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Tous les autres exemplaires origiriaux sont fiimds en commenpant par le premidre page q-ji corr-porte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui corrsporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboies suivants apparattra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ►signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de rdduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est filmd d partir de I'angle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en pronant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivunts illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 A GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. ("OLD PUT.") % iioflrajjlg. »v GEORGE CANNING HILL NEW YORK WORTHINGTON CO., 747 BROADWAY 1688 Eatered ocwrd'ng to tne A« rfOmigwM. « H^ i « . .838, by E. O. LIBBY Sc Co., b the Cl«rk'. Ofllcs of Uw Dutriot Oout &r the ^^Lkt of Massa^hu^tH CONTENTS. CUAPTER I Paqi EARLY LIfE, 9 CHAPTER IL THE rAENCR WAR, ,28 CUAPTER III. CONTINUATION 07 THB FRENCH W4JL .... 49 CHAPTER IV. CAMPAIGN OF 1758, ... ... 69 CUAPTER V. END OF THB FRENCH WAR, 95 CUAPTER VI. OrENINO OF THB REVOLUTION, • . » * . lOS a 1 (pL i ■^ ^^^^ CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. BATTLE OP BUNKER IULL ^^**"' ' • • • • . .135 CHAPTER VIII. SIEGE OF BOSTON. ' 162 CHAPTER IX. OPEBATION8 IN NEW YORK ' 179 CHAPTER X. RETREAT OP THE AMEPIC.iN ARMY ' • • • .198 CHAPTER XI. IN THE HIGHLANDS, ... • • . . 220 CHAPTER XII. PUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND DANBUBY, „^^ CHAPTER XIII. HIS LAST DAYS, 258 GEN. ISRAEI PFTNAI. CHAPTEK I. EARLY LIFE. ALMOST every popular favorite has. hia nickname. Tiiey called General Jackson "Old Hickory;" General Taylor was known everywhere through the camp by the name of " Old Zack ; " and, not to interpose too many mstances between our own times and his General Israel Putnam, of Revolutionary mem-' ory, waa better known by the whole army under the familiar title of " Old Put " than either by the military rank he had honestly earned, or the smiple Scriptural name his father and mother gave him. Israel Putnam was a marked character in days when if would appear as if almost every man stood out as an exemplar. He lived in stir- 10 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. ring times, and was not a wliit behind the rest in helping io create the stir. Few aiTiong the long roll of the patriots of the Revohitioii, addressed themselves to the great questions, as they came up, with greater zeal tlian he, or with a more stout and rugged determination to secure peace on the basis of simple justice. It must be allowed, too, that he had a strong love for adven- ture in his nature, and was as ready at any lime for a warlike foray, or a dangerous expedition into a wilderness swarming with Indians, a^ he was for a frolic at harvest-time, or an exciting wolf-hunt with the young farmers in midwinter. The life of Putnam was a romance almost from the bej-^inning; yet no one was apparently better contented than he amid the j)eaceful scenes of the country life of those days, or enjoyed himself more in the quiet atmosjjhere of his farm, his home, and his friends. In this respect he might be said, like some other men, to have had two natures : one continually exciting him to action and deeds of boldness and bravery, and the other tempering him down to the tone of those homely, e very-day joys that, after all, are the richest resources a man's heart ever knows. EARLY LIFE. 11 Israel Putnam was born in Salem, Mass., on the 7th day of January, 1718. His mother had twelve children, of whom he was the eleventh in order. The house still stands in which he was born, and is exactly half-way, on the turn- pike, between Newburyport and Boston. The family emigrated from one of the southern coun- ties of England, in the year 1634, and settled in that part of Salem, known as Danvers. The original family name was spelled Puttenham, instead of Putnam. Israel was the great-grand- son of the one who first planted the name in that part of the country, Mr. John Putnam ; his father's Christian name being Joseph, his grand- father's Thomas, and his great-grandfather's John as just mentioned. He was a courageous boy, and many daring acts of his youth are preserved by tradition among the different branches of the old family stock. He loved adventure and ex- citement, and was apt to be foremost in those bold and reckless undertakings for which boys are generally so ready. His early education was limited, as one must readily infer when he reflects that schools o^ any kind were not a common privilege in those days. The popu/a- i 12 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. Hon was very much scattered, instead of being gathered into towns and villages as now, and good schools would have been ^juitc dillicult to support. Besides, as he was brouglit up, the most of liis time was required on the farm, help- ing about the regular work in such ways as boys of his age are taught and expected to do. Had his education been diflerent when he was young, there is no doubt that he would have wrought with a still wider influence on the minds of the men of the Revolution. But it was sufficient proof of his inherent strength and greatness, that he rose, as he did, superior to all the obstacles that were thrown in his path, and wrote his own name legibly on the page of his country's his- tory It is not every man, even with the aid of many more advantages than he enjoyed, who succeeds in doing what he did for his country- men and himself. We said that he was courageous, and some- times reclvless, when a boy . but his disposition was not quarrelsome. When he was assailed, he stood his ground without flinching ; but he was not in the habit of picking quarrels with any one. Wlieii he went up to Boston for the first time in ■i.t0»*- iiiABL^ LLb'E. 18 his life, one of liie young to\\n-tbliows, a groat doal older and bigger than liimselt', saw liira coming along the street in his dress of plain honu spun, staring at the signs and the windows, and taken up, as almost every true rustic is, at least once, with what he saw and heard around him ; and, thinking to have some fun out of the country fellow, he taunted liim with liis dress, his gait, his manners, and his general appearance. Young Putnam bore it as well and as long as he could. He looked around and saw that a crowd had collected, who seemed to be enjoying them- selves at his expense. His blood rose at length, and he determined to submit no longer. Sud- denly he turued upon the ill-mannered city youth, and gave him such a thorough flogging on the spot as not only silenced his impudence, but like- wise drew forth the instant admiration of the crowd, who were, but a moment before, so wil- Img to enjoy his own humiliation. Tliis single little affair was wholly characteristic of the man, as he afterwards showed himself on a wider theatre. Very few incidents of a well-defined and authentic nature, have come down to us in iiius- 2 )4 GEN. TfiRAKT, PTTTNAM. I tration of tlio bovhood of Putram; indeed, when we consider tliat lie was nothing more than a plain farmer's boy, of whom no one ever thought, except as other boys were commonly thought of, whose advantages were few, and whose educa- tion was limited, who had no other aim in life than simply to do his work well and make as respectable a man as his father before him, — it is evident that few facts could have accumulated at the most, going to show his native superiority to anybody else of his own age and condition. It was after he made himself conspicuous in the eyes of his countrymen, that his relatives began to collect such scanty materials relating to his youth as family tradition chanced to have handed down ; not happening to have been born great, or renowned, of course no record was kept of those early years before he achieved for himself what he afterwards so honorably did achieve. lie was twenty-one years old when he was married, which event occurred in the year 1739, His wife was Miss Hannah Pope, whose fathe/ — Mr. John Popo — lived in Salem also ; and their family afterwards counted four sons and six da 11 £f liters. The year after he married, he emi- EARLY LIFE. 15 grated from Salem to the town of Pomfret, in Connecticut, where he had bought a tract of land for the purpose. The part of Pomfret in which he settled is now included in the pleasant little inland town of Brooklyn ; and the outlines of the foundation of his house are still to be distinctly traced in the turf, together with the raised walk up to the door. The well he digged is yet pointed out, though it is not at present used ; and in one of the old elm trees that stood before his door, are the iron staples on which he hung tlie tavern sign, just before the Revolutionary days, to inform travellers that he could temporarily entertain both themselves and their beasts. There was no better farmer in his day, the whole country round, than young Mr. Israel Put- nam proved himself to be. He opened new and uncultivated lands ; built good walls and fences ; stocked his pastures ; planted his orchards ; erected a comfortable and most delightful home- stead ; and, by his thrift, industry, and true agri- cultural taste, succeeded, in a short time, in establishing himself as a well-to-do and most successful farmer. lie had a young family brood groAving up about him. His herds and Hocks 16 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. increased and multiplied. He found that his land was especially adapted to the raising of sheep, and, accordingly, he bent his energies to the production of wool. So successful was he in this enterprise in a brief period of time, that he was popularly reckoned one oi the largest wool growers of the country, and his profits accumulated at a rate that soon put him in cir- cumstances beyond the possible reach of poverty or want. It was owing altogether to his having taken so extensive an interest in the raising of sheep, that his adventure with the wolf became a piece of history. During several seasons he seemed to have sufT red from rather hard luck, both in his crops and his live stock ; what with drought, and dry-rot, and hard winters, he felt that his losses, continued through several ensuing years, were quite as large as he felt able to submit to. But when it came to the losses in his sheep-fold, which were more and more severe every winter, he roused himself to see if the mischief could not by some means be stopped where it was. It was pretty conclusively proved that the work of slaughter was performed by a single she-wolf, EARLY LIFE. 17 who, with her new family of whelps every year, came from a long distance to get her regular winter's living otf the fatlings of his hill sides and pastures. Nor was le the only sufferer by her bold depredations. Nearly all the neighboring farmers were forced to submit to these losses, as well as himself, and they were quite ready to undertake, with him, the destruction of the raven- ous creature who was committing such a general havoc. This she-wolf was an old jade, and very sly and shrewd withal. Almost every year the hunters, with their dogs, had fallen in with some of her whelps, and made an end of them on the spot ; but they never could manage to come ujX)n her in a position from which she did not possess the cuiming to somehow escape. Once they had succeeded in getting her to put her foot into their steel-trap ; but lather than wait for them to come to a final settlement with her for her many crimes, she concluded she had better lose her toes and make the best of her way off without them. She preferred to sacrifice these, and so save her skin whole. Putnam got together five of his neighbors I I 18 GEN. ISRAEL PLTNAM. therefore, and laid before them his proposal to hunt the old wolf down ; not to give her any further rc^st or peace until they got her into a place from which there could be no escape. The arrangement was, that they were to take turns at the business, two at a time, and follow her up day and night, till she was traced to her den, unless they might have the good luck to destroy her before she reached it. It was early in the winter v/hen the pursuit began, and, as it happened, a light snow had fallen to aid them in their design. The clipped toes of one of the creature's feet, too, would assist the hunters in following her track, of which fact they were not slow to take advantage. They came upon her footprints, after a time, and pursued her along by this single mark of the lost toes through the country to the Connecticut river; showing that she was at least an extensive traveller. Reaching the river's bank, and finding her course thus intercepted, back she started again for Pomfret. The hunters were close upon her, and readily found where she had doubled upon her&elf. They pressed on as hastily as they could, over hill and through vale, pushing through EARLY LIFE. 19 osal fo ler any into a I. The urns at up day , unless roy hei I winter >ened, a design. i's feet, ng her to take time, of the lecticut tensive [finding Istartcd |e upon loubled Ls they irough swamps and wooded places after her, as if noth- ing had stood in her way. At an early hour on the second morning after setting out, they had succeeded in driving her into her den in a rocky ledge, situated some three miles to the north from Putnam's house, and within the limits of the town of Pomfret. She was carefully watched by one of the men, while the other went to give the alarm to the farmers around. It was not long before the woodo in the vicinity of the cave were swarming with the male inhabitants of the town, including a pretty large sprinkling of boys. They brought along with them a liberal supply of dogs, guns, straw, and sulphur, prepared to smoke her out, burn her out, punch her out, or, in any event, to shoot her. The shouting and the clamor re- sounded a great ways from the steep hill-side where the transaction took place, as if they had come with the intention to make a good time of it. The boys, in particular, were delighted with the prospect of the fun there was ahead, and kicked and capered about in the exuberance of their spirits. It was a great thing for them to be allowed to take a part in such sport with their elders. ■I 20 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. After a council of war had been held, and a close scrutiny of the retreat chosen by their crafty enemy had been indulged in, it was gene- rally concluded that the wolf was not such a great fool in going into this cavity as they might have thought her. She was, to all intents and purposes, in her fortress. How should they go to work to get her out ? At first they tried tantali- zation, — sending in their dogs, who came out again yelping and crying, with lacerated skins, and torn and bloody noses, showing how skil- fully she had used her claws in her own defence. They could not prevail on the dogs that had tried the entrance once, to go in the second time. So they next hit upon the plan to stuff in lighted bundles of straw, sprinkled liberally with sulphur, hoping thus to smoke her out. They very truly argued that, if she could stand that, she must be too much for thevi to think of attacking. Ac- cordingly, the straw was piled in, and set on fire. The dense volumes of smoke rose and rolled slowly into the cave, and the^y thought they were going to secure their game this time without any further trouble. But they looked, and continued to look in vain for the appearance of anything EARLY LIFE. 21 like a wolf. The smoke could not have reached her ; or, if it did, it failed to have the effect upon her ihey had calculated. Time was wearing on in this way, and nothing seemed likely to come of all their labor at last. It wanted now but about a couple of hours to midnight. They were not willing to go home and leave their dreaded enemy where she was, unharmed, and free to repeat her bloody mischief. Again they tried to coax the dogs to go in; but they could not so readily make the animals forget the rough treatment they had received on a previous visit. Israel Putnam felt the need of some one's making a decisive movement, lest the matter should fall through entirely. He therefore ordered a man-servant to undertake the step needed; but he declined very positively. An appeal was made to the whole company present, to know if there was any one who dared under- take this most undesirable piece of business ; but the appeal was made in vain. Neither man nor boy was willing to risk his life in an encounter with a mad animal at the further end of a sub- terranean cave, which had already shown such a disposition to stand her ground and face her opponents down at any hazard. T 22 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. Finally it became difficult to endure this state of suspense any longer, and Putnam took hU resolution. It was a bold, and no doubt a very reckless one ; but when he considered, in a flash of his thought, the amount of the losses incurred by his neighbors as well as himself, from the de- predations of this ravenous wild beast, he won- dered how it was possible for any one to hesitate. He declared he would go down and meet the old wolf himself. The farmers were overwhelmed with astonishment, and tried to dissuade him from carrying out his rash purpose. But all they could say had no effect whatever upon him. He wa9 determined to put an end to the ex- istence of the wolf, and to do it on that very night. Weil aware of the fear inspired in a wild animal by the sight of fire, he provided himself with a large quantity of birch bark, torn into shreds, before going into the cave, and lighted a sufficient number for his immediate purpose. These furnished all the light he had by which to guide himself along the winding passages of the rocky cavern. Stripping ofl' his coat and waist- coat, with a lighted torch in one hand, he entered EARLY LIFE. 2a the dark aperture at near midnight, crawling slowly upon liis hands and knees. Tlie mouth of the wolf's den was about two feet scjuare. From this point it proceeds down- wards about fifteen feet, then it runs horizontally for some ten feet more, and afterwards it ascends very easily for sixteen feet towards its termina- tion. The sides of the cave are of solid rock, and quite smooth ; the top and bottom are of the same material ; it is but three feet in width, and in no part can a man stand upright. Putnam groped his way along by the aid of his flaring and smoking torches, until he reached the level portion of the cavity. All was still as a tomb, and his feeble torchlight was able to penetrate but a little distance into the surrounding gloom. He was obliged to advance but slowly, t^nd every few moments it became necessary for him to renew his torch, which he did with the greatest care, lest it might go out in the lighting, and he be left in the profoundest darkness. After creeping over the ten feet of the level portion of the cave, he came to the ascent. On- ward he dragged his slow and toilsome way, till his progress was suddenly arrested by the sight ^^p 24 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. of a pair of glaring eyeballs at the very extremity of th( cavern. There Bat the old wolf herself; and, as she saw the Hash of the torch he carried in his hand, she gnashed her teeth and utteied a low and threatening growl. The brave and ven- turesome young farmer took a hasty view of +hings in the cave, and then gave a kick at the rope which his friends had tied about one of his legs before he made the descent, by way of pre- caution. Fearing that the worst had befallen him, they pulled more excitedly at the rope than was necessary ; and, before he could have pro- tested against such rough treatment, he found himself dragged out upon the ground before the moutli of the cave, with " his shirt stripped over his head, and his skin severely lacerated." They had heard the growl of the wolf outside, and feared that he was involved in a struggle with her for life or death. Besides, it was known that he had carried no weapons into the cave with him, and they were more solicitous on that account. This time, however, he loaded his gun, took more torches, and went down better prepared for the encounter. He knew his way along of course EARLY LIFE. 2d better than before ; but he was now burdened with his niusket. When he came in siglit of the wolf again, she was in the same place and posi- tion, but aj)peared a great deal more dissatislied with his company. The account of his early- biographer and personal friend states that she wore an aspect of great fierceness : •' howling, rolling her eyes, snapping her teeth, and droj)ping her head between her legs. She was evidently in the attitude, and on the point of springing at her assailant. At that critical moment he levelled his piece, aiming directly at her head, and fired. Stunned with the shock, and suffocated with the smoke of tiie powder, he Immediately found himself drawn out of the cave." But this time his friends took a little more care not to striji his shirt over his shoulders, nor to tear his skin against the jagged edges of th(! rock. He allowed a few moments for the smoke to escape from the chambers of the cavern, and then went in again to secure his prize. On examina- tion he found his old enemy lying dead on the floor of the cave at its further extremity, in a pool of blood. He had taken aim to some pur- pose. In order to satisfy Irmself that she was 26 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. I really (load, he applied his toreh to her nose; she made; no si<(n.s of life. Accordingly, he seized her by her cars, gave the rope around his leg an exulting kick, and out he went, with his precious prize dragging after him, into the midst of the crowd at the mouth of the cavern, who showered their praises and congratulations uj)on him with- out stint. They sent up a shout of delight that filled the wintry woods with its echoes. Their arch enemy at length lay stretched out stark and stiff at their feet. From that hour, Israel Putnam was a hero in the eyes and mouth of everybody. He came very soon to be known far and wide as the slayer of the old she-wolf that had made such havoc with the farmers' folds, and people loved to re- peat a story that had such decided elements of romance and daring in it; for it excited them quite as much in the telling as it did others in the hearing. The story grew, too, as it travelled, and Putnam's fame of course grew along with it. He was known among the officers of the army, with whom he fought during the Seven Years' War, as " the Old Wolf ; " and his fame reached England througn the aid of the puohc journals, EARLY TIFE. 27 wliirh are gnnorally not behind in chronicling 8uch a truly hold and daring adventure. The dozen years that Putnam foUowed the peaceful pursuits of a fanner, between this notable event and the breaking out of the French war, he industriously made the most of. In that time, by his thrifty management, he laid the foundation of a permanent and abundant fortune, for those days of simplicity, and provided for those wants, which otherwise must have been un- provided for entirely, appertaining to advanced age and a life generously spent in behalf ot the liberties of his country. When he retired from public service altogether, it was a comfortable reflection for him that he had a good home to which to withdraw his weary self, where he might pass his latest years unreached by the gripe of poverty and want, and secure in the friendship and afiection of the happy family group that there budded and blossomed like beautiful plants around him. I'' I CHAPTER II. m THE FRENCH WAR. n! THE struggle between the English and the French for the mastery of this continent, de- serves more than the mere allusion to it as an historical fact, which is all we are able in this place to give. The Indians that swarmed in the northern forests, and about the lakes and streams, were, the greater part of them, enlisted on the side of the French, and showed themselves ready to perform any of those barbariti(^s that were Asked of them in the wild excitement of the times. These Indians were the worst foes that ever white men were forced to meet. They were Btealthy and secret ; they skulked and hid in every nook and corner ; they started out unex- pectedly from every tree in the forest. In their dispositions they were vindictive and remorseless ; they would light for pay rather than from friend- f THE FRENCH WAR. 29 ind thft ient,de- to it as in thivS 1 in the treams, on till, ready t were of the s that J were lid in unex- their ('less; riend- ship, and hence employed both the tomahawk and the sealping-Unife without either measure or mercy. Such an enemy was a thousand times more dangerous to encounter than an open enemy; because the English were at no time certain that he would not come upon them wlien they were least expecting it. It required unusually prudent, sagacious, and brave men to officer a force that should be sent out to meet an enemy, too, with such an ally. Hence, the colonial governments were frequently at a loss how to act, so as not to compromise the safety of the people for whom they were authorized to act. This so-called French War began in the year 17o5, with three separate military expeditions : one of General Shirley against Fort Niagara; one of General Braddock, against Fort Duquesne ; and a third of Sir William Johnson against Baron Dieskau, at Fort Edward, situated on Lake George. This last had a successful termination; the others were fruitless and unfortunate. Israel Putnam received an appointment to the captaincy of a company of provinciJ soldiers, volunteers of Connecticut, and this company composed a part «.» 1 i • I I ^ 30 QEN. ISIIAKL PUTNAM. of llio rogimont iiiidc'r coininaiul of Ornoral Lyimin. Kv(>ryl)()(ly knew Put nam for a A^arlcss and Irusiy man; and altliongli it is j)ositiv(; that he had liad no previous military experience, yet his winninu^ frankness and hearty honesty soon attracted It) liis standard a crowd of tiie finest young m pedition was given to (general William Johnson, one of the leading men in the New York Colony, and the troops were to collect at Albany as a central depflt. It was late in June when they assembled. Early in August they began to move forward, and reached the point from which all the necessary accompaniments of warlike operations were to be transported across THE FRENCH WAR. 81 the land to Lake (Jcorgo. Gen. Lyman had already beguu to erect a fortitication at this point, which went l)y the name of Fort Edward. Later in August, the; main body of the army toolv up its march, and pressed on till it reacht^d the southern point of Lake George. It was learned from Indian scouts that a large body of French and Indians were stationed at Ticonde- roga, since become an immortal name, which is tlie point at which Lake George empties, with its thundering sound, into Lake Champlain. They had not yet thrown r.p any works tluire, and Johnson therefore felt more desirous to proceed as soon as possible, with a part of his army, and seize the place before they could recover suffi- ciently from their astonishment at his appear- ance, to make a proper defence. But Baron Dieskau, the French commander, had, in the meantime, become apprised of the position and projects of the provincial forces at Fort Edward, and hastened to attack them before their works were all completed. If he could suc- ceed in this plan, it was then his determination to move down upon Albany, and the other towns within reach, and lay them waste with all pos- 3.2 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. sible celerity. Accordingly, he took two thou- sand men with liim from Crown Point, and, land- ing at South Bay, started across the land for Fort Edward. He even kept the design of this movement a secret until he had come within a couple of miles of the provincial forces. When he at length made his plans known, the Indians murmured, declaring they never would fight against the cannon and musketry of the English. This obliged him, therefore, to change his pur- pose, and he pushed on towards the north, to sur- prise the English at the southern point of Lake George. General Johnson was in command there, as already stated. His scouts came into camp and informed him of the approach of Dieskau, with his Canadian and Indian allies. It was at once determined to send forward a detachment to meet them, and offer them battle. Col. Williams commanded the entire body, which consisted of a t'lousand provincials and about two hundred friendly Indians. They came upon the French some four miles out from the camp, and found the latter all skilfully prepared to meet them. . Dieskau had arranged the French troops in the centre, while the Canadians and Indians THE FRENCH WAR. 33 were stationed along in the woods on either wing, so as to surround the English forces as soon as they had advanced far enough into this well-set trap. Had not the engagement begun as soon as it did, the plan of the French Baron would unquestionably have worked well ; but, as it was, it did not operate quite so exactly to his mind. The provincials fought like the brave men they were, and were forced at last to fall back. Col. Williams was slain in the battle, and so was Hendricks, the famous Mohawk Indian chief, who had been a firm friend to the English and provincials. The vanquished forces retreated till they reached the main body, under General Johnson. This engagement had taken place before noon. It was just about noon, then, when the French forces came up to renew the battle, flushed and eager with their recent victory. On each side of the American position, which was upon the bank of Lake George, lay a swamp, densely covered with trees. Gen. Johnson had mounted a few pieces of cannon, which he had fortunately re- ceived from Fort Edward, and a breastwork was hastily constructed by felling trees. On came 84 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. the French in regular order, expecting only a Becond vic^tory. After pausing for a brief moment at a distance from the breastworks, they fell upon the centre with great spirit, while the Canadians and Indians attacked the two flanks in the hope of turning them. The assault upon the centre did not prove as destructive to the provincial forces as was calculated ; on the con- trary, the latter took fresh cournge on seeing how little damage the French were able to do them. As soon as they began to play their cannon upon the advancing enemy with such terrible effect, the allied Indians and Canadians took to their heels in a paroxysm of fear, being quite unused to so destructive an engine of warfare. Baron Dies- kau in consequence was obliged to retreat in great haste and confusion, and his force was hotly pursued by a portion of the provincial army. The Baron himself was wounded, and found leaning against a stump, all alone. An American seeing him feeling for his watch, with which he probably hoped to bribe his pursuers, supposed he was searching for his pistol; upon whicli he inflicted upon him a wound in the hip with a musket ball, which finally proved mortal K!-W'i THE FRENCH WAR. 80 He was carried a prisoner into tho camp in a blanket, and treated tenderly. Afterwards he was taken to Albany, then to New York, and finally to England. Being jKirsued for some four miles, th(^ French at length halted to refresh themselves on the very ground where the battle of the morning had been fought. How different were their feelings then, from their feelings of a few brief hours before ! Meantime Gen. Lyman had despatched a force up from Fort Edward to the assistance of Gen. Johnson, and the detachment he had sent forward came upon them while they were thus refreshing themselves on the morning's battle- field. A second time they were routed, and, on this occasion, most thoroughly. Many prisoners were taken and carried into camp. Thus opened the English successes on the continent against the French forces, with this brilliant victory of Lake George. This was the battle in which Joseph Brant, the famous Mohawk Indian, then but thirteen years old, first learned the art of war from taking an active part in it. Gen. Johnson at once proceeded to erect a fort where he was encamped, whicti he named Fort 80 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. William Henry. Israel Putnam not long after- wards reached the camp at Lake George, where, during the remainder of the season, his active temperauKMit and love of perilous performances p(^culiarly fitted him for the duties which were then assigned him. As a ranger, volunteering his services on occasions of great danger, and when much caution was necessary, no man in the provincial army could, at that day, surpass or equal him. Ic fell to him, in this capacity, to find out where the enemy were, what was their strength, to be continually alarming their pickets, to devise ways of harassing and surprising them, to act as a partisan scout in fetching information from the hostile parties, and in performing all those other active labors that are of the most ef- fective service to the success of a military cam- paign on an uninhabited frontier. Once, during that season, he set out with Cap- tain Rogers and a small party to reconnoitre the delences at Crown Point. The forest in the vicmity was alive ' dth Indians, and it was at the same time impossible for the whole party to ap- proach within the desirable distance of the fort Thsy concealed the men, therefore, in the woods ! V. THE FRENCH "WAR. 37 not far off, and went by themselves to reconnoitre. Creeping along in the dark, they soon came near to the fort, where they remained secreted all through the night, but without obtaining as much knowledge as they went aft(!r. Towards morning they were more successful ; and, while returning by different ways to the place where their party lay concealed, a French guard came suddenly upon Capt. Rogers, and made an effort to stab him, while he also gave the alarm. They clinched and struggled. Meantime the guard answered to the alarm. Putnam learned the cause of the trouble, and in an instant flew to his companion's rescue. With a single well-directed blow from the butt of his musket upon the head of the Frenchman, he laid him out upon the ground, stark and dead. Immediately the two bold rangers hastened to rejoin their little party, with whom they made the best of their way out of the reach of their enemies. It was now late in the season, it being in the month of October. Of course it was impracti- cable to attempt anything more of a hostile nature during that year, especially as Crown Point was ascertained to be too strongly fortified 38 Q£N. ISKAEL PUTNAM. to be assailed at present. The greater part of the army was therefore discharged, leaving but six hundred men as a force with which to gar- rison both Fort Edward and Fort William Henry. During the same season, too, the French descended the lake and took military possession of Ticotideroga, which tht;y proceeded to fortify. Putnam's company were disbanded with the other colonial regiments, and he re- turned home to pass the winter in the quiet retirement of his farm in Connecticut. The next year's campaign had the same objects in view with that of the last. Owing, however, to the victories that had been achieved by the French commander, Montcalm, at Fort Os- wego and Fort George, the plans of the cam- paign were altogether broken in upon. An ex- pedition was set on foot against Crown Point, which was to be conducted by Gen. Winslow, with provincial troops alone ; but the unexpected success of Montcalm had the eftect to throw the English altogether on the defensive. Putnam was still at the head of a company, serving under his former commander. Abercrombie commanded the entire forces until past the middle of the THE FRENCH WAR. 39 pummer; in August Ik; was displaced by Lord Loudon. The Knglish gtMieraU; were in con- stant expectation of being attacked by the Friiiieh, and therefore assumed an attitude almost exelusively defensive. Putnam, in this campaign, acted the bold part of a ranger. This duty required a person of peculiar qualifications, and such had he in per- fection. He was daring, and even reckless, and, at the same time, he knew how to be cautious and wary as an Indian. His active and ardent temperament fitted him above most other men for so responsible and arduous a service. Two things were his — courage and caution. He could be bold, and he also knew how to keep silence. United with his other rare qualities was an instinctive sagacity, which piloted himself and his little party many a time safely through dangers with which other men, perhaps fully as brave, would have been overwhelmed. Indeed, considering the history of Israel Putnam's mili- tary exploits from first to last, it must be said of him, in summing up the whole, that he excelled chiefly as a partisan. No man in the army was more impetuous yet more cool, more daring and i I" «) GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. in reckless and still more self-controlled, than ho. And it was this which made his services so bril- liant and so valuable duririi'' tlu^ protracted terms of both the French and Indian, and tho Revolutionary War. Once, during this campaign of 17/5G, he was directed to take some observations, and report concerning the camp of the enemy at the " Ovens." This was but a little way from Ti- conderoga. Taking along with him Lieut. Dur- kee, he started oft' on his perilous but most wel- come errand. Nothing suited him better than excitement and danger. The business was to be performed in the night, and required therefore all the more caution. The French army, when th(^y lay down at night to sleep in the forest, kindled their fires in the centre of the camp and slept on the outside of the circle, quite within the protec- tion aflbrded by the darkness. The custom of the English and provincial army was just the contrary. Putnam and his friend did not happen to be aware of this fact. Hence, they made their \vay up thoughtlessly toward the fires of the French, on their hands and knees of course, and had gone some distance within the enemy's lines THE FKENCII WAR. 41 before thoy becamo aware of their desperate situ- ation. Tliey were discovered by the sentinels, who at onee fired upon them. I lis friend was wounded in the thif^h, but Putnam was unlmrt. The latter \vhe«'h'd and rushed into the darkn(!ss again ; but suddenly he found himself lying all in a heap at the l)ottom of a elay pit. Hardly had he eoine to himself sutliciently to understand where he was, wIkui in plunged another person after him. Putnam raised the butt of his musket to break his head, when a voice asked him if he was hurt. He recognized the voice as that of his friend, Lieut. Durkee. In the gi-eatest liast(5 — quite as great, if possible, as they had found their way into the pit — they both scrambled out, and made oil' into the forest in the midst of a rain of aimless bullets from the enemy. They lay under a large log during the rest of the night, and found the light of the silent stars much more agreeable company than they probably would have found that of the hostile camp-fires. It is related that when Putnam unslung his canteen, to divide the rum it held with his w^oundcd and fainting comrade, he found to his surprise that a stray bullet from the 4* 42 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. sentinel had pierced, and entirely emptied it of its contents. The provincial camp was rruch troubled by the prowling incursions of the Indians, who used to come about in the stillness of the night and carry off the sentinels, no one could tell how or whither. It was one of the greatest mysteries that excited their curiosity, or their superstitious fears. One of the outposts had suffered more than any of the others. At last it became so hazardous to serve as guard, — no soul of those who were missing ever coming back, or sending back any tidings of his fate, — that not a man could be found who was wilhng to put his life in peril in occupying it. All were appealed to, but in vain. They were not ready to volunteer in a service where they felt certain there was not even a chance in their h vor. Some of the best and bravest men had volunteered on that post, and never been heard of again. It had come to such a pass at length, that the commanders were about to jirocecd to draw men by lot for the place, when Putnam stepped forth with his usual promptitude, eager to brave the danger, and pluck out the heart of the mystery. THE FRENCH WAR. 43 He nerd not. have done this, for, as an officer, he would not have been liable to be drawn with the rest; but he suffered that consideration to make no dillerence. He offered to garrison the post for that night himself, and ais offer was accepted. The directions were, at hearing the least noise, he was to ask, " Who goes there ? " three times ; and, if no answer was returned, then to fire im- mediately. With these instructions fresh in his mind, he went out and took his station. In the first place, he made a thorough and most minute examination of every object within sight and reach. He laid down in his mind exactly how trees, rocks, bushes, and stumps stood relatively to each other, and daguerreotyped their appear- ance in his memory. Then, seeing that his fire- arm was in perfect order, he waited and watched for the terrible mystery. There was a moon in the sky that night, by whose pale light e en those objects with which he had already become familiar, looked weird and spectral. For several hours nothing occurred that attracted his attention. Midnight wore on, but no manifestations of any lurking danger «vt. By and by, however, he thought he heard a M 44 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. slight noise in the wild grass. He gave it all hia attention. Then, what sounded like a wild animal, came straying along, gradually nearlng his position. Finally the animal seemed to take the appearance and nature of a wild hog ; and, to carry out the resemblance, it busied itself with cracking the acorns it grubbed up underneath the trees. Putnam saw it all, and heard it all. His thought was always quick, and rarely did it lead him far astray. Even a hog should not be per- mitted to pass the lines, he declared to himself, unless he gave the countersign. Accordingly, he raised his musket to his shoulder, and called out, " Who goes there ? " three times, and fired. The hog gave a deep groan, straightened out in the agonies of death, and instantly lay a lifeless heap on the ground. On going up to examine it, he discovered that he had only shot a treacherous and wily Indian, who had disguised himself in a bear-skin, and thus picked off the unsuspecting sentinels from this dangerous post night after night. There was no longer any fear among the soldiers of standing sentry on that post. The heart of the mystery had been laid open, and this was what there was iii it. THE FRENCH WAR. 45 Putnam was likewise the leader and master- Bpirit of another excursion against the enemy that season, which added much to the increasing lustre of his fame. It appears that some five or six hundred of the French had made a descent on the stores and baggage of the English army, at a place about half way between Fort Edward and Fort William Henry, and carried off a large quantity of provisions as booty. The soldiers who were escorting the train were not numerous enough to protect it against the vastly greater force of the assailants, and were obliged to yield it up altogether. Putnam, was ordered, with about a hundred men in boats, carrying with them two small pieces of camioii, besides their ordinary arms, to head them off on their return down Wood Creek into Lake Champlain. They all started off in high spirits, and sailed down Lake George in their batteaux, with the resolution to punish the insolence of tlie enemy wherever they might fall in with him. Tliey landed at a certain point far enough down the lake, and there disembarked, leaving their boats under a sufficient guard, and marched rapidly across to the narrows of Lake Champlain, I f 46 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. where they took their stand and waited for the thieving rascals to come up. The place in which Putnam concealed the men was admirably selected, and so hidden by the trees and bushes that no one sailing down the lake would look for uanger from such a quarter. The body of the water at that point, also, was not so wide but his guns could sweep it for the whole distance. As the French came sailing by, the party in ambush suddenly poured in upon them a terrible volley of shot, which performed most remarkable execu- tion. The rowers were killed, the boats were sunk, and they were so huddled together in the confusion that they afforded a surer mark for the fire of the provincials. Only a few of thf boats managed to escape, and these with the aid of tne wind that blew up the lake very strongly. By this means the encampme it at Ticonderoga were advised of the mortifying mishap to the ex- pedition, and hastened to wreak their vengeance upon its authors before they could return to head- quarters. It was in the expectation of something like this that the rangers betook themselves back to their boa^s with all possible speed, knowing that their THE FRENCH WAR. 4T condition was a desperate, if not an utterly hope- less one, should they be intercepted before they reached the water. They had some twenty miles to make, in order to do this ; but they were successful. The French hurried after them by way of the lake above, and, of course, must have made much headway even before the rangers embarked again, which was at night. The very next day they saw their enemy on shore in large numbers. They must have silently passed them somewhere daring the night. It of course wa« not long before the French spied them coming, and took to their boats with great speed, deter- mined to fight them in line on the lake. The French appeared extremely exultant, as if the battle had been fought and the victory had been already won. Up they sailed in regular array, supposing that the provincials, who could not have numbered more than one to their three, would be so stricken with terror at their ap- proach that they would decliiie fighting alto- gether. Not until they came within shot of them, did the small party of brave fellows under Putnam open fire ; and then they gave them, all at once, the full contents both of their cannon 7 '1,11 N i !.! It 48 GEN. ISRAEL I'UTXAM. and their muskets. This reception dismayed them. They had counted on nothing of the kind. They supposed they had been sailing up to an easy, and perhaps a bloodless, victory. Continuing thus to pour in volley after volley, and not allowing the enemy to recover them- selves sufficiently to rally for one strong effort, the provincials very soon succeeded in scattering the flotilla of French boats, and driving them off the field of battle. The provincials were the victors. The French lost a great number of their men, and the xndians fell into the lake in scores. What is very strange, there was but one man out of the provincial force killed in this sharp engagement, and but two were wounded, and they only slightly, while the loss of the French, including their previous loss on Lake Champlain, on their return from the foraging excursion, amounted to hardly less than five hundred. They learned a pretty dear lesson by it all; and, certainly, if nothing else were to be said about it, they paid at a costly rate for the provisions they were guilty of stealing from the escort at Half Way Brook. M I :i CHAPTER III. H CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. AD Israel Putnam kept a record of his varied and most exciting experience from tiie time his life began to be of public interest, it would have secured an attentive peru- sal to the latest generations. But he was doing greater things than he knew, Hke many others who are noble and heroic themselves without being aware of it. The next year, 1757, he received a major's commission from the Connec- ticut Legislature; showing in what deservedly high esteem he was held by those with whom the public interests were left to be administered. Thus far, it certainly could not be denied that the English arms had met with but indifferent success in the war then waging with the French. This was in no sense to be charged to the want of eUicieiicy or courage on the part of the colonists, fl i!! i 1 ■ 60 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. in cooperating with them in their plans ; the fault lay elsewhere. The olTicers who were appointed to direct the operations of the army were not the men they should have been ; they knew little or nothing of the country, being sent over from England solely for the purpose of supervising what they knew little about. They could not be ex- pected, either, to feel that close sympathy with the condition and prospects of the colonists which was so essential to the success of their warlike plans ; and, by their very rank and station, they were alien to the habits, and strangers to the feelings that made up the sturdy colonial charac- ter. Lord Loudon was an inefficient and improper officer to set at the he'id of an army anywhere. It is not pretended that he possessed any degree of courage, much less that he was gifted with that military genius which is certainly to be looked for in a commander who undertakes the respon- sibilities of such extended campaigns. Mont- calm, the French General, had put him to his wits' end in achieving such few, but very signifi- cant successes as he had at Oswego, destroying and dismantling the fort at that place ; and ii CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 51 ex- spon- Moiit- o his gnifi- oying and London therefore resolved to stand only on the defensive. Tliis was the whole secret of his no- policy of the summer previous, after his appoint- ment by the ministry at home to supersede Gene- ral Abercrombie. During the winter, however, he had made liberal drafts on the several Legis- latures of the colonies, to which they responded with great promj^ness. Early in the year 1757, too, fresh and abundant forces arrived from England ; so that the belief was general that the campaign of this year was to be carried forward with signal energy and enthusiasm. Had the matter lain with the colonies, the plans of the previous campaigns would V/Crtainly have been pushed on to completion and success. And the fortress from which the various assaults against the peace of the provincialists were fitted out, would have been assailed in turn with all imaginable vigor. In other words, the war would have been carried by the colonists into Canada. But not so thought Lord Loudon. With every means with which to secure a brilliant series of conclusive victories ready at his hand, he fool- ishly projected an excursion against the distant French fortress at Louisburg, on the island of 52 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. Cape Breton, at tho mouth of the St. Lawrence, the rallying point for the French on this conti- nent. Here lie thonijfht to strike a decisive blow which would bring him sudden fame for future enjoyment at home. In order to achieve this contemplated success, it was first necessary for him to concentrate his troops at Halifax. It was far into the summer when he reached that point, and then it was only to learn that a large fleet of French vessels had just before arrived at Louis- burg, which was now abundantly able to protect the fortification there from assault. So Loudon gave over liis purpose altogether. He did not even make an effort to secure the victory of which he was, only a little time before, so sanguine and certain. He left his ships to watch the further movements of the French, and hastened back himself to New York. And thus nothing was accomplished by him during that year. But Montcalm understood the situation of affairs exactly. He knew that Louisburg could now take care of itself, and he also knew that the provincial and English force on the Canada lines must be much weakened by this ill-timed move- ment of Loudon. So he resolved to improve the CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 53 advantage ofrcrcd by tlit'sc oircniinstaiicos, and to pnsli down Lake George and take possession of Fort William Ileiny. It was a 4)old undertak- ing, and yet it appeared a very feasible one. This fort was but a poor aftair at best. It stood on a piece of ground gently rising from the shore of the lake, and had for a garrison about three thousand men. At Fort Edward, which was the lower fort, Gen. Webb commanded; and the force under him was even larger than that at Fort William Henry. Montcalm had an army of nine thousand men, including both French and Indians. During the month of March previous, he had ventured upon an att(?mpt to take Fort William Henry ; but it proved un- successful. He landed near that fortification on St. Patrick's eve ; and a large portion of the British Rangers being Irishmen, he had not miscalculated in supposing that, inasmuch as they would probably celebrate that well-known festival, they would become more or less intoxicated ; and of this circumstance he in- tended to take advantage. Lieut. Stark hap- pened to be in command at the P'ort at that time, and accidentally overheard some of th© 5* r, >. i; i A I u I I t l!l!^ 54 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. Rangers planning on the evening previous for their celebration of the kicxt day. As an excuse for not furnishing them with liquor, he feigned lameness in his wrist, which prevented him from writing ; so that when the army sutler . ap- plied to for the liquor, he replied that he had received orders not to deal out any without a written order. Stark's lame hand was excuse enough for his not writing such orders, and of course no spirits were dealt out to the Rangers at all. The regular troops who celebrated the occasion were affected with the liquor they drank, and when the attack was made, — as it was, on St. Patrick's day, — the successful defen if the Fort was made entirely by the sober Rancors. Montcalm had collected his forces, as just mentioned, to the amount of nine thousand men, French and Indians. It was in the latter part of July already. General Webb had just pro- ceeded to Fort William Henry, with an escort of two hundred men, taking their commander, Major Putnam, along with him. While he re- mained at the Fort, he thought proper to send Putnam down the lake with a small force of but eighteen men, to discover where the enemy were, Pm 'h CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 55 and in what numbers. They found the ishinds at the entrance of Nurth-wet !■ ii i: , ! $yl 56 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. safety to his distant (juarters at Fort Edward, cruelly leaving the garrison at Fort William llonry ignorant of their danger. Rut the next day he had (hought enough better of it to send back Colonel Monroe, with his regiment, ordering him to assume the entire command. When Montcalm therefore made his appear- ance before the fort, he had three men to the garrison's one. First he sent to Col. Monroe a summons to siirreiider the place, and humanely urged as a reason the enormous bloodshed and cruel destruction of life that would thus be averted. But as the latter had good reasons to continually expect reinforcements from General Webb at Fort Fidward below, he refused to con- sider such a demand at all. From that time the siege regularly commenced, and continued for six days. Word was sent to Webb by expresses daring this time, laying before him their precari- ous situation, and imploring immediate succor; but it was a supplication to ears that were deaf. The man was either an arrant coward or else g. ^ssly infatuated. He did seem to relent, how- ever, after a time, and changed his purpose so far as to send up Gen. Johnson, together with Major ■:l CONTINUATION OP TUB FRENCH WAR. 61 1 ^1^4 Putnam and his Rangers; but they ha ! gone on but about three miles when lie despatehed an order after them, calling them back immediately. By the name messenger who was the bearer of this cowardly order, he sent a hotter to Colonel Monroe, at Fort William Henry, informing him that he could render him no assistance, and ad- vising him to surrender at once. The messenger was intercepted, and Montcalm got possession of the letter and instantly knew how the case stood. He had just before ht^ard from his Indian scouts that the force that was marching up under John- son and Putnam, were, in the language of the red men, as great in numbers as the leaves on the trees ; and he had made up his mind to beat a retreat as early as he could in consequence. But this intercepted letter put a new face on the matter. He sent it in to Col. Monroe at once, therefore, with a new and more urgent demand for him to surrender. No other way, of course, was left him. The siege had already nearly consumed their provis- ions, while their ammunition was almost entirely exhausted. Articles of stipulation were drawn up between the two commanders, and Montcalm { 58 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. I i II ill promised that, the provincial army should be pro- tected on their march down to Fort Edward by an escort of Frencli troops. They were to march out with their arms and their baggage. They should not again serve against the French for eighteen months ; and the sick and \vounded were to be cared for by Montcalm, until such time as they should sufficiently recover to be safely escorted to Fort Edward. The moment the last lines of the army had passed the gates of the fort, the Indians, number- ing some two thousand in all, set up their hideous war-cry, shrill and fearful in the ears of the terror- stricken provincials, and fell upon them with all the strength and fury of their long pent passion. They were, no doubt, expecting a large amount of plunder from this expedition against Fort William Henry, and when they saw their enemy thus about to escape them, they were able no longer to control their savage indignation ; neither could Montcalm hold them in check, as he had already hinted in his first summons to the garrison to surrender. The French were power- less to afford them the least protection, even if they made the attempt. Such an iiidiscriniinate CONTINUATION OF THE FIIENCU WAR. 59 M v% if ate and merciless massacre as on ihat bloody day was enacted on the borders of beautiful Lake George, is scarcely matched, certainly not ex- ceeded, by any similar transaction recorded in history Those who fled were jjursued by the savages for more than half the way to Fort Edward, who filled the forest with the wild echoes of their hideous war-whoop. Fifteen hun- dred of this devoted little army were butchered on the spot where protection had been solemnly promised them. The remnant, which did not finally reach Fort Edward, were dragged away into captivity, to suffer and at last to die. The defile through which they retreated from the fort, is called Bloody Defile to this day. Only a few years ago, on making excavations for a plank road there, a large number of human skeletons were thrown up to the surface. Several skulls had long fractures in them, as if made by toma- hawks. Webb was greatly alarmed on hearing what had been done, as well he might be. He therot- fore sent forward Major Putnam, with his com- mand, to reconnoitre, and report if the enemy were about to inarch down next upon For< 1 m I ! r ! :i( f i 60 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. Edward. And there is little doubt, that, in case they had done so, he would have (led (Voiii the place with cowardly preeipitaney, leaving such of his men as would not acconi|)any him to take the best care they could of themselves. Putnam reached the fort only to find it a mass of ruins. The French, having finished their diabolical work, were just getting into their boats to return up the lake. Putnam describes the scene that met his gaze, as he came up, in the following words: "The fort was entirely demolished; the barracks, out-houses, and baildings, were a heap of ruins; the cannon, stores, boats, and vessck were all carried away. The fires were still burn- ing ; the smoke and stench offensive and suifo- cating. Innumerable fragments, human skulls and bones, and carcasses half consumcxl, were still frying and broiling in the decaying fires. Dead bodies, mangled with knives and toma- hawivs, in all the wantonness of Indian fierce- ness and barbarity, were everywhere to be seen. More than one hundred women, butchered and shockingly mangled, lay upon the ground, still weltering in their gore. Devastation, barbarity, and horror everywhere appeared, and the spec- : iil; : ... I ii' ■• CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 61 tacle prcscnli'd was too diabolical and awful either to Im; ciidnrrd or descril)("d." Fort William Henry was never rebuilt. Fort Ge()r<^(^ wart built upon a point about a milo to the wouth-east of it, at whieli the Kn^iish army rendezvoused the next year, just before their bril- liant, but most unfortunate expcnlition against the French on Lake Champlain. Later the same year. General Lyman, the old comniander under whom Putnam first served in this war, was in authority at Fort Edward, and began to make his position as secure and strong as circumstances would allow. One day he despatched a party of more than a hundred men into the forest to cut timber, and a guard of fii.y regular troops was sent out to protect them against any sudden surprises. There was a narrow road leading to the fort, at the extremity of which the soldiers were posted. One side; of this road was bounded by a morass, and the other by a creek. Early one morning, before the sun, in fact, was fairly np in the east, one of the sen- tinels thought he saw a flock of birds flying over; and, on looking carefully, he discovered that one of these feathered creatures lodged in the top of a ;? 62 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 1 !i i ! ! ' tree above his head, and took the form of an Indian arrow. He gave the ahirin, and it was found that a party of savages had crept into the morass during the night, who, as soon as the alarm was sounded, rushed out from their hiding place and murdered those of the laborers who were nearest at hand, driving the rest into the fort, which was some hundred rods off. The regulars came to the rescue in an instant, and drove back the Indians by a volley of musketry, so that the rest of the laborers were at last en- abled to reach the fort in safety. Gen. Lyman is supposed to have misinter- preted the state of things, having been so thoroughly surprised, and therefore called in all his outposts and shut the gates of the fort. He supposed that a general attack against the fort from all points was intended, and felt the stern necessity upon him, for the moment, of leaving the little company of fifty regulars under Capt. Little to take care of themselves. It was a cruel mistake, though Gen. Lyman was never charged with cowardice in making it. Putnam happened to be placed on guard at the time, with a body of rangers atone of the outposts, which was on a CONTINUATION OP THE FRENCH WAR. 63 a small island situated not far from the fort. The moment he heard the sound of the firing in the direction of Capt. Little's company, he sprang with his usual impulsiveness into the water, and bade h?s men follow him. As it was necessary for him to pass the fort on his way, Gen. Lyman leaped to the parapet as he came on, and ordered him to stop where he was. He said it was need- less to risk the lives of any more men ; for he certainly supposed that the entire army of French and Indians were right upon them. Putnam, however, declared that he could not suffer a fel- low-officer to be sacrificed without even an efTort to save him ; and, after offering a brief and very hasty excuse for his conduct, pushed forward with the hot haste that was so characteristic of his nature. He thought of nothing, and cared for nothing, but to rescue his brave companions. They reached the company of regulars who were thus fighting for their lives, and rallied around them in an instant. Putnam was for going pell-mell into the swamp ; and in they went, raising a shout, as they did so, loud enough to have frightened the very beasts of the forest. The Indians were not expecting to be received in i: Ill I ■'! II , » 'li . 1 ^ f : ' i ■■ ■ ; •:■ 1 \ i ii| 1 \ " I i niii.ii; 64 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. quite this style, entertaining no such ideas of the courage of their enemy; they theiefore took to flight with great i)recipitancy, and were hotly pursued during the rest of the day into the forest. Putnam returned to the fort with his men, ex- pecting, of course, to be disgraced for his open disobedience of orders ; but the general thought proper, under all the circumstances, to let the matter pass by in silence, and probably was glad of an excuse to get over it so easily. It would, without doubt, have created an intense excite- ment in the garrison, had Putnam rtH*eived even a reprimand for his brave and self-sacriiicing con- duct on so trvinjj an occasion. Putnam remained at Fort Edward during that winter. In the course of the winter, too, another opportunity otl'ered for him to make a display of that cool courage and bold daring, for which he enjoyed so wide a fame among the soldiers. The barracks caught fire at a point not more than twelve feet distant from the powder maga- zine, in which were stored about fifteen tons of })owder. Camion were brought to bear upon them, in the hope of battering down a portion of them, and thus staying the progress of the fire. ■•t •I- 5 ! CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAU 65 But it was ill vain. Putnam saw the extreme danger, and, knowing that tlie (lames were rap- idly advancing in the direetion of tlie magazine, determined to make every exertion possible to check them. For this ))urpose, he stood u[)on a ladder reaching to the roof, and took the buckets of water as they were passed up to him from the line of men that was formed be- tween the fort and the river, and himself kept dashing it without intermission upon the flames. The heat grew every moment more and more intense, till he thought at times he could endure it no longer. The fire gained on him in spite of his efforts, and he found him- self enshrouded in a rolling mass of smoke and flame. One pair of thick woollen mittens was burned off" his hands, and he immediately called for another ; these he kept continually dipping in the water, to preserve them from the fate of the other pair. He was even directed to come down, as it was worse than useless to expose himself in this way any longer ; but he resolutely re- fused, fighting the furious enemy with a des- perate energy that excited general wondei- and 66 GEN. ISUAKL I'UTNAM. I If J ! 1 il: I'i 11 r '■ in * adtniratioii. Still all Iho while Iio ap|)oar(Ml as C(M>1 aiui colU'ctccl as if tlicro was no siicii dan- ger as fiftocMi tt)ns of |)ow(lrr coiilained, witiuii il miU* of hini. Sonir of the tneii, in the mean- time, strieken with a |)anie, were proe. cding to get their few valnaMes oni of the A)rt and make n^idy for the expeeted expU)sion. Up to this time, only ii single angle of the barracks was on fire ; hut now the llames vn- wrajiped the entire line, and were bent on get- ting at the powder b(>yond. Putnam was then obliged to leave his post on the ladder, and came down and planted himself, as the last resource, between the burning barracks and the magazine, and called for more water. They kept passing it to him in a steady stream of buckets. The fire had now caught the outside timbers of the magazine, and burned them com- pletely otf. Only a single thickness remained betw^een that and the powder, and that was soon reduced to a living coal ! Some thought of ilight ; but Putnam w^orked on. While his sturdy form stood confronting the fires, it acted upon those who saw him like a magnet, to at- tract them to the spot. So they all worked with CONTINUATION OF TIIK FllKNCII WAR. G7 pjoator onthnsiasm still. Piitruiin was rovcrcd with tl)<> tiru'lv-ialliim ciiulcrs, and cnsliroiKird wi th tl i(> sinolu i: v< ry Ol \\r rxpcctcd to sco him ^'ivc out brforc so relent Irss a loc as \\\o. one he had undertaken to contend with. 'I'his was a rarer display of true eouraij;e than when he went down alone into tin; wolf's den at mid- night, finding his way along with a iTiekering toreh. Il<* poured on the water incessantly. At last the main timl)ers of tlu; barracks hav- ing burned through, they fell in, and tlx' danger WiiH over. For nearly two hours he had fought the fire single-handed. l\v. was blistered from liead to foot, from his exposure to tlx; intense heat; and on drawing his second pair of mit- tens from his hands, the sl'iu came with thein too. He was a keen sufferer from th(r effects of those blisters and burns, and it was many weeks before he was able to feel that his case had taken a favorable turn. But by this single act he had earned for hims(;lf the warmest admiration and the hearty grat- itude of the garrison, and ind(»ed of the en- tire army. No one could justly estimate what 68 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. ho alone had saved, by thus pubduing nneh a rernorseles enemy as for a time threatened to overwhchn them all with instant destruc- tion. 9 ■ ill CHAPTER IV. CAMPAIGN OF 1768. WILLIAM PITT, afterwards Lord Chat- ham, had been entrusted with the administration of aflairs by the Brit- ish government during the previous year, tiie King finding the people at home and his colonies in America were growing exceedingly restive under the accumulating disasters and mortifi- cations of the war. Thus far, nothing seemed to have come of all their efforts and sacrifices. The three or four northern colonies that had heretofore been so lavish of their men and money in the prosecution of the war, — a war, too, which was to bring no immediate advan- tage to themselves, — felt that it was a drain upon them to go on in this way, for which there was no likelihood that they would ever receive a proper compensation. Had the army 70 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. li ;ii[ 6 ■' i8i achieved any signal successes, it would have been a different thing ; but the idea of continu- ing as they had been doing for the past two and three campaigns, caused no little irritation and disquiet among them. They had raised fif- teen thousand men to carry on this war ; and they hesitated about raising any more with so little promise of success. As soon, however, as it was understood that the king had changed his ministry, their hopes changed too, and they looked forward to a chance now of retrieving their past losses, and securing that honorable peace for which they had been fighting. Mr. Pitt saw at once, with his instinctive comprehensiveness of mind, that the arms of the English had failed of success hitherto, on account of the lack of capacity and courage on the part of the leaders. He therefore ire- solved to ' ecall the inefficient Lord Loudon ; and ordered Abercrombie to resume the com- mand, in which the former had, only the year before superseded him. General Abercrombie made his liead quarters at Fort Ed\va:a. He had been there but a little while, when he gave It'fi! CAMPAIGN OP 1758. 71 directions to Major Putnam to take sixty men with him down towards South Bay, beyond the place where Wood Creek emjities into Lake Champhiin, and liiere watch for such parties of the French as might come straggling along in their direction. This was business exactly suited to Putnam's mind, and he proceeded to obey so welcome an order with his usual alac- rity. Arriving at a spot which he thought a most favorable one for entrenching his little party, he threw up a breast-work of stone some thirty feet in length, and ingeniously concealed the whole with young pine trees which were chopped for the purpose. The creek at that point was only thirty yards in width; and the precipice on which he erected his fortification lifted itself some ten or fifteen feet straight above the water. The opposite bank was very steep, and fully twenty feet in height. The party became short of provisions, after a time, although Putnam had already sent back fifteen men to Fort Edward, who were too un- well to stand the exposure any longer. He felt sorely the want to which they were getting re- n ■ i ' ■ i P!; t 11 ! i ii 72 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. dneod, ami oast abont to find somo way of se- curing temporary t f |i! I in 82 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. not listoii. Uv nobly said to him, in Iryiiig to dissuailo liiin from his purpose, " My Lord, if I am killed, the loss of my life will be of lit- tle coiis('(|nence ; but the safety of yours is of infmite importance to this army." " Your life," instantlv answered Howe, " is as dear to you as mine is to me ! J am determined to go ! " And he did go. It was not long before they came up with the advance guard of the enemy, the same w^hich had a little while before fled and burned the log breastw^orks. This body was without a guide, it seems, and had be- come bewildered in trying to find their way back to the French lines. At once fighting began between the parties, and Lord Howe fell at the very first fire ! The French, how- ever, were driven back, having lost in killed and prisoners four hundred and fifty men. The English were greatly confused, their lines broken, and at the end of the engagement Abercrombie w^ithdrew with them again t(? the landing place on Lake George, to obtain rest and refreshment. It was said that when young Lord Howe fell, " the soul of the army seemed to e;cpire." CAMPAKIX OF 1758. 83 The soldiers all adored iiiin. He nccornmo- datcd himself to all the (tireiunstances of his situation, and eiit his hair and shii[)ed his gar- ments to suit th<; re<|nirements of tlur serviee and tiie fasliion of tin; Provincrial army. Five thousand troops eame over with hiiu to Hali- fax from England, the year before, whom he comuianded in this expedition against Tieon- deroga. When he met his melauv'holy end, he was but thirty-four years old. The (ien- eral Court of Massachusetts appropriated two hundred and fifty pounds, or about twelve hun- dred and fifty dollars, to secure the erection of a monument to his memory in Westmin- ster Abbey. His remains were carried to Al- bany, where they were buried with suitable honors. His coffin was opened many years afterwards, and it was found that his hair had grown out in long and beautiful locks. Gen. Abercrombie next despatched a party to make observations concerning the defences of the enemy ; and an engineer who went with them brought back word that the works might easily be carried, as they were not yet finished. Upon this the English army marched if !i ?(' i!^: !,l 84 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. forward once more. The French opened a gall- ing fir« of artillery upon them from behind thei; bieastworks, as they advanced, but they seemed to take no heed of it whatever. On they rushed in the face of the enemy's fire, resolved to carry the works by storm. The abatis presented the rrtost fearful obstacle to them, but tlujy cared nothing for that. They recklessly dashed on, clambering over and hew- ing their way through the jagged limbs of the trees, for the incredible space of four long hours. A few did succeed in finally reach- ing the pa^'ape', — but they fell back in death the instant they mounted it. The English army was inown down in the most cruel and murderous manner, \7hile it was unable to do any execution in return. Abercrombie at length saw the fatality of the attempt to storm the works, and withdrew his forces hastily. The French did not pursue, or the loss must have been much greater even thai' it was. They re .eated in safety to the point on Lake Goorge at which they first landed, whence the wounded were seni under escorts to Albany, and Fort Edward. ,' ' t CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 85 In this most rash and inconsiderate expedi- tion the English army lost two thousand men, and twenty-five hundred stand of arms. They rushed like brave and d&untless heroes into the very jaws of death, but it was the height of a cruel ignorance thus to sacrifice the flower of an army for no purpose at all. Had Ab- ercrombie ordered a general assault on the morning after the bloody skirmish with the ad- vanced guard, he might have carried the then incomplete intrenchments ; but he delayed un- til the next day, and by that time the French had constructed a bristling abatis along their entire lines, which prevented the approach of artillery, or even of infantry. Putnam displayed great courage at all times during the several engagements ; and in the final retreat, acting as Aid, in place of the lamented Howe, to General Abercrombie, he performed most efiicient and gallant service. Gen. Abercrombie immediately returned to Fort Edward, hav ig Bccomplished none of the ob- jects for whicn ^.;is most costly and inglorious military enterprise had been undertaken. His 8 :^..-^^^/V:..:v T III 'I ^11 86 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. inefficiency as a commander was established in the eyes of every man in the army. It was during this summer that Putnam per- formed his daring feat of dashing down the mad rapids of the Hudson in an open boat. He was near Fort Miller at the time, which was situated on the east bank of the Hudson. Learning suddenly that a party of Indians were in the woods behind him, he bethought himself of what he should do. If he tried to cross the river at that point, the savages would certainly shoot him before he could get over; if he stayed where he was, his doom was sealed without any doubt ; and if he trusted himself in his light skiff to the boiling rapids, he could hardly expect less than an awful death on the rocks below. But, as usual with him, his resolution was quickly taken. He sprang into the boat, hastily ordered the oars- men to push off into the stream, and succeeded in getting beyond the reach of the guns of the Indians by the time they came in sight upon the shore. But he had escaped one das'ger only to plunge into the jaws of another. In a few moments CAMPAIGN OP 1758. 87 they were within the whirl and roar of the rapids. The rocks, jagged and sharp, thrust themselves out of the water on this side and that. The over-laden boat was lifted up and thrown down again by the mad force of the breakers. Putnam stood like a statue at the helm, however, skilfully guiding her through the roaring dangers, while the savages, struck dumb with astonishment at vhat they saw, only looked on in silence, exchanging not even a sign with one another. The boat went safely through the foaming waters, and es- caped all the perils that thrust themselves in her rapid way ; and in a few seconds shot like a silver arrow out into the placid bay below. The Indians, from this, thought Putnam safe from all danger, and superstitiously believed it would be useless to fire upon him, for his life was " charmed." In August, not long after the unfortunate march to Ticonderoga, Putnam was sent, with Major Rogers, to overtake a party of the enemy that had made a sudden attack on one of their baggage trt ins, and carried off a hirge quantity of valuable stores. They pushed f V ^1? % A? ^>«' ^ '^ %'-' fe i 96 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. '^^ of victory. It was a brilliant victory gained, but it cost the army and England dearly. Wolfe was a commander who could be illy spared from any army. In one sense, he threw his life away in carrying forward this daring assault upon Quebec, since he felt that the ministry were already dissatisfied with one shortcoming of which he was guilty, and he now wished to prove to them that they had not placed their confidence in him to no purpose. Ticonderoga and Crown Point likewise fell before the approach of Gen. Amherst, who had but to make his appearance before those most important posts, in order to insure their ready surrender and evacuation. The commander at Ticonderoga saw very soon that he had some one else than Abercrombie, of the year before, to deal with, and capitulated without offering to strike a blow. Putnam accompanied Amherst in his expedi- tion during this year both to Ticonderoga and Crown Point; and his services were not a whit behind what they had been heretofore for prompt- ness and general value. He had as much to do, personally, as any other individual, in strengthen- '■\ I END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 97 ing the works about Crown Point ; and superin- tended them with liis customary vigilance and skill. In 1760 tlie English ministry .sent word over that they wished Amherst to strike one vigorous and final blow, and so reduce the Cunadas altogether. Amherst then^fore projected his fa- mous expedition against Montreal, which was now the only other important post to which attention remained to be directed, lie divided the army into three parts; one started for Quebec, und( : i: . Tvlurray, who was at the head of the force before commanded by the lamented Wolfe ; a second moved forward from Crown Point, by way of Isle-Aux-Noix, under the command of Col. Haviland ; and the third was put in motion by Gen. Amherst himself, who passed up the Mohawk Valley, and thence to Oswego, at which place a force of a thousand IiK^ians, under Sir William Johnson, was added, making some t^leven thousand in all. Lieut. Col. Putnam went with the Commander-in-Chief The plan was, to have all their forces arrive before Montreal upon the same day, if possible. Amherst embarked on Lakti Ontario, captured a 98 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. fort on his way, and happened to arrive before Montreal on the very same day on vv^hieh Gen. Murray reached that point from Quebec. It was a happy coincidence. What was still more fortunate, Col. Haviland came up with his Crown Point troops on the very next day ! The con- certed design s^ far certainly worked admirably. The Marquis de Vaudreuil was in command at Montreal, and he had prepared himself to withstand, as he thought, any assault that might be made upon the city. But as soon as he saw the vastly superior army that had suddenly made its appearance against him, and from three ditfer- ent quarters at the same time, he determined to offer terms of capitulation. They were accepted without any delay, or any bloodshed, and Montreal became the possession of the English. From that day, of course, the Canadas passed into other hands. It was the crowning act of all the rest. After so many trials and reverses, it had resulted gloriously for the English arms at the last. It was while Lieut. Col. Putnam was passing up with Gen. Amherst to the attack on Montreal, that he performed the feat that is recorded of him ' 1^ END OF THE I'RENCII WAR. 99 If fa at the fort on Isl(> Royal. It was necessary for Am- herst to caj)ture this fort, since it would not l)e safe to leave such a fortress in the hands of the enemy behind him. The fort was named Oswe- gatchie, and was built on the island at the en- trance of the river of the same name. Two armed vessels faithfully guarded the entrance, and likewise swejit the whole stream. Unless ihese were put out of the way, Andicrst could not hope to proceed. While the General was pondering on the way in which he could get out of his dilemma, Putnam proposed to go and take the vessels himself. " How ? " asked his surprised com- mander. "With a beetle and wedges," answered the courageous Pitnam. The General knew what a character Putnam had proved himself to be before, and gave him authority to go ahead, though he did not believe that anything would come of it. Putnam took a few men with him in a boat, and after nightfall started olf in the silence and darkness. Getting under the vessels^ sterns unperceived, he drove the wedges in on each side of their rudders, aiid thus prevented their obeying the will of any pilot on deck. Both 100 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 'Ml ii i. •: 1^ 1 » ■ 1 |i Si' 1' ' 1 H ;l ^h i |jt Ihc vesPi'Is were driven ashore by the wind, being heij)less in the hands of their eornmanders, and strnck at oiiee to the summons of the Enghsh OiFicers, who were ready to meet them as soon as their erews landed. This incident has been very strongly denied l)y many, yet there is enough foundation for it in fact to make it worth telling. In the year 1762, England foimd herself con- siderably shorn of her sirength, and coalitions between some of the other nations of the con- tinent were apparently forming against her. Spain was quite ready to co-operate with France in her endeavor to regain what she had thus far lost in America. The colonies were required to furnish still more men in order to meet this new movement. In February, 1762, the French islajid, Martinique, one of the West Indies, was captured by the British. The Caiibbees, too, were all taken by the same power. And finally o large naval force, consisting of nearly forty vessels, and counting ten thousand men, were sent against Havana. They succeeded in landing upon the island of Cuba, but could not make any headway. A pestilence broke out among the troops, to whom the tropical climate wa.s en- END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 101 tircly nnsuitod, and in less than two months more than lialf of their number were swept oil". Reinforcements, however, came along in good time from the colonies, consisting of over two thousand men in all, of whom Connecticut alone furnished one thousand under command of Gvn. Lyman. He having afterwards been apjHiinted commander of the entire Provincial force, Lieut. Col. Putnam accordingly took command of the Connecticut regiment. They experienced very severe weather on their way to Cuba, and the ship-load under Putnam was fmally wreckc^d off the coast. Putnam dis})layed all liis cus- tomary coolness daring the gale, giving orders to the men, and preserving strict discipline througliout the fearful scene. The men con- structed rafts, which were launched and sent ashore successfully. Hy the aid of the line thus secured to the land, the rafts were kept going and coming to and from the ship, and all the troops were at length landed in safety. Put- nam constructed fortifications for his camp, nnd waited until the slorm siibsided, when the troops re-embarked, and in a few days arrivt^d at Havana. 9' H: § 102 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. I i i J The harbor of this famous ocean city is de- fended by tw(* forts ; on the east, the Moro, and on the west, the Punto. The British com- mander, Albemarle, besieged the former with nearly fifteen thousand men. The siege was protracted, and put the soldiers to their high- est endurance. After overcoming many and fearful obstacles, they succeeded in effecting a h)dgement in a certain part of the fortress, when they sprung a mine prciviously prepared and threw down enough of the masonry to give them a chance to enter. The work of storming was then carried forward with vigor and success. About five hundred of the surprised Spanish garrison were killed, and the remnant were forced to beg for quarter, which of course was granted. Having thas obtained possession of this fortress, which had hitherto been deemed impregnable, the British were able to command the city, against which they accordingly pointed their cannon. The governor general refused to surrender, whereupon Lord Albemarle opened a fire upon the town. This speedily brought his Excellency to terms. lie offered to accept such terms of capitulation as the British might J » END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 103 see fit to propose. The harbor iind city of Havana, together wilh about a quarter of the whole island of Cuba thus fell into the hands of the British, whose arms were after- wards properly re^;pected by the powers that had dared to combine against them. From this day, peace began to assume a permanejit character on this continent, for which the ha- rassed colonies, that had all the whili^ been he- roically fighting the battles of the mother coun- try, were not the least grateful. It was now a century and a half that this struggle had been going on between France and England for the mastery of this continent. It had finally been decided in favor of the latter power ; and it was now expected that France would acquiesce, and that war would come Iv/ an end. The Indians were not sup- posed to be interested in continuing the war- fare, since neither nation would be likely any longer to require their services. Yet this opin- ion proved to be a mistaken one. They had a yearning desire to regain the lands they had lost to the white race, and so made a final stand for that purpose. The colonial govern- ■ 104 GLN. ISRA£L PUTNAM. orH held repeated confcrciutcs with somo of Ihc Iiidiaii chicO, and Iricd to pacify them by as- suriiii^ tlicrri of their friendship ; but the red men did not like the; looks of the forts with which the English were encircling their terri- tories. Accordingly several of the tribes con- certed to make a vigorous attack upon their common enemy, and did succeed in surprising and capturing a number of their forts ; some of them of great importance. At the head of this warlike movement was the well-known In- dian chief, Pontiac. Under his lead, the savages intended to ex- tend tlieir power along the line of the great lakes, gradually surrounding the English and hemming them in. Amherst thereupon hast- ened to concentrate his forces at the several forts on the frontier, and made ready to rej)el them. Captain Dalzell made his way through the forest to the fort at Detroit, which was al- ready surroundei by the Indians; after whichj he sallied fort aii^ain and gave them battle, in the €»arly gray of the morning. In his gener- ous and brave endeavor to rescue one of his :> I END OF THE FRENCH WAR. m woniult'd oHicers, ho was sliot by the enemy, and they both fell dead together. The next year, Col. Pntnaiii went to the fron- tier with a Conneclieut regiment, whieh eon- sisted of four hundred men. In this expedi- tion, also, went Brant, the famous Indian partisan. The savages still surrounded De- troit, preventing the garrisoji from moving out at all, by which means they had become sadly reduced in provisions and energy. A little schooner had been sent with a load of pro- visions to their relief, which was attacked fiercely by the Indians, but had managed by good luck to escape. With the timely help thus offered, the commander was able to hold out until reinforcements arrived. As soon as the savages were assured that these latter were approaching, they began to disperse through the forest, afraid to risk a battle. In the course of the same season, too, a permanent peace was finally made with them, and thus the terrors of war ceased over the land. Col. Putnam wrote a letter from the frontier to a friend in Norwich, Connecticut, — Major Drake, — setting forth the condition of affairs _ffi lOG GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 11 ■'j ■ at the time in the camp. It is ex(MHurm«^ly iiiti^rcstiiif;, and contains a lively record of the transactions in his locality. It 'vas published in the Boston (iazette, in December, 17G4. The wars having hapj)ily come to an end, and all rumors of wars having ceased through- out the land, Col. Putnam found himself once more settled peacefully upon his Connecticut farm, rejoiced to return to those pleasanter pur- suits that are especially delightful to men tired of the profession of arms. He had been an active soldier for ten years. lie had lo knowledge of military science, or strategy, when he be- gan, but when he returned again to the peace- ful pursuits of agriculture, he was in possession of an experience that was worlh all the strictly technical discipline in the world. In fact, he had thus imperceptibly been training for that other and wider field on which he appeared to such advantage, and whereon he achieved such deeds of high renown, — the battle-field of the Amer- ican Revolution. What he had learned by this rough and rug- ged experience of the seven years' war, was all his own. It was worth everything, both to m lllii':::: END OP THE FRENCH WAR. 107 himself and his country. It was around such a man that liis fellow citizens would b(' likely to rally in an emergency lik(; that which ^irose a little more than imi years afterwards. lie fcould inspire them by his ardor, and enjhusiasm, and patriotic purpose, — and he could also hold them together in solid and resistless masses, by the naked power of his character, his cxam])le, and his will. He had not been home long, when his wife sickened and died. It was a terrible blow for him, and the grief that grew out of it gnawed sorely at his manly heart. She was the wife of his youth. They .lad lived together as man and wife for a quarter of a century. It was a cruel snapping asunder, therefore, of the tender- est ties that can hold two human souls to- gether. CHAPTER VI. OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. IT is to be supposed, at this day, that every one who can read understands the causes that led the American people to take up arms against the mother country. They had sacrificed everything for the sake of preserving her honor; they had generously fought her battles ; her name and renown were as dear to them as it could be to a son of England born : — but the same spirit that made them such devoied sons, rendered it likewise impossible for them to be craven suppliants, begging for favors. King George the Third was possessed of an idea that the American colonies were chiefly useful to his throne for the revenues which they could be made to pay into the royal treasury. Both liimself and his successive cabinets enter- tained that mistaken idea, and attempted to OPENIXa OF THE REVOLUTION. 109 practise upon it in administering the government for their foreign eoionies. And out of this very mistake grew tin; American Revohilion. It began witli a feeling of dissatisfaction at first; then followed protests; nt^xt, lalk of outright refusal to do what was connnanded ; then the refusal itself, which was rebellion; and finally tin; great and simultaneous mov(Mnent assumed tin; digni- fied form and character of a Revolution. This same American Revolution marks one of the brightest and most hallowed spots on the page of History. In the first place, the British ministry had caused to be issued what were styled Writs of Assistance, which were ordered for the purpose of hunting up and seizing wherever found, any articles that had been smuifTii^led into the coloiiies from on ship-board, without paying the tax im- posed on them. Several of the eloquent and bold orators of the day, including such men as Otis and Adams, fiercely denounced the high- handed measure, and counselled pul)lic disobe- dience of the order. As a necessary result, such goods as were found to have been brought into the colonies without having paid the regular 10 I i A> run I hm w 110 GEN. ISRAEL I'UTXAM. ft t ' nH I duties, were at once seized, wherever found, and sold; which would be likely rather to add to the flame of public feeling already burning, than to assist in allaying its fervent heat. It wa3 Grenville who fust laid the plan to directly tax the American colonies, who was at the time King George's prime minister. Every- where the proposition was met with the most indignant denunciations. But all this seemed to make no difference. Inasmuch as the people of America had determined that it was both odious and wrong that they should be taxed for the benefit of the mother country, the ministry determined in their blind obstinacy that they should be taxed all the sooner for having dared to express their opinions. It was a matter of will, from the beginning. The English govern- ment meant to rule the people of the colonies by the mere strength of its will. But after many long years, and a weary struggle against obstacles whose force the world will never fully understand, that imperious will was humbled and broken. The people triumpiied, as, with the right on their side, they ever must prevail. The passage of the Stamp Act, in the year III OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. Ill 1765, brought the matter to something like a head. As soon as the news was received in this country, the excitement and indignation knew no bounds. The citizens of Boston and Phila- delphia- causca the bells to be tolled, in token of their grief. The people of New York marched in procession through the streets, bearing a copy of the odious Act, with the representation of a death's head attached to it, before them, to which they appended Ihe motto — " The Folly of Eng- lanu, and the Ruin of America." The stamped papers that were sent over, were seized and destroyed ; and the agents of the government, who were appointed to execute the law, were forced to throw up their offices. Col. Putnam entered into the general spirit of resistance to such tyrannical exactions, with all the ardor of his warm and honest nature. He was active ir stirring up his fellow citizens on all sides to resistance. He likewise forwarded, by every means in his power, the plans that were formed among the colonies for harmony of action in this most important matter. I Mr. Ingersoll had been appointed the stamp master for Connecticut ; and Putnam, with others, I;, ' *1 m. \0 i Jtel 4 112 GEN. ISRAEL PUTXAM. was (Ictermiiird not to let him enter upon the duties of his ofFice. The committee who waited upon him, requested him to resign ; but as he did not answer tiiem with a Yes or a No, they pro- ceeded to take steps to make liim comply with their wishes. Putnam was an active adviser in the entire movement. lie had recently been laid up by an accident himself, but he gave particular directions how to proceed. A body oi" men were collected in the eastern part of the colony, who marched to Hartford, where they were told that Mr. Ingersoll would be present on the following day. He was reported to be then on his way from New Haven. Instantly the party started ofl' to meet him by the way. They came upon him at Wethersfield, where th(iy made him sign his own resignation, and certify likewise that he did so " q/" his oivn free ivill and accord^ and without any equivocation or mental reservation." They then stood him on a table, compelled him to read aloud the paper he had just signed, and afterwards to shout three times — " Liberty and Property!" The crowd resj)onded with due heartiness, honored him with a public dinner, and then escorted hin? in safety to Hartford, OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 113 where he pubhcly read his resignation a second time, to the delight and satisfaction of everybody who had turned out to hear it. There was not the least hard feeling over it, but the whole trans- action was relished as a capital joke, — which it certainly was; besides being, likewise, a deter- mined piece of business. Col. Putnam subsequently had a personal interview with the colonial Governor respecting the impossibility of enforcing so hateful an act of parliament, which was perfectly characteristic of the intrepid temper of the man. The Governor asked Putnam what he should do with the stamp- ed paper, if it should be entrusted to him by the King's authority. " Lock it up," answered Put- nam, " and give us the key." His excellency wish- ed to know what next. "We will send you the key safely again," said Putnam. " But if I should refuse you admission to the room where it is kept?" asked the Governor. " Then we shall tear down your house for you ! " replied the determined hero of the seven years' war. The story of this interview of Putnam with the Governor got abroad, and no stamped paper was ever sent into the Connecticut colony. So loud were the pro- 10* i: . I l*j t I 114 OEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. tests, and so open was the defiance exhibited on the part of the colonists, that the ministry finally concluded to leview their former determination, and the Siamp Act was accordingly annulled. As soon as the welcome news reached this coun- try, the change in the public feeling was too marked not to be heeded with thoughtful care by the ministry- Thanksgivings and rejoicings were offered on every side. Gladness beamed from every countenance. The talk of the people was now of their renewed afl'ection for England and the King, and the general heart settled down into the calm joy that attends upon peace. Trade instantly revived, and prosperity reigned. So violent a storm was succeeded by so placid a calm, that it makes one happy even at this distant day to contemplate it. Col. Putnam resumed his usual occupations on his farm again, and in their pursuit reaped the rich rewards that attend upon intelligent and contented lauor. He met with one or two quite severe accidents, during this season of peace, from which he never wholly recovered. It was at this time, too, that he added the calling of inn-keeper to that of a farmer, and gave public notice that he was ready OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 115 to accommodate the travelling public in the most faithful way lie knew how; and a very popular host he proved himself, too. Peoj)le were fond of partaking of the generous cheer with which he always made their coming welcome. lie hung out his sign from one of the elm trees before his door, upon which was represented General Wolfe — the youthful hero of Quebec — in mil- itary uniform, w'lih his right arm pointing at something in the distance, and a most earnest and enthusiastic expression upon his face- This sign is now in the possession of the Historical Society of Connecticut, at their rooms in Hart- ford. The iron staples are still to be seen, driven into the old tree that waves its green crown, every summer, before the place where stood his hospitable mansion. Gen. Lyman, the old commander of Putnam, went to England about these times, to draw the prize money that belonged to the men who served under him in the expedition against Havana. After many years' vexatious delay, he finally succeeded in procuring the amount due them, and returned home. A few of the oflicers had it in their minds to take their money and purchase \ t III lil •^1 IIG GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. L.iaj; a tract of land west of the Mississippi. Putnam accordingly joined the party, and started off into the wilderness to locate his j)nreliase with the rest. They sailed to the site upon which New Orleans now stands, pushed up the Mississippi, laid out the boundaries of tlieir new colony, and returned home again to take the necessary steps to send forward emigrants. General Lyman did return to the place the next year, and founded a settle- ment where Natchez stands to-day. Here he passed the remainder of his days. Putnam sent forward meti for a time in his stead, and furnish- ed them with means to bring his own portion of the lands speedily under cultivation. But other work w^as in inunediate reserve for him, than that of leading forth a young colony to the banks of the father of waters. Events were thickening, and causes were ripening, and every sign gave promise that some great epoch in history waa close at hand. Although it could be urged that the odious Stamp Act had been repealed, yet the British Parliament passed a declaratory act, to the effect that the mother country had tlie riglit to tax the colonies, which right she should exercise just OPENING OF TUB REVOLUTION. 117 when she saw proper. Mr. Pitt was laid up with the gout at his country seat, and Mr. Townshend, who was chancellor of the Exchequer in his absence, brought forward a bill to levy duties on paper, glass, painters' colors, and teas. He also proposed a measure which aimed to appoint boards of trade in the different colonies, entirely independent of the colonial legislatures ; which was as offensive as any measure of the sort well could be. To these plans the people of America showed as much resistance as ever. They began to get ready to oppose them, if the necessity finally came, with force itself. The men of experience, therefore, like Col. Putnam, took great interest in organizing and drilling bands of young men, feeling that the time was not far off when sol- diers would be chiefly needed. This was in the year 1767. The orators and leading men exerted all their influence to arouse the people to a true sense of their degradation and wrongs. Associ- ations were formed all over the country, to further the plans of resistance. The people refused to have any intercourse whatever with the mother country. The ladies denied themselves every- 11 1 iff »■■ ,' ' \;' % i: 118 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. thing like foreign luxuries and exerted themselves to make up elothing with their own hands for their sons, husbands, and fathers. A spirit of opposition pervaded all classes of society. Even tea was interdicted, by general agreement, from the table, because the women would not drink what would help establish the power of England. The excitement grew greater every day. The crisis was approaching. One thought seemed to control the public mind, — one resolve fired the popular heart The British government of course began now to bear down all the harder. They stationed soldiers in the halls where the colonial legisla- tures met, in order to break up their sittings. But these bodies immediately assembled in other places, with still stronger determination to resist the tyranny of the mother country. The troops goaded the colonists almost beyond endurance. At last an outbreak did occur in King street in Boston, — now State street, — on the 5th of March, 1770 ; when the soldiery fired upon the citizens, and killed several ; the first person who fell was a stout mulatto fellow at the head of a party of sailors, whose name was OPENING OP THE REVOLUTION. 119 'i Crispus Attucks. Two others were killed on the spot, and two more died a few days after- ward. There had been trouble brewing for some time between the town people and the soldiers, and on the evening of the day jnst mentioned the lir.st outbreak occurred. Early the next morning, Faneuil Ilall was crowded with ex- cited citizens, who determined that every for- eign soldier should be withdrawn immediately from Boston. No men were more bold in their denunciations of the soldiery than James Otis and Samuel Adams. This event occurred on Friday night ; the citizens met at Faneuil Hall on Saturday morning ; and on the Monday following the troops were withdrawn and sent to Castle William, in the harbor, and the city became composed and quiet again. There were most imposing ceremonies at the burial of the victims of this sudden fight, and the " Boston Massacre" was a bloody story that served to stir still more deeply the hearts of the people to open resistance. General Gage was the Royal Governor of Massachusetts Province at this time, and was well known to Putnam during the French and Si m ■ii «:■■ 'ii * II 120 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. Indian war. TIktc won; others also in Bostoiv whom he had intiinulcly known by means of tlie same eornpanionsliip. I[(; was frecjuenfly then; al)out these dnys, and during i\\v. pn-va lence of the troubles that ushered in the llc^vo- hition. His voicro was heard on ail important oceasions, not more by his own eountrymen than by the British ollicers with whom he had before been a companion in arms. He openly counselled one party to resistance, and the other he expostulated with to no purpose. The Brit- ish ollicers asked him on which side he should be found, in case it should come to open war. "I shall be found on the side of my country al- ways ! » was his prompt and spirited reply. They inquired of him again, how large an army it would take to con(|uer the country; in other words, if five thousand soldiers could not march the length and breadth of it, and not be troubled by the inhabitants ? " If they behaved them- selves, they could," was his answer ; " but if they did not, and no men were at hand, tho American women would drive them out of the country with broomsticks ! " As the difficulties increased, and less and less OPENINQ OP THE REVOLUTION. 121 grew tho probiibilitics tliiit there rould for a inurli longer tiiru; he k^'pt up even the appear anco of peace with the mother country, com* niittees of vigilance were organized in the dif' ferent colonies, whose duty it was to hoK? fre(|uent correspondence each with the other, acquaint tlu; dillcrent secttions of tht^ country with what was going on, and perfect such schemes for resistance as might finally be of the greatest service;. Col. Putnam was very eflicient upon one of these committees in Con- necticut, and kept the people thoroughly ap' prised of what was going forwa.d. Besides this, he gave much time to organizing the men about him into companies, and to drilling them to the stern service which was so soon to be required at their hands. On one occasion, in September, 1774, he was the means of creating a false alarm, which called out the people all along the line between New York and Boston, so that the roads were covered. The story was, that blood had been shed in Boston by the British troops, and every heart beat warmly to avenge the public wrongs. It is said that as many as thirty or forty thousand men flew in- 11 in -! r t 122 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. stantly to amis, believing that the British were firing upon the town of Boston. Gen. Gage saw what an excitement the rumor had cre- ated, and knew from this the temper of the colonists ; and therefore concluded to fortify himself in his position without further delay. The moment this alarm was given, Col. Put- nam mounted his horse and started off for Boston ; but being met on the way by a cap- tain of militia, he learned that the whole story was false, and turned about and rode home again, reaching his house at sunrise on Sun- day morning. The rumor grew out of the British force having silently sailed up the Mys- tic river during the night, and carried oh all the powder that was stored in the arsenal at Charlestown. When the conflict with the power of Eng- land finally came on, it was not even then supposed by the colonists that it would in- volve their total separation from the mother country ; indeed, they had not once seriously thought of such a result, except to deplore it. They merely resolved to resist, perhaps believ- ing that England would in time relent in her OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 123 tyrannical demands, and gho them enduring peace and prosperity. Still, let the conse- quences be what they might, they would at least resist. And while showing such a spirit, the King resolved that they should be forced into submission. It is not at all likely that British statesmen generally knew or cared much about the feelings of the people of this country ; nor did the King, or his ministers, know or care any more. The whole plan was to extort money enough from the North American col- onies to assist in defraying the enormous ex- penses of the British Government. The de- bates in Parliament on the state of America were very meagre, showing that scarcely any interest was taken in the question, that was at all commensurate with its great import- ance. Troops were quartered wherever the British power thought their presence necessary. The difficulties began in Boston. Gen. Gage hav- ing occupied the town with his soldiers, and broken up the Assembly of Massachusetts, it met elsewhere, and styled itself a Provincial Congress. Committees of Safety were ap- 'ii i i rm f 124 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. in la; 1 pointed, and it was instantly voted to raise an army of twelve thousand men. Minute men were also enrolled, to be ready to march at a moment's warning. Arms and ammuni- tion were secured as rapidly as circumstances would allow. While affairs were in this sit- uation, Gen. Gage despatched an expedition of eight hundred men to Concord, twenty miles from Boston, to destroy the ammunition and stores that were known to be there collected. This was the night of the 18th of April, 1775. He was very secret in his operations, yet not so secret as to elude the vigilance of the col- onists, who were so closely watching him. Mes- sages were despatched to points all along the route they would be likely to take, directing that measures should be instantly taken to op- pose them. When the British, who were commanded by Col. Smith and Major Pitcairn, reached Lex- ington, which is about half-way between Bos- ton and Concord, it was just day-dawn on the 191 h. They were of course very much aston- ished to find a handfull of Americans — seventy in all — drawn up on the green to offer them OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 125 resistance. Major Pitcairn rode up before them and called out in a tone of authority, thinking to intimidate them, — "Disperse, you rebels! Throw down your arms, and disperse ! " But they paid no heed to his order ; whereupon he discharged his own pistol, and ordered his troops to fire into them. His order was instantly obeyed, and four of the Americans fell dead. The remainder rapidly scattered, of whom three more were slain in climbing over the fences. But they did not flee. They were joined by others, and very soon large bodies of militia were gathered in the vicinity, determined on making further resistance. The British force hur- ried on to Concord, captured a portion of the stores they found there, and retreated again as fast as they could, knowing that the whole country round was getting thoroughly excited against them. They had a slight skirmish at Concord, during which two of the American and three of the British soldiers were killed, and several more were wounded. It was at the old North bridge, and the spot is now pointed out to travellers where two of the lliree Brit- ish soldiers were slain, and where they still 11* U f" 1 ■#fi «! 126 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. lie. They succeeded in destroying a consider- able amount of stores, and broke open sixty barrels of flour, of which they took pains to waste as much as they could. They likewise cut down the liberty-pole in the town, and set the court-house on fire ; but a lady put out the fire before much damage had been done. Meantime the militia were collecting as fast as they could from all the towns around. So that when the British set out on their march back to Boston, they found themselves haras- sed in every conceivable way. From behind walls, and trees, and fences, and whatever other concealments offered, the Americans poured in a steady and well directed fire upon them, which was terribly galling anJ destructive. The road- sides seemed to belch fire at their retreating and rapidly thinning ranks. Every tree con- cealed a musk'^t. They could not see their en- emy so as to t ike aim at them, and were there- fore placed PC every possible disadvantage. So rapid was the increase of the Americans, and so closely did they follow up the retreating body of the British, that Col. Smith resolved to get back to Boston now with all possible OPENING OP THE REVOLUTION. 127 despatch. At Lexington there was another severe skirmish, and so tired and jaded were the British, they thought they would be obliged to surrender. Fortunately for them, however, an express had been sent back to Gen. Gage in Boston, as soon as the British commander arrived at Lexington in the morning, acquainting him with the astonishing fact that the whole coun- try was already in arms. So that when they reached Lexington again on their return from Concord, they were sav.ed from surrender, or to- tal destruction, only by the timely coming up of the nine hundred men whom Gen. Gage had sent forward in such hot haste. This detach- ment, which was commanded by Lord Percy, met the fatigued British about half a mile be- yond Lexington. It was between two and three o'clock in the afternoon. As soon as they had formed a hollow square and received the retreating troops within its protecting lines, the latter fell down upon the ground from sheer exhaustion, panting and lolling theii tongues out of their open mouths. After resting and refreshing themselves, both parties started on K 'f 128 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. again for Boston. They went out of their way to destroy, by burning, two houses, two shops, and a barn, in Lexington, and then pushed on. But the Provincials had been fast gathering, each man fighting for himself, and getting ready to pour in their fire again as soon as the British should resume their march. Pitcairn's horse was shot under him, and his pistols he was forced to leave behind in their holsters. They afterwards came into Gen. Put- nam's possession. Their loss was very severe, all the way. At West Cambridge they had another skirmish with the Americans, in which Dr. Joseph Warren, afterwards Gen. Warren, came near being shot; the ball knocking the pin out of an ear-curl in his hair. The Brit- ish sacked, pillaged, and murdered, all along their bloody route to Boston. They came near being cut oft' entirely by reinforcements of the militia before they could reach Charlestown ; but they at last succeeded in securing their safety. They camped on Bunker Hill that night, and on the next day went over to Bos- ton, considerably broken in spirits, and convinced OPENINQ OF TUIS UEVOLUTION. 129 that an army of British could not march through the country unmolested. On that 19th of April, 1775, the British lost in all two hundred and seventy-three men, of whom sixty were slain ; the Provincials lost one hundred and three, of whom fifty-nine were killed. It was not a great fight in itself, but it was great and even grand in its consequences. On that day a Nation was born. Then the freemen of America learned, for the first time, how to stand and fight for their own liberties. An authentic statement of these occurrences was drawn up by the American Committee, and despatched by a vessel from Salem direct to London. The latter city was soon in as wild an excitement, almost, as Boston was at the same moment. The ministry were openly taunt- ed in the streets, and told that " the great British army at Boston bad been beaten by ^Jlock of Yankees ! " The news of the battles of this memorable day flew on the wings of the wind through the length and breadth of the country. A man came riding through the quiet town of Pomfret on horse-back, bearing a drum about his neck, and * I I'ti > li I I ill- 11 ;l; 130 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. beating it and calling out to all whom he met, — "To arms! To arms! the first blood has been shed at Lexington ! " Putnam was plough- ing in the field, at some distance back from his house, at the time, and Capt. Hubbard was also at work in the next lot. As soon as they found what was the cause for the alarm, they set out for the place where their services would be most likely to be wanted. Hubbard walked home, got ready his military accoutrements, and started off for Boston in his own systematic and moderate way. Putnam had his little son with him in the field. He at once unyoked his oxen and took them out of the furrow they were ploughing, sent word to his wife by the boy where he had gone, took his fastest horse from his barn, and rode away at such a pace as we shojld have expected from a man of his well-known character. On the 21st he was at Cambridge, where he attended a council of war that was suddenly called to provide for the emergency. By that time, there vere at least twenty thousand Amer- ican troops gathered around Boston. It was resolved to fortify all the entrances to the town OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. ICl ' .V without delay, and to watch the movements of the British very closely. Putnam was sent for by the Connecticut Legislature, which was then in session at Hartford, to confer with them. He hastened back, therefore, for that purpose. A regiment of troops was at once organized, and Putnam put at their head, with the title of Brigadier General. He hurried back to Cam- bridge, having been absent only a week. Sev- eral who served with him in the French war, now joined their services with his again in the struggle for independence. Gen. Ward was commander-general of all the forces, though such an old and tried soldier as Putnam was looked up to with great respect and confidence by the whole body of the hastily collected militia. It is proved that these two generals for a brief time divided the responsi- bility between them as they best could. Ward, too, had served along w^ith Putnam at the un- fortunate storming of Ticonderoga, under Gen. Abercrombie ; and thus strangely were they brought together again. The • British ofTicers did the best they could to bribe over the lead- ing Americans. To Putnam they offered the .* 1' r 132 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. I t I rank of Major CJonrral in tlio British army, a larti^e sum of moiioy, and gcnorous provision for his boy.s in tlio future. Jiut liis lioncst spirit spurned all thoir offers. lie was not poor enough to consent to takf* bribes against the liberties of his own countrymen. Gage olVered to let the Americans, who were still living in Boston, depart on condition they would give up their arms ; but as soon as they had complied with his terms, he refused to keep his word. This only exasperat(»d the mi- litia so much the more. It was resolved now to erect a line of fortifications all around Bos- ton, stretching from Dorchester Heights to Chel- sea, a distance of about twelve miles. into this work Gen. Putnam threw himself with all his usual energy. He had become well ad- vanced in years by this time, but his heart beat as quick as that of many men not half as old as he. The intrench ments were all thrown up, and every care taken neither to allow a British soldier to pass throuj^h them from out of Boston, nor any supplies to be car- ried in. They therefore held the British in the town in a regular state of siege. '/ I ' > OPENING OF TlIK Uli VOLUTION. i;m '■ I Put nam sent a party of tinrty mumi, oil tlio 27tli of May, over from Chelsea to llo^ Island, to raptures wliat live stock was tlier<', that, it might not be of serviet; to tin; Hritish for food. The water was not deep, and the men all waded over, and began to drive oil' the eatth'. A party of marines wen^ statione. I 'm 138 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. necessary to leave on the next day, to depart with the rest without waiting for iiim. The boy mistrusted that some great danger impended over his father, and begged to be permitted to go along with him. " You can do nothing where I am going, my son," said the brave father. " There will be plenty who will take care of me." It was very soon after dark that Prescott began his march from Cambridge over the narrow neck formed by the Charles and Mystic rivers, — a passage-way vvhich was only about a hundred and thirty yards across. The men moved on in perfect silence, and the only lights they had to see by were a few dark lanterns, which threw the light backwards, instead of forward. Every possible precaution was taken against discovery. Bunker Hill stands nearest the neck, and is a hundred and ten feet high. Breed's Hill is near the southern extremity of Charlestown peninsula, and only sixty-two feet in height. The distance between these two hills, on their summits, is one hundred and thirty rods. The troops first came to the foot of Bunker Hill, where they found the intrenching tools all ready for their use, having been already sent BATTLE OP BUNKER HILL. 139 over in wagons. Until Ihat moment, in fact, none but the leaders ivnevv for what purpose the expedition had been undertaken. The order was to fortify Bunker Hill ; but it was very apparent that it would be of little use to do that, unless Breed's Hill were fortified also, since the latter hill most immediately commanded the town of Boston. The leaders consulted what it was best to do. Bunker Hill could easily be reached by the guns from the enemy's ships near the neck, and could not, either, effect much damage to them in return. It was at length resolved to disobey the strict letter of the instructions, and to fortify the height which was nearest the city. Col. Gridley undertook the engineering part of the labor, which certainly required more skill than all the rest. He was obliged to hasten their confer- ence several times, telling them that the night was fast slipping away, and that every moment was of priceless value. When they finally reached Breed's Hill, — which has, ever since t!iat day, taken the im- mortal name of Bunker Hill, — Col. Gridley laid out his plans, ran his quick eye over the ground, and set the men to work with their picks and m 140 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. If = I fifip li ! f spades with all their energy. It was already full midnight before a single shovel-full of earth was thrown up. Summer time as it was, the nights were quite short, and by four o'clock in the morning it would be day-break again. Hence there were but four short hours for the men to do their work. But they fell to with wonderful alacrity and vigor, stimulated still more by the examples that were set them by their lead- ers. Prescott knew very well how to handle a spado, and so did Putnam, who had not served for seven years around Lake George against the French and Indians, without taking such an ijistrument in his hands very frequently. Never were men known to labor more eagerly than did these men. They were working for their very lives, and that they knew. They had taken only rations enough with them to last for one day, and hence they felt obliged to throw up protection against the assaults of the enemy in Boston, which would furnish them with the sur- est reliance. The redoubt was constructed upon the top of the hill, and was eight rods square. Its south- ern side fronted the village of Charlcstown, and rlli BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 141 was most strongly fortified, because that quarter was thought to be most liable to the enemy's attack. Eastward it fronted an open field, which extended down to Morton's Point. A breastwork was thrown up, as if it were a con- tinuation of this eastern side of the redoubt, but still separated from it by a narrow pas- sage, which was screened by what was termed a "blind" in front. Another passage, or gate- way, likewise opened from the rear wall of the redoubt, conducting down the hill. The oflicers several times during the night stole softly down to the water's edge, to dis- cover if the enemy had been alarmed by their operations on the hill ; they could hear the cry — " All's well!" passed from one ship to another by the sentries, over the still surface of the water. Finding matters going on so well, Gen. Putnam hurried back during the night to Cambridge, to make the needful preparations for the struggle which he too well knew must come on the next day. Morning dawned slowly, finding the men still engaged about their work on the hill. It was a still day, in the very flush and pride of the mm\ «4 142 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. new summer. The British looked upon the heights, and were filled with amazement. In one brief night a work had been done, — and done so silently, too, that no sonl of them all had eaught a sound of what was going on, — which compelled the British army either to eva- cuate Boston, or to sally out and offer immediate battle. They had not given the raw American militia credit for so much energy and alacrity. Their own plans were by this single act com- pletely frustrated. The British officers held a council of war at once, and determined to send a body of regular troops over to the hill with all possible despatch, to dispossess the defiant Americans. And while the necessary arrange- ments to this end were being carried forward, a brisk cannonading was opened and kept up from the vessels of war, and from Copp's Hill, upon the workers on the height. Putnam's spirit took fire with the first sound of the hostile cannon in the morning. He mounted his horse forthwith, and rode over the neck at the top of his speed. Prescott was still there in the redoubt, working hard himself, and cheering and inspiring the men BATTLE OP BUNKER HILL. 143 \ both by his words and example. They could distinctly sec the streets of Boston from the height, and descry the British troops forming and marching, and making ready for the con- flict which they now knew was at hand. The American soldiers were pretty thoroughly wear- ied with their severe and uninterrupted night's work, and some of the officers proposed to send to Cambridge for reinforcements. " No," an- swered Prescott, with promptness ; " they have thrown up the works themselves, and it is but fair to give them a chance to defend them." Such talk of course infused a new ardor and courage into their ranks. A messenger was, however, sent over to Cambridge for refresh- •^ ments. As soon as Putnam saw what was certain to come, he again posted off to Cambridge, ask- ing Major General Ward for reinforcements, against the hour of need ; but the latter refused to forward any, not yet satisfied that it was not the design of the British to land at Lechmere's Point, assail the camp at Cambridge, and so cut off* the body of Americans in Charlestown altogether. He had substantial reasons for be- 144 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. lieving this to be their leading design. Henc* he refused to send Putnam's Connecticut regi rnent up to the hill at all. Putnam therefor* had his attention divided between Bunker Hilj and his own post at Inman's Farm, which i\ was equally necessary for him to maintain. Not until he was finally convinced of the m> tention of the enemy to attack Charlestown heights, did he concentrate all his energies on what was there going forward. He took a hand- ful of men, and tried to throw up intrenchments on Bunker Hill, where they had paused to decide which hill should be fortified, the night before. Could this have been done, they could have com- manded Breed's Hill, even after the latter had been taken by the enemy. But the action came on so soon that they were obliged to give over their design, and hasten on to the help of their friends at the redoubt on Breed's Hill. Between twelve and one o'clock, with a burn- ing sun high in the heavens, a force of nearly three thousand of the best men of the British army began to land at Morton's Point, in twenty- eight barges, all under command of Gen. Howe. They halted as they came to the shore, wait- s BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 145 ing to rest and refresh themselves, and to be strengthened by the detachments as fast as they could be brought over. Their rich uniforms and well-kept arms glittered and flashed in the bright sunlight, and created a most imposing appear- ance. It was soon reported in Cambridge that the British had begun to land, and the excite- ment \vas truly intense. The drums beat, the bells were tolled, and the soldiers were instantly hurrying in every direction. It was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon, — and Saturday, too, — when the reinforcements all arrived, making the British army about four thousand strong. They were all regular and tried troops, that had seen .service before ; on the contrary, the Americans were but raw recruits, and looked on with feel- ings of doubt as to the result, though with noth- ing like fear. The latter, too, were nearly ex- hausted with hunger and thirst ; and what was worse, they began to en^^rtain a half suspicion that they had been placed in their present posi- tion in order to be sacrificed. Putnam took the general command outside of the redoubt, overseeing the arrangements of ihe men^ and taking due advantage of ail favora- 13 n mm n ,\i I vJ ■; ill n ';U liG GEX. ISRAEL PUTNAM. blo oircnmstanors. Warron, who was Prosidotit of tlic Provincial CoiijL^rcss, heard of the landing of th(^ British, while he was in Watertown ; and sick as he was, hurried off to take a part in the battle. Brave old Col. Poineroy, too, the mo- ment he caught the echoes of the cannonading from the vessels of war, in the forenoon, bor- rowed a horse of General Ward and rode down to the neck ; and seeing the galling fire with which it was raked from the vessels, he dis- mounted and deliberately walked the whole dis- tance through the whizzing balls, unwilling to risk the value of the borrowed animal, but car- ing nothing for his own life. "Warren went on the hill, and offered himself to Gen. ]^ut- nam as a common soldier. The General ex- postulated with him, begging him to take him- self away again, for his services were more needed in another place. But Warren would hear nothing to it. Neither would he consent to assume anything like command. He went into the redoubt where Prescott was, and shoul- dered his musket with the common soldiers. Prescott offered to transfer all authority to his hands, but the latter would not consent. He 6 BATTLE OP BUNKJm HILL. 147 wont to do «inij)ly a soldier's duly on tluit im- portant, (lay. The JJritisli nriny bo<^an to advance witli ^roat regularity and order. Previous to this, (ien. Howe had ord(*red his artillery to l)l'.iy against the Atneriean lines, and, by a signal already agreed upon, eaused a hot (Ire to be directtxl against the redoubt from th<^ guns on Copp's Hill and the vessels in the river. Tlx? Ameri- can guns — whieh numbered but two — an- swered very feebly to those of the enemy; and Callender was withdrawing altogether to the cover of the hill with them, because, as he said, his cartridges were too large. Putnam rode up to him and ordered him back on the ground, threatening otherwise to blow out his brains on the spot. He and his men returned, but they mingled with the infantry, feeling eotifident that they could not manage their guns to any eiVec- tive purpose. Howe divided his assaulting force into two parts ; the one commanded by himself directed its attack against the rail-fence, which was a hastily constructed defence, made of new-mown hay stuffed in between two parallel fences, and / t » I ■ i. 1-18 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. * tik t f rimnini^ down from a point below ilie breast- Works, and in tlu'ir rrar, to near the slough which bordered Mystic. riv(>r ; — Ihc other wing, under (4cn. Pigot, was to attack the redoubt Howe's artillery did not serve 1 much, on account of the supply of balls being too large for the pieces, and also of the boggy and miry character of the ground. So the men were obliged to rely upon the arms they bore in their hands. Not a word was spoken, apparently, as the splendid army of Great Britain slowly toiled up the hill in the hot sun. The Ameri{;ans kept out of sight, and waited almost it tiently for the enemy's approach. There were ..jw fifteen hundred brave hearts within those entrench- ments, eager to engage with the foe. Putnam told the men, as he passed hastily along the lines, dusty and })erspiring, not to waste their fire, for powder was very scarce. " Wait," said he, " till you see the whites of their eyes, and then take aim at their waistbands ! Fire low, — and pick ofl' the commanders, with the hand- some coats." Prcscott gave the same orders to those within the redoubt. So did the other l^ IK ill liATTLE OP HUNKER HILL. 149 officors all nlon^ the lines, behind the breast- works and 1 he rail-lenc*?. The moment the front ranks of the enemy came near enough, the word was j^iven to fire. The exeeution was beyont(*s(iHl against niarcliinij; up tlir liiil Jii^aiii, to mct't with certain drstructiDii ; but llowo iiatl by tliis tiiiu* t'oniul out wlicrc tlu^ \voaki\^t point in tlu; works lay, — hctwtMMi the breastworks niul the rail-fcMice, — and detiM*- inintul to niakr owe llnal clVort to rarry it. It is nlso related tliat some eari'less soldier wiilun tlu^ nvloubt was overheard to say st)methinij about the seareity of the ainnuniition ; and this fsH't, when reported to the ollieers, gave u liltlo more eneouramMuent to the enemy. (Jen. Howe, therefor**, led the third attack against the Ameriean let't, especially against (he point on the slope between the breast- works and the rail-lence. (Jen. Pigot, aided by (^en. (^linton, inarched up to attack the re- doubt, aiming also to turn the American right. The orders to the British soldiers were to takt^ the fire of the AuKTieans, and then to charm; bayonets and scale the works. This is what they should have done in the first place ; and what i 1 i f HATTLK OP UUNKMU HILL. ir.:5 llicy would have done, iiiid lliry known !iow slioil llir Ain(*ri<':uiH wcn^ for aniinnnition. While llir Hrilisli wrrr m'llin^^ rrjidy to coitu; ii|> lo the (liird assault, tlir Aiiicricaiis had tirno to ri'lVcsh t hcnisrivrs, and in some dcf^rrr to rccovrr I'roin tin; protracted I'atiij^nr of the ni^dit, and ; th(^ at- tempt. Putnam first ordered Ihese three hun- (h-ed to fall to work inlrenehinij; J}unker llill, but afterwards ordered them forward to the lines. He was workinijj like a hero all the while, rid- ing to and fro at the toj) of his speed, to get the seattered forces on Bunker Hill into mar- tial order, and to lead thiMu on to the defence of Breed's Hill. He also rode down to the neck, and shouted to the recruits on the other side to come over, and lend the aid of their bayoiu^ts. He then dashed across the exposed ))assage, through the rain of the balls from the enemy's cannon, in order to show them that they had jiothing to fear. But it was to no purpose. On came the British, at length, for the third time. The Americans stood tirm and resolute in their lines, prepared to receivo them. The British artillery soon turned the breastworks, however, sweeping the whole line of their in- terior. The Americans were of course thus driven •! Hi i t f BATTLE OP BUNKER HILL. 156 wiihin sion, and using lan- guage that was for a long time afterwards re- membered for its profanity. The old man could not bear the thought of their deserting their ground, and it is said that he was not wholly aware at the time how low they had run for powder. " Make a stand here ! " he shouted. " We can stop them yet ! In God's name, fire ! and give them one shot more I " Pomeroy, too, with his shattered musket in his hand, tried to rally them for one more eflbrt ; but it was in vain. Putnam covered their retreat in person, and was not more than twelve rods distant from the enemy, and fully exposed to their fire. He came to one of the field-pieces that had been deserted, which he roundly swore should not be given up to the enemy. Only one man could be found to remain there with him ; and he was in another moment shot down at his side, and the rapid advance of the British with fixed bayonets drove him from the cannon also. Colonel Trumbull, the painter of the Revolu- tion, has represented Putnam, in his great bat- tle piece at the national Capital, in the act of mi BATTLE OP BUNKER HILL. 159 defending this field-pieee and eovering the re- treating militia. The painter has attired him in a splendid bine and scarlet uniform ; where- as his dress on that day was strikingly differ- ent from that, and more truly befitted the char- acter of the man and the nature of the work he was engaged in. An old soldier, who was in the fight of that day, has told us exactly how the General was clad, and how he looked. He says that he rode about the hill, and across the neck between Charlestown and Cambridge, in order to report to Gen. Ward, — "without any coat, in his shirt sleeves, and with an old felt hat on his head." This was certainly more a dress for useful, than for ornamental purposes, and would not be likely to encumber or em- barrass any one who had hard and hasty work to do. The Americans retreated in good order down the hill and across the neck, compelled, however, to run the gaundet of the galling fire from the British vessels. Many of them were killed, as was to be expected. They next took up their position on Prospect and Winter Hills, about a mile distant, which they proceeded at once to ir II ir i IGO GEN. ISRAKI. PUTNAM. fortify. Here llicy Ii>y all iiii^Mit. Tlic British occupied tiic ijfroimd they liad so dciirly gained, and rciuiiincd there in (|niet until iTiorninii;. Had they pursued their advantage, and jjushed on upon Cambridge, it would have proved a great day's work for theui, after all. Many won- dered at th(^ timir why they did not. But when the report of their losses on that day came to be given, there would seem to have been the best reason in the world for the negK'ct. Out of between four and five thousand troops that were sent over from Boston, their loss in killed and wounded amounted to fifteen hundred. It was too terrible a slaughter for them to recover from, in so short a time. Clinton, however, was for pushing on; Howe was more timid, and ad- vised that the troops remain and rest where they were. This day's work was proof enough that the Americans could boldly resist oppression and tyranny. They had seen the fire and smoke, and heard the yells and groans of battle. On that Saturday afternoon, in an engagement which lasted about two hours in all, they lost, counting the killed, wounded, and mibsing, four BATTLE OF BUNKKU HILL. IGI hundred and fifty rncn. This was in no sense a victory on the part of Ihe Jirilish. They may have ^r;ii,H.,l t|„. fu-Id, because tiie atnriiunition of tfie Ainerieans gave out too soon ; hut th<'y certainly lost the battle. Besides this, they learned a lesson whic^h they refused to read before, that the peoph; of America would fight to the last drop of blood for their rights, their soil, and their firesides. 14* f ' m CHAPTER VIII. } > ■ : i SIEGE OF BOSTON. THERE was no retreat for the Colonists after the battle of Bunker Hill. The Riibi- eon had been erossed. They had taken the 8vvord, and made their appeal to the God of battles; and by the sword, under the direeting care of a kind Providence, must they only hope to stand or fall. There was no formal compact, or union, as yet between the several Colonies ; yet they were even then conferring together, through their delegates in Philadelphia, as to the best method of making effective resistance to the tyrannical demands of England. This Congress possessed no particular power to pass any acts wliich sb'^^ ' W { the Colonies, but was convened imoi irpose of conferring upon the wi p.. foi leni to adopt. Massachusclts hau ])ioj /.:.ed a federal 1,7 I " ■ i SIEGE OP BOSTON. 103 if ir \e le o iinton, nnd likewise ofTcrpd to subscribe to any pl'dii of the kind wliich slionid \h\ br()U«i;lit forwsird and established. 'Vhv, delegates from tia.' other New England Colonies agreed to th(!sarTie thing. Congnvss therefon! acted with promptness, as it should haver done, if at all. It at once pro- ceeded to organi/c and ollicer a regular army, and placed Washington at its head. There were four Major Generals appointed under him, — Lee, Ward, Schuyler, and Putnam, (ieneral Wash- ington came on to ('Umbridge, and assumed his high otlice on the I2«id day of .July. 1I(» also gave Putnam the commission which he brought on from Congress, without any delay. From others he withheld their commissions for a time. Some of the Brigadier Generals felt aggrieved that they had been supersedtnl by men who ranked lower in the armies of the separate colonies, and left the army in consequence. Jealousies and heart-burnings like these called for the exercise of the highest degree of patience and tact on the part of the Commander-in-Chief; and it was for- tunate for our liberties that the country at that time had a man like George W^ashington to place in 6uprerae command. It is suflicient to add that ti ,1 wm 111-* I i ; ■ fflWll 1G4 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. those ofllrors rotnrnod to the army again, consent- ing to overlook wiiat, liad at iirst given them such deep dissatisfaetion. The l^itish iinni(Hliately began to fortify Charlesfown, and carried out the plans of Put- nam hims(>lf upon l^unker Hill. They likewise strengthened their defeni-es in Boston to the full- est eapaeity. Washington, upon taking eoin- mand, formed the army into three divisions: Major-CuMieral Lee commanded the left wing, reaching to the Mystic r'ver, — Major-General Ward commanded the right wing, stationed at Dorchester and Roxlmry, — and Major-General Putnam conunanded the advance of the centre, while the Commander-in-Chief himself made his head quarters at Cambridge. Putnam saw Wash- ington for the firs' time in his life, when he arrivd at Cambridge, and the acquaintance tlms formed ripened into a friendship and intiiiacy, which lasted through the whole of Putnam's remaining days. It is reported that a flag of truce arrived at the American lines, about this time, which had come from Major Small, the old friend of Putnam. Small wished to see Putnam on urgent business. The SIEdE OF BOSTON. 165 Ijittor oonsnltrd with Washiiifrton as to the expedi- ency of meet iiiii; liiiTi HH re(|U('ste(i; hut Wasliin^lori advised tlu^ «<<'P? find Putnam aeeordingiy went over. Major Sniall only wished to make a proposal to his former companion in arms, on behalf of the "British eom!nand(^r. It was that Pntnam should desert tlie ('ontinenial Army, throw his in(hi(Miec on the side of the Kin*]j, and re{;eiv(! tlierefor — as offered to him onee before, — high rank, a iilx-ral compensation in money, and bountiful provision for his sons. Putnam treated the proposal as he had treated it one(* before, — with in(li<^nati()n and scorn. Th(? story goes, that Putnam confided the proposal to no one but Washington, and that it remained a secret for several years. The Americans exerfed themselves without cessation to aedge the British in; and fortius piir- pose they erected defences and fortifications at every point, in a wide circuit of a dozen miles around Boston, — from Dorchester Heights to Charlestown, — where the enemy would be likely to make an attempt to pass through. 'J'lius they were completely blockaded, except to the seaward. Winter Hill, Prospect Hill, and Ploughed HilJ were fortified, to prevent them from making their mmm li;,; tlKN. ISKAKL rUTMAM. -i WMV np ihr Mvslif Kivcr. I'isIiimiii cxrrlrd liirn- Kt'ir i!;n'MlIy to rorlil'v i\u' I:»II(K«'(l aiiv Mdviinliiu:*' llirv iiii'Mit nU(Mn|)l 1<> lake from llicii- po^ilion on l^iiilvrr Hill, lie never relus«'(i lo w «)ri\ wllli iiin own hands, enlerini; into llie labor re«|uireil willi ail his nalive inipetuosily and ardor. (\>ni;;ress put forth a solemn Declaration of AVar, on tin (ith o( .luly. It was, at the time, quite doubt I'nl how it would be received by tlui army whicli Washington was so actively euii^a^ed in t>ri;ani/ini;; and it was feared, if they should refuse to ailopt it as an expression of their own sentiments, that they would break up and return in time io tlH'ir lu)mes. 'riiey had (Mdisted for no tlelinite piTiod, but hat! come forward as volun- teers ti> repel the assaults of the Ihitish on Hoston. The Divlaratiou was read at head- * i'S T HIKdi; (»K ItOSTON. 107 Iwiirin^ on one h'kIi! IIh- iiiollo, " An Afipnil to Heaven ^^^ ;iii;ir;i(lr(l llicnjsclvr.s in hattl*- nrniy." I^'or Bonn! lirnr siflrr, frrcjucnf; Mkirinislics ocimrn-d hclwccri i\w Iwo lioHtilc arrnicH, which IcrKlrd fo iiiaUr the raw Anjcrittaii Holdic^rH alert, and inindlul of discipline. A deseriptioii of the American (tamp in thiwe days, from the pen of an army (;haplain, is very iMt(^rcstin«^ at, this time: — " 'I'hc generals an; npon the lines every day. New orders from his vxc.vl- lency are read to the respccttive regiments, every morn inp; after prayers. 'I'Ik; strictest, government is taking pla(!(^, and great distinction is made be- tween olhccrs and soldiers. Ev(;ry one is made; to know his place, and keep in it, or to he tied up and receive thirty or forty lasln.'s, according to his crime. Thousands are at work every day, from four till eleven o'clock in the morning. It is sur- prising how much work har! hctMi done. • • • • Who would have thought, twelve months past, that all Cambridge and Charlestown would he I n ii I 1()8 QKN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. »S iMi |l covcrod ovor with AiiuMican camps, and cut np into forts, and IntrciichiiKMits, and all the lands, fields and orchards laid coininoii ; horses and cat- tle feeding in the clioicest mowing land, whole fields of corn eaten down to the ground, and large parks of well regulated locusts cut down for lire- wood and other public uses? 'JMiis, I nmst say, looks a little melancholy. My quarters are at the foot of the faiuous Prospect Tlill, where such preparatit>ns are mad(^ for the reception of the enemy. It is very diverting to walk among the camps. They are as dillerent in their forms as the owners are in their dress, and every tent is a portraiture of the temper and taste of the persons who encamp in it. Some are made of boards, and some of sail-tdoth ; some partly of one and partly of the other. Again others are made of stone or turf, brick or brush. Some are thrown up in a hurry ; others are curiously wrought with doors and windows, done with wreaths and withes, in the manner of a basket. Some are your proper tents or marquees, looking like the regular camj) of the enemy. In these are the Rhode Islanders, who ar^ furnished with tent equipage and every- thing in the most exact English style. However, SIEOE- OP nosTox. 169 I rhink Huh grojil variety rather a heanfy than a blemish in th(; army." WashingJoii felt the want, of powder in hit* army, durin<^ tiiis siiinmer and aututrm, mon^ than anything else. II(^ fonnd, to his surprise, that at one time he had but thirty-two barrels for the entire army. Privateersmen were fitted out to attack tlie enemy's vessels that were hovering on the coast, and oik; of the latter was finally cap- tured by Capt. Manly, with a large supply of cannon and ammunition. There wer<'. no powder mills in the coloni(!s then. Washington was very much afraid, too, lest iYr: British commander should find out his condition in this particular. Vessels were fitted out from various ports for the West Indies, to bring back supplies of |)o\vder alone. New England rum was sent to the coast of Africa, where it was exchanged for the much needed commodity. The British numbered about thirteen thousand men, while the Americans hemming them in counted nearly fifteen thousand. In November, Gen. Putnam threw up other fortifications on Cobble Hill, which was somewhat nearer to the enemy in Boston than Ploughed Hill, which had 16 *•' i; i M m , ' 1 . i 170 UKN. ISUAKL PUTNAiV. t»ln'M«ly Imm'm ii(« at l*i«)s|)('('l Hill, wliicli wms IiIh \\V'm\ (HiarhTs, was calltMl "our main loiircss." Tlu" l\>rm«M* was brislvly linMJ upon l»y Is, wliiN' I lie uirn wen* cn^a^cd in tlnowiiii; it np; but no daniau^c resulted. As st>on, lu>wev(M*,ns tlu^ tort ilicat ions were couiplrtcd, i\\o guns that were uioun((»d witliin tluMu (»pen«'d on the i^iui-boats and batteri«'s of tlie iMieniy on Ciiarles riv(>r, and elleetually drt»v«' them iVom tlieir troulilesome ]>osition. (Jeuerai (Jaj^e was btu'omini' uneasy, thus shut in by the American iirmv. His nuMi h»v idle; vice was last iuereasini' in the ranks; intoxieation was biH'oiuinij^ tpiite oonuuon ; and llu^ entire body o( the troops showed sii^ns oi' a rapid tlemoralization. He saw his mistake in remaininjj^ where he was. Ho daretl not mareli out into the surroundiuij; eoun- try, antl strike a blow* ; Tor it mii^hl be tliat lie had not the present strength. Tlu>re was also much rising diealVeciion both among his otlicers and j*olditTs. The Amerieans printed handbills, and circulated them secretly within the J3rilish lines; , ^U 81 KG I? OV IIOHTON. 171 hihI IIicm(. Irilliii^r lliin^M were n iin.IifKM-jniHf .,f IK'niiiin.-nl miHcliirC. Tlicn- in ?i liaiidhiH „„w in poHSCMMinii (.(' ||„. M:,ss;ir|i.isrllH I liHloricj.l SiU'i- <'ty, wliicli WMH priiilcd ill London, arid circiilalcd iminiif^r IIm' Holdicrs who wen- alMnil lo nnhark m rcinrontcnirnlH Cor yXnirrica. On onn Hide is IIm, |)lirasc, « /{r/„rr (Jod and man. Ihrii arc rif^lur On Ihc hack of Ihc Hairic, and rvid.-ntly printed Jiflrr ilH arrival in (hi.s coimlry, were; fwo sfato- incnls, as follows, llic n-adrr n-mcnibrrin^' tliaf, at Prosprci Hill wen- l^l^narn's head (juartcrs, and al. HiinKcr Hill Ihosc of (;«■„. Ilowf!:—^ rnosn:(rr hill,. J. Scjvcn dollars a rnonili, II. Fresh j)rovisions, and in plf^nty. III. Ilcahh. IV. freedom, ease, a(niienct!, and a good farm. m?i\KKH HILL. T. Thrco pcnco a day. II. Rot fen salt pork. III. TIk; scurvy. IV. Slavery, l)e£2^^mry and want. Oeneral (ia«r(. wrote home to Lord Dartmouth, in the month of June, — " The trials we have had, I 172 UEN. ISUAEL I'l'TNAM. show lliat the r«'l)('ls nro not i\\c (IcspicMbIc rahblo tt)o inaiiy have supposed llicm to Ik*." In .July li(* wrote ni»aiM, in sp(*!ikin«j[ of tlu* rrhcllion, — "This province beii^iin it, — I ini«,'ht say this town; for lu're the arch rebels formed their scheme long ago." Provisions at length began to grow very Hcaree. (iage sentout parties to obtain pinndcr of this sort, but they always retnrn(>(l nnsuccess- fnl. I'^inaliy, in order to thin out the population, it was determined to dismiss all th(* inhabitants of Boston who were willing to go; it being esti- mated that there were between six and seven thousand in the town, wiiose absence would make cpiite a dillerence in the amount of supplies rc- (piired. 'J'hose who wislied to leave were told to send in their names; but as they were expressly forbidden to carry any of their ))late away, or money to the amount of more than five pounds — or twenty-live dollars, — to each person, not more than two thousand names were given in. People of property would not go, to leave their wealth behind them, to be seized and divided among a foreign soldiery. But in the number of those who did leave, many of the women quilted their silver spoons and coin into their under-gar- i i SIEOE OP nORTO>f. 173 to ot in. Mr rnciits, ari ' i 176 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. authority to collect such an army as he could along his route, and then make the best defences for the city he was able. Coimecticut espec- ially lu'lped him to a large force. He at once proceeded, therefore, to fortify the city, the heights on Long Island, and the Highland passes on the Hudson. Washington resolved at length to force the enemy to an engagement, in spite of the advice of a council of war to the contrary. He therefore made ready to occupy a strong position on Dorchester Heights, where he could command the town and the harbor. These heights are now within what is called South Boston. On the night of the 2d of March, he opened his fires from an ojjposite direction upon the city. These he kept up for the two nights fol- lowing. The object of this was, to deceive the British as to his real intentions ; so that when Ihey looked up at the Heights on the morning of the 5th of Me^rch, they saw the morning of the 17th of June previous acted all over again. They were struck with terror. They saw that Ihe Americans now had it in their power to do fcrith them almost what they chose. They had SIEGE OF BOSTON. 177 ain. Imt do had but one conrst^ to pursuo, and that was to re- treat. The British conuiiandcr planned an ex- pedition against th(! fortified Americans, under the command of Lord IVrcy, but it amounted to nothing. A storm succeeded in scattering the boats in which th(; troops had embarked, which Washington himself very deeply regretted ; for had it occurred otherwise, he was sure that the entire British army would have fallen into his hands. His own plan was to send a division into the city from another quarter, the moment the force under Lord Percy should leave it to attack Dorchester Heights; and (Jen. Putnam was to have led on this assault, with four thous- and men. The story goes, that while this plan of Washington's was under discussion in the council of otficers, Putnam could not sit easy in his chair, but kept going continually to the door and windows to look out. Washington urged him to be quiet, — to sit down and give his advice as certain questions came up to be decided. " Oh," said Putnam, " you may plan the battle to suit yourself. General, and I will fight it I" Whether true or not, it is character- istic enough to be quite probable. * M fef.M Hi' 'i; Mi: ; I i !u 178 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. Nook's nil! — which was still nearer to the British — was fortified on the night of the 16th of March, and then they knew they might as well be going. Accordingly they made all pos- sible haste to embark. They began to move at yunrise, and by the middle of the forenoon were on board their vessels, and on their way out to sea. This was glorious news indeed. Bo.-^ton was at once ordered to be occupied by two de- tachments of troops, under command of Gen. Putnam He took possession of all the fortifi- cations which were thus hastily deserted, amid ge.:?rai congratulations and rejoicings. It is re- lated that the British left wooden sentries on Bunker Ilill, with muskets fixed upon their shoulders ; but they inspired the Americans with no great amount of fear, and did not so much as serve to draw the charge from a sin- gle musket. i ;gi m CHAPTER IX. OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. THE British Hoof, with all the troops on board, sailod im mediately to Halifax. Gen. Howe expected at that point to be reinforced from England, before proceeding to make any further demonstrations against the Colonists. But he soon found his quarters there too close to be altogether comfortable, and af- terwards left for New York, reaching Staten Island in the latter pan, of .In no. Major General Lee, having had time merely io plan his defences in and around New York, was ordered in haste to take connnajid of the Souri en irmy, and posted oil to South Caro- lina for that j)urpose. Putnam was sent to New York in his place, ,ind assumed command there forthwith, receiving his ord(>rs from Gen. Washington on the 29ih of Mar.-h, or only 180 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. twolvo c'ays after the* British loft Boston. Ilia spt'ciiil duty was to coiiipk'te tho defences that had been designed by (jJen. Lee, and to put tlic army under his immediate command in as good a state of diseipiine as he could. His head- ((uarters in New York were opposite Bowling Green. His family were with him there, and in his military family were, with others. Major Aaron Burr, his own son, and Major — after- wards Colonel — Humphreys, who wrote the first biography of the old soldier that was ever read. Gen. Putnam had hard work to quell the feel- ing of disalTection which he found to be so com- mon around him. Oftentimes j)lots w^ere set on foot by Americans who favored the British cause, to overthrow which required all his vig- ilance and industry. There were j)lenty of loyalists on Long Island, and in New Jersey, who were not at all backward in aiding the de- signs of the enemy, by performing the service of > pies upon the doings of the Americans. At one time tliey had matured a plan to suddenly seize the person of Gen. Putnam, and deliver him o\er to the British. Putnam declared mar- tial law, whicli of course subjected the city to OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 181 pfrict military rnlo, snrli as prevails in a camp. No inhabitant was allowed to pass any sentry at night, who conld not give the countersign. Th(^ |)eople, likewise, not yet. having had any open rupture in that quarter with the British, were in the habit of trading with their vessels in certain coinmodit' • that were wanted by them, which of course p'roduced a strikingly bad effect ; this traffic General Putnam forth- with stopp?»d ; he would not tolerate any com- merce or communication between the fleet and the shore. Those who were taken in the act of goiiig to and fro, were treated as open ene- mies. He appointed an Inspector for the port, whose duty it was, among other things, to give permits to the oystermen. He sent n body of a thousand men over to fortify Governor's Island, and also threw up de- fences at Red Hook, and along the Jersey shore. The great object then was, to prevent the British from landing; having no navy, it was useless for the Americans to think of giving any trouble to the enemy's fleet where it was. Finding that the expected reinforcemetits were but slow in coming forward, the British general again put 16 ♦' f. !IH!||i;i|! 182 6EN. ISIiAEL PUTNAM. to sea hoping perhaps to fall in with them. Put- nam, however, still kept at work according to the original jilan, antl performed a vast deal of labor, lilth^ of wiiieh at this time makes any sliow on record, in rendering the cily saft; against the assaults of enemies either without or within. A British shi(), about this time, sent a boat on shore for refreshments, containing a midship- man and twelve sailors. Putnam ordered an attack on all such visitors, agreeably to which order two of this boat's crew were killed and the rest taken ))risoners, Washington l''ft Boston, and reached New York about the middle of April. lie very well knew that the next effort of the British would be to strike a successful blow here, for, with a base line for operations like New York, they could j)enetrate northward to Canada, eastward into New England, or westward into New Jer- sey and Pennsylvania. Hence his exertions were all put forth to prevent the city's falling into their hands. Governor's Island had been forti- fied by Gen. Putnam already ; which elfectually cnecked the entrance of the ships from the Narrows. Hulks were now sunk in the chuu- OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 183 d nels of East River and the Hudson, to pre- vent their vessels corning up. The great need about the fortifications was heavy cannon. Could the Americans have been j)roperly sup- plied with these, the city would never have fall- en into th(; hands of the British as easily as it afterwards did. While atVairs remained in this posture, Washington went on to Philadel[)hia, to exchange views with Congress, which was stiil in session there ; and during his absence Put- nam again resumed the chief command, lie was much occupied, in the absence of the Com- mander-in-chief, in putting down the secret schemes and plots of the Toriet:, many of whom where to be found in the lower counties near the city, on Long Island, and aioi'g the Connecticut shore. Several of this class were arrested, and one was finally tried and executed, as an example. It being continually expected that the enemy would soon arrive with a larger fleet and army, every exertion was made to be ready to give them a fitting reception. Congress recommend- ed the building of fire-boats, or rafts, to oppose the ships in their entrance from the xVarrows ; WTiT IPWII^ 184 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. f,; 1:4 and io iliis siihjcct Gen. Putnam gave his imme- diate and earnest attention. Tlur expeetation of the daily ariivid of a hiri^e Ikitish fleet was not a vain one; for Howe's brother — Lord Jlowe, or Achnira! Howe, as he was called, — soon made his appearance oil' New Yoriv, with reinforce- ments that at once i^ave the conllict a mnch more serious character than it had even assinned before. This arrival occurred about the middle of July. .Tust previous to this event, however, the inmiortal Declaration of lndej)endenc(; had been passed by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, declaring the Colonies of North America no longer Colonies of Great Britain, but free and independent Stales. This was a stc)) forward, and, for those times, quite a long one. It was extremely doubtful how this act on the part of Congress would be received by the army, and much anxiety was for a time felt concerning it. John Hancock, the President of the American Congress, sent a copy of it to Gen. Wasliington, who inunedia^ely caused it to be read at the head of the army, at six o'clock in the evening, accompanying his order with the recommendations of a true and large-souled pa- triot. OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK 185 Together with the foree under Admiral Howe, and that of (Jen. CNnton, who had also returned at ahoiit \\\o same time; from llie sontli, (r«'n. Howe was phieed at the head of an army of nearly twenfv-iive thousand men, the vtTy ilovver of thi; Knrt)})<'an armies. Many of these were troops that had !)een hired for the war by Eng- land, wlio were eallcd mercenaries. The Hes- sians wer(^ of this eharaeter. These troops were experienced in the art of war, and were already in a very high state of discipline. Against them the American Commander (;ould muster only about seventeen thousand men, raw militiamen, but ivn thousand of whom were said to be good for anything like active service. The design of the British General was to pass up the Hudson, and, by preventing any further union between the people of the Eastern and Middle States, to conquer the one and put a stop to what was still considered only a growing disallection in the other. Accordingly, not long after their arrival off Staten Island, two vessels of war set out and run the gauntlet of the American fortifica- tions, on their way up the Hudson. The Ameri- can guns opened on them as they passed, but 16* (. !. 'In** ill 1 i ■ ' ' M|i| 1 i 18G GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. \-4.i A tli<; wind being favorable, they received litlU; or no damage ; by taking advantage, also, of a very liii!;li lide, the enemy's vessels cleared the sunken luillvs without any diliiculty. After jiassing the forts, they anchored in Tappan Zee, a broad part of the river some forty miles above the city. In this position they could not be reached from the shore, and they could intercept whatever sup- plies came down the river for the American army. The most that could be done by the American commander to amioy the enemy in their new position, was done faithfully. To this end firc- boats were constructed, and chcvaux-de-frise was sunk across the river. Fourteen fire-ships were prepared to sail secretly among the enemy's ves- sels of war, and destroy them by burning. But, as it turned out, nothing came of all these in- genious devices. The Americans should have had a well equipj)ed navy, in order to success- fully compete with the enemy hovering on their coasts. There v/as one invention, however, that excited a great deal of interest then, and de- serves to be mentioned in this place. It was a marine apparatus, called the " American Tur- OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 18T tie," and was the device of a man ])y the name of Buhlmeil, lH'l{)HL(inii^ to ('Oinunrtieut. It was a maehiiic, sliajM'd ;is iir:irly like; a turtle as ini<,dit be, large; ciioiig in its iiiti'rior to contain a man, and provided witli a galvanic; apparatus and a supply of j)o\vder wit'n wliieii, after liaving first secured tin; powder to tlie !)ottom of the enemy's vessel, to produce an exj)losion. 'JMu; miui sit- ting within it could row himself about in any direction, and was furnished with lead ballast to siidv himself out of sight below the surface of th(; wat(;r. It so chanced that Buslmell could not accom- pany this machine on the expedition for which it was designed, and so a fellow named Bije (Abijah) Shipman was procured in his j)lace. Putnaiu, with several oth(T odicers, went down to the shore, early one morning, the design be- ing to drift down the stream and fasten his ex- plosive instrument underneath the ilag-ship of Admiral Howe, — the Eagle. Just as he was about to ensconse himself within tlie curious craft, he must needs imagine that he could not get along without a (piid of tobacco, lie stuck his head out of his hiding-place, and told Clcn. :jMiJi»i ' { i 188 UEN. ISRAEL I'UTNAM. Pntnani Ihat ho must have a fresh cud, the old cud ill his iijoulii would not lust him half the way tJK'rt'. None of tiic^ oflioors could just then supply his want, Ihough.thcy promised him all he wanted at a future time. He declared he knew the plan would fail, and all for the want of a fresh chew of tobacco ! It did fail. Put- nam watch(Hl late into the morning to witness th(! explosion under the Admiral's ship, but none took place. He studied the proceeding keenly through his glass, and at last descried the little black object drifting away just to the left of the Eagle. It had not come up quite in the right place. The sentinels on board the shi() saw it as it rose, and fired olf their muskets at the strange object. " Bije " went under as if they had sunk him with their shot. He had de- tached his powder magazine, which exploded in about an hour after, as designed, throwing up a tremendous spout of water all around. The Eagle, as well as the other vessels of the lleet near by, made haste to lift their anchors out of the mud and sail away. From tiiat day until New York finally fell into the hands of the British, their vessels kept at a very safe I! ■> OPKUATIONS IN KEW YORK. 189 find rcsprctful distanco. " Dijc " dcchircd llmt lie got his turth' under the ]'iagh', as intended; but, on the first trial, tlie screw with wliieh he was to secure tlie ])ow(U'r-niagazine to her bottom struck against a j)iece of iron ; this made liim " uarvous," and he could do noth- ing afterwards ! It all fell through, just be- cause he was obliged to hurry olf without a fresh cud of tobacco ! "Washington ordered Gen. Greene to take up his position at Brooklyn, on Long Island, which was strongly fortified against an attack from the Island, by a line of defences extend- ing around from Wallabout Bay to Gowanus's Bay. These were considered sutlicient ])ro- tcction against the approaches of the British by the land, while other defences furnished se- curity against attacks by sea. Bc^hind these defences stretching from one bay to the other, was a high ridge, — or back-bone, so to call it, — thickly covered with a growth of wood. There were only three places where they could be traversed by a force of cavalry, or through which artillery could be taken ; and at these three |)oints were roads, regularly constructed, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ./d? 7 ''' \^- / <. ^° ^^ 1.0 I.I |iO '■^* t 1^ 1.25 1.4 25 "l|M 1.6 6" i V] / ^ ^ '%A '^ .V c^ y^ Scimces Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ iV \\ ^9> % V i 2 Si: ; i OBI 190 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. which led from the ferry at the Narrows to Brooklyn itself. Unfortunately enough, Gen. Greene fell sick of a fever, just at this critical time, and the command devolved on Gen. Sullivan. On the 2:2d day of August, the Britishj under com- mand of Gen. Clinton, commenced landing from their ships, being well protected by their guns. They made one encampment at Flatland, and another, chiefly of Hessians, at Flatbush. The British were divided, in fact, into three sec- tions ; a right, a centre, and a left. Lord Corn- wallis commanded the first, De Heister the second, and Grant the third. The wooded heights formed the natural barrier between the two armies. If the British, therefore, were to fall upon the American forces, they could hope to reach them only by one of the three rodds, or passes, above mentioned. Washington sent over Gen. Putnam to take command of the camp in Brooklyn, on Sunday, the 25th dny of August. The battle — called the Battle of Long Island in history — took place on the 27th. With Putnam likewise went over a reinforcement of troops, consist- m I m OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 191 ing of siv battalions. The directions were par- ticularly to protect the passes through the woods by every means possible. Gen. Sullivan had pushetl forward from the American camp in Brooklyn, and erected a strong redoubt on the heights that commanded Flatbush, where the Hessians lay in force. To the east t)f tlie wood, there was a nar- row pass that conducted from Jamaica to Bed- ford, and so to the rear of the American works occupier) 0-- ^er.. Sullivan. This was so cir- cuitous to reach, that it was thought the point least in danger ; and perhaps, also, in conse- quence of the sudden illness of Gen. Greene and the consequent change of command, its importance as a post in the entire plan of de- fences had not received quite as much atten- tion as it deserved. Gen. Clinton fonnd out the party which guarded this pass was not so strong but that they might b(^ easily overcome; and ill order to take timely advantagt; of the dis- covery, he left his camp at Flatland, at nine o'clock on the evening of the 26th, and stealthily marched round to surprise the militia stationed there. lie reached the place just before the !l. m »iil h i i T ill t i\ 192 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. day dawned ; and so unexpected was his ap- proach, that the entire party surrendered them- selves prisoners, withoul, offering any resist- ance. This single point turned the entire for- tunes of tlie day. Clinton had previously arranged, that at about the tinne when he should have taken this pass, the right division should make demonstrations on the American left, or against the other ex- treme of their lines, in order to draw off their attention from the real danger. These arrange- ments were carried out to the letter, and with surprising success. Gen. De Heister also made a simultaneous attack with his Hessians upon Gen. Sullivan's redoubt over Flatbush. But neither attack was intended to be much more than a feint to keep the Americans from any suspicion of the real design. So that Clinton finally stole unobserved through the easterly pass, leading from Jamaica, with the van of the Brit- ish army, supplied with all the artillery and cav- alry he would be likely to require, and success- fully turiied the American left. And not until the British had, in fact, come round and sud- denly burst on the American rear, were the OPEJIATIONS IN NEW lOllX. 193 latter aware of their danger. De Heister now seriously attacked Cen. Sullivan's works in the centre, while Clinton came upon them in the rear. There they were, hemmed in between two divisions of a hostile army. There was no alternative but to surrender, and Sullwan did surrender. He was taken prisoner himself, as well as a large part of the force under his immediate command. Many of the Americans, however, fought their desperate way through the enemy that pressed hotly upon them, and Iretreated in safety to the camp at Brooklyn. At the same time that the battle was going on between the American centre and the Brit- ish centre, as auove described. Gen. Grant was bringing up the British left to attack the Amer- ican right, commanded by Lord Stirling. This resulted also in a rout of the latter force, most of whom, however, made good their way back to Brooklyn. Stirling was himself taken pris- oner, together with the body of militia he had led forward to the vigorous assault which he made upon the enemy in order the belter to cover the retreat of the remainder. Sullivan did all that a brave man, suddenly surrounded 17 I IT LlAg . '\m\ b* '. I. P t * * i I I 1 I I 4-4 i .!! i ,1' i 194 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. by an enemy far superior in numbers, could have hoped to do. He fought bravely for two long hours, maintaining his ground for that time against odds that would have appalled many a commander less courageous and self-reliant than he. Gen. Washington came over from New York during the heat of the engagement, and, from the camp in Brooklyn, himself witnessed the hopeless loss of the day. The British were two against the Americans' one, and our troops were in all respects inferior to th<"/se whom they were called to meet. The Commander- in-chief could not suppress his deep excitement, at seeing the havoc thus suddenly produced by the enemy ; yet there was nothing that he could do then to retrieve the fallen fortunes of his army. Gen. Putnam continued to carry out his orders in strengthening the defences of the camp, and providing for the next step that had already been decided on. For it became instantly evident that the Americans could not hold their present position. They must either risk another attack from Clinton, OPERATIONS IX NEW YORK. 195 which could terminate only in signal disaster, or take counsel of prudence, and retreat. Washington chose the latter. Had the Brit- ish pursued their success without any delay, they would unquestionably have struck the last and heaviest blow at the American Revolution ; it would then have appeared on the pages of history only as a rebellion. But in the very flush and excitement of victory, they suffered the main advantage, and their only permanent advantage, too, to escape them. The neglect was very similar to that of which they were guilty immediately after carrying the works on Bun- ker Hill. There were less than five thousand Americans in this battle, on the 27th of Aug- ust, of which number the army lost some eleven hundred, and the most of those, prisoners. The estimate goes that nearly two thirds of all who were engaged were under Lord Stirling, on the American right, the greater part of whom effected their retreat to the camp in perfect safety. The prisoners taken comprised the small parties at the pass on the Jamaica road, who were captured by Clinton before daybreak, and the body under Gen. Sullivan, who found 196 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. fi' * .? themselves suddenly beset on one side by the Hessians, and on the other by the British, un- der Clinton, who had stolen around and fallen upon their rear. The enemy, instead of pushing forward at the moment of victory, contented themselves with sitting down before the American defences, and at once began to erect batteries from which to assail them. Clinton fell to this work with energy, on the very next night after the battle. On that same night, too, Wasnington and Put- nam silently removed their camp, with all its provisions, equipage, ammunition, and general ac- -jompaniments, and went over the river. There were nine thousand men to be got across, and it must all be done in a few hours, and in perfect silence. Washington proved himself equal to so wonderful a task ; one which has rarely been equalled, certainly never surpassed, in the annals of successful or unsuccessful war. The British sentinels descried the American rear-guard crossing over in the midst of the fog, just as the day broke in the east. The latter were clear out of reach of the enemy's guns, and had eluded them in a way they least ex- OPERATIOXS IN NEW YORK. 107 The entire Americfin army, lliorefoir, now lay concentrated in New York. Governor's It^lancl was abandoned, and ail the troops were called in. The British possessed themselves of the deserted positions on Long Island witliont any delay, and thus the two armies were separated only by the narrow breadth of East River, at the farthest pomt not more than a half mile across. 17* M umi' li,'\ ? H B'rit i I CHAPTER X. RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. ALONG line of fortifications was at once erected by the British on Long Island. A portion of tlieir fleet sailed around and entered the Sound at its eastern extremity, but the main body of it remained at anchor not far from Governor's Island, to operate in the direction of either the East or Hudson river, as the case might be. Washington's quick eye saw what was the enemy's object, at a glance. They intended to cut off his communication with the back country, and by surrounding him and his army where they then were — on New York Island, — to compel a speedy surrender, and so bring the war at once to a close. In order to foil the enemy, he proceeded to send off the stores that were not immediately required for the army. Next he formed the army RETREAT OP THE AMERICAN ARMY. 199 into three divisions, one of which ••emained to defend the eity, which was placed under com- mand of General Putnam, — one was seiit to King's bridge, some distance up the island, — and one was stationed between the other two, so as to be ready to go to the help of eitlu;r in case of an attack. Tlius they remained from the Hth of September until the 1:2th. It was plain that an assault was to be made very soon, and a council of war at last concluded it was best to evacuate the city forthwith. The stores had already been removed, and were now safe. On the 15th of September the retreat itself began. It com menced a little sooner than was at first intended, on ac- count of an attack from the enemy at Kip's Bay, some three miles above the city. The Americans who were stationed thc^re fled in a cowardly man- ner when they saw the enemy approaching, and the reinforcement of two brigades sent up from the city by Putnam, likewise turned and fled as soon as they came in sight of the deserted works. "Washington hurried to the spot in a towering excitement, and with his flashing sword ordered the panic-stricken men whom he met to turn back and give the enemy battle. But neither menaces i' i\ 4 ( 200 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. w . nor pcrsoiijil example availed. For himself he appeared perfeetly reckless. Tie was left almost alone wirniii ei<^hly yards of Ihe eMcmy, who were already hei^imiing to surround him ; and had not Bome of the soldiers who were n<'ar sprang forward and forcibly turijed his horse by the bridle, he must have been taken prisoner. Upon this movement, the Americans fell back upon Ilarlacm Heights. The British ships — a part of them — three days afterwards moved towards the upper end of the island on the Hud- son river side, and anchored opposite Blooming- dale. Putnam retreated last from the city, and of course was exposed to a double danger; he had to run the gauntlet of the enemy now occu- pying the main road on the easterly oide of the island, and the fire of the ships that had taken position on the Hudson at Bloom ingdale. He chose the latter route for his retreat, and began his rapid march. It was an extremely sultry day, and the men were quite overcome with the heat and fatigue. They fell fainting by the side of the road, as they hurried on ; they stopped to slake their feverish thirst at the brooks, and lay down and died while in the act of drinking. The exertions wr RETREAT OP THE AMERICAN ARMY. 201 mado lluit day by (Jt'iicral Putnam were almost Buperhnman. lie pushed liis horse to llie top of his speed, ridiiii^ from one etid of liis division to the Otin'r. Thi; animal was lieeked with foairy. Major Humphreys, his hio«i:raplier, who was with him on that trying oeeasion, wrote that when they had nearly reached Bloomingdale, an aid-de-eamj) came from Putnam "at full sjM-ed, to inform the regiment to which he belonged that a column of British infantry was close upon their right. The regiment filed oil' rapidly to the left, and their rear was fired upon just as they had slipped })ast the line which the British uad now succeeded in drawing across from river to river. The Colonel of the regiment was shot down and killed on the spot. The other divisions of the army had given up General Putnam's command for lost ; audit was not until after dark that his brigades all came in safety inside the lines. Considering the many difficulties wdth which Putnam had to contend, his safe retreat is to be set down as a truly won- derful performance. Sir Henry Clinton had hurried over from Kip's Bay, on the easterly side, expecting to cut olf Put- nam's force, should it previously have escaped the 202 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. VI snares set for it below. In the pursuit of this plan, it was necessary for him to pass along the east of Murray Tlili, and intercept the Americans at a point beyond. On Murray Hill lived a gentle but very shrewd Quaker lady, the mother of the well-known grammarian, Lindley Murray. Gen- eral Putnam sent forward a message to her, request- ing her, when Sir Henry Clinton should reach her house, to detain him by some innocent stratagem until the American army could have time to get beyond his reach. The course of the latter lay to the west of the hill, and so on northwardly. Presently the British general came along. Mrs. Murray was known to several of the odicers, and it was thought no more than an act of courtesy in her to go to the door and invite them all in to take a glass of wine. They were glad to accept such an invitation, and accordingly went in and sat down to her hospitalities. The ladies present engaged the olTicers in agreeable conversation, and they very soon became oblivious how time was flying. Presently a negro servant, wiio had been stationed by his mistress on the top of the house to keep watch, entered the room and gave the sign previously agreed on. Upon which Mrs. 'f I =t RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 203 Murray bogged Sir Henry Clinton to step out after her, as she had something she wished to show him. He followed her in silenee to the observatory on the house-top; and she then pointed triumphantly to the retreating column of Americans in the distance, already marching over the plains of Bloomingdale. The General did not so much as stop to take his leave, much less to thank his fair hostess for her hospitalities ; but dashed at a headlong pace down the stairs, mounted his hoFLC, and called on his troops to follow after at the top of their speed. But his intended victims had quite escaped him. The hospitable ruse of the lady had done its work well. The British under General Howe were thus in full possession of New York, a portion of their force occupying the city, but the greater part being pushed forward to the upper end of the island. They stretched their hostile lines across from one river to the other. Up at King's bridge were the Americans, as strongly fortified as their position allowed. Advanced posts were also occupied by the American troops, at one of which General Putnam was placed in command. Par- ties of the enemy appeared in the plains between irr ^ p 204 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. the two hostile camps, shortly after the retreat of the Americans to King's bridge. Lieut. Col. Knowlton, — a very brave young officer from Con- necticut, who served at the rail-fence during the battle of Bunker Hill, — came in and reported to the Commander-in-chief the strength of one of these skirmishing parties. He was immediately ordered to make a circuit and gain the enemy's rear, at the same time that an attack was made on them in front. The enemy saw fit to change their position before Knowlton became aware of it, and he fell upon them rather in flank than in rear. In the heat of the conflict, to which he led his men forward with very marked bravery, he fell, pierced with the enemy's bullets. His wounds proved mortal; but the men under him maintained their ground, and finally drove the British from their position entirely. No one in the army felt the death of Knowlton more than General Put- nam. He was his particular pet and favorite ; he had served under him in the French and Indian war, was also present at the taking of Montreal, and bore a part in the memorable hardships attend- ant on the Havana expedition. He was born but a few miles above Pom fret, in the town of Ashford, RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY 205 . and had risen from rank to rank in the army with great rapidity. General Washington lamented his death in his g( «ral orders of the next day, taking the same occasion to hold him np to the army as an example of bravery well worth their emulation. In contrasting the conduct of the men on that day with their cow^ardly conduct at Kip's Bay, Washington observed that this last skirmish showed " what may be done, where offi- cers and soldiers will exert themselves." The policy of the British commander now, as the armies lay opposite one another, was to bring on a general engagement. Washington, however, was averse to putting so much to hazard. While he felt very certain that in a pitched battle he could hardly expect anything but defeat, he was also quite as well satisfied that he had it in his power to harass the enemy to the last extremity of endurance. Upon this latter, and only remain- ing plan, therefore, he had at last determined. But General Howe was not yet willing to give over all further eflbrts to tempt, or force, the American commander into the field. Disap- ■pointed, however, in one way, he was none the less ready to try another. Accordingly he set on 18 If™ 11. f i l 'iJf'ff^-'"^' ?'"WfW saBSRB IH 206 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. i!« |Uf: I I k * foot a plan to gain their rear, cut them off from all communication with supplies in the back couO' try, and, having thus surrounded them, to force them to lay down their arms. Nothing was more plausible, in the way of a plan, and the results expected from it would be very certain to follow ; but the trouble arose in the attempt to carry it out into practice. Still, Howe was eager to make such an attempt. For this purpose, he ordered several vessels of war up the Hudson, which managed to pass Forts Washington and Lee without receiving any material damage; a few days afterwards he took with him, in flat bottomed boats, a large part of his army up through Hell Gate, and landed at Frog's Point, not far from the village of Westchester. This was about nine miles above the American encampment on the heights of Haerlem. The British next set out across the country in the direction of White Plains. The American force lay stretched along a line some dozen miles in extent, all the way from King's bridge to White Plains. They invariably held possession of the heights along the route, which gave them every desirable natural advantage. As General Howe RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 207 had now disposscd the two armies by his new movement, the little Bronx river was all that lay between them. On the other bank of Ihe Bronx, and about a mile from the main body, was posted Gen. McDougall, with fifteen hundred militia. H^ occupied a hill also, and it was easy for his men to wade the river over to the main body, at the point where he was stationed. Howe deter- mined to attack this position of Gen. McDougall, for which purpose he despatched one body of Hessian troops to march around and surprise him in rear, while a second body of British and Hes- sians came up and assailed him in front. The Americans, after a vigorous resistance, were com- pelled to give way, but they kept up a spirited and galling fire from behind the stone walls as they retreated. Putnam was ordered to reinforce McDougall, and hastened to do so ; but he met the latter in full retreat, and it was not judged proper to try to retake the height from which his men had been dislodged. Washington expected that the British would follow up this advantage with a general attack, and he labored energetically through Ihe night to increase the strength of his present defences. m 208 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. I 'I Vi Howe concludrd to postpone the attack, liovvever, till another occasion. In the meantime, on the night of the first of November, which was dark and opportune for the purpose, Washington with- drew his whole army to a post about five miles distant, whither he had already managed to send his baggage and provisions. Howe was not in- clined to offer him any further molestation where he was, but turned his attention to Forts Wash- ington and Lee, which the Americans continued to hold, much to the annoyance of the British, because they were still in their rear. First he made a demonstration against Fort Independence, at King's bridge. The Americans deserted that fortification as soon as they saw the British ap- proaching, and retreated to Fort Washington. A detachment of British pursued, and took up a position between Fort Washington and Fort Lee; while the rest of the army, with General Howe a. their head, returned by the Hudson to New York. It was thus apparent to Washington that Howe contemplated an invasion of New Jersey. To provide against this, he ordered General Putnam to take command of all the troops enlisted from the west of the Hudson, and to cross the river at r "■w^wnn !^^5WiWB!PP!li|iPP"P ■PPSHIBP ^ RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 209 once. This he did on the 8th of November, and posted himself at Ilnekensack. Fort Lee was placed in the command of General Greene, with power to defend Fort Washington, which was on the New York side of the river. Greene was invested with discretionary powers in relation to the defence of these two posts, and a ditlerence of opinion arose between himself and Washing- ton as to the policy of attempting to hold them any longer. The Commander-in-chief believed the etTort useless, especially as the enemy were concentrating their forces for an assault ; but Greene thought they should be held to the very last, and proceeded to strengthen Fort Washing- ton accordingly. He placed Colonel McGaw in command there, with what he considered an ad- equate force to defend the place. On Ihe l/)th of November, McGaw received a summons from Gen. Howe to surrender, threatening, ii ne did not, that the gjirrison should be put to the sword. McGaw refused, and sent a despatch across the river to Greene, informing him of his situation. Greene in turn forwarded the intelligence to Gen- eral Washington, who was at Hackcnsack with Putnam. Washington hastened to Fort Lee, and, 18* 210 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. L not findinp^ Oroono thero, pushed in the night across the river to the other fort. lie met Green and Putnam in the river, on the way back, with the news that the garrison would hold out with- out any difficulty. Accordingly all three went back to Fort Lee. On the very next day, how- ever, the British g(meral stormed Fort Washing- ton and put the garrison to the sword, as he had threatened. On that single day, three thousand of the Americans perished. It w^as worse than useless now to attempt to hold Fort Lee, and Washington directed the immediate removal of the ammunition and stores. They set to work to accomplish this as hastily as possible ; but before they could fairly get clear of danger, they found themselves nearly hemmed in by a British force under Lord Connvallis, on the tract between the Hudson and Hackensack rivers. They managed to secure their escape across the Hackensack, but it was at a great risk ; and even then, they left their cannon, tents, and a large quantity of stores behind them, which in their precipitate flight they were compelled to relinquish. And now they were hardly better off than before; for parallel with the Hackensack runs the Passaic a- J! r.ETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 211 for a long distance. The British could again horn them in, if they followed up the pursuit; and to avoid the same danger the second time, they effected another hasty retreat across the Passaic. Now began to set in the dark days of the Rev- olution. The militia were discouraged with noth- ing but retreat and defeat, and left the army in large numbers as fast as their terms of enlistment expired. The military stores amounted to scarcely anything worth mentioning. It was late in No- vember, and bleak winter was close at hand. Not more than three thousand men in all still remained under the standard of Washington. All around them were disaffected persons and open loyalists; and the army had thus a double foe to fight, and a double danger to overcome. One by one the cities of New Jersey fell into the enemy's hands,— Newark, New Brunswick, Princeton, and Trenton; they took possession of the country as fast as the Americans retreated. And when that "phantom of an army " — as Hamilton called it, — that still clung to Washington, crossed the Delaware on the eighth day of December, there was nothing but that single river between the over-running enemy and the city where the Continental Con- wmmnm VP 212 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. gross daily mot to consult for ilic fntnro of tho ii'.itioii that was not yot })()rn. The brothers Ilowe — the (lonoral and tho Admiral — seemed to have everything their own way. They held the entire country from Rhode Island to the Delaware, and none knew how long before they would strike the blow, so mueh dreaded, against Philadelphia itself. They also scattered proclamations all over the land, especially among those who had not yet fully decided to eml '•ace the cause of America against England ; and in these proclamations they freely offered ))ardon and favor to all who, within a j^ivon time, would take the oath of allegiance to the King. A great number embraced the offer thus made, and bv so much of course darkened the prospects of those who were still hoping and toiling for the ultimate independence of their country. General Putnam stood by his greac Command- er's side through the whole of this dark disaster, unshaken in his resolution to do all that he could do for his native land. When others faltered, he never hesitated or swerved. Upon /lim Washing- ton knew that he could depend, even if all others finally failed him. RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 213 Congress having rcsolvrd that Philadelphia should be defended to tiio hist extremity, Putnam was directed to enter upon the work of erecting the proper fortifications. " Upon the salvation of Philadelphia," wrote Washington, " our cause almost depends." His selection of Putnam to take supreme command there, suiFiciently attests the high confidence he reposed in his ability and character. lie wrote to the President of Congress, on the 9th of December, that "a communication of lines and redoubts from the Delaware to the Schuylkill, on the north entrance of tlie city, might be formed;" that "every step should be taken to collect a force, not only from Pennsylvania, but from the neighboring states ; " and that the com- munication by water should be kept open for sup- plies. Putnam found a disat]'e( ted class of people, — and people of wealth and influence, too, — in the city, against whom it was very trying for him to set up his own authority, with any hope of success: yet he did succeed in bringing order out of disorder, and by his sleepless energy established the authority of the American arms. He was summoned before Congress to confer with that body respecting the city's safety, and in obedience Wl[ i' m i 'f 1 31 r * 214 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. to his sucrcfostions thoy resolved to adjourn, and did adjourn on the l:2tli to meet again on the !20th of December, in Baltimore. He at once j)laced the city under martial law, as he had previously done at the time h(; held supreme command in New York. Yet he was extremely prudent about making any display of his authority, too; doing nothing that would cause needless irritation on the part of the disaf- fected inhal)itants, and using every proper means to conciliate their confidence and good will, lie labored to complete the defences, with all his energy; so arduous were his exertions, that his health for a time gave way under them. He had, in fact, a double duty to perform ; to erect de- fences against the enemy without, and to secure himself from an enemy equally formidable within the city. It was while General Putnam was thus engaged, that Washington boldly moved forward and struck two decisive blows, — at Trenton, and then at Princeton, — which suddenly electrified and energized the whole army and country. It was a part of the plan to have Putnam cooperate in these brilliant exploits of the Commander-in- chief, both with a portion of his Philadelphia RETREAT OF THP AMERICAN ARMY. 215 It ite 11- lia troops and a body of Poiiiisylvania militia; but the fear of a snddrn rising among tlu; loyalists of the city made such a design impracticable. Two letters from Washington to Putnam, one just on the eve of these bold enterprisers, indicate very plainly what were the feelings of the Comtnander- in-chief at that time. In the first, he advises General Putnam to rt^move the public stores to a place of greater satety. as the enemy had said they would enter the town within twenty days; but in the other, written some days afterwards, he expresses the oj)inion tiiat the British are seized with a panic, and that he will yet be able to drive them out of the Jerseys altogether. Finding that affairs Avere thus taking a favor- able turn, he ordered Putnam into the field again. He was directed, on the 5th of January, 1777, to march the troops under his command to Cross- wick, a few miles southeast of Trt^nton, where he iTiight be able both to keep a strict watch on the enemy and to obtain any advantage that offered. Washington's plan was to harass the British army by every method within the reach of his ingenuity. Putnam was ordered to keep spies out continu- tilly, so that he might not be taken by surprise; m m ^ Mi i v» n i * , I.I , * .._!, I 21G (lEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. niid also io inuk<' it. appear to IIjc enemy, by sueli iiu'ans as lie could, thai liis iVnce was a j^i^reat deal stronger than it really was. Iiiasniueh as the IJril- isli seemed iiielined to make no deiiionstralioii against them, but rather eoneenirated for the re- mainder of the winter in New Hrunswiek and Aiuboy, Putnam was soon after t)rdered into win- ter (|uart(Ts at Princeton, which was some lifteen miles distant. He had l)nt a handful of troops with him at the most ; and iiad lie been attacked in his position at any tinu*, would have been forced to retreat without olli'ring battle. He employed every device to conceal from tho eniMuy the actual i)ancity of his numbers. In the battle of l*rinceton, C'apt. IMcPherson, a Scotch ofbcer, had received a wound which it was thought \yas about to terminate fatally. Until Putnam quartered in the town, however, he had not even had mtulical attendance, it being considered that, as he was likely io die any day, it was therefore quite useless; but Putnam provided him wath a careful physician, as soon as liis case was known, who did all that he could for his relief. Heing in his presence one day, the Scotchman prot(>sted his gratitude, and a:>ked Putuani to what country RETREAT OF TUE AMERICAN ARMY. 217 ho boiorif^od. " I am a Yaiikcr," said llio goncral. " T (lid not Ix'lit'vc," answered tlie sulierer, " that there could be so nnieh "(oodness in an AnuTicran, or in anybody l)ut a Sctotchnian." The poor fel- low thought hiinselt" about to dii", at length, and begged that a British oflicer, a friend of liis, might be sent for, undiT a Hag of truce, to come and hel|) him make his will. Putnam wished to gratify the dying man's recjuest, but it wotdd not answer to let a l^ritish ollici^r sei; what a meagre for(te h(; had around him. Indeed, to tell the truth, Ik; had but fifty men in the town at the time, all the rest of his men having been sent out to protect the country around. Putnam's mother wit, however, was as ready as ever to serve him. lie sent out a flag of truce with the errand, enjoining upon the messenger not to r(;turn with the; British ofTicor mUU after dark. The moment evening came on, therefore, Putnam had all the windows in llu! college buildings illuminated, as wt^U as those in the other vacant houses of the town. He like- wise kept his little scpiad of fifty men marching up and down the streets contiimally, and making as much of a martial tlisplay as possible. Under such highly imposing circumstances was the Brit- 19 rw liitj !i!i I W::' » ; \l^.^ ll • ^m V , i ' S I 218 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. iah officer conducted to the quarters of his Scotch friend, and finally sulTered to depart. When he got back to the British camp again, he reported that General Putnam couhl not have under hia command a force of less than five thousand men. To protect the friends of the American cause from the persecutions of loyalists, was a duty that during this time engaged much of the labor of Putnam, and likewise exercised all the judgment, delicacy, tact, and prudence, of which he was the possessor. The rest of the winter was occupied chiefly with skirmishes. Col. Neilson was sent, on the 17th of February, with a hundred and fifty men, to surprise a party of loyalists that had for- tified themselves at Lawrence's Neck. There were sixty of the other party, belonging to what was called Cortlandt Skinner's brigade. They were all taken prisoners. Major Stockton, their commander, was sent to Philadelphia by General Putnam, in irons. Not long after this, another party of foragers was reported to be scouring the country, and Major Smith was sent forward to hang on their rear until Putnam himself should come up. But the Major was a little impatient, or ambitious of RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 219 renown, and fell upon the party, which he had already enticed into a snare, putting them to rout and carrying off several prisoners, horses, and baggage-wagons. Thus the winter of 1770-7 passed away. In the time he had been in New Jersey, General Putnam had taken a thousand prisoners, and at least a hundred and twenty baggage wagons. In one skirmish he captured ninety-six wagons, laden with provisions for the enemy. Fie likewise by his prudence and firm, but conciliatory manner, added great strength to the American cause, and left the Jerseys at last, which he did in May, in a very different .condition from that in which they were, when he first set foot upon their soil. Few men, in the army or out, could have performed the service for which the Commander-in-chief thoutrht him in all respects so admirably qualified. i| ^ M CHAPTER XI. IN TIIH IIKIIILANDS. II K Britisli wore niaiumvring just at I this iimi* so strangely, lluit Washing- JL. ion was liardly able to (Ictcrininc what object they really liad in \'w\V next. 'JMiey had II t'oree in Canada, under l^urgoyne, with which it was tiionght IIowc wiis anxious to open a couuuunication by the Hudson River; then it was suspected tliat tlie Canada troops would go round to New York by sea, and thus ellect a union with the troops under Howe without risking an att( mpt by land ; and then again, in the month .>f July, it was a greater mystery still in wl/ich direction Howe was go- ing, when he set sail with his army from the port of New York. All these contingencies the Atuerican couuuandcr was obliged care- fully to guard against. , -■♦^'— -Vi-tP ^^r^m ^rrim^fimif^mimmmmmw^ IN TIIK HIGHLANDS. 221 To litis (Mid, it was rn'C(\ssiiry, first, tFiat the fortress of Ticoiidcroij^ii should Uv slrcM^'thmcd, and j)rovi(lc(l against a surprise! ; second, that iUr passers in the Ilii^dilands should be so guard- ed as to pn^vent any union of the two hostile armies by way of tiie river; and third, that the important post of Piiihuh-lphia slionld be de- ftuided to the very hist extrcrnily. I^iiiongh, one would think, to engage all the energies of any eommandcir. Th(* ITighlands were to be defended at all cost and hazard. An ingenious method had already hvv.n devised by (jenerais (Jrerne and Knox to obstruct tln! passage of IIm; enemy's ships lip the river, by means of a heavy chain, supj/orted at regular intervals by floating logs of wood, and stretched across from oik! shore to the ■ other. A couple of armed vessels were also to be stationed so as to rake the enemy's ships, whenever they might approach. Arnold had been previously entrusted with tlu; com- mand on the river, on account of Washington's sympathy for the treatment with which Con- gress had visited him ; but as his own jirivate affairs compelled him to be in Philadelj)hia, 19* 222 (;KN. ISKAKL niTNAM. '■I '!< :i- itf t II' Ills conimiiiHl wiis irMiisrcrrrd io ( li'ii. rnliiMiii, nnrious and irreparable mischief. Hardly had he entered uj)on his new com- mand, when AVashiui^ton proposed to him a sudden descent upon the enemy who were forti- mm of I ho r siul- iMoro diiif^- bcing IN TIIK lUOMFiANDM. 223 f\v(\ at Kind's l)ii(l«^r ; llic Icflrr v\ rittcri l»y llic hiUrr (Ml llic Huhjrcl, is full of iiitcrrst, ;iii(i Icin llic rnidcr itilo llic HiM-cnhitioiis of IIk; ^rcnt num'H niiii(i in those tryint,' fiiiics. H\\\. Ww. conlradiclory coiidncf, of iUv. ciMMriy diverted hiH ttiteiition I'rorri tliis (h-si^Mi, and drew it, rather to the preservation of the important, posts fie Btill held. As soon, then, as tfi<^ J^ritish eri- cariiprnent, at Hrnnswiek was hrokcn iij), Wash- ington ma(h; ready to o|)|)os(; their marcth npon Pliiladelpliia, which ho had reason to think was tho (lire(!tion of their next movement. In or- der to do this the moH! elleetnally, h(; sent, for th<^ whoh', of Putnam's forec^ except a thonsaruJ men. These, with th(^ rniHtia of ihv. region, were thought to be; sufhcient to prote(;t liis position. Then it was reported to (Um. Putnam that Burgoyne was marching dow^n npon him from the direction of C'anada; and to provide against this, h(; was obhged to liold four regiments in readiness to march at a moment's warning. 'J'he great danger on the Hudson just then seemed to be, that Burgoyne from above and Howe from below would succeed in uniting their for- ces; and that was the plan which it was very frPf m 001 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. i ., cvi(](Mii they liad lor Ji long time (MilcrtsiiiKHl. Wiisliiii«rtoM wrote liiiii on the Jstof July tlniH: "No time is to be lost. Miieli may be at ytake, and I am persuiidcd, if (Jen. Ilowe is going up the river, he will maUe a rapid and vigorous pnsli to gain the Iligldand passes." For a long time matters were in a state of perplexing uncertainty. It recpiired all the vigi- lance, and all the energy of a most skilful and prudent giMUM'al, to guard properly against rash- ness on the one hand and negligence on the other. The season wore on in this way, and notliinc: of a decided character was undertaken duriniif the sunuuer. Putnam celebrated the first aimiversary of the Declaration of Independ- ence in the Highlands, in a rather novel style. A public feast was made, toasts were drunk, and patriotic feelings were appealed to. Guns were also fired in commemoration of so great an event, and just at sundown a huge rock was thrown over a precipice with a crashing sound like that of thunder, into the wooded valley below. The rock had stood just on the edge of the precipice, and weighed several hundred toilii IN THE IIlOIILANrS. 225 tjiinrd. i tluis: , ytako, going gorous ate of le vigi- iil and it rash- oii the ly, and L'rtakcn cd the lepend- il style. drunk, Guns great >ck was ; sound valley le edge lundred At l(Migi Hi 234 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. back to camp and sent five hundred men np the river in great haste. They had five miles to march before they reached the point at which they were to cross, and by tlie time they came to that, the action was all over. The news came that the Americ;iiis were obliged to relinquish their posi- tion, and, under cover of dusk, they made good their retreat from the forts. The contest was most severe and bloody, more than one third of the Americans within the two forts having fallen victims. It was midnight when Governor Clinton reached Peekskill in his retreat; and at a hasty conference of the superior officers, it was thought worse than useless to try to hold that post any longer. Put- nam therefore ordered his men to march without any dcia^ ; and, the stores having been first with- drawn, they set out for Fishkill, some twelve miles distant by the road. The two vessels were burned that had been stationed to defend the cable thrown across the river, lest they should fall into the enemy's hands. The British followed up their advantages without delay, destroying several buildings in and around Peekskill, sailing farther up the river and committing ravages at Esopus, IN THE HIGHLANDS. 235 np the march y were lat, the lat the ir posi- e good st was hird of cT fallen reached iference rse than r. Put- without •st with- ve miles 3 burned 1 thrown into the up their several 2 farther Esopus, a village just below Kingston on the western shore, burning stores, mills, and dwelling-houses without the least compunction, and exhibiting traits of barbaric wantoimess that would ill be- come outright savages. This conduct of itself aroused a feeling in that locality against the Brit- ish, which tended more than anything to place still farther off their prospects of final success. These wanton and cruel acts were quite in keep- ing with their treatment of the wounded and dying Americans at Fort IVIontgomery. They bestowed upon their own dead, after the battle was over, a decent burial; but threw the bodies of the vanquished in piles into a pool not far from the fort, where they were left exposed to the ele- ments. Dr. Dwight, who visited the place about seven months afterwards, in the month of May, describes the scene that presented itself, in the' following style: — " The first object which met our eyes, after we had left our barge and ascended the bank, was the remains of a fire, kindled by the cottagers of this solitude, for the purpose of consuming the bones of some of the Americans who had fallen at this place, and had been left unburied. Some of these i Hi m m H' I It W li! Mil; I ^1 ; . iiii ! ; 236 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. bones were lying, piirtially consunned, round the spot where the fire had been kindled; and some had evichMitly been converted to ashes. As we went onward, we were distressed by the factor of decayed liuman bodies. As we were attempting to discover the source from wliich it j)roceeded, we found, at a small distance from Fort Mont- gomery, a pond of a moderate size, in which we saw bodies of several men, who had been killed in the assault upon the fort. They were thrown into this pond, the prece;ding autumn, by the Brit- ish, when, j)robably, the water was sulficiently deep to cover them. Some of them were covered at this time; but at a depth so small, as to leave them distinctly visible. Others had an arm, a leg, or a j)art of the body, above the surface. The clothes which they wore when they were killed, were still on them, and proved that they were militia, being the ordinary dress of farmers." The British were on their way up to meet Bur- goyne, inflated with high hopes, and drunk with their grand expectations; but suddenly there fell a blow upon those hopes, which destroyed them every one. The news met them that Burgoyne had surrendered to General Gates I It was use- lil IN THE lIiailLANDS. 237 less to go farthrr. Thoy tnrnod their faces about without hesitation, and, laliiug to their vessels in the river, — after having first been at the ])ains to demolish two of the deserted American forts, — sailed down to New York. Putnam left Fish- kih upon this, and took up his former station at Peekskill. He had the great misfortune to lose his wife while at the former place, in reference to which (General Washington soon afterwards wrote him, — "I am extremely sorry for the death of Mrs. Putnam, and sympatiiize with you u|)on the occasion. Remembering that ail must die, and that she had lived to an honorable age, I hope you will bear the misfortune with that fortitude and complacency of mind that become a man and a Christian." It is said that Dr. Dwight — then an army chap- lain, and afterwards President of Yale Colleo-e — preached a sermon to the army on the Sunday following the surrender of Burgoyne, taking his text from Joel, 2 : 20, as follows: — " I will remove far otr from you the northern army." All the officers were delighted with it, and General Put- nam as a matter of course. The General walked along with the young chaplain, after service was 11 M. Hi 1 1 '», 238 GKN. ISRAKI, PUTNAM, ovor, Jind dcsirrd lo know wlicrc \\r i^ni his fcxt ; "for," siiid li(', " I do ii't believe there is iiny such t<'xt in Um« l^ihle." Dwight only satislied him that there ifuts sneh a t<'xl there, by producing the book and pointing it out to hitn. Pntnaiu declared that there was rrrn/{hini*'\u that book, and Dwight knew just where to put his linger upon it! After Hurgoyne's di'feat, drafts were made u|)oii the northern army <<> increase tin* force of (mmi- eral Putnam, luitil in a short time Ik; had nine thousand men un(h'r his command. M'^ith thi.s larg<* body at his disj)osal, he had plamied an enteri)rise against the enemv below at several points, of whoso success he was very sangiune. But the British under (icncral Howe were already in possession of Pliiladelphia, and their licet w^as peeking a communication with tliat city to carry tliem su|)plies. To Ihis phm Wasliington wisiied to |)ut a stop. For this purpose lie sent Col. Alexander Hamilton to Putnam's camp, with orders to forward iiim without delay, three brig- ades. Hamilton then hurried on to Albany to confer with (Jeneral Gates. In a week he returned; and linding that Putnam had not forw^arded the troops as directed, sent an order couched in IN TlIK liriJIILANDR. 230 \n text ; ly such iin lliut w book cclarcd Dwiglit I 1(» upon )l' (Jni- 1(1 iiiiio ^ith this nvi\ ail sev(Tal mgiiiiu*. already ieet was to carry I wished Mit Col. ip, with roe brig- Ibaiiy to cturncd ; rded the iched in terrnH of the most severe reprimand. He nJHO wrote a despatch to Washiiiglon in relation to Putnam's neglect of hin orders, in which he ex- pressed the opinion tliat the old (icneral ought io hv. displaced. His language, in the letter he addressed to (icneral Put nam, was harsh in the extreme. Yet he excuses it on account of the dejith of his feelings. He said that Ik; trembh-d lest Sir Henry Clinton with his fleet, had already reached Howe at Philadelphia, and that all was lost. Putnam at once sent Hamilton's letter on to the Commander-in-chief, and complained of its temper and imputations upon him; he said that without the most direct and positive orders from his commander, he could not think of such a thing as sending away the body of the force which was all he had to n-ly upon. But Washington ap- proved the order which had been issued to the General, and expressed himself dissatisfiec' with his iieghx't to obey (he same. For the first time since he had entered u[)on the duties of a soldier, had he thus received the censure, whether deserved or not, of his superior otiicer. There is much to be said in explanation of his conduct, and to say i Ml!; ■4 ■iff i; at': ■ «-J ■h i N ' i >i m I 240 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. tliat dors but divide the r(!sponsil)ility among those on wlioin it should proj)crIy rest. Washington was unacquainted with I lie exact state of matters in the liighhmds, just at tiiat time; tiiere was a mutinous spirit among a large |)ortion of the troops, w^ho threatened to desert altogether imless they could be paid; and this Hamilton himself knew; and Hamilton w^as evidently hasty, if not impetuous, and used language, for a young man of twenty, in his letter, such as no man of his years should employ towards a scarred vt^teran of sixty. The order of Washington having finally been complied with, General Putnam took a part of his remaining force and moved down the river. General Dickinson made a sudden descent on Staten Island, on the 27th of November, with fourteen hundred men ; and simultaneously with this movement General Putnam ordered a diver- sion upon King's bridge, that the enemy might not suspect his stratagem ; but by some means they received intelligence of his design, and were en- abled to make good their escape. Next he proceeded to New Rochelle, and at this point got things in readiness to cross the Sound IIT THE HIGHLANDS. 241 y those ingtori natters was a of the unless ihnself , if not m man of his eran of ly been part of le river. 3ent on jr, with sly with a diver- ight not ins they vere en- d at this e Sound In open boats and surprise the enemy at Hunt- •Albion and Satanket; out Urn; oesign was pene- trated by the JMtishin time to permit them to vacate the forts and betake themselves to a piae.. of safety. Then he projected an enterprise against Long Island to destroy large quantities of hnnber that had been eolh-cted at several points by the British, for constructing barracks in New York,— to fire several coasting vessels that were loaded with wood for the British army then in possession of Newport, in Rhodellsland,- to capture what public stores they could lay their hands on, and to attack a regiment stationed near Jamaica. The whole ex- pedition was divided into three parts, and placed under the di.T-ction of as many commanders. This expedition also turned out unfortunately, o.dy one sloop having been destroyed, together with a quantity of timber. One of the commanders was taken a prisoner, together with the whole of his party, amounting to sixty-five men. Governor Tryon, whose talent seemed to con- sist in destroying, and whose name will forever be associated in the mind of the people of west- ern Connecticut with acts of incendiarism and wantonness, had been sending out parties quite 21 1 I • •;■! ■ *5^ i < 242 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. R'^ !• i » 4 l-l' S* ,' * *. n :'^il •! freely to commit such depredations as they had an inclination to. Putnam found that the only way to put a stop to this conduct, was by acts of re- taliation. Acc()rdin<»ly he despatched bodies of men in this direction and that, wherever it was possible to surprise the enemy's oificers in their position. On one of these marauding excursions the Americans having learned that a noted tory named Colonel James Delancy was at the village of West Farms, a little below Westchester, they stealthily approached and surrounded the house in the liight, and then hurried in to ransack it for their prisoner. Delancy was in bed, and hearc' them coming. Not knowing what else to do, ! bounded out and crept underneath with all pos- sible agility. But the warm bed he had just left testified to his presence ; and after searching care- fully all about the room, they at last discovered him in his novel hiding place, and proceeded to draw him forth in triumph to public view. It was not a very dignified or brave position for a Colonel to be found in, but there he vvas. They bore him away to head-quarters, a prisoner. Clinton found the means to procure his release before long, by proposing an exchange of prisoners. He after- IN THE niGIILANDS. 243 lad an y ^vay of re- licH of it waft n their ursioiirt [id tory village 3r, they lOUse in k it for 1 heart' 3 do, 1 all pos- just left iig care- ered him to draw was not ilonel to ore him )n found long, by le after- wards earned a name of peri>etnal infamy, by placing himself at the head c,f those thievin^^ and lawless l)arl)arians known by the name of Cow Boys, that infested the neutral district between the lines of the two armies. The novelist Cooper has done full justice to the vile character .'' those uncivilized creatures, who lived by preying even on their own friends and relatives, in his novel entitl<.d « The Spy." They formed a class of men, the like of whom it would be impossible to find anywhere else in all our history as a country. I 4 ,;•; i ( . 1 /■ t I i|i|! U'i ;ii;il. C H A P T E 11 XII. i-UTNAM AT WEST POINT AND DANBURY. IN tho midclln of DtHMMiihcr, Gen. Putnam went into winter quarters in tlio Highlands, The work to which he was now to "ive his attention, was the j)erfeetion of the defences of the river. It was early in the month of Jan- uary, 1778, when a party, among whotti were Governor George Clinton and Colonel Radiere, a French engineer, made an actual survey of the region, for the purpose of deciding the best y)oint at which a strong fortification should be erected. West Point was finally decided on, though not without the opposition of Radiere and after an examination of the place by a commUtee of the New York Legislature. The French engineer displayed considerable petu- lance at the final decision, and it was not long before he gave place to the celebrated Polish PUTNAM AT WKST POINT AND DANBURY. oir 45 PXl lo K. oscinsKo; wnon the pi ins wore carricc ninam iljincls. o i^ive efences if Jan- n were adiere, ^7Cy t long Polish forward wilh Boston. As l^'ranee liad then openly taker) sides wiili ns, a larij^e FnMieli (leet, luy nejil Boston and alon«:^ the coast, wiiieli it wa? thoiiiilit Sir Hemv Clinton was eai^er to at/ taek. The entire eastern army was therei'orc/ so dispos(Ml as io be n^idy to <:;o to the imnuv diate aid of the hiMst, in ease of an invasion, and also to hold ;uid defend the important posts already in their hands, in and around the lliii;hlands. Putnam was |)iit in eommand of two briij^ades not far from West Point, while Generals INIeDoui^all juid (Jates were stationed at Danbury, to protect tlu^ line of country bordering on Tiong Island Sound. Two months passed by, and still nothing was (U)iie. The army was therefore orden^d into winter tiuarters early in tlie month o^ November. General Pntnam w;is (M'dcred, this \vinter, to quarter with his command near Danbury. lif PUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND DANHURY. 219 Iiad llirrc l)ri^r;,(l,.s „,„l,.r hj,,,, rruuic np of troops from CouiH'cticnl, iirid New II;unj)sliire, ira/.-n's corps of infantry, and Sheldon's ror|)s of cavalry. In Jliis position lie was ready at hand to assist; either in the defences of the lliglilands, or to repel any assanhs Ihat mi^dit bo ofli-red by parties of th(; enemy npon the nia^r;,/ines alon^' th(; (\)nnecticnf, river, or the d\veli:n«jrs and stores on th(; line of th(; Sound shore. The troops vv(>re hut |)oorly paid at this time, and there was a ^m'at (h-ai of r-oirjphiint amon^'st them. Nor was it without reason. They saw the day of payment no nearer at hand than it liad ever been, 'i'hey weni put oil, and put off, with promises continuallv. It was cold weather, pinchin^r and bitter; and poorly clad and illy fed as they were, their l)rospe(rts brightening at no turn, it is nothitig to wonder at that they should begin to feel discourag(>d. The first evidence which den. Putnam had of the; existence of such a feeling, was on finding that insubordination was a(;t- ually bcgimiing to manifest itself. The old General himself {quartered at u farm house in Hi ^^ !«;' 250 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. u Reading, but a short, distance from Danbury, and he was there when the news of the out- break first reached him. The General Assembly of Connecticut was in session at the time, in Hartford ; and the troops had, two brigades of them, resolved to form in military line and march to Hartford to demand the money which they began to think was wrongfully kept back from them. These two brigades were Connecticut troops, and had a perfect right to demand their pay from the legislature of that State. The other troops did not stand in the same relation to the Legis- lature. When word was brought to Gen Put- nam of the breaking out of the trouble, one brigade was then under arms and all ready to proceed to Hartfi/rd. He lost no time in making up his mind what to do, as he never did ; but instantly springing upon his horse, he galloped away to the ^cene of the diiriculties. Riding up to the head of the column, he at once appealed to their respect and affection for their veteran commander, and harangued them in a loud voice and with a great deal of feeling. Said he to them, while he still sat >anbury, ;he out- put was and the olved to rtford to to think These and had from the oops did e Legis- jJen Put- ible, one ill ready time in he never horse, he ilTiculties. m, he at affection larangued rreat deal e still sat PUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND DANBURY. 251 on his horse,- "My brave lads, whither are you going? Do you intend to desert your offi- cers, and to invite the enemy to follow you into the country ? In whose cause have you been fighting and suffering so long ? U it not your own ? Have you no property ? no par- ents? no wives? no children? You have thus far behaved like men ; the world is full of your praises; and posterity will stand astonished at your deeds :_ but not if you spoil it all at last. Don't you consider how much the coun- try is distressed by the war, and that your officers have not been any better paid than your- selves ? But we all expect better times, and then the country will do us ample justice. Let us all stand by one another, then, and fight it out like brave soldiers! Think what a shame it would be for Connecticut men to run away from their officers!" An appeal like this, coming from the man they all loved and respected so much, could not go without its effect. The dissatisfied troops softened in a moment, and testified to their suddenly changed feelings by oflering the cus- tomary mifitary salute as their General rode ?'f P-4 252 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. slowly down tho lino ; thoy presented arms, and the drum began again to beat. The Brig- ade Major then gave the order to shoulder arms, which they promptly obeyed; and then marched away to their parade ground and stacked their arms without the least sliow of further dissatis- faction. The rough but honest old soldier who was at their head, exerted such a strong and » immediate influence over them, that they were convinced that he was in the right, and they were altogether in the wrong. A single soldier who was engaged in the mutijiy, it was found necessary to coniine in the guard-house, and during the night he at- tempted to make his escape ; but he was shot dead by the sentinel, who had himself been concernt^d in the mutiny of the day before. A couple of soldiers were also executed on GaU lows Hill, about a mile from the head quarters of Putnam ; one was shot for desertion, and one was hung for being taken as a spy. The latter was a tory. He was compelled to as- cend a ladder to a height of some twenty feet, with the rope around his neck, and then told to jump off. This he refused to do. The lad- ' M I arms, Brig- arms, arched I their ssatis- iv who Q and f were d they in the fine in he at- as shot If been Lire. A )ii Gal". :|uartera on, and y. The I to as- nty feet, told to :he lad- lUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND DANBURY. 2o3 der had to be turned over by those below, so as to throw him olF and leave him swinging in the air. The other — the deserter — was a mere youth, not more than seventeen years old ; and it is related that terrible work was made at his execution. The enemy, this winter, under the well known Governor Tryon, made a descent upon the towns and villages along the Sound, carrying their in- cursions also as far into the interior as they judged it prudent to go. They laid waste and destroyed wherever they went. Th(!y set fire to public buildings and private dwellings with per- fect impunity, and witnessed the devastations they created with evident satisfaction. Tryon marched with a detachment of fifteen hundred men from King's bridge over to Horse- neck, or what is now known as West Green- wich. This place was so called, because it was a tongue, or neck of land, running out into the Sound ; and upon it used to feed large quanti- ties of horses, in the summer season. Gen. Put- nam was there at Horseneck himself, with a small force of only a hundred and fifty men to oppose the advancing enemy. He was stationed 22 i i' 254 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. on the brow of a steep hill, and had but two iron cannon with him, but without drag-ropes or horses. He determined, however, to show to the enemy that he would not run as long as there was a chance to harass them, or do them any mischief. The field-pieces were loaded and fired several times at them, as they came up, performing con- siderable execution. Resolved to put a stop to such a proceeding at once, the British General ordered a party of dragoons, supported by the infantry, to charge upon the cause of the mis- chief. Seeing what they were determined to do, and feeling certain that there was no use in try- ing to oppose his little handful of men to the large body of the enemy at hand. Gen. Putnam told his soldiers to retreat at the top of their speed into a swamp near by, where cavalry could not enter to molest them. He then waited himself till the men had all got off safely, and when the dragoons had come almost within a sword's length of him in their impetuous chase, he took a mad plunge down the precipice ; while their horses recoiled, and the riders looked on with a feeling of astonishment that almost amounted PUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND DANBURY. 255 at two apes or to the s there m any several ig con- stop to jieneral by the ne mis- 1 to do, ! in try- to the Putnam ir speed uld not himself i when sword's he took le their I with a lounted to horror. They dared not continue the pur- suit, so fearfully precipitous was th(^ descent over the rocks and stones. It was a feat of reckless daring, especially for a man well along in years, that was quite worthy of one, who, in his younger days, went down alone into a cave after a hunted wolf at midnight. The road h'd round the hill; but he was far beyond their reach before they could recover themselves sufficiently to set out after him by that way. They hastily sent a volley of bullets in pursuit of him, as he plunged down the rocky steep; one of them went through his hat, but not a hair of his head was injured. There were from seventy-five to one hundred rude stone steps laid on this declivity, to assist the people from below in climbing the hill to the ordinary services on Sunday, at the church on the brow of the same. Putnam's horse took him in a zisr- zag direction down these steps, and land(;d him safely in the plain. A man who stood not far from the old General, just as he wheeled his horse and made the reckless plunge, said that he was cursing the British terribly. He scoured the road at the top of his speed, <■' 256 GEN. ISKAEL PUTNAM. ^ I i f i i ill and rt'achcd Stanifortl, a town about five miles distant, in a very short time. llr tlicn eolleeted the few militia who w<'re posted there, and, be- ing joined also l)y some of his own men who had just escaped, turned back to pursue and harass tiie enemy. The hitter had by tiiis time succeeded in committing many acts of destruc- tion, and were even then on their retreat to Rye. Putnam imng upon their rear, and succeeded in taking thirty-eight prisoners, and a wagon-load of ammunition and ])hinder which they were carrying off, and wliieh lie afterwards restored to their rightful owners. On the next day, he sent the prisoners all back to the British lines, under an escort, for the purpose of exclianging them with American prisoners. Gov. Tryon was so much pleased with his humanity and generosity, that he sent him back a suit of new clothes, including a hat to take the place of the one which had been perforated with the bullet. As the Spring opened, the army movod up into the Highlands again, concent 'nti' ( there on account of the demon ISi ITenry Clinton. It was plainly tli inten on oi the latter to possess himself of West Pt ut and ' t five miles 'M collected re, and, be- 1 men who [)ursue and yy this time of destruc- reat to Rye. ucceeded in wagon-load they were rds restored lext day, he British lines, exchanging Gov. Try on imanitv and suit of new place of the the bullet. f moved up ratir ( Si inten on ot st Pi iiit and PUTNAM AT WEST PUlNT AND DANUUllY. 257 the river. Gen. Putnam held command at the Clove, on Ihe west sidc^ of IIm' river. The Prit- i.sh ascended in lh<-ir vessels, and captured Su)ny Point; and on th(^ ir)tii of July it was recaptured again by that daring spirit who led on a " forlorn hope" in ihe darkness and storm of the night, Anthony Wayne, or "Mad Anthony" — as he was called by tlu^ army. Put the Americans had to abandon it finally, and afterwards the British abandoned it still again. Washington r(>moved his head-quarters to West Poii>t, late in Jnly, and Putnam took his post at Butter- milk Falls, some two miles below. The season was passed chiefly in strengthening the defences of this famous post, to which Putnam was no small contributor. The year went by without a single action of any greater importance than that renowned one of Wayne against the for- tress of Stony Point 22' MMMM li iil I lit u 111 hi 111 111 CHAPTER X I T r . HIS LAST DAYS. ]~1^ARLY in December, the American army A went into winter quarters at Morristown. _ji There was no expedition on foot just then by the enemy, which Required them to be late in the field. They had occupied tliemselves chiefly in destructive excursions into the coun- try, bui'niiig and laying waste wherever they went. "Washington himself spoke of their op- erations, in a letter to Lafayeiie, as amounting to little more tha i burning defenceless towns within reach of their own shipping, " where little else was, or could be opposed to them, than the cries of distressed women and helpless children." Pretty soon after going into winter quarters, Gen. Putnam left the camp for an absencv; of a few weeks to visit his family in Coimecticut. TIT^ T.AST DAYS. 209 Towards the last of llic month he started on his reiurn. taking Hartford in hij route, as usual. He had travelled on the road to Hartford, how- ever, but a few miles, when he was greatly sur- prised to find that a sensation of numbness was creeping over his right arm and leg. Un- willing to think that it eould proe(>ed from any other cause thau the cold, he made strenuous exertions to shake it olf; but he soon found that it was impossible for him to deceive him- self. The humbness increased, until it hr.d got strong hold upon the limbs and one side of his person. He was obliged to bo removed to the house of a friend, and even then he fought with all the native vigor of his will against the rm- pleasant truth that was forcing itself ui)on his mind. But it was to no purpose. The old gentleman found he had been visited with a severe shock of paralysis, and it was useless to try to deny it any longer. Henceforward, he must relinquish his active connection with the war of the Anierican Revo- lutioii. It was a dillieult matter for hun to feel resigned to inactivitv, after havinij: thrown him- self with such ardor into the cause of his coun- 260 GEX. ISRAEL PUTNAM. frniwr? try ; but he used his stock of philosophy, and, as he always did in tinu'i* of trial and dillicnity, resolved to make the best of it. For the rest of his days, Iherefon^ he must consent, as it were, to lie on the shelf. He mvist hear the roar of the eannon, but take no part in the battle. It was a stern fatality, and one well calculated to make the soul of any hero feel impatient. For more than eleven years he was consigned to the retirement and quiet of his farm-life in Pomfret, at the expiration of w^hieh time his days drew to an end. He had not entirely lost the use of his limbs, yet their strength and vigor were so seriously impaired as to put physical labor out of the question. He did not relax any of his early interest in the details of farm- ing, but, with his sons, carried on his agricul- tural labors with his usual success. There was one time, — about six months after his attack of paralysis, — wIhmi he entertained the strong- est hopes of being able to rejoin the nrmy ; and a letter from Gen. Washington in reply to one of his own upon this subject, is to be seen now. But these hopes all proved to be futile and vain. HIS LAST DAYS. 261 and, cnlty, [J rest as it ir the w the ! well o feel signed life in le his ly lost vimvr lysical relax farm- ^ric Ill- re was attack ^trong- r ; and to one n now. e and No man was a better companion than Israel I^atnani, even after liis misfortune from the as- sault of diseases He was ihv. life of every st)cial circle of whi(;h he formed a part, and as popular with all his friends as any man could reasonably wish to be considered. lie loved his joke as w^ell as anybody ; and lost few opportunities of having it, even at the expense of his best friend. lie was nowise inclilferent to th(; pleas- ures of the table, but could always tell a good piece of meat, from the first taste of it. One of his descendants told the writer that " he could play the knife and fork as briskly as a drummer could his drumsticks." In all respects, Israel Putnam was a hearljj man. It was this very quality that made him so sincere, so honest, so de- voted, and so brave. Such a man could have no half-way ojVmions; and what he honestly thought, that he never hesitated to speak boldly out. To the very last '2 GEN. ISRAEL I'UTNAM. The siitnc hiibils of iu'tivijy llial. li;i(l cliarar- Icrizcd liiiii IVdmi liis youth up, asHisird 1<> pri^ servo his licalth as loiii,' as it, was jjicsfrvcd to him ; atul onl\- a lew weeks helore tlie hnal suMUuoiis eanie to call hitu away, lie ])erlornie(.l a journey on hors«*l)aelv to Dauver^^, his hirth- plae(\ a distance of a hundred miles. But. h(^ travelled sh)wlv, resting as often as was neeessary aU)njL!^ on tlie road. Immediately uj)on tiie ('onelusit)n of tiie Treaty of P«aee between the United IStatcs and (Jreat Britain, by llie terms of wliieh \\\c former were declared to be free and 'udependent States, Wasliini2;ton addresstul a letter 1o the war-w^orn hero in his retirenuMit, in whieh lie said that " amonir the many worthy and meritorious of- fleers with whom hi' had had the hap|»iness to be eonneeted in service tliroiigh the war, and from whose elu'crful assistance and advice he had received much support and confidence, f/ir. inime of a Vntnam is not forij^otfni ; nt)r will be, but witli that stroVe of timt^ which shall oblit- erate from my mmd the remend)rance of \\\\ those toils and fatijj^ues throiigh which we have stiuggled, lor the preservation and establishment H M Ills LAST D.iYS. 2G3 oHho Ui^rhis, Lib,.,.ii<.s, and iiidcpr.KlnKc of our C/Oliiilry." Miwiy an(.o(lof(.s am rdatcd of (;,.„. Pnfnam, some of wl.ich hav.; a f<,u„dafion in Inilh, whilJ •"<>••<', |)r„bai>Iy, iakc (l.rir risn only in Oio i,n- agif.Mllons <,f U.(,s(. who gave iUvin tlu- first Htart i" 11h' world. Among thmi all, however, 1hf.r<; is one whieh is ,,ui(e good enough, old as it inay he to many, re him of sill- of his mingled live for ij)iite in iJepend- i*^ £Tave he had ating or , hiri old to to his igraph is (lie spirit, ^as proof ?tray and , so were He was ful to the ind ready his family jband, tbft lustry and ^as a coil' stant altond.mt upon llic pnblif. worship of God, from liis youth up. He brought his family with hirn, wlicu he came to worship the Lord. He was not ashamod of family religion. His house was a house of prayer. For many years, he was a professor of n^ligion. L, the last years of his life, he often expressed a great regard for God, and the things of God. There is one, at least,' to whom he freely diselosed the workings of his mind; his eonviction of sin; his grief for il ; jiis depe.idenee on God, through the R<>deemer! for pardon; and his hope of a happy future existenee, whenever his strength and heart should fail him.' This one makes mention of these things, for the satisfaction and comfort cC his children and friends; and can add, that, being with the General a little before he died, he asked him whether his hope of future happiness, as for- merly expressed, now attended him. His an- swer was in the afhrmative; with a declaration of his resignation to the will of God, and his willingness even then to die." He left a large family, whose descendants live to honor the name of their ancestor in all parts of our common country. The various relics a f , 1 u H-* 1 >; 208 GKN. ISKAEL I'UTNAM. wliicli brinsf np bis^ porsonal ronnortion w'lfk tin* I'^ciicli iiiid IndiMii, and the RcvoliitiDiiary War, arc jjrcscrvcd with sacred soliciludc. Ain()ii, iij)on wiiieh rests a weather-br* .vned shib, — is fast going to do- cay, and 8aerilegions hands have chipped oH' pieces of the marble slab to carry away as tri- fling memorials. The State of Connecticut, how- ever, has pledged herself to aid generonsly in the erection of a suitable monument, to be placed upon the open green of the village, where all who pass may be reminded of the man whose labors and sacrifices brought them so priceless a legacy. Upon the present fast-fading slab that crowns the dilapidated vault, is to be traced the following feeling and highly aj)propriate inscrip- tion, from the pen of his friend and companion in the army, Dr. Dwiglit, President of Yale College: HIS LAST DAYS. SACHKi) in: Tins moxu.mkxt, to (he meiiioiy of IfiUAET. PUTXAM, HSQurRB. Senior M.j<„-(ien..n.l in ,1,,, an„io« of tlu3UniMSf,.f,.sofAmmVn. was lH)ni fit Sjilrtii, In tho iWin.'o „(■ Mnssm-,ln,.sottfl. on tho 7th «Ii,y„r January, A. I). 17iy^ "11(1 (Ii(.(I on the lOtJMh.yofMay, A. I). 1790. 1' A H « K N O i; u , if thou art a sohh'or, 'Irop a f,.,,r over tho dust of a Hero who, ' t^vcr atk'iitivo to Ihc lives and happiness of his men, •lined lo h-nd whtTo any (hired (o follow; renchirod thy country byhora.not.vho,sU.op,shencaththis,narble.. render uehecrfultrihutc of respect to a man, wlioso ffcnerosity was singular, whoso honesty was proverI,ial • - • , . who ' rmsed h.mself to universal esteem. and oflices of eminent distinction, 1*7 personal worth and a 23* "^^'^"' 'i^«- 2G9 ^ } 270 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. Tho brave old mfiii, who never knew the rrie;uiini( of fear, slee|)s cjniclly in lliis Inunblc grave. A devious path lias been worn among the hillocks of the little yard, by the feet of those who have couie, year after year, to look upon his last resting j)lnce. On \hc still snin- mer afternoons, th(^ eriekets chirp nionrnfnlly in the long wild grass, and the southerly breeze wails in th(^ belt of pines that neighbor upon the spot. Th(^ associations are ail of a thought- ful sadness. JJut it is good for one to visit the graves of the heroes who have departed, where he may kindle anew that seniiment of patriot- ism, without which he can become neither an estimable citizen nor a noble man. THE END. know the lis hnml)le DiMi airiong ho foot of ir, to k)ok still Hiiin- monni fully KM'ly breeze rhbor upon f a thought- to visit the irted, where of patriot- ncithcr an (li-i*