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MAJOR-GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

THE LIFE OF

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WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

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THE LIFE OF

ISRAEL PUTNAM

By GEORGE CANNING HILL

EDITED WITH NOTES

By henry KETCHAM

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

"A man whose generosity was singular, whose honesty was proverbiaL"

A, L, BURT COMPANY, ^ J- ^ ^ J. Ji J. PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK

THE LiBRAHY OF CONORESS

Two Copies Recsived

JUN 23 1903

Copyi.glH br.try

cuss <X^ XXc Nc.

COPY 3.

Copyright, 1903, liAJ L. BURT COMPANY.

CONTENTS.

CHAFTER rAOS

I. Early Life 7

II. The French War 27

III. Continuation of the French War 50

IV. Campaign of 1758 67

V. End of the French War 93

VI. Opening of the Revolution 106

Vn. Battle of Bunker Hill 133

VIII. Siege of Boston 158

IX. Operations in New York 173

X. Retreat of the American Army 191

XI. In the Highlands 212

XII. Putnam at West Point and Danbury 235

XIII. His Last Days 249

XIV. Conclusion 263

PREFACE.

This biography is written with the following pur- poses in mind: — To furnish from the pages of the world's history an example of true manhood, lofty purpose, and persevering effort, such as may be safely held up either for the admiration or emulation of the youth of the present day ;

To clear away, in his treatment of this subject, whatever mistiness and mustiness may have accumu- lated with time about them, presenting to the mental vision fresh and living pictures, that shall seem to be clothed with naturalness, and energy, and vitality ;

To offer no less instruction to the minds, than pleasure to the imaginations of the many for whom he has taken it in hand to write ;

And, more especially, perhaps, to familiarize the youth of our day with some of those striking and manly characters, that have long ago made their mark, deep and lasting, on the history and fortunes of the American Continent.

The deeds of these men, it is true, are to be found abundantly recorded in Histories; but they lie so

iii

iv PREFACE.

scattered along their ten thousand pages, and are so intermixed with the voluminous records of other mat- ters, as to be practically out of the reach of the younger portion of readers, and so of the very ones for whom this book has been especially undertaken. These want only pictures of actual life; and if, the author shall, in any due degree, succeed even in sketching interesting outlines, he will feel that he is answering the very purpose that has long lain un- performed within his heart.

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this introductory chapter is to set forth briefly some of the circumstances of the ordinary life, under which the heroes of the Revolu- tion grew up to manhood. In order to secure an ac- curate and vivid picture of the Revolutionary war, or of the men of that period, it is necessary to keep in mind the conditions of life that then prevailed. What is called the historical imagination is by no means common, even among the educated; and that would be a rare child who could keep before his mind the conditions of a century and a half ago, while reading a history of the French war. A mile is a mile, both in the eighteenth and in the twentieth cen- tury. At the same time good roads shorten the dis- tance, and a trip fi'om JSTew York to Boston, or from Pomfret to either city, over roads good enough for bicycling, is very different from the same trip over the imperfect roads that existed in Putnam's day. On the other hand, at a time when almost every

V

Vi INTRODUCTION,

one was accustomed to ride long distances on horse- back, that method of travel would be far easier than to the average citizen who to-day rarely sits astride a horse. The reader is always likely to forget, for the time being, such facts as these, though he knows them well ; and thus the reading of the history may convey a false impression.

The farm life of the eighteenth century was cer- tainly crude when compared with that of to-day. As for cities, there were then no cities of the sort prevail- ing in the twentieth century. Iron and steel were costly, and the latter was for the most part poor in quality. Steel plows were unknown for nearly a century after Putnam began to work his farm. Shovels were home-made, and the blade was usually of M'ood. Houses were almost entirely home-made. The owner, sometimes with and sometimes without the help of his hired men, would hew out suitable timbers for the frames and join them ; then the entire neighborhood would be invited to a " raising," at which the timbers would be hoisted and firmly se- cured in place, and the day would close M'ith eating and drinking, especially the latter, and with general jollity. The frame of the building was thus in posi- tion, and the owner could cover it with boards at leis- ure. In many a home the clothing was made from start to finish by the farmer and his wife. The sheep

INTRODUCTION. yii

were raised and sheared, and the avooI was carded by the husband. Then the wife spun, and wove the wool into cloth, took the measurements, and made the clothing, to the last stitch. The charitable mind will not inquire too closely into the finish of the goods, or the style of the design, or the accuracy of the fit. It is enough to know that the work was all done in the family.

The farmer dug his own well, made his own buck- ets, tended and doctored his domestic animals, was amateur butcher, lived mainly from what he raised. Horses were shod, and that at considerable expense, by the blacksmith ; but the wagons were largely made and kept in repair at home. The excess of farm pro- duce was either bartered or sold outright, usually the former. Thus every family was in large measure complete in itself and independent of all the world outside. The difficulties of transportation acted as a high tariff and effectually protected and encouraged infant industries. In all this life, the demands on the wife were not less various than those on the husband. The mother was baker, cook, tallow chandler, weaver, tailor, nurse, teacher, and much else besides; and in addition to all the duties that by tradition are sup- posed to belong to womankind, she not infrequently lent a hand in the garden and field, and in the care of the domestic animals. The " men folks," too, ac-

Viii INTRODUCTION.

quired some versatility ; for, in case of illness or other disability, they could not send off and on short notice obtain trained nurse or cook, but were required to do the pressing duties for themselves, or go with- out.

These facts brought many advantages and many disadvantages. The home-made tools and clothing were by no means equal in quality to those which to- day may be purchased at a low cost. Xor were the products of the farm such as would now be exhibited at agricultural fairs. The pork was largely of the " razor-back " variety. Horses were not thorough- bred. The other animals and the poultry were, to say the best, of ordinary excellence. The apples, plums, pears, and grapes, were sour and hardly worth the picking. Tomatoes were then unknown. One might thus go through the entire list of the farmer's possessions and products and find that at every point they would make a sorry comparison with what we see to-day, and one wonders how they endured such disadvantages.

Let it be remembered also that the crude conditions of the farm life were no more marked than those in other departments of activity. There were no large factories to supply products of industry in fabulous quantities: no watch factories, no sewing machines, no great mills. In commerce it was the same.

INTRODUCTION. ix

Pranklin, who sold his books and papers, first wrote them, then set the type, then printed them by a hand press. To go back a century and a half into that form of culture, would be like stepping into another world.

But there is another side to that sort of life, and that concerns its educational influence, its enormous value in developing men. There were few books, magazines, and newspapers ; but the daily duties gave food for thought. To-day a man is supposed to be master of one trade, a machinest will spend his life at one kind of work. The work is surely well done, but the mind of the worker is not broadened. When the worker had to do everything by his own hand and brain, the work was crude but the man was developed both in intelligence and character. There was slight knowledge of literature, the " three great Rs " constituted almost a literary education ; but the thrift, the self-control and reliance, the industry, and all the qualities that go to make a true and sterling manhood, were great.

Those who to-day go from the centers of cul- ture to the frontier may see, to a certain extent, how the demands of the circumstances of the latter tend to develop a high grade of intelligence and the essentials of a manly character. The speech may be a dialect, the dress uncouth, and the manners the reverse of

X INTRODUCTION.

winsome ; but these frontiersmen frequently manifest a high degree of general intelligence. Be it remem- bered that every state in the Union was builded by men who were frontiersmen in their day. "Not only the original thirteen are a credit to their builders, but all the rest, from the Ohio river to the Pacific ocean, are an undeniable evidence of the practical wisdom of men who, far from the centers of wealth, commerce, culture, have received that edu- cation which comes from the practical necessities of poverty upon the frontier.

The armies, or the soldiers, we see to-day are well clothed, well fed, well armed, and well disciplined. These facts are so intimately connected with our ideas of what military life is, that it is hard to imagine an army from which all these are conspicuously ab- sent. The revolutionary soldiers had bravery, intel- ligence, and independence — in fact the men were often far too independent for the general good ! — but in appearance they were a motley crowd. In the main " the embattled farmers " were clothed after the manner of farmers, and a battalion contained within itself all the varieties suggested by the famous coat of many colors, but with none of its beauties. Where there were uniforms, there were not enough to go around, and so that did not materially better the situation. The guns, too, were such as the men

INTRODUCTION. xi

previously owned or could get. There were compan- ies of militia, but their annual drill on the village green did not furnish training enough to be of mate- rial value. We may assume that in that war, as in al- most every other, the majority of the private soldiers were either boys or very young men. The young are peculiarly susceptible to the show of military pomp, and of such pomp the patriot army had noth- ing; there was nothing to appeal to this spectacular sense, which counts for so much in war.

To be more specific, we may enumerate some of the most prominent of the difficulties that met the generals and other commanders of that day. The first was found in the enforcement of discipline. The perfect soldier is and should be, up to a certain point, a machine. " Theirs not to make a reply, theirs not to reason why." The one duty is obedience. This sort of soldier is precisely what the average American was not. The whole training of the people was in the direction of individualism, and personal freedom, and the patriotic youth was always asking why. For this they or their fathers had left the mother country to make homes in the howling wilderness. This was further enforced by their theology, their civic train- ing, and their personal habits. It was therefore im- possible for the officers to issue peremptory orders ac- cording to military methods. If the orders did not

Xii INTRODUCTION.

meet with the approval of the privates, they were ig- nored. These same privates had earnest opinions on all questions that came up, and when matters did not meet their approval they would simply leave the army and go back to the farm or shop: in technical lan- guage, they deserted. There was no method of en- forcing orders, such as is possessed by officers of a reg- ular army, and the officers were sorely handicapped by reason of this state of affairs.

Another difficulty of the officers was found in the chronic lack of money. When men are not promptly paid either in factory, army, or any other place, there is sure to be violent outbreaks of discontent. These soldiers were suffering, they had been promised the money and they needed it, — they needed it both for themselves and for their families. They thought of the legislators as keeping the money for themselves, and in Connecticut they actually started for the cap- ital to raid the legislature. The patience and per- sonal influence of the commanders was put to a severe test to keep the men in comparative order. Then there was constant need of supplies. Some clothing must be bought, some food must be paid for. Powder was never abundant in the patriot army, and at one time it ran so nearly out that, had all the army been engaged at once, there was not enough left for a day's fighting. Making bricks without straw is a simple

INTRODUCTION. xiii

proposition when compared with carrying on a long and important war without money.

A third difficulty of the times was the intermix- ture of Tories and spies with the patriots. The coun- try at large was patriotic, but there were Tories enough to make a great deal of trouble. Generally speaking, the men of wealth, the successful men of business, and consequently the men of influence, were on the Tory side. These claimed, and very plausibly, to have particular regard for the laws. They were quick to note any infringement of their rights and eager to demand reparation. That they did not equally recognize or respect the rights of others did not disturb them. Consistency is too rare a jewel to be of service in time of war. There were then, as there always is, a large number of unprincipled men who are willing to serve on one side or the other as fancy or the prospect of gain may indicate. The con- ditions were then favorable for the vocation of the spy, and the army was never free from his interfer- ence. Cooper's historical novel The Spy, especially the closing portion, sets forth in picturesque manner the conditions which were most depressing. In the patriot army there were large numbers of officers of high station, like Benedict Arnold, who were ready to sell out at a convenient time.

There is a fact which is so slight as to escape th©

xiv INTRODUCTION.

attention of most readers, but which is of sufficient importance to note here. It is that the patriots had no flag. Even after the stars and stripes were devised by Mrs. Betsey Ross, which was not until the year 1777, it had none of the associations to the men of that day which it has to us who have learned; to con- nect it in thought with all that is noble and glorious in patriotic history. We became familiar with the beautiful emblem in our infancy, we early learned to praise it in song and poem, we have read thrilling stories of the men who have fought, bled, and died for it, and the very sight of it, floating over school- house, fort, or vessel, rouses a noble and patriotic feeling in our souls. This feeling is consonant with the profound facts and verities of human nature. It is found in all countries, it touches all ranks and classes of people, it is an inspiration to all military glory. The citizen resents an insult to the flag, the orator praises the flag, the soldier follows the flag " into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell," and he is content to have his lifeless body buried under the flag. But the patriots had no flag. Their early associations were with the British emblem, and against it they were now armed and arrayed. They lacked a most important means of help.

The element of personal influence is nearly the same in all ages, and this was an important fact in

INTRODUCTION. XV

the stirring events of the pre-revoliitionary period. Putnam's thrift, good sense, and success as a pioneer farmer in Connecticut, gave him an imusual influence with his neighbors. His good fellowship won him many friends. The population of his community was scant, but he was beyond question a leader of the people. He was nearly forty years old when he took part in the French-Indian war, and his daring at that time greatly increased the honor in which he was held. During the period of popular discontent just previous to the outbreak of the revolution, he was one of the most conspicuous men in his colony. He was approaching sixty years of age when the battle of Bunker Hill was fought, and his conduct there shows that he was as fiery and impetuous as when in his 'teens. Confidence begets confidence, and enthusiasm kindles enthusiasm. Though the rank and file did not always follow their leader, they conducted them- selves far better than they would or could have done in his absence ; and after that battle he was a greater power than ever.

The battle of Bunker Hill was fought June 17, 1775. At that date Putnam was not in commission. The American soldiers were volunteers in a sense far more complete than the technical meaning of the word conveys. It was not until July 2, or two full weeks after the battle, that Washington reached Cam-

xvi INTRODUCTION.

bridge, bringing with him commissions for four Major-Generals who haci been appointed by the Con- tinental Congress on June 17 and 19. The names, and the order of precedence, of these four, were as follows: Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler, and Israel Putnam. Washington, who had these commissions in his possession, was invested with a certain discretionary power as to delivering them. Upon his arrival at Cambridge he found so much of discontent and mutual criticisms among the patriots that he deemed it wise to withhold, for a time, all the commissions except Putnam's. His was the only one that was delivered at once. The others received their commissions shortly afterwards. One by one they dropped out of the war until after the battle of Monmouth in 1778, when Lee, being tried by court-martial for disobedience of orders, was sus- pended for a year. This left Putnam the ranking Major-General of the army. Even he was not in active service at the close of the war, having been dis- abled by paralysis.

GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

CHAPTEE I.

EAKLY LIFE.

jiLMOST every popular favorite lias his nickname. They called General Jackson "Old Hickory ; " Gen- eral Taylor was known everywhere through the camp by the name of " Old Zack; " * and, not to interpose too many instances between our own times and his, General Israel Putnam, of Revolutionary memory, was better known by the whole army under the famil-

* The civil war of 1861-5 developed many such nick- names. General Grant was " Unconditional Surrender; " General Thomas, "the Rock of Chickamauga; " General Logan, "the War Eagle;" General Hooker, "fighting Joe Hooker; " General Sheridan was always called by his first name, Phil.

Lincoln was called "old Abe;" Blaine, "the Plumed Knight; " Thurman, "the old Roman; " Reed, "the Czar." It is a trait of the American people, more than of other peoples, to modify the names of its successful men. When they cannot find a taking epithet, they use the first name, or an abbreviation of it, such as Abe and Phil.

7

g LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

iar title of " Old Put " than either by the military rank he had honestly earned, or the simple Scriptural name his father and mother gave him.

Israel Putnam was a marked character in days when it would api^ear as if almost every man stood out as an exemplar. He lived in stirring times, and was not a whit behind the rest in helping to create the stir. Pew among the long roll of the patriots of the Revolution, addressed themselves to the great questions, as they came up, with greater zeal than he, or with a more stout and rugged determination to secure peace on the basis of simple justice. It must be allowed, too, that he had a strong love for adven- ture in his nature, and was as ready at any time for a warlike foray, or a dangerous expedition into a wilderness swarming with Indians, as he was for a frolic at harvest-time, or an exciting wolf-hunt with the young farmers in midwinter. Tlie life of Put- nam was a romance almost from the beginning; yet no one was apparently better contented than he amid the peaceful scenes of the country life of those days, or enjoyed himself more in the quiet atmosphere of his farm, his home, and his friends. In this respect he might be said, like some other men, to have had two natures: one continually exciting him to action and deeds of boldness and bravery, and the other tem- pering him down to the tone of those homely, every-

EARLY LIFE. 9

day joys that, after all, are the richest resources a man's heart ever knows.

Israel Putnam was born in Salem, Mass., on the Tth day of January, 1718. His mother * had twelve children, of whom he was the eleventh in order. The house still stands in which he was born, and is ex- actly half-way, on the turnpike, between Kewbury- port and Boston. The family emigrated from one of the southern counties of England, in the year 1634, and settled in that part of Salem, known as Danvers. The original family name was spelled Puttenham, instead of Putnam. Israel was the great-grandson of the one who first planted the name in that part of the country, Mr. John Putnam ; his father's Christian name being Joseph, his grandfather's Thomas, and his great-grandfather's John as just mentioned,

Israel was a courageous boy, and many daring acts of his youth are preserved by tradition among the different branches of the old family stock. He loved adventure and excitement, and was apt to be foremost in those bold and reckless undertakings for which

* Putnam's mother's mother was Elizabeth Hathorne. Her father, William Hathorne, came to this country in 1630, and after a short residence at Dorchester, now a part of Boston, settled permanently in Salem. A lineal descend- ant of this puritan, Nathaniel Hawthorne (note the change in the spelling of the name) described this William as the " grave, bearded, sable-cloaked, and steeple-crowned progen- itor, who came so early, with his bible and his sword."

10 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

boys are generally so ready. His early education was limited, as one must readily infer when one re- flects that schools of any kind were not a common privilege in those days. The population was very much scattered, instead of being gathered into towns and villages as now, and good schools would have been quite difficult to support. Besides, as he was brought up, the most of his time was required on the farm, helping about the regular work in such ways as boys of his age are taught and expected to do. Had his education been different when he was young, there is no doubt that he would have wrought with a still wider influence on the minds of the men of the Revo- lution. But it was sufficient proof of his inherent strength and greatness, that he rose, as he did, su- perior to all the obstacles that he found in his path, and wrote his own name legibly on the page of his country's history. It is not every man, even with the aid of many more advantages than he enjoyed, who succeeds in doing what he did for his country- men and himself.

We said that he was courageous, and sometimes reckless, when a boy, but his disposition was not quarrelsome. When he was assailed, he stood liis ground without flinching; but he was not in the habit of picking quarrels with any one. When he went up to Boston for the first time in his life, one of the

EARLY LIFE. 11

young town-fellows, a great deal older and bigger than himself,* saw him coming along the street in his dress of plain homespun, staring at the signs and the windows, and taken up, as almost every true rus- tic is, at least once, with what he saw and heard around him ; and, thinking to have some fun out of the country fellow, he taunted him with his dress, his gait, his manners, and his general appearance. Young Putnam hore it as well and as long as he could. He looked around and saw that a crowd had collected, who seemed to be enjoying themselves at his expense. His blood rose at length, and he de- termined to submit no longer. Suddenly he turned upon the ill-mannered city youth, and gave him such a thorough flogging on the spot as not only silenced his impudence, but likewise drew forth the instant admiration of the crowd, who were, but a moment be- fore, so willing to enjoy his own humiliation. This single little affair was wholly characteristic of tho man, as he afterwards showed himself on a wider theatre.

Very few incidents of a well-defined and authentic nature, have come down to us in illustration of the boyhood of Putnam ; indeed, when we consider that he was nothing more than a plain farmer's boy, of whom no one ever thought, except as other boys were

• Headley says this boy was twice his size and age.

12 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

commonly thought of, whose advantages were few, and whose education was limited, who had no other aim in life than simply to do his work well and make as respectable a man as his father before him, — it is evident that few facts could have accumulated at the most, going to show his native superiority to anybody else of his own age and condition. It was after he made himself conspicuous in the eyes of his countrymen, that his relatives began to collect such scanty materials relating to his youth as family tra- dition chanced to have handed down ; not happening to have been born great, or renowned, of course no record was kept of those early years before he achieved for himself what he afterwards so honorably did achieve.*

* Among the stories of the boyhood and youth of Israel Putnam, some are worth preserving. At the early age when boys delight in hunting birds' nests, he was so un- fortunate as to fall from a tree by the breaking of a limb; before he reached the ground his trousers caught on a projecting branch, and he hung, head downward, in a posi- tion that was equally uncomfortable and unsafe. He called on his companions to release him by shooting the branch so as to cut it in two. The boys demurred, fearing they would shoot him, until he assured them that he would take all the risk. This assurance steadied their nerves, and the shot carried true; the branch was severed and the boy was released.

Later, he tamed a fractious bull by a unique treatment. Arming himself with a pair of cruel spurs, he mounted astride the bull, struck his spurs vigorously into the sides

EARLY LIFE. 13

He was twenty-one years old when he was married, which event occurred in the year 1739.* His wife was Miss Hannah Pope, whose father — Mr. John Pope — lived in Salem also; and their family after- wards counted four sons and six daughters, f The year after he married, he emigrated from Salem to tlie town of Pomfret, in Connecticut, where he had bought a tract of land for the purpose. The part of

of the furious animal, and rode him until the bull was completely tired out and subdued.

Grim was the humor he displayed in connection with the negro, " Cudge." The master — for slavery obtained in New England at that period — called in Israel Putnam to help him chastise the insubordinate slave. The negro was first to be tied so as to make the process of whipping easier. Putnam, however, slipped the rope over both mas- ter and slave, bound them firmly together, then drew taut the other end of the rope, which had been thrown over a beam in the barn, tied the men up, and then left them to settle matters with each other. The negro, naturally enough, was the first to see the fun in the affair, but finally the saving sense of humor penetrated also the white man's intelligence. The affair was settled satisfactorily to all parties concerned, and discipline was fully restored without the use of the lash.

* Before Israel was of age, he assumed the care of the Salem farm. This was the more significant as he was the youngest but one of the family of twelve children. He built for himself a house upon the portion of the farm that was set apart for himself. He was thus an independent farmer before his marriage, which took place when he was twenty-one years of age.

t The first son, named Israel for his father, was born in this farm house in Salem. The other children were born in Connecticut,

14 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

Pomfret in which he settled is now included in tKe pleasant little inland town of Brooklyn; and the outlines of the foundation of his house are still to be distinctly traced in the turf, together with the raised walk up to the door. The well he digged is yet pointed out, though it is not at present used ; and in one of the old elm trees that stood before his door, are the iron staples on which he hung the tavern sign, just before the Revolutionary days, to inform travel- lers that he could temporarily entertain both them- selves and their beasts.

There was no better farmer in his day, the whole country round than young Mr, Israel Putnam proved himself to be. He opened new and unculti- vated lands; built good walls and fences; stocked his pastures ; planted his orchards ; erected a comfortable and most delightful homestead; and, by his thrift, industry, and true agricultural taste, succeeded, in a short time, in establishing himself as a well-to-do and most successful farmer. He had a young family brood growing up about him. His herds and flocks increased and multiplied. He found that his land was especially adapted to the raising of sheep, and, accordingly, he bent his energies to the production of wool. So successful was he in this enterprise in a brief period of time, that he was popularly reckoned one of the largest wool growers of the country, and

EARLY LIFE. 15

his profits accumulated at a rate that soon put him in circumstances beyond the possible reach of poverty or want.*

It was owing altogether to his having taken so ex- tensive an interest in the raising of sheep, that his adventure with the wolf became a piece of history. During several seasons he seemed to have suffered from rather hard luck, both in his crops and his live stock; what with drought, and dry-rot, and hard winters, he felt that his losses, continued through several ensuing years, were quite as large as he felt able to submit to. But when it came to the losses in his sheep-fold, which were more and more severe every winter, he roused himself to see if the mischief

* In 1739. Putnam and his brother-in-law, John Pope, who was also twenty-one years of age, bought a farm of a little more than 500 acres in Pomfret, Connecticut, for the sum of £2,572. Putnam built for himself a small house and cleared as much ground as he could. He then (1740) returned for his wife and child and removed them to their new home. His industry and energy quickly bore fruit. Within a year he not only bought out his partner but paid off the full amount of the mortgage and received his quitclaim deed June 13, 1741. He also had the luxury of a negro servant. The farm was well located and the virgin soil fertile. The crop of boulders was quickly transformed into fences after the manner of New England farming. In addition to grain, vegetables, and live stock, the products included lumber, while a variety of apple trees enriched the place. This farming life was remarkably remunerative from the very first.

16 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

could not by some means be stopped where it was. It was pretty conclusively proved that the work of slaughter was performed by a single she-wolf, who, with her new family of whelps every year, came from a long distance to get her regular winter's living off the fatlings of his hillsides and pastures. Nor was he the only sufferer by her bold depredations. Nearly all the neighboring farmers Avere forced to submit to these losses, as well as himself, and they were quite ready to undertake, with him, the destruction of the ravenous creature who was committing such a general havoc.

This she-wolf was an old jade, and very sly and shrewd withal. Almost every year the hunters, with their dogs, had fallen in with some of her whelps, and made an end of them on the spot ; but they never could manage to come upon her in a position from which she did not [wssess the cunning to somehow escape. Once they had succeeded in getting her to put her foot into their steel-trap; but rather than wait for them to come to a final settlement with her for her many crimes, she concluded she had better lose her toes and make the best of her way off without them. She preferred to sacrifice these, and so save her skin whole.

Putnam got together five of his neighbors, there- fore, and laid before them his proposal to hunt the

EARLY LIFE. lY

old wolf down; not to give her any further rest or peace until they got her into a place from which there could be no escape. The arrangement was, that they were to take turns at the business, two at a time, and follow her up day and night, till she was traced to her den, unless they might have the good luck to de- stroy her before she reached it. It was early in the winter when the pursuit began, and, as it happened, a light snow had fallen to aid them in their design. The clipped toes of one of the creature's feet, too, would assist the hunters in following her track, of which fact they were not slow to take advantage.

They came upon her footprints, after a time, and pursued her along by this single mark of the lost toes through the country to the Connecticut river ; show- ing that she was at least an extensive traveller. Reaching the river's bank, and finding her course thus intercepted, back she started again for Pomfret. The hunters were close upon her, and readily found where she had doubled upon herself. They pressed on as hastily as they could, over hill and through vale, pushing through swamps and wooded places after her, as if nothing had stood in her way. At an early hour on the second morning after setting out, they had succeeded in driving her into her den in a rocky ledge, situated some three miles to the north from

18 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

Putnam's house, and within the limits of the town of Pomfret.

She was carefully watched by one of the men, while the other went to give the alarm to the farmers around. It was not long before the woods in the vicinity of the cave were swarming with the male in- habitants of the town, including a pretty large sprinkling of boys. They brought along with them a liberal supply of dogs, guns, straw, and sulphur, prepared to smoke her out, burn her out, punch her out, or, in any event, to shoot her. The shouting and the clamor resounded a great ways from the steep hill-side where the transaction took place, as if they had 'come with the intention to make a good time of it. The boys, in particular, were delighted with the prospect of the fun there was ahead, and kicked and capered about in the exuberance of their spirits. It was a great thing for them to be allowed to take a part in such sport with their elders.

After a council of war had been held, and a close scrutiny of the retreat chosen by their crafty enemy had been indulged in, it was generally concluded that the wolf was not such a great fool in going into this cavity as they might have thought her. She was, to all intents and purposes, in her fortress. How should they go to work to get her out ? At first they tried tantalization, — ^sending in their dogs, who came out

EARLY LIFE. lO

again yelping and crying, with lacerated skins, and torn and bloody noses, showing how skilfully she had used her claws in her own defence. They could not prevail on the dogs that had tried the entrance once, to go in the second time. So they next hit upon the plan to stuff in lighted bundles of straw, sprinkled liberally with sulphur, hoping thus to smoke her out. They very truly argued that, if she could stand that, she must be too much for them to think of attacking. Accordingly, the straw was piled in, and set on fire. The dense volumes of smoke rose and rolled slowly into the cave, and they thought they were go- ing to secure their game this time without any fur- ther trouble. But they looked, and continued to look in vain for the appearance of anything like a wolf. The smoke could not have reached her ; or, if it did, it failed to have the effect upon her they had calcu- lated.

Time was wearing on in this way, and nothing seemed likely to come of all their labor at last. It wanted now but about a couple of hours to midnight. They were not willing to go home and leave their dreaded enemy where she was, unharmed, and free to repeat her bloody mischief. Again they tried to coax the dogs to go in ; but they could not so readily make the animals forget the rough treatment they had received on a previous visit. Israel Putnam

20 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

felt the need of some one's making a decisive move- ment, lest the matter should fall through entirely. He therefore ordered a man-servant to undertake the step needed ; but he declined very positively. An ap- peal was made to the whole company present, to know if there was any one who dared undertake this most undesirable piece of business; but the appeal was made in vain. Neither man nor boy was willing to risk his life in an encounter with a mad animal at the further end of a subterranean cave, which had already shown such a disposition to stand her ground and face her opponents down at any hazard.

Finally it became difficult to endure this state of suspense any longer, and Putnam took his resolution. It was a bold, and no doubt a very reckless one ; but when he considered, in a flash of his thought, the amount of the losses incurred by his neighbors as well as himself, from the depredations of this ravenous wild beast, he wondered how it was possible for any one to hesitate. He declared he would go down and meet the old wolf himself. The farmers were over- whelmed with astonishment, and tried to dissuade him from carrying out his rash purpose. But all they could say had no effect whatever upon him. He was determined to put an end to the existence of the wolf, and to do it on that very night.

Well aware of the fear inspired in a wild animal

EARLY LIFE. 21

by the sight of fire, he provided himself with a large quantity of birch bark, torn into shreds, before going into the cave, and lighted a sufficient number for his immediate purpose. These furnished all the light he had by which to guide himself along the winding passages of the rocky cavern. Stripping off his coat and waistcoat, with a lighted torch in one hand, he entered the dark aperture at near midnight, crawl- ing slowly upon his hands and knees.

The mouth of the wolf's den was about two feet square. From this point it proceeds downwards about fifteen feet, then it runs horizontally for some ten feet more, and afterwards it ascends very easily for sixteen feet towards its termination. The sides of the cave are of solid rock, and quite smooth ; the top and bottom are of the same material; it is but three feet in width, and in no part can a man stand upright. Putnam groped his way along by the aid of his flaring and smoking torches, until he reached the level portion of the cavity. All was still as a tomb, and his feeble torchlight was able to penetrate but a little distance into the surrounding gloom. He was obliged to advance but slowly, and every few moments it became necessary for him to renew his torch, which he did with the greatest care, lest it might go out in the lighting, and he be left in the profoundest dark- ness.

22 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

After creeping over the ten feet of the level por- tion of the cave, he came to the ascent. Onward he dragged his slow and toilsome way, till his progress was suddenly arrested by the sight of a pair of glar- ing eyeballs at the very extremity of the cavern. There sat the old wolf herself; and, as she saw the flash of the torch he carried in his hand, she gnashed her teeth and uttered a low and threatening growl. The brave and venturesome young farmer took a hasty view of things in the cave, and then gave a kick at the rope which his friends had tied about one of his legs before he made the descent, by way of precaution. Fearing that the worst had befallen him, they pulled more excitedly at the rope than was necessary ; and, before he could have protested against such rough treatment, he found himself dragged out upon the ground before the mouth of the cave, with " his shirt stripped over his head, and his skin se- verely lacerated." They had heard the growl of the wolf outside, and feared that he was involved in a struggle with her for life or death. Besides, it was known that he had carried no weapons into the cave with him, and they were more solicitous on that ac- count.

This time, however, he loaded his gun, took more torches, and went down better prepared for the en- counter. He knew his wa}^ along of course better

EARLY LIFE. 23

flhan before ; but he was now burdened with his mus- ket. When he came in sight of the wolf again, she was in the same place and position, but appeared a great deal more dissatisfied with his company. The account of his early biographer and personal friend states that she wore an aspect of great fierceness: " howling, rolling her eyes, snapping her teeth, and c'ropping her head between her legs. She was evi- dently in the attitude, and on the point of springing at her assailant. At that critical moment he levelled his piece, aiming directly at her head, and fired. Stunned with the shock, and suffocated with the smoke of the powder, he immediately found himself drawn out of the cave." But this time his friends took a little more care not to strip his shirt over his shoulders, nor to tear his skin against the jagged edges of the rock.

He allowed a few moments for the smoke to es- cape from the chambers of the cavern, and then went in again to secure his prize. On examination he found his old enemy lying dead on the floor of the cave at its further extremity, in a pool of blood. Ho had taken aim to some purpose. In order to satisfy himself that she was really dead, he applied his torch to her nose ; she made no * signs of life. Accord-

•Thls adventure with the wolf, by which perhaps mors

24: LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

ingly, he seized her by her ears, gave the rope around his leg an exuhing kick, and out he went, with his precious prize dragging after him, into the midst of the crowd at the mouth of the cavern, who showered their praises and congratulations upon him without stint. They sent up a shout of delight that filled the wintry woods with its echoes. Their arch enemy at length lay stretched out stark and stiff at their feet.

From that hour, Israel Putnam was a hero in the eyes and mouth of everybody. He came very soon to be known far and wide as the slayer of the old she-wolf that had made such havoc with the farmer's folds, and people loved to repeat a story that had

than by anything else, Putnam's early life is remembered, does not command unqualified approval. A more prudent and equally effective method would have been to block the mouth of the cave with an impassible trap, or even to wall it up with masonry. But this safe method would have lacked the dramatic element demanded by so ardent a nature as Putnam's.

The real value of this incident is that it shows that Putnam had no sense of fear. The reader will readily recall the parallel of Admiral Nelson. At the age of fifteen young Nelson attacked a polar bear with no weapon but a pike-staff. When asked if he was not afraid, he replied: " Sir, I am not acquainted with Mr. Fear."

On the other hand, the greatest general of the XlXth century, U. S. Grant, and the greatest warrior of the XVIIth century, Marshal Turenne, of Prance, were decidedly sus- ceptible to fear. Grant outgrew this early in the war, and Turenne overcame it by pure force of will.

EARLY LIFE. 25

such decided elements of romance and daring in it; for it excited them quite as much in the telling as it did others in the hearing. The story grew, too, as it travelled, and Putnam's fame of course grew along with it. He was known among the officers of the army, with whom he fought during the Seven Years^ War, as " the Old Wolf ; " and his fame reached England through the aid of the public journals, which are generally not behind in chronicling such a truly bold and daring adventure.*

The dozen years that Putnam followed the peace- ful pursuits of a farmer, between this notable event and the breaking out of the French war, he indus- triously made the most of. In that time, by his thrifty management, he laid the foundation of a per- manent and abundant fortune, for those days of sim- plicity, and provided for those wants, which other- wise must have been unprovided for entirely, apper- taining to advanced age and a life generously spent in behalf of the liberties of his country. When he retired from public service altogether, it was a com- fortable reflection for him that he had a good home to which to withdraw his weary self, where he might

* The wolf-den, being a part of the everlasting hills, is still to be seen in the town of Pomfret, and it is the Mecca of many a student of the history of early patriotism. The den is unchanged except for an inscription on one of the rocks at its entrance.

26 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

pass his latest years unreached by the gripe of pov- erty and want, and secure in the friendship and af- fection of the happy family group that there budded and blossomed like beautiful plants around him.

CHAPTER II.

THE TKENCH WAK.

The struggle between the English and the Frenehi for the mastery of this continent, deserves more than the mere allusion to it as an historical fact, which is all we are able in this place to give. The Indians that swarmed in the northern forests, and about the lakes and streams, were, the greater part of them, en- listed on the side of the Erench, and showed them- selves ready to perform any of those barbarities that were asked of them in the wild excitement of the times. These Indians were the worst foes that ever white men were forced to meet. They were stealthy and secret; they skulked and hid in every nook and corner ; they started out unexpectedly from every tree in the forest. In their dispositions they were vin- dictive and remorseless; they would fight for pay rather than from friendship, and hence employed both the tomahawk and the scalping-knife without either measure or mercy. Such an enemy was a thou- sand times more dangerous to encounter than an open enemy ; because the English were at no time certain

27

28 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

that he would not come upon them when they were least expecting it.

It required unusually prudent, sagacious, and brave men to officer a force that should be sent out to meet an enemy, too, with such an ally. Hence, the colonial governments were frequently at a loss how to act, so as not to compromise the safety of the peo- ple for whom they were authorized to act.

This so-called French War began in the year 1755, with three separate military expeditions : one of Gen- eral Shirley against Fort Niagara ; one of General Braddock, against Fort Duquesne; and a third of Sir William Johnson against Baron Dieskau, at Fort Edward, situated on Lake George.* This last had a

* The Seven Years' War was at the outset a conflict between Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa over the question of the succession to the throne of Austria. The international complications were such that nearly every nation in Europe was drawn into the war. The conflict between France and England was fought out not on Euro- pean soil, but in India and America, and it resulted in both these countries establishing English dominance. In Amer- ica, the English and French colonists knew little and cared less about the Austrian succession; yet it was the discus- sion of that question that made this continent English rather than French.

William Shirley (17057-1771), was appointed royal gov- ernor of Massachusetts in 1741, and commander-in-chief of the British forces in America in 1755.

Edward Braddock (1715 7-1755), is chiefly known by his defeat by the Indians and his death in a battle near Pitts- burg, while he was on his way to fort Duquesne, George

THE FRENCH WAR. 29

successful termination ; the others were fruitless and unfortunate.

Israel Putnam received an appointment to the captaincy of a company of provincial soldiers, volun- teers of Connecticut, and this company composed a part of the regiment under command of General Ly- man. Everybody knew Putnam for a fearless and trusty man; and although it is positive that he had had no previous military experience, yet his winning frankness and hearty honesty soon attracted to his standard a crowd of the finest young men the whole colony afforded. It was a deserved compliment to such a man, and he would certainly have been the last one to betray the high confidence thus reposed in him.

The expedition, of which his company and regi- ment formed a part, had for its object the reduction of Crown Point, a fortified place on Lake Cham- Washington served under him in that disastrous battle, and to him it is due that the entire British force was not anni- hilated.

Sir William Johnson (1715?-1774), was noted for the influence he exercised over the Indians. He later wrote a treatise on the customs and languages of the Indians.

Baron Ludwig August von Dieskau (died in 1767), was a German oflBcer in the French service. In 1755 he was sent to Quebec as field marshal (marechal-de-camp) . After his capture he was sent to England, and upon his release he went to France. The closing years of his life he spent in and near Paris.

30 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

plain. Massachusetts Colony started the project, and she, together with Connecticut and !N^ew York, was determined to carry it out to success if possible. The command of the entire expedition was given to Gen- eral William Johnson, one of the leading men in the New York Colony, and the troops were to collect at Albany as a central depot. It was late in June when they assembled. Early in August they began to move forward, and reached the point from which all the necessary accompaniments of warlike operations were to be transported across the land to Lake George. Gen. Lyman had already begun to erect a fortifica- tion at this point, which went by the name of Fort Edward.

Later in August, the main body of the army took up its march, and pressed on till it reached the south- ern point of Lake George. It was learned from In- dian scouts that a large body of French and Indians were stationed at Ticonderoga, since become an im- mortal name, which is the point at which Lake George empties, with its thundering sound, into Lake Champlain. They had not yet thrown up any works there, and Johnson therefore felt more desirous to proceed as soon as possible, with a part of his army, and seize the place before they could recover suffi- ciently from their astonishment at his appearance, to make a proper defence.

THE FRENCH WAR. 81

But Baron Dieskau, the Frencli commander, had, in the meantime, become apprised of the position and projects of the provincial forces at Fort Edward, and hastened to attack them before their works were all completed. If he could succeed in this plan, it was then his determination to move down upon Albany, and the other towns within reach, and lay them waste with all possible celerity. Accordingly, he took two thousand men with him from Crown Point, and, landing at South Bay, started across the land for Fort Edward. He even kept the design of this move- ment a secret until he had come within a couple of miles of the provincial forces. When he at length made his plans known, the Indians murmured, de- claring they never would fight against the cannon and musketry of the English. This obliged him, there- fore, to change his purpose, and he pushed on towards the north, to surprise the English at the southern point of Lake George. General Johnson was in com- mand there, as already stated. His scouts came into camp and informed him of the approach of Dieskau, "with his Canadian and Indian allies.

It was at once determined to send forward a de- tachment to meet them, and offer them battle. Col. Williams * commanded the entire body, which con-

♦Ephraim Williams (1715-1755), was born at Newton, Massachusetts; " served in King George's war; built Fort

32 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

sisted of a thousand provincials and about two hun- dred friendly Indians. They came upon the French some four miles out from the camp, and found the lat- ter all skilfully prepared to meet them. Dieskau had arranged the French troops in the centre, while the Canadians and Indians were stationed along in the woods on either wing, so as to surround the English

Massachusetts (near Williamstown, Massachusetts) ; com- manded a regiment of Massachusetts troops in the French and Indian war; and fell in an ambuscade" near Lake George. His memory is perpetuated in "Williams College. " Leaving a garrison in Fort Edward, Johnson moved with about 5,000 men to the head of Lake George, and there formed a camp, intending to descend into Lake Cham- plain. Hendrick, the celebrated Mohawk chief, with his warriors, were among these troops. Israel Putnam, too, was there as a captain, and John Stark as a lieutenant, each taking lessons in warfare. The French were not idle; the district of Montreal made the most strenuous ex- ertions to meet the invading foe. All the men who were able to bear arms were called into active service; so that, to gather in the harvest, their places were supplied by men from other districts. The energetic Baron Dieskau re- solved, by a bold attack, to terrify the invaders. Taking with him 200 regulars, and about 1200 Canadians and Indians, he set out to capture Fort Edward; but, as he drew near, the Indians heard that it was defended by cannon, which they greatly dreaded, and they refused to advance. He now changed his plan, and resolved to attack Johnson's camp, which was supposed to be without cannon. Meantime scouts had reported to Johnson that they had seen roads made through the woods in the direction of Fort Edward. Not knowing the movements of Dieskau, a detachment of 1,000 men, under Colonel Ephraim Williams, of Massachusetts, and 200 Mohawks, under Hendrick,

THE FRENCH WAR. 33

forces as soon as they had advanced far enough into this well-set trap. Had not the engagement begun as soon as it did, the plan of the French Baron would unquestionably have worked well; but, as it was, it did not operate quite so exactly to his mind. The provincials fought like the brave men they w^ere, and were forced at last to fall back. Col. Williams was slain in the battle, and so was Hendrick, the famous Mohawk Indian chief, who had been a firm friend to the English and provincials.

The vanquished forces retreated till they reached the main body, under General Johnson. This en- gagement had taken place before noon. It was just about noon, then, whqji the French forces came up to

marched to relieve that post. The French had informa- tion of their approach and placed themselves in ambush. They were concealed among the thick bushes of a swamp on the one side, and rocks and trees on the other side. The English recklessly marched into the defile. They were vigorously attacked and thrown into confusion. Hendrick was almost instantly killed, and in a short time Williams fell also." — Patton.

On this march Colonel "Williams asked Hendrick if he thought their force sufficient. The sagacious Mohawk answered: " If they are to fight, they are too few; if they are to be killed, they are too many. It was then proposed to divide up the foree. Hendrick picked up three sticks, put them together, and said : " These cannot easily be broken, but take them one by one and you may break them at once." He probably realized that he was marching on to his death.

34 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

renew the battle, flushed and eager with their recent victory. On each side of the American position, which was upon the bank of Lake George, lay a swamp, densely covered with trees. Gen. Johnson had mounted a few pieces of cannon, which he had fortunately received from Fort Edward, and a breast- work was hastily constructed by felling trees. On came the French in regular order, expecting only a second victory. After pausing for a brief moment at a distance from the breastworks, they fell upon the centre with great spirit, while the Canadians and In- dians attacked the two flanks in the hope of turn- ing them.

The assault upon the centre did not prove as de- structive to the provincial forces as was calculated; on the contrary, the latter took fresh courage on see- ing how little damage the French were able to do them. As soon as they began to play their cannon upon the advancing enemy with such terrible effect, the allied Indians and Canadians took to their heels in a paroxysm of fear, being quite unused to so de- structive an engine of warfare. Baron Dieskau in consequence was obliged to retreat in great haste and confusion, and his force was hotly pursued by a por- tion of the provincial army. The Baron himself was wounded, and found leaning against a stump, all alone. An American seeing him feeling for his

THE FRENCH WAR. 35

watch, with which he probably hoped to bribe his pursuers, supposed he was searching for his pistol; upon which he inflicted upon him a wound in the hip with a musket ball, which finally proved mortal. He was carried a prisoner into the camp in a blanket, and treated tenderly. Afterwards he was taken to Al- bany, then to ISTew York, and finally to England.

Being pursued for some four miles, the French at length halted to refresh themselves on the very ground where the battle of the morning had been fought. How different were their feelings then, from their feelings of a few brief hours before ! Mean- time Gen. Lyman had despatched a force up from Fort Edward to the assistance of Gen. Johnson, and the detachment he had sent forward came upon them while they were thus refreshing themselves on the morning's battlefield. A second time they were routed, and, on this occasion, most thoroughly. Many prisoners were taken and carried into camp. Thus opened the English successes on the continent against the French forces, with this brilliant victory of Lake George. This was the battle in which Joseph Brant,*

♦Joseph Brant (1740-1807), whose Indian name was Thay-en-da-ne-gea, was born on the banks of the Ohio river, and was educated at Hanover, New Hampshire, in the school that afterwards became Dartmouth College. He be- came a Christian and was zealous in good works: he trans- lated parts of the Bible into his native tongue, and was

36 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

the famous Mohawk Indian, then but thirteen years old, first learned the art of war from taking an active part in it.

Gen. Johnson at once proceeded to erect a fort where he was encamped, which he named Fort Wil- liam Henry. Israel Putnam not long afterwards reached the camp at Lake George, where, during the remainder of the season, his active temperament and love of perilous performances peculiarly fitted him for the duties which were then assigned him. As a ranger, volunteering his services on occasions of great danger, and when much caution w^as necessary, no man in the provincial army could, at that day, surpass or equal him. It fell to him, in this capacity, to find out where the enemy were, what was their strength, to be continually alarming their pickets,

unremitting in his efforts to improve the intellectual, so- cial, moral, and spiritual condition of the Indians. He won universal esteem as a cultivated Christian gentleman. He went as representative of the Six Nations to England, where his intelligence, courtliness of manner, and high character secured for him much influence. In the war of the revolution he held from the king the commission of col- onel in the British army, and in central New York he led the Tories in many a raid that greatly harassed the patriots. He was a brave soldier, and, like other brave soldiers, was always magnanimous. At the close of that war he used his influence among the Indians to persuade them to engage in the arts of peace. " He was sagacious and brave, chiv- alrous and faithful, kind and gentle, and unquestionably the greatest Indian of whom we have any knowledge."

THE FRENCH WAR. 37

to devise ways of harassing and surprising them, to act as a partisan scout in fetching information from the hostile parties, and in performing all those other active labors that are of the most effective service to the success of a military campaign on an uninhab- ited frontier.

Once, during that season, he set out with Captain Rogers * and a small party to reconnoitre the de- fences at Crown Point. The forest in the vicinity was alive with Indians, and it was at the same time impossible for the whole party to approach within the desirable distance of the fort. They concealed the men, therefore, in the woods not far off, and went by

* Robert Rogers was born in Londonderry, New Hamp- shire, in 1727. Nothing is known of his life until 1755, when he entered the provincial military service as com- mander of a corps known as " Rogers' Rangers." His work, which was chiefly that of scout, was of great value to the English. In the war of the Revolution he sided with the British, was arrested on suspicion, violated his parole to congress, accepted the commission of colonel in the British army, was tried by New Hampshire, proscribed and banished. In 1778 he went to England, after which time he is lost to view. It is by some supposed that he died in England about 1800. At the time of the French- Indian war his services as scout were of great value to the British, and in this capacity he ranked next to Putnam. But his wanton cruelty was in marked contrast to Putnam's humanity. He promptly murdered the wounded so as to save himself the trouble of caring for them. " As a man his deserts were small; as a bush-fighter he was beyond reproach,"

38 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

themselves to reconnoitre. Creeping along in the dark, they soon came near to the fort, where they re- mained secreted all through the night, but without obtaining as much knowledge as they went after. To- wards morning they were more successful ; and, while returning by different ways to the place where their party lay concealed, a French guard came suddenly upon Capt. Rogers, and made an effort to stab him, while he also gave the alarm. They clinched and struggled. Meantime the guard answered to the alarm. Putnam learned the cause of the trouble, and in an instant flew to his companion's rescue. With a single well-directed blow from the butt of his musket upon the head of the Frenchman, he laid him out upon the ground, stark and dead. Immediately the two bold rangers hastened to rejoin their little party, with whom they made the best of their way out of the reach of their enemies.

It was now late in the season, it being in the month of October. Of course it was impracticable to at- tempt anything more of a hostile nature during that year, especially as Crown Point was ascertained to be too strongly fortified to be assailed at present. The greater part of the army was therefore dis- charged, leaving but six hundred men as a force with which to garrison both Fort Edward and Fort Wil- liam Henry. During the same season, too, the

THE FRENCH WAR. 39

French descended the lake and took military posses- sion of Ticonderoga, which they proceeded to fortify. Putnam's company were disbanded with the other colonial regiments, and he returned home to pass the winter in the quiet retirement of his farm in Connec- ticut.

The next year's campaign had the same ohjects in view with that of the last. Owing, however, to the victories that had been achieved by the French com- mander, Montcalm,* at Fort Ontario and Fort Os- wego, the plans of the campaign were altogether dis- arranged. An expedition was set on foot against Crown Point, which was to be conducted by Gen. Winslow, with provincial troops alone ; but the unex-

• Montcalm collected a force of 5,000 Canadians, French- men, and Indians at Frontenac (now Kingston), at the foot of Lake Ontario, crossed the lake to Oswego, and, Aug. 11, 1756, attacked and soon captured Fort Ontario, on the east side of the river. On the 14th he captured Oswego with 1,400 prisoners, besides large quantities of arms, am- munition, provisions and other stores, and the vessels lying in the harbor.

The Marquis of Montcalm (1712-1759), was well edu- cated and rose to distinction in the army in France. In 1756 he succeeded Baron von Dieskau as commander-in- chief of the French army in America. His military opera- tions, though ultimately unsuccessful, always displayed skill, courage, and humanity. He was mortally wounded in the storming of Quebec in 1759. When told that he must soon die, he quietly said: " So much the better; I shall not live to see the surrender o£ Quebec."

40 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

pected success of Montcalm bad the effect to throw the English altogether on the defensive. Putnam was still at the head of a company, serving under his former commander. Abercrombie commanded the entire forces until past the middle of the summer; in August he was displaced by Lord Loudon.* The English generals were in constant expectation of be- ing attack by the French, and therefore assumed an attitude almost exclusively defensive.

Putnam, in this campaign, acted the bold part of a

♦John Campbell (1705-1782), was the fourth Eaii of Loudon. Though he rose to considerable distinction In England, his name is recalled by Americans with feelings of aversion. In 1756 he was appointed Governor of Vir- ginia and commander-in-chief of the British forces in Amer- ica. He transferred to Dinwiddle the actual government of the colony, while he himself went direct from New York, where he landed, to Albany to assume control of military affairs. His attempt at the capture of the fort of Louis- bourg resulted in an amazing fiasco. Setting out with a large fleet, he landed 10,000 soldiers at Halifax, and for a month practiced gardening and played at war by sham fights, etc. The troops had by that time become dispirited and Loudon was superseded by General Amherst, who cap- tured the fort. Loudon was taken to England, tried by court-martial, and acquitted. He was made lieutenant-gen- eral in 1758, and general In 1770. His most salient charac- teristic was his haughtiness, imperiously disregarding the privileges and rights both of citizens and of his subordi- nates. He was characterized by indolence, indecision, and general inefficiency. Franklin wittily said of him that he was " like King George upon the sign posts, always on Jiorse-back but never advancing."

THE FRENCH WAR. 41

ranger. This duty required a person of peculiar qualifications, and such had he in perfection. He was daring, and even reckless, and, at the same time, he knew how to be cautious and wary as an Indian. His active and ardent temperament fitted him above most other men for so responsible and arduous a ser- vice. He excelled in two important qualities, — cour- age and caution. He could be bold, and he also knew how to keep silence. United with his other rare qual- ities was an instinctive sagacity, which piloted him- self and his little party many a time safely through dangers with which other men, perhaps fully as brave, would have been overwhelmed. Indeed, con- sidering the history of Israel Putnam's military ex- ploits from first to last, it must be said of him, in summing up the whole, that he excelled chiefly as a military partisan — in scouting expeditions, forays, or guerilla warfare. No man in the army was more impetuous yet more cool, more daring and reckless and still more self-controlled, than he. And it was this which made his services so brilliant and so valu- able during the protracted terms of both the French and Indian, and the Revolutionary War.

Once, during this campaign of 1756, he was di- rected to take some observations, and report concern- ing the camp of the enemy at the " Ovens." This was but a little way from Ticonderoga. Taking along

4S^ LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

with him Lieut. Durkee,* he started off on his per- ilous but most welcome errand, is^othing suited him better than excitement and danger. The business was to be performed in the night, and required therefore all the more caution. The French army, when they lay down at night to sleep in the forest, kindled their fires in the centre of the camp and slept on the out- side of the circle, quite within the protection af- forded by the darkness. The custom of the English and provincial army was just the contrary. Putnam and his friend did not happen to be aware of this fact. Hence, they made their way up thoughtlessly toward the fires of the French, on their hands and knees of course, and had gone some distance within the enemy's lines before they became aware of their desperate situation. They were discovered by the sentinels, who at once fired upon them. His friend was wounded in the thigh, but Putnam was unhurt. The latter wheeled and rushed into the darkness again; but suddenly he found himself lying all in a heap at the bottom of a clay pit. Hardly had he come to himself sufficiently to understand where he was, when in plunged another person after him. Putnam raised the butt of his musket to break his head, when a voice asked him if he was hurt. He

•Lieutenant Durkee was burned at the stake by the Seneca Indians at the massacre of Wyoming, July 4, 1778.

THE FRENCH WAR. 43

recognized the voice as that of his friend, Lieut. Diirkee. In the greatest haste — quite as great, if possible, as thej had found their way into the pit — they both scrambled out, and made off into the forest in the midst of a rain of ineffective bullets from the enemy.

They lay under a large log during the rest of the night, and found the light of the silent stars much more agreeable company than they probably would have found that of the hostile camp-fires. It is re- lated that when Putnam unslung his canteen, to di- vide the rum it held with his wounded and fainting comrade, he found to his surprise that a stray bullet from the sentinel had pierced, and entirely emptied it of its contents.*

The provincial camp was much troubled by the prowling incursions of the Indians, who used to come about in the stillness of the night and carry off the sentinels, no one could tell how or whither. It was one of the greatest mysteries that excited their curiosity, or their superstitious fears. One of the outposts had suffered more than any of the others. At last it became so hazardous to serve as guard, — no soul of those who were missing ever coming back, or sending back any tidings of his fate, — that not a

* It is also related that Putnam found fourteen bullet- holes through his blanket.

44 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

man could be found who was willing to put his life in peril in occupying it All were appealed to, but in vain. They were not ready to volunteer in a ser- vice where they felt certain there was not even a chance in their favor. Some of the best and bravest men had volunteered on that post, and never been heard of again.

It had come to such a pass at length, that the com- manders were about to proceed to draw men by lot for the place, when Putnam stepped forth with his usual promptitude, eager to brave the danger, and pluck out the heart of the mystery. He need not have done this, for, as an officer, he would not have been liable to be drawn with the rest ; but he suffered that consideration to make no difference. He of- fered to garrison the post for that night himself, and his offer was accepted. The directions were, at hear- ing the least noise, he was to ask, " Wlio goes there ? " three times ; and, if no answer was returned, then to fire immediately. "With these instructions fresh in his mind, he went out and took his station. In the first place, he made a thorough and most minute ex- amination of every object within sight and reach. He laid down in his mind exactly how trees, rocks, bushes, and stumps stood relatively to each other, and photographed their appearance in his memory. Then,

THE FRENCH WAR. 45

seeing, tliat his firearm was in perfect order, he waited and watched for the terrible mystery.

There was a moon in the sky that night, by whose pale light even those objects with which he had al- ready become familiar, looked weird and spectral. For several hours nothing occurred that attracted his attention. Midnight wore on, but no manifestations of any lurking danger yet. By and by, however, he thought he heard a slight noise in the wild grass. He gave it all his attention. Then, what sounded like a wild animal, came straying along, gradually nearing his position. Finally the animal seemed to take the appearance and nature of a wild hog; and, to carry out the resemblance, it busied itself with cracking the acorns it grubbed up underneath the trees. Put- nam saw it all, and heard it all. His thought was al- ways quick, and rarely did it lead him far astray. Even a hog should not be permitted to pass the lines, he declared to himself, unless he gave the counter- sign. Accordingly, he raised his musket to his shoulder, and called out, " Wlio goes there ? " three times, and fired. The hog gave a deep groan, straight- ened out in the agonies of death, and instantly lay a lifeless heap on the ground. On going up to ex- amine it, he discovered that he had only shot a treach- erous and wily Indian, who had disguised himself in a bear-skin, and thus picked off the unsuspecting sen-

46 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

tinels from this dangerous post night after night. There was no longer any fear among the soldiers of standing sentry on that post. The heart of the mys- tery had been laid open, and this was what there was in it.

Putnam was likewise the leader and master-spirit of another excursion against the enemy that season, which added much to the increasing lustre of his fame. It appears that some five or six hundred of the French had made a descent on the stores and baggage of the English army, at a place about half way be- tween Fort Edward and Fort William Henry, and carried off a large quantity of provisions as booty. The soldiers who were escorting the train were not numerous enough to protect it against the vastly greater force of the assailants, and were obliged to yield it up altogether. Putnam was ordered, with about a hundred men in boats, carrying with them two small pieces of cannon, besides their ordinary arms, to head them off on their return down Wood Creek into Lake Champlain. They all started off in high spirits, and sailed down Lake George in their batteaux, with the resolution to punish the insolence of the enemy wherever they might fall in with him.

They landed at a certain point far enough down the lake, and there disembarked, leaving their boats under a sufficient guard, and marched rapidly across

THE FRENCH WAR. 47

to the narrows of Lake Champlain, where they took their stand and waited for the thieving rascals to come up. The place in which Putnam concealed the men was admirably selected, and so hidden by the trees and bushes that no one sailing down the lake would look for danger from such a quarter. The body of the water at that point, also, was not so wide but his guns could sweep it for the whole distance. As the French came sailing by, the party in ambush suddenly poured in upon them a terrible volley of shot, which performed most remarkable execution. The rowers were killed, the boats were sunk, and they were so huddled together in the confusion that they afforded a surer mark for the fire of the provincials. Only a few of the boats managed to escape, and these with the aid of the wind that blew up the lake very strongly. By this means the encampment at Ticon- deroga were advised of the mortifying mishap to the expedition, and hastened to wreak their ven- geance upon its authors before they could return to headquarters.

It was in the expectation of something like this that the rangers betook themselves back to their boats with all possible speed, knowing that their condition was a desperate, if not an utterly hopeless one, should they be intercepted before thoy reached the water. They had some twenty miles to make, in order to do

48 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

this; but they were successful. The French hurried after them by way of the lake above, and, of course, must have made much headway even before the rangers embarked again, which was at night. The very next day they saw their enemy on shore in large numbers. They must have silently passed them somewhere during the night. It of course was not long before the French spied them coming, and took to their boats with great speed, determined to fight them in line on the lake.

The French appeared extremely exultant, as if the battle had been fought and the victory had been al- ready won. Up they sailed in regular array, sup- posing that the provincials, who could not have num- bered more than one to their three, would be so stricken with terror at their approach that they would decline fighting altogether. Not until they came within shot of them, did the small party of brave fel- lows under Putnam open fire; and then they gave them, all at once, the full contents both of their can- non and their muskets. This reception dismayed the French. They had counted on nothing of the kind. They supposed they had been sailing up to an easy, and perhaps a bloodless, victory. Continuing thus to pour in volley after volley, and not allowing the enemy to recover themselves sufficiently to rally for one strong efi^ort, the provincials very soon succeeded

THE FRENCH WAR. 49

in scattering the flotilla of French boats, and driv- ing them off the field of battle.

The provincials were the victors. The French lost a great number of their men, and the Indians fell into the lake in scores. What is very strange, there was but one man out of the provincial force killed in this sharp engagement, and but two were wounded, and they only slightly, while the loss of the French, including their previous loss on Lake Champlain, on their return from the foraging excursion, amounted to hardly less than five hundred. The French learned a pretty dear lesson by it all ; and, certainly, if noth- ing else were to be said about it, they paid at a costly rate for the provisions they were guilty of stealing from the escort at Half Way Brook.

CHAPTER III.

CONTIITUATION OF THE FRENCH WAE.

Had Israel Putnam kept a record of his varied and most exciting experience from the time his life began to be of public interest, it would have secured an at- tentive perusal to the latest generations. But he was doing greater things than he knew, like many others who are noble and heroic themselves without being aware of it. The next year, 1757, he received a major's commission from the Connecticut Legisla- ture ; showing in what deservedly high esteem he was held by those with whom the public interests were left to be administered.

Thus far, it certainly could not be denied that the English arms had met with but indifferent success in the war then waging with the French. This was in no sense to be charged to the want of efficiency or cour- age on the part of the colonists, in cooperating with them in their plans; the fault lay elsewhere. The officers who were appointed to direct the operations of the army were not the men they should have been ; they knew little or nothing of the country, being sent

50

CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 51

over from England solely for the purpose of super- vising what they knew little about. They could not be expected, either, to feel that close sympathy with the condition and prospects of the colonists which was so essential to the success of their warlike plans ; and, by their very rank and station, they were alien to the habits, and strangers to the feelings that made up the sturdy colonial character.

Lord Loudon * was an inefficient and improper of- ficer to set at the head of an army anywhere. It is not pretended that he possessed any degree of courage, much less that he was gifted with that military gen- ius which is certainly to be looked for in a commander who undertakes the responsibilities of such extended campaigns. Montcalm, the French General, had put him to his wits' end in achieving such few, but very significant successes as he had at Oswego, destroying and dismantling the foii: at that place; and Loudon therefore resolved to stand only on the defensive. This was the whole secret of his no-policy of the sum- mer previous, after his appointment by the ministry at home to supersede Greneral Abercrombie. During the winter, however, he had made liberal drafts on the several Legislatures of the colonies, to which they responded with great promptness. Early in the year 1757, too, fresh and abundant forces arrived from ♦gee above, p. 40, note.

62 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

England ; so that the belief was general that the cam- paign of this year was to be carried forward with signal energy and enthusiasm.

Had the matter lain with the colonies, the plans of the previous campaigns would certainly have been pushed on to completion and success. And the for- tress from which the various assaults against the peace of the provincialists were fitted out, would have been assailed in turn with all imaginable vigor. In other words, the war would have been car- ried by the colonists into Canada. But not BO thought Lord Loudon. With every means with which to secure a brilliant series of conclusive vic- tories ready at his hand, he foolishly projected an excursion against the distant French fortress at Louisbourg, on the island of Cape Breton, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, the rallying point for the French on this continent. Here he thought to strike a decisive blow which would bring him sudden fame for future enjoyment at home. In order to achieve this contemplated success, it was first neces- sary for him to concentrate his troops at Halifax. It was far into the summer when he reached that point, and then it was only to learn that a large fleet of French vessels had just before arrived at Louis- bourg,* which was now abundantly able to protect the

•Louisbourg was in the Island of Cape Breton, at the

CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 53

fortification there from assault. So Loudon gave over his purpose altogether. He did not even make an effort to secure the victory of which he was, only a little time before, so sanguine and certain. He left his ships to watch the further movements of the French, and hastened back himself to New York. And thus nothing was accomplished bj him during that year.

But Montcalm understood the situation of affairs exactly. He knew that Louisbourg could now take care of itself, and he also knew that the provincial and English force on the Canada lines must be much weakened by this ill-timed movement of Loudon. So he resolved to improve the advantage offered by these circumstances, and to push down Lake George and take possession of Fort William Henry. It was a bold undertaking, and yet it appeared a very feasible one. This fort was but a poor affair at best. It stood on a piece of ground gently rising from the shore of the lake, and had for a garrison about three thou- sand men. At Fort Edward, which was the lower fort. Gen. Webb commanded ; and the force under him was even larger than that at Fort William

eastern extremity of Nova Scotia. Its importance lay in the fact that it was the harbor for the French privateers and other vessels of war, which issued from thence for sudden and destructive attacks upon English shipping and immediately returned to perfect safety.

54 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

Henry. Montcalm had an army of nine thousand men, including both French and Indians. During the month of March previous, he had ventured upon an attempt to take Fort William Henry; but it proved unsuccessful. He landed near that fortifica- tion on St. Patrick's eve ; and a large portion of the British Rangers being Irishmen, he had not miscal- culated in supposing that, inasmuch as they would probably celebrate that well-known festival, they would become more or less intoxicated; and of this circumstance he intended to take advantage. Lieut^ Stark happened to be in command at the Fort at that time, and accidentally overheard some of the Rangers planning on the evening previous for their celebration of the next day. As an excuse for not furnishing them with liquor, he feigned lameness in his wrist, which prevented him from writing ; so that when the army sutler was applied to for the liquor, he replied that he had received orders not to deal out any with- out a written order. Stark's lame hand was excuse enough for his not writing such orders, and of course no spirits were dealt out to the Rangers at all. The regular troops who celebrated the occasion were af- fected with the liquor they drank, and when the at- tack was made, — as it was, on St. Patrick's day, — the successful defence of the Fort was made entirely by the sober Rangers.

CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 55

Montcalm liad collected his forces, as just men- tioned, to the amount of nine thousand men, French and Indians. It was in the latter part of July al- ready. General Webb had just proceeded to Fort William Henry, with an escort of two hundred men, taking their commander. Major Putnam, along with him. While he remained at the Fort, he thought proper to send Putnam down the lake with a small force of but eighteen men, to discover where the enemy were, and in what numbers. They found the islands at the entrance of IsTorth-west Bay alive with them. Leaving two out of the five boats behind, that they might appear, if detected, to be innocently engaged in fishing, Putnam hurried back with all possible despatch to inform Gen. Webb of his as- tounding discovery. He of course then proposed to return to the rescue of his comrades, whom he had left behind ; but Webb peremptorily refused him per- mission. By pleading and begging, however, he was allowed to return, and all the boats at last found their way back in safety, although they were hotly pursued, and at one time nearly surrounded by the enemy.

What does this cowardly general then do, but com- pel Putnam to pledge his eighteen men, by a solemn oath, to keep their knowledge of the enemy's approach a secret from the garrison at Fort William Henry,

66 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

and then order him to escort him with his command back to Fort Edward. Putnam protested, even to a greater extent than most joung officers would dare to protest against the orders of their superiors; but it was all in vain.* Webb was escorted back in safety to his distant quarters at Fort Edward, cruelly leav- ing the garrison at Fort William Henry ignorant of their danger. But the next day he had thought enough better of it to send back Colonel Monroe, with his regiment, ordering him to assume the entire com- mand.

Wlien Montcalm therefore made his appearance before the fort, he had three men to the garrison's one. First he sent to Col. Monroe a summons to sur- render the place, and humanely urged as a reason the enormous bloodshed and cruel destruction of life that would thus be averted. But as the latter had good reasons to continually expect reinforcementa from General Webb at Fort Edward below, he re- fused to consider such a demand at all. From that time the siege regularly commenced, and continued for six days. Word was sent to Webb by expresses

* Putnam, in his eagerness, had the audacity to say to his superior officer: " I hope your Excellency does not in- tend to neglect so fair an opportunity of giving battle, should the enemy presume to land? " The only reply vouch- safed by the imperious Webb was the scornful query: "What do you think we should do here?"

CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 57

during this time, laying before him their precarious situation, and imploring immediate succor; but it was a supplication to ears that were deaf. The man was either an arrant coward or else grossly infatu- ated. He did seem to relent, however, after a time, and changed his purpose so far as to send up Gen. Johnson, together with Major Putnam and his Rangers ; but they had gone on but about three miles when he despatched an order after them, calling them back immediately. By the same messenger who was the bearer of this cowardly order, he sent a letter to Colonel Monroe, at Fort William Henry, informing him that he could render him no assistance, and ad- vising him to surrender at once. The messenger was intercepted, and Montcalm got possession of the let- ter and instantly knew how the case stood. He had just before heard from his Indian scouts that the force that was marching up under Johnson and Put- nam, were, in the language of the red men, as great in numbers as the leaves on the trees; and he had made up his mind to beat a retreat as early as he could in consequence. But this intercepted letter put a new face on the matter. He sent it in to Col. Monroe at once, therefore, with a new and more ur- gent demand for him to surrender.

No other way, of course, was left him. The siege had already nearly consumed their provisions, while

58 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

their ammunition was almost entirely exhausted. Articles of stipulation were drawn up between the two commanders, and Montcalm promised that the provincial army should be protected on their march down to Fort Edward by an escort of French troops. They were to march out with their arms and their baggage. They should not again serve against the French for eighteen months; and the sick and wounded were to be cared for by Montcalm, until such time as they should sufficiently recover to be safely escorted to Fort Edward.

The moment the last lines of the army had passed the gates of the fort, the Indians, numbering some two thousand in all, set up their hideous war-cry, shrill and fearful in the ears of the terror-stricken provincials, and fell upon them with all the strength and fury of their long-pent passion. They were, no doubt, expecting a large amount of plunder from this expedition against Fort William Henry, and when they saw their enemy thus about to escape them, they were alile no longer to control their savage indigna- tion ; neither could Montcalm hold them in check, as he had already hinted in his first summons to the garrison to surrender. The French were powerless to afford them the least protection, even if they made the attempt. Such an indiscriminate and merciless massacre as on that bloody day was enacted on the

CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 59

borders of beautiful Lake George, is scarcely matched, certainly not exceeded, by any similar trans- action recorded in history. Those who fled were pur- sued by the savages for more than half the way to Fort Edward, who filled the forest with the wild echoes of their hideous war-whoop. Fifteen hundred of this devoted little army were butchered on the spot where protection had been solemnly promised them. The remnant, which did not finally reach Fort Ed- ward, were dragged away into captivity, to suffer and at last to die. The defile through which they re- treated from the fort, is called Bloody Defile to this day. Only a few years ago, on making excavations for a plank road there, a large number of human skeletons were thrown up to the surface. Several skulls had long fractures in them, as if made by toma- hawks.

Webb was greatly alarmed on hearing what had been done, as well he might be. He therefore sent forward Major Putnam, with his command, to re- connoitre, and report if the enemy were about to march down next upon Fort Edward. And there is little doubt that, in case they had done so, he would have fled from the place with cowardly precipitancy, leaving such of his men as would not accompany him to take the best care they could of themselves. Put- nam reached the fort only to find it a mass of ruins.

60 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

The French, having finished their diabolical work, were just getting into their boats to return up the lake. Putnam describes the scene that met his gaze, as he came up, in the following words : " The fort Avas entirely demolished; the barracks, out-houses, and buildings, were a heap of ruins; the cannon, stores, boats, and vessels were all carried away. The fires were still burning; the smoke and stench of- fensive and suffocating. Innumerable fragments, human skulls and bones, and carcasses half con- sumed, were still frying and broiling in the decaying fires. Dead bodies, mangled with knives and toma- hawks, in all the wantonness of Indian fierceness and barbarity, were everywhere to be seen. More than one hundred women, butchered and shockingly man- gled, lay upon the ground, still weltering in their gore. Devastation, barbarity, and horror every^vhere appeared, and the spectacle presented was too dia- bolical and awful either to be endured or described."

Fort William Henry was never rebuilt. Fort George was built upon a point about a mile to the south-oast of it, at which the English army ren- dezvoused the next year, just before their brilliant, but most unfortunate expedition against the French on Lake Champlain.

Later the same year. General Lyman, the old com- mander under whom Putnam first served in this war^

CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 61

was in authority at Fort Edward, and began to make his position as secure and strong as circumstances would allow. One day he despatched a party of more than a hundred men into the forest to cut tim- ber, and a guard of fifty regular troops was sent out to protect them against any sudden surprises. There was a narrow road leading to the fort, at the extremity of which the soldiers were posted. One side of this road was bounded by a morass, and the other by a creek. Early one morning, before the sun, in fact, was fairly up in the east, one of the sentinels thought he saw a flock of birds flying over ; and, on looking carefully, he discovered that one of these feathered creatures lodged in the top of a tree above his head, and took the form of an Indian arrow. He gave the alarm, and it was found that a party of savages had crept into the morass during the night, who, as soon as the alarm was sounded, rushed out from their hiding place and murdered those of the laborers who were nearest at hand, driving the rest into the fort, which was some hundred rods off. The regulars came to the rescue in an instant, and drove back the Indians by a volley of musketry, so that the rest of the laborers were at last enabled to reach the fort in safety.

Gen. Lyman is supposed to have misinterpreted the state of things, having been so thoroughly sur-

62 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

prised, and therefore called in all his outposts and shut the gates of the fort. He supposed that a gen- eral attack against the fort from all points was in- tended, and felt the stem necessity upon him, for the moment, of leaving the little company of fifty regulars under Capt. Little to take care of them- selves. It was a cruel mistake, though Gen. Lyman was never charged with cowardice in making it. Put- nam happened to be placed on guard at the time, with a body of rangers at one of the outposts, which was on a small island situated not far from the fort. The moment he heard the sound of the firing in the di- rection of Capt. Little's company, he sprang with his usual impulsiveness into the water, and bade his men follow him. As it was necessary for him to pass the fort on his way. Gen. Lyman leaped to the para- pet as he came on, and ordered him to stop where he was. He said it was needless to risk the lives of any more men ; for he certainly supposed that the entire army of French and Indians were right upon them. Putnam, however, declared that he could not suffer a fellow-officer to be sacrificed without even an effort to save him ; and, after offering a brief and very hasty excuse for his conduct, pushed forward with the hot haste that was so characteristic of his nature. He thought of nothing, and cared for nothing, but to res- cue his brave companions.

CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 63

They reached the company of regulars who were thus fighting for their lives, and rallied around them in an instant. Putnam was for going pell-mell into the swamp; and in they went, raising a shout, as they did so, loud enough to have frightened the very beasts of the forest. The Indians were not expecting to be received in quite this style, entertaining no such ideas of the courage of their enemy; they therefore took to flight with great precipitancy, and were hotly pursued during the rest of the day into the forest. Putnam returned to the fort with his men, expect- ing, of course, to be disgraced for his open disobe- dience of orders ; but the general thought proper, un- der all the circumstances, to let the matter pass by in silence, and probably was glad of an excuse to get over it so easily. It would, without doubt, have created an intense excitement in the garrison, had Putnam received even a reprimand for his brave and self-sacrificing conduct on so trying an occasion.

Putnam remained at Fort Edward during that winter. In the course of the winter, too, another op- portunity offered for him to make a display of that cool courage and bold daring, for which he enjoyed so wide a fame among the soldiers. The barracks caught fire at a point not more than twelve feet dis- tant from the powder magazine, in which were stored about fifteen tons of powder. Cannon were brought

G4 I^IFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

to bear upon them, in the hope of battering down a portion of them, and thus staying the progress of the fire. But it was in vain. Putnam saw the ex- treme danger, and, knowing that the flames were rapidly advancing in the direction of the magazine, determined to make every exertion possible to check them. For this purpose, he stood upon a ladder reaching to the roof, and took the buckets of water as they were passed up to him from the line of men that was formed between the fort and the river, and him- self kept dashing it without intermission upon the flames. The heat grew every moment more and more intense, till he thought at times he could endure it no longer. The fire gained on him in spite of his efforts, and he found himself enshrouded in a rolling mass of smoke and flame. One pair of thick woollen mit- tens was burned off his hands, and he immediately called for another ; these he kept continually dipping in the water, to preserve them from the fate of the other pair.

He was even directed to come down, as it was worse than useless to expose himself in this way any longer ; but he resolutely refused, fighting the furious enemy with a desperate energy that excited general wonder and admiration. Still all the while he appeared as cool and collected as if there was no such danger as fifteen tons of powder contained, within a mile of

CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 65

him. Some of the men, in the meantime, stricken with a panic, were proceeding to get their few val- uables out of the fort and make ready for the ex- pected explosion.

Up to this time, only a single angle of the bar- racks was on fire ; but now the flames enwrapped the entire line, and were bent on getting at the powder beyond. Putnam was then obliged to leave his post on the ladder, and came down and planted himself, as the last resource, between the burning barracks and the magazine, and called for more water. They kept passing it to him in a steady stream of buckets. The fire had now caught the outside timbers of the magazine, and burned them completely off. Only a single thickness remained between that and the pow- der, and that was soon reduced to a living coal ! Some thought of flight ; but Putnam worked on. While his sturdy form stood confronting the fires, it acted upon those who saw him like a magTiet, to at- tract them to the spot. So they all worked with greater enthusiasm still. Putnam was covered with the thick-falling cinders, and enshrouded with the smoke. Every one expected to see him give out before so relentless a foe as the one he had undertaken to contend with. This was a rarer display of true cour- age than when he went down alone into the wolf's den at midnight, finding his way along with a flick- 5

66 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

ering torch. Pie poured on the water incessantly. At last the main timbers of the barracks having burned through, they fell in, and the danger was over. For nearly two hours he had fought the fire single-handed. He was blistered from head to foot, from his exposure to the intense heat ; and on drawing his second pair of mittens from his hands, the skin came with them too.

He was a keen sufferer from the effects of these blisters and burns, and it was many weeks before he was able to feel that his case had taken a favorable turn. But by this single act he had earned for him- self the warmest admiration and the hearty gratitude of the garrison, and indeed of the entire army. No one could justly estimate what he alone had saved, by thus subduing such a remorseless enemy as for a time threatened to overwhelm them all with instant de- struction.

CHAPTER IV.

CAMPAIGN OF 1758.

Wtt.t.tam Pitt^ afterwards Lord Chatham, had been entrusted with the administration of affairs bv the British government during the previous year, the King finding the people at home and his colonies in America were growing exceedingly restive under the accumulating disasters and mortifications of the war. Thus far, nothing seemed to have come of all their efforts and sacrifices. The three or four northern colonies that had heretofore been so lavish of their men and money in the prosecution of the war, — a war, too, which was to bring no immediate advan- tage to themselves, — felt that it was a drain upon them to go on in this way, for which there was no like- lihood that they would ever receive a proper compen- sation. Had the army achieved any signal successes, it would have been a different thing; but the idea of continuing as they had been doing for the past two and three campaigns, caused no little irritation and disquiet among them. They had raised fifteen thou- sand men to carry on this war; and they hesitated

67

68 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

about raising any more with so little promise of suc- cess.

As soon, however, as it was understood that the king had changed his ministry, their hopes changed too, and they looked forward to a chance now of re- trieving their past losses, and securing that honorable peace for which they had been fighting.

Mr. Pitt saw at once, with his instinctive compre- hensiveness of mind, that the arms of the English bad failed of success hitherto, on account of the lack of capacity and courage on the part of the leaders. lie therefore resolved to recall the inefficient Lord Lou- don ; and ordered Abercrombie * to resume the com- mand, in which the former had, only the year before superseded him. General Abercrombie made his head quarters at Fort Edward. He had been there but a little while, when he gave directions to Major Putnam to take sixty men with him down towards South Bay, beyond the place where Wood Creek emp-

* James Abercrombie (1706-1781), born of a wealthy Scotch family, was bred as a soldier and rose to the office of colonel in the British army. In June, 1756, he was sent to this country and commanded the British forces until the arrival of Loudon in August of that year. In 1758 he suc- ceeded Loudon as commander-in-chief. He had no military ability. His blunder at Ticonderoga cost his country the lives of 2,000 brave men. In 1759 he was superseded by Amherst and returned to England. Elected to Parliament, he furthered those measures of harsh policy toward ths colonies which resulted in the war of the Revolution.

CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 69

ties into Lake Champlain, and there watcli for such parties of the French as might come straggling along in their direction. This was business exactly suited to Putnam's mind, and he proceeded to obey so wel- come an order with his usual alacrity. Arriving at a spot which he thought a most favorable one for en- trenching his little party, he threw up a breast work of stone some thirty feet in length, and ingeniously concealed the whole with young pine trees which were chopped for the purpose. The creek at that point was only thirty yards in width ; and the precipice on which he erected his fortification lifted itself some ten or fifteen feet straight above the water. The op- posite bank was very steep, and fully twenty feet in height.

The party became short of provisions, after a time, although Putnam had already sent back fifteen men to Port Edward, who were too unwell to stand the exposure any longer. He felt sorely the want to which they were getting reduced, and cast about to find some way of securing temporary supplies. Hap- pening to see a large buck emerging from the thicket and making ready to plunge into the creek and swim to the other bank, he impulsively fired and brought the animal to the ground. At such a time, the firing of a gun was contrary to military rules, and the most hazardous experiment that could have been tried.

70 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

And it proved so in the present instance. Marin, the famous French partisan, — of whom we have spoken before, — chanced to be in the vicinity with a party of French and Indians, moving stealthily dowm to- wards the American forces. This warning, which Putnam's musket furnished him, also sufficed to show him where the provincial scouts were stationed ; and the moment his sentinel, who had heard the report of the musket, brought in word to that effect, Marin resolved upon either surprising them where they were, or stealing past them unperceived into the country below.

The French and Indians glided on down the creek as silently as possible. They detected as yet no signs of an ambush, for the pine trees before the parapet which Putnam had erected served as a perfect screen. At about ten o'clock at night, one of the American sentinels brought in word that he saw a great many canoes, filled with men, advancing in the silence of the night in their direction, and that they would soon be within reach of the fort on the bank. Putnam called in the sentinels, and prepared to greet the enemy in his earnest manner, as soon as they should make their appearance. It was a perfectly still night, and a full moon flooded the landscape with its mellow light. All within the little parapet was hushed. There was not even the rustle of a bough, or the

CAMPAIGN OF 1758. Yl

crackle of a twig to be heard. The canoes came in siglit. Thej were indeed packed with men, as the sentinel had warned them. Putnam resolved to allow the first part of the line of boats to get well into the throat of the waterj defile, and then to open fire upon them and take all possible and destructive advantage of their confusion.

They had paddled their way into this treacherous snare, not a sound as yet breaking the stillness, when a soldier in the American party accidentally struck the lock of his musket against a stone. " 0-wish 1 " hissed the commander of the enemy, halting in his sudden fright, and repeating the Indian watch-word. The van of the line of boats having thus come to a stand, the rear crowded up rapidly, and in a moment they were all huddled together before the ximerican breastworks. Putnam saw his advantage, and eagerly improved it. He at once ordered his men to fire. In- stantly the entangled knot of canoes was thrown into still direr confusion. The French could not see their enemy, and of course could return but an ineffectual fire. On the other hand, almost every shot of the American party carried death along with it. They kept up their murderous work from the parapet with unabated energy, killing great numbers of the enemy in the boats, whose lifeless bodies went tumbling over the sides and plashing into the water. Marin at

T2 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

length saw, with his quick eye, that, from the firing of the Americans, there could not be many of them, and accordingly sent off a detachment of his men to land below and attack the entrenched party from be- hind.

Putnam, however, was as quick as himself. He instantly ordered a detachment of a dozen men to go and prevent their landing, which order was success- fully executed ; and he sent still another party up the creek, to prevent a similar demonstration in that di- rection. There were thus left only twenty men with Putnam in the fort; and these kept loading and firing their pieces during the remainder of the night, mak- ing great havoc with the boats, but not even sacrific- ing a single life among their own number. It was discovered, when morning broke, that a part of the French had succeeded in making a landing below, between the Americans and Fort Edward, and noth- ing was left the latter but to retreat with all possible despatch. This last order of Putnam's was executed with signal success. Only two of the American scout- ing party were wounded during this action, while nearly three hundred of the enemy fell beneath the fire from behind the concealed battlements on the bank. These two were sent off, with two others, to the fort, but were afterwards overtaken by their pursuers, having been tracked by their blood on the ground-

CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 73

They advised their escort to fly, which the latter did. One of them then killed three of the Indians, before they succeeded in despatching him, and the other was carried off a prisoner into Canada. Putnam after- wards saw him there, when himself a prisoner in the hands of the French.*

* It was about ten o'clock at night when a sentinel gave the news that a fleet of bark canoes, filled with men, was approaching. " The part of the lake which the enemy soon entered is narrow — only a few rods wide — and the shores on either side abrupt and rocky. . . The night was clear and the full moon shone with unusual brightness. . . . Some of the enemy paddled by little suspicious of danger. . . Putnam, who had commanded his men not to fire until he gave the signal by doing so himself, discharged his gun. A deadly volley followed from the breastworks, and the well-concerted attack threw the enemy into great confusion. . . In the weird moonlight the tragic scene continued. Putnam and his men poured an incessant and destructive fire upon the enemy, who in return groaned, shrieked, yelled, and ineffectively shot towards the parapet. At dawn Putnam learned that some of the foe had landed below him and were hastening to cut off his retreat. Know- ing that the force was superior to his own and that he could make but little resistance, since his soldiers had only a small supply of ammunition left, some of them hav- ing in fact shot their last round, he ordered his men to " swing their packs." They retired rapidly, in good order, and succeeded in advancing far enough up Wood Creek to avoid being surrounded, although they were obliged to leave behind them three of their number, who had been wounded in the long-continued action. Afterwards, when Putnam was in Canada, he learned that the French and Indians in the memorable moonlight encounter, numbered five hundred, commanded by the famous partisan [i. e,^

74 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

On his retreat to Fort Edward, having only forty men under him in all, Putnam was suddenly sur- prised to find himself fired upon by a party that was unexpectedly approaching in front. Ignorant of their numbers, he nevertheless determined to rush forward to the conflict, and at once fight his way through or run the chances for his life. Scarcely had he set up his loud shout for his men to follow their leader, when a cry arose from the other side, — " Hold, we are friends ! " " Friends, or foes," said Putnam, when they came up, " you deserve to be fired into for doing so little execution, when you had so fair a shot ! " The party proved to be a detach- ment of men from the fort, who had been sent to cover the retreat of the little force under Putnam.

Gen. Abercrombie determined, not long after tak- ing possession of his post at Fort Edward that year, to sig-nalize the year's campaign by some brilliant un- dertaking. He could think of nothing which would bring him larger and more sudden fame than the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, and he therefore formed the resolution to compass such a plan before the sea- son went by. It was a hazardous undertaking, as he well knew; the fortifications were of the most thor-

scout, or guerilla], Marin. No scouting party since the war began had suffered sucli a loss, for more than one tialf of those who went out never came back." — Livingston.

CAMPAIGN OF lim. 75

ough and extensive character; tlie site was almost a perfect defence of itself; and it required all the strength and courage of a well appointed and highly disciplined army to march up to storm such a for- tress, in the face of the thousand obstacles which the garrison had it in their power to throw in their way. But Abercrombie seemed to have set his heart on the undertaking. His imagination, it is easy to sup- pose, was dazzled with visions of the military glory which its capture would earn for his name.

It so chanced that the garrison within the fort at Ticonderoga was at one time this summer reduced to four thousand men ; whereas Abercrombie had at his command fully sixteen thousand, nine thousand of whom were furnished by the Colonies. They as- sembled at Fort George, and set sail on the lake on the 5th day of July, in the gray of the morning. It was a Saturday. The array thus presented on the sur- face of that beautiful lake, formed a picture to which no descriptive pen could do the justice it deserves. There were one hundred and thirty-five whale boats, and nine hundred batteaux, all laden heavily with men and arms. In the sultry twilight of the same evening they debarked at a point on the lake called Sabbath Day Point, where they remained until mid- night, refreshing themselves with rest after the long day's heat and fatigue.

76 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

Young Lord Howe was with the army, the idol and adored of all. He gathered around his table the many youthful and gallant spirits of the army, with whom he discoursed with great freedom and eloquence on the prospects of this most splendid expedition. Capt. Stark was present, who afterwards achieved a lasting renown as one of the Generals of the Revolu- tion. Much was said about the situation of Ticon- deroga, its defences, the means of approach to its fastnesses, and the probable termination of the at- tempt to reduce it by their arms. There were those present, who, on recalling many things which Howe uttered that night, thought they detected a gleam of that sadness of his to which they afterwards gave the name of presentiment.

This flotilla of more than a thousand boats on the bosom of the lake, presented a splendid military pageant. Howe, in a large boat, led the van, sur- rounded by a company of Rangers and boatmen. The English troops were displayed in the centre, and the Previncials formed the wings. It was a little after midnight when they re-embarked and began to move forward again. There was not a cloud to be seen in the sky ; the stars shone out bright and spark- ling; and the placid lake was unruffled by the breath! of the lightest breeze. Their oars were muffled, and their progress was so silent that not a single one of the

CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 77

sentinels on the surrounding hillsides observed them. It was day-dawn when they had come within four miles of the point at which they were to land. The sentinels of the French had no suspicion of the pres- ence or even of the approach of the English army, until the blaze of their scarlet uniforms flashed in their eyes, as the crowded boats rounded the point of land that intervened. They landed at about noon in a little cove on the west side of the lake, Lord Howe leading on the vanguard of the army. The Rangers pushed forward through the forest, to clear the way for the main body. Howe came to the bridge that spanned the stream formed by the emptying of Lake George into Lake Champlain, at the point known as Lower Falls; and thence he hurried on for the distance of a mile and a quarter to the French lines.

The French first erected their fortifications at Ti- conderoga in 1^55. They found that site most hap- pily adapted to the requirements of a fortress, it being peninsular in form, and elevated more than a hundred feet above the level of the lake. On three sides was water, while on the fourth was an almost impassable swamp, or morass. This latter was sit- uated to the north. There was a neck, or narrow strip of land, between this swamp and the outlet of Lake George, upon which were built regular entrench-

Y8 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

ments, and afterwards a breastwork nine feet in height; and before this breastwork was an abatis, — which is formed of trees cut down and pointed with their sharp branches outward, rendering it extremely difficult for opposing troops to make their way over them in an attempt at storming.

As wc before remarked, Montcalm had but four thousand men under his command in the fortress, and was at the time expecting a reinforcement of three thousand from Canada. Abererombie knew this very- well. The latter advanced his army in three columns, but they made but slow progress on account of the in- tricacy of the forest into which so large an army had been plunged.* An advance battalion of the French fled from the log breastwork they occupied, at their

* The fact is that Lord Abererombie was lost in the woods. The English were very slow to learn the require- ments of warfare on the frontier. It was this ignorance that cost Braddock his defeat and death on the way to Fort Duquesne. In the present instance, Abererombie was trying to advance with mechanical precision and in regu- lar columns, as if he were on a parade ground. No won- der he found it, as he explained, " a strange situation," and added that " the woods being very thick, impassable with any regularity to such a body of men, and the guides unskilful, the troops were bewildered, and the columns broke, falling in one upon another." It may be added that the detachment of French troops, with which the conflict began, was also lost; but there was an important difference. The French were on their own ground and quickly recov- ered themselves, while with the English matters grew worse and worse.

CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 79

approach, which they fired as they fled. Lord Howe * was second in command. Putnam acted as an ad- vance guard to thread the forest, and to perform the valuable service of a scout. He had a hundred brave men under him. Young Howe was eager to advance as fast as the scouts, and proposed to Major Putnam to accompany him; but to this the latter would not listen. He nobly said to him, in trying to dissuade him from his purpose, " My Lord, if I am killed, the loss of my life will be of little consequence ; but the safety of yours is of infinite importance to this army." " Your life," instantly answered Howe, " is as dear to you as mine is to me ! I am determined to go ! " And he did go. It was not long before they came up with the advance guard of the enemy, the same which had a little while before fled and burned the log breastworks. This body was without a guide, it seems, and had become bewildered in trying to find their way back to the French lines. At once

* Lord Howe was a born leader and was universally pop- ular throughout the army. He did not superciliously hold himself aloof from the volunteers, as is too often the cus- tom of regularly educated military men. He was compan- ionable with all down to the humblest, though he was a lord. He was not only personally brave, but he had the priceless quality of infusing courage and enthusiasm into the whole body of the troops. He was just such a soldier as to be an ideal and even idol to Putnam. He manifested special interest in the rangers, a fact that was fully appre- ciated by the latter. His death was a loss to the army that can never be computed.

80 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

fighting began between the parties, and Lord Howe fell at the very first fire ! The French, however, were driven back, having lost in killed and prisoners four hundred and fifty men. The English were greatly confused, their lines broken, and at the end of the en- gagement Abercrombie withdrew with them again to the landing place on Lake George, to obtain rest and refresliment.

It was said that when young Lord Howe fell, " the soul of the army seemed to expire." The soldiers all adored him. He accommodated himself to all the circumstances of his situation, and cut his hair and shaped his garments to suit the requirements of the service and the fashion of the Provincial army. Five thousand troops came over with him to Halifax from England, the year before, whom he commanded in this expedition against Ticonderoga. When he met his melancholy end, he was not yet thirty-four years old. The General Court of Massachusetts appropri- ated two hundred and fifty pounds, or about twelve hundred and fifty dollars, to secure the erection of a monument to his memory in Westminster Abbey. His remains were carried to Albany, where they were buried with suitable honors. His coffin was opened many years afterwards, and it was found that his hair had grown out in long and beautiful locks.

CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 81

Gen. Abercrombie next despatched a party to make observations concerning the defences of the enemy; and an engineer who went with them brought back word that the works might easily be carried, as they were not yet finished. Upon this the English army marched forward once more. The French opened a galling fire of artillery upon them from behind their breastworks, as they advanced, but they seemed to take no heed of it whatever. On they rushed in the face of the enemy's fire, resolved to carry the works by storm. The abatis presented the most fearful obstacle to them, but they cared nothing for that. They recklessly dashed on, clambering over and hew- ing their way through the jagged limbs of the trees, for the incredible space of four long hours. A few did succeed in finally reaching the parapet, — but they fell back in death the instant they mounted it. The English army was mown down in the most cruel and murderous manner, while it was unable to do any exe- cution in return.* Abercrombie at length saw the futility of the attempt to storm the works, and with- drew his forces hastily. The Erench did not pursue, or the loss must have been much greater even than it

* Parkman has given a vivid account of this bloody event: — "The scene was frightful, masses of infuriated men who could not go forward, and would not go back; straining for an enemy they could not reach, and firing on an enemy they could not see; caught in the entanglement

6

82 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

:was. Tliey retreated * in safety to the point on Lake George at which they first landed, whence the wounded were sent under escorts to Albany and Fort Edward.

In this most rash and inconsiderate expedition the English army lost two thousand men, and twenty-five hundred stand of arms. They rushed like brave and dauntless heroes into the very jaws of death, but it was the height of a cruel ignorance thus to sacrifice the flower of an army for no purpose at all. Had Ab- ercrombie ordered a general assault on the morning after the bloody skirmish with the advanced guard, he might have carried the then incomplete intrench- ments ; but he delayed until the next day, and by that time the French had constructed a bristling abatis along their entire lines, which prevented the approach of artillery, or even of infantry.

Putnam displayed great courage at all times dur-

of fallen trees; tripped by briers, stumbling over logs, tearing through boughs; shouting, yelling, cursing, and pelted all the while with bullets that killed them by scores, stretched them on the ground, or hung them on jagged branches in strange attitudes of death. The provincials supported the regulars with spirit, and some of them forced their way to the foot of the wooden wall." The English did not lack bravery even to the point of desperation. During the afternoon they made no less than three assaults, and every one of them was hopeless.

* The English retreat was covered by Putnam and his rangers, who did not leave the field until nearly dark.

CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 83

ing tlie several engagements ; and in the final retreat, acting as Aid, in place of the lamented Howe, to Gen- eral Abercrombie, he performed most efficient and gallant service. Gen. Abercrombie immediately re- turned to Fort Edward, having accomplished none of the objects for which this most costly and inglor- ious military enterprise had been undertaken. His inefficiency as a commander was established in the eyes of every man in the army.

It was during this summer that Putnam performed his daring feat of dashing down the mad rapids o£ the Hudson in an open boat. He was near Fort Mil- ler at the time, which was situated on the east bank of the Hudson. Learning suddenly that a party of Indians were in the woods behind him, he bethought himself of what he should do. If he tried to cross the river at that point, the savages would certainly shoot him before he could get over; if he stayed where he was, his doom was sealed without any doubt; and if he trusted himself in his light skilT to the boiling rapids, he could hardly expect less than an awful death on the rocks below. But, as usual with him, his resolution was quickly taken. He sprang into the boat, hastily ordered the oarsmen to push off into the stream, and succeeded in getting be- yond the reach of the guns of the Indians by the time they came in sight upon the shore.

84 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

But be bad escaped one danger only to plunge into the jaws of anotber. In a few moments tbey were witbin the whirl and roar of the rapids. The rocks, jagged and sharp, thrust themselves out of the water on this side and that. The over-laden boat was lifted up and thrown down again by the mad force of the breakers. Putnam, however, stood like a statue at the helm, skilfully guiding her through the roaring dangers, while the savages, struck dumb with aston- ishment at what tbey saw, only looked on in silence, exchanging not even a sign with one another. The boat went safely through the foaming waters, and es- caped all the perils that thrust themselves in her rapid way : and in a few seconds shot like a silver arrow out into the placid bay below. The Indians, from this, thought Putnam safe from all danger, and supersti- tiously believed it would be useless to fire upon him, for his life was " charmed."

In August, not long after the unfortunate march to Ticonderoga, Putnam was sent, with Major Rog- ers, to overtake a party of the enemy that had made a sudden attack on one of their baggage trains, and carried off a large quantity of valuable stores. They pushed forward with all possible haste to South Bay^ a part of Lake Champlain, and reached the spot just in time to see the fugitives embarking in their boats. Putnam concluded it was best to remain in the lo-

CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 85

cality, and watch tlie enemy's future movements. Rogers was posted at South Bay, while Putnam took his position at Wood Creek, which empties into Lake Champlain, and about a dozen miles distant. Marin was soon in the vicinity again, the foraging party having probably carried word to the army above, that the Americans were in pursuit ; and as his scouts were known to the Americans to be hanging on their out- posts, it was thought most prudent for Rogers to unite his force with Putnam's at Wood Creek, and for them all to march back to Fort Edward as soon as they could. This they proceeded to do with all proper despatch.

As they were advancing through the dense thickets, so dense that they were obliged to thread their way in Indian file, Rogers amused himself one morning before the hour for marching had come, with firing at a mark with a British officer.* It was of course the most reckless mistake that could have been made. !A[arin's party of Indians was near enough to hear the report, and the wary enemy pushed around until he came to an ambuscade through which the retreat- ing provincials would have to pass. There he in- tended to take his bloody advantage.

The American troops, numbering about five hun-

* This was one Lieutenant Irwin. They were shooting on a wager.

86 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

dred, were in three divisions; the first was led on by Major Putnam; Capt. Dalzell commanded the sec- ond; and the third w^as imder Major Rogers. No sooner had the van emerged from the dense thicket through which they had been creeping, upon the comparatively open plain, than the savages fell upon them with surprising fury. They had been skilfully posted all along the way, and from their coverts be- hind the tree-trunks made sure of a man for every fire. Rogers behaved in a manner that was at the time thought cowardly ; but Putnam pressed on with heated resolution, and ordered Dalzell to hasten for- ward with his division to his relief.

In a short time the fight became a desperate one. I^ow it was hand to hand, and now they fired at one another from behind the protection of the forest trees. First this side seemed to prevail, and then that. A gigantic savage * approached Putnam to take his life. The latter snapped his fusee, having it pressed close against the Indian's breast. It missed fire, and the savage sprang upon him with all his native ferocity, and instantly made him a prisoner. He took him and tied him securely to a tree which was close at hand, and then resumed his hot work in the battle.

The conflict went on with redoubled rage, Capt. Dalzell took the command, and pressed hard upon

* His name was Caughnawaga.

CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 87

the foe at one time, when they would recover from their disadvantage and dash against the provincials with increased fury and madness in turn. Putnam was bound to the tree all the while, and, as the battle went on, he was several times placed almost in the centre of the fire between the two parties ! His clothes were pierced with bullets, but he was himself provi- dentially unhurt. When once the provincials were driven far back, and he found himself surrounded by the enemy, two or three young savages amused them- selves by hurling their tomahawks at the tree, so as just to graze his head. Finally a cruel Frenchman presented his gun to Putnam's breast, intending to despatch him at once ; but finding it would not go off, he clubbed it and dealt him a blow upon his cheek, and left him, supposing that he had made an end of him.*

* This story was first narrated by Humphreys, who re- ceived the facts direct from Putnam, and from whose account all subsequent narratives of the event have been derived. The description of Humphreys is exceedingly vivid, and is in part as follows: — "The balls flew inces- santly from either side, many struck the tree, while some passed through the sleeves and skirts of his coat. In this state of jeopardy, unable to move his body, or to stir his limbs, or even to incline his head, he remained more than an hour, so equally balanced, and so obstinate was the fight! At one moment, while the battle swerved in favor of the enemy, a young savage chose an odd way of discover- ing his humor. He found Putnam bound, he might have

88 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

The enemy were at last driven back by the provin- cials, but in their hasty retreat they were careful to unbind their prisoner and carry him along with them. He was weary and faint, weak from the abuses that had been visited upon him, and almost broken- hearted at the thought of being led off through the wilderness into captivity. The Indians who had charge of him, tied his %vi-ists tightly with cords, so that they were badly swollen and pained him ex- ceedingly. They even strapped heavy burdens upon

despatched him at a blow. But he loved better to excite the terrors of the prisoner, by hurling a tomahawk at his head, or rather that it should seem that his object was to see how near he could throw it without touching him — the weapon struck in the tree a number of times at a hair's-breadth distance from the mark. When the Indian had finished his amusement, a French bas-ofScer (a much more inveterate savage by nature, though descended from so humane and polished a nation) perceiving Putnam, came up to him, and, leveling a fuzee within a foot of his breast, attempted to discharge it — it missed fire. Ineffect- ually did the intended victim solicit the treatment due to his situation by repeating that he was a prisoner of war. The degenerate Frenchman did not understand the lan- guage of honor or of nature; deaf to their voice, and dead to sensibility, he violently, and repeatedly, pushed the muzzle of his gun against Putnam's ribs, and finally gave him a cruel blow on the jaw with the butt-end of his piece. After this dastardly deed he left him."

Putnam was later struck on the cheek by the tomahawk of an Indian, and the scar of this wound he carried to his grave.

CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 89

his back besides. He begged them to kill him out- right, and put him out of his sujffering at once. They compelled him to walk over a rough and hard country, with nothing at all on his feet, and this of course in- creased the pain he endured indescribably. But after a time his savage captor came up, and gave him a pair of moccasins for his feet, besides removing the cruel burden from his shoulders.*

Had this chief continued with him on the journey, it would have been better for the unfortunate pris- oner. But as he was compelled to go back to look

* That Caughnawaga spared no pains to guard his pris- oner safely, may be inferred from the following account of the manner in which he prepared Putnam for his night's rest: — "He took the moccasins from his feet and tied them to one of his wrists; then directing him to lie down on his back upon the bare ground, he stretched one arm to its full length, and bound it fast to a young tree; the other arm was extended and bound in the same manner — his legs were stretched apart and fastened to two saplings. Then a number of tall but slender poles were cut down, which, with some long bushes, were laid across his body from head to foot; on each side lay as many Indians as could con- veniently find lodging, in order to prevent the possibility of his escape. In this disagreeable and painful posture he remained until morning. During the night, the longest and most dreary conceivable, our hero used to relate that he felt a ray of cheerfulness come casually across his mind, and could not even refrain from smiling when he reflected on this ludicrous group for a painter, of which lie himself was the principal figure."

90 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

after the wounded, some two hundred Indians went on with their captive, and soon came into what seemed the very heart of the wilderness. Here they stopped, and held a consultation. It was resolved at length to take their prisoner and roast him to death by a slow fire! Such fiendish torture was exactly suited to their savage instincts. Accordingly they stripped him of his clothes, bound him to a tree, and piled faggots and brushwood in a circle around him. He looked on in courageous silence, and prepared his thoughts for the end that seemed near at hand. His tormentors began to yell and dance around him. The fire was kindled, and the flames began slowly to creep up towards him. The savages screamed in wild delight. The fire grew hotter and hotter, and the suffering victim, writhing and twisting, turned him- self from side to side. The first time the fire was kindled, a sudden fall of rain quenched it; but after the second trial, it burnt with great rapidity. The more he writhed in his speechless agony, the louder the savages yelled in their wild delight, and the more frantic became their motions in their barbaric dances. He fixed his thoughts on the loved ones at home, and made ready to die whenever the last moment should come.

Suddenly a French officer came dashing up through

CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 91

the crowd, kicked away the burning faggots and branches, cut the thongs by which he was tied to the tree, and released hira. It was Marin himself. He had heard of these inhuman barbarities of the Indians towards their distinguished captive, and hastened on to save him from the fate which he knew awaited him. Had he come a few minutes later, it would probably have been all over. He passionately upbraided the Indians for their cruelty, and took the prisoner under his own charge for the rest of the journey.

Putnam suffered excessively all the way to Ticon- deroga, although he was treated with kindness and courtesy. When he reached that fortress, he was pre- sented a prisoner to the Marquis Montcalm, the French commander, by whom he was soon after sent under a proper escort to Montreal. Ool. Peter Schuyler was a prisoner there, with others at the time, and he paid Putnam great attention and civil- ity. It was through his influence that he was finally exchanged for a French prisoner, captured by Col. Bradstreet at the assault on Frontenac, now Kings- ton, in upper Canada. In Montreal, too. Major Put- nam became acquainted with the lovely prisoner, Mrs. Howe, whom he escorted back in safety to her friends in ISTew England. His final release was hailed with joy by his numerous friends throughout

92 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

the combined English and provincial army. They had never expected to see him alive again.*

* Upon Putnam's return from captivity he heard for the first time the news of the death of his son Daniel, at the age of seventeen. This death had occurred August 8, 1758, the very day the Indians were dancing around the fire by which they were roasting the father alive.

Putnam's exchange was effected by the finesse of his friend. Colonel Schuyler, who was appointed by Abercrom- bie to negotiate the details of the exchange. To Vaudreuil. the French commissioner, he said with apparent indiffer- ence: "There is an old man here [Putnam was just forty years of age] who is a Provincial Major, and wishes to be at home with his wife and children; he can do no good here or anywhere else; I believe your Excellency had better keep some of the young men, who have no wife or children to care for, and let the old fellow go home with me."

CHAPTER V.

END OF THE FKENCH "WAR.

The campaign of 1759 opened new prospects to the English arms on this continent. Then for the first time the ministry saw that they had a chance to make up for their past reverses, and it gave them hope and courage accordingly.

During this year, Major Putnam was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; a rank which no one will dispute he had richly earned with his pa- triotic and self-denying services. The ministry re- called Abercrombie, on account of his manifest in- efficiency, and placed in his stead, General Amherst, a man in every respect his superior, and well worthy of the high confidence that was reposed in him.

During this year General Wolfe fell on the Plains of Abraham, before Quebec, in the midst of victory. It was a brilliant victory gained, but it cost the army and England dearly. Wolfe was a commander who could be ill spared from any army. In one sense, he threw his life away in carrying forward this daring assault upon Quebec, since he felt that the ministry

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94 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

were already dissatisfied with one shortcoming of which he was guilty, and he now wished to prove to them that they had not placed their confidence in him to no purpose.*

Ticonderoga and Crown Point -j- likewise fell be- fore the approach of Gen. Amherst, who had but to make his appearance before those most important posts, in order to insure their ready surrender and evacuation. The commander at Ticonderoga saw

* James Wolfe (1726-1759), served in the English army in Germany during several years of the Seven Years' War. Being transferred to America he was prominent in the capture of Fort Louisbourg. His crowning feat was the capture of Quebec, one of the most romantic incidents in the history of warfare. At the talking of Quebec, both he and the French commander, the Marquis of Montcalm, were mortally wounded.

t General Amherst, taught by the disaster that befell his predecessor, Abercrombie, approached Ticonderoga with the greatest caution. Having disembarked his forces in the neighborhood, he prudently constructed intrenchments and awaited the arrival of his cannon. The French command- ant, accounting prudence the better part of valor, evacuated the fort, having first ignited a fuse that was to explode the magazine. The explosion occurred just before midnight, July 26, 1759. Only one bastion was destroyed and the main part of the fort was uninjured. Amherst's men soon entered and fought the fire that was destroying the bar- racks, and quickly repaired the damage done to the fort. Crown Point was likewise abandoned by the French within a few days. The fortifications at this place had so fallen into decay that Amherst began the construction of a new fort instead of repairing the old one. The French re- treated to Fort Isle aux Noix in the Sorel.

END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 95

very soon that lie had some one else than 'Abercrom- bie, of the year before, to deal with, and capitulated without offering to strike a blow.

Putnam accompanied Amherst in his expedition during this year both to Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; and his services were not a whit behind what they had been heretofore for promptness and general value. He had as much to do, personally, as any other individual, in strengihening the works about Crown Point; and superintended them with his cus- tomary vigilance and skill.

In 1760 the English ministry sent word over that they wished Amherst to strike one vigorous and final blow, and so reduce the Canadas altogether. Am- herst therefore projected his famous expedition against Montreal, which was now the only other im- portant post to which attention remained to be di- rected. He divided the army into three parts; one started for Quebec, under Gen. Murray, who was at the head of the force before commanded by the la- mented Wolfe ; a second moved forward from Crown Point, by way of Isle-Aux-J^oix, under the command of Col. Haviland ; and the third was put in motion by Gen. Amherst himself, who passed up the Mohawk Valley, and thence to Oswego, at which place a force of a thousand Indians, under Sir William Johnson, was added, making some eleven thousand in all.

96 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

Lieut. Col. Putnam went with the Commander-in- Chief.

The plan was, to have all their forces arrive before Montreal upon the same day, if possible. Amherst embarked on Lake Ontario, captured a fort on his way, and happened to arrive before Montreal on the very same day on which Gen. Murray reached that point from Quebec. It was a happy coincidence. What was still more fortunate. Col. Haviland came up with his Crown Point troops on the very next day ! The concerted design so far certainly worked ad- mirably.

The Marquis de Vaudreuil was in command at Montreal, and he had prepared himself to withstand, as he thought, any assault that might be made upon the city. But as soon as he saw the vastly superior army that had suddenly made its appearance against him, and from three different quarters at the same time, he determined to offer terms of capitulation. They were accepted without any delay, or any blood- shed, and Montreal became the possession of the Eng- lish. From that day, of course, the Canadas passed into other hands. It was the crowning act of all the rest. After so many trials and reverses, it had re- sulted gloriously for the English arms at the last.

It was while Lieut. Col. Putnam was passing up with Gen. Amherst to the attack on Montreal, that

END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 97

he performed the feat that is recorded of him at the fort on Isle Royal. It was necessary for Amherst to capture this fort, since it would not be safe to leave such a fortress in the hands of the enemy behind him. The fort was named Oswegatchie, and was built on the island at the entrance of the river of the same name. Two armed vessels faithfully guarded the entrance, and likewise swept the whole stream. Un- less these were put out of the way, Amherst could not hope to proceed.

While the General was pondering on the way in which he could get out of his dilemma, Putnam pro- posed to go and take the vessels himself. " How ? " asked his surprised commander. " With a beetle and wedges," answered the courageous Putnam. The General knew what a character Putnam had proved himself to be before, and gave him authority to go ahead, though he did not believe that anything would come of it. Putnam took a few men with him in a boat, and after nightfall started off in the silence and darkness. Getting under the vessels' sterns unper- ceived, he drove the wedges in on each side of their rudders, and thus prevented their obeying the will of any pilot on deck. Both the vessels were driven ashore by the wind, being helpless in the hands of their commanders, and struck at once to the summons pf the English officers, who were ready to meet them

7

98 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

as soon as their crews landed. This incident has been very strongly denied by many, yet there is enough foundation for it in fact to make it worth telling.*

In the year 1762, England found herself consider- ably shorn of her strength, and coalitions between some of the other nations of the continent were ap- parently forming against her. Spain was quite ready to co-operate with France in her endeavor to regain what she had thus far lost in America. The colonies were required to furnish still more men in order to meet this new movement. In February, 1762, the French island, Martinique, one of the West Indies, was captured by the British. The Caribbees, too, were all taken by the same power. And finally a large naval force, consisting of nearly forty vessels,

* This story is accepted as true by so careful a historian as John Fiske. The running of the various rapids of the St. Lawrence river was an exciting and costly experience. P"'orty-six boats were totally wrecked, and eighteen badly damaged, and eighty-four men were drowned. Near Mon- treal, at the seat of an Indian mission, Putnam found the Indian Caughnawaga, who had captured him two years before. Of the meeting between the erstwhile enemies, Humphreys writes: "That Indian was highly delighted to see his old acquaintance, whom he entertained in his well built stone house with great friendship and hospitality; while his guest did not discover less satisfaction in an op- portunity of shaking the brave savage by the hand and proffering him protection in this reverse of his military fortunes."

END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 99

and counting ten thousand men, were sent against Havana. They succeeded in landing upon the island of Cuba, but could not make anv headway. A pesti- lence broke out among the troops, to whom the tropi- cal climate was entirely unsuited, and in less than two months more than half of their number were swept off.

Reinforcements, however, came along in good time from the colonies, consisting of over two thousand men in all, of whom Connecticut alone furnished one thousand under command of Gen. Lyman.* He hav- ing afterwards been appointed commander of the en- tire Provincial force, Lieut. Col. Putnam accordingly took command of the Connecticut regiment. They experienced very severe weather on their way to Cuba, and the ship-load under Putnam was finally wrecked off the coast. Putnam displayed all his cus- tomary coolness during the gale, giving orders to the men, and preserving strict discipline throughout the fearful scene. The men constructed rafts, which were launched and sent ashore successfully. By tho aid of the, line thus secured to the land, the rafts were kept going and coming to and from the ship, and all the troops were at length landed in safety. Putnam

* General Lyman was a valuable officer. His death in 1775 prevented his taking an important part in the war of the Revolution.

:L.ofC.

100 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

constructed fortifications for his camp, and waited until the storm subsided, when the troops re-em- barked, and in a few days arrived at Havana.

The harbor of this famous ocean city is defended by two forts ; on the east, the Morro, and on the west, the Punto. The British commander, Albemarle, be- sieged the former with nearly fifteen thousand men.

The siege was protracted, and put the soldiers to their highest endurance. After overcoming many and fearful obstacles, they succeeded in effecting a lodgment in a certain part of the fortress, when they sprung a mine previously prepared and threw down enough of the masonry to give them a chance to enter. The work of storming was then carried forward with vigor and success. About five hundred of the sur- prised Spanish garrison were killed,* and the rem- nant were forced to beg for quarter, which of course was granted.

Having thus obtained possession of this fortress, which had hitherto been deemed impregnable, the British were able to command the city, against wliich they accordingly pointed their cannon. The gov- ernor general refused to surrender, whereupon Lord Albemarle opened a fire upon the town. This speed- ily brought his Excellency to terms. He offered to accept such terms of capitulation as the British might

* The English loss was only two oflBcers and thirty men.

END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 101

see fit to propose. The harbor and city of Havana, together with about a quarter of the whole island of Cuba thus fell into the hands of the British, whose arms were afterwards properly respected by the powers that had dared to combine against them.* From this day, peace began to assume a permanent character on this continent, for which the harassed colonies, that had all the while been heroically fight- ing the battles of the mother country, were not the least grateful, f

It was now a century and a half that this struggle

* The lion's share of the prize money went mostly to the higher officers, but the subordinates got something, and Put- nam received enough to increase substantially his apparent fortune in the little town of Pomfret. For an account of the grant of land to the veterans, which was allowed several years later, see below, p. 44.

Putnam also brought home with him, as a trophy of the war, a negro, Dick by name, whom he had rescued from a cruel beating at the hands of an angry Spanish master. The grateful negro would not leave his rescuer and was a picturesque sight about Pomfret for many years. Among the spoils of this encounter was the cane which the Span- iard had used as the instrument of chastisement. This cane was used by Putnam until his death, and he be- queathed it. to Dick who was deservedly proud of it.

t The Treaty of Paris was signed February 10, 1763. By this treaty France ceded to England (among other terri- tories) " Nova Scotia, Canada, and the country east of the Mississippi as far as Iberville, Louisiana. A line drawn through the Mississippi river, from its source to its mouth, was henceforth to form the boundary line between the possessions of the two nations, except that the town and island of New Orleans were not to be included in this

102 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

had been going on between France and England for the mastery of this continent. It had finally been de- cided in favor of the latter power; and it was now expected that France would acquiesce, and that war would come to an end. The Indians were not sup- posed to be interested in continuing the warfare, since neither nation would be likely any longer to require their services. Yet this opinion proved to be a mis- taken one. They had a yearning desire to regain the lands they had lost to the white race, and so made a final stand for that purpose. The colonial govern- ors held repeated conferences with some of the In- dian chiefs, and tried to pacify them by assuring them of their friendship ; but the red men did not like the looks of the forts with which the English were encircling their territories. Accordingly several of the tribes concerted to make a vigorous attack upon their common enemy, and did succeed in surprising and capturing a number of their forts ; some of them of great importance. At the head of this warlike movement was the well-known Indian chief, Pon- tiac*

cession. France also ceded the island of Cape Breton, with the isles and coasts of the St. Lawrence."

* Pontiac (1712?-1769) was a chief of the Ottawa tribe. He was the leader of this coalition of Indian tribes against the English, and the war that resulted is known as Pon- tiac's War,

END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 103

Under his lead, the savages intended to extend their power along the line of the great lakes, grad- ually surrounding the English and hemming them in. Amherst thereupon hastened to concentrate his forces at the several forts on the frontier, and made ready to repel them. Captain Dalzell made his way through the forest to the fort at Detroit, which was already surrounded by the Indians; after which, he sallied forth again and gave them battle, in the early gray of the morning. In his generous and brave endeavor to rescue one of his wounded officers, he was shot by the enemy, and they both fell dead together.

The next year. Col. Putnam went to the frontier with a Connecticut regiment, which consisted of four hundred men. In this expedition, also, went Brant, the famous Indian partisan. The savages still sur- rounded Detroit, preventing the garrison from mov- ing out at all, by which means they had become sadly reduced in provisions and energy. A little schooner had been sent with a load of provisions to their relief, which was attacked fiercely by the Indians, but had managed by good luck to escape. With the timely help thus offered, the commander was able to hold out until reinforcements arrived. As soon as the savages were assured that these latter were approaching, they began to disperse through the forest, afraid to risk a battle. In the course of the same season, too, a per-

104 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

manent peace was finally made with them, and thus the terrors of war ceased over the land.

Col. Putnam wrote a letter from the frontier to a friend in Norwich, Connecticut, — Major Drake, — setting forth the condition of affairs at the time in the camp. It is exceedingly interesting, and contains a lively record of the transactions in his locality. It was published in the Boston Gazette, in December, 1764.

The wars having happily come to an end, and all rumors of wars having ceased throughout the land. Col. Putnam found himself once more settled peacefully upon his Connecticut farm, rejoiced to return to those pleasanter pursuits that are especially deliglitful to men tired of the profession of arms. He had been an active soldier for ten years. He had no knowledge of military science, or strategy, when he began, but when he returned again to the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, he was in possession of an ex- perience that was worth all the strictly technical dis- cipline in the world. In fact, he had thus impercep- tibly been training for that other and wider field on which he appeared to such advantage, and whereon he achieved such deeds of high renown, — the battle-field of the American Revolution.

^Vliat he had learned by this rough and rugged ex- perience of the seven years' war, was all his own. It

END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 105

was worth everything, both to himself and his conn- try. It was around such a man that his fellow citi- zens would be likely to rally in an emergency like that which arose a little more than ten years after- wards. He could inspire them by his ardor, and en- thusiasm, and patriotic purpose, — and he could also hold them together in solid and resistless masses, by the naked power of his character, his example, and his will.

He had not been home long, when his wife sick- ened and died. It was a terrible blow for him, and the grief that grew out of it gnawed sorely at his manly heart. She was the wife of his youth. They had lived together as man and wife for a quarter of a century. It was a cruel snapping asunder, therefore, of the tenderest ties that can hold two human souls together.*

* The death of Putnam's daughter Elizabeth, in her eighteenth year, occurred January 24, 1765. Mrs. Putnam died on the 6th day of April following. These afHictions seem to have awakened the religious feelings of Putnam, for he united with the Congregational church. May 19, of the same year.

CHAPTEK VI.

OPENING OF THE EEVOLTJTION.

It is to be supposed, at this day, that every one who can read understands the causes that led the American people to take up arms against the mother country. They had sacrificed everything for the sake of preserving her honor ; they had generously fought her battles ; her name and renown were as dear to them as it could be to a son of England born: — but the same spirit that made them such devoted sons, rendered it likewise impossible for them to be craven suppliants, begging for favors.

King George the Third was possessed of an idea that the American colonies were chiefly useful to his throne for the revenues which they could be made to pay into the royal treasury. Both himself and his successive cabinets entertained that mistaken idea, and attempted to practice upon it in administering the government for their foreign colonies. And out of this very mistake grew the American Revolution. It began with a feeling of dissatisfaction at first ; then followed protests ; next, talk of outright refusal to do

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OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 107

what was commanded; then the refusal itself, which was rebellion ; and finally the great and simultaneous movement assumed the dignified form and character of a Revolution. This same American Revolution marks one of the brightest and most hallowed spots on the page of History.

In the first place, the British ministry had caused to be issued what were styled Writs of Assistance, which were ordered for the purpose of hunting up and seizing wherever found, any articles that had been smuggled into the colonies from on ship-board, with- out paying the tax imposed on them. Several of the eloquent and bold orators of the day, including such men as Otis and Adams, fiercely denounced the high- handed measure, and counselled public disobedience of the order. As a necessary result, such goods as were found to have been brought into the colonies without having paid the regular duties, were at once seized, wherever found, and sold; which would be likely rather to add to the flame of public feeling already burning, than to assist in allaying its fervent heat.

It was Grenville who first laid the plan to di- rectly tax the American colonies, who was at the time King George's prime minister. Everywhere the prop- osition was met with the most indignant denuncia- tions. But all this seemed to make no difference. In-

108 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

asmuch as the people of America had determined that it was both odious and wrong that they should be taxed for the benefit of the mother country, the min- istry determined in their blind obstinacy that they should be taxed all the sooner for having dared to ex- press their opinions. It was a matter of will, from the beginning. The English government meant to rule the people of the colonies by the mere strength of its win. But after many long years, and a weary struggle against obstacles whose force the world will never fully understood, that imperious will was hum- bled and broken. The people triumphed, as, with the right on their side, they ever must prevail.

The passage of the Stamp Act,* in the year 1'7G5, brought the matter to something like a head. As soon as the news was received in this country, the ex-

* The well known Stamp Act was passed in 1765. This was a species of internal revenue, and required that all bills, leases, and many other such documents used in the colonies, should be written on stamped paper to be sold only by oflScers of the English government. The tax was not excessive, it was certainly less than the British sub- jects residing in England paid cheerfully. But the Ameri- cans at once went to the heart of the matter and denied the right of parliament to tax them at all. The Stamp Act was simply the last straw; it broke the back of the endur- ance of the colonists, it brought them to the fighting point. All through the colonies the cry was raised, " No taxation without representation," and the cry was never silenced. That principle lay, and still lies, at the foundation of American independence.

OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 109

citement and indignation knew no bounds. The cit^ izens of Boston and Philadelphia caused the bells to be tolled, in token of their grief. The people of New York marched in procession through the streets, bear- ing a copy of the odious Act, with the representation of a death's head attached to it, before them, to which they appended the motto — " The Folly of England, and the Ruin of America." The stamped papers that were sent over, were seized and destroyed; and the agents of the government, who were appointed to ex- ecute the law, were forced to throw up their offices.

Col. Putnam entered into the general spirit of re- sistance to such tyrannical exactions, with all tlie ardor of his warm and honest nature. He was active in stirring up his fellow citizens on all sides to re- sistance. He likewise forwarded, by every means in his power, the plans that were formed among the col- onies for harmony of action in this most important matter.* .

Mr. Ingersoll had been appointed the stamp mas- ter for Connecticut; and Putnam, with others, was

* A patriotic secret society was about this time estab- lished among the workingmen, known as the Sons of Lib- erty. Of this society Putnam was a very energetic member, and he used the society as a very effective means of dis- seminating far and wide the hostility against the Stamp Act. It is said that he had control of ten thousand armed men, who had " pledged to the utmost lives and fortunes to prevent the Stamp Act being enforced."

110 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

determined not to let him enter upon tlie duties of bis office. The committee who waited upon him, re- quested him to resign ; but as he did not answer them with a Yes or a '^o, they proceeded to take steps to make him comply with their wishes. Putnam was an active adviser in the entire movement. He had re- cently been laid up by an accident himself, but he gave particular directions how to proceed. A body of men were collected in the eastern part of the col- ony, who marched to Hartford, where they were told that Mr. Ingersoll would be present on the follow- ing day. He was reported to be then on his way from l^ew Haven. Instantly the party started off to meet him by the way. They came upon him at Wethersfield, where they made him sign his own res- ignation, and certify likewise that he did so " of his own free will and accord, and without any equivoca- tion or mental reservation." They then stood him on a table, compelled him to read aloud the pa^^er he had just signed, and afterwards to shout three times • — " Liberty and Property ! " The crowd responded with due heartiness, honored him with a public din- ner, and then escorted * him in safety to Hartford,

* This Mr. Ingersoll did not fail to utter a grim joke upon this occasion. The horse which he rode was white, and the cavalcade that escorted him presented a motley appearance. Referring to this incongruous scene, he declared that he now understood the meaning in the book of Revelation (vi:

OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. HI

■where he publicly read his resignation a second time, to the delight and satisfaction of everybody who had turned out to hear it. There was not the least hard feeline: over it, but the whole transaction was relished as a capital joke, — which it certainly was; besides being, likewise, a determined piece of business.

Col. Putnam subsequently had a personal inter- view with the colonial Governor resj)ecting the im- possibility of enforcing so hateful an act of parlia- ment, which was perfectly characteristic of the in- trepid temper of the man. The Governor asked Put- nam what he should do with the stamped paper, if it should be entrusted to him by the King's authority. " Lock it up," answered Putnam, " and give us * the key." His excellency wished to know what next. " We will send you the key safely again," said Put- nam. " But if I should refuse you admission to the room where it is kept ? " asked the Governor. " Then w^e shall tear down your house for you ! " replied the determinecl hero of the seven years' war. The story of this interview of Putnam with the Governor got abroad, and no stamped paper was ever sent into the Connecticut colony. So loud were the protests, and so open was the defiance exhibited on the part of

8) which describes " Death on a pale horse and hell folloW'

ing him ! "

* XJs refers to the Sons of Liberty.

112 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

the colonists, that the ministry finally concluded to review their former determination, and the Stamp Act was accordingly annulled. As soon as the wel- come news reached this country, the change in the public feeliug was too marked not to be heeded with thoughtful care by the ministry. Thanksgivings and rejoicings were offered on every side. Gladness beamed from every countenance. The talk of the people was now of their renewed affection for Eng- land and the King, and the general heart settled down into the calm joy that attends upon peace.

Trade instantly revived, and prosperity reigned. So violent a storm was succeeded by so placid a calm, that it makes one happy even at this distant day to contemplate it. Col. Putnam resumed his usual occupations on his farm again, and in their pursuit reaped the rich rewards that attend upon in- telligent and contented labor. He met with one or two quite severe accidents,* during this season of peace, from which he never wholly recovered. It was at this time, too, that he added the calling of inn- keeper to that of a farmer, and gave public notice that he was ready to accommodate the travelling public in

* The first of these accidents was the loss of the first joint of the thumb of his right hand. Scarcely had this healed when he sustained a compound fracture of his right thigh. This never properly healed, for his right leg was ever after nearly an inch shorter than his left.

OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 113

the most faithful way he knew how ; and a very popu- lar host he proved himself, too.* People were fond of partaking of the generous cheer with which he al- ways made their coming welcome. He hung out his sign from one of the elm trees before his door, upon which was represented General Wolfe — the youthful hero of Quebec — in military uniform, with his right arm pointing at something in the distance, and a most earnest and enthusiastic expression uj)on his face. This sign is now in the possession of the Historical Society of Connecticut, at their rooms in Hartford.

* On June 3, 1767, Putnam married Mrs. Gardiner. It was her third marriage as it was his second, and each party brought to the other a goodly brood of grown, or half- grown, children. Of the new life thus begun, Ellen D. Larned thus writes: "Mrs. Putnam had a large circle of friends and much experience. Her husband was the most popular man of the day. Their hospitable home drew throngs of visitants. Every soldier passing through Wind- ham County would go out of his way to call on his beloved Colonel. Relatives, friends, travelling ministers, distin- guished strangers, and gushing patriots came in such num- bers that their entertainment became very burdensome. A Virginian Jefferson would submit to such an invasion, though it made him bankrupt; a Yankee Putnam could contrive to turn it into profit or at least save himself from ruin. Finding that his estate could not support such an excessive outlay, Putnam met the emergency with one of his sudden strokes, removed his residence to the Avery estate on Brooklyn Green [Brooklyn now adjourns Pom- fret on the south, but at that time it formed part of Pom- fret] and opened his house for general public accommoda- tion."

8

114 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

The iron staples are still to be seen, driven into the old tree that waves its green crown, every summer, before the place where stood his hospitable mansion.* Gen. Lyman, the old commander of Putnam, went to England about these times, to draw the prize money that belonged to the men who served under him in the expedition against Havana. After many years' vexatious delay, he finally succeeded in pro- curing the amount due them, and returned home. A few of the officers had it in their minds to take their money and purchase a tract of land west of the Mis- sissippi. Putnam accordingly joined the party, and started off into the wilderness to locate his purchase with the rest.f They sailed to the site upon which

* Putnam helped to build the meeting house which still stands there. He was appointed sexton, a position which at that time must have been regarded as a decided honor. His salary was three pounds for the year, and his chief duties were to ring the bell on Sabbaths' Fasts, Thanks- givings, and at Lectures as is customary at other places where they have bells; also to ring it at 12 o'clock noon, and 9 at night."

t During this trip Putnam kept a dairy, which is still in existence and is interesting for more reasons than one. A few entries are here transcribed without change in the spelling, for the edification of the reader. The month is December of 1772. The " heal gait " in the first entry stands for Hell Gate. " Sunday ye 20

pased heal gait and had all like to have ben lost by reason of a bad pilot but got through Wei — Arrived at New york about 12 aclock — in the afternone went to hear

OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 115

New Orleans now stands, pushed up the Mississippi, laid out the boundaries of their new colony, and re- turned home again to take the necessary steps to send forward emigrants. General Lyman did return to the place the next year, and founded a settlement where l!^atchez stands today. Here he passed the re- mainder of his days. Putnam sent forward men for a time in his stead, and furnished them with means to bring his own portion of the lands speedily under cultivation. But other work was in immediate re- serve for him, than that of leading forth a young colony to the banks of the father of waters. Events were thickening, and causes were ripening, and every sign gave promise that some great epoch in history was close at hand.

Doctor rogos preach

Monday ye 21

Capt. Laidley and Capt. Godrich Sat about rigeng and

Loding ye vesel

tusday ye 22

it proved varey raney so that thare was but leatel to

be don

Wednesday ye 23

good weathor all hands at worke preparing the vesel

thorsday 24

varey raney and Durtey weather but leatel Don

friday ye 25

crismos day — nothing to be Don hear — not so much as

is gineraley one Sunday in this part of ye World

Satorday ye 26

hollow Days heare."

116 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

Although it could be urged that the odious Stamp Act had been repealed, yet the British Parliament passed a declaratory act, to the effect that the mother country had the right to tax the colonies, which right slie should exercise just when she saw proper. Mr. Pitt was laid up with the gout at his country scat, and Mr. Townsend, who w^as chancellor of the Ex- chequer in his absence, brought forward a bill to levy duties on paper, glass, painters' colors, and teas. IIo also proposed a measure which aimed to appoint boards of trade in the different colonies, entirely in- dependent of the colonial legislatures ; which was as offensive as any measure of the sort well could be.

To these plans the people of America showed as much resistance as ever. They began to get ready to oppose them, if the necessity finally came, with force itself. The men of experience, therefore, like Col. Putnam, took great interest in organizing and drill- ing bands of young men, feeling that the time was not far off when soldiers would be chiefly needed. This was in the year 1767. The orators and leading men exerted all their influence to arouse the people to a true sense of their degradation and wrongs. As- sociations were formed all over the country, to fur- ther the plans of resistance. The people refused to have any intercourse whatever with the mother coun- try. The women denied themselves everything like

OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 117

foreign luxuries and exerted themselves to make up clothing with their own hands for their sons, hus- bands, and fathers. A spirit of opposition pervaded all classes of society. Even tea was interdicted, by general agreement, from the table, because the women would not drink what would help establish the power of England. The excitement grew greater every day. The crisis was approaching. One thought seemed to control the public mind, — one resolve fired the popu- lar heart.

The British government of course began now to bear down all the harder. They stationed soldiers in the halls where the colonial legislatures met, in order to break up their sittings. But these bodies imme- diately assembled in other places, with still stronger determination to resist the tyranny of the mother country. The troops goaded the colonists almost be- yond endurance. At last an outbreak did occur in King street in Boston, — noAV State street, — on the 5th of March, 1770 ; when the soldiery fired upon the citizens, and killed several ; the first person who fell was a stout mulatto fellow at the head of a party of sailors, whose name was Crispus Attucks. Two others were killed on the spot, and two more died a few days afterward. There had been trouble brew- ing for some time between the town people and the soldiers, and on the evening of the day just mentioned

118 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

the first outbreak occurred. Early the next morning, Faneuil Hall was crowded with excited citizens, who determined that every foreign soldier should be with- drawn immediately from Boston. No men were more bold in their denunciations of the soldiery than James Otis and Samuel Adams. This event occurred on Friday night; the citizens met at Faneuil Hall on Saturday morning; and on the Monday following the troops were withdrawn and sent to Castle Wil- liam, in the harbor, and the city became composed and quiet again. There were most imposing ceremon- ies at the burial of the victims of this sudden fight, and the " Boston Massacre " was a bloody story that served to stir still more deeply the hearts of the peo- ple to open resistance.

General Gage was the Eoyal Governor of Massa- chusetts Province at this time, and was well known to Putnam during the French and Indian war. There were others also in Boston, whom he had in- timately known by means of the same companionship. He was frequently there about these days, and during the prevalence of the troubles that ushered in the Rev- olution. His voice was heard on all important oc- casions, not more by his own countrymen than bv the British officers with whom he had before been a companion in arms. He openly counselled one party to resistance, and he expostulated with the

OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 119

other, but to no purpose. The British officers asked him on which side he should be found, in case it should come to open war. " I shall be found on the side of mj country always ! " — was his prompt and spirited reply. They inquired of him again, how large an army it would take to conquer the country; in other words, if five thousand soldiers could not march the length and breadth of it, and not be troubled by the inhabitants ? " If they behaved them- selves, they could," was his answer ; " but if they did not, and no men were at hand, the American women would drive them out of the country with broomsticks ! " *

As the difficulties increased, and less and less grew the probabilities that there could for a much longer time be kept up even the appearance of peace with the mother country, committees of vigilance were or-

* The account of this affair as narrated by Humphreys, who, it will be remembered, received his information di- rect from Putnam, is more striking than the one given above : —

" Being once, in particular, asked ' whether he did not seriously believe that a well appointed British army of five thousand veterans could march through the whole continent of America?' he replied briskly, 'no doubt, if they behaved civilly, and paid well for everything they wanted; ' 'but' — after a moment's pause added — 'if they should attempt it in a hostile manner (though the Ameri- can men were out of the question) the women, with their ladles and broomsticks, would knock them all on the head before they had got half way through.' "

120 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

ganized in the different colonies, whose duty it was to hold frequent correspondence with one another, acquaint the different sections of the country with what was going on, and perfect such schemes for re- sistance as might finally be of the greatest service. Col. Putnam was very efficient upon one of these com- mittees in Connecticut, and kept the people thor- oughly apprised of what was going forward. Besides this, he gave much time to organizing the men about him into companies, and to drilling them to the stern service which was so soon to be required at their hands. On one occasion, in September, 1774, he was the means of creating a false alarm, which called out the people all along the line between ISTew York and Boston, so that the roads were covered. The story was that blood had been shed in Boston by the British troops, and every heart beat warmly to avenge the public wrongs. It is said that as many as thirty or forty thousand men flew instantly to arms, believing that the British were firing upon the town of Boston. Gen. Gage saw what an excitement the rumor had created, and knew from this the temper of the colon- ists ; and therefore concluded to fortify himself in his position without further delay. The moment this alarm was given. Col. Putnam mounted his horse and started off for Boston ; but being met on the way by a captain of militia, he learned that the whole story

OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 121

was false, and turned about and rode home again, reaching his house at sunrise on Sunday morning. The rumor grew out of the British force having si- lently sailed up the Mystic river during the night, and carried off all the powder that was stored in the arsenal at Charlestown.

When the conflict with the power of England fin- ally came on, it was not even then supposed by the colonists that it would involve their total separation from the mother country ; indeed, they had not once seriously thought of such a result, except to deplore it. They merely resolved to resist, perhaps believ- ing that England would in time relent in her tyranni- cal demands, and give them enduring peace and pros- perity. Still, let the consequences be what they might, they would at least resist. And while show- ing such a spirit, the King resolved that they should be forced into submission. It is not at all likely that British statesmen generally knew or cared much about the feelings of the people of this country; nor did the King, or his ministers, know or care any more. The whole plan was to extort money enough from the ITorth American colonies to assist in defray- ing the enormous expenses of the British Govern- ment. The debates in Parliament on the state of America were very meagre, showing that scarcely any

122 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

interest was taken in the question, that was at all commensurate with its importance.

Troops were quartered wherever the British power thought their presence necessary. The difficulties be- gan in Boston. Gen. Gage having occupied the town with his soldiers, and broken up the Assembly of Mas- sachusetts, it met elsewhere, and styled itself a Prov- incial Congress. Committees of Safety were ap- pointed, and it was instantly voted to raise an army of twelve thousand men. Minute men were also en- rolled, to be ready to march at a moment's warning. Arms and ammunition were secured as rapidly as cir- cumstances would allow. While affairs were in this situation. Gen. Gage despatched an expedition of eight hundred men to Concord, twenty miles from Boston, to destroy the ammunition and stores that were known to be there collected. This was the night of the 18th of April, 1775. He was very secret in his operations, yet not so secret as to elude the vigi- lance of the colonists, who were so closely watching them. Messages were despatched to points all along the route they would be likely to take, directing that measures should be instantly taken to oppose them.

When the British, who were commanded by Col. Smith and Major Pitcairn, reached Lexington, which is about half-way betAveen Boston and Concord, it was just day-dawn on the 19th. They were of course

OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 123

very much astonished to find a handful of Americans — seventy in all — drawn up on the green to offer them resistance. Major Pitcairn rode up before them and called out in a tone of authority, thinking to in- timidate them, — " Disperse, you rebels ! Throw down your arms, and disperse ! " But they paid no heed to his order; whereupon he discharged his own pistol, and ordered his troops to fire into them. His order was instantly obeyed, and four of the Ameri- cans fell dead. The remainder rapidly scattered, of whom three more were slain in climbing over the fences. But they did not flee. They were joined by others, and very soon large bodies of militia were gathered in the vicinity, determined on making fur- ther resistance. The British force hurried on to Concord, captured a portion of the stores they found there, and retreated again as fast as they could, know- ing that the whole country round was getting thor- oughly excited against them. They had a slight skir- mish at Concord, during which two of the American and three of the British soldiers were killed, and several more were wounded. It was at the old North bridge,* and the spot is now pointed out to travellers

* Emerson has written no finer lines than the opening stanza of his hymn on the Concord Fight:

" By the rude bridge that arched the flood. Their flag to April's breeze unfurled. Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world,"

124 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

•where two of the three British soldiers were slain, and where they still lie. They succeeded in destroy- ing a considerable amount of stores, and broke open sixty barrels of flour, of which they took pains to waste as much as they could. They likewise cut down the liberty-pole in the town, and set the court-house on fire; but a woman put out the fire before much damage had been done.

Meantime the militia were collecting as fast as they could from all the towns around. So that when the British set out on their march back to Boston, they found themselves harassed in every conceivable way. From behind walls, and trees, and fences, and wherever other concealments offered, the Americans poured in a steady and well-directed fire upon them, which was terribly galling and destructive. The roadsides seemed to belch fire at their retreating and rapidly thinning ranks. Every tree concealed a mus- ket. They could not see their enemy so as to take aim at them, and were therefore placed at every pos- sible disadvantage. So rapid was the increase of the Americans, and so closely did they follow up the re- treating body of the British, that Col. Smith resolved to get back to Boston now with all possible despatch. At Lexington there was another severe skirmish, and so tired and jaded were the British, they thought they would be obliged to surrender.

OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 125

Fortunately for them, however, an express had been sent back to Gen. Gage in Boston, as soon as the British commander arrived at Lexington in the morning, acquainting him with the astonishing fact that the whole country was already in arms. So that when they reached Lexington again on their return from Concord, they were saved from surrender, or total destruction, only by the timely coming up of the nine hundred men whom Gen. Gage had sent forward in such hot haste. This detachment, which was commanded by Lord Percy, met the fatigued British about half a mile beyond Lexington. It was between two and three o'clock in the afternoon. As soon as they had formed a hollow square and re- ceived the retreating troops within its protecting lines, the latter fell down upon the ground from sheer exhaustion, panting and lolling their tongues out of their open mouths. After resting and refresh- ing themselves, both parties started on again for Bos- ton. They went out of their way to destroy, by burn- ing, two houses, two shops, and a barn, in Lexington, and then pushed on. But the provincials had been fast gathering, each man fighting for himself, and getting ready to pour in their fire again as soon as the British should resume their march. Pitcaim's horse was shot under him, and his pistols he was forced to leave behind in their holsters. They after-

126 I-IFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

wards came into Gen. Putnam's possession. Their loss was verj severe, all the way. At West Cam- bridge they had another skirmish with the Americans, in which Dr. Joseph Warren, afterwards Gen. War- ren, came near being shot ; the ball knocking the pin out of an ear-curl in his hair. The British sacked, pillaged, and murdered, all along their bloody route to Boston. They came near being cut off entirely by reinforcements of the militia before they could reach Charlestown; but they at last succeeded in securing their safety. They camped on Bunker Hill that night, and on the next day went over to Boston, con- siderably broken in spirits, and convinced that an army of British could not march through the country unmolested.

On that 19th of April, 1775, the British lost in all two hundred and seventy-three men, of whom sixty were slain ; the provincials lost one hundred and three, of whom fifty-nine were killed. It was not a gTcat fight in itself, but it was great and even grand in its consequences. On that day a Nation was born. Then the freemen of America learned, for the first time, how to stand and fight for their own liberties. An authentic statement of these occurrences was drawn up by the American Committee, and des- patched by a vessel from Salem direct to London. The latter city was soon in as wild an excitement, al-

Putnam leaving liis plow in answer to the call to arms at news of the battle of Lexington. —Page 127. Life of Israel Puttinm.

OPENING OF THE EEVOLUTION. 127

most, as Boston was at the same moment. The min- istry were openly taunted in the streets, and told that " the Great British army at Boston had been beaten by a f,och of Yankees! "

The news of the battles of this memorable day flew on the wings of the wind through the length and breadth of the country. A man came riding through the quiet town of Pomfret on horse-back, bearing a drum about his neck, and beating it and calling out to all whom he met, — " To arms ! To arms ! the first blood has been shed at Lexington ! " Putnam was ploughing in the field, at some distance back from his house, at the time, and Capt. Hubbard was also at work in the next lot. As soon as they found what was the cause for the alarm, they set out for the place .] where their services would be most likely to be wanted. Hubbard walked home, got ready his mili- tary accoutrements, and started off for Boston in his own systematic and moderate way. Putnam had his little son with him in the field. He at once unyoked his oxen and took them out of the furrow they were plowing, sent word to his wife by the boy where he had gone, took his fastest horse from his barn, and rode away at such a pace as we should have expected from a man of his well-known cliaracter.*

* Daniel Putnam, then fifteen years old, was with his father, plowing in the field when the news of the battle

y

128 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

On the 21st he was at Cambridge, where he at- tended a council of war that was suddenly called to provide for the emergency. By that time, there were at least twenty thousand American troops gathered around Boston, It was resolved to fortify all the en- trances to the town without delay, and to watch the movements of the British very closely, Putnam was sent for by the Connecticut Legislature, which was then in session at Hartford, to confer with them. Ho hastened back, therefore, for that purpose, A regi- ment of troops was at once organized, and Putnam put at their head, with the title of Brigadier General, He hurried back to Cambridge, having been absent only a week. Several \vho served with him in the French war, now joined their services with his again in tlie struggle for independence.

Gen. Ward was commander-general of all the forces, though such an old and tried soldier as Put- nam was looked up to with great respect and confi- dence by the whole body of the hastily collected mil-

of Lexington arrived. He afterwards said that his father " loitered not but left me, the driver of his team, to un- yoke it in the furrow, and not many days after to follow him to camp." Putnam started off instantly and without stopping to change his clothes. He thus must have worn his farmer's w^orking shirt. Trumbull, and others who have painted him as at Bunker Hill, are correct in repre- senting him in his shirt sleeves, but wrong in giving him a white shirt.

OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 129

itia. It is proved that these two generals for a brief time divided the responsibility between them as they best could. Ward, too, had served along with Put- nam at the unfortunate storming of Ticonderoga, under Gen. Abercrombie; and thus strangely were they brought together again. The British officers did the best they could to bribe over the leading Ameri- cans. To Putnam they offered the rank of Major General in the British army, a large sum of money, and generous provision for his boys in the future. But his honest spirit spurned all their offers. He was not poor enough to consent to take bribes against the liberties of his own countrymen.

Gage offered to let the Americans, who were still living in Boston, depart, on condition they would give up their arms ; but as soon as they had complied with his terms, he refused to keep his word. This only exasperated the militia so much the more. It was re- solved now to erect a line of fortifications all around Boston, stretching from Dorchester Heights to Chel- sea, a distance of about twelve miles. Into this work Gen. Putnam threw himself with all his usual energy. He had become well advanced in years by this time,* but his heart beat as quick as that of many men not half as old as he. The iutrenchments wore all thrown

* He was fifty-seven years of age. His continued activity, on the farm and elsewhere kept his frame supple.

130 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

up, and every care taken neither to allow a British soldier to pass through them from out of Boston, nor any supplies to be carried in. They therefore held the British in the town in a regular state of siege.

Putnam sent a party of thirty men, on the 27th of May, over from Chelsea to Hog Island, to capture what live stock was there, that it might not be of ser- vice to the British for food. The water was not deep, and the men all waded over, and began to drive off the cattle. A party of marines were stationed there, how- ever, and a fight of course ensued with them. A schooner was at once sent from the fleet in the harbor, to help repel the bold American militia. But the party managed to secure their prize, and retreated in good order and with safety. Putnam afterwards joined them with a larger force, and after nine o'clock in the evening they brought a single cannon to bear on the schooner, completely disabling her, so that she drifted on shore ; and at day-break they took whatever there was valuable on board of her, and, after plac- ing hay under her stern, set her on fire. The British were deeply chagrined to see one of their vessels thus captured and burned by a little force on the land, but they were unable to help themselves. By this single manoeuvre, the Americans carried away many hun- dred sheep and cattle.*

♦ " I wish," said Putnam to Generals Ward and Warren,

OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 131

On the 6th of June, it was agreed that an exchange of prisoners should be effected between the two arm- ies. Gen. Putnam and Dr. Warren acted on behalf of the Americans, and received the British party at Charlestown at about noon.* They marched under escort to the ferry, and upon a signal being given. Major Small and Major Moncrief, together with their prisoners, landed from the British vessel. Putnam had served with these British officers in the French and Indian war. They had not met since those for- mer days of hardship and intimacy. The moment they landed, therefore, they forgot all else, and rushed into one another's open arms. They embraced and kissed each other, while the people stood around and wondered what so strange a spectacle could mean. They afterwards passed an hour or two in social con-

" we could have something of this kind to do every day; it would teach our men how little danger there is from cannon balls, for though they have sent a great many to us, nobody has been hurt by them. I would that Gage and his troops were within our reach, for we would be like hornets about their ears; as little birds follow and tease the eagle in his flight, we would every day contrive to make them uneasy."

* Putnam was highly gratified that GFage should have consented to an exchange of prisoners. " He may call us Rebels now; if he will," said he, "but why then don't he hang his prisoners instead of exchanging them? By this act he has virtually placed us on an equality, and acknowl- edged our rigJit of resistance."

132 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

verse, at the house of a gentleman near by, and at nightfall separated to meet again in hostile array, only ten days later, on the heights of Bunker Hill! So fierce is war, and so relentless is it in its de- mands.

CHAPTER VII.

BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.

It became necessary now for the Americans to for- tify Dorchester and Charlestown Heights, inasmuch as it had been given ont that the British general had resolved to do it himself. They could gain a great advantage, if they could by their celerity get the start of the British. The enemy evidently meant to strengthen their position by occupying Charlestown Heights, from which they could easily make an ir- ruption into the surrounding country.

A council of war was therefore held at Cambridge, at which it was finally decided, though not all were in favor of the plan, to march over to Charlestown by night and hastily throw up a fortification. Putnam favored the design with all his influence and argu- ments. He urged, in the first place, that it would astonish the enemy to find themselves thus unex- pectedly outwitted ; and, in the next place, that even if it brought on an engagement, a battle would be the best possible thing for the militia that were then col- lected. They would rapidly learn discipline under

X33

134: LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

fire, and their ranks would close up with true military compactness from that day forward.*

It was objected to this proposal, that there were then but sixty-seven barrels of powder to the whole army; and that it would be hardly less than insanity to bring on a general engagement, with such a trif- ling amount of ammunition. But Putnam pleaded to have the experiment tried. He feared nothing for the result. He knew very well that the Americans were all good marksmen, and that every soldier could kill his man. Gen, Warren tried to argue him out of his opinion; but Putnam, knowing what he did of war and its results to an undisciplined force, was con- vinced that a smart brush with the enemy would lead to the happiest consequences.

Orders were therefore given by Major General Ward, — who was the commander of the Massachu- setts forces, and so by courtesy of the whole forces that were assembled around Boston, — to Col, Pres- cott, to go over to Charlestown on the night of the 16th of June, and throw up such hasty intrenchments

♦Daniel Putnam reports that he had often heard his father say that his experience had taught him that raw and undisciplined troops must be employed in some way or other, or they would soon become vicious and unmanage- able. His maxim was, " It is better to dig a ditch every morning and fill it up at evening than to have the men idle."

BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 135

as would defy the efforts of the British army to dis- lodge the soldiers within them. A thousand men were placed under his command. It was Friday even- ing. Before leaving, that night, to go upon their hazardous errand, they gathered on the common in the centre of the town of Cambridge, where prayers were offered to Heaven on their behalf by the Presi- dent of Harvard College.*

Gen. Putnam undertook the supervision of the ex- pedition, although the work to be done was placed di- rectly in the hands of Col. Prescott. Whenever, in- deed, this memorable battle is spoken of by the people of this country, it will have to be admitted that these two men, above all others, — Putnam and Prescott, — began and carried forward the work which on that day was so gloriously done. Putnam had a young son, named Daniel, who was in the camp with him as a volunteer. He told the boy to go to Mrs. Inman's, that night, which was the farm-house where his quar- ters were ; f and if it should be necessary to leave on

* Samuel Langdon.

t General Putnam's headquarters were in the Borland homestead, in Cambridge, opposite the place where Gore Hall, of Harvard University, now stands. Most of the Con- necticut troops were quartered on the Inman farm. Its owner, Ralph Inman, an ardent Tory, was at the time In Boston seeking personal safety in the protection of the British troops. Mrs. Inman naturally feared that the " rebel " Boldiers might give vent to their feelings by the

136 LIFE OF GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM.

the next day, to depart with the rest without wait- ing for him. The boy mistrusted that some great danger impended over his father, and begged to be permitted to go along with him. " You can do noth- ing where I am going, my son," said the brave father. " There will be plenty who will take care of me."

It was very soon after dark that Prescott began bis march from Cambridge over the narrow neck formed by the Charles and Mystic rivers, — a passage-way which was only about a hundred and thirty yards across. The men moved on in perfect silence, and the only lights they had to see by were a few dark lanterns, which threw the light backwards, instead of forward. Every possible precaution was taken against discovery. Bunker Hill stands nearest the neck, and is a hundred and ten feet high. Breeds Hill is near the southern extremity of Charlestown peninsula, and only sixty-two feet in height. The distance between these two hills, on their summits, is one hundred and thirty rods.

The troops first came to the foot of Bunker Hill, where they found the intrenching tools all ready for

destruction of the property, and therefore applied to Gen- eral Putnam for protection. The General to relieve her fears, not only posted guards about the house, but directed his young son Daniel to lodge with the family. It was thus Daniel, not his father, whose quarters were at the Inman farm-house.

BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 137

their use, having been already sent over in wagons. Until that moment, in fact, none but the leaders knew for what purpose the expedition had been undertaken. The order was to fortify Bunker Hill ; but it was very apparent that it would be of little use to do that, un- less Breed's Hill were fortified also, since the latter hill most immediately commanded the town of Bos- ton. The leaders consulted what it was best to do. Bunker Hill could easily be reached by the guns from the enemy's ships near the neck, and at the same time it could not effect much damage to them in re- turn. It was at length resolved to disobey the strict letter of the instructions, and to fortify the height which was nearest the city. Col. Gridley undertook the engineering part of