■:^:~^>'SX9^ '^r^ J* :^^ ^is^':>? ^^^^^^.1 I^ME^y ^^. y^'^ >^y^,^ liaK# LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, I 1^ LFORCE COLLECTION.] ^ if UNITED STATES OF AMERICA f «^: ^msiMm \^.^.f^, .f^'^A^^WK?; m^^MlM Mjykw^TiiiLrTtei !?^hn2i^^; hL^ Putiuun and the Wolf \- ^ i E ■ ; . . :v_-. ^■■::---r; ■: i, ;;*v^^^^' -—'•-''' •" ■■-•ii''^".M-.'r^v^:-l Cajpt Putnam aiid Durkce's Esz2pe. LIFE AND HEROIC EXPLOITS OP ISRAEL PJJTN AM, MAJOR-GEN-EEA). IN TiJE REVOLUTIOIIARY WAR. lUiistra'ed xcifh Plates, from original designs. BY COLONEt DAVID HUMPHREYS, Aid-de-camp to General Woishington, and Minister Plenipotentiary to tho Spanisii Court. ^^^^^ ^^^^^Hl m ■ p^-r^i^^ im^^'^^riiill ^^^S ^fcsi^jl ^^ ||H^H ^S. ' ^^^^oK^im^Phc^^^^^^^^^S mi^s ^^^fe ^^^^^^^^^^m^S ^^^^aH b^&M ^f^jpS8^^^Q£gg|y.j^>6^iL=I^S=^^^ imIUhI BATTLE OK CU>Ki;t JIILL- ftj- 1857 new-yoe;ec: PUBLISHED BY EZllXSt&OKO. 1S34. Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1833, by Ezra Strong, in the Clerk's ofRce of the District Court of the Southern District of New York. MEMOIRS OP ^ MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNAM, Israel Putnam, who, through a regular ^adation of promotion, became the senior Ma- jor-General in the army of the United States, and next in rank to General Washington, was born at Salem, Massachusetts, on the 7th day of January, 1718. His father. Captain Joseph Putnam, was the son of Mr. Joh£L Putnam, ./^^ who, with two brotherspcame from the south of Englandfand were among the first settlers of Salem. When we thus behold a person, from the humble walks of life, starting unnoticed in the career of fame, and, by an undeviating progress through a life of honour, arriving at the highest dignity in the state, curiosity is strongly ex- cited, and philosophy loves to trace the path of glory from the cradle of obscurity to the sum^ mit of elevation. Although our ancestors, the first settlers of this land, amidst the extreme pressure of po- 4 LIFE, ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS verty and danger, early instituted schools for the education of youth designed for the learned professions, yet it was thought sufficient to in- struct those destined to labour on the earth, in reading, writing, and such rudiments of arith- metic as might be requisite for keeping the ac- counts of their little transactions with each other. Few farmers' sons had more advan- tages, none less. In this state of mediocrity it was the lot of young Putnam to be placed. His early instruction was not considerable, and the active scenes of life in which he was aftei wards engaged, prevented the opportunity of great literary improvement. His numerous original letters, though deficient in scholastic accuracy, always display the goodness of his heart, and frequently the strength of his native genius. He had a certain laconic mode of expression, and an unaffected epigrammatic turn, Aviiich characterized most of his writings. * To compensate partially for the deficiency of education, though nothing can remove or counterbalance the inconveniences experienced from it in public life, he derived from his pa- rents the source of innumerable advantages in the stamina of a vigorous constitution. Nature, liberal in bestowing^ on him bodily strength, hardiness, and activity, was by no means par- simonious in mental endowments. While we leave the qualities of the understanding to be developed in the process of life, it may not be ilB^roper, in this place, to designate some of UiQ OF MAJOH-GENIIRAL PUfNAM. 5 < circiinir^tanccs wliicU were calculated to distin- guish him afterwards as a partisan officer. Courage, enterprise, activity, and perseve- rance, were the first characteristics of his inind. There is a kind of mechanical courage, the offspring of pride, habit, or discipline, that may push a coward not only to perform his duty, but even to venture on acts of heroism. Put- nam's courage wa.s of a diflerent species. It Vv^as ever attended with a serenity of soul, .a clearness of conception, a degree of self-posses- sion, and a superiority to all the vicissitudes of fortune, entirely distinct from any thing that can be produced by the ferment of blood, and flutter of spirits, which not unfrequently pre- cipitate men to action, when stimulated by in- toxication or some other transient exhilaration. The heroic cliaracter, thus founded on consti- tution and animal spirits, cherished by educa- tion and ideas of personal freedom, confirmed by temperance and habits of exercise, was com- pleted by the dictate of reason, the love of his country, and an invincible sense of duty. Such v/ere the qualities and principles that enabled him to meet unappalled the shafts of adversity, and to pass in triumph through the furnace of affliction. His disposition was as frank and generous as his mind was fearless and independent. He disguised nothing; indeed he seemed incapable of (lisguise. Perhaps in the intercourse he was ultimately obliged to have with an artfiU world, * 6 LIFE, ANECDOTES, AND HEEOIC EXPLOITS PUTNAM CHASTISING A BOY AT BOSTON. his sincerity, on some occasions, outwent his discretion. Although he had too much suavity in his nature to commence a quarrel, he had too much sensibility not to feel, and too much honour not to resent, an intended insult. The first time he went to Boston he was insulted for his rusticity by a boy of twice his size and age ; after bearing the sarcasms until his patience was worn out, he challenged, engaged, and vanquished his unmannerly antagonist, to the great diversion of a crowd of spectators. While a stripling, his ambition was to perform the labour of a man, and to excel in athletic diver- sions. In that rude, but masculine age, when- ever the village youth assembled on their usual occasions of festivity, pitching the bar, running, OF IMAJOR-GE.\EIiAL PUTNAM. 7 leaping, and wrestling, were favoHrite amuse- ments. At such gymnastic exercises, in which, during the heroic times of ancient Greece and Rome, conquest was considered as the promise of future military fame, he bore the palm from almost every ring. Before the refinements of luxury, and the consequent increase of expenses, had rendered the maintenance of a family inconvenient or burdensome in America, the sexes entered into matrimony at an early age. Competence, at- tainable by all, was the limit of pursuit. After the hardships of making a new settlement were overcome, and the evils of penury removed, the inhabitants enjoyed, in the lot of equality, inno- cence, and security, scenes equally delightful with those pictured by the glowing imagination of the poets in their favourite pastoral life, or fabulous golden age. Indeed, the condition of mankind was never more enviable. Neither disparity of age and fortune, nor schemes of ambition and grandeur, nor the pride and ava- rice of high-minded and mercenary parents, interposed those obstacles to the union of con- genial souls, which frequently in more polished society, prevent, embitter, or destroy all the feli- city of the connubial state. Mr. Putnam, before he attained the twenty-first year of his age, mar- ried Miss Pope, daughter of Mr. John Pope, of Salem, by whom he had ten children. He lost the wife of his youth in 1764. Some time after he married Mrs. Gardiner, widow of the late Mr, 7 S LlFEj ANECDOTES; AICD HEROIC EXPLOITS Gardiner of Gardiner's Island, by whom he had no iseiie. She died in 1777. 5 ^ In the year 1749 he removed from Salem to / Pomfret, an inland, fertile town, in Connecticut, forty miles east of Hartford ; havina: here pur- chased a considerable tract of land, he applied himself successfully to agriculture. The first years on a new farm, are not how- ever exempt from disasters and disappoint- ments, which can only be remedied by stu])born and patient industry. Our farmer, sufiicieiilly occupied in building a house and barn, felliiig woods, making fences, sowing grain, planting orchards, and taking care of his stock, had to encounter, in turn, the calamities occasioned by drought in sumimer, blast in harvest, loss of cattle in winter, and the desolation of his sheep- fold by wolves. In one night he had seventy tine sheep and goats killed, besides many lambs and kids wounded. This havoc was commit- ted by a she wolf, which, with her annual whelps, had for several years infested the vi- cinity. The young were commonly destroyed by the vigilance of the hunters, but the old one was too sagacious to come within reach of gun- shot ; on being closely pursued she would ge- nerally fly to the western woods, and return tlie next winter with another litter of whelps. This wolf at length became such an into- lerable nuisance, that Mr. Putnam entered into a combination with five of his neighbours, to hunt alternately until they could destroy her. or MAJOR GENERAL PUTNAM. 9 Two by rotation, were to be constantly in pur- suit. It was knowTi that, having lost the toes from one foot, by a steel trap, she made one track shorter than the other. By this vestige, the pursuers recognised, in a light snow, the route of this pernicious animal. Having fol- lowed her to Connecticut river, and found she had turned back in a direct course towards Pomfret, they immediately returned, and by ten o'clock the next morning the bloodhounds had driven her into a den, about three miles distant from the house of Mr. Putnam. The people soon collected with dogs, guns, straw, fire and sulphur, to attack the common enemy. With this apparatus several unsuccessful efforts were made to force her from the den. The hounds came back badly wounded, and refused to re- turn. The smoke of blazing straw had no ef- fect ; nor did the fumes of burnt brimstone, with which the cavern was filled, compel her to quit the retirement. Wearied with such fruitless attempts, which had brought the time to ten o'clock at night, Mr. Putnam tried once more to make his dog enter, but in vain; he proposed to his negro man to go down into the cavern and shoot the v/olf : the negro declined the ha- zardous service. Then it was that the master, angry at the disappointment, and declaring that he was ashamed to have a coward in his fami- ly, resolved to destroy the ferocious beast, lest, she should escape through some unknown fis- sure of the rock. His neighbours strongly r©- V 10 LIFE, ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS monstrated against the perilous enterprise : but he, knowing that wild animals were intimidated by fire, and having provided several strips of birch-bark, the only combustible material which he could obtain, that would afford light in this deep and darksome cave, prepared for his descent. Having, accordingly, divested himself of his coat and waistcoat, and having a long rope fastened round his legs, by which he might be pulled back, at a concerted signal, he entered head foremost, with the blazing torch in his hand. The aperture of the den, on the east side of a very high ledge of rocks, is about two feet square ; from thence it descends obliquely fif- teen feet, then running horizontally about ten more, it ascends gradually sixteen feet towards its termination. The sides of this subter- raneous cavity are composed of smooth and solid rocks, which seem to have been divided from each other by some former earthquake. The top and bottom are also of stone, and the entrance, in winter, being covered with ice, is exceedingly slippery. It is in no place high enough for a man to raise himself upright, nor in any part more than three feet in width. Having groped his passage to the horizontal part of the den, the most terrifying darkness appeared in front of the dim circle of light af- forded by his torch. It was silent as the house of death. None but monsters of the desert had ever before explored this solitary mansion of horror. Cautiously proceeding onward, he OF MAJOR GENERAL PUTNAM. * 11 came to the ascent, which he slowly mounted on his hands and Imees until he discovered the glaring eye-balls of the wolf, who was sitting at the extremity of the cavern. Started at the sight of fire, she gnashed her teeth, and gave a sullen growl. As soon as he had made the ne- cessary discovery, he kicked the rope as a signal for pulling him out. The people, at the mouth of the den, who had listened with painful anxi- ety, hearing the growling of the wolf, and sup- posing their friend to be in the most imminent danger, drew him forth with such celerity that his shirt was stripped over his head and his skin severely lacerated. After he had adjusted his clothes, and loaded his gim with nine buck- shot, holding a torch in one hand and the mus- ket in the other, he descended the second time. "When he drew nearer than before, the wolf, assuming a still more fierce and terrible appear- ance, howling, rolling her eyes, snapping her teeth, and dropping her head between her legs, was evidently in the attitude and on the point of springing at him. At the critical instant he levelled and fired at her head. Stunned with the shock, and sufibcated with the smoke, he immediately found himself drawn out of the cave. But having refreshed himself, and per- mitted the smoke to dissipate, he went down the third time. Once more he came within sight of the wolf, who appearing very passive, he applied the torch to her nose, and perceiving her dead, lie took hold of her ears, and th^n kicking the 12 LIPB, ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS PUTNAM DRAGtJING THE WOLF FROM THE DEN. p. 12. rope, the people above, with no small exultation, dragged them both out together. I have offered these facts in greater detail, because they contain a display of character ; and because they have been erroneously re- lated in several European publications, and very much mutilated in the liistory of Connec- ticut, a work as replete with falsehood as desti- tute of genius, printed in London. Prosperity, at length, begun to attend the agricultural affairs of Mr. Putnam. He was acloiowledged to be a skilful and indefatigable manager. His fields were mostly enclosed with stone walls. His crops commonly succeeded, because the land was well tilled and manured. OF MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNAM. 13 His pastures and meadows became luxuriant. His cattle were of the best breed, and in good order. His garden and fruit-trees prolific. AVith the avails of the surplusage of his pro- duce, foreign articles were purchased. Within doors he found the compensation of his labours, in the plenty of excellent provisions, as well as in the happiness of domestic society. A more particular do£?,ription of his transi- tion from narrov/ to easy circumstances might be given ; but tlie mind that shall have acquired an idea of the habits of labour and simplicity, to which the industrioiis colonists were accus- tomed, will readily supply the omission. The effect of this gradual acquisition of property, generally favourable to mdividual virtue and public felicity, should not, however, be passed over in silence. If there is something fascinating in the charms of a country life, from the contem- plation of beautiful landscapes, there is likewise something elevating to the soul, in the con- sciousness of beino^ lord of the soil, and having: the power of creating them. The man can scarcely be guilty of a sordid action, or even descend to an ungenerous thought, Vvdio, re- moved from the apprehension of want, sees his farm daily meliorating and assuming whatever appearance he pleases to prescribe. This situa- tion conver's the farmer into a species of rural philosopher, by inspiring an honest pride in his rank as a freeman, flattering the natural pro- l^iisity for personal independeiicej and nou- 14 LIFE. ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS rishing an unlimited hospitality and philan- thropy in his social character. But the time had now arrived which was to turn the instruments of husbandry into wea- pons of hostility, and to exchange the hunting of wolves, who had ravaged the sheep-folds, for the pursuit after savages, who had desolated the frontiers. Mr. Putnam was about thirt^r-seven years old, when the war between England and France, which preceded the last, broke out in America. His reputation must have been fa- vourably known to the government, since among the first troops that were levied by Con- necticut, in 1755, he was appointed to the com- mand of a company in Lyman's regiment of Provincials. I have mentioned his age at this period, expressly to obviate a prevalent opinion, that he was far advanced in life when he com- menced his military service. As he was extremely popular, he found no difficulty in enlisting his complement of recruits from the most hardy, enterprising, and respect- , able youn^ men of his neighbourhood. The regiment joined the army, at the opening of the campaign, not far distant from Crown- Point. Soon after his arrival at camp, he be- came intimately acquainted with the famous j)artisan Captain, afterwards Major Rogers, with wliom he was frequently associated in traversing the wilderness, reconnoitring the enemy 's lines, gaining intelligence, and taking straggling prisoners, as well as in beating up OF MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNA]\T. 15 the quarters and surprising the advanced pickets of their army. For these operations a corps of ranofers was formed from tlie irre2:ulars. The first time Rogers and Putnam were detached-Pp::;:^ with a party of these hght troops, it was the^^2^ fortune of the latter to preserve, with his own lys-r hand, the hfe of the former, and to cement their_^_--^:_ friendship with the blood of one of their enemies. The object of this expedition was to obtain an accurate knowledge of the position and state of the works at Crown Point. It was imprac- ticable to approach with their party near enough for this purpose, without being discovered. Alone, the undertakins; was sufficiently hazard- ous, on account of the swarms of hostile In- dians who infested the woods. Our two parti- sans, however, left all their men at a convenient distance, with strict orders to continue con- ^ cealed until their return. Having thus cau- tiously taken their arrangements, they advanced with the profoundest silence in the evening -^ and lay, during the night, contiguous to the fortress. Early in the morning they approached so close as to be able to give satisfactory in- formation to the General who had sent them, on the several points to which their attention had been directed : but Captain Rogers, being at a little distance from Captain Putnam, for- ' tuitously met a stout Frenchman, who instantly seized his fusee with one hand, and with the other attempted to stab him, while he called to an adjacent guard for assistance. The guard 16 LIFE, ANECDOTE.^; AND HEROIC EXPLOITS answered. Putnam, perceiving the imminent danger of his friend, m\d that no time Avas to be lost, or farther alarm given by firing, ran ra- ^pidly to tliem, while they Vv^ere yet struggling, and with the but-end of his piece laid the ^ Frenchman dead at his feet. The partisans, to elude pujsuit, precipitated tJieir flight, joined the party, and returned without loss to the en- campment. Not many occasions occurred for partisans to display their talents in the course of this summer. The war was checkered with various fortune in diflerent quartcrs-^such as the total defeat of General Braddock, and the splendid victory of Sir William Johnson over the French troops, commanded by the Baron Dieskau. The brilliancy of this success, Avas ^ necessary to console the i^mericans for the dis- ^g^ grace of that disaster. Tlie time for which the ^^^ colonial troops engaged to serve terminated ^ ^ with the campaign. Putnam was re-appointed, rj-j-' and agTiin took the field in 1756. — Few are so ignorant of war as not to know, that military advent ares, in the night, are al- ways extremely liable to accidents. Captain Putnam, having been commanded to reconnoi- tre the enemy's camp at the Ovens near Ticon- deroga. took the brave Lieutenant Robert Dur- kee as his companion. In attempting to exe- cute these orders, he narrov/ly mjssed being taken himself in the first instance, and killing Jiis friend in the second. It was customary for the British and Provincial troor)s to DJace their OF MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNAM. 17 fires round their camp, which frequently ex- posed them to the enemy's scouts and patroles. A contrary practice, then unknown in the En- glish army, prevailed among the French and < Indians. The plan Avas much more rational ; they kept their tires in the centre, lodged their men circularly at a distance, and posted their sentinels in the surrounding darkness. Our partisans approached the camp, and supposing the sentries were within the circle of fires, crept upon their hands and knees with the greatest possible caution, until, to their utter astonish- ment, they found themselves in the thickest of the enemy. The sentinels, discovering them, fired, and slightly wounded Durkee in the thigh. He and Putnam had no alternative. They fled. The latter, being foremost, and scarcely able to see his hand before him, soon plunged into a clay-pit. Durkee, almost at the identical mo- ment, came tumbling after. Putnam, by no means pleased at finding a companion, and be- lieving him to be one of the enemy, lifted his tom.ihawk to give the deadly blow, when Dur- kee, who had followed so closely as to know him, inquired whether he had escaped unhurt. Captain Patnam instantly recognising his voice, dropped his weapon : and both, springing from the pit, made good their retreat to the neigh- bouring ledges, amidst a shower of random shot. There they betook themselves to a large log, by the side of which they lodged the remainder of the night. Before they lay do\vn, Captain Put IS LIFE, ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS CAPT. PUTNAM A.MJ JLIEUT. JULlilvEE S ESCAPE. p. 17. nam said he had a Uttle rum in his canteen, which could never be more acceptable or neces- sary ; but on examining the canteen, which hung under his arm, he found the enemy had pierced it with their balls, and that there was not a drop of liquor left. The next day he found fourteen bullet holes in his blanket. In the same summer, a body of the enemy, consisting of six hundred men, attacked the baggage and provision wagons at a place called the half-way-brook ; it being equi-distant from Fort Edward, and the south end of Lake George. Having killed the oxen, and plundered the wagons, they retreated with their booty, without having met with such resistance ^a OF MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNAM. 1^ might have been expected from the strength of the escort. General Webb, on receiving intel- hgence of this disaster, ordered the Captains Putnam and Rogers " to take one hundred volunteers in boats, with two wall-pieces and two blunderbusses, and to proceed down Lake George to a certain point ; there to leave the batteaux under a proper guard, and thence to cross by land, so as to harass, and, if practica- ble, intercept the retreating enemy at the nar- rows." These orders were executed with so much punctuality, that the party arrived at the destined place half an hour before the hostile boats came in view. Here they waited, under cover, until the enemy entered the narrows, with their batteaux loaded with plunder. Then the volunteers poured on them volley after volley, killed many of the oarsmen, sunk a number of their batteaux, and v/ould soon have destroyed the whole body of the enemy, had not the un- usual precipitancy of their passage carried them through the narrows into the wide part of South Bay, where they were out of the reach of musket-shot. The shattered remnant of the little fleet soon arrived at Ticonderoga, and gave information that Putnam and Rogers were at the narrows. A fresh party was instantly detached to cut them in pieces, on their return to Fort Edward. Our partisans, sensible of the probability of such an attempt, and being full twenty miles from their boats, strained every nerv^e to reach them as soon as possi- 20 LIFE, ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS ble ; which they effected the same night. Next day, when they had returned as far as Sabbath- Day point, they discovered, on shore, the be- forementioned detachment of three hundred men, who had passed them in the night, and who now, on perceiving our party, took to their boats with the greatest alacrity, and rowed out to give battle. They advanced in line, main- taining a good mien, and felicitating themselves upon the prospect of an easy conquest, from the great superiority of their numbers. Flushed Avith these expectations, they were permitted to come within pistol-shot before a gun was fired. At once, the wall-pieces and blunderbusses, which had been brought to rake them in the most vulnerable point, were discharged. As no such reception had been foreseen, the assailants were thrown into the utmost disorder. Their terror and confusion were greatly increased by a well-directed and most destructive fire of the small arms. The larger pieces being reloaded, without annoyance, continued alternately with the musketry to make dreadful havoc, until the rout was completed, and the enemy driven back to Ticonderoga. In this action, one of the bark canoes contained twenty Indians, of whom fifteen were killed. Great numbers, from other boats, both of French and Indians, were seen to fall overboard: but the account of their total loss could never be ascertained. Rogers and Putnam had but one man killed, and two slightly wounded. They now landed on th« OF MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNAM. 21 point, and having refreshed their men at leisure, returned in good order to the British camp. Soon after these rencounters, a singular kind of race was run by our nimble-footed Provincial and an active young Frenchman. The liberty of each was by turns at stake. General Webb, waiiting a prisoner for the sake of intelligence, sent Capt. Putnam, with five men, to procure one. The Captain concealed himself near the road which leads from Ticonderoga to the Ovens. His men seemed fond of showing themselves, which unsoldier-like conduct he pro- hibited with the severest reprehension. This rebuke they imputed to unnecessary fear. The observation is as true as vulgar, that persons distinguishable for temerity, when there is no apparent danger, are generally poltroons when- ever danger approaches. They had not lain long in the high grass, before a Frenchman and an Indian passed — the Indian was considerably in advance. As soon as the former had gone by, Putnam, relying on the fidelity of his men, sprang up, ran, and ordered them to follow. After running about thirty rods, he seized the Frenchman by the shoulders, and forced him to surrender : But his prisoner, looking roimd, perceiving no other enemy, and knowing the Indian would be ready in a moment to assist him, began to make an obstinate resistance. Putnam, finding himself betrayed by his men into a perilous dilemma, let go his hold, stepped back, and snapped his piece, which was levelled 22 LIFE. ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS at the Frenchman's breast. It missed fire. On this he thought it most prudent to retreat. The Frenchman, in turn, chased him back to his men, who, at last, raised themselves from the grass ; which his pursuer espying in good time for himself, made his escape. Putnam, mortified that these men had frustrated his success, dis- missed them with disgrace ; and not long after accomplished his object. Such little feats, as the capture of a single prisoner, may be of infinitely more consequence than some, who are unac- quainted with military afiairs, would be apt to imagine. In a country covered with woods, like that part of America, then the seat of war, the difficulty of procuring, and the importance of possessing good intelligence, can scarcely be con- ceived even by European commanders. They, however, who know its vahie, will not appre- ciate lightly the services of an able partisan. Nothing worthy of remark happened during this campaign, except the loss of Oswego. That fort, which had been built by General Shirley, to protect the peltry trade, cover the country on the Mohawk river, and facilitate an invasion of Canada, by Frontenac and Niagara, fell into the hands of the enemy, with a garrison of six- teen hundred men, and one hundred pieces of cannon. The active services of Captain Putnam on every occasion attracted the admiration of the public, and induced the Legislature of Connec- ticut to promote him to a majority in 1767. OF MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNAM. 23 Lord Loudon was then Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in*America. The expe- dition against Crown Point, which from the commencement of hostihties had been in con- templation, seemed to give place to a more im- portant operation that was meditated against Louisbourg. But the arrival of the Brest squadron at that place prevented the attempt ; and the loss of Fort William Henry served to class this with the two former unsuccessful campaigns. It was rumoured, and partially credited at the time, that General Webb, who commanded in the northern department, had early intimation of the movement of the French army, and might have effectually succoured the garrison. The subsequent iacts will place the affair in its proper light. ^ A few days before yae siege. Major Putnam, ,^ with two hundred men, escorted General Webb '•***' from Fort Edward to Fort W^illiam Henry. The object was to examine the state of this fortification, which stood at the southern ex- tremity of Lake George. Several abortive at- . tempts havhig been made by ^ ajor Roger^nd 2 '^ others in the night season, Major Putnam pro- '-/ '"^^^' posed to go down the lake in open day -light, tc^i^-^ land at Northwest Bay, and tarry on shore until he could make satisfactory discovery of the enemy's actrial situation at Ticonderpga and the adjacent posts. The plan which he sug- gested, of landing with only five men, and send- ing back the ^ boats, to preyent detection, was ^ / ^ S4 LIFE, ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS deemed too hazardous by the General. At leno:th, however, he was permitted to proceed with eighteen vohinteers, in three whale boats ; but before he arrived at Northwest Bay, he dis- covered a body of men on an island. Imme- diately he left two boats to fish at a distance, that they might not occasion an alarm, and re- turned with the information. The General, seeing him rowing back with great velocity, in a single boat, concluded the others v/ere cap- tured, and sent a skiff, with orders for him alone to come on shore. After advising the General of the circumstances, he urged the expediency of returning to make farther discoveries, and bring off the boats. Leave was reluctantly given. He found his people, and, passing still onward, dis- Jtc' covered by the aid of a good perspective glass, ^i^-a large army in motion^ By this time, several of the advanced canoes had nearly surrounded ^^ him, but by the swiftness of his whaleboats, he escaped through the midst of them. On his return he informed the General minutely of all he had seen, and intimated his conviction that the expedition-^nust obviously be destined against Fort William Henry. That command- er, strictly enjoining silence on the subject, di- rected him to put his men under an oath of secrecy, and to prepare, without loss of time, to return to the head-quarters of the army. Major Putnam observed, he " hoped his excellency did not intend to neglect so fair an opportunity of giving battle, should the enemy presume to OP MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNAM. 25 land." " What do you think we should do here ?" replied the General. Accordingly, the next day he returned, and the day after Colonel Monro was ordered from Fort Edward, with his regiment, to re-enforce the garrison. That officer took with him all his rich baggage and camp equippage, notwithstanding Major Put- nam's advice to the contrary. The day follow- ing his arrival, the enemy landed, and besieged the place. The Marquis de Montcalm, Commander-in- Chief for the French in Canada, intending to take advantage of the absence of a large pro- portion of the British force, which he under- stood to be employed imder Lord Loudon against Louisbourg, had asseml^led whatever men could be spared from Ticonderoga, Crown- Point, and the other garrisons : with these he had combined a considerable corps of Cana- dians, and a larger body of Indians than had ever before been collected; making in the whole an army of nearly eight thousand men. Our garrison consisted of twenty-five hundred, and was commanded by Colonel Monro, a very gal- lant officer, who found the means of sending express after express to GenerSl Webb, with an account of his situation, and the most pressing solicitation for succour. In the mean time, the army at Fort Edward, which originally amount- ed to about four thousand, had been consider- ably augmented by Johnson's troops and the militia. On the eighth or ninth day after the 26 LIFE, ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS landing of the French, General Johnson, in con- sequence of repeated apphcations, was suffered to march for the rehef of the garrison, with all the provincials, militia, and Putnam's rangers ; but before they had proceeded three miles, the order was countermanded, and they returned. M. de Montcalm informed Major Putnam, when a prisoner in Canada, that one of his running Indians saw and reported this movement ; and, upon being questioned relatively to the num- bers, answered in their figurative style, " If you can count the leaves on the trees, you can count themP In effect, the operations of the siege were suspended, and preparations made for re- embarking, when another of the runners re- ported that the detachment had gone back. The Marquis de MontcaJm, provided with a good train of artillery, meeting with no annoy- ance from the British army, and but inconsi- derable interruption from the garrison, accele- rated his approaches so rapidly, as to obtain possession of the fort in a short time after com- pleting the investiture. An intercepted letter from General Webb, advising the surrender, was sent into the fort to Colonel Monro by the French general.^ The garrison engaged not to serve for eigh- teen months, and were permitted to march out with the honours of war. But the savages re- garded not the capitulation, nor could they be restrained by the utmost exertion of the com- Wianding officer, from committing the most out- OF MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNAM. 27 rageous acts of cruelty. They stripped and plundered all the prisoners, and murdered great numbers in cold blood. Those who escaped by flight, or the protection of tl;^e French, ar- rived in a forlorn condition at Fort Edward. Among these was the commandant of the gar- rison. The day succeeding this deplorable scene of carnage and barbarity, Major Putnam having been despatched with his rangers, to watch the motions of the enemy, came to the shore, when their rear was scarcely beyond the reach of musket-shot. They had carried off all the cannon, stores, and water-craft. The fort was demolished. The barracks, the out-houses, and suttlers' booths, were heaps of ruins. The tires, not yet extinct, and the smoke, offensive from the mucilaginous nature of the fuel, but illy concealed innumerable fragments of human skulls and bones, and, in some instances, car- casses half consumed. Dead bodies, Aveltering in blood, were every where to be seen, violated, with all the wanton mutilations of savage in- genuity. More than one hundred women, some with their brains still oozing from the battered heads, others with .their whole hair wrenched collectively with the skin from the bloody skulls, and many, with their throats cut, most inhumanly stabbed and butchered, lay stripped entirely naked, with their bowels torn out, and afforded a spectacle too horrible for iJescription. 28 LIFE, ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS Not long after this misfortune, General Ly- man succeeded to the command of Fort Ed ward. He resolved to strengthen it. For this purpose, one hundred and fifty men were em- ployed in cutting timber. To cover them, Captain Little was posted with fifty British re- gulars, at the head of a thick swamp, about one hundred rods eastward of the fort, to which his communication lay over a tongue of land, formed on the one side by the swamp, and by a creek on the other. One morning, at daybreak, a sentiuel saw indistinctly several birds, as he conceived, come from the swamp, and fly over him with incredi- ble swiftness. While he was ruminatino^ on these wonderful birds, and endeavouring to form some idea of their colour, shape, and size, an arrow buried itself in the hmb of a tree just above his head. He now discovered the qua- lity and design of these winged messengers of fate, and gave the alarm. Instautly the work- ing party began to retreat along the defile. A large body of savages had concealed themselves in the morass before the guard was posted, and were attempting in this way to kill the sentinel without noise, with design to surprise tlie whole party. Finding the alarm given, they rushed from the covert, shot and tomahawked those who were nearest at hand, and pressed hard on the remainder of the unarmed fugitives. Captain Little marched to their relief, and, by pouring on the Indians a well-timed fire, checked (%l.5E* OF MAJOR-GENf^RAL PUTXAIM. 29 the pursuit, and enabled sucli of the fatigue- men as did not fall in the first onset, to retire to the fort. Thither he sent for assistance, his httle party being ahuost overpowered by num- bers. But the commandant, imagining that the main body of the enemy were approaching for a general assault, called in his outposts, and shut tlie gates. Major Putnam lay, with his rangers, on an /Tiy island adjacent to the fort. Having heard the —l—^- musketry, and learned that his friend Captain ^ ^^ Little was in the utmost peril, he plunged into '^-a5 the river at the head of his corps, and waded / through the water towards the place of engage- '" ^ ment. This brought him so near to the fort, that General Lyman, apprized of his design, and unwilling that the lives of a few more brave men should be exposed to what he deemed inevitable destruction, mounted the parapet, and ordered him to proceed no farther. The major only took time to make the best short apology he could, and marched onward. This is the only instance, in the whole course of. his military service, wherein he did not pay the strictest obedience to orders ; and in this instance his motive was highly commendable. But when such conduct, even if sanctified by success, is passed over with impunity, it demonstrates that all is not right in the military system. In a disciplined army, such as that of the United States became under General Washington, an officer guilty of a slighter violation of orders, 30 LIFE, ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS MAJ. PUTNAM GOING TO CAPT, LITTLE'S AS- SISTANCE. — 29. however elevated in rank or meritorious in ser- vice, would have been brought before the bar of a court martial. Were it not for the seduc- tive tendency of a brave man's example, I might have been spared the mortification of making these remarks on the conduct of an officer, whose distinguishing characteristics were promptitude for duty and love of subor- dination, as well as cheerfulness to encounter every species of ditficulty and danger. The rangers of Putnam soon opened their way for a junction with the little handful of regulars, who still ol^stinately maintained their ground. By his advice, the whole rushed im- petuously with shouts and huzzas into the OF MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNAM. 31 swamp. The savages fled on every side, and were chased, with no inconsiderable loss on their part, so long as the day-light lasted. On ours, only one man was killed in the pursuit. His death Vv^as immediately avenged by that of the Indian who shot him. This Indian was one of the runners, a chosen bodjr of active young men, w^lio are used not only to procure intelligence and convey tidings, but also to guard the rear on a retreat. Here it will not be unseasonable to mention some of the customs in war peculiar to the aborigines, Avhich on the present as well as other occasions, they put in practice. When- ever a retreating, especially a flying party, had gained the summit of a rising ground, they se- creted one or two runners behind trees, copses, or bushes, to fire at the enemy on their ascend- ing the hill. This commonly occasioned the enemy to halt and form for battle. In the in- terim the runners used such dexterity as to be rarely discovered, or if discovered, they vanished behind the height, and rejoined their brother warriors, who, having thus stolen a distance, were oftentimes seen by their pursuers no more. Or if the pursuers were too eager, they seldom failed to atone for their rashness by falling into an ambuscade. The Mohawks, who were af- terwards much employed in scouts under the orders of Major Putnam, and who were per- fectly versed in all the wiles and stratagems of their countrymen, showed him the mode of 9 32 LIFE, ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS avoiding the evils of either aUernative. In suspicious thickets, and at the borders of every considerable eminence, a momentary pause was made, while they, in different parts, penetrated or ascended with a cautiousness that cannot be easily described. They seemed all eye and ear. When they found no lurkintif mischief, they would beclvon with the hand, and pro- nounce the word " Owisb," witli a lono- labial hissing, the O being almost quiescent. This was ever the watchword for the main body to advance. Indians who went to war together, and who, for any reason, found it necessary to separate into different routes, always left two or three runners at the place of separation, to give timely notice to either party in case of pursuit. If a warrior chanced to straggle and lose himself in the woods, or be retarded by accident or wound, the party luissins; him would fre- quently, on their march, break down a bush or a shrub, and leave the top pointing in the direc- tion they had gone, that the straggler, when he should behold it, might shape his course ac- cordingly. We come to the campaign when General Abercrombie took the command at Fort Ed- ward. That general ordered Major Putnam, with sixty men, to proceed by land to South Bay, on Lake George, for the purpose of making discoveries, and intercepting the eneiixy's par- ties. The latter, in compliance with these or- OF MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNAM. 33 ders, posted himself at Wood Creek, near its entrance into South Bay. On this bank, which forms a jutting precipice ten or twelve feet above the water, he erected a stone parapet thirty feet in length, and masked it with young pine-trees, cut at a distance, and so artfully planted as to imitate the natural growth. Hence he sent back fifteen of his men, who had fallen sick. Distress for want of provisions, occasioned by the length of march, and time spent on this temporary fortification, compelled him to deviate from a rule he had established, never to permit a gun to be fired but at an ene- my while on a scout. He was now obliged to shoot a buclc, which had jumped into the creek, in order to eke out their scanty subsistence until the fourth day after the completion of the works. About ten o'clock that evening,' one of the men on duty at the margin of the bay, informed him that a fleet of bark canoes, filled with men, was steering towards the mouth of the creek. He immediately called in all his sentinels, and or- dered every man to his post. A profound still- ness reigned in the atmosphere, and the full moon shone with uncommon brightness. The creek, which the enemy entered, is about six rods wide, and the bank opposite to the parapet above twenty feet high. It was intended to permit the canoes in front to pass — they had accordingly just passed, when a soldier acci- dentally struck his firelock against a stone. The commanding officer in the van canoe heard 2* ° 34 LIFE, ANECDOTES. AND HEROIC EXPL0IT3 the noise, and repeated several times the savage watch-word, — Owish ! Instantly the canoes huddled together, with their centre precisely in front of the works, covering the creek for a considerable distance above and below. The officers appeared to be in deep consultation, and the fleet on the point of retarning, when Major Putnam, who had ordered Iiis men in tlie most peremptory manner not to fire until lie sliould set the example, gave the signal, by discharging his piece. They fired. Kotliing could exceed the inextricable confusion and apparent con- sternation occasioned by this well-concerted attack. But, at last, the enemy findhig, from the unfrequency in the firing, that the number of our men must be small, resolved to land be- low and surround them. Putnam, apprehen- sive of this from the movement, sent Lieutenant Robert Durliee, with twelve men, a.bout thirty rods down the creek, v/ho arrived in time to repulse the party which attempted to land. Another small detachment, under Lieutenant ^Parsons, was ordered up the creek to prevent any similar a,ttempt. In the mean time, Major Putnam kept up, through tlie whole night, an incessant and deadly fire on the main body of the enemy, without receiving any thing in re- turn but shot void of effect, accompanied with dolorous groans, miserable shrieks, and dismal savage yells. After daybreak, he was ad\rised that one part of the enemy had effected a land- ing considerably below, and were rapidly ad- OF MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNAM. 35 vanciiig to cut off his retreat. Apprised of the great superiority still opposed to him, as well as of the situation of his own soldiers, some of whom were entirely destitute of ammunition, and the rest reduced to one or two rounds each, he commanded them to swing their packs. By hastening the retreat, in good order, they had just time to retire far enough up the creek to prevent being enclosed. During this long-con- tinued action, m which the Americans had slain at least five times their own number, only one Provincial and one Indian were wounded on their side. These unfortunate men had been sent off for camp in the night, with two men to assist them, and directions to proceed by Wood-Creek as the safest, though not the shortest route. But having taken a nearer way, they were pursued and overtaken by the In- dians, who, from the blood on the leaves and bushes, believed that they were on the trail of our whole party. The wounded, despairing of mercy, and unable to fly, insisted that the well soldiers should make their escape, which, on a . moment's deliberation, they effected. The Pro- vincial, Vv^hose thigh was broken by a ball, on the approach of the savages, fired his piece, and killed three of them ; after which he was quickly hacked in pieces. The Indian, how- ever, was saved alive. This man Major Put- nam saw afterwards in Canada, where he like- wise learned that his enemy, in the rencounter at Wood-Creek, consisted of five hundred Freach 36 LIFE, ANECDOTESj AND HEROIC EXPLOITS and Indians, under the command of the cele- brated partisan Molang, and that no party, since the war, had suffered so severely, as more than one half of those Avho went out never returned. Our brave little company, reduced to forty in number, had proceeded along the bank of the creek about an hour's march, when Major Put- nam, being in front, was fired on by a party just at hand. He, rightly appreciating the advan- tage often obtained by assi.miing a bold counte- nance on a critical occasion, in a stentoropho- nic tone, ordered his men to rush on tlie enemy, and promised that tliey shoidd soon give a good account of them. It proved to be a scout of Provincials, who conceived they were firing upon the French ; but the commanding officer, knowing Putnam's voice, cried out, that they were all friends. Upon this the Major told him abruptl^r, that, " friends or enemies, they all de- served to be hanged for not killing more when they had so fair a shot." In fact, but one man was mortally wounded. While these things were transacted, a faithful soldier, whose am- munition had been nearhr exhausted, made his way to the fort, and gave such information, that General Lyman was detached with five hun- dred men to cover the retreat. Major Putnam met them at only twelve miles distance from the fort, to which they returned the next day. In the winter of 1757,*vvhen Colonel Havi- land was commandant at Fort Edward, the barracks adjoining to the northwest bastion -/^//^idU^^V/^, OF MAJOR-&ENER AL PUTNAM. 37 ^^^z5&t - —^ ^'- -— " -^ - "" 'pUTNATvrSA\^S THE MAGAZINE.— P- 37. took fire They extended within twelve feet of the magazine, which contained three hundred barrels^of powder. On its first discovery, the fire rao-ed with great violence. The command- ant endeavoured, in vain, by discharging some pieces of lieavv artillery against the supporters of this flight of barracks, to level them ^ylth the around. Putnam arrived from the island where he was stationed at the moment when the blaze approached that end which was contiguous to the magazine. Instantly a vigorous attempt was made to extinguish the conflagration. A way was opened by a postern gate to the river, and the soldiers were employed in bringing water ; which he, having mounted on a ladder to the eaves of the building, received and threw on 38 LIFE, ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS the flame. It continued, notwithstanding their utmost efforts, to gain on them. He stood, en- veloped in smoke, so near the sheet of fire, that a pair of thick blanket mittens were burnt en- tirely from his hands ; he was supplied with another pair dipped in water. Colonel Havi- land, fearing that he would perish in the flames, called to him to comedown. But he entreated that he might be suflered to remain, since de- struction must inevitably ensue if their exer- tions should be remitted. The gallant com- mandant, not less astonished than charmed at the boldness of his conduct, forbade any more effects to be carried out of the fort, animated the men to redoubled diligence, and exclaim.ed, "if v/e must be blown up, we v.dll go altogether." At last, when the barracJvS were seen to be tum- bling, Putnam descended, placed himself at the interval, and continued from an incessant rota- tion of replenished buckets to pour water on the magazine. The outside planks were already consumed by the proximity of the fire, and as only one thickness of timber intervened, the trepidation now became general and extreme. Putnam, still undaunted, covered with a cloud of cinders, and scorched with the intensity of the heat, maintained his position until the fire subsided, and the dang-er was wholly over. He had contended for one hour and a half with that terrible element. His legs, his thighs, his arms, and his face were blistered ; and when he pulled off his second pair of mittens, the skin from his OP MAJOR-GENERAL PUTNAM. 39 liands and fingers followed them. It was a month before he recovered. The commandant, to whom his merits had before endeared him, could not stifle the emotions of gi-atitude, due to the man who had been so instrumental in pre- serving the magazine, the fort, and the garrison. The repulse before Ticonderoga took place in 1758- General Abercrombie, the British commander in chief in America, conducted the expedition. His army, which amounted to nearly sixteen thousand regulars and provin- cials, was amply supplied with artillery and military stores. This well-appointed corps passed over Lake Gaorge, and landed, without opposition, at the point of destination. The troops advanced in columns. Lord Howe, liaving Major Putnam with him, was in front of the centre. A body of about five hundred men, the advance or pickets of the French ar- my, which had fled at first, began to skirmish with our left. " Putnam," said Lord Howe, *' what means that firing ?" " I know not, but, with your lordship's leave, will see," replied the former. " I will accompany you/' rejoined the gallant young nobleman. In vain did Major Putnam attempt to dissuade him by saying— '• My lord, if I am killed, the loss of my hfe will be of little consequence, but the preservation of yours is of infinite importance to this army." The only answer was, " Putnam, your life is as dear to you as mine is to me ; I am determined, to ffo." One hundred of the van, under Major 40 LIFE, ANECDOTES, AND HEROIC EXPLOITS Putnam, filed off with Lord Howe. They soon met tlie left flanli of the enemy's advance, by whose first fire his lordship fell. — It was a loss indeed ; and particularly felt in the operations which occurred three days afterwards. His manners and his virtues had made him the idol of the army. From.his first arrival in America, he had accommodated himself* and his res^i- ment to the peculiar nature of the service. Ex- emplary to the officer, a friend to the soldier, the model of discipline, he had not failed to en- counter every hardship and hazard. Nothing could be more calculated to inspire men with the rash animation of rage, or to temper it with the cool perseverance of revenge, than the sight of such a hero, so beloved, fallen in his coun- try's cause. It had the eifect. Putnam's party, having cut their way obliquely through the enemy's ranks, and having been joined by Captain D'Ell, with twenty men, together with some other small parties, charged them so fu- riously in rear, that nearly three hundred were killed on the spot, and one hundred and forty- eight made prisoners. In the mean time, from the unskilfulness of the guides, some of our columns were bewil- dered. The left wing, seeing Putnam's party in their front, advancing over the dead bodies towards them, commenced a brisk and heavy ♦ He cut his hair short, and induced the regiment to follow the example. He fashioned their clothing for the activity of iervice, and divested himeelf and them of every article (^ s«- p«rfki