USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement of the colony to the adoption of the present constitution, vol. II > Part 7
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* Holmes, ii. 80. + Graham, iv. 27; Holmes, ii. 80.
# Graham, iv. 28; Holmes, ii. 81 ; Trumbull, ii. 389. § Trumbull.
75
TICONDEROGA AND .CROWN POINT.
[1758.]
consumed, and the walls were sadly shattered at several points of attack.
The next morning, the governor proposed terms of capitula- tion. The garrison, consisting of five thousand six hundred and thirty-seven men, was delivered into the hands of the English, with two hundred and twenty-one cannon, eighteen mortars, and an ample supply of stores and ammunition. St. John's was surrendered with Louisbourg, and thus were the English again masters of the coast from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to Nova Scotia .*
I have thought it necessary to describe this second siege of Louisbourg that the reader might better see all the relations of this campaign, in which Connecticut acted so conspicuous a part.
While yet the fate of Louisbourg hung in doubtful scales, the expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, under General Abercrombie, was begun with as much zeal as it had been the preceding year. On the 5th of July the general embarked his army at the southern landing of Lake George. It was a formidable array, consisting of sixteen thousand men-of whom the provinces, in addition to the troops that they had raised and sent forward for the siege of Louisbourg, had furnished more than nine thousand able-bodied soldiers. One hundred and twenty-five whale boats and nine hundred batteaux were employed to transport this army and the large train of artillery and baggage that had been provided by the munificence of the British government and the generous
* Holmes, ii. 81. In effecting this conquest, upwards of four hundred of the assailants were either killed or wounded. "The garrison lost upwards of fifteen hundred men; and the town was left almost an heap of ruins." The colors captured at Louisbourg were carried to England, and were conveyed with great pomp from Kensington to St. Paul's Cathedral, London, and a form of thanks- giving was ordered to be used in all the churches in England. In New England also the joy was great, and was celebrated by a public thanksgiving.
The inhabitants of Cape Breton were carried to France in English ships ; but the garrison, sea-officers, sailors, and marines, amounting as stated in the text to five thousand six hundred and thirty-seven, were carried as prisoners to England. Rider's Hist. xliii. 127, 135; Wright's Hist. i. 95, 103; Graham, iv. 29.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
sacrifice of the colonies .* There were several rafts, also, on which cannon were mounted to ensure a safe landing.
Early the next morning they landed in good order and without any show of resistance on the part of the enemy, and, having formed in four columns, began their march for Ticonderoga. They placed themselves under the direction of guides who were but ill-qualified to conduct them through the dense woods, and, before they had proceeded far on their way, the troops were so lost and so encumbered by bushes that they fell into disorder and mingled their columns together as helplessly as a herd of wild deer when surrounded by a circle of huntsmen. The advanced guard of the French, who had been stationed near the lake shore and had fled on the approach of the English army, had also mistaken the way, and fallen into a like confusion ; and thus by mere accident these hostile troops fell in with each other. This guard con- sisted of about five hundred French regulars and a few Indians, and soon opened a random fire upon the left of the English army.t
Lord Howe, who was marching in front of the centre when he heard the discharge of muskets, turned suddenly to Major Putnam, who was near him, and said abruptly, "Putnam, what means that firing ?"
"I know not-but with your lordship's leave I will see," answered the Connecticut ranger.
"I will accompany you," returned the nobleman.
"My lord," said Putnam earnestly, "if I am killed, the loss of my life will be of little consequence ; but the preservation of yours is of infinite importance to the army."
This appeal, so affectionate and so evincive of the idolatry with which the whole army worshipped him, touched the chords of sympathy in the nobleman's chivalrous soul, without shaking his purpose.
"Putnam," he added with emotion, "your life is as dear to you as mine is to me. I am determined to go."}
* Graham, iv. 29. + Holmes, ii. 82 ; Graham, iv. 30.
# Humphreys' Life of Putnam, 49, 50.
77
DEATH OF LORD HOWE.
[1758.]
His voice and look were not to be misinterpreted. Put- nam ordered one hundred of his men to file off with Lord Howe in the direction of the enemy. They soon met the left flank of the French advanced guard, by whose first fire his lordship fell dead.
The British regulars, confused by the darkness of the woods from whose labyrinths they could find no way of escape, and unused to contend with an enemy that they could not see, were thrown into utter consternation. Put- nam and the other provincial officers, who knew the modes of Indian warfare too well to be frightened at the terrible yells that now made the woods and the welkin ring, rallied the colonial troops who covered the flank of the regulars, and soon put the enemy to flight. Cutting his way through the ranks of the French, Putnam, with his little party, and several other small companies, attacked them in the rear with such impetuosity that they soon scattered. They left three hun- dred men dead upon the field, and one hundred and forty- eight were taken captive .*
The fall of Lord Howe was a heavy blow to the army, especially to the colonial soldiers. From his first arrival in America he had conformed to all the usages of the country, and had submitted to all the deprivations incident to the lot of the provincial troops. He cut his own hair short, and fitted his clothing with reference to usefulness and activity, rather than to display ; and divested himself of every super- fluous article of camp equipage.t Of course, his regiment, who almost adored him, imitated his example, and were proud to appear no better clad than the provincials, as long as their commander was as plainly attired as Putnam. Lord Howe's manners were suited to all these outward appearances. He was affable and courteous as well to the American as to the British officers and soldiers, not from a desire to win popu- larity, but rather from the spontaneous flow of a nature that can afford, from the prodigality of its endowments and from a happy modulation of their harmonies, to depart from the
* Humphreys' Life of Putnam, 51.
+ Humphreys.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
common track of rank and station and regulate its course by loftier influences peculiar to itself. that are at once instinctive and infallible *
Putnam, whose humanity and almost womanly tenderness were as conspicuous a part of his moral nature as his honesty and courage, lingered on the field until nightfall to see after the wants of such of the enemy as had been left there wounded and suffering. He gathered these wretches into one place, covered them with blankets, gave them liquor and such little delicacies as he had provided for his own men, and attended them with as much tearful anxiety as a mother watches over the sick bed of her children. As he was ministering to the wants of a French officer in this way, placing him in an easy position against the trunk of a tree, the wounded man, who could no longer repress some demonstration of his gratitude, unable as he was to speak, grasped his protector silently by the hand.
"Depend upon it, my brave soldier," said Putnam, "you shall be brought to the camp as soon as possible, and the same care shall be taken of you as if you were my brother."
If the poor fellow lived until the next morning, he probably shared the fate of the other wounded, all of whom Major Rog- ers, who had been sent to reconnoitre the field and take the disabled to the camp as Putnam had desired, killed in cold blood, rather than have the trouble of removing them.t This truly murderous deed is not to be mitigated from any consideration of policy, and must be regarded by us as it was by Putnam and the other provincial officers, as an indelible stain upon the character of a brave man.Į
After the death of Lord Howe, the army returned to the landing-place, where they arrived about eight o'clock in the morning.§
* Lord Howe was a brother of Sir William Howe who commanded the British army in America during the Revolution. His lordship was but thirty-four years old when killed. The General Court of Massachusetts caused a monument to be erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey, at a cost of £250.
t Humphreys, 51, 52.
# Holmes ; Trumbull.
§ It is difficult to ascertain precisely how many Connecticut troops were engaged
79
COL. BRADSTREET'S MANŒUVRE.
[1758.]
On the 7th of July, Colonel Bradstreet was sent with a detachment to take possession of a saw-mill that stood about two miles from Ticonderoga. As this place had been abandoned by the enemy, the feat was easily accomplished. General Abercrombie had been informed that the actual force at the fort was about six thousand men, and that a reinforce- ment of three thousand was soon expected. He judged it expedient, therefore, to make the attack as speedily as possi- ble. With this view he sent his engineer to inspect the forti-
with Abercrombie on and near Lake George. From the " orderly book" of Col. Whiting, of the 2d regiment, I ascertain that he, Colonels Lyman, Fitch, and Wooster, were in that vicinity with their troops, during the unfortunate campaign against Ticonderoga. And as Major Putnam who figured conspicuously there, belonged to the 3d regiment, we are led to infer that there were three or four Connecticut regiments under Abercrombie.
This "orderly book" of Colonel Whiting, which is still in possession of his descendant, Major Jason Whiting, of Litchfield, contains many interesting en- tries-the first being dated at Green Bush, June 12, 1758, and the last at Lake George, October 9, 1758. On the 21st of June, is an order from General Aber- crombie that the regiments of Colonels Pribbels, Ruggles, and Bagley, are to re- main at Fort Edward : those of Colonels Nichols, Wm. Williams, and Doughty, are to remain at Fort Miller ; those of Colonels Whiting and Fitch, are to garri- son at Saratoga ; and those of Colonels Wooster and Lyman, are to garrison at Still- water; one company of each of the nine regiments " will march with all expedi- tion to the lake."
On the 25th of June, Abercrombie declares the capitulation of Fort William Henry null and void, because the enemy had broken its terms "by murdering, pillaging, and captivating" many of his majesty's subjects ; and the officers and soldiers embraced in said capitulation are commanded to serve in the same man- ner as if it had never been made. If any of said officers or soldiers, falling into the enemy's hands, are treated with violence, he threatens to retaliate upon such prisoners as are or may be in his hands.
Early in July, preparations are making for embarking on the lake ; the boats, batteaux, provisions, medicine chests, are ordered to be in readiness ; the precise manner and order of proceeding, after embarkation, is agreed upon, and also, the order of forming and marching, and the mode of forming the line of battle.
On the 10th, (after the disastrous attempt upon Ticonderoga, Col. Whiting orders all commanders of companies to call over the roll, and make return of " the killed, wounded, and missing," distinguishing between the officers and privates. The "present strength of each regiment" is to be speedily ascertained ; orders are issued concerning the wounded ; the number of arms, blankets, and knapsacks lost, is to be ascertained, &c.
Col. Whiting was an efficient and popular officer, an excellent disciplinarian, and a good man.
80
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
fication and report to him its condition and probable strength. That officer, probably without going within cannon shot of the works, reported that the walls were weak and could easily be carried without the aid of artillery .* The general fell in with this suggestion at once. A glance at the locality will suffice to show how fool-hardy was this advice. Ticonderoga, surrounded on three sides by the waters of the lake, was still more thoroughly protected on the fourth by a deep morass that stretched far back from the shore, while the remainder of the land side, and indeed the only part of it that could be easily assailed, was guarded with an embankment eight feet high, well mounted with artillery. For a space of about twenty rods in front of this line, the marshy plain was covered with vast forest trees, that had been cut and rolled together with their tops interwoven and projecting outward and sharpened to a point, so that, had the guns of the French been silenced, it would have been impossible for the best disciplined troops in the world to have marched over the ground thus obstructed without breaking their ranks and climbing over the tree tops. The attempt to take such a place with muskets, therefore, when a fine train of artillery could have been brought to the spot in a few hours, bespeaks the incapacity of Abercrombie to control the destinies of a large army, even more than it indicated his inactivity in the preceding campaign.
Where the attack was made, even field-pieces could have availed little without first removing the outworks. Never did troops rush upon their destruction with more desperate resolution. For four long hours were the British regulars exposed to the murderous fire of the French, that mowed down their ranks in platoons, while they stood helpless and without the power of harming the enemy.t The French marksmen could range at will behind their regular works or under the screen of the fallen trees, and select their men with as much security as they could have shot squirrels from the tops of the same trees had they been standing. Every
* Graham, iv. 31 ; Holmes, ii. 82.
+ Trumbull.
81
THE REPULSE.
[1758.]
part of this ill-contrived attack seemed to vie with every other in clumsiness and folly. Had the provincials been placed in front, where every man might to a degree have exercised his discretion and fought under a leader of his own choice, in the irregular way that suited the nature of the ground and their habits of woodland warfare, they might have scaled the outworks, and, attacking the garrison in the rear, driven them from their retreat. Instead of this, the British troops, ignorant of any other discipline than the old one of standing still and shooting the enemy or being shot by them, were placed between the French and the provincials, who, having been stationed in the rear, soon became maddened with the shock of a battle in which they were not allowed to mingle, and in the hurry and fury of their excite- ment, turned their guns upon the British troops and did some execution before their officers could make them aware of the fatal mistake.
Major Putnam, who acted as aid, evinced great skill and judgment in this crisis, checking the impetuosity of the colonial troops, and bringing the regiments one after another into a condition where their marksmen might harm the enemy without injuring their friends. The Connecticut soldiers behaved with great valor, and left the marks of their forest discipline in the skulls of many of the French, whose heads were alone visible above the breastworks.
But it was impossible for the invading army to withstand this dreadful shock any longer. Already four hundred and sixty-four British regulars and eighty-seven provincials lay dead upon the field ; while eleven hundred and seventeen regulars and two hundred and eighty-nine provincials were wounded .* The loss sustained by Connecticut was very severe.
* General Abercrombie's return estimates the number of killed, wounded, and missing, at nineteen hundred and forty-one. Almost half of the Highland regi- ment, commanded by Lord John Murray, with twenty-five of its officers, were either killed or dangerously wounded. The loss of the enemy was inconsiderable. Holmes, ii. 83.
38
82
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
It was necessary to abandon the attack and withdraw the army. Still, the condition of General Abercrombie, had he known how to avail himself of the advantages that it held out to him, was far from discouraging. He had at the land- ing, only a little way from the fort, an admirable train of artillery that could have been brought to bear upon the for- tress, in spite of the roughness of the road, in a short time, had he manifested half the resolution shown by the officers and soldiers of Connecticut at the first siege of Louisbourg. His large army, numbering nearly fourteen thousand effec- tive men, could of course easily be removed to a safe locality, where the handful of French and Indians who had been so powerful behind their entrenchments, would not dare to attack them. He had plenty of provisions, and could therefore choose his time for the second attempt upon Ticonderoga with all the precautions and guards necessary to ensure suc- cess. Putnam and the other provincial officers earnestly desired him to make this attack, and had he done so, there can be no doubt that within the space of a week the defenses of the enemy would have been swept away, and the garrison . with all its munitions would have fallen an easy prey into his hands .*
Putnam saw at a glance, before the commencement of this engagement, what would be its probable termination. He saw that there were along the extended line of the enemy several weak points that might be easily approached under cover of the woods, and that the number of the British army was so great that it would be easy to distract the French by making the attack from more than one point at the same time. He saw, too, that the place where the assailing army was ordered to advance, was the best defended part of the works, and afforded the best protection to the enemy. Hav- ing seen his worst anticipations realized in the unhappy repulse that followed, and observing the high eminences com- manding the fort that might easily be scaled, as well as the fastnesses of the woods that would enable the army to sur-
* Trumbull ; Humphreys ; Graham.
83
ABERCROMBIE RETREATS.
[1758.]
round the garrison should they venture from behind their entrenchments, he heard with ill-suppressed indignation the orders to sound a hasty retreat, more inconsiderate and ill- timed if possible, than the attack itself had been. This feel- ing of indignation was shared by all the colonial troops. They considered themselves more than adequate to conquer the enemy, even should the reinforcements that were so con- fidently expected by General Abercrombie to arrive at the fort, be added to the three thousand men already there. This feeling was unanimous both among the officers and soldiers of the provincial troops .* Yet, without consulting Putnam or any other colonial officer, the general, who had not been within sight of the battle-field since the commence- ment of the action, and who had remained snugly quartered at the mill two miles from the place where the slaughter of his men had made the whole ground red with blood, or without so much as venturing forth after the battle to see whether something might not yet be done to retrieve his sinking fortunes, lost no time in drawing off his army ; and so anx- ious was he to "add wings" to the speed of this precipitate movement, that he did not even stop at the shore or pause to look behind him, until the waters of the lake were fairly in- terposed between his large army and the garrison of three thousand men at Ticonderoga !t
General Abercrombie by this shameful defeat, and the re- treat that followed it, sunk so low in public estimation that he was seldom spoken of by the provincial soldiers in any
* Trumbull, ii. 392.
t The repulse of the English at Ticonderoga took place July 8, 1758, and the retreat, July 9. On the 10th, the following entries occur in Col. Whiting's orderly book (in addition to those already quoted :) "The general thanks the officers and soldiers for their gallant behavior at the French lines, of which the commanding officers of corps are to take care that their men are informed."
" A return to be given in at tattoo this night of the number of officers and men sent to Fort Edward, and of those remaining to be sent to-morrow. As a part of the provisions in the batteaux are in bad condition, the whole is to be unloaded," &c.
The captains are to see that their men have provisions and are refreshed ; but they are cautioned not to " take advantage of the general confusion" and obtain more than a supply for a single day.
84
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
other terms than those of contempt. They no longer called him General Abercrombie, but substituted for his title the very provoking one of "Mrs. Nabbycrombie." This allusion to petticoats was not of course openly made, but it was none the less efficacious for being secret, and had the keen edge that ridicule always has when directed toward men in high places whose character and conduct are assailable. Even that noble enterprise resulting in the capture of Fort Fron- tenac, a fortress situated on the northern bank of the St. Lawrence and commanding the entrance of that river from Lake Ontario, as it had been projected by Colonel Bradstreet,* a provincial officer, and carried into effect almost exclusively by provincial troops-took away nothing from the distrust with which the British general was regarded, and the scorn that attended him wherever he went. The splendid victory of General Forbes, at Fort Du Quesne, that followed the de- feat at Ticonderoga, and the brilliant exploits of Amherst and Wolfe, that preceded it, only made his incompetency for the trust that had been reposed in him still more glaringly apparent to the world.
In the month of August, Major Rogers, t and Major Put-
* This efficient officer, a native of Massachusetts, was appointed Lieut .- Governor of St. John's, Newfoundland, in 1746 ; served with success through all the French and Indian wars in this country ; and was made a major general in 1772. He died in New York, Oct. 21, 1774.
By the capture of Fort Frontenac, sixty cannon, sixteen small mortars, and an immense quantity of provisions and goods, fell into the hands of the English, to- gether with nine armed vessels. It gave to the captors once more the communi- cation between Albany and Oswego, and the command of Lake Ontario. "This fort," says Rogers, " was square faced, had four bastions built with stone, and was nearly three quarters of a mile in circumference." Besides commanding the entrance to the lake, it was the grand magazine for supplying Niagara, Du Quesne, and all the enemy's southern and western garrisons.
+ Major Robert Rogers, whose name is so intimately connected with the history of the French and Indian wars in America, was the son of James Rogers, an Irishman, who was an early settler of Dunbarton, N. H. Having served as com- mander of "Rangers" for many years, he was appointed governor of Michilli- mackinac in 1766; but being accused of a plot for plundering the fort and join- ing the French, he was carried in irons to Montreal, and was there tried by court martial. He joined the enemy in the Revolution. He visited London two or
85
FIRING AT A MARK.
[1758.]
nam, were sent with six hundred men to watch the motions of the French near Ticonderoga. When they arrived at South Bay they separated, Rogers taking his position on Wood Creek, with one half of the men, and Putnam, remov- ing twelve miles distant from him with the other half. Soon after this they were discovered by the enemy and re-united their forces with an intention of returning to Fort Edward. They marched through the woods in three divisions, the right commanded by Rogers, the left by Putnam, and the centre by Capt. D'Ell. The first night they pitched their camp on the bank of the Clear river near the ruins of Fort Ann. The next morning, Major Rogers and a British officer whose name was Irwin fell into some debate about their rela- tive merits as marksmen, and, to settle the question of superiority, indulged in the imprudence of firing at a mark. Putnam was much opposed to this dangerous amusement, and expressed his disapprobation of it, as likely to attract the attention of the enemy who were lurking in the neigh- borhood .*
A copious dew had fallen during the night, and this delayed the army from beginning their march at as early an hour as they would otherwise have done. As soon as they were able to move forward they formed themselves in one body with Putnam in the front, D'Ell in the centre, and Rogers in the rear. Putnam had anticipated an ambuscade, and urged the adoption of this order in their march, as the dense growth of shrubs and bushes that had sprung up out of the ashes of the old trees that had been cleared away some years before, impeded their movements and afforded a cover for the French should they be anxious to improve this favorable opportunity of lying in wait for them.
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