E296 UBItUlY OF.,CONGR DOOObElHBn \^^ r- ^^ ^-^ ^'. • «5 ** ^^' "^ / TALES OF THE REVOLUTION BEING RARE AND REMARKABLE PASSAGES OF THE HISTORY THE WAR OF 17T5. (: *t9 N E W Y O R K : HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLlSHERb, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 105 S. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1336, by Harper & Brothers, In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New Y. an expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown Point — The capture of those two places — The effect of that success — An expedition against the Canadas is fitted out — Account of its progress up the Lakes to Montreal — Capture of Montreal by Montgomery's troops. One of the most important advantages gain- ed by the Americans over the English during the first year of the Revolutionary War, and one that contributed, perhaps quite as much as any other which occurred in the course of that eventful season, to encourage the hearts of the patriots then engaged in defence of the liberties of the <:,ountry, was the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, by a party of troops sent out under the direction of the State of Connecticut, and commanded by Colonel Ethan Allen of Vermont. The value of these strong holds will be readily 6 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. perceived by those who are familiar with the geography of the region in which they were situ- ated. Any accurate map will show that both the points occupied by these fortifications were such as to command, in a great degree, the only existing route of communication between the States and the Canadas, which was capable of being used for military purposes to the advantage of either party in the war. Pretty soon after ascending the Hudson River as high as Fort Edward, it will be seen that we come to Lake George on one side, and to Wood Creek on the other ; and that these bodies of water flow to- gether, to form Lake Champlain, At the point of their junction is Ticonderoga, and at the place, farther up, where the stream composed of these two branches unites itself into what is properly called the Lake, is Crown Point. It being, then, by this Lake, and by the River Sorel, wliich flows out of it, that communication is made with the St. Lawrence — on which Mon- treal and Quebec, the chief towns of the Canadas, are both situated — it is obvious that the two positions first named were rightly regarded as the keys of approach to the latter from the States; and to the States, of course, from the North. They had both, accordingly, been for MOVEMENTS AT THE NORTH. I a long time fortified; first by the French, from whom they were taken with much difficulty durins; the Old War which ended in the con- es quest of the Canadas by the English; and after- wards, by the English themselves. The troops who composed the party, men- tioned above, which succeeded in the capture of these important places, were principally — although they were sent out by the State of Connecticut, — people from the Green Mountains of Vermont, hardy and brave men. They as- sembled, in the most secret manner possible, at a village called Castletown, on Wood Creek, where they were much surprised, soon after, at meeting with Colonel Arnold, who had left the army of Washington at Cambridge, with the view of raising forces in this direction for the very same purpose proposed by the party which he now found already embarked in the enterprise described above. So similar w^as the estimate of its importance, formed, at the same moment, in the calculations of different minds, wliich had no consultation, however, wath each other upon the subject. Arnold, though anibitious enough of the glory of commanding such an expedition, quietly put himself under the orders of Colonel Allen. 8 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. Sentinels were posted on all the roads to prevent the enemy's receiving any rumor of the approach of the Americans, and thelatt-er arrived in the night-time, unperceived, on the bank of the stream, opposite to Ticonderoga. Crossing over immediately, they continued their march, and at daybreak, entering by the covered way, arrived upon the esplanade of the fort. Here the silence of the morning was first broken by a tremendous shout of victory. The soldiers of the garrison were roused from sleep. A hot struggle ensued, with gun-breeches and bayonets, which, however, was of short duration. The commander of the fort was soon satisfied that a defence would be hopeless, and, after exclaiming several times in great confusion — ' What does this mean? ' — ordered a surrender of the place, with all its contents. Thus the Americans ob- tained possession of an important position, with a large quantity of arms and ammunition of every kind. A party sent against Crown Point met w^ith equal success, and that fort, with a hundred pieces of cannon, also fell into the hands of our forces. The happy result of this bold design encour- aged the Continental Congress, and the com- mander in chief, to attempt a more considerable MOVEMENTS AT THE NORTH. ^ expedition against the Canadas themselves, to which, in fact, nothing could have been better adapted, than the capture of these two posts, to prepare the way. It was thought desirable, not only to obtain possession of those important ^wns, on the St. Lawrence, which served as places of rendezvous and refreshment for the armies of England — and to shut up that great river against all the navigation of the enemy — but also to give the Canadians an opportunity, such as the visit of an American army among them would afford, of declaring in favor of our cause, (as it was believed many of them were disposed to do,) or at least of being permitted to remain inactive and neutral during the war, instead of joining their forces to that of their parent government against us. A large pro- portion of the inhabitants were French, or of French origin, and, it was thought, not par- ticularly friendly to their new British masters. Nor were there at this period any of the English troops of the line in the Canadas, these having been all called to Boston, which was now be- sieged by the army of Washington. Besides, it was understood that the English government intended, during the spring of the next year (1776,) to make great efforts in the 10 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. Canadas, expecting to be able to finish the Ameri- can War almost at a single blow, by pouring down upon our frontiers a powerful force, which should thus attack the States in the rear, while another large army, and perhaps two or three, would assail them at different points of the Atlan-v tic coast. Having these views of the policy of an inva- sion of Canada, the Congress were active in making the necessary preparations. They se- lected three thousand soldiers for the enterprise — ^partly inhabitants of New England, and partly of New York — and commanded by Brigadier Generals Montgomery and Wooster, under the principal control of Major General Schuyler, the latter of whom, however, was detained by en- gagements connected with the fitting out of the expedition from constantly attending it, so that the chief direction of it devolved on the brave Montgomery. Rafts were constructed at Ti- conderoga and Crown Point, for transporting the troops on their way to the St. Lawrence. Montgomery, with a part of the army, reached the latter station some time before his colleague, and waited for him at that place. He afterwards moved forward t-o Isle aux Noix — a position near the entrance of the River Sorel into Lake MOVEMENTS AT THE NORTH. 11 Champlain; and there he was joined by the rear of the army. With this united force it was determined to lay siege to Fort St. John, a place on the left bank of the Sorel, which, commanding that stream entirely, and closing its passage to the St. Lawrence, had been occupied with a British garrison of over eight hundred men. This they at length succeeded in capturing, after a siege of six weeks, and possession was taken on the 3d of November. Meanwhile, the Americans had sustained the loss of Colonel Allen, who, with a detachment of several hundreds of his troops, was forced to surrender to a superior British party, which had encountered him on his march, in advance of the main American army, towards Montreal. Undiscouraged, however, either by this disaster, or by the extreme cold of the season, Montgomery moved on to the junc- tion of the Sorel with the St. Lawrence, and that point he fortified in such a manner as to blockade a British naval force, under command of Governor Carle ton, in that part of the river between the mouth of the Sorel and the city of Montreal above. Montgomery himself took pos session of that city, by capitulation, on the 13th of November. The Governor not long after- 12 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. wards made his escape down the river, past the American fortifications at the Sorel, by thriddieg his way through the guard-boats of the latter, during a dark night, in a boat with muffled oars , He threw himself into Quebec, and there awaited the approach of the invading army. The capture of this city being a grand object of the expedition, Montgomery, with the little force he was now able to command for farther action, moved onwards to its attack; but, pre- vious to an account of the result of this move- ment, the order of history requires us to turn our attention to a transaction in another quarter — one. of the most extraordinary which occurred during the whole of the eventful and adventurous period of the Revolutionary War. Arnold's expedition. 13 CHAPTER II. Arnold's expedition. Account of another expedition fitted out against the Canadas, under command of Colonel Arnold — The designs of Washing- ton in sending it up the Kennebec — It leaves the Camp at Cam- bridge — Reaches the mouth of Kennebec river by vpater — Anecdotes of the ascent of the river — Sufferings of some of the party in the wilderness. The character of the design which is now to be described, may be learned from a passage in General Washington's Letter to Congress, from his camp at Cambridge — where he had conceiv- ed the plan in question — under date of Sept. 21st, 1775. He says — ' I am now to inform the Honorable Congress, that, encouraged by the repeated declarations of the Canadians and In- dians, and urged by their requests, I have detached Colonel Arnold, with a thousand men, to pene- trate into Canada by way of Kennebec River, and, if possible, to make himself master of Que- oec. By this manoeuvre I proposed either to di- vert Carleton from St. Johns, which would leave a free passage to General Schuyler ; or, if this did not take effect, Quebec, in its present defenceless state, must fall into his hands an easy prey.' It was no doubt the belief of Washington, 14 TALES OP THE REVOLUTION. that this expedition might be attended with the greater effect, from the circumstance of the route, by which it was proposed to conduct it, being one which had never before been travelled perhaps even by a single white man, and lying through a region of remote, barren, and dreary wilderness, so manifestly difficult of passage, that there could be no suspicion on the part of the Canadians, unless previously informed of the plan, that such an adventure was intended. Pains were taken also to keep the expedition as secret as possible, in the hope of its finally com- ing out on the banks of the St. Lawrence, under the walls of Quebec itself, so unexpectedly as to allow the enemy little or no time for the defence of their capital. Wishing to conciliate the good will of the Canadians, and especially of the French population, Washington especially instructed Ar- nold to observe the strictest order in his march through their country, and to consider himself as moving through the territory of friends, rather than that of an enemy. The detachment, intrusted to the commanc'i of Arnold,* consisted of ten companies of mus- * This officer is the same who several years afterward turned traitor to the American cause, and attempted, without success, to place West Point (on the Hudson) in the hands of the enemy At the date of our nar'-ative his reputation was very high. ARNOLD S EXPEDITION. 15 keteers, belonging to New England, and three companies of riflemen from Virginia and Penn- sylvania, each company numbering eighty-four men, and the whole force therefore amounting to not far from eleven hundred. There were also a few volunteers, and among the rest Aaron Burr, who was afterwards Vice President of the United States, but at this period a young man not much over twenty years of age. Of other individuals connected with the expedition there will be occasion to speak hereafter. It is suffi- cient here to remark that it was made up, in a great measure, of the flower of the Cambridge army, and was believed to be as competent to endure the hardships, and to overcome the diffi- culties, of the important enterprise before it, as any force of an equal number which that army was able to furnish. On the 6th of September, Washington issued orders for drafting the men, collecting provisions, and building two hundred batteaux — this be- ing a kind of wide, light, flat-bottomed boat, much used in the northern waters, for the trans- portation of baggage particularly, and intended on this occasion to be the means of the convey- ance of the whole party up the Kennebec and Its branches. 16 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION The detachment marched out, on the ISth, a few miles, to the village of Medford. The second day they proceeded through Salem to Danvers. On the third, Saturday, they reached Newburyport in the forenoon, encamped, and passed the Sabbath and the ensuing day. On Tuesday the whole force was embarked on boai'd ten transports, and left the harbor for the mouth of the Kennebec, which, though distant one hundred and fifty miles, the wind blowing fresh in their favor, they reached on the morn- ing of the 20th. Being hailed from the shore, they replied simply that they were continental troops^ and requested a pilot, who was immedi- ately put on board, and they proceeded up the river, passing Fort Pownel (now Dresden) and stopping at Gardener's Town (now Gardener.) At Pittston, opposite tliis place, the batteaux mentioned above had been built, at Major Col- burn's ship-yard, and the troops here embarked on board of them, and ascended on the 23d six miles to Fort Western. The ruins of this ancient fortification — ^used for a long time, by the early settlers, in defence against the French and Indians — are still to be seen on the banks of the river, in the beautiful town of Augusta ; and it is a curious memorial of ARNOLD S EXPEDITlOiX. 17 the fashions of those times. It consisted of two block-houses, and another large house, a hun- dred feet long — the whole being enclosed with pickets. The owner of the house last men- tioned was Judge Howard, commander of the fort, who hospitably entertained the American Officers.* On the evening of the arrival at Fort Western, some of the soldiers being at a private house, one of them, named Mc Cormick, was turned out doors in the course of a quarrel, upon which he discharged his gun into it, and killed a man. He was forthwith tried by a Court Martial, and received sentence of death, but was reprieved until the pleasure of General Washington could be known. The plan of the route through the wilderness was agreed on at this place, during the few days spent there in making preparations for the ardu- ous task. It was determined, in the first place, to send forward a small party of eight or ten men, to search out and mark the Indian paths at the different carrying-places on the river — *This old gentleman died in 1787, at the age of eighty-six. It is stated that one of his soldiers, John Gilley, a native of Ireland, who enlisted in the British army about the year 1756, died at Augusta only twenty-one years since (July 9th, 1813) h( the extraordinary age of one hundred and twenty-four. 18 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. where it was necessary, on account of the shal- lowness or rapidity of the stream, to take the batteaux out of the water, and convey them round over land to the next navigable part of the river. This party were to proceed as far north as the Chaudiere, a river flowing into the St. Lawrence, in a northerly direction, from the same highlands which also furnish the sources of the Kennebec, running in the opposite direc- tion. It was moreover proposed to send on the three companies of riflemen — as pioneers — to clear the road for the other divisions of the army — ^under command of one of their own captains, Morgan, the same who was afterwards very honorably distinguished as General Morgan, during the whole period of the war. Arnold appointed a young Lieutenant, named Steele — a brave and active man — to the com- mand of the small exploring party. The other persons chosen to compose it, were seven pri- vates, namely, Wheeler, Merchant, Clifton, Cun- ningham, Boyd, Tidd, and McKonkey. Steele was also permitted to take with him, for old acquaintance sake, a lad named John Joseph Henry, of sixteen years of age,* whose father hved ♦ Seventeen on the day when the party, to which he belong- ed, arrived at the first house in Canada. ARNOLD S EXPEDITION. 19 at Lancaster, in Pennsylvania. He had acquir- ed a hardihood scarcely to have been expected from his youth, by having formerly travelled home from Detroit, across the wilderness (as it then was) with an uncle, — on which occasion he subsisted for several days, between the Ohio and Sandusky rivers, upon acorns alone. Af- terwards, from an invincible love of military life, and of adventure, he had joined the Penn- sylvanian troops, at the breaking out of the war, without his father's knowledge. We may be pardoned for tarrying here to remark that young Henry, though his early career was somewhat irregular, became in subsequent years a distin- guished lawyer. He was appointed by the governor of Pennsylvania, in 1793, President of one of the judicial districts in that State — an office which he held for a period of seventeen years. He was compelled to abandon his mili- tary life by a bad wound which he received in a fall on the ice during a skirmish before Quebec. These nine persons, with two others, em- ployed as guides — one Getchel, and a gray- headed Irishman named Home — composed the whole of the little party which left Fort Western on the 24th of September, in two birch-bark canoes, each carrying five or six men, a bai-rel 20 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. of pork, a bag of meal, and two or three hundred pounds of biscuit. That evening they reached a ruinous old block-house, called Fort Halifax, twenty miles up the river, on a point of land in what is now the town of Winslow, and opposite to Waterville. Here a stanch old whig,* named Harrison, who lived near* the fort, entertained the party with great kindness, ^and the commander of the place did them the farther favor to exchange a barrel of smoked-dried sal- mon for one of their barrels of pork. The next day they are supposed to have gone seventeen miles to Schowhegan Falls. This was at that time a famous place for beavers, and they exchanged another quantity of their pork for two fresh beaver-tails — considered a very dainty article of food. Here was one of the carrying-places. The Indian path was found, and carefully marked by blazing the trees along the edges of it with a hatchet. The canoes were carried round on the shoulders of the men — the w^eight resting in these cases, upon a broad straight stave, bound to the central cross-bar of the canoe by a stout leather thong passing through two perforations, * A title given to the friends of the American arnoid's expedition. 21 an inch or more apart, at the middle of the stave. The last white settlers met with by the party, were found at Norridgwock, five miles from the Falls, and beyond that place they entered an uninhabited wilderness, where, for fear of the Indians, it w^as thought prudent not to dischaa^ge their guns, however strong were the temptations presented by frequent flocks of fine ducks on the water, and herds of fat moose bounding across the greensward on the shore — Through shade and sunny gleam. About forty miles above Schowhegan, after passing-Carriotunk Falls, they reached the great carrying-place (so called.) Here the portage is twelve miles long; and the party, being willing to avoid this tedious route, struck off westwardly from the Kennebec for the Dead river — so named from the sluggisliness of its current — which at this place was but twelve miles distant, while the distance to the moidh^of the same river, up the Kennebec itself, was more than thirty. The great carrying-place is in the northern range of townships of what is now called Bingham's Purchase, or the Million Acres. Three considerable ponds lie on the route which was chosen here by Steele, and these 22 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. facilitated the progress of his men not a little. The Indian path also was found tolerably dis- tinct, and was made more so by blazing^ and cutting the bushes with tomahawks. Still, so difficult was the journey, that it required one day for the travellers to reach the margin of the first pond, where, however, they were pretty well refreshed by a supper of delicious trout, which old Clifton caught in abundance. Here it was determined, the next morning, to leave Clifton and McKonkey, with half the provisions, under orders to retire to the south end of the pond, and there remain concealed in some Robinson-Crusoe sort of retreat, until the return of the rest of the party, who expected to be absent some eight or ten days. That half of the provisions which this party were to take with them, was here divided among the men. Steele made as many divisions as there were men, in the presence of them all, and then directing one of the number to turn his back, asked him, as he laid his hand on a particular portion — ^ whose shall this be?' — and it was given to the one whose name he happened to mention. This important arrangement being thus con- cluded, the lieutenant and his men recommenc- Arnold's expedition. 23 ed their journey, and at the end of two days more arrived at the banks of Dead river, where they made an encampment, and tarried long enough to allow themselves a little rest. Here was found the Balsam Fir in great abundance, and Getchel amused himself with teaching young Henry to gather the benefits of its medi- cinal juices. He pointed out to the lad the bhsters on the bark, which yield the liquid, and instructed him to place the edge of a broad knife at the under side of the blister in the morning, and to receive the balsam by placing his mouth at the back part of the knife. This novel beverage was found to be a genuine cordial, and was thought to contribute considerably to the better health of the party. Leaving the camp October 2d, they ascended the river that day rapidly to the first falls, and made their beds there, as usual, of the branches of fir or spruce. Here it was judged necessary, as the distance to the Chaudiere was unknown, to economize in the provisions; and it was re- solved thenceforth to eat but twice a day, and eat the pork raw. Their supper was to consist of half a biscuit, and half an inch square of poric To this, however, were added occasional luxit' ries. During the two next days, for example 24 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. as they mounted the river, they caught both trout and delicious chub. The river trout were pale, with pink spots, but they found some lai'ger ones in a deep spring-head, which were of dark- er hue, with splendid spots of crimson. Farther up, at the head of the river, they passed several small ponds, in the centre of one of which was a little island, of a quarter of an acre, covered over with a delicious species of cranberry, growing as large as a cherry, on a bush about ten feet high When the party approached a place known as the residence of J^atanis, an old hunter of the Norridgwock tribe of Indians, who was supposed to be in the English service, and had therefore become an object of much fear and suspicion, they stealthily surrounded his cabin, which stood on a bank some twenty yards from the river, with a grass plat extending around it, rather more than shooting distance with a rifle. In this solitary place, chosen no doubt for the conve- nience of hunting, and said to be just about half way between the Canadian and American settle- ments, the Last of the Norridgwocks was passing the lonely years of his latter hfe. He had gathered some intimation of the approach of the white men, and considered it his safest policy to avoid them. They however did him great Arnold's expedition. 25 injustice in regarding him as their enemy. This afterwards appeared from his joining the invading army of Arnold on the river Chaudiere, with about forty of the Indians of the St. Francois (Canadian) tribe. Steele's party found also, a little above his wigwam, at the junction of a con- siderable stream from the west with Dead river, another evidence of the old man's kindness, in a piece of birch bark, neatly folded up, and in- serted into a split at the top of a stake driven into the sand at the water's edge. The bark, on opening, was found to furnish a rude but distinct map of the streams farther up. So con- siderate had Natanis been for the welfare of his American friends, while at the same time he hovered about them, no doubt, without suffering himself to be seen, for fear of being killed ! The weather was now growing cold, and the travellers put on warmer clothing. Henry wore a roundabout woollen jacket, a pair of half worn buck-skin breeches, a hat with a feather, a hunting-shirt, leggins, and a pair of moccasins on his feet, — carrying also woollen stockings, and shoes, in reserve. But the end of this tedious tour was at hand. A range of highlands, long looked for, was at length descried from the fifth pond which they 3 26 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. passed after leaving Dead river, and here, cover- ing their canoes with leaves, they crossed over about five miles, by an Indian path, to the banks of the Chaudiere. This water was of course hailed with great rejoicing, especially when Cunningham, having climbed a high tree, cried out that he saw before him, over a stretch of level country, some fifteen miles distant, the great Chaudiere Lake. This was probably the Nepels Lake, (which communicates with the former by a stream a few miles long,) but in either case the party had accomplished their purpose; and if the sight of the one water was at all more grateful than that of the other, to the weary eyes which had looked for both so long, it might well enough be said of the mistake — Where ignorance is bliss, 'T is folly to be wise. It was now about the 7th of October, as the sun was shedding his last beams over the highlands of the Chaudiere, that our travellers turning their faces homeward once more, set out for their return to the canoes. To prevent discovery by the Indians, they proceeded in 'Indian file,' all treading in the steps of the leader, and Getsels Dringing up ,the rear, and strewing leaves over the track with his feet. This walk in the dark, over a Arnold's expedition. 21 country so rough and difficult, was made none the pleasanter by a heavy rain, from which the party were protected, after reaching their encampment j only by a rude wigwam of the branches of fir. Henry, who had fallen down a precipice, did not arrive till an hour after his friends. The rains, however, raised the waters of the sti'eams and ponds several feet, and this im- proved the navigation so much that the return of the boats was easy and rapid. The last rem- nants of the pork and biscuit were consumed for supper the next day. About this time, a small duck, called a diver , having been shot, a consul- tation was called, and it was determined — with all the gravity of an Indian council, deciding on the fate of a captive white man — to boil the bird in the camp kettle, together with each man's last inch of pork, which was designated by a skewer of wood, run through it, and marked so as to indicate the owner. The broth thus made was the supper. The duck, divided into equal parts by the method — ' lohose shall be this 9 — ' was the breakfast of next morning. Henry, for example, received one of the thighs, and Cun- ningham got the head and the feet. The next day great rejoicing was occasioned by the discovery of a moose — a matter worth ii8 TALES OP THE REVOLUTION. more to them, as it has been well said, than a mountain of gold. Lieutenant Steele shot him as he pranced by on the northern bank, and the travellers raised, as the poor animal fell, a shout probably as vociferous as that of the soldiers of old Captain Church, about a century before, at the time when King Philip w^as shot in a swamp by one of his own men. The old Irishman, one of the guides, seized upon the prize with as little ceremony as possible, and, before his comrades could guess his design, cut off the animal's nose and upper lip — great dainties am.ong hunters — and placed them on the fire to roast. The others followed his example, and the whole night was passed in selecting, cooking, and consuming the titbits. Another moose w^as killed the next day, and here w^as plenty indeed, though the meat, after all, eaten without bread, salt or oil, was insufficient to satisfy the appetite, and even brought on a troublesome illness. On reaching Dead river again, some of it was jerked — an operation performed by cutting the meat into thin strips, and smoking it, over a fire, on a square rack of poles laid across each other at the height of four feet from the ground. At one time they were delayed several hours Dv injuries which the canoes received in running ARNOLD S EXPEDITION. 29 Upon the limb of a tree in a river. But ' neces- sity is the mother of invention.' Birch bark was procured, and the roots of the cedar for twine, and the canoe was covered whh pitch, made from the turpentine of the pine and the scrapings of the pork-bag. From the encampment at Dead river, Steele, with two others, went forward to look for the army, and to their exceeding joy they met with the advance party the same day. On the 16th of the month (October) the others, having jerked their meat, folloAved on, leaving their boats at the carrying-place, from inability ta carry them. At a bog near the third pond from the Kennebec, they came up with some pioneers of the army, who wfere making a cause-way. Cordial greetings were exchanged, and a feast provided on the occasion, at which due honor was rendered to an abundance of boiled pork and dumplings. Steele, having dislocated his shoulder after leaving Dead river, did not return to his friends; and Clifton and McKonkey, left at one of the ponds some weeks before, for scouts, had deserted their post not long after. Thus were the explorers brought together once more, after an absence of over three weeks from the main army. 30 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION CHAPTER III. Arnold's expedition, concluded. Account of the ascent of the different divisions of the army, con tinued — Division of the provisions — The boats abandoned- Henry's feast of bear's-broth — Dearbon's dog consumed— Cattle are met with — Arrival at the river De Loup — At the first house in Canada — A supply of food obtained — Arriva at the St. Lawrence — Subsequent history and final result of the expedition. It will be remembered that the exploring party left the army at Fort Western. On the 25th September, and the two following days, they commenced the ascent of the Kennebec, in four divisions, the foremost of which, the riflemen, was commanded by Captain Morgan, and the other three by Colonel Green, Colonel Enos and Major Meigs. This gentleman, afterwards better known as Colonel Meigs, became, subsequent to the war, one of the first settlers of Ohio, and was father of the late Post-Master-General of the United States. The army were about a month in reaching the sources of the Dead river. Here disasters occurred, and among others the loss of a large quantity of provisions, money, clothes, and guns, Arnold's expedition. 31 by the filling of five or six of the batteaux. Henry came very near being drowned by the upsetting of a boat. Quite a number of the men being sick, a council was held, and it was resolved to send them back to Cambridge, while fifty men were despatched to the Chaudiere pond in advance of the army. Colonel Enos, commanding the fourth division, was intrusted with the former duty. This officer, with his three companies, being some days behind Arnold, and they having but three days' provision with them, while they were distant at least one hundred miles from the nearest settlement, determined, after a council of war, to go back to Cambridge with the sick, all together. They finally did so, without order, or even permission, from Arnold. Their reception at Cambridge was very cold. They were look- ed upon as deserters, and Colonel Enos was tried by a Court Martial. This court acquitted him with honor, judging his return to have been under the circumstances a matter of necessity. The residue of the army, now reduced to be- tween six hundred and seven hundred men, had still eighty or ninety miles to travel, of the most dreary and difficult route conceivable, before reaching the Canadian settlements; and the pro- 32 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. visions being divided, there were found to be but five pints of flour to each man. This was baked into five cakes, under the ashes of the camp-fires. October 29th, they arrived at Nepess Lake, and thence pressed on to the Chaudiere, the travelling having now become exceedingly bad, so that in passing the morasses the men would sink deep in the mud; — and not the men only, for it seems there were several women connected with the army — one of them the wife of a Ser- geant Grier of the Pennsylvania troops. They began their march, November 1st, along the banks of the Chaudiere — ^a word mean- ing boiler in French, and given to this stream on account of its furious rapidity. The passage was so difficult that every boat put into the water was split or abandoned. Captain Morgan had one of his men drowned, and narrowly es- caped with his own life. Major Meigs this day passed a number of men, who had no provisions. It was out of his power to supply them, and as several of them were sick, a part at least must have perished in the wilderness. Some of the soldiers were so famished that, in passing, on one occasion, a low sandy beach, they rushed desperately from the ranks, and with their finger? Arnold's expedition. S3 eagerly dug up the roots of plants, and ate them raw. Poor Henry, whose journal has been pre* served to this day, speaks about this time of getting from some of his friends the luxury of a little broth. It -was of a greenish color, and no doubt made from a dog^ though it went by the more agreeable title of bear's-broth. Captain Dearborn — afterwards better known as General Dearborn — who commanded one of the companies, is said to have had at this period, the only remaining dog in the army — the rest having been all consumed. This was a large and favorite animal, but he gave him up to the urgent solicitations of some of the soldiers, and they killed him, and divided the meat among those in their company who were nearest being starved to death. They greedily ate every part of him, not excepting the entrails, and after finishing the meal, even collected the bones, pounded them up, and kept the powder to make broth for another dish. Moose-skin moccasins and breeches were boiled, and then broiled on the coals, and eaten. Even a barber's powder- Dag was used up for soup. After all, starvation could not be prevented. Many died with hun- ger and fatigue — frequently but a few minutes 34 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. after making their last effort, and sitting down in despair. Dearborn himself fell sick with a nervous fever, and was obliged to be left in a hut on the banks of the Chaudiere. For ten days the disease was so violent that his life was despaired of; but, his constitution being vigorous, he re- covered without medicine, after a month's ill- ness, and finally overtook the army, and placed himself at the head of his company, a few days before the attack on the city of Quebec. Al- most the only comfort the troops had, during this dreary march on the Chaudiere, was the weather, which was generally clear and warm. The od of November was a memorable day for the little army, for, weary, and hungry, as they moved down the river with their lingering train, their eyes were gladdened w^ith the sight of cattle, which Arnold with an advance party had procur- ed for their relief, and which they were row driving up the shore. A loud shout ran along the line of the soldiery. Henry says, that just at this moment Captain Smith gave him a paper, containing a slice of bacon-fat, which he devour- ed instantly. This especial kindness he proba- bly owed to the compassion felt for his age, he being the youngest person in the army, and three ARNOLD S EXPEDITION. 35 years yocuiger than Aaron Burr, whom Flenry speaks of meeting this day for the first time. The cattle were devoured, to the very entrails, and yet some were obliged to content themselves with a little oaten meal. The fourth of the month was another remark- able day, for about noon, after fording the river De Loup, being within a few hundred yards from the mouth of this branch of the Chaudiere, they arrived at ' the first house ' in Canada, an object which must have been greeted by these wretched wanderers with a feeling that other men might vainly endeavor to conceive. There are but two or three houses, it is said, at the present time, on this same spot, and the one which the soldiers saw is understood to be the same which has been recently occupied by Monsieur Hanna. This is believed to be still the ' first house in Canada,' to the traveller approaching that country from the south. In this vicinity the army was supplied w^ith beef, fowls, butter, and vegetables, and several men lost their lives by the imprudent indulgence of their appetite. Here the old hunter Natanis, whom the soldiers had endeavored to capture and kill in his own house, joined the troops, with another Indian named Sabatis. and several 56 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. younger members of their two families. Saba- tis, particularly, proved useful as a guide.* The march of the army, on the 5th, down the Chaudiere to St. Maiy, was through a country altogether different from that previously passed -flat and rich territory, sprinkled over with neat little white-washed houses, and here and there a Catholic Chapel. Henry speaks of receiving, in one of these houses, ' a bowl of milk, with excellent bread,' for which the hosi refused any compensation. It was at nine o'clock in the evening of No vember 13th, the day on which General Mont- gomery entered Montreal, that Arnold embark- ed his troops on the St. Lawi^ence, in thirty-five canoes; and at six in the morning five hundred men w^ere landed at Wolfe's Cove on the other side, about one hundred and fifty being left behind for several days. They ascended the precipice by an oblique path, and found themselves on the celebrated Heights of Abraham, overlooking Quebec. Here, it is said, if they had marched immediately for the city, it might have been * A daughter of this man was living among the Penobscot tribe on the river of that name, in Maine, at least 50 years subsequent to the expedition, if not at the present time. She carried about with her testimonials to show her relationship. ARNOLD'S) EXPEDITION. 37 easily taken, although Governor Carleton had received notice of Arnold's approach by a letter which the Colonel had intrusted to an Indian, to deliver to one of his correspondents in the States. But some delay occurred; the critical moment passed by; and when the Ameri- can commander sent to summon the city to surrender, the messengers were fired upon. Arnold, on the 19th, marched up the St. Lawrence, to meet Montgomery, and it was while the troops lay at Point Aux Trembles, that Carleton, as we have stated before, succeed- ed in making his way through the fleet during the night, and throwing himself into Quebec. Montgomery, with his three hundred men, arriv- ed December 1st. The united forces marched down to Quebec, encamped, and soon after commenced a bombardment, which continued during the month. The final assault upon the city, which, brave as It was, proved unsuccessful, and resulted in the death of Montgomery and the destruction of his army, was made on the morning of the last day of the year 1775. The details of the batde and the issue of the campaign, are too familiar to every reader of American history to be repeated here. 38 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. The loss of men on our side is stated to have been four hundred. Of these, however, three hundred and forty were prisoners. Henry- was one of the number, and he gives in his journal an account of an attempt which was made to escape, by those who were confined in the Dauphin jail. The ingenuity shown in the course of it, though it failed of success, makes It worthy of mention. It seems that some of the prisoners, looking through the key-hole of the door of a small room at the stair-head of the jail, discovered a number of large iron hoops within. The door was forced, and several of them, with some other iron, obtained; and then they set about making rough swords with wooden handles, wliile spear- heads were fastened to splits of fir plank, about ten feet long, which had formed the bottoms of the lowest berths in the jail. It was proposed to escape by removing the bars of the windows, and by the cellar door, which opened inwards, the hinges and padlock being inside, and within their reach. After get- ting into the street, difierent parties were to attack the difierent guards, and then the build m2;s were to be set on fire as a signal to Arnold, who had already received information of the ARNOLD S EXPEDITION. 3Q whole plan, by one of the prisoners escaped to his camp from the jail. The company was organized regularly for all these purposes, by choosing Colonels, Majors, Captains, and so on, and dividing the prisoners into parties. As It was proposed to turn the cannon at the gates, if they should take any, against the city, powder would be wanted for matches. Some small gun-carriages were therefore made, and mounted with paper cannon, a few inches in length; and then embrazures being cut in the front boards of the berths on opposite sides of the room, mock battles were fought, and great merriment excited by the sport. Thus, as if for an innocent amusement alone, cartridges were obtained, and these were reserved for a more important use. A little money was received, also, from one of the charitable nuns who visited the prison, through an artifice which under the circumstances every one was willing to justify. When she was seen approaching. Dr. Gibson, who afterwards served as surgeon in the army, and was a handsome young man with ruddy cheeks, was hurried into bed by his comrades, to play the part of a man sick with a high fever. Being introduced, she crossed herself, whispered a benediction on the patient, and kindly poured 40 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION the contents of her purse, twenty-four coppers^ into his hand. This money went for powder, instead of pills, and the manner of obtaining jt excited the spirits of the prisoners not a little. Unfortunately, after so much pains being taken, this well-contrived plan was defeated by the imprudent haste of two young men, whose operations in cutting away the ice from the cellar- door were overheard ; and all the minutise of the design being afterwards revealed by an English- man who had deserted from Arnold's army, the whole party w^ere put in bilboes (long bars of iron, to which ten men were fastened together by the feet) and suffered miserably, until the departure of the Americans, late in the spring of 1776. They were all sent home on parole in August, and reached New York city in Sep- tember. The residue of the combined force ot the two northern armies had retreated by way of the Sorel, some months earlier in the season, with some additional loss; and such was the end of Arnold's Expedition. NAVAL MANCEUVllES ON THE NORTH RIVER. 41 CHAPTER IV. liAVAl. MANfEUVRES ON THE NOPvTH RIVER. 8c('iie of tlie War changed in 1776 — The British collect a large force about New York. Some of their vessels enter Nortli river — The battle of the fire-ships — The vessels leave the river — Another singular expedition on the water under Sergeant Lee — Description of Bushnell's Torpedo — Lee at- tacks one of the enemy's vessels — The result — Account of a similar adventure on the Delaware river — And of another near New London, in 1777 — The Battle of the Kegs. The British army finding themselves compel- led, in March, 1776, to withdraw from Boston, the principal scene of the war w^as transferred from the latter place to the neighborhood of New York city and the banks of the North Riv- er. Almost the whole American army was col- lected at and about this city, under the imme- diate command of Washington himself. On the other hand, the British government had now resolved to direct its whole power to the sub- jugation of New York. General Howe arrived from Halifax, with a large force, on the 25th of June, at Sandy Hook; and on the 2d of July he took possession of Staten Island. Admiral Howe, his brother, joined him, on the 12th of the month, with a fresh force from England; and other 4 42 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. detachments coming in from various quarters, the army soon amounted to about 24,000 men, Hessians and Waldekers included. At this time the enemy were in possession of a large naval force, and they kept it employed with consider- able activity in annoying, as much as possible, the American forces on New York Island, Long Island, and the other stations occupied by our troops. On the other hand. Congress had not left the city unprovided with similar means of defence. They had ordered the construction of a large number of galleys, gun-boats, rafts, and floating batteries, which were kept in operation on the various points of most importance at and about the mouths of the Hudson, it being one principal object of Washington to prevent the enemy from occupying that river, above our army, wdth a naval force. While matters were thus situated, in the course of the month of July, General Howe succeeded in forcing up two of his frigates past the American batteries, so that they were able to take a station in the North River, and thereby to intercept in some degree the communication between the detachments of our army which were severally placed at posidons above and below. Commodore Tupper, who at this period com- NAVAL MANffiUV'RES ON THE NORTH RIVER. 43 manded our 'water service' (as it was called), perceived at once the importance of dislodging these vessels, and resolved to make an imme- diate attempt to that end. With this view he decided to attack them with two fire-ships. Vessels were accordingly selected; one, a sloop, called the Polly, of about one hundred tons, nearly new ; and the other somewhat smaller. The first was intrusted to the command of Cap- tain Thomas, of New London, an enterprising and courageous mariner ; the other to a Mr. Joseph Bass. This person had been some time attached to the water service, and was so Vv^ell known for his skill and energy that to him was chiefly committed the duty of fitting out and conducting this hazardous expedhion. The ac- count of it here given is substantially the same which was given by Bass himself a few years since, when he was still living, at an advanced age, in the town of Leicester, in Massachusetts. The frigates had been lying about eight miles above Kingsbridge, but having received hints of their liability to be attacked, removed towards the western shore of the river, where the bank was bolder, and the water deeper, than upon the east side. The vessels intended for fire-ships were meanwhile prepared at New York, and 44 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. moved up the river, the day before the intended attack, to a creek, near Kingsbridge, which comes in from the East, and is called Spiking Devil Creek. The vessels had been thoroughly furnished with fagots of very combustible wood, which had been dipped in melted pitch, and witn bundles of straw, cut about a foot long, prepared in the same manner. The whole deck was cov- ered with these materials, which communicated with a trough of fine gun-powd'er, extending along under the deck, from the hold into the cabin ; and into this was inserted a match, that might be fired by a person in the cabin, who would have time to escape, through a door cut in the vessel's side, into a whale-boat lashed to her 'quarter.' Additional to the combustibles mentioned, there w^ere in each vessel eight or ten barrels of pitch, and a large quantity of canvass. The latter was cut into strips, about a foot in width, covering the yards and rigging, and extending down to the deck, — all dipped m spirits of turpentine. In a word, every thing was so prepared that a moment's notice was sufficient to envelope ihe whole in a blaze. Thus provided, these formidable fire-ships started from the creek about dark, with a soutii NAVAL MANOEUVRES ON T»HE NORTH RI\£U. 45 wind and a favorable tide. The night was dark and cloudy, with occasionally a little rain. Bass had nine men attached to his vessel. Three of them he stationed in the whale-boat, and an- other acted as pilot, while he assumed himself the duty of standing ready, in the cabin, with a match, to fire the train which was expected to effect the enemy's destruction. Of the ar- rangements of Thomas, on board the larger vessel, we are less particularly informed. Beside the two British frigates, there were three smaller vessels, a bomb-ketch and two tenders, in company, and moored near them. The whole were anchored in a line nearly north and south ; first the Phoenix frigate, of forty-four guns ; then the Rose, of thirty -six ; then the bomb-ketch ; and above that, the tenders. It was so dark, that the fire-ships, keeping near the middle of the river, approached the enemy with- out being aware of their close vicinity, until they heard, immediately on their left, the bells of the frigates, and the cry of the sentinels — " aWs welV from some of the decks. It was just midnight, and the watch were evidently wholly ignorant of the imminent danger to w^hich they were at this moment exposed. Owing to the height of the shore, rising 46 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION above the enemy's masts, our adventurers, as they drew near, were still unable to distinguish the vessels suflrciently to ascertain their size, or which of them were frigates. Bass, however, perceived that the critical time had arrived — for he was now under so rapid a headway that he was unable to retreat, if he had been so in- clined — being a considerable distance in ad- vance of Thomas. He bore down, immediately on hearing the sentinels' cry, upon the dimly discovered hne of the fleet. In a moment he found himself almost under the side of the ketch. The crew were at length alarmed, and soon commenced a severe cannonade on the sloop, This damaged the rigging, and some of the shot entered the hull; but no hves were yet lost, and Bass was resolved on the completion of liis enterprise. As soon as he saw himself near enough to the vessel to be sure that she could not escape, he ordered his men to take to the boat, and touching the match, he leaped into the whale-boat, and cast off from the sloop. The movement had been made too carefully to fail of success. The grappling-irons on the Dowsprit, yards, and other parts of the vessel, be- came interlocked with the rigging of the ketch, and they were both almost immediately involved NAVAL MANffiUVRES ON THE NORTH RIVER 47 in a blaze. The English crew, panic-struck, were seen issuing from every quarter of the ship, m all the haste of desperate consterna- tion. The captain, being the first on board who reached the deck from the cabin, was struck by a falling spar, and killed on the spot. Then followed two females, and one or two children, and the cries of these wretched people were heard over every other noise, amid all the din of the battle which now raged around them. Some of the crew threw themselves over- board, and perished in the waves; and others, remaining on board, retreated step by step, as the roaring flames advanced, to the point most distant from them, and there at length sunk down in the midst of the conflagration, blinded, bewildered, and suffocated. The whole of this horrid spectacle was in full view of the Americans; and not only of those engaged in the adventure, but of hundreds and thousands, on both sides, who were roused ere this to gaze at a scene so new and so ter- rific, from every portion of the adjacent shores. Captain Thomas had been less fortunate — speaking after the military custom — than his col- league. He was so far in the rear that the light of the fire from Bass's sloop showed his position 48 lALES OF THE REVOLUTION. to the enemy, and gave them a little time to pre- pare themselves for his attack. Undiscouraged, however, by the discovery, he bore down upon the Phoenix, without a moment's delay, and grappled with her at once. He then applied his match, but in such a w^ay, unluckily, that he became entangled in his ow^n materials, and being forced to leap overboard to escape the flames, w^as unable to reach the boat, and per- ished in the river, with five of his men. The Phoenix was fired in several places, but, by the great exertions of her crew, in cutting her rig- ging and slipping her cables, escaped from destruction with the loss of a few lives. On board the ketch there were few survivors. Nearly seventy men, besides some w^omen and children, were the victims of this fearful attack. The agonies in w^hich they died were probably all the while plainly perceptible, both to their friends and enemies ; and it was a spectacle ren- dered none the less appalling by the roar of artillery, the crash of falling spars, the awful glare of these midnight flames for miles around, and the groans and shrieks of the miserable in- dividuals whose destiny it was to take their last look on mortal life from the midst of this horrible conflict. l^AVAL MANCEUVRES ON THE NORTH RIVER. 49 The Americans returned to their quarters in 5-afety, with the loss just stated, and were re ceived with loud applause by multitudes of then- comrades in the camp, who had witnessed, with breathless anxiety, the progress of the enterprise. In one sense it failed of success — as the frigates were not destroyed — but in another it succeed- ed, for the effect on the enemy was such that the next day they moved down the stream and joined the rest of the squadron, leaving the river open for a short time to the American forces. The sensation excited by this singular adven- ture had scarcely subsided when a new one was proposed, of a character still more remarkable, the particulars of which we have now to detail, as they have been within a year related by the principal actor in it, Mr. Ezra Lee, of Lyme, m Connecticut, first a sergeant and afterw^ards an ensign in the revolutionary army, and at all periods of his life a worthy and respectable man. It was now August (1776), and the British fleet still lay in New York waters, a little above the narrows. Admiral Howe himself was on board the Eagle, a sixty-gun ship, and it was against this vessel that the new enterprise was to be directed. The projector of it was David Bushnell, of Saybrook iu Connecticut, a person 60 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. whose extraordinary ingenuity is abundantly proved by the contrivance with which he pro- posed to accomphsh his design in the present instance. This was a machine, which he called the Ameri- can Turtle or Torpedo, and w^as so constructed as to be navigated under icater^ by an individual within ; and was intended to be by this individ- ual directed in such a manner as might enable him to fasten a large, explosive body, which was connected with it, to the bottom of an enemy's vessel, there to perform its work of destruction in due time, while the manager should have leisure to move off in his vehicle, unperceived. The contrivance is worthy of a particular des- cription, especially as it was the first of the kind ever completed in this country. The cel- ebrated Robert Fulton, to whom the world is indebted, chiefly, for the application of steam- power to navigation, invented a submarine tor- pedo, but not until many years after BushneJl's was tried. The latter was composed of several pieces of large oak-timber, scooped out, and fitted together so as to have, according to Lee's description, the shape of ' a round clam.' It was firmly bound around with iron bands; the seams NAVAL MANCEUVRES ON THE NORTH RIVER. 51 were caulked tight; and the whole was smeared over with tar, in such a manner as to render it perfectly water-proof. The size was sufficient to admit one engineer inside, who had room either to stand or sit, and enjoyed in either case ample elbow-room for the management of the boat. The ' head ' of the Turtle was made of a metallic composition, and was nicely fitted to the body, so as to be equally water-proof, opening upon hinges, and forming the entrance, or door, to the machine. Six small pieces of thick glass were inserted, like eyes, in this head, for the ad- mission of light; and this so effectually answered the purpose, that in a clear day, and in clear water, Lee could see to read in the machine, at the depth of twelve or fifteen feet. To keep it upright, and properly balanced, seven hundred pounds of lead were fastened to its bottom, two hundred of which were so prepared as to be dropped ofi^ at any moment when it was desira- ble to diminish the weight. To enable the navi- gator, when under water, to rise with ease, there were two forcing-pumps, by which water could, be pressed out of the machine at the bottom; and this water could be let in, when it was de- sirable to sink the machine, by applying the foot 52 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. to a sliding spring. The leaden ballast was to be used only In case the pumps should get ou$ of order. The steering was effected by a rudder, the tiller of which passed through the back of the machine; and In one side w^as fixed a small pock- et compass, with two pieces of shining wood (of the kind sometimes called fox-fire) crossed upon its north point, and a single piece upon the last point. In the night-time this compass, thus lighted, was all that served to guide the solitary helmsman in his course. A contrivance w^as attached also for determm ing the depth of water at which the machine might at any time be, when perhaps the engineer would be unable otherwise to ascertain, from fear of an enemy. In a glass tube, a foot long, and about four inches in diameter, fastened to the side of the vehicle, was enclosed a piece of cork, that rose with the descent of the machine, and fell with its ascent, about an inch for the depth or height of six feet. The means used for propelling this curious vessel horizontally, through the water, are yet to be mentioned. That object was efl'ected by two oars, or paddles, twelve inches long and four wide, forma4 precisely like the arms of a NAVAL MANffiUVRES ON THE NORTH RIVER. 53 wmd-mill, and revolving perpendicularly upon an axle-tree that projected in front. This axle- tree, passing into the machine, was furnished with a crank, by which it was turned, and thus the navigator, seated inside, was enabled to labor at the crank, to propel himself with one hand, while he steered by the tiller with the other. Two smaller paddles, of the same description, also projected near the head, pro- vided with another crank inside, by which the ascent of the machine to the surface might be aided. Lee used to say, that, by working at the crank pretty hard, he could paddle himself ahead, in still water, about three miles an hour. When beyond the reach of danger, or the ob- servation of an enemy, the machine was suffered to float with its head just rising from the water's surface, and while in this situation, air was of course constantly admitted through small orifices (answering the purpose of nostrils) in the head, which were closed again at the time of descent. Without the aid of these orifices, the whole cavity of the machine contained air enough to support the breathing and life of the navigator about half an hour below the surface. We come now to the most important pari of the contrivance — the mamzine — intended to 54 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. do the work of destruction. This was a sepa- rate vessel, egg-shaped, and made, like the larger machine, of solid pieces of oak, scooped out, firmly fitted together, and secured with iron bands. Within it were one hundred and thirty pounds of powder, a clock, and a gun-lock, pro- vided with a good flint, which would not miss fire. This magazine was attached to the back of the machine, a little above the rudder, by a screw^ one end of which passed quite into the magazine, and there operated as a stop on the movements of the clock, while its other end entered the machine. This screw could be drawn out, so as to let the magazine loose from the machine, and at the same time set the clock going. This would run twenty or thirty minutes, and then the lock would strike, fire the powder, and produce the explosion, — the navigator of the machine having abundant leisure meanwhile to effect his escape. One difficult part of the process — the fastenmg of the magazine to the bottom of the ship to be blown up — was that in which it will be seen that Bushnell's torpedo was least to be relied on. For this end he depended upon a very sharp *ron screw, made to pass out from the top of the machine, and furnished within with a crank, tJAVAL MANOEUVRES ON Q^HE NORTH RIVER. 55 Dy which the engineer was to force It, as he would a gimlet, upwards into the ship's bottom This screw, being disengaged from the machine, would be left fastened to the bo.tom ; and a line, leading from it to the magazine, was designed to keep the latter in its proper position for blowing up the vessel. Such was the apparatus which Mr. Bushnell was desirous of trying upon the admiral's vessel, and with this view he applied to General Parsons of our army, to furnish him men enough to learn and manage the navigation of his machine. Parsons immediately sent for Lee, and two others, and explained the case to them, on which they at once enlisted under Bushnell for the new service. First they went up into Long Island Sound with the Torpedo, and made various experiments with it in the different harbors along shore. After thus getting pretty well ac- quainted with its operation, they returned through the Sound. Here they found that the enemy, in their absence, had got possession of Long Island and Governor's Island. They therefore had tho machine conveyed by land across from New Rochelle to the Hudson river, and by that route arrived with it at New York. The first serene night was fixed upon for the execu- 56 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. tion of the enterprise, and Sergeant Lee wa? chosen to take command of it. Such a night soon came, and at eleven o'clock the party engaged by Lee embarked in two or three whale-boats ;> with the Torpedo in tow. They rowed down as near as they dared to the fleet, which lay to the north of Staten Island, and then Lee entered the machine and was cast off, and the boats returned. The Sergeant found the ebb-tide too strong for him, so that, before he was aware of it, he was drifted down past the men of war. He however succeeded in getting his Torpedo about, and then, by hard labor at the crank for the space of five glasses by the bells of the fleet, or two hours and a half, he arrived at about slack water under the stern of one of the larger ves- sels — probably not know^ing whether it was, or was not, the one against which the enterprise had been originally designed. It was now just day-break, and Lee, from his hollow retreat, could both see the people on board the ship, and hear their conversation. This was the moment for diving. He closed up overhead, let in w^ater, and descended under the ship's bottom. Here he applied the sharp screw, and exerted NAVAL MANffiUVRES ON THE NORTH RIVER. 57 himself to force it into the hulk, but failed of success — owing probably to the copper, and to the want of pressure enough to enable the screw to get a hold oh the bottom, since at each attempt the machine rebounded. He next pad- dled along, to a different part of the vessel; out in this movement he made a deviation, and instantly rose to the water's surface on the east side of the ship, exposed to the increasing light of the morning, and in imminent danger of being discovered. He immediately descended, with the view of making another trial, but the fast approach of day, which was likely to cut off his escape, deterred him, and he determined on a prompt return to his quarters. He had more than four miles before him, but the tide was favorable, and he worked well. At Governor's Island, now in the possession of the enemy, he was in great peril, for here his compass got out of order, and he was under the necessity of looking out from the head of the Torpedo, very frequently, to ascertain his course, which at best made it a very irregular zigzag course for him. Finally, the soldiers espied the machine; hundreds flocked out upon the parapets, to watch its motions; and a scene of curious confusion ensued, which well might 68 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION, furnish, as it did, materials for tlie exercise ol the wit of American writers. Probably even the language of the famous song* composed by the Hon. Fi*ancis Hopkinson, some months afterwards, when a similar machinery w^as tried on the Delaware River among the British fleet near Philadelphia, hardly exaggerated the ef feet produced by* the movements of the Torpedo off Governor's Island; He says — " The soldier flew; the sailor, too; And scared almost to death. Sir, Wore out their shoes, to spread the news. And ran till out of breath. Sir. Some fire cried, which some denied. But said the earth had qua-ked ; And girls and boys, with hideous noise. Ran through the streets half naked." It does not appear, indeed, that the British commander, as w^as said of the Philadelphia General, ordered that — " The royal band now ready stand. All ranged in dread array. Sir, With stomachs stout, to fight it out, And make a bloody day, Sir.'* nor is it true that — " From morn lo night, these men of might Displayed amazing courage. And when the sun was fairly down, Retired to sup their porridge." * Called the Battle of the Kegs. NAVAL MANOEUVRES ON THE NORTH RI\'ER. 59 On the contrary, a party of the soldiers went down to the beach of the Island, pietty soon after the strange apparition came in sight, shoved off a barge, and rowed towards it. Poor Ser- geant Lee, in his machine, saw all these things going on, and at this moment he gave him- self up for lost. As a last act of defence Lee let go the magazine, expecting that the enemy would seize upon it, when the whole party would be blown to atoms together. In this he was disappointed. His pursuers, after coming within fifty or sixty yards of the machine, and seeing the magazine attached, be- gan to suspect some Yankee tricky took alarm, and turned about for the Island, leaving Lee to make the best of his way to the city. He made a signal as he approached it, and some of his friends came out with boats, and brought him safe to the shore. The magazine had meanwhile drifted past the Island into the East River, where it exploded with tremendous violence, throwing pieces of wood that composed it, with large columns of water, high into the air. General Putnam, and many other officers, stood on the shore specta- tors of this explosion. A kw dayjj afterwards, 60 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. the American army abandoned New York, and moved up the Hudson, and the machme was taken with them. Another attempt was made by Lee upon a frigate which lay in the river, off Bloomlngdale (six or seven miles above the city) , but the watch on board discovered him in the act of fastening the magazine to the ship's bot- tom near the water's edge. He endeavored to get farther under the frigate, but in this experi- ment descended too low; and thus the enterprise was abandoned. In the attempt made at Philadelphia, under Mr. Bushnell's direction, (to which we have al- ready alluded,) tliat ingenious gentleman employ- ed a large number of kegs, charged with powder, designed to explode on coming in contact with any thing wliile floating along with the tide. These kegs were set adrift in the Delaware, during the night, above the English shipping, so as to fall down upon the shipping as the tide ebbed; but the distance was not very accurately calcu- lated, and before they reached the fleet, they were dispersed by the ice. A few of them exploded near the shipping, and one blew up a boat, to the great consternation of the English, who were spectators of the scene. The wharves NAVAL MANCEUVRES ON THE NORTH RIVER. 61 and shipping in Philadelphia were actually man ned by the troops, as the song cited above would lead us to infer — and they blazed away for a long time at every thing they could see floating in the river. Still another experiment was tried, during the year 1777, which was directed against the Cerberus Frigate, commanded by Commodore Simmons, and lying off westward of New Lon- don. The Commodore had taken prize a schooner, which lay astern of the Frigate, and, it being in the night, was probably unobserved by our party. About eleven o'clock he noticed a line towing astern from the schooner's bows. A sailor, on board that vessel, taking it for a fishing-line, laid hold of it, and drew in eighty or ninety feet, when he found a machine at the end, weighing over one hundred pounds. The rest of the crew coming to his aid, it was drawn on deck. While they were inspecting it, it exploded, blew the vessel in pieces, and set her on fire; and three men were killed, and one badly wounded. This machine was constructed with wheels, set in motion to produce an explo- sion by the sharp irons projecting from them beins; caught in the sides of the vessel. 62 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. No attempts, which have come to our know- ledge, were made after these we have been de- scribing. The Americans contented themselves with meeting the enemy in a more customary way, and the latter had no farther occasion for turning out their forces to make battle with the kegs. CAPTURE OF GENERAL PRESCOTT 63 CHAPTER V. CAPTURE OF GENERAL PRESCOTT. Capture of the American General Lee, by a British party — Plans thought of for capturing a British General, to exchange for Lee — account of Major Barton's scheme — He engages several persons to assist him — Starts upon his expedition, July, 1777 — The result of it — Capture of General Prescott, and ex- change of General Lee. On the loth of November, 1776, at a time when the American main army, under Washing- ton, discouraged, defeated, and reduced to its lowest ebb, was retreating through the Jerseys with the enemy in close pursuit, the spirits of our soldiers were still farther depressed by the loss of Major General Lee, one of our most gallant and patriotic officers. He was marching, at the head of his division, to join the main body of the troops, when he incautiously took up his lodgings at a house three or four miles distant from his own detachment. Some of the disaffected Ameri- cans — commonly called Tones — gave infor- mation of his circumstances to the enemy, and the consequence was the capture of the General by Colonel Harcourt of the British lighthorse, who, surrounding the house with a detachment of dragoons, made him a prisoner without resist- 64 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. ance, and without giving him time to take his hat or cloak, mounted him on a horse, and convey- ed him in triumph to New York. The loss of this officer was severely felt and generally la- mented by our army, and the more so that there was no prospect then in view of capturing an English officer of equal rank with himself, for whom he might, according to the laws of w^ar, be exchanged. Under these circumstances many brave men aniong our troops no doubt busied themselves anxiously with the plan of some such capture; and among this number w^as Major Barton, of the Rhode Island line — as, according to usage, the militia raised by that Province were called. The adventure in which he engaged, and the spirit with which he carried it to its conclusion, for the purpose of effecting the object above named, will abundantly show the intrepid and hardy char- acter of the man. During the month next following the capture of Lee, the British took possession of the Islands of Rhode Island, Canonicut and Prudence. Ma- jor Barton was at this time attached to a regi- ment, under command of Colonel Stanton, that was stationed at Tiverton, on the Eastern shore of the Bay in which these islands are situated. CAPTURE OF GENERAL PRESCOTT. 65 Here, for several months, he anxiously watch- ed the motions of the enemy, though with but a feeble prospect of obtaining the opportunity he desired. At length, on tlie 20th June, 1777, a man by the name of Coffin, who made his escape from the British, was seized by some of the American troops and carried to Major Barton's quarters. Barton availed liimself of the opportunity to in- quire respecting the disposition of the British forces. — Coffin, on examination, stated that Ma- jor General Richard Prescott had established his head-quarters on the west side of Rhode- Island, and described minutely the situation of the house in which he resided, which he said was owned by a Mr. Pering. His account was a few days after corroborated by a deserter from the ranks of the enemy. The Major was confirmed, by these accounts, in his belief of the possibility of effecting his favorite design, but still there were serious ob- stacles in the way. The soldiers, on whose aid he must rely, were but lately engaged in the service. The enterprise proposed was delicate and hazardous, and it was probable, in case of R failure^ that it would be pronounced rash and foolish, and would lead to the disgrace of 66 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. all concerned in it, especially as the plan had been conceived without conversation with any of the Major's superiors in rank. However, he made up his mind, on thorough reflection, to hazard both reputation and life in the attempt to render an essential service to his country. Full of this spirit he went to Colonel Stanton — a wealthy Rhode-Island farmer, who had recently given up his plough for the command of the regi- ment — told him his plan, and requested permis- sion to carry it into execution. The Colonel approved of it, and authorized him ' to attack the enemy when and where he pleased. ' Seve- ral officers, in the confidence of Barton, w^ere then selected from the regiment, for the expedi tion; men whose abilities and courage could be relied on. These were Captain Samuel Philipps, Lieutenant James Potter, Lieutenant John Babcock, Ensign Andrew Stanton, and an officer named Wilcock, besides whom, the Major was joined by a Captain Adams, who tooK an active part in the enterprise. These persons, with the exception of Adams, who came in afterwards, were assembled, and informed in general terms by Barton, that he had in view an important movement, which would be attended with great personal hazard, but, if successful, CAPTURE OF GENERAL PRESCOTT. 67 would be eminently useful to the country. It s no small proof of the confidence felt in the Ma- jor's character that without any farther explana- tion than this, the gentlemen who heard him, determined without hesitation to follow him in the execution of his scheme. He experienced more difficulty in obtaining the necessary number of boats, as there were but two in the vicinity. But this difficulty, though it caused a few days' delay, was at length obviated, and five whale-boats were procured and fitted for service. Barton had purposely postponed procuring the necessary number of men until the last moment, from an apprehension that their earlier selection might excite suspicion, and defeat the object of the enterprise. De- sirous that this little band might be composed entirely of volunteers, the whole regiment was now ordered upon parade. In a short, but ani- mated address, he informed the soldiers that he projected an expedition against the enemy, which could be effected only by the heroism and bravery of those who should attend him ; and he desired the voluntary assistance of about forty of their number, and directed those ' who would hazard their lives in the enterprise, to advance two paces in front. Without one exception 68 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. or a moment's hesitation, the whole regiment advanced. Barton, after bestowing upon the troops the applause they merited, and stating that he required the aid of but a small portion of their number, commenced upon the right, and passing along the lines, selected from the regiment, to the number of thirty-six. those who united to bravery and discipline a competent knowledge of seamanship, for the management of the boats. Having thus obtained an adequate number of officers and men, and every thing being ready, the party on the 4th of July, (1777,) embarked from Tiverton for Bristol. While crossing Mount Hope Bay, there arose a severe storm of thunder and rain, which separated three boats from that of their commander. The boat con- taining Major Barton, and one other, arrived at Bristol soon after midnight. Barton proceed- ed to the quarters of the commanding officer, where he found a deserter who had just made his escape from the enemy at Rhode-Island. From this man he learnpd that there had been no alteration for the last few days in the position of the British. On the morning of the fifth, the remaining boats having arrived, the Major, with his officers, went to Hog Island, not far distant CAPTURE OF GENERAL PRESCOTT. 69 trom Bristol, and within view of the British en- campment and shipping. It w^as at this place that he disclosed to his officers the particular object of the enterprise, his reasons for attempt- ing it, and the part each was to perform. Upon reconnoitering the position of the enemy, it was thought impracticable, without great hazard ot capture, to proceed directly from Bristol to the head-quarters of the British General. It was determined, therefore, to make Warwick Neck, a place opposite to the British encampment, but at a greater distance than Bristol, the point from which they should depart immediately for Rhode- Island. The most inviolable secrecy was en- joined upon his officers by Barton, and they re- turned to Bristol. On the evening of the 6th, about 9 o'clock, the litde squadron again sailed, and crossing Narraganset Bay, landed on Warwick Neck. On the 7th, the wind changing to E. N. E. brought on a storm, and retarded their plan. On the 9th, the weather being pleasant, it was determined to embark for the Island. — The boats w^ere now numbered, and the place of every officer and soldier assigned. At nine o'clock in the evening. Major Barton assemHed his little party around him, and disclosed to them 70 TALES OF THE RE\ OLUTION. the object of the enterprise. He did not at temj3t to conceal the danger and difficulties that would inevitably attend the undertaking; nor did he forget to remind them, that should their efforts be followed by success, they would be entitled to, and would receive, the grateful ac- knowledgments of their country. ' It is proba- ble,' said he, ' that some of us may not survive the daring attempt; but I ask you to hazard no dangers which will not be shared with you by your commander; and I pledge to you my honor, that in every difficulty and danger I will take the lead.' He received the immediate and unanimous assurance of the w^hole party, that they would follow wherever their beloved commander should lead them. Barton, then reminding them how much the success of the enterprise depended upon their strict attention to orders, directed that each individual should confine himself to his particular seat in the boat assigned him, and that not a syllable should be uttered by any one. He concluded by offering his earnest petition to the Great King of armies, that he would smile upon their intended enter- prise, and crown it with success. The whole party now proceeded to the shore. Barton had reas ^n to apprehend that he might CAPTURE OF GENERAL FRESCO TT. 71 be discovered in his passage from the main to Rhode-Island, by some of the ships of war that lay at a small distance from the shore. He therefore directed the commanding officer at Warwick Neck, if he heard the report of three distinct muskets, to send boats to the north end of Prudence Island to his aid. The party now took possession of the boats in the manner di- rected. That w^hich contained Major Barton was posted in front, with a pole about ten feet long fixed in her stern, to the end of which was attached a handkerchief, in order that his boat might be distinguished from the others, and that none might go before it. In this manner they proceeded between the Islands of Prudence and Patience, so that they might not be seen by the shipping of the enemy that lay off against Hope Island. While passing the north end of Prudence Island, they heard from the sentinels on board the shipping of the enemy, the cry of ' all's well.' As they approached the shore of Rhode- Island, a noise like the running of horses was heard, wbich threw a momentary consternation over the minds of the whole party; but, in strict conformity to the orders issued, not a word was spoken by any one. A moment's reflection 72 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. satisfied Barton of the utter impossibility that his designs could be known by the enemy, and he pushed boldly for the shore. Apprehensive that if discovered, the enemy might attempt to cut off liis retreat, he ordered one man to re- main in each boat, and be prepared to depart at a moment's warning. The remainder of the party landed without delay. It is remarked by one of the narrators of this transaction that the reflections of our gallant ad- venturer, at this interesting moment, must have been of a most anxious character; and it is stated that in the solemn silence of night, and on the shores of the enemy, he paused a moment to consider a plan which had been projected and matured amidst the bustle of a camp and in a place of safety. The night was excessively dark, and, a stranger to the country, his sole reliance upon a direct and expeditious movement to the head-quarters of a British General, so essential to success, rested upon the imperfect information he had acquired from deserters from the enemy! Should he surprise and secure Gen- eral Prescott, he was aw^are of the difficulties that would attend his conveyance to the boat, and of the probability of an early and fatal dis- covery of his design by the troops on the Island* CAPTURE OF GENERAL PRESCOTT. 73 and even should he succeed in reaching the boats, it was by no means improbable that the alarm might be seasonably given to the shipping, to prevent his retreat to the main. But, regard- less of circumstances, which even then would have afforded an apology for a hasty retreat, he resolved at all hazards to attempt the accomplish • ment of his designs. To the head-quarters of General Prescott, about a mile from the shore, a party in five divisions now proceeded in silence. There was a door on the south, the east, and west sides of the house in which he resided. The first divis- ion was ordered to advance upon the south door, the second on the west, the third on the east, the fourth to guard the road, and the fifth to act on emergencies. In their march, they passed the guard-house of the enemy, on their left, and on their right a house occupied by a company of cavalry, for the purpose of carrying with ex- pedition the orders of the General to remote parts of the island. On arriving at the head- quarters of the enemy, as the gate of the front yard was opened, they were challenged by a sentinel on guard. The party was at the dis- tance of about twenty-five yards from the sen- tinel, but a row of trees partially concealed 74 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. them from his view, and prevented him from determining their number. No reply was made to the challenge of the sentinel, and the paity proceeded on in silence. The sentinel again demanded, ' Who comes there .^' ' Friends,' replied Barton. 'Friends,' says the sentinel, ' advance and give the countersign.' Barton, affecting to be angry, said to the sen- tinel, who was now near him, ' Pho! we have no countersign — have you seen any rascals to- night.'" and before the sentinel could determine the character of those who approached hun, Barton had seized his musket, told him he was a prisoner, and threatened, in case of noise or resistance, to put him to instant death. The poor fellow was so terrified, that upon being questioned if his General was in the house, he was for some time unable to give any answer. — At length, in a faultering voice, he replied that he was. By this time each division having taken its station, the south door was burst open by the direction of Barton, and the division there stationed, with their commander at their head, rushed into the head-quarters of the General. At this critical moment, one of the British soldiers effected his escape, and fled to the quarters of the main guai'd. This man had no CAPTURE OF GENERAL PREyCOTT. 75 article of clothing upon him but a shirt; and, having given the alarm to tlie sentinel on duty, he passed on to the quarters of the cavalry, which was more remote from the head-quarters of the General. The sentinel roused the main guard who were instantly in arms, and demanded the cause of alarm. He stated the information which had been given him by the soldier, which appeared so incredible to the sergeant of the guard that he insisted that he had seen a ghost. The sentinel, to whom the account of the Gen- eral's capture appeared quite as incredible as to his commanding officer, admitted that the mes- senger was clothed in white, and after submitting to the jokes of his companions, as a punishment for his credulity, was ordered to resume his station, while the remainder of the guard retired to their quarters. It was fortunate for Major Barton and his brave followers, that the alarm given by the soldier was considered groundless Had the main guard proceeded without delay to the relief of their commanding General, his rescue, certainly, and probably the destruction of the party, would have been the consequence. The first room the Major entered was occu- pied by Mr. Pering, who positively denied that Gen. Prescott was in the house. He next 76 TALES OF THE REVOLUTION. entered the room of his son, who was equally obstinate with his father in denying that the Gen- eral was there. Barton then proceeded to other apartments, but was still disappointed in the object of his search. Aware that longer delay might defeat the object of his enterprise, he resorted to stratagem to facilitate his search. Placing himself at the head of the stairway, and declaring his resolution to secure the General dead or alive, he ordered his soldiers to set fire to the house. — The soldiers were preparing to execute his orders, when a voice, which Barton at once suspected to be the General's, deman- ded what's the matter.-^ He rushed to the apart- ment from whence the voice proceeded, and discovered an elderly man just rising from his bed, and clapping his hand upon his shoulder, demanded of him if he was General Prescott. He answered 'Yes, sir.' 'You are my pris- oner, then,' said Barton. ' I acknowledge that I am,' said the General. In a moment. Gen- eral Prescott found himself half dressed, in die arms of the soldiers, who hurried him from the house. In the mean time Major Barrington, the Aid to General Prescott, discovering that the house was attacked by the Rebels, as the enemy termed them, leaped from the window CAPTURE OF GENERAL PRESCOTT 77 of his bed-chamber, and was immediately secur- ed a prisoner. General Prescott, supported by- Barton and one of his officers, and attended by Barrington and the sentinel, proceeded, sur- rounded by the soldiery, to the shore. Upon seeing the five little boats, Prescott, who knew the position of the British shipping, appeared much confused, and turning to Barton, inquired if he commanded the party. On being informed that he did, he expressed a hope that no person- al injury was intended him; and Barton assured the General of his protection, while he remained under his control. The General had travelled from head-quarters to the shore, in his waistcoat, small-clothes, and slippers. A moment was now allowed him to complete his dress, while the party were taking possession of the boats. He was placed in the boat with Major Barton, and they proceeded for the main. They had not got far from the island, when the discharge of cannon and three sky-rockets gave the signal for alarm. It was fortunate for the party that the enemy on board the shipping were ignorant of the cause of it, as they might have easily cut off their retreat. The signal of alarm excited the apprehensions of Barton and his 78 TALES OF THE RESOLUTION. brave associates, and redoubled their exertions to reach the point of their destination before they could be discovered. They succeeded, and soon after daybreak landed at Warwick neck, near the point of their departure, after an ab- sence of six hours and a half. General Prescott turned towards the island, and observing the ships of war, remarked to Major Barton, ' Sir, you have made an amazing bold push to-night.' ' We have been fortunate,' replied the hero. An express was immediately sent forward to Major-General Spencer, at Providence, communicating the success which had attended the enterprise. Not long after- w^ards a coach arrived, which had been despatch- ed by General Spencer, to convey Prescott and his Aid-de-camp prisoners to Providence. They w^ere accompanied by Barton, who related to General Spencer, on their arrival, the particulars of the enterprise, and received from that officer the most grateful acknowledgments for the signal services he had rendered to his country. Not long after the date of the brilliant exploit of Barton, his prisoner was exchanged for Gen- eral Lee, and thus was accomplished the wish which from the outset of the enterprise had lain nearest the gallant Major's heart. NARRATIVE OF THE BARONESS REIDESEL. 79 CHAPTER VI. NARRATIVE OF THE BARONESS REIDESEL. Account of the British plan of campaign, for the year 1777, at the north — General Burgoyne invades the country, in that quarter, with a large army — His progress — Arrival on the Hudson in September — Encamps at Saratoga — An American army, under General Gates, is collected in the same neigh- borhood — Several skirmishes — Result of the campaign — Nar- rative of the Baroness of Reidesel, and anecdotes of other persons. At the date of the interesting adventure of which an account has been given in the last chapter, movements were beginning to be made, farther north, which soon assumed such impor- tance as to attract the most anxious attention of Congress, tlie Commander in Chief, and all the patriots of the country. The English had com- menced the campaign of 1777 with a determina- tion of entering the country, on the Canadian border, with a force powerful enough to dis- courage all opposition in that quarter, at the same time that 't was intended to overcome the more southern states, and to prevent interference from that direction, by another large army moving about New York and Philadelphia, but always ready to ascend the North river to the aid of {h. IW 7 8* % ■V* ■%»••• a" V'-' % V'^^ 4CK • .^ 5>" ^^ *^^- • t "» BOOKBINDING H ^ • • « 6 "* Ay ^^ March Apnl 1989 ■-♦^ ^X» ^^^ ». * ft ^ • "^ ^