USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > North Brookfield > History of North Brookfield, Massachusetts. Preceded by an account of old Quabaug, Indian and English occupation, 1647-1676; Brookfield records, 1686-1783 > Part 43
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On the 2d of February, Capt. Skene ordered the Provincials into the fort, and read a letter from Gen. Abercrombie, directing him to persuade the Massachusetts men under his command, to tarry a few days, until he could hear from that government, and know their intentions in regard to them. To this they replied, that he is a good soldier who serves his full time, and that the province had no further concern with them ; neither would they remain any longer. Capt. Skene threatened them with death if they departed without a regular discharge, and ordered them back to their barracks. He, however, took no forcible measures to detain them, nor did he search their huts for the snow-shoes, which they took the precaution to secrete under the snow. Their huts were sheltered by a high bank, out of sight of the fort, which screened their movements from observation.
Firm to their purpose, about three o'clock in the morning of the 3d of February, they marched off as silently as possible, seventy in number, under the command of Capt. Learned and Lieut. Walker ; leaving Lieut. Brown, and a few invalids, who did not choose to join them. After leaving their barracks, they had a level piece of intervale, bordering on the Hudson, about half a mile wide to cross, exposed to the artillery of the fort, had they been discovered by the sentinels, which was the reason of their departure by night. They did not fear any opposition from the
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men in the garrison in the open field, as they outnumbered them. As to provisions for the march, they had provided as well as they could, by saving a portion of their daily rations for a week or two previous, and had hoarded up in this way, two or three days' allowance. The distance to Hoosack fort, as it was called, a small stockaded garrison belonging to Massachusetts, was thirty miles, and was allotted for two days' march. The snow in the woods was deeper than they expected, and made the travelling laborious for the leading men of the file, while those who fol- lowed after had a pretty firm path. The second day of the march was in a snow storm ; nevertheless, they bore manfully on, directing their course for Hoosack river, which was to be their guide to the fort ; but during the snow storm they became bewildered, and falling on a westerly branch, instead of the main stream, it led them far out of their course, and at night they encamped without reaching their desired haven. Two turkeys were killed during the day, which aided their scanty stock of food. On the third day's march, they decamped very early, confident of reaching the fort before noon, but mid-day passed by, and the night arrived without the sight of it. One turkey was killed, and the camp formed with heavy hearts ; which was done by kindling fires against a fallen tree, and lying down on the snow with their blankets, in the open air. Their provision was now nearly spent, and they were led, reluc- tantly, to believe, that they were actually lost in the woods. Several of the men, from the extreme severity of the weather, had frozen their feet ; and one had lost a snow shoe by breaking through the ice.
On the fourth day the march was continued up the stream until noon, when they concluded to alter their course. This branch of the Hoosack, it seems, led up into the New Hampshire grants, afterward Vermont, where the town of Bennington was subsequently built. The direction of the march, by the advice of Capt. Learned, was now about south- east, over a hilly broken region, and the sun went down as they reached the top of a high mountain, which appeared to be the water shed, or dividing ridge between the streams which fell into the Hudson and Connecticut rivers. The weather was excessively cold, and the snow five feet deep. On the morning of the fifth day, after a very uncom- fortable night, thirty of the men, Mr. Putnam being one of them, break- fasted on a small turkey, without salt or bread. After travelling about five miles they fell on a small branch, running south-east, down which they followed until several tributaries had enlarged it, by night, to a considerable river. All this day they had no food but the buds of the beech trees, and a few bush cranberries. At night they encamped, weary and faint, but not disheartened. The sixth day's march was con- tinued along the course of the river discovered the day before, which none of them knew the name of, in a broken, hilly region, not very
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favorable to the point of compass they wished to follow. The weather was cold and stormy, while the men were so feeble and lame from frozen feet, that only a few were able to lead the trail, and break the path in the snow. By marching on the frozen river, the lame men found a smooth path, or it is probable some of them would have perished. At night they encamped by tens in a mess. As it happened they had with them one dog, and only one. He was large and fat. At night it was concluded to kill him for supper. This was done, and his body divided into seven portions, or one part to every ten men, the entrails falling to the butcher as his fee ; and as he belonged to Mr. Putnam's mess, they made their supper on the fat. On the morning of the seventh day, his men breakfasted on one of the feet, and a hind leg cut off at the gam- brel joint, which being pounded and roasted in the embers, so as to separate the bones of the foot, made quite a palatable viand to a hungry stomach. That day the party confined their march to the river, and about noon came to a spot where some trees had been recently cut for some shingles. This was the first sign of inhabitants they had seen, and it revived their drooping spirits. At sunset one of the men noticed a small stream putting in on the left bank, which he recognized as Pelham brook, and that Hawks' fort, on Deerfield river, was not more than three miles distant. This latter river is a branch of the Connecticut.
Their leader now ordered two men to go forward to the fort, and make provision for the arrival of the party in the morning, which was a wise measure, and directed the most active men to make fires for the more feeble and lame ones, as they came up, which happily they all did by dark. That night Putnam's mess supped on the thigh bone of the dog, made into soup, with a small bit of pork and a little ginger, which made a very palatable dish. With respect to the flesh of a dog, he observes, "since the experience of that day, I have believed it to be very good meat, and could eat it at any time without disgust." This goes to confirm the experience of Lewis and Clark's men in their journey over the Rocky mountains, who lived on it for weeks, and preferred it to any other meat.
On the eighth day's march, which was the 10th of February, early in the forenoon, they met some men from the fort, coming to their relief with slices of bread and meat, to appease their appetites and enable them to reach the post, where they were received with great kindness. Many of the men were badly frozen, and nearly exhausted with hunger. As a proof of the vigor of his frame, Mr. Putnam carried the pack of a sick man in addition to his own, and was always one of the leaders in break- ing the path ; although he felt the cravings of hunger, yet never failed in vigor or activity. One cause of this he attributes to the use of a little honey, which one of his mess had in a bottle, about a pound weight.
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Into this honey bottle, each man dipped the end of a rod and put to his mouth, and not like Jonathan into a honey comb.
On the 15th of February, he arrived at his former home, very thankful for his preservation amidst so many dangers. Capt. Learned was much censured for his conduct, and was not again commissioned during the war.
After passing the remainder of the winter at home, and forgetting the sufferings of the last campaign, he again enlisted in the provincial service, for another tour of duty, in Capt. Joseph Whitcomb's company, and Col. Ruggles' regiment. The war, thus far, had been a continued scene of disasters, and disgrace to the crown ; one army after another had been defeated or captured, and the French were in a fair way of overrunning the British possessions in America ; and although the number of inhabit- ants in the Canadas was not more than one quarter as great as that of the colonies, yet their military commanders were much more able and energetic than the British, and carried conquest and victory wherever they turned their arms.
The regiment to which he was attached, rendezvoused at Northamp- ton, in Massachusetts, and marched for Albany on the 3d of June. On the 6th, they passed Pontoosac fort, a small post on the Hoosack river, then within the boundaries of Massachusetts. This was the station that Capt. Learned expected to reach on the second day after his unmilitary and disastrous desertion of his post at Stillwater, on the 2d of February. On the 8th, the regiment arrived at Greenbush, opposite to Albany. " From Northampton street to this place was through a wilderness, with but one house in the whole distance, except the little fort above men- tioned." This was in the year 1758 ; since that time vast changes have taken place in this region, and the railroad, in a few hours, would trans- port the whole regiment over the distance which occupied five days of steady marching.
On the 12th of June, he was detached with about eighty other artisans from the regiment, under Lieut. Pool, and ordered on to the head of Lake George to erect works, in advance of the army. On the 5th of July, the troops being assembled, embarked in batteaux, amounting to seven- teen thousand men, under the command of Gen. Abercrombie, Lord Howe, the second in command, Gen. Gage, the third, and Col. Brad- street, quarter-master-general. The commander-in-chief was an old man, and entirely unfit for the post, as was proved by the result of the campaign. The army had but little respect for his abilities ; while on the contrary, Lord Howe was their idol, and in him they placed their utmost confidence. He was remarkably easy and affable in his manners, mixing familiarly with the mechanics and common soldiers, inquiring into their condition and wants, displaying a real interest in their welfare, very
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different from those generally in high authority. This won the regard of the troops, and they would undergo any sacrifice at his bidding. Gen. Gage never acquired much reputation as a commander, and the furious Bradstreet was hated by all the army. The batteaux moved down the lake until evening, when the troops landed at Sabbathday Point for refreshment, and then rowed all night. On the 6th they disembarked at the northern extremity of Lake George, in two divisions, one on each side of the outlet. On the approach of the division on the right bank, a detachment of the enemy stationed there, retired without firing a gun. That division of the army on the left bank, was under the command of Lord Howe, and on its advance was met by a skirmishing party of the French, who, very unfortunately for the British, killed Lord Howe in the early part of the engagement. His death struck a damp on the spirits of the whole army, and no doubt had an influence in causing the defeat which followed. Mr. Putnam was left in charge of the boats, but soon volunteered his service in the attack on the works, and joined his regi- ment, which was posted with Col. Lyman's of Connecticut, on the west of the mills, and was busily employed in erecting a breastwork. The attack on the fort of Ticonderoga, began at twelve o'clock, and was con- tinued without intermission for several hours, without making any im- pression. At length the ammunition of the regular troops was exhausted, and a call was made on the Provincials to forward them a supply. Mr. Putnam again volunteered in this service. When they approached the scene of action, they found that the attacked troops had been effectually repulsed in their attempt to storm the enemy's lines, but did not con- sider it a total defeat, as it finally proved to be. Col. Ruggles' regiment remained in their breastwork until midnight unmolested, and then retreated to the shore of the lake, where they had landed on the 6th. On the morning of the 9th, Ruggles found his regiment in the rear of the army, which had retreated in the night, leaving them with the Ran- gers of the other regiment of Provincials near the French lines. In the forenoon of that day, all the troops embarked and returned to the south end of the lake, closing Gen. Abercrombie's expedition, which com- menced with such high hopes, under a cloud of disgrace, and a loss of fifteen hundred men, in killed and wounded. Ticonderoga fort was protected on three of its sides by water, and on the other for some dis- tance in front extended a morass ; the remainder was fortified with a breast-work, eight feet high, and planted with artillery. In addition to which the ground for one hundred yards in front, was covered with abatis. After reconnoitering the works, the engineer sent on this important duty, was so stupid as to report to the commander that they might be carried by musketry. The difficulty of advancing artillery over the morass and broken ground in front, led to the adopting of this fatal advice, and the
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defeat of the army. The post was defended by about four thousand men, and although their actual assailants amounted to twelve or fifteen thousand, and the attack lasted for more than four hours, yet they could make no impression on the garrison. The loss must have been greater than actually estimated, as twenty-five hundred stands of arms were picked up by the French. Mr. Putnam remarks that "when he subse- quently became acquainted with the strength of the works and the mode of attack, he considered it the most injudicious and wanton sacrifice of men, that ever came within his knowledge or reading."
Nothing further of an offensive nature was attempted in that quarter, by Abercrombie, this season. A fort was commenced on the ground occupied by the fortified camp of the Provincials, in 1757, during the siege and capture of Fort William Henry, which was called Fort George, and stood half a mile east of that unfortunate garrison. On the 22d of July, the regiment to which he belonged was ordered to Fort Edward, and the men employed in repairing the roads from that post to Albany, until the 29th of October, when they were discharged.
On the 9th of November, he arrived at Sutton, his native place, where he passed the winter. On this campaign, in after life, he has these remarks: "Thus I was carried through a second campaign, enjoying uninterrupted health, the friendship of my officers, and never charged with a fault. But, alas ! in my journal, I cannot find any acknowledgment to my divine Benefactor and Preserver, nor do I recol- lect that I had any serious reflections on the subject." This is in accordance with the natural heart, but when it becomes touched with the influences of the Holy Spirit, it is ready and willing to acknowledge its obligations to its rightful Lord and Benefactor.
On the 2d of April, 1759, he decided on again entering the military service, and enlisted into Capt. John Sibley's company, as a substitute for Moses Leland, who had been drafted into the army, but did not wish to serve. For this enlistment he received fourteen pounds, thirteen shil- lings, Massachusetts currency, or forty-five dollars, fifty cents. The original receipt yet remains in the Leland family. He was finally trans- ferred to Capt. William Page's company, of Hardwick, in the battalion of Lieut. Col. Ingersol, in Col. Ruggles' regiment ; and was now advanced to the post of orderly sergeant ; marching with the army by the old route, to the south end of Lake George.
On the 21st of July, they embarked in batteaux under the command of Gen. Amherst, " a sagacious, humane and experienced commander." Mr. Putnam notices his kindness and attention to the welfare of the common soldiers, as highly commendable. On the 22d, they landed at the outlet of the lake, in nearly the same numbers, as of last year, with- out meeting with any opposition. The following day they took posses-
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sion of the breastworks, where they were so signally repulsed the year before, with little opposition, and thinks the loss of so many lives in the previous attack, attributable to the rashness of Col. Bradstreet. On the 24th, they began to open their trenches for a regular siege and bombard- ment of Fort Ticonderoga. This was a regular, strongly built, stone fort, erected by the French in 1756, and capable of resisting any com- mon attack. The French had kept up a regular discharge of artillery, since the 23d, while their enemies were erecting their works for the batteries. That night, before any serious attack had been made, the garrison silently evacuated the fort, and embarked on the lake for Crown Point, a strong post, ten or twelve miles lower down on the west side of Lake Champlain. About three o'clock in the morning of the 27th the fort blew up, with a tremendous explosion. The French did not make any resistance at Crown Point, but proceeded on down the lake to Montreal. The cause of their sudden desertion of these strong posts, was the news of Gen. Wolfe's approach to Quebec, so that no aid could be sent them from below ; and rather than be captured they abandoned their positions.
Thus terminated the third campaign, in which Mr. Putnam had been engaged, with the total demolition of the French power on the lakes George and Champlain, leading to their final expulsion from North America. This was a glorious conquest for the British arms, in which the Provincials shared largely ; but the greater good to them was the check it gave to the incursions of the savages, who for more than a cen- tury had invaded their frontier, assisted and encouraged with supplies of arms and ammunition from the French, plundering, murdering, and carry- ing into captivity their exposed inhabitants, from Maine to Pennsylvania.
As the army was about to leave Ticonderoga in pursuit, greatly to his disappointment and vexation, he was ordered by the brigadier-general to remain and superintend the building of a saw-mill at the lower falls on the outlet of Lake George, where it debouches into a bay of Lake Champlain. After the mills were completed, he obtained a pass to go to Crown Point, where his regiment then lay. When he arrived there, instead of going into the lines, he was ordered by Maj. Skene, the super- intendent of the works then building for the enlargement of the garri- son, to labor as a carpenter on the block-houses, promising him the full wages for such work. After a few days, he was ordered back to oversee the operations of the saw-mills, and retained until the Ist of December, some months after the discharge of his regiment. The engineer of the army, whose name is not given, when he was finally discharged, would not allow him the dollar a day as had been promised by Col. Robinson, the quartermaster-general, but turned him off with fifteen pence, the pay of a private soldier ; putting, no doubt, the extra pay justly due him into his own pocket.
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On the Ist, in company with Col. Miller, Capt. Tate, and others, eleven in number, he embarked on Lake George, to go up to the south- erly end, in two batteaux. Expecting to reach Fort George the next day, they took but little provision ; but, the wind failing them, they passed the night four miles north of Sabbath-day Point, a noted head- land. On the ed, the wind arose to a perfect storm, with intense cold, so that they were confined to the shore, and could not move at all. On the 3d, their provisions were expended. The wind and cold continued, and their situation was becoming alarming; but, in rambling along the shore, one of the men found an old provision-bag, with about a dozen pounds of salted pork, which, with some damaged flour, brought by Col. Miller to feed two horses he had on board, made into dumplings, served well for that day. The fourth day was calm, and they again embarked ; but, one of the boats being leaky, the ice formed so thick and heavy in it, that it was abandoned, and the whole party entered the single boat. This additional burthen loaded her down within two or three inches of the top of her sides, and the least agitation of the water would have filled her. But. providentially, it remained calm all day, and they reached the fort at sunset without any accident. From thence he re- turned to Brookfield. in Massachusetts, on the 16th of December.
Putnam took an active part in the campaign of 1760, first as recruit- ing officer in Col. Ruggles' regiment, and later as ensign in Col. Wil- lard's regiment. June 2, he set out for the army, and joined his company at Ticonderoga, then under command of Capt. Thomas Beman. The company was stationed through the summer at the landing at the outlet of Lake George. Nov. 9 his company was discharged, and the next day began their march through the wilderness by way of Otter creek to Number Four (Charlestown, N.H.) on the Connecticut river, which they reached Nov. 25 ; and he arrived home Dec. I.
Mar. 3, 1761. Mr. Putnam bought " the mill privilege, mill, and tools " on Horse-pond brook in North Brookfield, of Joseph Bartlett, where he resided and carried on the mill, and for a time the farm connected with it (except when away on military service or civil engineering) till 1781, in May of which year he bought the confiscated estate of Daniel Murray of Rutland, whither he removed, and where he made his home till his removal to Ohio in Dec. 1787.
Mr. Putnam had a natural taste for mathematics, especially geometry ; and, under the direction of Col. Timothy Dwight of Northampton, be- came an accomplished land-surveyor. He was a practical, matter-of- fact man in whatever he undertook. First a millwright, then a soldier, next a land-surveyor, and finally an engineer ; the principles and practice of all these branches he acquired from a limited number of books and with little instruction, mainly by close study and logical reasoning. As
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a soldier, he submitted to discipline, and laid up the best military max- ims, and observed the working of different plans, and thus acquired the confidence and skill which stood him so well when placed in responsible offices of command.
In April 1761, Mr. Putnam was married to Elizabeth Ayres, daughter of William Ayres, a prominent citizen of North Brookfield. She died in November following, leaving an infant, which survived but a few months. In January 1765, he married Persis Rice, daughter of Zebulon Rice of Westboro, by whom he had a numerous family of children. [See Genea- logical Register, PUTNAM.
In the winter of 1772, Mr. Putnam was induced to go with a party of " Military Adventurers " to Florida, with a view of selecting and locating certain grants of lands, promised by the King and Council of England to the colonial officers and soldiers who had served in the late war against France. The chief agent in promoting the scheme was Gen. Phinehas Lyman of Connecticut. The party was absent about eight months. They first landed at Pensacola ; then sailed to the mouth of the Mississippi, which they entered Mar. 22, 1773. They explored the delta and its several outlets ; passed up the river to New Orleans ; thence up past Baton Rouge ; past Natchez, and as far as Vicksburg. Putnam made surveys and observations of the country of which he kept a Journal, that has great scientific and historical value.
The Revolutionary storm, which had been gathering for several years, burst upon the colonies, the second year after his return from this expe- dition. Ever active to the service of his native country, he joined the army in the capacity of a lieutenant-colonel, in the regiment of Col. David Brewer. His regiment was stationed at Roxbury, in Gen. Thomas' divis- ion of the army, soon after the affair at Lexington.
In a short time after the battle of Bunker hill, the general and field officers of the Roxbury division, met in council on the best course to pursue, in their present defenceless situation, exposed at any time to the attack of the enemy without any better protection than a board fence. It was decided that lines should be thrown up for the defence of the town. When this was determined, the difficulty arose where to find a man capable of directing the works in a military manner. Engineers were rare amongst a people who had never carried on a war but under the direction of mother Britain, who filled such posts with her own sons. At length it was mentioned to the general by some of Col. Putnam's friends, that in the late war against Canada, he had seen some service in this line ; but on being solicited by the commander to undertake the work, he frankly told him that he had never read a word on that branch of science, and all his knowledge was acquired by working under British engineers. The general would take no denial, and Col. Putnam reluc-
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