USA > Connecticut > The history of Connecticut, from the first settlement of the colony to the adoption of the present constitution, vol. II > Part 8
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While they were forming in marching order, Molang, a French partizan of great celebrity, who had been sent out with five hundred men to intercept the party under Rogers
three times, and there published " A Concise History of North America," and a " Journal of the French War," 1765.
* Humphreys.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
and Putnam, and who had been attracted by the report of the guns in the woods, was lying in ambuscade for them in a well selected covert not more than a mile and a half from their camp. Marching cautiously in front of his men, Put- nam was just emerging from the bushes and passing under the shadows of the primitive forest-trees whose great trunks stood up tall and gray in the dim light of the wilderness whence not even the meridian sun could quite banish the gloom, when the crack of musketry upon the right of his division, mingled with the yells and whoops of Indians, told him that he was not mistaken in his anticipations of mischief. He instantly sounded a halt and returned the fire of the enemy, and then ordered the other divisions to advance and support him. Captain D'Ell came at his call. The firing, at first straggling and irregular between man and man, soon grew to be of a more extended and general character. It was one of those savage conflicts that mark that era of wild strife, in which Putnam was as well fitted to mingle as in the open and hard fought fields of the revolution.
He proved himself worthy of the occasion. Finding that he could not cross the Creek, he resolved to stand his ground and die, or drive the French from their position. There was a galvanizing power in the look, voice, and action of Putnam, that always acted upon everybody who came within the sphere of his influence. His officers and soldiers felt it alike, and fought around him in squads or single combat as the nature of the ground would permit, with a determination that could be equalled only by the ferocity of their adversaries. Sometimes they took deliberate aim from behind the trees ; at others, sallying out into little open spaces they aimed at each other's skulls with the tomahawk, the club, and the scarcely less ponderous stock or barrel of the musket. Within a few feet of each other, might be seen a solitary Indian strip- ping the scalp-lock from his enemy as a trophy, and a des- perate brace of combatants rolling among the dry leaves in the agonies of the death-struggle .*
* Humphreys. The subjoined pithy extract from Colonel Whiting's orderly
87
ROGERS DESERTS PUTNAM.
[1758.]
The Connecticut soldiers who were present at the battle, fought with the most determined valor, as appears by memo- rials now on file in the department of state, memoranda made by the officers present, entries upon the fly leaves of old books still uneffaced, and by the testimony of those who participated in the fight, many of whom were living from thirty to forty years ago .*
The officers as well as the privates were obliged to mingle in this promiscuous conflict and fight with their hands to guard their own throats. Putnam soon found himself in a position that would have appalled a man of less courage. He looked in vain for Rogers, who had been the author of the mischief, to come to his relief. Rogers had no intention of interfering in behalf of his friends, and contented himself with falling between Putnam's men and Wood Creek to pro- tect their rear, as he afterwards said, in answer to some im- putations that were cast upon his extraordinary conduct.
Finding himself thus deserted, Putnam made up his mind to sell his life at as dear a rate as he could. Several times, with the same deliberate aim that silenced the howling of the
book is well worthy of preservation: "The general thanks the officers and men who went out with majors Rogers and Putnam, captains Deal [D'Ell,] and Deleel, for their good behavior in the action, and hopes that they are fully satisfied that the Indians are a despicable enemy to those that will do their duty."
* The late Colonel Bezaleel Beebe, of Litchfield, (who died in 1824,) was a member of Major Rogers' corps of "Rangers" in this campaign. During one of the "forest-fights," when the rangers were dispersed by order of their commander, and each man was fighting, in true Indian fashion, from behind a tree, Beebe chanced to be stationed near Lieutenant Gaylord, also from Litch- field county. He had just spoken to Gaylord, and at the moment was looking him in the face for a reply, when he observed a sudden break of the skin in his forehead, and the lieutenant instantly fell dead-a ball from the enemy having passed through his head.
Peter Wooster, of Derby, in a memorial to the legislature, states that he, "be- ing an ensign in Colonel Whiting's regiment at Wood Creek, on the 8th of Au- gust, [1758,] had six musket balls shot through him ; his left elbow, wrist, and hand broken to pieces by the blows of a hatchet, and had nine blows on the head with a hatchet, till he was killed, as the enemy supposed-on which they scalped and stripped him, and left him on the ground ; that being taken up by his friends, he has recovered a considerable degree of health, but that his arms are so dis- abled as to prevent his working." [The Assembly granted him £40.]
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
wolf in the cave, he discharged his carbine with fatal effect. While the French and Indians were thus indiscriminately falling before him, a tall athletic warrior approached him in a menacing attitude. Putnam thrust the muzzle of his piece sternly against the breast of the savage, and snapped it. It missed fire. Springing upon him with the yell of a demon, the Indian, with his tomahawk uplifted, forced him to yield. He secured his prisoner fast to a tree, and then hastened back to spread the tidings and mingle again in scenes so congenial to his nature, and so well suited to his mode of life .*
Captains D'Ell and Harman now commanded. They soon fell back a little to gain a better footing. The French and Indians, elated with their success and thinking that the rangers were retreating, now charged upon them with redoubled cries, that filled the woods with unearthly echoes ; but D'Ell and Harman soon rallied their yet remaining handful of desperate men, and turning upon them, drove them beyond the spot where the battle had commenced. Here the enemy again made a stand. This shifting of the ground brought Putnam directly between the fire of both parties. The balls flew like hailstones from either hand, as if the tree to which the prisoner was bound had been the common target for his friends and his foes. Some passed through the sleeves, and others through the skirts of his coat, whistling in his ears and rat- tling among the limbs over his head and on either side of him.
In this horrible condition, while the battle still hung in trembling scales, for nearly an hour did he remain in the momentary expectation of death,-yet without the power to move his body or his limbs. Still the monotony of his situa- tion was relieved by episodes of a very exciting character. At a moment when fortune appeared to favor the French, a young Indian warrior discovered Putnam in this helpless attitude. With a refinement of cruelty often practiced in those wars, instead of killing the wretched man at a blow, he
* Holmes, ii. 85.
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89
SUFFERINGS OF PUTNAM.
[1758.]
prepared to test the strength of his nerves by hurling a toma- kawk as near his head as possible without hitting it. Again and again did the weapon pass almost within a hair's breadth of the prisoner's head and lodge quivering in the bark of the tree to which he was bound.
Soon after this amusement was over, a French officer came up to Putnam, and pointing a fuzee within a foot of his heart, snapped it, but it missed fire. Putnam explained to him that he was a captive, and claimed the rights due to him as such by the rules of war. He might as well have asserted them in the ear of the savage who had just left him. Several times the Frenchman pushed the muzzle of his piece with violence against the ribs of the prisoner, and, after giving him a brutal blow upon the jaw with the heavy end of it, left him.
At last the victory that would, with the aid of Rogers, have been so easy, was won without him by the bravery of the other rangers, and the enemy retreated from the field with their prisoner. He was stripped of his clothing, loaded with packs, and with his wrists tied as closely together with a cord as they could be strained, was forced to march many miles over rough and tedious paths, before he was allowed to stop even to get breath. His hands were now so swollen with the tightness of the ligature as to be scarcely recogniz- able as parts of the human frame, and the blood dropped fast from his naked feet where the briers and brambles had pierced them. Agonized with pain, he entreated an Irish in- terpreter to beg of his tormentors that they should knock him on the head at once or cut the thongs from his hands.
After a brief interval of rest he was ordered to renew his march. The Indians inflicted upon him every outrage that they could devise. He carried to the day of his death the marks of a blow that one of them wantonly gave him upon his left cheek with a tomahawk .*
One day while plodding on at a tired and weary rate, he was led into a dark forest. Here the Indians made a halt. It was soon quite obvious to Putnam what was their design.
* Holmes, ii. 85.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
They stripped him even of the few articles of Indian clothing that had been substituted for his own, lashed him fast to a tree, and piled up dry branches in a circle around him, keep- ing up all the while a discordant and horrible funeral dirge, such as might be only fitted for the obsequies of a demon, did evil spirits need the last rites that are accorded to mortals. They then set fire to the fuel. A sudden fall of rain extin- guished it. With looks of murder glaring in their eyes they stooped down to rekindle it. At last it triumphed over its adverse element, and, coiling itself like a serpent, ran hissing around the circle. Finally, it streamed up in a broad blaze, and sent into the vitals of the victim its forked tongues of flame. Bound fast as he was, he could only writhe his body from side to side as the heat grew more intense. This sign of suffering was greeted by the Indians with yells of delight. As it now appeared certain that this was his last hour, he resolved to die like a man and a christian. He summoned all his resolution, and such was his power of will that in full view of the awful solemnities of another world, and in the recollection of domestic endearments never to be renewed, he was able to forget the presence of the fire that was con- suming his body, and of those who kindled it. Even the bitterness of death was over, and nature had now little else to do than yield to a change that was merely mechanical. As if by a voice that was meant to pierce the depths of the grave, the hero was suddenly called back to the realities of this world. Its tones were those of salvation. It was the voice of that gallant Frenchman and partizan, Molang. He brushed aside the inquisitors, leapt over the circle of flame, unbound the captive, and restored him to his old master .*
This was one of the many hardships that beset Putnam during his captivity. He was taken to Ticonderoga and put under the care of a French guard. Here he had an inter-
* I have in another work, for purposes of fiction, described a scene borrowed from this awful reality. This story of Putnam needs no confirmation. Those who would know more of the details of his sufferings on this march, can find them in Gen. Humphreys' life of him, p. 63. Holmes, ii. 85.
1
91
SCHUYLER AND PUTNAM.
[1758.]
view with the Marquis de Montcalm, who placed him in the custody of an officer and ordered him to be conducted to Canada. When he arrived at Montreal, Colonel Peter Schuy- ler, then a prisoner there, called upon the interpreter to learn if he had a provincial major in his keeping. In what condi- tion he found him, without a coat, waistcoat, or stockings, his face gashed and bruised, his body and limbs torn with thorns and blistered with heat, I will forbear to tell. The memorial alluded to in the following note, copied from the colonial records, has reference to this captivity .*
I have dwelt more fully than usual upon the details of this campaign that the reader may see how much our ances- tors suffered before the American revolution was thought of, in battles that have almost faded from the recollection of most men, who, in the cares of the office or of the counting- house, have forgotten to be grateful for the liberties that their fathers won for them and consummated by the shedding of blood.
Although the expedition against Ticonderoga had failed, yet when the campaign of 1758 was brought to a close, it was found that much had been done towards breaking down the French power in the west. Not only had Louisbourg been taken, but Fort Du Quesne had finally fallen into the hands of the English, and, under the new name of Fort Pitt, a flag with a new devise waved from its embankments, giving the waters of the Ohio a new master and preparing the way for the capture of Quebec.
* " Memorial of Israel Putnam, of Pomfret, showing that some time in the month of August last, he being then in the service of this colony, had the mis- fortune to be taken prisoner and carried to Canada, where he continued for the space of three months and suffered much hardship, and was obliged to expend about sixty guineas for his necessary support ; praying that this assembly would order said sum to be refunded to him as per petition on file.
"The assembly ordered that seventy pounds lawful money be paid said Putnam."
The capture of Fort Frontenac, affording occasion for an exchange of prisoners, Major Putnam was set at liberty.
CHAPTER IV.
CAMPAIGNS OF 1759 AND 1760.
THE sea-coast and the southern frontier were now won, and the way was open to the vitals of Canada. The British minister resolved at one shock to stop the flow of her blood in all its avenues. As soon as the St. Lawrence should be free of ice in the spring, General Wolfe was ordered to advance with an army of about eight thousand men, accom- panied by a squadron of ships, and lay siege to Quebec, while General Amherst, with twelve thousand regulars and provin- cials, was to renew the project that had so often been foiled through the cowardice or imbecility of the British command- ers, of driving the enemy from Ticonderoga and Crown Point. After accomplishing this long desired object, he was expected to pass down the Sorel river to the St. Lawrence, and form a union with Wolfe at Quebec. Another branch of this great enterprise was committed to the hands of Brigadier General Prideaux, who, with the New York pro- vincials under Sir William Johnson, and the warriors of the five nations, was to reduce Niagara. He was then instruc- ted to embark on Lake Ontario, drop down the St. Lawrence, and take possession of Montreal. It was hoped that these several strongholds of the French would all be subdued so early in the season that there would yet be time for all the troops to unite themselves under General Amherst, and bring into subjection the little that would then remain of Canada .*
To carry out this magnificent plan of operations, requisi- tions were again made upon the colonies to furnish respec- tively the same number of troops that they had done the year before. On the 9th of December, 1758, Mr. Pitt had written a letter to Governor Fitch calling for twenty thou-
* Holmes, ii. 88.
93
FRESH TROOPS RAISED.
[1759.]
sand men from the colonies and as many more as they would furnish. Governor Fitch, in obedience to this requisition, on the 8th of March, 1759, convened the General Assembly of Connecticut, at Hartford. This letter, like all other com- munications from that great man, was frank in its avowal of the designs of the approaching campaign. It alluded to the successes of the last campaign, and expressed a fixed resolve to repair the loss that had been sustained by General Aber- crombie at Ticonderoga. It breathed a lofty spirit of confi- dence in the justice and ultimate triumph of the British cause.
The Assembly was disposed to respond liberally to this call ; yet, oppressed with debt as the people were, wasted in resources and thinned in numbers by the campaigns of the last four years, it was thought impracticable for the colony to raise and equip five thousand troops .* After a long debate, the following resolution was adopted :
" Resolved, That last year, animated by great zeal in his majesty's cause, this colony agreed to raise a larger body of men than it was able fully to complete, upon a diligent trial and exertion ; that many of our men have died or became unfit for the service; that many of our inhabitants have lately enlisted as recruits to the king's regiments here ; and others are engaged in the batteaux and carrying service ; by all of which means our numbers are diminished and our strength and treasures exhausted; yet that the great and salutary designs of his majesty may be promoted to the utmost of our ability, it is
" Resolved, That there be raised in this colony three thou- sand six hundred effective men, as soon as may be, for the service."+
*. Massachusetts also at first was unwilling to raise the same quota that she had furnished in 1758. She finally yielded to the exigencies of the campaign, and did all that was required of her.
t The officers appointed were the following, viz :- Phineas Lyman, Esq., major general and colonel of the first regiment ; Nathan Payson, lieut .- colonel ; John Slapp, major. Second regiment-Nathan Whiting, colonel; Joseph Spencer, lieut .- colonel ; David Baldwin, major. Third regiment-David Wooster, colonel ;
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
It was also resolved that Bills of Credit should be issued to the amount of forty thousand pounds, at five per cent in- terest, payable on or before the 1st of March, 1764, to fill up the exhausted treasury ; while as a sinking fund for these bills, a tax was levied on the grand list of the colony of ten-pence on the pound, to be brought in, in October 1762, and collec- ted by the last day of December, 1763 .*
The number of troops furnished by the Assembly, although it was more than the fair proportion that should have been expected from Connecticut, did not satisfy the zeal of Gov- ernor Fitch, and of many of the principal men in the colony, who, in consideration of putting an end to the war by a last decisive blow, were of the opinion that more soldiers should be sent into the field. Out of respect to these gentlemen, the Assembly finally added four hundred men to those already voted-making the aggregate four thousand.t
When the Assembly met at Hartford in the following May, the wishes of General Amherst were made known, that Con- necticut should furnish as large a force as she had done in the previous campaign. Governor Fitch seconded this request of the commander-in-chief with many earnest rea- sons, set forth with such warmth and clearness, that the representatives of the people, after reciting the details of the part that the colony had taken in this protracted struggle, generously resolved, that although " this Assembly is of opin- ion that the three thousand six hundred men voted and order- ed last March to be levied and raised for said service, with the encouragement then given for four hundred men more to enlist, is as many as the number of the inhabitants will
James Smedley, lieut .- colonel ; David Waterbury, major. Fourth regiment -- Eleazer Fitch, colonel ; Israel Putnam, lieut .- colonel ; John Durkee, major.
Commissaries-Thomas Chandler, Anthony Carpenter, David Seymour, and John Williams.
Trumbull.
t Colony Records, MS. Allusion is made in the records to "seven chests of money" which " came per Mr. Taggert, from Mr. Agent Partridge, for the account of the colony." Jared Ingersoll, esq., had, previous to this date, gone to England as the agent of the colony-Mr. Partridge being deceased.
95
AMHERST PASSES LAKE GEORGE.
[1759.]
allow; yet considering the very great importance of exert- ing ourselves in the present critical and decisive moment, for the security of our country, and from a deep sense of our duty to our king, and from the gratitude we owe to the king- dom of Great Britain for the great expense and succors sup- plied for the immediate defense and future safety of our rights and possessions in America, and humbly relying on the gracious assurances which the king was pleased to allow his secretary of state to give, that recommendations should be made to parliament to grant a reasonable compensation, as his colonies should appear to merit ; and that the zeal and ardor of the people may be enlivened and quickened to go forth in the defense and for the future safety of our country ; and that all proper encouragements may be given and motives used to promote the raising of as many more men as can any way be induced to enlist themselves and engage in said ser- vice : It is resolved and enacted, that one thousand able bodied men, in addition to the four thousand afore-mentioned, be allowed to enlist into the service."*
The energy of the colony was also evinced in the speedy preparations that were made for carrying these resolves into execution. The colonies all vied with each other in this respect and joined General Amherst with great despatch. By the end of May, they had reached the head quarters at Albany.f The army of Amherst was first to open the cam- paign. In July, he passed Lake George without opposition. The Marquis de Montcalm, who was aware of the difference between the tactics and character of Amherst and those of Abercrombie, and who by this time was acquainted with the colossal plan of the British government for the campaign, had instructed the leader of the garrison not to run too great a risk of losing men whom he could ill afford to spare, but to retire, if necessary, and retreat towards Quebec, the centre
* Trumbull, ii. 399, 400. A bounty of seven pounds was offered to each man who would enlist ; and those who had been in the service the preceding year, and would enlist for this campaign, were to be allowed pay from December last. .t Holmes, ii. 88.
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
and heart of the French power, where, should it be neces- sary, a union might be effected and a last stand taken against the invaders. The commander, therefore, when he saw the English army advancing in good order, readily abandoned those lines that had proved so fatal to the troops of General Abercrombie, and withdrew into the interior of the fortifica- tion. It was on the 22d of July, when the English army arrived at the place, and although some resistance was made and the guns of the garrison were brought to bear upon the besiegers, yet little injury was done them beyond the loss of the gallant Colonel Townsend, who was killed by a cannon ball. On the 27th of July, they blew up their magazine and fled during the night to Crown Point. But their new retreat offered very few attractions to them, and on the 1st of August they again retired from the steady approach of the English general, and took refuge in a fort at Isle Aux Noix, on the northern extremity of Lake Champlain.
General Amherst sent forward his light rangers to take possession of Crown Point, and on the 4th of August he arrived there himself with the main body of the army.
Thus these two fortresses, that had cost the British and provincial governments an expenditure of so much blood and so much treasure, fell into the hands of this cautious yet brave military chieftain, almost without striking a blow .*
Still, the French, though driven from their old haunts, were formidable on Lake Champlain, and were capable of working much harm to the British arms in that quarter. The garri- son, at Isle Aux Noix, under the command of Monsieur de Bourlemaque, numbered three thousand five hundred veteran men, was in a good position, well entrenched for defense, and was provided with an excellent train of artillery. Floating upon this long slender lake, where they could not be easily eluded, there were also four large French ships of war, well
* Mante, vi. 5, says, "In the acquisition of Ticonderoga, fifteen soldiers were killed, and about fifty wounded ; and Colonel Roger Townsend was killed by a cannon ball. His spirit and military knowledge entitled him to the esteem of every soldier ; and the loss of him, was universally lamented."
97
AMHERST IS BLAMED.
[1759.]
mounted with cannon and manned with the piquets of several regiments. These ships were also admirably officered, and were commanded by Monsieur La Bras, an old French naval officer of courage and experience .*
General Amherst did not deem it safe to advance toward Quebec until he had entirely driven the enemy from Lake Champlain. He therefore ordered Captain Loring, who had already built several vessels upon Lake George, to construct as speedily as he could, a sloop of sixteen guns, and a radeau eighty-four feet in length, that could carry six twenty-four pounders .; As it would be necessary to leave garrisons at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and as the works at the former were partially demolished, and at the latter were almost in ruins, he employed the army meanwhile in placing both these fortresses in a condition to defy all invasions from their old masters. Thus, instead of being dens for the shelter of those terrible scalping and marauding parties that had so long kept the English frontier in a state of alarm, they would prove sleepless guardians to watch over the settle- ments that were stretched along the whole northern border.
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