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MARCHING ON NIAGARA
OR THE SOLDIER BOYS OF THE OLD FRONTIER
Colonial Series
BY EDWARD STRATEMEYER
Author of "American Boys' Life of William McKinley," "Lost on the
Orinoco," "On to Pekin," "Between Boer and Briton," "Old Glory Series,"
"Ship and Shore Series," "Bound to Succeed Series," etc.
_ILLUSTRATED BY A. B. SHUTE_
BOSTON:
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY LEE AND SHEPARD
Published August, 1902
_All rights reserved_
Norwood Press
J. S. CUSHING & CO.--BERWICK & SMITH
Norwood, Mass. U. S. A.
[Illustration: After him tumbled a wild cat.]
PREFACE
"MARCHING ON NIAGARA" is a complete story in itself, but forms the
second of several volumes to be known by the general title of "Colonial
Series."
In the first volume of this series, entitled "WITH WASHINGTON IN THE
WEST," we followed the fortunes of David Morris, the son of a hardy
pioneer, who first settled at Will's Creek (now the town of Cumberland,
Virginia), and later on established a trading post on one of the
tributaries of the Ohio River. This was just previous to the breaking
out of war between France and England, and when the French and English
settlers in America, especially in those localities where trading with
the Indians was profitable, were bitter foes. David becomes well
acquainted with Washington while the latter is a surveyor, and when
Braddock arrives in America and marches against Fort Duquesne the young
pioneer shoulders a musket and joins the Virginia Rangers under Major
Washington, to march forth and take part in Braddock's bitter defeat
and Washington's masterly effort to save the remnant of the army from
total annihilation.
The defeat of the British forces left this section of the English
colonies at the mercy of both the French and their savage Indian allies,
and for two years, despite all that Washington and other colonial
leaders could do, every isolated cabin and every small settlement west
of Winchester was in constant danger, and numerous raids were made,
savage and brutal in the extreme, and these were kept up until the
arrival of General Forbes, who, aided by Washington and others, finally
compelled the French to abandon Fort Duquesne, and thus restored peace
and order to a frontier covering a distance of several hundred miles.
Following General Forbes's success at Fort Duquesne (now the
enterprising city of Pittsburg), came English successes in other
quarters, not the least of which was the capture of Fort Niagara,
standing on the east bank of the Niagara River, where that stream flows
into Lake Ontario. This fort was of vast importance to the French, for
it guarded the way through the lakes and down the mighty Mississippi to
their Louisiana territory. In the expedition against Fort Niagara both
David and Henry Morris take an active part, and as brave young soldiers
endeavor to do their duty fully and fearlessly.
In the preparation of the historical portions of this work the author
has endeavored to be as accurate as possible. This has been no easy
task, for upon many points American, English, and French historians have
differed greatly in their statements. However, it is hoped that the tale
is at least as accurate as the average history, giving as it does
statements from all sides.
Again thanking the many readers who have taken such an interest in my
previous works, I place this volume in their hands, trusting they will
find it not only entertaining but likewise full of instruction and
inspiration.
EDWARD STRATEMEYER.
_Independence Day, 1902._
CONTENTS
I. IN THE FOREST
II. DEER AND INDIANS
III. DISCOVERY AND PURSUIT
IV. BURNING OF THE CABIN
V. UPRISING OF THE INDIANS
VI. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HENRY
VII. A DOUBLE WARNING
VIII. DEPARTURE FROM HOME
IX. GATHERING AT FORT LAWRENCE
X. HOW HENRY FARED
XI. SAM BARRINGFORD'S RUSE
XII. DARK YEAR OF THE WAR
XIII. FIGHTING OFF THE INDIANS
XIV. RETREAT OF THE PIONEERS
XV. DISAPPEARANCE OF LITTLE NELL
XVI. BACK TO WINCHESTER
XVII. A NEW CAMPAIGN
XVIII. WILDCAT AND WATER
XIX. DEFEAT OF THE ENGLISH
XX. AT FORT PITT--RETURN HOME
XXI. ON THE WAY TO THE ARMY
XXII. THE FIGHT WITH THE BUCK
XXIII. UP THE MOHAWK VALLEY
XXIV. HENRY IS ATTACKED
XXV. A STORM ON LAKE ONTARIO
XXVI. THE ATTACK AT OSWEGO
XXVII. NEWS OF IMPORTANCE
XXVIII. SOMETHING ABOUT FORT NIAGARA
XXIX. THE BATTLE NEAR THE FALLS
XXX. INTO THE NIAGARA RAPIDS
XXXI. FALL OF FORT NIAGARA
XXXII. LITTLE NELL--CONCLUSION
ILLUSTRATIONS
After him tumbled a wildcat
They could see the cabin, which still blazed
The warrior with the torch held the light aloft
"White Buffalo, my brother, has done well to bring this message so
quickly."
He took a quick but careful aim at the leader
He leaped forward once again, straight for Dave
"Bail her out," roared the lieutenant
He swung his clubbed musket at the French soldier's head
CHAPTER I
IN THE FOREST
"Do you think we'll bag a deer to-day, Henry?"
"I'll tell you better about that when we are on our way home, Dave. I
certainly saw the hoof-prints down by the salt lick this morning. That
proves they can't be far off. My idea is that at least three deer are
just beyond the lower creek, although I may be mistaken."
"I'd like to get a shot at 'em. I haven't brought down a deer since we
left the army."
"Well, I reckon we had shooting enough in the army to last us for a
while," returned Henry Morris, grimly. "I know I got all I wanted, and
you got a good deal more."
"But it wasn't the right kind of shooting, Henry. I always hated to
think of firing on another human being, didn't you?"
"Oh, I didn't mind shooting at the Indians--some of 'em don't seem to be
more than half human anyway. But I must say it was different when it
came to bringing down a Frenchman with his spick and span uniform. But
the Frenchmen hadn't any right to molest us and drive your father out of
his trading post."
"I'm afraid General Braddock's defeat will cause us lots of trouble in
the future. Mr. Risley was telling me that he had heard the Indians over
at Plum Valley were as impudent as they could be. He said half a dozen
of 'em made a settler named Hochstein give 'em all they wanted to eat
and drink, and when the German found fault they flourished their
tomahawks and told him all the settlers but the French were squaws and
that he had better shut up or they'd scalp him and burn down his cabin."
"Yes, Sam Barringford was telling something about that, too, and he said
he wouldn't be surprised to hear of an Indian uprising at any time. You
see, the French are backing the redskins up in everything and that makes
them bold. If I had my way, I'd get Colonel Washington to raise an army
of three or four thousand men--the best frontiersmen to be found--and
I'd chase every impudent Frenchman out of the country. We won't have
peace till that is done, mark my words on it," concluded Henry Morris,
emphatically.
David and Henry Morris were cousins, living with their folks on a
clearing not far from what was then known as Will's Creek, now the town
of Cumberland, Virginia. The two families consisted of Dave and his
father, Mr. James Morris, who was a widower, and Mr. Joseph Morris, his
wife Lucy, and three children, Rodney, the oldest, who was something of
a cripple, Henry, who has just been introduced, and little Nell, the
sunshine of the whole home.
In a former volume of this series, entitled "With Washington in the
West," I related the particulars of how the two Morris families settled
at Will's Creek, and how James Morris, after the loss of his wife,
wandered westward, and established a trading-post on the Kinotah, one of
the numerous branches of the Ohio River. In the meantime Dave, his son,
fell in with George Washington, when the future President was a
surveyor, and the youth helped to survey many tracts of land in the
beautiful Shenandoah valley.
At this time the colonies of England and of France in America were
having a great deal of trouble between themselves and with the Indians.
Briefly stated, both England and France claimed all the territory
drained by the Ohio and other nearby rivers, and the French sought in
every possible way to drive out English traders who pushed westward.
The driving out of the English traders soon brought trouble to James
Morris, and after being attacked by a band of Indians he was served
with a notice from the French to quit his trading-post in three months'
time or less. Unwilling to give up a profitable business, and half
suspecting that the notice was the concoction of a rascally French
trader named Jean Bevoir, and not an official document, Mr. Morris sent
Dave back to Winchester, that they might get the advice of Colonel
Washington and other officials as to what was best to do.
When Dave arrived home he found that there was practically a state of
war between the French and English. Washington was preparing to march
against the enemy, and to get back to the trading post unaided was for
the youth out of the question. Such being the case, Dave joined the
Virginia Rangers under Washington, and with him went his cousin Henry,
and both fought bravely at the defense of Fort Necessity, where Henry
was badly wounded.
The defeat of the English at Fort Necessity was followed by bitter news
for the Morrises. Sam Barringford, a well-known old trapper of that
locality, and a great friend to the boys, came in one day badly used up
and with the information that the trading-post had fallen under the
combined attack of some French led by Jean Bevoir and some Indians led
by a rascal named Fox Head, who was Bevoir's tool. James Morris had
been taken prisoner and what had become of the trader Barringford could
not tell.
Poor Dave, cut to the heart, was for looking for his father at once, and
his relatives and Sam Barringford were equally eager. But the
trading-post was miles away--through the dense forest and over the wild
mountains--and the territory was now in the hands of the enemy. Under
such circumstances all had to wait throughout the severe winter and
following spring, a time that to the boy seemed an age.
General Braddock had been sent over from England to take charge of
affairs against the French, and soon an expedition was organized having
for its object the reduction of Fort Duquesne, which was built where the
city of Pittsburg now stands. The expedition was composed of English
grenadiers brought over by Braddock and several hundred Virginia
Rangers, under Washington. With the rangers were Dave and Barringford.
Henry wished to go, but was still too weak, and it was felt that Joseph
Morris could not be spared from the homestead.
Braddock's bitter defeat in the vicinity of Fort Duquesne came as a
great shock to all of the English colonies, and it was only by Colonel
Washington's tact and gallantry, and the bravery of the rangers under
him, that the retreating army was saved from total annihilation or
capture. During this battle Dave was shot and captured, but his enemies
soon after abandoned him in the woods, and while wandering around, more
dead than alive he fell in with White Buffalo, a friendly Indian chief,
and, later on, with Barringford and with his father, who had been a
prisoner of the French since the fall of the trading post.
The home-coming of Dave and his father was viewed with great
satisfaction by Joseph Morris and his family, who did all in their power
to make the two sufferers comfortable. From Mr. Morris it was learned
that the pelts stored at the trading post had been saved through the
kindness of another English trader, so that the Frenchman, Jean Bevoir,
and his Indian tool, Fox Head, had not gained much by the raid.
"I am certain that the raid was not the work of the French authorities,"
said James Morris. "But now the war is on they will of course stand up
for everything Jean Bevoir and his followers have done. Nevertheless, I
hold to it that the trading post, and the land staked out around it, is
mine, and some day I shall lay claim to it."
"Right you are, brother," came from Joseph Morris. "And, so far as I am
able, I will stand by you in the claim. But I am fearful that matters
will be much worse before they are better."
"Oh, there's no doubt of that. This victory will make the French think
they can walk right over us."
"Yes, and it will do more," put in Rodney, who was now a young man in
years. "Many Indians have been wavering between taking sides with us or
the enemy. Now many of these will stake fortunes with the
victors,--that's the usual way." He stretched himself on his chair and
gave a sigh. "I wish I was a little stronger, I'd join the army and
fight 'em."
"We haven't any army to speak of now," resumed James Morris. "When I was
last down at Winchester Colonel Washington had but a handful of
soldiers,--all the rest having gone home to attend to their farms and
plantations--and over at Will's Creek fort it was no better. The pay
offered to the soldiers is so poor nobody cares to stay in the ranks.
Patriotism seems to be at a low ebb."
"It's not such a lack of patriotism," said Joseph Morris. "None of our
home soldiers liked the ways of the troops from England, and it made
them mad to have their officers pushed down and Braddock's underlings
pushed up. Even Washington had to remonstrate, although they tell me he
was willing to fight no matter what position they gave him. And matters
are going no better in the North. Either England and our colonies must
wake up, or, ere we know it, all will be lost to the French and their
Indian allies."
"What of the Indians?" put in Mrs. Morris. "Have those under White
Buffalo gone over to the French?"
"White Buffalo's braves have not," answered her husband. "But the tribe
is badly split up, and White Buffalo himself is nearly crazy over the
matter. He says some of the old chiefs swear by the French while the
younger warriors all cling to Washington. White Buffalo says that he
himself will never lift a tomahawk against the English--and I feel
certain he means it."
"White Buffalo is a real nice Indian," came from little Nell, who sat on
the door-step playing. "Didn't he make me this doll? If they were all as
good as he is I wouldn't be afraid a bit." And she hugged to her breast
the crude wooden figure, the "heap big pappoose" with which White
Buffalo had gained her childish confidence.
"Nor would I be afraid," came from Mrs. Morris. "But all Indians are not
as kind and true as White Buffalo, and if they should ever go on the
war-path and move this way--" She did not finish, but shook her head
sadly.
"If they should come this way we will do our best to fight them off,"
said James Morris. "But let us hope it will never come to that. The
butchery at the trading post was enough, I should not wish to see such
doings around our homestead."