the

lake, the point ol which, containing about half an acre, and covered

with bushes, is separated from the main land by a cleft fifteen feet

wide. It was observed as a curiosity by the old French explorers.

Soundings to the depth of five hundred feet have been made between the

fragment and the main rock, without finding a bottom. Geologists differ

in opinion respecting the cause which formed the chasm, some ascribing

it to an earthquake, and others to the slow attrition of the current

upon a portion of the rock of softer texture than the rest. A light-

house stands near as a guide to the navigator, for the lake is only a

mile wide at this point. Here it suddenly expands, and at the mouth of

the Bouquet River, eight miles above, it is about five miles wide.

At the falls in the Bouquet, two miles from the lake, is the village of

Willsborough, the place where Burgoyne encamped and gave a war-feast to

about four hundred Indians of the tribes of the Algonquins, Iroquois,

and Ottawas, who, accompanied by a Roman Catholic priest, joined him

there. Both he and Carleton were averse to the measure of June 21, 1777

employing the savages in the British army, but the express instructions

of ministers demanded it, and he dared not disobey. ** He made a speech

to them, in which he humanely endeavored to soften their savage ferocity

and restrain their thirst for rapine and blood. His exordium was words

of flattery in praise of their sagacity, faithfulness, forbearance, and

loyalty. He then spoke of the abused clemency of the king toward the

colonies, and declared to the warriors their relief from restraint. "Go

forth," he said, "in the might of your valor

* Their time of service was limited to the continuance of the

disturbances; each soldier was to receive two hundred acres of land in

any province in North America he might choose; the king paid himself the

accustomed duties upon the acquisition of lands; for twenty years new

proprietors were to be exempted from all contribution for the benefit of

the crown; every married soldier obtained other fifty acres, in

consideration of his wife, and fifty more for account of each of his

children, with the same privilege and exemptions, besides the bounty of

a guinea at the time of enlistment.--Botta, vol. i., p. 220.

** The employment of Indians by the British ministry, in this campaign,

has been excused upon the lame plea, which has not the shadow of truth,

that, unless they were thus employed, the Americans would have mustered

them into their service.--See Knight's Pictorial England, vol. v., p.

306.

Burgoyne's Interview with the Indians.--Speech of an Iroquois.--Approach

to Burlington.

160and your cause. Strike at the common enemies of Great Britain and of

America; disturbers of public order, peace, and happiness; destroyers of

commerce; parricides of the state."

He told them that his officers and men would endeavor to imitate their

example in perseverance, enterprise, and constancy, and in resistance of

hunger, weariness, and pain. At the same time he exhorted them to listen

to his words, and allow him to regulate their passions, and to conform

their warfare to his, by the rules of European discipline and the

dictates of his religion and humanity. He reminded them that the king

had many faithful subjects in the provinces, and, therefore,

indiscriminate butchery of the people might cause the sacrifice of many

friends. He then charged them, in the words quoted from his speech in

the note on ante, page 99, not to kill for scalps, or destroy life

except in open warfare, and claimed for himself the office of umpire on

all occasions. When he had finished, an old Iroquois chief arose and

said:

"I stand up in the name of all the nations present, to assure our father

that we have attentively listened to his discourse. We receive you as

our father, because when you speak we hear the voice of our great father

beyond the great lake. We rejoice in the approbation you have expressed

of our behavior. We have been tried and tempted by the Bostonians,1 but

we loved our father, and our hatchets have been sharpened upon our

affections. In proof of the sincerity of our professions, our whole

villages able to go to war are come forth. The old and infirm, our

infants and wives, alone remain at home. With one common assent we

promise a constant obedience to all you have ordered and all you shall

order; and may the Father of Days give you many and success." **

These promises were all very fine, and Burgoyne, to his sorrow, had the

credulity to rely upon them. At first the Indians were docile, but as

soon as the scent of blood touched their nostrils their ferocious

natures were aroused, and the restraints imposed by the British

commander were too irksome to be borne. Their faithfulness disappeared;

and in the hour of his greatest need they deserted him, as we have seen,

by hundreds, and returned home.

As the lake widened and the evening advanced, the breeze freshened

almost to a gale, and, blowing upon our larboard quarter, it rolled up

such swells on our track that the vessel rocked half the passengers into

silent contemplation of the probability of casting their supper to the

fishes. The beacon upon Juniper Island was hailed with delight, for the

Burlington break-water was just ahead. We entered the harbor between

nine and ten in the evening,