USA > Massachusetts > Our western border : its life, combats, adventures, forays, massacres, captivities, scouts, red chiefs, pioneer women, one hundred years ago, containing the cream of all the rare old border chronicles > Part 6
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It was now darkest night. The two prisoners were bound each to a tree and the one woman, with drawn tomahawk, left to guard them. The patched-up vessel is then taken off the stocks and launched, the ship's boat being considered too small to carry six. She leaks badly, it is true, but she'll doubtless last to reach the ship. While two row, two more are kept busy bailing, and to this there was no let up. "Off ,
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they go, and rowing softly on with silent stroke, came alongside the ship. A light there's in the binnacle, but ne'er a watch on deck; they're all hands down ; the sloop rode fair ; her buoy was clear ahead, the weather moderate and some turn in to sleep, for yet 'twas not half flood. The rest, at ease, enjoy themselves below."
" Our hero first gets up the side, and as he softly stepped up on the deck, the trusty pistol, which in his belt was stuck, catches the ratlins of the shrouds which pulls it out, and it comes clatter on the deck. This gave the alarm, but woe to him who first came up ! So soon as he had shown his face at the companion door and bounding up, so soon the Major let fly a shot in this surprise, and down the fellow tumbled. The shot had hit him right along the back and grazed the bone, but he's not killed, but quarter was the word and now the rest are all upon the deck. The prisoners he orders one by one down to the hold, the master only left and then he locks the hatches, and then he questions freely. 'That schooner there above is my consort, and we are bound to Gaspee to bring provisions for three hundred Indians now assembled at Miramichi and Aristigush, under the command of Monsieur Bohaber, and who, on our return, are to proceed to Quebec to reinforce that gar- rison.'"'
The Major is suddenly fired with the wish to prevent these Indians from joining his country's foes. By further querying he finds the schooner has ten men, but no gun or carriage or a swivel; of this last sort the sloop had six, all on one side. The windlass is now manned, the anchor is apeek, and now she's under way, and steered by Stobo straight for the schooner. "Stand firm, my lads," said Stobo, in low, collected tones, " this is a glorious night, and as for you, Monsieur, if you should once but mutter, your life that moment shall surely pay the cost."
Stobo now laid the sloop right alongside the schooner, and by his stern orders, a dose from all the swivels is poured into her at once. She was then boarded without one instant's delay, her crew instantly calling out for quarter.
This was a most extraordinary deed of Stobo's! How must that lit- tle band have been dazed at this daring and unexpected assault! Stobo now stood, with cocked musket, at the companion door; boldly ordered down the prisoners, one by one, from the sloop; removed everything valuable from the latter and smaller vessel; transferred the swivels, and then deliberately set fire to the sloop, which lights up the whole heavens with her funeral pyre.
All this time the poor woman stood trembling on the shore, keeping guard over the first two prisoners. When the thunder of the broadside
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MAJOR STOBO CAPTURES TWO SHIPS.
was heard, the noise went to her heart like death's last summons. She was sure the guns were fired at Stobo and the rest, since she knew they had no guns. She was just about to surrender herself to her own two prisoners, and to entreat them to save her and her children, when she sees the vessel a-fire. She fears and wonders, but keeps her own thoughts. Now Stobo selects two of his best men and two prisoners, and sends them ashore for the company there, and brought all safely on board. The hatches now being closed on no less than eighteen pris- oners, which are too many to be safe, they are ordered up by ones, and eight are sent adrift in the small boat, with provisions plenty, a musket and shot, and fishing tackle, when off sails the schooner under British command and worked by French sailors.
The small boat's party made straight to shore, and thence to the near- est military post, and told all that had happened. The officer, having heard of Stobo's escape from Quebec and the munificent prize offered for his capture, at once raised every man that could be spared; armed a suitable vessel and made chase after the schooner. Too late! by this time Stobo was too far ahead, and kept steadily on his course for several days, until the Island of St. John's appeared. By scudding along on one side of the isle, they chanced to miss a British fleet which was pass- ing towards the river by the other channel. The armed sloop in pursuit of them, however, had no such good luck, for she was captured by the British.
At length our adventurous party sighted Cape Breton, away across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and soon gained the British fortified port of Louisburg, having been full thirty-eight days making the voyage from Quebec. The news of this wonderful and gallant escape flew from mouth to mouth, and the whole place was in a ferment of excite- ment. Stobo was for a time the "observed of all observers." The schooner, with its valuable furs and other goods, was sold, and Stobo gave all his own share of the proceeds to the poor woman and her chil- dren, who had so long been his patient compagnons du voyage. The Major himself had nobler and more patriotic ends in view.
Two days only passed when behold Stobo on board an armed vessel about to join the expedition against Quebec. No danger in the river now is dreaded, and he is just as anxious to reach Quebec as he was formerly anxious to escape from it. Having arrived safely, Stobo at once waited on the British General Wolfe, told him who he was, and his intimate knowledge of the place where he had been so long confined, and asks for service. The General at once engaged him on reconnoi- tres, making him one of his own household. Once, when Wolfe was on a vessel closely examining the batteries about Montmorenci, an ene-
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my's ball hit the vessel, causing a splinter to grievously wound Stobo in the thigh. He was daily engaged to lead scouting parties in every di- rection, and soon became known throughout the whole fleet and army for his activity.
Once, when Stobo was on the Admiral's ship, he was informed there was a French prisoner aboard who knew him, and found him to be the barber who used to dress his hair. Stobo ended the interview by taking him into his own service. The Major's thorough local information was of much use to Wolfe. When the great and successful assault was made, it was Stobo who pointed out the best place for a landing, and was then chosen to proceed to Boston by vessel as a courier, with important dis- patches and kind recommendations, to General Amherst. When the Atlantic was reached, the vessel was chased by a French privateer. Stobo, soon as he found the capture of the British vessel was inevitable, committed his dispatches to the deep, and determined to shoot his French valet to preserve his own life, but on the fellow solemnly swearing that he would never betray him, he removed his pistol from his temple and spared his life.
The privateer had taken several British vessels, and had aboard more prisoners than they could well secure. When this new vessel, therefore, was captured, the crew, among whom the Major passed undetected, was packed into a sloop, but his valet was put in irons as a French deserter. The sloop was then sent adrift with one day's provisions, to find the port of Halifax, which they were four days reaching. Stobo had scarce set foot on land before he hastened to reach Amherst by land-a dreary and wonderful journey through almost a total wilderness.
Of Stobo's difficulties and adventures during this tedious journey, we have no information, but we do know that he safely reached Amherst and delivered his dispatches, as, also, that he attended that General as a volunteer in his Lake Champlain Expedition. That being concluded, he proceeded to Williamsburg, Virginia, arriving there in November, 1759, and was joyfully received by his old friends and associates in arms as one risen from the dead.
The Virginia Assembly, soon as they could convene, resolved that a thousand pounds should be presented him, over and above, from the time of his rendering himself a hostage, as a reward for his zeal to his coun- try and a recompense for the great hardships he had suffered during his confinement in an enemy's country. The House of Burgesses also made an address to the Governor, desiring that he would take him under his especial favor and would promote him in the service, and passed also a motion of thanks for his "singular bravery and courage exerted on all occasions, and that Messrs. Nicholson, Bland and Washington should
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MAJOR STOBO CAPTURES TWO SHIPS.
wait on the Major to return him their thanks for his invaluable services;" to all which Stobo returned a most grateful answer.
This was not all. The Major was now tendered a twelve months' leave, as Major of his regiment with full pay, if he should choose to go to England, which 'generous offer was duly accepted, and early in 176c he took passage for Europe, with many letters of recommendation from Generals Amherst, Monkton and others. His troubles, however, it seems, were not yet quite over, for when the vessel was about entering the English Channel, she was chased and boarded by a French privateer. Stobo had taken the precaution to put himself in disguise, and to sink his letters many fathoms deep over the vessel's sides. The vessel was rummaged, the passengers were rifled of their watches and valuable prop- erty and the vessel released by paying the privateer twenty-five hundred pounds. The Major's share of this redemption money was a hundred and twenty-five pounds. Had the French only known who he was (for by this time the fame of his exploits had traveled far and near) no sum could have secured his release.
The English port of Falmouth was now reached, and as Stobo was drawing on his coat to go on shore, he found, to his great surprise, un- der the arm-pit, a letter from General Monkton to the great Pitt, which had by some means escaped the fate of the others. He learned, how- ever, that the story of his marvelous adventures had preceded him. On arriving at London he drew up a modest narrative of what he had done and suffered and asked to have a command in his country's service. He was well received by Pitt, who held a long conference with him concerning America and gave him a strong letter to General Amherst, stationed at Boston, in which he signified the King's approbation of Stobo's success, and asked that Amherst as "a particular favor" would give him command in his own or Anstruther's regiment. Armed with this, the Major did not long delay, but in two days sailed back for America.
The memoirs of Stobo, published by Craig, end at this point in his history. We can find no further allusion to him. Washington is said to have made mention of Stobo's being alive and probably residing in London as late as 1771. It is most probable he was there in the Eng- lish service or had retired on half pay. If alive when the American Revolution broke out, he may not have had it in his heart to aid in oppressing a struggling people for whom he had once endured uncom- mon hardships, and who in turn had paid him graceful honors.
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OUR WESTERN BORDER.
BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT DUQUESNE.
The news of the capitulation of Fort Necessity created a great ex- citement throughout all the eastern colonies. It came upon them like " thunder from a clear sky." It was truly considered that if the pre- vious collision between Washington and Jumonville had rendered war between France and England possible, this later conflict at Fort Necessity had made it inevitable. In the mother countries the serious- ness of the crisis was at once recognized, and both governments, while diplomatically exchanging courteous notes or making mutual explana- tions, were quietly but busily preparing for war. England, however, at that period was badly governed. She moved slowly, and nothing whatever was done to resent the French aggression in the West during the whole of the year '54. While the French were making good their possessions west of the Allegheny river, building their forts, holding treaties, and plying all their arts with the Indians, the Colonies were doing little but wrangling among themselves or unitedly calling on the mother country for help.
The year 1755, however, marked an ominous change. While both sides professed the most peaceful desires and intentions, preparations for a very vigorous conflict for the vast and rich domain stretching for thousands of miles west of the Allegheny mountains, were constantly going forward. Gen. Braddock, with two regiments, arrived in Feb- ruary as Commander-in-Chief of all His Majesty's forces in America, and the coming campaign contemplated the attack of four key-points of the French : Fort Duquesne, Niagara, Crown Point, and the French posts in Nova Scotia. To Braddock himself was committed the im- portant role of reducing Fort Duquesne. It was his belief that the British flag would be floating over it by the Ist of June, and it was his intention then to proceed north and reduce other French posts; but it is " man who proposes but God who disposes."
The French at Fort Duquesne had early news of Braddock's advance against them. They had few regular troops on which to rely, and were obliged to supplement them, as far as possible, by a gathering of the savages. To win these over and induce them to fight the English, was now the aim of Contrecœur, the commandant at Fort Duquesne. To this end shrewd and artful emissaries were dispatched among the Mingoes, Delawares and Shawnees, who, by crafty pow-wows, delusive
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BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT DUQUESNE.
promises and frequent distributions of gifts, succeeded in detaching them from their old allies, the English. Fortunately for their aims, a treaty that had been made with the Six Nations (who claimed the whole boundless West by right of conquest) a short time previous, at Albany, New York, had produced universal rage and disgust among the Ohio tribes. For a few beads, bells, blankets and trinkets, they found the whole territory they claimed and occupied as their own, now given away from under their feet.
The Delawares, too, had never forgotten or forgiven the disgraceful swindle practiced on them in '37, and generally known in history by the Walking Purchase, and which we may describe hereafter. In brief, the Indians had been persuaded to give a very valuable tract of land on the Delaware as " far as a man could walk in a day and a half." In- stead of construing this contract as it was evidently meant, the best and most active walkers of the country were hunted up and put in training; at the same time a smooth road was laid out, so that no obstruction might be offered. By this means an incredible distance was gotten over, and the outraged Delawares were justly indignant and refused to move and give up their villages and grain fields until compelled by the Iroquois, their masters. As one of the swindled remarked of the walkers : " White man no walk, no drink, no stop to rest or shoot squirrel, but run, run, run whole time." All this the French leaders, mingling familiarly among them, promised to win back for them, and with faces freshly painted and heads duly shaved and plumed for the war-path, the dusky warriors flocked in to Fort Duquesne.
In fact the poor Indians were very much troubled and confused at this juncture. They were opposed to the encroachments of both French and English. One of their chiefs had, at one of these palavers, shrewdly put the pertinent query, "Since the English claim all the lands on the other side of the Allegheny, and the French all the lands on this side, where, pray, do the Indians' lands lie? Tell me that!" Another chief, with equal appropriateness, had said, "You and the English are like the two blades of a pair of shears, and we like the cloth which is to be cut up between them." They had no union in their councils and seemed like a mob of bewildered children. In addition to the local savages drawn to the fort for its defence against Braddock's formidable army, there were scattered beneath the sombre forest around, Ojibwas and Ottawas, under the lead of the Sieur de Langlade and Nis-so-wa- quet ; and Hurons and Cauhnanagas, under the lead of Athanase, the Christianized Chief from Lorette, Canada. Among the prominent chiefs arrayed with them were Pontiac, Shingiss, Beaver and Catahe- cassa, all keen and cruel as wolves upon the scent of blood.
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OUR WESTERN BORDER.
And now let us stop to consider awhile who Major General Braddock was. and how well he was fitted for the important task before him.
THE CHARACTER OF GEN. BRADDOCK AND HIS ARMY.
Generalissimo of all His Majesty's troops in North America, and favorite of the great Duke of Cumberland, Major General Braddock was now full sixty years of age, over forty of which were passed in active military service with the famous " Cold Stream Guards." It is difficult within the compass of a few brief paragraphs to sketch his life and character. It is generally allowed, even by his bitterest enemies, that he was personally brave, honest, loyal, and well versed in military matters, but a rigid martinet, and too apt to rely on exact drill and dis- cipline exclusively for success. "Desperate in his fortunes, brutal in his behavior, obstinate in his sentiments," writes Walpole, " he was still intrepid and capable." Mr. Shirley, his own military secretary, in a confidential letter written while far on this march to Governor Morris, of Pennsylvania, says, "We have a General most judiciously chosen for being disqualified for the service he is in, in almost every respect. He may be brave for aught I know, and he is honest in pecuniary matters."
In private life, it must be confessed, Braddock was, or rather had been, dissolute and reckless, keeping the low and disreputable company of London actors ; given to the debaucheries of his day and class-the bottle and the gaming table. Franklin, that keen observer of human nature, pronounced him a brave man and a good officer, but arrogant, having too much self-confidence, too high an opinion of regular troops, and too mean a one of both Indians and Americans. The old philoso- pher, when hearing Braddock's account of what was to be done after Duquesne was taken, told him that the only fear he had, was from In- dian ambuscades and from the stretch of his attenuated line of march, nearly four miles long, which would be exposed to flank attacks and liable to be cut like a thread into several pieces. Braddock smiled at Franklin's ignorance, and replied, "These savages may, indeed, be a formidable enemy to your raw American militia, but upon the king's regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible they should make any impression." The Indian opinion of him was given by Chief Scarrooyaddy to Governor Morris and the Pennsylvania Assembly three months after the defeat, which he attributed to pride and ignorance. " He is now dead," said the Half King, " but he was a bad man when alive : he looked upon us as dogs, and would never hear what we said to him; and that's the reason why a great many of our warriors left him, and would not be under his command."
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CHARACTER OF GEN. BRADDOCK AND HIS ARMY.
There are numerous incidents told of Braddock before his arrival on our shores. It is pretty certain, for instance, that he had once made a most unfeeling speech and a cruel pun when he heard of the sad death of his beautiful but unfortunate sister Fanny, who committed suicide under most distressing circumstances; that he was mean and base enough to live on the infamous wages of a notorious Mrs. Upton, in whose eyes he had found favor. He was known to be so needy that in one of his duels-this time with a Col. Gumley-his opponent, on coming on the ground, tossed him his purse, saying, "Braddock, you're. a poor dog ; there, take my purse ; if you kill me, you'll have to run away, and then you'll not have a shilling to support you ;" and finally, that he spent the last evening in London, prior to his departure for America, in the company of that frail actress, Miss Bellamy, then living as the reputed wife of a Mr. Calcraft, whom Braddock afterward made his executor. It is little wonder that the witty and sarcastic Walpole called him a " very Iroquois in disposition."
But these were matters of the past. All authorities, foreign and provincial, unite in stating that since his arrival on our shores, the General had conducted himself with honesty, dignity and diligence, using his utmost energies to push matters forward-and this under the most vexatious and disheartening difficulties and being exceedingly anxious to further the king's service. Had he been successful, as everybody expected he would have been, it is probable we would have heard little of him but praises. "Nothing is so successful as success."
The worst that could be said of Braddock since his sojourn in America, was that he was impatient, intolerant, and complaining- scolding at everybody and finding fault with everything. But then it must also be admitted he had much reason therefor. The delays, swindles, and outrageous impositions which he and his army had to submit to, in the way of horses, wagons, provisions, and general army supplies, were almost incredible. The General's intercourse, too, with both Washington and Franklin was always pleasant and honorable to all parties ; and when the latter had raised a large number of wagons and teams for Braddock, in Pennsylvania, by means of a timely hand- bill circulated among the Dutch farmers, in which the threat was craftily held out that unless the aid was granted, the ferocious Hussar, Sir John St. Clair, would enter the province with a body of horses and forcibly take what he wanted, Braddock expressed his thanks to him in person, and wrote to his government that it was "almost the first instance of integrity, address and ability that he had met with in all these provinces."
During his march, Braddock had gotten rid of many of his foolish
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OUR WESTERN BORDER.
and pompous European notions. He soon discovered that America was a strange, unknown territory for him and his veterans, and that a western wilderness, with its crowded trees, dense thickets, and bridge- less streams, was a very bad place for high style or display. Thus he started by buying a tawdry and lumbering traveling chariot from Gen- eral Sharpe, of Maryland; and on the 10th of May, the army was startled by Braddock's rapid transit, on his way to Fort Cumberland, sitting grandly in his chariot, with a body of light-horse galloping on either side. Poor, mistaken old man, he was soon glad to come down to one sorry, attenuated cob, and after, to a rude litter, carried by a few faithful soldiers.
Sir Peter Halket was second in command. He was a wary old Scotch- man and a high-born gentleman of the ancient regime. A nobleman by birth, he had married the Lady Amelia Stewart, daughter of the Earl of Moray, two of his sons being then with him. He was a brave, loyal, sagacious and honorable gentleman and an experienced officer, who had risen by merit alone ; and had Braddock trusted more in him and in Washington-the two who generally agreed touching all military movements-it would have saved him from defeat as well as disgrace. At the famous battle of Preston Pans-which occurred only ten years be- fore between Sir John Cope and the Highland clans and Jacobitish adher- ents of Charles Edward, the Pretender-Sir Peter, then lieutenant-colonel, had been captured and released on parole by Charles. This coming to the ears of the Duke of Cumberland, he ordered that officer to disre- gard his parole and rejoin his regiment, which Sir Peter stoutly and reso- lutely refused to do, saying that "His Royal Highness was master of his commission but not of his honor." The king approved this proper resolve of an honorable soldier and he retained his rank. It is sad to think of the fate which awaited so good a man. He and one of his sons now lie buried near the bloody field where they so bravely courted death rather than dishonor.
It is not our purpose to give a detailed account of Braddock's ill-fated command, and its tedious, toilsome march, first to Cumberland, and thence to its battle-ground of disastrous defeat. Its nucleus, in the shape of the 44th regiment, Col. Sir Peter Halket, and the 48th, Col. Thomas Dunbar, had arrived from Ireland, disembarking at Alexandria about the middle of March, 1755. Neither regiment numbered five hundred, and these were made up of Irish, Scotch and English, drafted from different commands, and a large proportion of base material. After reaching this country, these two regiments were recruited by raw, provincial levies up to an effective of seven hundred each, and, after in- numerable and vexatious delays and immense labor, were joined by
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