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GEN. ISEAEL PI 
 
 ("OLD PUT.") 
 
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 BY 
 
 GEORGE CANNING HILL, 
 
 BOSTON: 
 E. O. LIBBY AND COMPANY. 
 
 185 3. 
 
Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by 
 
 E. O. LIBBY & Co.. 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 The author has designed the present scries cf Biogra- 
 phies more particularly for the young. And, in pursuing 
 his original plan along to its termination, he has set 
 before himself the following objects, to which he invites 
 the reader's attention : 
 
 To furnish from the pages of the world's history a few 
 examples of true manhood, lofty purpose, and persevering 
 effort, such as may be safely held up cither for the admi- 
 ration or emulation of the youth of the present day ; 
 
 To clear away, in his treatment of these subjects, what- 
 ever mistiness and mustiness may have accumulated with 
 time about them, presenting to the mental vision fresh 
 and living pictures, that shall seem to be clothed with 
 naturalness, and energy, and vitality; 
 
 To offer no less instruction to the minds, than pleasure 
 to the imaginations of the many for whom he has taken it 
 in hand to write ; 
 
 And, more especially, perhaps, to familiarize the youth 
 1* 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 of our day witb those striking and manly characters, that 
 _ i made their mark, deep and lasting, on the 
 history and fortunes of the American Continent. 
 
 deeds of these men, it is true, are to be found 
 Abundantly recorded in Histories; but they lie so seat- 
 along their ten thousand pages, and are so inter- 
 with the voluminous records of other matters, as to 
 be practically out of the reach of the younger portion of 
 readers, and so of the very ones for whom this series has 
 been undertaken. These want only pictures of actual 
 tnd, if the author shall, in any due degree, succeed 
 even in sketching interesting outlines, he will feel that ho 
 U answering the very purpose that has long lain unper- 
 formed within Ilia heart. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page, 
 early life, 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE FRENCH WAR, 28 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR, .... 49 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1758, 69 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 END OF THE FRENCH WAR, 95 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION, 108 
 
VHI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Page. 
 
 battle of bunker hill, 135 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SIEGE OF BOSTON, 162 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OILRATIONS IN NEW YORK, ...... 179 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 RETREAT OF TIIE AMERICAN ARMY, .... 198 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 IN TIIE HIGHLANDS, ..'.•... 220 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 H I NAM AT WEST TOINT AND DANBURY, . . . 244 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 HIS LAST DAYS, . ..... 258 
 
GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY LIFE. 
 
 ALMOST every popular favorite has his 
 nickname. They called General Jackson 
 "Old Hickory;" General Taylor was 
 known everywhere through the camp by the 
 name of " Old Zack ; " and, not to interpose too 
 many instances between our own times and his, 
 General Israel Putnam, of Revolutionary mem- 
 ory, was better known by the whole army under 
 the familiar title of " Old Put" than either by the 
 military rank he had honestly earned, or the 
 simple Scriptural name his father and mother 
 gave him. 
 
 Israel Putnam was a marked character in 
 days when it would appear as if almost every 
 man stood out as an exemplar. He lived in stir- 
 
10 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 ring times, and was not a whit behind the rest in 
 helping to create the stir. Few among the long 
 roll of the patriots of the Revolution, addressed 
 themselves to the great questions, as they came 
 up, with greater zeal than he, or with a more 
 stout and rugged determination to secure peace 
 on the basis of simple justice. It must be 
 allowed, too, that he had a strong love for adven- 
 ture in his nature, and was as ready at any time 
 for a warlike foray, or a dangerous expedition 
 into a wilderness swarming with Indians, as he 
 was for a frolic at harvest-time, or an exciting 
 wolf-hunt with the young farmers in midwinter. 
 The life of Putnam was a romance almost from 
 the beginning ; yet no one was apparently better 
 contented than he amid the peaceful scenes of the 
 country life of those days, or enjoyed himself 
 more in the quiet atmosphere of his farm, his 
 home, and his friends. In this respect he might 
 be said, like some other men, to have had tivo 
 natures : one continually exciting him to action 
 and deeds of boldness and bravery, and the other 
 tempering him down to the tone of those homely, 
 every-day joys that, after all, are the richest 
 resources a man's heart ever knows. 
 
EARLY LIFE. 11 
 
 Israel Putnam was born in Salem, Mass., on 
 the 7th day of January, 1718. His mother had 
 twelve children, of whom he was the eleventh 
 in order. The house still stands in which he 
 was born, and is exactly half-way, on the turn- 
 pike, between Newburyport and Boston. The 
 family emigrated from one of the southern coun- 
 ties of England, in the year 1634, and settled 
 in that part of Salem, known as Danvers. The 
 original family name was spelled Puttenham, 
 instead of Putnam. Israel was the great-grand- 
 son of the one who first planted the name in 
 that part of the country, Mr. John Putnam ; his 
 father's Christian name being Joseph, his grand- 
 father's Thomas, and his great-grandfather's John 
 as just mentioned. He was a courageous boy, 
 and many daring acts of his youth are preserved 
 by tradition among the different branches of the 
 old family stock. He loved adventure and ex- 
 citement, and was apt to be foremost in those 
 bold and reckless undertakings for which boys 
 are generally so ready. His early education was 
 limited, as one must readily infer when he 
 reflects that schools of any kind were not a 
 common privilege in those days. The popula- 
 
12 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 Won was very much scattered, instead of being 
 gathered into towns and villages as now, and 
 good schools would have been quite difficult to 
 support. Besides, as he was brought up, the 
 mosl of his lime was required on the farm, help- 
 ing about the regular work in such ways as boys 
 of his age are taught and expected to do. Had 
 his education been different when he was young, 
 there is no doubt that he would have wrought 
 with a still wider influence on the minds of the 
 men of the Revolution. But it was sufficient 
 proof of his inherent strength and greatness, that 
 he rose, as he did, superior to all the obstacles 
 thai were thrown in his path, and wrote his own 
 inline legibly on the page of his country's his- 
 tory It is not every man, even with the aid of 
 many more advantages than he enjoyed, who 
 succeeds in doing what he did for his country- 
 men and himself. 
 
 W e said that he was courageous, and some- 
 times reckless, when a boy; but his disposition 
 nol quarrelsome. When he was assailed, he 
 Btood his ground without flinching; but he was 
 n (, i "i the habit of picking quarrels with any one. 
 When he went up to Boston for the first time in 
 
EARLY LIFE. 13 
 
 his life, one of the young town -fellows, a great 
 deal older and bigger than himself, saw him 
 coming along the street in his dress of plain 
 homespun, staring at the signs and the windows, 
 and taken up, as almost every true rustic is, at 
 least once, with what he saw and heard around 
 him ; and, thinking to have some fun out of the 
 country fellow, he taunted him with his dress, 
 his gait, his manners, and his general appearance. 
 Young Putnam bore it as well and as long as he 
 could. He looked around and saw that a crowd 
 had collected, who seemed to be enjoying them- 
 selves at his expense. His blood rose at length, 
 and he determined to submit no longer. Sud- 
 denly he turned upon the ill-mannered city youth, 
 and s^ave him such a thorough flos^i 112: on the 
 spot as not only silenced his impudence, but like- 
 wise drew forth the instant admiration of the 
 crowd, who were, but a moment before, so wil- 
 ling to enjoy his own humiliation. This single 
 little affair was wholly characteristic of the man, 
 as he afterwards showed himself on a wider 
 theatre. 
 
 Very few incidents of a well-defined and 
 authentic nature, have come down to us in illus- 
 
14 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 trillion of the boyhood of Putnam ; indeed, when 
 we consider that he was nothing more than a 
 plain farmer's boy, of whom no one ever thought, 
 except as other boys were commonly thought of, 
 whose advantages were few, and whose educa- 
 tion was limited, who had no other aim in life 
 than simply to do his work well and make as 
 respectable a man as his father before him, — it 
 is evident that few facts could have accumulated 
 a1 the most, going to show his native superiority 
 to anybody else of his own age and condition. 
 It was after he made himself conspicuous in the 
 eyes of his countrymen, that his relatives began to 
 collect such scanty materials relating to his youth 
 as family tradition chanced to have handed 
 down; not happening to have been born great, 
 oi renowned, of course no record was kept of 
 early years before he achieved for himself 
 what he afterwards so honorably did achieve. 
 
 He was twenty-one years old when he was 
 married, which evenl occurred in the year 1739. 
 His wife was .Miss Hannah Pope, whose father 
 - Mr. John Pope — lived in Salem also; and 
 their family afterwards counted four sons and six 
 daughters. The year after he married, he emi- 
 
EARLY LIFE. 15 
 
 grated from Salem to the town of Pomfret, in 
 Connecticut, where he had bought a tract of land 
 for the purpose. The part of Pomfret in which 
 he settled is now included in the pleasant little 
 inland town of Brooklyn ; and the outlines of the 
 foundation of his house are still to be distinctly- 
 traced in the turf, together with the raised walk 
 up to the door. The well he digged is yet 
 pointed out, though it is not at present used ; and 
 in one of the old elm trees that stood before his 
 door, are the iron staples on which he hung the 
 tavern sign, just before the Revolutionary days, 
 to inform travellers that he could temporarily 
 entertain both themselves and their beasts. 
 
 There was no better farmer in his day, the 
 whole country round, than young Mr. Israel Put- 
 nam proved himself to be. He opened new and 
 uncultivated lands ; built good walls and fences ; 
 stocked his pastures ; planted his orchards ; 
 erected a comfortable and most delightful home- 
 stead ; and, by his thrift, industry, and true agri- 
 cultural taste, succeeded, in a short time, in 
 establishing himself as a well-to-do and most 
 successful farmer. He had a young family brood 
 growing up about him. His herds and Hocks 
 
16 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 increased and multiplied. He found that his 
 land -was especially adapted to the raising of 
 sheep, and, accordingly, he bent his energies to 
 the production of wool. So successful was he 
 in this enterprise in a brief period of time, that 
 he was popularly reckoned one of the largest 
 wool growers of the country, and his profits 
 accumulated at a rate that soon put him in cir 
 cumstances beyond the possible reach of poverty 
 or want. 
 
 It was owing altogether to his having taken so 
 extensive an interest in the raising of sheep, that 
 his adventure with the wolf became a piece of 
 history. During several seasons he seemed to 
 have suffered from rather hard luck, both in his 
 crops and his live stock ; what with drought, and 
 dry-rot, and hard winters, he felt that his losses, 
 continued through several ensuing years, were 
 quite as large as he felt able to submit to. But 
 when it came to the losses in his sheep-fold, 
 which were more and more severe every winter, 
 he roused himself to see if the mischief could not 
 by some means be stopped where it was. It was 
 pretty conclusively proved that the work of 
 slaughter was performed by a single she- wolf, 
 
EARLY LIFE. 17 
 
 who, with her new family of whelps every year, 
 came from a long distance to get her regular 
 winter's living off the failings of his hill sides and 
 pastures. Nor was he the only sufferer by her 
 bold depredations. Nearly all the neighboring 
 farmers were forced to submit to these losses, as 
 well as himself, and they were quite ready to 
 undertake, with him, the destruction of the raven- 
 ous creature who was committing such a general 
 havoc. 
 
 This she-wolf was an old jade, and very sly 
 and shrewd withal. Almost every year the 
 hunters, with their dogs, had fallen in with some 
 of her whelps, and made an end of them on the 
 spot ; but they never could manage to come upon 
 her in a position from which she did not possess 
 the cunning to somehow escape. Once they had 
 succeeded in gelting her to put her foot into 
 their steel-trap ; but rather than wait for them to 
 come to a final settlement with her for her many 
 crimes, she concluded she had better lose her toes 
 and make the best of her way off without them. 
 She preferred to sacrifice these, and so save her 
 skin whole. 
 
 Putnam got together five of his neighbors, 
 2* 
 
18 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 therefore, and laid before them his proposal to 
 hunt the old wolf down; not to give her any- 
 further rest or peace until they got her into a 
 place from which there could be no escape. The 
 arrangement was, that they were to take turns at 
 the business, two at a time, and follow her up day 
 and night, till she was traced to her den, unless 
 they might have the good luck to destroy her 
 before she reached it. It was early in the winter 
 when the pursuit began, and, as it happened, a 
 lighl snow had fallen to aid them in their design. 
 The clipped toes of one of the creature's feet, 
 too, would assist the hunters in following her 
 brack, of which fact they were not slow to take 
 advantage. 
 
 They came upon her footprints, after a time, 
 and pursued her along by this single mark of the 
 losl toes through the country to the Connecticut 
 river ; showing that she was at least an extensive 
 I raveller. Reaching the river's bank, and finding 
 hci coarse thus intercepted, back she started 
 I tor Pomfret. The hunters were close upon 
 her, and readily found where she had doubled 
 npon herself They pressed on as hastily as they 
 could, over hill and through vale, pushing through 
 
EARLY LIFE. 19 
 
 swamps and wooded places after her, as if noth- 
 ing had stood in her way. At an early hour on 
 the second morning after setting out, they had 
 succeeded in driving her into her den in a rocky 
 ledge, situated some three miles to the north from 
 Putnam's house, and within the limits of the 
 town of Pomfret. 
 
 She was carefully watched by one of the men, 
 while the other went to give the alarm to the 
 farmers around. It was not long before the 
 woods in the vicinity of the cave were swarming 
 with the male inhabitants of the town, including 
 a pretty large sprinkling of boys. They brought 
 along with them a liberal supply of dogs, guns, 
 straw, and sulphur, prepared to smoke her out, 
 burn her out, punch her out, or, in any event, to 
 shoot her. The shouting and the clamor re- 
 sounded a great ways from the steep hill-side 
 where the transaction took place, as if they had 
 come with the intention to make a good time of 
 it. The boys, in particular, were delighted with 
 the prospect of the fun there was ahead, and 
 kicked and capered about in the exuberance of 
 their spirits. It was a great thing for them to be 
 allowed to take a part in such sport with their 
 elders. 
 
20 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 After a council of war had been held, and a 
 close scrutiny of the retreat chosen by their 
 crafty enemy had been indulged in, it was gene- 
 rally concluded that the wolf was not such a 
 great fool in going into this cavity as they might 
 have thought her. She was, to all intents and 
 purposes, in her fortress. How should they go to 
 work to get her out ? At first they tried tantali- 
 zation, — sending in their dogs, who came out 
 again yelping and crying, with lacerated skins, 
 and torn and bloody noses, showing how skil- 
 fully she had used her claws in her own defence. 
 They could not prevail on the dogs that had tried 
 the entrance once, to go in the second time. So 
 they next hit upon the plan to stuff in lighted 
 bundles of straw, sprinkled liberally with sulphur, 
 hoping thus to smoke her out. They very truly 
 argued that, if she could stand that, she must be 
 too much for them to think of attacking. Ac- 
 cordingly, the straw was piled in, and set on fire. 
 The dense volumes of smoke rose and rolled 
 slowly into the cave, and they thought they were 
 going to secure their game this time without any 
 further trouble. But they looked, and continued 
 to look in vain for the appearance of anything 
 
EARLY LIFE. 21 
 
 like a wolf. The smoke could not have reached 
 her ; or, if it did, it failed to have the effect upon 
 her they had calculated. 
 
 Time was wearing on in this way, and nothing 
 seemed likely to come of all their labor at last. 
 It wanted now but about a couple of hours to 
 midnight. They were not willing to go home 
 and leave their dreaded enemy where she was, 
 unharmed, and free to repeat her bloody mischief. 
 Again they tried to coax the dogs to go in ; but 
 they could not so readily make the animals forget 
 the rough treatment they had received on a 
 previous visit. Israel Putnam felt the need of 
 some one's making a decisive movement, lest the 
 matter should fall through entirely. He therefore 
 ordered a man-servant to undertake the step 
 needed; but he declined very positively. An 
 appeal was made to the whole company present, 
 to know if there was any one who dared under- 
 take this most undesirable piece of business ; but 
 the appeal was made in vain. Neither man nor 
 boy was willing to risk his life in an encounter 
 with a mad animal at the further end of a sub- 
 terranean cave, which had already shown such a 
 disposition to stand her ground and face her 
 opponents down at any hazard. 
 
22 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 Finally it became difficult to endure this state 
 of suspense any longer, and Putnam took his 
 resolution. It was a bold, and no doubt a very 
 reckless one ; but when he considered, in a flash 
 of his thought, the amount of the losses incurred 
 by his neighbors as well as himself, from the de- 
 predations of this ravenous wild beast, he won- 
 dered how it was possible for any one to hesitate. 
 He declared he would go down and meet the old 
 wolf himself. The farmers were overwhelmed 
 with astonishment, and tried to dissuade him 
 from carrying out # his rash purpose. But all they 
 could say had no effect whatever upon him. 
 He was determined to put an end to the ex- 
 istence of the wolf, and to do it on that very 
 night. 
 
 Well aware of the fear inspired in a wild 
 animal by the sight of fire, he provided himself 
 with a large quantity of birch bark, torn into 
 shreds, before going into the cave, and lighted a 
 sufficient number for his immediate purpose. 
 These furnished all the. light he had by which to 
 guide himself along the winding passages of the 
 rocky cavern. Stripping off his coat and waist- 
 coat, with a lighted torch in one hand, he entered 
 
EARLY LIFE. 23 
 
 the dark aperture at near midnight, crawling 
 slowly upon his hands and knees. 
 
 The mouth of the wolf's den was about two 
 feet square. From this point it proceeds down- 
 wards about fifteen feet, then it runs horizontally 
 for some ten feet more, and afterwards it ascends 
 very easily for sixteen feet towards its termina- 
 tion. The sides of the cave are of solid rock, and 
 quite smooth; the top and bottom are of the 
 same material ; it is but three feet in width, and 
 in no part can a man stand upright. Putnam 
 groped his way along by the aid of his flaring 
 and smoking torches, until he reached the level 
 portion of the cavity. All was still as a tomb, 
 and his feeble torchlight was able to penetrate 
 but a little distance into the surrounding gloom. 
 He was obliged to advance but slowly, and every 
 few moments it became necessary for him to 
 renew his torch, which he did with the greatest 
 care, lest it might go out in the lighting, and he 
 be left in the profoundest darkness. 
 
 After creeping over the ten feet of the level 
 portion of the cave, he came to the ascent. On- 
 ward he dragged his slow and toilsome way, till 
 his progress was suddenly arrested by the sight 
 
24 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 of a pair of glaring eyeballs at the very extremity 
 of the cavern. There sat the old wolf herself; 
 and, as she saw the flash of the torch he carried 
 in his hand, she gnashed her teeth and utteied a 
 low and threatening growl. The brave and ven- 
 turesome young farmer took a hasty view of 
 things in the cave, and then gave a kick at the 
 rope which his friends had tied about one of his 
 legs before he made the descent, by way of pre- 
 caution. Fearing that the worst had befallen 
 him, they pulled more excitedly at the rope than 
 was necessary; and, before he could have pro- 
 tested against such rough treatment, he found 
 himself dragged out upon the ground before the 
 mouth of the cave, with " his shirt stripped over 
 his head, and his skin severely lacerated." They 
 had heard the growl of the wolf outside, and 
 feared that he was involved in a struggle with 
 her for life or death. Besides, it was known that 
 he had carried no weapons into the cave with 
 him, and they were more solicitous on that 
 account. 
 
 This time, however, he loaded his gun, took 
 more torches, and went down better prepared for 
 the encounter. He knew his way along of course 
 
EARLY LIFE. 25 
 
 better than before ; but he was now burdened 
 with his musket. When he came in sight of the 
 wolf again, she was in the same place and posi- 
 tion, but appeared a great, deal more dissatisfied 
 with his company. The account of his early 
 biographer and personal friend states that she 
 wore an aspect of great fierceness : '■' howling, 
 rolling her eyes, snapping her teeth, and dropping 
 her head between her legs. She was evidently in 
 the attitude, and on the point of springing at her 
 assailant. At that critical moment he levelled 
 his piece, aiming directly at her head, and fired. 
 Stunned with the shock, and suffocated with the 
 smoke of the powder, he immediately found 
 himself drawn out of the cave." But this time 
 his friends took a little more care not to strip his 
 shirt over his shoulders, nor to tear his skin 
 against the jagged edges of the rock. 
 
 He allowed a few moments for the smoke to 
 escape from the chambers of the cavern, and then 
 went in again to secure his prize. On examina- 
 tion he found his old enemy lying dead on the 
 floor of the cave at its further extremity, in a 
 pool of blood. He had taken aim to some pur- 
 pose. In order to satisfy himself that she was 
 3 
 
26 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 really dead, he applied his torch to her nose ; she 
 made no signs of life. Accordingly, he seized 
 her by her ears, gave the rope around his leg an 
 exulting kick, and out he went, with his precious 
 prize dragging after him, into the midst of the 
 crowd at the mouth of the cavern, who showered 
 their praises and congratulations upon him with- 
 out stint. They sent up a shout of delight that 
 filled the wintry woods with its echoes. Their 
 arch enemy at length lay stretched out stark and 
 stiff at their feet. 
 
 From that hour, Israel Putnam was a hero in 
 the eyes and mouth of everybody. He came 
 very soon to be known far and wide as the slayer 
 of the old she-wolf that had made such havoc 
 with the farmers' folds, and people loved to re- 
 peat a story that had such decided elements of 
 romance and daring in it; for it excited them 
 quite as much in the telling as it did others in 
 the hearing. The story grew, too, as it travelled, 
 and Putnam's fame of course grew along with it. 
 He was known among the officers of the army, 
 with whom he fought during the Seven Years' 
 War, as " the Old Wolf ; " and his fame reached 
 England through the aid of the public journals, 
 
EARLY LIFE. 27 
 
 which are generally not behind in chronicling 
 such a truly bold and daring adventure. 
 
 The dozen years that Putnam followed the 
 peaceful pursuits of a farmer, between this 
 notable event and the breaking out of the French 
 war, he industriously made the most of. In that 
 time, by his thrifty management, he laid the 
 foundation of a permanent and abundant fortune, 
 for those days of simplicity, and provided for 
 those wants, which otherwise must have been un- 
 provided for entirely, appertaining to advanced 
 age and a life generously spent in behalf of the 
 liberties of his country. When he retired from 
 public service altogether, it was a comfortable 
 reflection for him that he had a good home to 
 which to withdraw his weary self, where he might 
 pass his latest years unreached by the gripe of 
 poverty and want, and secure in the friendship 
 and affection of the happy family group that 
 there budded and blossomed like beautiful plants 
 around him. 
 

 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE FRENCH WAR. 
 
 THE struggle between the English and the 
 French for the mastery of this continent, de- 
 serves more than the mere allusion to it as 
 an historical fact, which is all we are able in this 
 place to give. The Indians that swarmed in the 
 northern forests, and about the lakes and streams, 
 were, the greater part of them, enlisted on the 
 side of the French, and showed themselves ready 
 to perform any of those barbarities that were 
 asked of them in the wild excitement of the 
 times. These Indians were the worst foes that 
 ever white men were forced to meet. They were 
 stealthy and secret ; they skulked and hid in 
 every nook and corner; they started out unex- 
 pectedly from every tree in the forest. In their 
 dispositions they were vindictive and remorseless ; 
 they would fight for pay rather than from friend- 
 
THE FRENCH AVAR. 29 
 
 ship, and hence employed both the tomahawk 
 and the seal ping-knife without either measure or 
 mercy. Such an enemy was a thousand times 
 more dangerous to encounter than an open 
 enemy; because the English were at no time 
 certain that he would not come upon them when 
 they were least expecting it. 
 
 It required unusually prudent, sagacious, and 
 brave men to officer a force that should be sent 
 out to meet an enemy, too, with such an ally. 
 Hence, the colonial governments were frequently 
 at a loss how to act, so as not to compromise 
 the safety of the people for whom they were 
 authorized to act. 
 
 This so-called French War began in the year 
 
 1755, with three separate military expeditions : 
 
 one of General Shirley against Fort Niagara; one 
 
 of General Braddock, against Fort Duquesne ; 
 
 and a third of Sir William Johnson against 
 
 Baron Dieskau, at Fort Edward, situated on Lake 
 
 George. This last had a successful termination ; 
 
 the others were fruitless and unfortunate. Israel 
 
 Putnam received an appointment to the captaincy 
 
 of a company of provincial soldiers, volunteers of 
 
 Connecticut, and this company composed a part 
 o 
 
30 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 of the regiment under command of General 
 Lyman. Everybody knew Putnam for a fearless 
 and trusty man ; and although it is positive that 
 he had had no previous military experience, yet 
 his winning frankness and hearty honesty soon 
 attracted to his standard a crowd of the finest 
 young men the whole colony afforded. It was a 
 deserved compliment to such a man, and he 
 would certainly have been the last one to betray 
 the high confidence thus reposed in him. 
 
 The expedition, of which his company and 
 regiment formed a part, had for its object the 
 reduction of Crown Point, a fortified place on 
 Lake Champlain. Massachusetts Colony started 
 the project, and she, together with Connecticut 
 and New York, was determined to carry it out, 
 if possible, to success. The command of the 
 entire expedition was given to General William 
 Johnson, one of the leading men in the New 
 York Colony, and the troops were to collect at 
 Albany as a central depot. It was late in June 
 when they assembled. Early in August they 
 began to move forward, and reached the point 
 from which all the necessary accompaniments of 
 warlike operations were to be transported across 
 
THE FRENCH WAR. 31 
 
 the land to Lake George. Gen. Lyman had 
 already begun to erect a fortification at this 
 point, which went by the name of Fort Edward. 
 
 Later in August, the main body of the army 
 took up its march, and pressed on till it reached 
 the southern point of Lake George. It was 
 learned from Indian scouts that a large body of 
 French and Indians were stationed at Ticonde- 
 roga, since become an immortal name, which is 
 the point at which Lake George empties, with its 
 thundering sound, into Lake Champlain. They 
 had not yet thrown up any works there, and 
 Johnson therefore felt more desirous to proceed 
 as soon as possible, with a part of his army, and 
 seize the place before they could recover suffi- 
 ciently from their astonishment at his appear- 
 ance, to make a proper defence. 
 
 But Baron Dieskau, the French commander, 
 had, in the meantime, become apprised of the 
 position and projects of the provincial forces at 
 Fort Edward, and hastened to attack them before 
 their works were all completed. If he could suc- 
 ceed in this plan, it was then his determination to 
 move down upon Albany, and the other towns 
 within reach, and lay them waste with all pos- 
 
32 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 sible celerity. Accordingly, he took two thou- 
 sand men with him from Crown Point, and, land- 
 ing at South Bay, started across the land for 
 Fort Edward. He even kept the design of this 
 movement a secret until he had come within a 
 couple o r miles of the provincial forces. When 
 he at length made his plans known, the Indians 
 murmured, declaring they never would fight 
 against the cannon and musketry of the English. 
 This obliged him, therefore, to change his pur- 
 pose, and he pushed on towards the north, to sur- 
 prise the English at the southern point of Lake 
 George. General Johnson was in command 
 there, as already stated. His scouts came into 
 camp and informed him of the approach of 
 Dieskau, with his Canadian and Indian allies. 
 
 It was at once determined to send forward a 
 detachment to meet them, and offer them battle. 
 Col. Williams commanded the entire body, which 
 consisted of a thousand provincials and about 
 two hundred friendly Indians. They came upon 
 the French some four miles out from the camp, 
 and found the latter all skilfully prepared to meet 
 them. Dieskau had arranged the French troops 
 in the centre, while the Canadians and Indians 
 
THE FRENCH WAR. 33 
 
 were stationed along in the woods on either 
 wing, so as to surround the English forces as 
 soon as they had advanced far enough into this 
 well-set trap. Had not the engagement begun 
 as soon as it did, the plan of the French Baron 
 would unquestionably have worked well ; but, as 
 it was, it did not operate quite so exactly to his 
 mind. The provincials fought like the brave 
 men they were, and were forced at last to fall 
 back. Col. Williams was slain in the battle, and 
 so was Hendricks, the famous Mohawk Indian 
 chief, who had been a firm friend to the English 
 and provincials. 
 
 The vanquished forces retreated till they 
 reached the main body, under General Johnson. 
 This engagement had taken place before noon. 
 It was just about noon, then, when the French 
 forces came up to renew the battle, flushed and 
 eager with their recent victory. On each side of 
 the American position, which was upon the bank 
 of Lake George, lay a swamp, densely covered 
 with trees. Gen. Johnson had mounted a few 
 pieces of cannon, which he had fortunately re- 
 ceived from Fort Edward, and a breastwork was 
 hastily constructed by felling trees. On came 
 
34 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 the French in regular order, expecting only a 
 second victory. After pausing for a brief 
 moment at a distance from the breastworks, they 
 fell upon the centre with great spirit, while the 
 Canadians and Indians attacked the two flanks 
 in the hope of turning them. The assault upon 
 the centre did not prove as destructive to the 
 provincial forces as was calculated ; on the con- 
 trary, the latter took fresh courage on seeing how 
 little damage the French were able to do them. 
 As soon as they began to play their cannon upon 
 the advancing enemy with such terrible effect, the 
 allied Indians and Canadians took to their heels 
 in a paroxysm of fear, being quite unused to so 
 destructive an engine of warfare. Baron Dies- 
 kau in consequence was obliged to retreat in 
 great haste and confusion, and his force was 
 hotly pursued by a portion of the provincial 
 army. The Baron himself was wounded, and 
 found leaning against a stump, all alone. An 
 American seeing him feeling for his watch, with 
 which he probably hoped to bribe his pursuers, 
 supposed he was searching for his pistol; upon 
 which he inflicted upon him a wound in the hip 
 with a musket ball, which finally proved mortal. 
 
THE FRENCH WAR. 35 
 
 He was earned a prisoner into the camp in a 
 blanket, and treated tenderly. Afterwards he 
 was taken to Albany, then to New York, and 
 finally to England. 
 
 Being pursued for some four miles, the French 
 at length halted to refresh themselves on the 
 very ground where the battle of the morning had 
 been fought. How different were their feelings 
 then, from their feelings of a few brief hours 
 before ! Meantime Gen. Lyman had despatched a 
 force up from Fort Edward to the assistance of 
 Gen. Johnson, and the detachment he had sent 
 forward came upon them while they were thus 
 refreshing themselves on the morning's battle- 
 field. A second time they were routed, and, on 
 this occasion, most thoroughly. Many prisoners 
 were taken and carried into camp. Thus opened 
 the English successes on the continent against the 
 French forces, with this brilliant victory of Lake 
 George. This w T as the battle in which Joseph 
 Brant, the famous Mohawk Indian, then but 
 thirteen years old, first learned the art of war from 
 taking an active part in it. 
 
 Gen. Johnson at once proceeded to erect a fort 
 where he was encamped, which he named Fort 
 
36 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 William Henry. Israel Putnam not long after- 
 wards reached the camp at Lake George, where, 
 during the remainder of the season, his active 
 temperament and love of perilous performances 
 peculiarly fitted him for the duties which were 
 then assigned him. As a ranger, volunteering 
 his services on occasions of great danger, and 
 when much caution was necessary, no man in 
 the provincial army could, at that day, surpass 
 or equal him. It fell to him, in this capacity, 
 to find out where the enemy were, what was thei? 
 strength, to be continually alarming their pickets, 
 to devise ways of harassing and surprising them, 
 to act as a partisan scout in fetching information 
 from the hostile parties, and in performing all 
 those other active labors that are of the most ef- 
 fective service to the success of a military cam- 
 paign on an uninhabited frontier. 
 
 Once, during that season, he set out with Cap- 
 tain Rogers and a small party to reconnoitre the 
 defences at Crown Point. The forest in the 
 vicinity was alive with Indians, and it was at the 
 same time impossible for the whole party to ap- 
 proach within the desirable distance of the fort, 
 They concealed the men, therefore, in the woodtf 
 
THE FRENCH WAR. 37 
 
 not far off, and went by themselves to reconnoitre. 
 Creeping along in the dark, they soon came near 
 to the fort, where they remained secreted all 
 through the night, but without obtaining as 
 much knowledge as they went after. Towards 
 morning they were more successful; and, while 
 returning by different ways to the place where 
 their party lay concealed, a French guard came 
 suddenly upon Capt. Rogers, and made an effort 
 to stab him, while he also gave the alarm. They 
 clinched and struggled. Meantime the guard 
 answered to the alarm. Putnam learned the 
 cause of the trouble, and in an instant flew to his 
 companion's rescue. With a single well-directed 
 blow from the butt of his musket upon the head 
 of the Frenchman, he laid him out upon the 
 ground, stark and dead. Immediately the two 
 bold rangers hastened to rejoin their little party, 
 with whom they made the best of their way out 
 of the reach of their enemies. 
 
 It was now late in the season, it being in the 
 month of October. Of course it was impracti- 
 cable to attempt anything more of a hostile 
 nature during that year, especially as Crown 
 Point was ascertained to be too strongly fortified 
 
38 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 to be assailed at present. The greater part of 
 the army was therefore discharged, leaving but 
 six hundred men as a force with which to gar- 
 rison both Fort Edward and Fort William 
 Henry. During the same season, too, the 
 French descended the lake and took military 
 possession of Ticonderoga, which they proceeded 
 to fortify. Putnam's company were disbanded 
 with the other colonial regiments, and he re- 
 turned home to pass the winter in the quiet 
 retirement of his farm in Connecticut. 
 
 . The next year's campaign had the same objects 
 in view with that of the last. Owing, however, 
 to the victories that had been achieved by the 
 French commander, Montcalm, at Fort Os- 
 wego and Fort George, the plans of the cam- 
 paign were altogether broken in upon. An ex- 
 pedition was set on foot against Crown Point, 
 which was to be conducted by Gen. Winslow, 
 with provincial troops alone; but the unexpected 
 success of Montcalm had the effect to throw the 
 English altogether on the defensive. Putnam 
 was still at the head of a company, serving under 
 his former commander. Abercrombie commanded 
 the entire forces until past the middle of the 
 
 
THE FRENCH WAR. 89 
 
 summer; in August he was displaced by Lord 
 Loudon. The English generals were in con- 
 stant expectation of being attacked by the 
 French, and therefore assumed an attitude 
 almost exclusively defensive. 
 
 Putnam, in this campaign, acted the bold part 
 of a ranger. This duty required a person of 
 peculiar qualifications, and such had he in per- 
 fection. He was daring, and even reckless, and, 
 at the same time, he knew how to be cautious 
 and wary as an Indian. His active and ardent 
 temperament fitted him above most other men 
 for so responsible and arduous a service. Two 
 things were his — courage and caution. He 
 could be bold, and he also knew how to keep 
 silence. United with his other rare qualities was 
 an instinctive sagacity, which piloted himself and 
 his little party many a time safely through 
 dangers with which other men, perhaps fully as 
 brave, would have been overwhelmed. Indeed, 
 considering the history of Israel Putnam's mili- 
 tary exploits from first to last, it must be said of 
 him, in summing up the whole, that he excelled 
 chiefly as a partisan. No man in the army was 
 more impetuous yet more cool, more daring and 
 
40 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 reckless and still more self-controlled, than he. 
 And it was this which made his services so bril- 
 liant and so valuable during the protracted 
 terms of both the French and Indian, and the 
 Revolutionary War. 
 
 Once, during this campaign of 1756, he was 
 directed to take some observations, and report 
 concerning the camp of the enemy at the 
 " Ovens." This was but a little way from Ti- 
 conderoga. Taking along with him Lieut. Dur- 
 kee, he started off on his perilous but most wel- 
 come errand. Nothing suited him* better than 
 excitement and danger. The business was to be 
 performed in the night, and required therefore all 
 the more caution. The French army, when they 
 lay down at night to sleep in the forest, kindled 
 their fires in the centre of the camp and slept on 
 the outside of the circle, quite within the protec- 
 tion afforded by the darkness. The custom of 
 the English and provincial army was just the 
 contrary. Putnam and his friend did not happen 
 to be aware of this fact. Hence, they made their 
 way up thoughtlessly toward the fires of the 
 French, on their hands and knees of course, and 
 had gone some distance within the enemy's lines 
 
THE FRENCH WAR. 41 
 
 before they became aware of their desperate situ- 
 ation. They were discovered by the sentinels, 
 who at once fired upon them. His friend was 
 wounded in the thigh, but Putnam was unhurt. 
 The latter wheeled and rushed into the darkness 
 again ; but suddenly he found himself lying all 
 in a heap at the bottom of a clay pit. Hardly 
 had he come to himself sufficiently to understand 
 where he was, when in plunged another person 
 after him. Putnam raised the butt of his musket 
 to break his head, when a voice asked him if he 
 was hurt. He recognized the voice as that of his 
 friend, Lieut. Durkee. In the greatest haste — 
 quite as great, if possible, as they had found their 
 way into the pit — they both scrambled out, and 
 made off into the forest in the midst of a rain of 
 aimless bullets from the enemy. They lay under 
 a large log during the rest of the night, and found 
 the light of the silent stars much more agreeable 
 company than they probably would have found that 
 of the hostile camp-fires. It is related that when 
 Putnam unslung his canteen, to divide the rum it 
 held with his wounded and fainting comrade, he 
 found to his surprise that a stray bullet from the 
 
 4* 
 
42 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 sentinel had pierced, and entirely emptied it of 
 its contents. 
 
 The provincial camp was much troubled by the 
 prowling incursions of the Indians, who used to 
 come about in the stillness of the night and carry 
 off the sentinels, no one could tell how or whither. 
 It was one of the greatest mysteries that excited 
 their curiosity, or their superstitious fears. One 
 of the outposts had suffered more than any of the 
 others. At last it became so hazardous to serve 
 as guard, — no soul of those who were missing 
 ever coming back, or sending back any tidings of 
 his fate, — that not a man could be found who 
 was willing to put his life in peril in occupying 
 it. All were appealed to, but in vain. They 
 were not ready to volunteer in a service where 
 they felt certain there was not even a chance in 
 their favor. Some of the best and bravest men 
 had volunteered on that post, and never been 
 heard of again. 
 
 It had come to such a pass at length, that the 
 commanders were about to proceed to draw men 
 by lot for the place, when Putnam stepped forth 
 with his usual promptitude, eager to brave the 
 danger, and pluck out the heart of the mystery. 
 
THE FRENCH WAR. 43 
 
 He need not have done this, for, as an officer, he 
 would not have been liable to be drawn with the 
 rest ; but he suffered that consideration to make 
 no difference. He offered to garrison the post 
 for that night himself, and his offer was accepted. 
 The directions were, at hearing the least noise, 
 he was to ask, " Who goes there ? " three times ; 
 and, if no answer was returned, then to fire im- 
 mediately. With these instructions fresh in his 
 mind, he went out and took his station. In the 
 first place, he made a thorough and most minute 
 examination of every object within sight and 
 reach. He laid down in his mind exactly how 
 trees, rocks, bushes, and stumps stood relatively 
 to each other, and daguerreotyped their appear- 
 ance in his memory. Then, seeing that his fire- 
 arm was in perfect order, he waited and watched 
 for the terrible mystery. 
 
 There was a moon in the sky that night, by 
 whose pale light even those objects with which 
 he had already become familiar, looked weird and 
 spectral. For several hours nothing occurred 
 that attracted his attention. Midnight wore on, 
 but no manifestations of any lurking danger 
 yet. By and by, however, he thought he heard a 
 
44 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 slight noise in the wild grass. He gave it all his 
 attention. Then, what sounded like a wild 
 animal, came straying along, gradually nearing 
 his position. Finally the animal seemed to take 
 the appearance and nature of a wild hog ; and, to 
 carry out the resemblance, it busied itself with 
 cracking the acorns it grubbed up underneath the 
 trees. Putnam saw it all, and heard it all. His 
 thought was always quick, and rarely did it lead 
 him far astray. Even a hog should not be per- 
 mitted to pass the lines, he declared to himself, 
 unless he gave the countersign. Accordingly, he 
 raised his musket to his shoulder, and called out, 
 " Who goes there ? " three times, and fired. The 
 hog gave a deep groan, straightened out in the 
 agonies of death, and instantly lay a lifeless heap 
 on the ground. On going up to examine it, he 
 discovered that he had only shot a treacherous 
 and wily Indian, who had disguised himself in a 
 bear-skin, and thus picked oft* the unsuspecting 
 sentinels from this dangerous post night after 
 night. There was no longer any fear among the 
 soldiers of standing sentry on that post. The 
 heart of the mystery had been laid open, and this 
 was what there was in it. 
 
THE FRENCH WAR. 45 
 
 Putnam was likewise the leader and master- 
 spirit of another excursion against the enemy that 
 season, which added much to the increasing 
 lustre of his fame. It appears that some five or 
 six hundred of the French had made a descent 
 on the stores and baggage of the English army, 
 at a place about half way between Fort Edward 
 and Fort William Henry, and carried off a large 
 quantity of provisions as booty. The soldiers 
 who were escorting the train were not numerous 
 enough to protect it against the vastly greater 
 force of the assailants, and were obliged to yield 
 it up altogether. Putnam was ordered, with 
 about a hundred men in boats, carrying with 
 them two small pieces of cannon, besides their 
 ordinary arms, to head them off on their return 
 d*wn Wood Creek into Lake Champlain. They 
 all started off in high spirits, and sailed down Lake 
 George in their batteaux, with the resolution to 
 punish the insolence of the enemy wherever they 
 might fall in with him. 
 
 They landed at a certain point far enough 
 down the lake, and there disembarked, leaving 
 their boats under a sufficient guard, and marched 
 rapidly across to the narrows of Lake Champlain, 
 
46 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 where they took their stand and waited for the 
 thieving rascals to come up. The place in which 
 Putnam concealed the men was admirably 
 selected, and so hidden by the trees and bushes 
 that no one sailing down the lake would look for 
 danger from such a quarter. The body of the 
 water at that point, also, was not so wide but his 
 guns could sweep it for the whole distance. As 
 the French came sailing by, the party in ambush 
 suddenly poured in upon them a terrible volley 
 of shot, which performed most remarkable execu- 
 tion. The rowers were killed, the boats were 
 sunk, and they were so huddled together in the 
 confusion that they afforded a surer mark for the 
 fire of the provincials. Only a few of the boats 
 managed to escape, and these with the aid of 
 the wind that blew up the lake very strongly. 
 By this means the encampment at Ticonderoga 
 were advised of the mortifying mishap to the ex- 
 pedition, and hastened to wreak their vengeance 
 upon its authors before they could return to head- 
 quarters. 
 
 It was in the expectation of something like this 
 that the rangers betook themselves back to their 
 boats with all possible speed, knowing that their 
 
THE FRENCH WAR. 47 
 
 condition was a desperate, if not an utterly hope- 
 less one, should they be intercepted before they 
 reached the water. They had some twenty 
 miles to make, in order to do this ; but they were 
 successful. The French hurried after them by 
 K way of the lake above, and, of course, must have 
 made much headway even before the rangers 
 embarked again, which was at night. The very 
 next day they saw their enemy on shore in large 
 numbers. They must have silently passed them 
 somewhere during the night. It of course was 
 not long before the French spied them coming, 
 and took to their boats with great speed, deter- 
 mined to fight them in line on the lake. The 
 French appeared extremely exultant, as if the 
 battle had been fought and the victory had been 
 already won. Up they sailed in regular array, 
 supposing that the provincials, who could not 
 have numbered more than one to their three, 
 would be so stricken with terror at their ap- 
 proach that they would decline fighting alto- 
 gether. Not until they came within shot of 
 them, did the small party of brave fellows under 
 Putnam open fire ; and then they gave them, all 
 at once, the full contents both of their cannon 
 
48 - GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 and their muskets. This reception dismayed 
 them. They had counted on nothing of the 
 kind. They supposed they had been sailing up 
 to an easy, and perhaps a bloodless, victory. 
 Continuing thus to pour in volley after volley, 
 and not allowing the enemy to recover them- 
 selves sufficiently to rally for one strong effort, 
 the provincials very soon succeeded in scattering 
 the flotilla of French boats, and driving them off 
 the field of battle. 
 
 The provincials were the victors. The French 
 lost a great number of their men, and the 
 Indians fell into the lake in scores. What is 
 very strange, there was but one man out of the 
 provincial force killed in this sharp engagement, 
 and but two were wounded, and they only 
 slightly, while the loss of the French, including 
 their previous loss on Lake Champlain, on their 
 return from the foraging excursion, amounted to 
 hardly less than five hundred. They learned a 
 pretty dear lesson by it all; and, certainly, if 
 nothing else were to be said about it, they paid at 
 a costly rate for the provisions they were guilty 
 of stealing from the escort at Half Way Brook. 
 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 CONTINUATION OP THE FRENCH WAR. 
 
 HAD Israel Putnam kept a record of his 
 varied and most exciting experience from 
 the time his life began to be of public 
 interest, it would have secured an attentive peru- 
 sal to the latest generations. But he was doing 
 greater things than he knew, like many others 
 who are noble and heroic themselves without 
 being aware of it. The next year, 1757, he 
 received a major's commission from the Connec- 
 ticut Legislature ; showing in what deservedly 
 high esteem he was held by those with whom the 
 public interests were left to be administered. 
 
 Thus far, it certainly could not be denied that 
 the English arms had met with but indifferent 
 success in the war then waging with the French. 
 This was in no sense to be charged to the want of 
 
 efficiency or courage on the part of the colonists, 
 ft 
 
50 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 in cooperating with them in their plans ; the fault 
 lay elsewhere. The officers who were appointed 
 to direct the operations of the army were not the 
 men they should have been ; they knew little or 
 nothing of the country, being sent over from 
 England solely for the purpose of supervising what 
 they knew little about. They could not be ex- 
 pected, either, to feel that close sympathy with 
 the condition and prospects of the colonists which 
 was so essential to the success of their warlike 
 plans ; and, by their very rank and station, they 
 were alien to the habits, and strangers to the 
 feelings that made up the sturdy colonial charac- 
 ter. 
 
 Lord Loudon was an inefficient and improper 
 officer to set at the head of an army anywhere. 
 It is not pretended that he possessed any degree 
 of courage, much less that he was gifted with that 
 military genius which is certainly to be looked 
 for in a commander who undertakes the respon- 
 sibilities of such extended campaigns. Mont- 
 calm, the French General, had put him to his 
 wits' end in achieving such few, but very signifi- 
 cant successes as he had at Oswego, destroying 
 and dismantling the fort at that place ; and 
 
 
CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. Ol 
 
 Loudon therefore resolved to stand only on the 
 defensive. This was the whole secret of his no- 
 policy of the summer previous, after his appoint- 
 ment by the ministry at home to supersede Gene- 
 ral Abercrombic. During the winter, however, he 
 had made liberal drafts on the several Legis- 
 latures of the colonies, to which they responded 
 with great promptness. Early in the year 1757, 
 too, fresh and abundant forces arrived from 
 England ; so that the belief was general that the 
 campaign of this year was to be carried forward 
 with signal energy and enthusiasm. 
 
 Had the matter lain with the colonies, the 
 plans of the previous campaigns would certainly 
 have been pushed on to completion and success. 
 And the fortress from which the various assaults 
 against the peace of the provincialists were fitted 
 out, would have been assailed in turn with all 
 imaginable vigor. In other words, the war would 
 have been carried by the colonists into Canada. 
 But not so thought Lord Loudon. With every 
 means with which to secure a brilliant series of 
 conclusive victories ready at his hand, he fool- 
 ishly projected an excursion against the distant 
 French fortress at Louisbur^, on the island of 
 
52 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 Cape Breton, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, 
 the rallying point for the French on this conti- 
 nent. Here he thought to strike a decisive blow 
 which would bring him sudden fame for future 
 enjoyment at home. In order to achieve this 
 contemplated success, it was first necessary fur 
 him to concentrate his troops at Halifax. It was 
 far into the summer when he reached that point, 
 and then it was only to learn that a large fleet of 
 French vessels had just before arrived at Louis- 
 burg, which was now abundantly able to protect 
 the fortification there from assault. So Loudon 
 gave over his purpose altogether. He did not 
 even make an effort to secure the victory of which 
 he was, only a little time before, so sanguine and 
 certain. He left his ships to watch the further 
 movements of the French, and hastened back 
 himself to New York. And thus nothing was 
 accomplished by him during that year. 
 
 But Montcalm understood the situation of 
 affairs exactly. He knew that Louisburg could 
 now take care of itself, and he also knew that the 
 provincial and English force on the Canada lines 
 must be much weakened by this ill-timed move- 
 ment of Loudon. So he resolved to improve the 
 
CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 53 
 
 advantage offered by these circumstances, and to 
 push down Lake George and take possession of 
 Fort William Henry. It was a bold undertak- 
 ing, and yet it appeared a very feasible one. 
 This fort was but a poor affair at best. It stood 
 on a piece of ground gently rising from the 
 shore of the lake, and had for a garrison about 
 three thousand men. At Fort Edward, which 
 was the lower fort, Gen. Webb commanded; 
 and the force under him was even larger than 
 that at Fort William Henry. Montcalm had an 
 army of nine thousand men, including both 
 French and Indians. During the month of 
 March previous, he had ventured upon an attempt 
 to take Fort William Henry ; but it proved un- 
 successful. He landed near that fortification on 
 St. Patrick's eve ; and a large portion of the 
 British Rangers being Irishmen, he had not 
 miscalculated in supposing that, inasmuch as 
 they would probably celebrate that well-known 
 festival, they would become more or less 
 intoxicated ; and of this circumstance he in- 
 tended to take advantage. Lieut. Stark hap- 
 pened to be in command at the Fort at that 
 time, and accidentally overheard some of the 
 
54 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 Rangers planning on the evening previous for 
 their celebration of the next day. As an excuse 
 for not furnishing them with liquor, he feigned 
 lameness in his wrist, which prevented him from 
 writing ; so that when the army sutler was ap- 
 plied to for the liquor, he replied that he had 
 received orders not to deal out any without 
 a written order. Stark's lame hand was excuse 
 enough for his not writing such orders, and of 
 course no spirits were dealt out to the Rangers 
 at all. The regular troops who celebrated the 
 occasion were affected with the liquor they drank, 
 and when the attack was made, — as it was, on 
 St. Patrick's day, — the successful defence of the 
 Fort was made entirely by the sober Rangers. 
 
 Montcalm had collected his forces, as just 
 mentioned, to the amount of nine thousand men, 
 French and Indians. It was in the latter part 
 of July already. General Webb had just pro- 
 ceeded to Fort William Henry, with an escort of 
 two hundred men, taking their commander, 
 Major Putnam, along with him. While he re- 
 mained at the Fort, he thought proper to send 
 Putnam down the lake with a small force of but 
 eighteen men, to discover where the enemy were, 
 
CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 55 
 
 and in what numbers. They found the islands 
 at the entrance of North-west Bay alive with 
 them. Leaving two out of the five boats behind, 
 that they might appear, if detected, to be in- 
 nocently engaged in fishing, Putnam hurried 
 back with all possible despatch to inform Gen. 
 Webb of his astounding discovery. He of 
 course then proposed to return to the rescue of 
 his comrades, whom he had left behind ; but 
 Webb peremptorily refused him permission. 
 By pleading and begging, however, he was 
 allowed to return, and all the boats at last found 
 their way back in safety, although they were 
 hotly pursued, and at one time nearly surrounded 
 by the enemy. 
 
 What does this cowardly general then do, but 
 compel Putnam to pledge his eighteen men, by a 
 solemn oath, to keep their knowledge of the 
 enemy's approach a secret from the garrison at 
 Fort William Henry, and then order him to 
 escort him with his command back to Fort 
 Edward. Putnam protested, even to a greater 
 extent than most young officers would dare to 
 protest against the orders of their superiors ; but 
 it was all in vain. Webb was escorted back in 
 
56 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 safety to his distant quarters at Fort Edward, 
 cruelly leaving the garrison at Fort William 
 Henry ignorant of their danger. But the next 
 day he had thought enough better of it to send 
 back Colonel Monroe, with his regiment, ordering 
 him to assume the entire command. 
 
 When Montcalm therefore made his appear- 
 ance before the fort, he had three men to the 
 garrison's one. First he sent to Col. Monroe a 
 summons to surrender the place, and humanely 
 urged as a reason the enormous bloodshed and 
 cruel destruction of life that would thus be 
 averted. But as the latter had good reasons to 
 continually expect reinforcements from General 
 Webb at Fort Edward below, he refused to con- 
 sider such a demand at all. From that time the 
 siege regularly commenced, and continued for 
 six days. Word was sent to Webb by expresses 
 during this time, laying before him their precari- 
 ous situation, and imploring immediate succor ; 
 but it was a supplication to ears that were deaf. 
 The man was either an arrant coward or else 
 grossly infatuated. He did seem to relent, how- 
 ever, after a time, and changed his purpose so far 
 as to send up Gen. Johnson, together with Major 
 
CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 57 
 
 Putnam and his Rangers ; but they had gone on 
 but about three miles when he despatched an 
 order after them, calling them back immediately. 
 By the same messenger who was the bearer of 
 this cowardly order, he sent a letter to Colonel 
 Monroe, at Fort William Henry, informing him 
 that he could render him no assistance, and ad- 
 vising him to surrender at once. The messenger 
 was intercepted, and Montcalm got possession of 
 the letter and instantly knew how the case stood. 
 He had just before heard from his Indian scouts 
 that the force that was marching up under John- 
 son and Putnam, were, in the language of the 
 red men, as great in numbers as the leaves on the 
 trees ; and he had made up his mind to beat a 
 retreat as early as he could in consequence. But 
 this intercepted letter put a new face on the 
 matter. He sent it in to Col. Monroe at once, 
 therefore, with a new and more urgent demand 
 for him to surrender. 
 
 No other way, of course, was left him. The 
 siege had already nearly consumed their provis- 
 ions, while their ammunition was almost entirely 
 exhausted. Articles of stipulation were drawn 
 up between the two commanders, and Montcalm 
 
58 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 promised that the provincial army should be pro- 
 tected on their march down to Fort Edward by 
 an escort of French troops. They were to march 
 out with their arms and their baggage. They 
 should not again serve against the French for 
 eighteen months; and the sick and wounded 
 were to be cared for by Montcalm, until such 
 time as they should sufficiently recover to be 
 safely escorted to Fort Edward. 
 
 The moment the last lines of the army had 
 passed the gates of the fort, the Indians, number- 
 ing some two thousand in all, set up their hideous 
 war-cry, shrill and fearful in the ears of the terror- 
 stricken provincials, and fell upon them with all 
 the strength and fury of their long-pent passion. 
 They were, no doubt, expecting a large amount 
 of plunder from this expedition against Fort 
 "William Henry, and when they saw their enemy 
 thus about to escape them, they were able no 
 longer to control their savage indignation ; 
 neither could Montcalm hold them in check, as 
 he had already hinted in his first summons to the 
 garrison to surrender. The French were power- 
 less to afford them the least protection, even if 
 they made the attempt. Such an indiscriminate 
 
CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 59 
 
 and merciless massacre as on that bloody day- 
 was enacted on the borders of beautiful Lake 
 George, is scarcely matched, certainly not ex- 
 ceeded, by any similar transaction recorded in 
 history. Those who fled were pursued by the 
 savages for more than half the way to Fort 
 Edward, who filled the forest with the wild 
 echoes of their hideous war-whoop. Fifteen hun- 
 dred of this devoted little army were butchered 
 on the spot where protection had been solemnly 
 promised them. The remnant, which did not 
 finally reach Fort Edward, were dragged away 
 into captivity, to suffer and at last to die. The 
 defile through which they retreated from the fort, 
 is called Bloody Defile to this day. Only a few 
 years ago, on making excavations for a plank 
 road there, a large number of human skeletons 
 were thrown up to the surface. Several skulls 
 had long fractures in them, as if made by toma- 
 hawks. 
 
 Webb was greatly alarmed on hearing what 
 had been done, as well he might be. He there- 
 fore sent forward Major Putnam, with his com- 
 mand, to reconnoitre, and report if the enemy 
 were about to march down next upon Fori 
 
60 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 Edward. And there is little doubt that, in case 
 they had done so, he would have fled from the 
 place with cowardly precipitancy, leaving such 
 of his men as would not accompany him to take 
 the best care they could of themselves. Putnam 
 reached the fort only to find it a mass of ruins. 
 The French, having finished their diabolical 
 work, were just getting into their boats to return 
 up the lake. Putnam describes the scene that 
 met his gaze, as he came up, in the following 
 words : " The fort was entirely demolished ; the 
 barracks, out-houses, and buildings, were a heap 
 of ruins; the cannon, stores, boats, and vessels 
 were all carried away. The fires were still burn- 
 ing ; the smoke and stench offensive and suffo- 
 cating. Innumerable fragments, human skulls 
 and bones, and carcasses half consumed, were 
 still frying and broiling in the decaying fires. 
 Dead bodies, mangled with knives and toma- 
 hawks, in all the wantonness of Indian fierce- 
 ness and barbarity, were everywhere to be seen. 
 More than one hundred women, butchered and 
 shockingly mangled, lay upon the ground, still 
 weltering in their gore. Devastation, barbarity, 
 and horror everywhere appeared, and the spec- 
 
CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 61 
 
 tacle presented was too diabolical and awful 
 either to be endured or described." 
 
 Fort William Henry was never rebuilt. Fort 
 George was built upon a point about a mile to 
 the south-east of it, at which the English army 
 rendezvoused the next year, just before their bril- 
 liant, but most unfortunate expedition against the 
 French on Lake Champlain. 
 
 Later the same year, General Lyman, the old 
 commander under whom Putnam first served in 
 this war, was in authority at Fort Edward, and 
 began to make his position as secure and strong 
 as circumstances would allow. One day he 
 despatched a party of more than a hundred men 
 into the forest to cut timber, and a guard of 
 fifty regular troops was sent out to protect them 
 against any sudden surprises. There was a 
 narrow road leading to the fort, at the extremity 
 of which the soldiers were posted. One side of 
 this road was bounded by a morass, and the other 
 by a creek. Early one morning, before the sun, 
 in fact, was fairly up in the east, one of the sen- 
 tinels thought he saw a flock of birds flying over; 
 and, on looking carefully, he discovered that one 
 of these feathered creatures lodged in the top of a 
 6 
 
62 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 tree above his head, and took the form of an 
 Indian arrow. He gave the alarm, and it was 
 found that a party of savages had crept into the 
 morass during the night, who, as soon as the 
 alarm was sounded, rushed out from their hiding 
 place and murdered those of the laborers who 
 were nearest at hand, driving the rest into the 
 fort, which was some hundred rods off. The 
 regulars came to the rescue in an instant, and 
 drove back the Indians by a volley of musketry, 
 so that the rest of the laborers were at last en- 
 abled to reach the fort in safety. 
 
 Gen. Lyman is supposed to have misinter- 
 preted the state of things, having been so 
 thoroughly surprised, and therefore called in all 
 his outposts and shut the gates of the fort. He 
 supposed that a general attack against the fort 
 from all points was intended, and felt the stern 
 necessity upon him, for the moment, of leaving 
 the little company of fifty regulars under Capt. 
 Little to take care of themselves. It was a cruel 
 mistake, though Gen. Lyman was never charged 
 with cowardice in making it. Putnam happened 
 to be placed on guard at the time, with a body 
 of rangers at one of the outposts, which was on a 
 
CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 63 
 
 small island situated not far from the fort, The 
 moment he heard the sound of the firms: m the 
 direction of Capt. Little's company, he sprang 
 with his usual impulsiveness into the water, and 
 bade his men follow him. As it was necessary 
 for him to pass the fort on his way, Gen. Lyman 
 leaped to the parapet as he came on, and ordered 
 him to stop where he was. He said it was need- 
 less to risk the lives of any more men ; for he 
 certainly supposed that the entire army of French 
 and Indians were right upon them. Putnam, 
 however, declared that he could not suffer a fel- 
 low-officer to be sacrificed without even an effort 
 to save him ; and, after offering a brief and very 
 hasty excuse for his conduct, pushed forward 
 with the hot haste that was so characteristic of 
 his nature. He thought of nothing, and cared 
 for nothing, but to rescue his brave companions. 
 
 They reached the company of regulars who 
 were thus fighting for their lives, and rallied 
 around them in an instant. Putnam was for 
 going pell-mell into the swamp ; and in they 
 went, raising a shout, as they did so, loud enough 
 to have frightened the very beasts of the forest. 
 The Indians were not expecting to be received in 
 
64 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 quite this style, entertaining no such ideas of the 
 courage of their enemy ; they therefore took to 
 flight with great precipitancy, and were hotly 
 pursued during the rest of the day into the forest. 
 Putnam returned to the fort with his men, ex- 
 pecting, of course, to be disgraced for his open 
 disobedience of orders ; but the general thought 
 proper, under all the circumstances, to let the 
 matter pass by in silence, and probably was glad 
 of an excuse to get over it so easily. It would, 
 without doubt, have created an intense excite- 
 ment in the garrison, had Putnam received even 
 a reprimand for his brave and self-sacrificing con- 
 duct on so trying an occasion, 
 
 Putnam remained at Fort Edward during that 
 winter. In the course of the winter, too, another 
 opportunity offered for him to make a display of 
 that cool courage and bold daring, for which he 
 enjoyed so wide a fame among the soldiers. 
 The barracks caught fire at a point not more 
 than twelve feet distant from the powder maga- 
 zine, in which were stored about fifteen tons of 
 powder. Cannon were brought to bear upon 
 them, in the hope of battering down a portion of 
 them, and thus staying the progress of the fire. 
 
CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH WAR. 65 
 
 But it was in vain. Putnam saw the extreme 
 danger, and, knowing that the flames were rap- 
 idly advancing in the direction of the magazine, 
 determined to make every exertion possible to 
 check them. For this purpose, he stood upon 
 a ladder reaching to the roof, and took the 
 buckets of water as they were passed up to 
 him from the line of men that was formed be- 
 tween' the fort and the river, and himself 
 kept dashing it without intermission upon the 
 flames. The heat grew every moment more 
 and more intense, till he thought at times he 
 could endure it no longer. The fire gained on 
 him in spite of his efforts, and he found him- 
 self enshrouded in a rolling mass of smoke and 
 flame. One pair of thick woollen mittens was 
 burned off his hands, and he immediately called 
 for another ; these he kept continually dipping 
 in the water, to preserve them from the fate of 
 the other pair. 
 
 He was even directed to come down, as it 
 was worse than useless to expose himself in 
 this way any longer ; but he resolutely re- 
 fused, fighting the furious enemy with a des- 
 perate energy that excited general wonder and 
 6* 
 
66 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 admiration. Still all the while he appeared as 
 cool and collected as if there was no such dan- 
 ger as fifteen tons of powder contained, within 
 a mile of him. Some of the men, in the mean- 
 time, stricken with a panic, were proceeding 
 to get their few valuables out of the fort and 
 make ready for the expected explosion. 
 
 Up to this time, only a single angle of the 
 barracks was on fire ; but now the flames en- 
 wrapped the entire line, and were bent on get- 
 ting at the powder beyond. Putnam was then 
 obliged to leave his post on the ladder, and 
 came down and planted himself, as the last 
 resource, between the burning barracks and the 
 magazine, and called for more water. They 
 kept passing it to him in a steady stream of 
 buckets. The fire had now caught the outside 
 timbers of the magazine, and burned them com- 
 pletely off. Only a single thickness remained 
 between that and the powder, and that was 
 soon reduced to a living coal ! Some thought 
 of flight ; but Putnam worked on. While his 
 sturdy form stood confronting the fires, it acted 
 upon those who saw him like a magnet, to at- 
 tract them to the spot. So they all worked with 
 
CONTINUATION OP THE FRENCH WAR. 67 
 
 greater enthusiasm still. Putnam was covered 
 with the thick-falling cinders, and enshrouded 
 with the smoke. Every one expected to see 
 him give out before so relentless a foe as the 
 one he had undertaken to contend with. This 
 was a rarer display of true courage than when 
 he went down alone into the wolf's den at mid- 
 night, finding his way along with a flickering 
 torch. He poured on the water incessantly. 
 At last the main timbers of the barracks hav- 
 ing burned through, they fell in, and the danger 
 was over. For nearly two hours he had fought 
 the fire single-handed. He was blistered from 
 head to foot, from his exposure to the intense 
 heat; and on drawing his second pair of mit- 
 tens from his hands, the skin came with them 
 too. 
 
 He was a keen sufferer from the effects of 
 these blisters and burns, and it was many 
 weeks before he was able to feel that his 
 case had taken a favorable turn. But by 
 this single act he had earned for himself 
 the warmest admiration and the hearty grat- 
 itude of the garrison, and indeed of the en- 
 tire army. No one could justly estimate what 
 
68 GEN. ISEAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 he alone had saved, by thus subduing such 
 a remorseles enemy as for a time threatened 
 to overwhelm them all with instant destruc- 
 tion. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 
 
 WILLIAM PITT, afterwards Lord Chat- 
 ham, had been entrusted with the 
 administration of affairs by the Brit- 
 ish government during the previous year, the 
 King finding the people at home and his colonies 
 in America were growing exceedingly restive 
 under the accumulating disasters and mortifi- 
 cations of the war. Thus far, nothing seemed 
 to have come of all their efforts and sacrifices. 
 The three or four northern colonies that had 
 heretofore been so lavish of their men and 
 money in the prosecution of the war, — a war, 
 too, which was to bring no immediate advan- 
 tage to themselves, — felt that it was a drain 
 upon them to go on in this way, for which 
 there was no likelihood that they would ever 
 receive a proper compensation. Had the army 
 
70 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 achieved any signal successes, it would have 
 been a different thing ; but the idea of continu- 
 ing as they had been doing for the past two 
 and three campaigns, caused no little irritation 
 and disquiet among them. They had raised fif- 
 teen thousand men to carry on this war ; and 
 they hesitated about raising any more with so 
 little promise of success. 
 
 As soon, however, as it was understood that 
 the king had changed his ministry, their hopes 
 changed too, and they looked forward to a 
 chance now of retrieving their past losses, and 
 securing that honorable peace for which they 
 had been fighting. 
 
 Mr. Pitt saw at once, with his instinctive 
 comprehensiveness of mind, that the arms of 
 the English had failed of success hitherto, on 
 account of the lack of capacity and courage 
 on the part of the leaders. He therefore re- 
 solved to recall the inefficient Lord Loudon ; 
 and ordered Abercrombie to resume the com- 
 mand, in which the former had, only the year 
 before superseded him. General Abercrombie 
 made his head quarters at Fort Edward. He 
 had been there but a little while, when he gave 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 71 
 
 directions to Major Putnam to take sixty men 
 with him down towards South Bay, beyond 
 the place where Wood Creek empties into Lake 
 Champlain, and there watch for such parties 
 of the French as might come straggling along 
 in their direction. This was business exactly 
 suited to Putnam's mind, and he proceeded to 
 obey so welcome an order with his usual alac- 
 rity. Arriving at a spot which he thought a 
 most favorable one for entrenching his little 
 party, he threw up a breast-work of stone 
 some thirty feet in length, and ingeniously 
 concealed the whole with young pine trees 
 which were chopped for the purpose. The 
 creek at that point was only thirty yards in 
 width; and the precipice on which he erected 
 his fortification lifted itself some ten or fifteen 
 feet straight above the water. The opposite 
 bank was very steep, and fully twenty feet ill 
 height. 
 
 The party became short of provisions, after 
 a time, although Putnam had already sent back 
 fifteen men to Fort Edward, who were too un- 
 well to stand the exposure any longer. He felt 
 sorely the want to which they were getting re- 
 
72 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 duced, and cast about to find some way of se- 
 curing temporary supplies. Happening to see 
 a large buck emerging from the thicket and 
 making ready to plunge into the creek and 
 swim to the other bank, he impulsively fired 
 and brought the animal to the ground. At 
 such a time, the firing of a gun was contrary 
 to military rules, and the most hazardous ex- 
 periment that could have been tried. And it 
 proved so in the present instance. Molang, the 
 famous French partisan, — of whom we have 
 spoken before, — chanced to be in the vicinity 
 with a party of French and Indians, moving 
 stealthily down towards the American forces. 
 This warning, which Putnam's musket fur- 
 nished him, also sufficed to show him where 
 the provincial scouts were stationed; and the 
 moment his sentinel, who had heard the report 
 of the musket, brought in word to that effect, 
 Molang resolved upon either surprising them 
 where they were, or stealing past them unper- 
 ceived into the country below 
 
 The French and Indians glided on down the 
 creek as silently as possible. They detected as 
 yet no signs of an ambush, for the pine trees 
 
CAMPAIGN OP 1758. 73 
 
 before the parapet which Putnam had erected 
 served as a perfect screen. At about ten o'clock 
 at night, one of the American sentinels brought 
 in word that he saw a great many canoes, filled 
 with men, advancing in the silence of the night 
 in their direction, and that they would soon be 
 within reach of the fort on the bank. Putnam 
 called in the sentinels, and prepared to greet 
 the enemy in his earnest manner, as soon as they 
 should make their appearance. It was a per- 
 fectly still night, and a full moon flooded the 
 landscape with its mellow light. All within 
 the little parapet was hushed. There was not 
 even the rustle of a bough, or the crackle of a 
 twig to be heard. The canoes came in sight. 
 They were indeed packed with men, as the 
 sentinel had warned them. Putnam resolved 
 to allow the first part of the line of boats to 
 get well into the throat of the watery defile, 
 and then to open fire upon them and take all 
 possible and destructive advantage of their con- 
 fusion. 
 
 They had paddled their way into this treach- 
 erous snare, not a sound as yet breaking the 
 stillness, when a soldier in the American party 
 7 
 
74 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 accidentally struck the lock of his musket 
 against a stone. | " O-wish ! " hissed the 
 commander of the enemy, halting in his sud- 
 den fright, and repeating the Indian watch-word. 
 The van of the line of boats having thus come 
 to a stand, the rear crowded up rapidly, and 
 in a moment they were all huddled together 
 before the American breastworks. Putnam saw 
 his advantage, and eagerly improved it. He 
 at once ordered his men to fire. Instantly the 
 entangled knot of canoes was thrown into still 
 direr confusion. The French could not see 
 their enemy, and of course could return but 
 an ineffectual fire. On the other hand, almost 
 every shot of the American party carried death 
 along with it. They kept up their murderous 
 work from the parapet with unabated energy, 
 killing great numbers of the enemy in the boats, 
 whose lifeless bodies went tumbling over the 
 sides and plashing into the water. Molang 
 at length saw, with his quick eye, that, from 
 the firing of the Americans, there could not be 
 many of them, and accordingly sent off a de- 
 tachment of his men to land below and attack 
 the entrenched party from behind. 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 75 
 
 Putnam, however, was as quick as himself. 
 He instantly ordered a detachment of a dozen 
 men to go and prevent their landing, which 
 order was successfully executed ; and he sent 
 still another party up the creek, to prevent a 
 similar demonstration in that direction. There 
 were thus left only twenty men with Putnam 
 in the fort; and these kept loading and firing 
 their pieces during the remainder of the night, 
 making great havoc with the boats, but not 
 even sacrificing a single life among their own 
 number. It was discovered, when morning 
 broke, that a part of the French had suc- 
 ceeded in making a landing below, between 
 the Americans and Fort Edward, and nothing 
 was left the latter but to retreat with all possi- 
 ble despatch. This last order of Putnam's was 
 executed with signal success. Only two of the 
 American scouting party were wounded dur- 
 ing this action, while nearly three hundred of 
 the enemy fell beneath the fire from behind the 
 concealed battlements on the bank. These two 
 were sent off, with two others, to the fort, but 
 were afterwards overtaken by their pursuers, 
 having been tracked by their blood on the 
 
76 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 ground. They advised their escort to fly, which 
 the latter did. One of them then killed three 
 of the Indians, before they succeeded in des- 
 patching him, and the other was carried off a 
 prisoner into Canada. Putnam afterwards saw 
 him there, when himself a prisoner in the 
 hands of the French. 
 
 On his retreat to Fort Edward, having only 
 forty men under him in all, Putnam was sud- 
 denly surprised to find himself fired upon by 
 a party that was unexpectedly approaching in 
 front. Ignorant of their numbers, he neverthe- 
 less determined to rush forward to the conflict, 
 and at once fight his way through or run the 
 chances for his life. Scarcely had he set up 
 his loud shout for his men to follow their 
 leader, when a cry arose from the other side, 
 — " Hold, we are friends ! " " Friends, or foes," 
 said Putnam, when they came up, " you deserve 
 to be fired into for doing so little execution, 
 when you had so fair a shot ! " The party 
 proved to be a detachment of men from the 
 fort, who had been sent to cover the retreat of 
 the little force under Putnam. 
 
 Gen. Abercrombie determined, not long after 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 77 
 
 taking possession of his post at Fort Edward 
 that year, to signalize the year's campaign by 
 some brilliant undertaking. He could think of 
 nothing which would bring him larger and more 
 sudden ^fame than the capture of Fort Ticon- 
 deroga, and he therefore formed the resolution 
 to compass such a plan before the season went 
 by. It was a hazardous undertaking, as he 
 well knew ; the fortifications were of the most 
 thorough and extensive character ; the site was 
 almost a perfect defence of itself ; and it re- 
 quired all the strength and courage of a well 
 appointed and highly disciplined army to march 
 up to storm such a fortress, in the face of the 
 thousand obstacles which the garrison had it 
 in their power to throw in their way. But 
 Abercrombie seemed to have set his heart on 
 the undertaking. His imagination, it is easy 
 to suppose, was dazzled with visions of the 
 military glory which its capture would earn 
 for his name. 
 
 It so chanced that the garrison within the 
 fort at Ticonderoga was at one time this sum- 
 mer reduced to four thousand men ; whereas 
 Abercrombie had at his command fully sixteen 
 
78 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 thousand, nine thousand of whom were fur- 
 nished by the Colonies. They assembled at 
 Fort George, and set sail on the lake on the 
 5th day of July, in the gray of the morning. 
 It was a Saturday. The array thus presented 
 on the surface of that beautiful lake, formed a 
 picture to which no descriptive pen could do 
 the justice it deserves. There were one hun- 
 dred and thirty-five whale boats, and nine hun- 
 dred batteaux, all laden heavily with men and 
 arms. In the sultry twilight of the same even- 
 ing they debarked at a point on the lake called 
 Sabbath Day Point, where they remained until 
 midnight, refreshing themselves with rest after 
 the long day's heat and fatigue. Young Lord 
 Howe was with the army, the idol and adored 
 of all. He gathered around his table the many 
 youthful and gallant spirits of the army, with 
 whom he discoursed with great freedom and 
 eloquence on the prospects of this most splen- 
 did expedition. Capt. Stark was present, who 
 afterwards achieved a lasting renown as one of 
 the Generals of the Revolution. Much was said 
 about the situation of Ticonderoga, its defences, 
 the means of approach to its fastnesses, and the 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 79 
 
 probable termination of the attempt to reduce 
 it by their arms. There were those present, 
 who, on recalling many things which Howe 
 uttered that night, thought they detected a 
 gleam of that sadness of his to which they 
 afterwards gave the name of presentiment. 
 
 This flotilla of more than a thousand boats 
 on the bosom of the lake, presented a splendid 
 military pageant. Howe, in a large boat, led 
 the van, surrounded by a company of Rangers 
 and boatmen. The English troops were dis- 
 played in the centre, and the Provincials formed 
 the wings. It was a little after midnight when 
 they re-embarked and began to move forward 
 again. There was not a cloud to be seen in 
 the sky; the stars shone out bright and spark- 
 ling; and the placid lake was unruffled by the 
 breath of the lightest breeze. Their oars were 
 muffled, and their progress was so silent that 
 not a single one of the sentinels on the sur- 
 rounding hillsides observed them. It was day- 
 dawn when they had come within four miles 
 of the point at which they were to land. The 
 sentinels of the French had no suspicion of the 
 presence or even of the approach of the Eng- 
 
80 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 lish army, until the blaze of their scarlet uni- 
 forms flashed in their eyes, as the crowded 
 boats rounded the point of land that intervened. 
 They landed at about noon in a little cove on 
 the west side of the lake, Lord Howe leading 
 on the vanguard of the army. The Rangers 
 pushed forward through the forest, to clear the 
 way for the main body. Howe came to the 
 bridge that spanned the stream formed by the 
 emptying of Lake George into Lake Champ- 
 lain, at the point known as Lower Falls ; and 
 thence he hurried on for the distance of a mile 
 and a quarter to the French lines. 
 
 The French first erected their fortifications 
 at Ticonderoga in 1755. They found that site 
 most happily adapted to the requirements of a 
 fortress, it being peninsular in form, and ele- 
 vated more than a hundred feet above the level 
 of the lake. On three sides was water, while 
 on the fourth was an almost impassable swamp, 
 or morass. This latter was situated to the north. 
 There was a neck y or narrow strip of land, be- 
 tween this swamp and the outlet of Lake 
 George, upon which were built regular en- 
 trenchments, and afterwards a breastwork nine 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 81 
 
 feet in height ; and before this breastwork was 
 an abatis, — which is formed of trees cut down 
 and pointed with their sharp branches out- 
 ward, rendering it extremely difficult for op- 
 posing troops to make their way over them in 
 an attempt at storming. 
 
 As we before remarked, Montcalm had but 
 four thousand men under his command in the 
 fortress, and was at the time expecting a re- 
 inforcement of three thousand from Canada. 
 Abercrombie knew this very well. The lat- 
 ter advanced his army in three columns, but 
 they made but slow progress on account of 
 the intricacy of the forest into which so large 
 an army had been plunged. An advance bat- 
 talion of the French fled from the log breast- 
 work they occupied, at their approach, which 
 they fired as they fled. Lord Howe was sec- 
 ond in command. Putnam acted as an ad- 
 vance guard to thread the forest, and to per- 
 form the valuable service of a scout. He had 
 a hundred brave men under him. Young 
 Howe was eager to advance as fast as the 
 scouts, and proposed to Major Putnam to ac- 
 company him ; but to this the latter would 
 
82 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 not listen. He nobly said to him, in trying 
 to dissuade him from his purpose, " My Lord, 
 if I am killed, the loss of my life will be of lit- 
 tle consequence ; but the safety of yours is of 
 infinite importance to this army." " Your life," 
 instantly answered Howe, " is as dear to you 
 as mine is to me ! I am determined to go ! " 
 And he did go. It was not long before they 
 came up with the advance guard of the enemy, 
 the same which had a little while before fled 
 and burned the log breastworks. This body 
 was without a guide, it seems, and had be- 
 come bewildered in trying to find their way 
 back to the French lines. At once fighting 
 began between the parties, and Lord Howe 
 fell at the very first fire ! The French, how- 
 ever, were driven back, having lost in killed 
 and prisoners four hundred and fifty men. 
 The English were greatly confused, their lines 
 broken, and at the end of the engagement 
 Abercrombie withdrew with them again to 
 the landing place on Lake George, to obtain 
 rest and refreshment. 
 
 It was said that when young Lord Howe 
 fell, " the soul of the army seemed to expire." 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 83 
 
 The soldiers all adored him. He accommo- 
 dated himself to all the circumstances of his 
 situation, and cut his hair and shaped his gar- 
 ments to suit the requirements of the service 
 and the fashion of the Provincial army. Five 
 thousand troops came over with him to Hali- 
 fax from England, the year before, whom he 
 commanded in this expedition against Ticon- 
 deroga. When he met his melancholy end, 
 he was but thirty-four years old. The Gen- 
 eral Court of Massachusetts appropriated two 
 hundred and fifty pounds, or about twelve hun- 
 dred and fifty dollars, to secure the erection 
 of a monument to his memory in Westmin- 
 ster Abbey. His remains were carried to Al- 
 bany, where they were buried with suitable 
 honors. His coffin was opened many years 
 afterwards, and it was found that his hair had 
 grown out in long and beautiful locks. 
 
 Gen. Abercrombie next despatched a party 
 to make observations concerning the defences 
 of the enemy ; and an engineer who went 
 with them brought back word that the works 
 might easily be carried, as they were not yet 
 finished. Upon this the English army marched 
 
84 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 forward once more. The French opened a gall- 
 ing fire of artillery upon them from behind 
 their breastworks, as they advanced, but they 
 seemed to take no heed of it whatever. On 
 they rushed in the face of the enemy's fire, 
 resolved to carry the works by storm. The 
 abatis presented the most fearful obstacle to 
 them, but they cared nothing for that. They 
 recklessly dashed on, clambering over and hew- 
 ing their way through the jagged limbs of the 
 trees, for the incredible space of four long 
 hours. A few did succeed in finally reach- 
 ing the parapet, — but they fell back in death 
 the instant they mounted it. The English 
 army was mown down in the most cruel and 
 murderous manner, while it was unable to 
 do any execution in return. Abercrombie at 
 length saw the fatality of the attempt to storm 
 1he works, and withdrew his forces hastily. The 
 French did not pursue, or the loss must have 
 been much greater even than it was. They 
 retreated in safety to the point on Lake George 
 at which they first landed, whence the wounded 
 were sent under escorts to Albany, and Fort 
 Edward. 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 85 
 
 111 this most rash and inconsiderate expedi- 
 tion the English army lost two thousand men, 
 and twenty-five hundred stand of arms. They 
 rushed like brave and dauntless heroes into 
 the very jaws of death, but it was the height 
 of a cruel ignorance thus to sacrifice the flower 
 of an army for no purpose at all. Had Ab- 
 ercrombie ordered a general assault on the 
 morning after the bloody skirmish with the ad- 
 vanced guard, he might have carried the then 
 incomplete intrenchments ; but he delayed un- 
 til the next day, and by that time the French 
 had constructed a bristling abatis along their 
 entire lines, which prevented the approach of 
 artillery, or even of infantry. 
 
 Putnam displayed great courage at all times 
 during the several engagements ; and in the 
 final retreat, acting as Aid, in place of the 
 lamented Howe, to General Abercrombie, he 
 performed most efficient and gallant service. 
 Gen. Abercrombie immediately returned to Fort 
 Edward, having accomplished none of the ob- 
 jects for which this most costly and inglorious 
 military enterprise had been undertaken. His 
 8 
 
86 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 inefficiency as a commander was established in 
 the eyes of every man in. the army. 
 
 It was during this summer that Putnam per- 
 formed his daring feat of dashing down the mad 
 rapids of the Hudson in an open boat. He 
 was near Fort Miller at the time, which was 
 situated on the east bank of the Hudson. 
 Learning suddenly that a party of Indians 
 were in the woods behind him, he bethought 
 himself of what he should do. If he tried to 
 cross the river at that point, the savages would 
 certainly shoot him before he could get over; 
 if he stayed where he was, his doom was 
 sealed without any doubt ; and if he trusted 
 himself in his light skiff to the boiling rapids, 
 he could hardly expect less than an awful 
 death on the rocks below. But, as usual with 
 him, his resolution was quickly taken. He 
 sprang into the boat, hastily ordered the oars- 
 men to push off into the stream, and succeeded 
 in getting beyond the reach of the guns of the 
 Indians by the time they came in sight upon 
 the shore. 
 
 But he had escaped one danger only to plunge 
 into the jaws of another. In a few moments 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 87 
 
 they were within the whirl and roar of the 
 rapids. The rocks, jagged and sharp, thrust 
 themselves out of the water on this side and 
 that. The over-laden boat was lifted up and 
 thrown down again by the mad force of the 
 breakers. Putnam stood like a statue at the 
 helm, however, skilfully guiding her through 
 the roaring dangers, while the savages, struck 
 dumb with astonishment at what they saw, 
 only looked on in silence, exchanging not even 
 a sign with one another. The boat went 
 safely through the foaming waters, and es- 
 caped all the perils that thrust themselves in 
 her rapid way ; and in a few seconds shot like 
 a silver arrow out into the placid bay below. 
 The Indians, from this, thought Putnam safe 
 from all danger, and superstitiously believed 
 it would be useless to fire upon him, for his 
 life was " charmed." 
 
 In August, not long after the unfortunate 
 march to Ticonderoga, Putnam was sent, with 
 Major Rogers, to overtake a party of the enemy 
 that had made a sudden attack on one of their 
 baggage trains, and carried off a large quantity 
 of valuable stores. They pushed forward with 
 
88 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 all possible haste to South Bay, a part of Lake 
 Cham plain, and reached the spot just in time to 
 see the fugitives embarking in their boats. Put- 
 nam concluded it was best to remain in the 
 locality, and watch the enemy's future move- 
 ments. Rogers was posted at South Bay, 
 while Putnam took his position at Wood 
 Creek, which empties into Lake Cham plain, 
 and about a dozen miles distant. Molang 
 was soon in the vicinity again, the foraging 
 party having probably carried word to the 
 army above, that the Americans were in pur- 
 suit ; and as his scouts were known to the 
 Americans to be hanging on their outposts, it 
 was thought most prudent for Rogers to unite 
 his force with Putnam's at Wood Creek, and 
 for them all to march back to Fort Edward as 
 soon as they could. This they proceeded to 
 do with all proper despatch. 
 
 As they were advancing through the dense 
 thickets, so dense that they were obliged to 
 thread their way in Indian file, Rogers amused 
 himself one morning before the hour for march- 
 ing had come, with firing at a mark with a 
 British officer. It was of course the most reck- 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 89 
 
 less mistake that could have been made. Mo 
 lang's party of Indians was near enough to 
 hear the report, and the wary enemy pushed 
 around until he came to an ambuscade through 
 which the retreating Provincials would have to 
 pass. There he intended to take his bloody 
 advantage. 
 
 The American troops, numbering about five 
 hundred, were in three divisions ; the first was 
 led on by Major Putnam ; Capt. Dalzell com- 
 manded the second ; and the third was under 
 Major Rogers. No sooner had the van em- 
 erged from the dense thicket through which 
 they had been creeping, upon the compara- 
 tively open plain, than the savages fell upon 
 them with surprising fury. They had been 
 skilfully posted all along the way, and from 
 their coverts behind the tree-trunks made sure 
 of a man for every fire. Rogers behaved in a 
 manner that was at the time thought cowardly ; 
 but Putnam pressed on with heated resolution, 
 and ordered Dalzell to hasten forward with his 
 division to his relief. 
 
 In a short time the fight became a desperate 
 one. Now it was hand to hand, and now they 
 8* 
 
90 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 fired at one another from behind the protec- 
 tion of the forest trees. First this side seemed 
 to prevail, and then that. A gigantic savage 
 approached Putnam to take his life. The lat- 
 ter snapped his fusee, having it pressed close 
 against the Indian's breast. It missed fire, and 
 the savage sprang upon him with all his native 
 ferocity, and instantly made him a prisoner. 
 He took him and tied him securely to a tree 
 which was close at hand, and then resumed 
 his hot work in the battle. 
 
 The conflict went on with redoubled rage. 
 Capt. Dalzell took the command, and pressed 
 hard upon the foe at one time, when they would 
 recover from their disadvantage and dash against 
 the Provincials with increased fury and mad- 
 ness in turn. Putnam was bound to the tree all 
 the while, and, as the battle went on, he was 
 several times placed almost in the centre of 
 the fire between the two parties ! His clothes 
 were pierced with bullets, but he was himself 
 providentially unhurt. When once the Provin- 
 cials were driven far back, and he found him- 
 self surrounded by the enemy, two or three 
 young savages amused themselves by hurling 
 
CAMPAIGN OP 1758. 91 
 
 their tomahawks at the tree, so as to just graze 
 his head. Finally a cruel Frenchman presented 
 his gun to Putnam's breast, intending to des- 
 patch him at once ; but finding it would not 
 go off, he clubbed it and dealt him a blow 
 upon his cheek, and left him, expecting that he 
 had made an end of him. 
 
 The enemy were at last driven back by the 
 Provincials, but in their hasty retreat they were 
 careful to unbind their prisoner and carry him 
 along with them. He was weary and faint, 
 weak from the abuses that had been visited 
 upon him, and almost broken hearted at the 
 thought of being led off through the wilderness 
 into captivity. The Indians who had charge 
 of him, tied his wrists tightly with cords, so 
 that they were badly swollen and exceedingly 
 painful. They even strapped heavy burdens 
 upon his back besides. He begged them to 
 kill him outright, and put him out of his suffer- 
 ing at once. They compelled him to walk over 
 a rough and hard country, with nothing at all 
 on his feet, which of course increased the pain 
 he endured indescribably. But after a time 
 his savage captor came up, and gave him a 
 
92 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 pair of moccasins for his feet, besides removing 
 the cruel burden from his shoulders. 
 
 Had this chief continued with him on the 
 journey, it would have been better for the un- 
 fortunate prisoner. But as he was compelled 
 to go back to look after the wounded, some 
 two hundred Indians went on with their cap- 
 tive, and soon came into what seemed the very- 
 heart of the wilderness. Here they stopped, 
 and held a consultation. It was resolved at 
 length to take their prisoner and roast him to 
 death by a slow fire ! Such fiendish torture 
 was exactly suited to their savage instincts. 
 Accordingly they stripped him of his clothes, 
 bound him to a tree, and piled faggots and 
 brushwood in a circle around him. He looked 
 on in courageous silence, and prepared his 
 thoughts for the end that seemed near at hand. 
 His tormentors began to yell and dance around 
 him. The fire was kindled, and the flames be- 
 gan slowly to creep up towards him. The 
 savages screamed in wild delight. The fire 
 grew hotter and hotter, and the suffering 
 victim, writhing and twisting, turned him- 
 self from side to side. The first time the fire 
 
CAMPAIGN OF 1758. 93 
 
 was kindled, a sudden fall of rain quenched it ; 
 but after the second trial, it burnt with great rap- 
 idity. The more he writhed in his speechless 
 agony, the louder the savages yelled in their 
 wild delight, and the more frantic became 
 their motions in their barbaric dances. He 
 fixed his thoughts on the loved ones at home, 
 and made ready to die whenever the last mo- 
 ment should come. 
 
 Suddenly a French officer came dashing up 
 through the crowd, kicked away the burning 
 faggots and branches, cut the thongs by which 
 he was tied to the tree, and released him. It 
 was Molang himself. He had heard of these 
 inhuman barbarities of the Indians towards their 
 distinguished captive, and hastened on to save 
 him from the fate which he knew awaited him. 
 Had he come a few minutes later, it would 
 probably have been all over with. He pas- 
 sionately upbraided the Indians for their cru- 
 elty, and took the prisoner under his own 
 charge for the rest of the journey. 
 
 Putnam suffered excessively all the way to 
 Ticonderoga, although he was treated with 
 kindness and courtesy. When he reached that 
 
94 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 fortress, he was presented a prisoner to the 
 Marquis Montcalm, the French commander, by 
 whom he was soon after sent under a proper 
 escort to Montreal. Col. Peter Schuyler was 
 a prisoner there, with others at the time, and 
 he paid Putnam great attention and civility. 
 It was through his influence that he was fin- 
 ally exchanged for a French prisoner, captured 
 by Col. Bradstreet at the assault on Fronte- 
 nac, now Kingston, in upper Canada. In Mon- 
 treal, too, Major Putnam became acquainted 
 with the lovely prisoner, Mrs. Howe, whom he 
 escorted back in safety to her friends in New 
 England. His final release was hailed with 
 joy by his numerous friends throughout the 
 combined English and Provincial army. They 
 had never expected to see him alive again. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 
 
 HE campaign of 1759 opened new pros- 
 pects to the English arms on this continent. 
 Then for the first time the ministry saw 
 that they had a chance to make up for their past- 
 reverses, and it gave them hope and courage 
 accordingly. 
 
 During this year, Major Putnam was promoted 
 to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel ; a rank which 
 no one will dispute he had richly earned with 
 his patriotic and self-denying services. The 
 ministry recalled Abercrombie, on account of 
 his manifest inefficiency, and placed in his stead, 
 General Amherst, a man in every respect his 
 superior, and well worthy of the high confidence 
 that was reposed in him. 
 
 During this year General Wolfe fell on the 
 Plains of Abraham, before Quebec, in the midst 
 
96 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 of victory. It was a brilliant victory gained, 
 but it cost the army and England dearly. "Wolfe 
 was a commander who could be illy spared from 
 any army. In one sense, he threw his life away 
 in carrying forward this daring assault upon 
 Quebec, since he felt that the ministry were 
 already dissatisfied with one shortcoming of 
 which he was guilty, and he now wished to 
 prove to them that they had not placed their 
 confidence in him to no purpose. 
 
 Ticonderoga and Crown Point likewise fell 
 before the approach of Gen. Amherst, who had 
 but to make his appearance before those most 
 important posts, in order to insure their ready 
 surrender and evacuation. The commander at 
 Ticonderoga saw very soon that he had some 
 one else than Abercrombie, of the year before, to 
 deal with, and capitulated without offering to 
 strike a blow. 
 
 Putnam accompanied Amherst in his expedi- 
 tion during this year both to Ticonderoga and 
 Crown Point; and his services were not a whit 
 behind what they had been heretofore for prompt- 
 ness and general value. He had as much to do, 
 personally, as any other individual, in strengthen- 
 
END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 97 
 
 ing the works about Crown Point; and superin- 
 tended them with his customary vigilance and 
 skill. 
 
 In 1760 the English ministry sent word over 
 that they wished Amherst to strike one vigorous 
 and final blow, and so reduce the Canadas 
 altogether. Amherst therefore projected his fa- 
 mous expedition against Montreal, which was 
 now the only other important post to which 
 attention remained to be directed. He divided 
 the army into three parts ; one started for Quebec, 
 under Gen. Murray, who was at the head of the 
 force before commanded by the lamented Wolfe ; 
 a second moved forward from Crown Point, by 
 way of Isle-Aux-Noix, under the command of 
 Col. Haviland ; and the third was put in motion 
 by Gen. Amherst himself, who passed up the 
 Mohawk Valley, and thence to Oswego, at which 
 place a force of a thousand Indians, under Sir 
 William Johnson, was added, making some eleven 
 thousand in all. Lieut. Col. Putnam went with 
 the Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 The plan was, to have all their forces arrive 
 
 before Montreal upon the same day, if possible. 
 
 Amherst embarked on Lake Ontario, captured a 
 9 
 
98 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 fort on his way, and happened to arrive before 
 Montreal on the very same day on which Gen. 
 Murray reached that point from Quebec. It 
 was a happy coincidence. What was still more 
 fortunate, Col. Haviland came up with his Crown 
 Point troops on the very next day ! The con- 
 certed design so far certainly worked admirably. 
 
 The Marquis de Vaudreuil was in command 
 at Montreal, and he had prepared himself to 
 withstand, as he thought, any assault that might 
 be made upon the city. But as soon as he saw 
 the vastly superior army that had suddenly made 
 its appearance against him, and from three differ- 
 ent quarters at the same time, he determined to 
 offer terms of capitulation. They were accepted 
 without any delay, or any bloodshed, and 
 Montreal became the possession of the English. 
 From that day, of coarse, the Canadas passed 
 into other hands. It was the crowning act of all 
 the rest. After so many trials and reverses, it 
 had resulted gloriously for the English arms 
 at the last. 
 
 It was while Lieut. Col. Putnam was passing 
 up with Gen. Amherst to the attack on Montreal, 
 that he performed the feat that is recorded o[ him 
 
END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 99 
 
 at the fort on Isle Royal. It was necessary for Am- 
 herst to capture this fort, since it would not be 
 safe to leave such a fortress in the hands of the 
 enemy behind him. The fort was named Oswe- 
 gatchie, and w r as built on the island at the en- 
 trance of the river of the same name. Two 
 armed vessels faithfully guarded the entrance, 
 and likewise swept the whole stream. Unless 
 these were put out of the way, Amherst could 
 not hope to proceed. 
 
 While the General was pondering on the way 
 in which he could get out of his dilemma, 
 Putnam proposed to go and take the vessels 
 himself. "How?" asked his surprised com- 
 mander. " With a beetle and wedges," answered 
 the courageous Putnam. The General knew 
 what a character Putnam had proved himself to 
 be before, and gave him authority to go ahead, 
 though he did not believe that anything would 
 come of it. Putnam took a few men with him 
 in a boat, and after nightfall started of! in the 
 silence and darkness. Getting under the vessels' 
 sterns unperceived, he drove the wedges in on 
 each side of their rudders, and thus prevented 
 their obeying the will of any pilot on deck. Both 
 
100 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 the vessels were driven ashore by the wind, being 
 helpless in the hands of their commanders, and 
 struck at once to the summons of the English 
 officers, who were ready to meet them as soon 
 as their crews landed. This incident has been 
 very strongly denied by many, yet there is enough 
 foundation for it in fact to make it worth telling. 
 In the year 1762, England found herself con- 
 siderably shorn of her strength, and coalitions 
 between some of the other nations of the con- 
 tinent were apparently forming against her. 
 Spain was quite ready to co-operate with France 
 in her endeavor to regain what she had thus far 
 lost in America. The colonies were required to 
 furnish still more men in order to meet this new 
 movement. In February, 1762, the French island, 
 Martinique, one of the West Indies, was captured 
 by the British. The Caribbees, too, were all 
 taken by the same power. And finally a large 
 naval force, consisting of nearly forty vessels, 
 and counting ten thousand men, were sent 
 against Havana. They succeeded in landing 
 upon the island of Cuba, but could not make 
 any headway. A pestilence broke out among 
 the troops, to whom the tropical climate was en- 
 
END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 101 
 
 tirely unsuited, and in less than two months 
 more than half of their number were swept off. 
 
 Reinforcements, however, came along in good 
 time from the colonies, consisting of over two 
 thousand men in all, of whom Connecticut alone 
 furnished one thousand under command of Gen. 
 Lyman. He having afterwards been appointed 
 commander of the entire Provincial force, Lieut. 
 Col. Putnam accordingly took command of the 
 Connecticut regiment. They experienced very 
 severe weather on their way to Cuba, and the 
 ship-load under Putnam was finally wrecked 
 off the coast. Putnam displayed all his cus- 
 tomary coolness during the gale, giving orders 
 to the men, and preserving strict discipline 
 throughout the fearful scene. The men con- 
 structed rafts, which were launched and sent 
 ashore successfully. By the aid of the line thus 
 secured to the land, the rafts were kept going 
 and coming to and from the ship, and all the 
 troops were at length landed in safety. Put- 
 nam constructed fortifications for his camp, and 
 waited until the storm subsided, when the 
 troops re-embarked, and in a few days arrived 
 at Havana. 
 
 9* 
 
102 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 The harbor of this famous ocean city is de- 
 fended by two forts ; on the east, the Moro, 
 and on the west, the Punto. The British com- 
 mander, Albemarle, besieged the former with 
 nearly fifteen thousand men. The siege was 
 protracted, and put the soldiers to their high- 
 est endurance. After overcoming many and 
 fearful obstacles, they succeeded in effecting a 
 lodgement in a certain part of the fortress, when 
 they sprung a mine previously prepared and 
 threw down enough of the masonry to give 
 them a chance to enter. The work of storming 
 was then carried forward with vigor and success. 
 About five hundred of the surprised Spanish 
 garrison were killed, and the remnant were 
 forced to beg for quarter, which of course was 
 granted. Having thus obtained possession of 
 this fortress, which had hitherto been deemed 
 impregnable, the British were able to command 
 the city, against which they accordingly pointed 
 their cannon. The governor general refused to 
 surrender, whereupon Lord Albemarle opened 
 a fire upon the town. This speedily brought 
 his Excellency to terms. He offered to accept 
 such terms of capitulation as the British might 
 
END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 103 
 
 see fit to propose. The harbor and city of 
 Havana, together with about a quarter of 
 the whole island of Cuba thus fell into the 
 hands of the British, whose arms were after- 
 wards properly respected by the powers that 
 had dared to combine against them. From 
 this day, peace began to assume a permanent 
 character on this continent, for which the ha- 
 rassed colonies, that had all the while been he- 
 roically fighting the battles of the mother coun- 
 try, were not the least grateful. 
 
 It was now a century and a half that this 
 struggle had been going on between France 
 and England for the mastery of this continent. 
 It had finally been decided in favor of the 
 latter power ; and it was now expected that 
 France would acquiesce, and that war would 
 come to an end. The Indians were not sup- 
 posed to be interested in continuing the war- 
 fare, since neither nation would be likely any 
 longer to require their services. Yet this opin- 
 ion proved to be a mistaken one. They had 
 a yearning desire to regain the lands they had 
 lost to the white race, and so made a final 
 stand for that purpose. The colonial govern- 
 
104 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 ors held repeated conferences with some of the 
 Indian chiefs, and tried to pacify them by as- 
 suring them of their friendship ; but the red 
 men did not like the looks of the forts with 
 which the English were encircling their terri- 
 tories. Accordingly several of the tribes con- 
 certed to make a vigorous attack upon their 
 common enemy, and did succeed in surprising 
 and capturing a number of their forts ; some 
 of them of great importance. At the head of 
 this warlike movement was the well-known In- 
 dian chief, Pontiac. 
 
 Under his lead, the savages intended to ex- 
 tend their power along the line of the great 
 lakes, gradually surrounding the English and 
 hemming them in. Amherst thereupon hast- 
 ened to concentrate his forces at the several 
 forts on the frontier, and made ready to repel 
 them. Captain Dalzell made his way through 
 the forest to the fort at Detroit, which was al- 
 ready surrounded by the Indians ; after which, 
 he sallied fort again and gave them battle, in 
 the early gray of the morning. In his gener- 
 ous and brave endeavor to rescue one of his 
 
END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 105 
 
 wounded officers, he was shot by the enemy, 
 and they both fell dead together. 
 
 The next year, Col. Putnam went to the fron- 
 tier with a Connecticut regiment, which con- 
 sisted of four hundred men. In this expedi- 
 tion, also, went Brant, the famous Indian 
 partisan. The savages still surrounded De- 
 troit, preventing the garrison from moving out 
 at all, by which means they had become sadly 
 reduced in provisions and energy. A little 
 schooner had been sent with a load of pro- 
 visions to their relief, which was attacked 
 fiercely by the Indians, but had managed by 
 good luck to escape. With the timely help 
 thus offered, the commander was able to hold 
 out until reinforcements arrived. As soon as 
 the savages were assured that these latter were 
 approaching, they began to disperse through the 
 forest, afraid to risk a battle. In the course of 
 the same season, too, a permanent peace was 
 finally made with them, and thus the terrors 
 of war ceased over the land. 
 '- Col. Putnam wrote a letter from the frontier 
 to a friend in Norwich, Connecticut, — Major 
 Drake, — setting forth the condition of affairs 
 
106 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 at the time in the camp. It is exceedingly 
 interesting, and contains a lively record of the 
 transactions in his locality. It was published 
 in the Boston Gazette, in December, 1764. 
 
 The wars having happily come to an end, 
 and all rumors of wars having ceased through- 
 out the land, Col. Putnam found himself once 
 more settled peacefully upon his Connecticut 
 farm, rejoiced to return to those pleasanter pur- 
 suits that are especially delightful to men tired of 
 the profession of arms. He had been an active 
 soldier for ten years. He had no knowledge 
 of military science, or strategy, when he be- 
 gan, but when he returned again to the peace- 
 ful pursuits of agriculture, he was in possession 
 of an experience that was worth all the strictly 
 technical discipline in the world. In fact, he had 
 thus imperceptibly been training for that other 
 and wider field on which he appeared to such 
 advantage, and whereon he achieved such deeds 
 of high renown, — the battle-field of the Amer- 
 ican Revolution. 
 
 What he had learned by this rough and rug- 
 ged experience of the seven years' war, was all 
 his own. It was worth everything, both to 
 
END OF THE FRENCH WAR. 107 
 
 himself and his country. It "was around such 
 a man that his fellow citizens would be likely 
 to rally in an emergency like that which arose 
 a little more than ten years afterwards. He 
 could inspire them by his ardor, and enthusiasm, 
 and patriotic purpose, — and he could also hold 
 them together in solid and resistless masses, by 
 the naked power of his character, his example, 
 and his will. 
 
 He had not been home long, when his wife 
 sickened and died. It was a terrible blow for 
 him, and the grief that grew out of it gnawed 
 sorely at his manly heart. She was the wife 
 of his youth. They had lived together as man 
 and wife for a quarter of a century. It was a 
 cruel snapping asunder, therefore, of the tender- 
 est ties that can hold two human souls to- 
 gether. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 IT is to be supposed, at this day, that every 
 one who can . read understands the causes 
 that led the American people to take up 
 arms against the mother country. They had 
 sacrificed everything for the sake of preserving 
 her honor; they had generously fought her 
 battles ; her name and renown were as dear to 
 them as it could be to a son of England born : — 
 but the same spirit that made them such devoted 
 sons, rendered it likewise impossible for them to 
 be craven suppliants, begging for favors. 
 
 King George the Third was possessed of an 
 idea that the American colonies were chiefly 
 useful to his throne for the revenues which they 
 could be made to pay into the royal treasury. 
 Both himself and his successive cabinets enter- 
 tained that mistaken idea, and attempted to 
 
OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 109 
 
 practise upon it in administering the government 
 for their foreign colonies. And out of this very 
 mistake grew the American Revolution. It began 
 with a feeling of dissatisfaction at first; then 
 followed protests ; next, talk of outright refusal 
 to do what was commanded ; then the refusal 
 itself, which was rebellion ; and finally the great 
 and simultaneous movement assumed the digni- 
 fied form and character of a Revolution. This 
 same American Revolution marks one of the 
 brightest and most hallowed spots on the page 
 of Hi story. 
 
 In the first place, the British ministry had 
 caused to be issued what were styled Writs of 
 Assistance, which were ordered for the purpose 
 of hunting up and seizing wherever found, any 
 articles that had been smuggled into the colonies 
 from on ship-board, without paying the tax im- 
 posed on them. Several of the eloquent and 
 bold orators of the day, including such men as 
 Otis and Adams, fiercely denounced the high- 
 handed measure, and counselled public disobe- 
 dience of the order. As a necessary result, such 
 goods as were found to have been brought into 
 the colonies without having paid the regular 
 10 
 
110 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 duties, were at once seized, wherever found, and 
 sold; which would be likely rather to add to the 
 flame of public feeling already burning, than to 
 assist in allaying its fervent heat. 
 
 It was Grenville who first laid the plan to 
 directly tax the American colonies, who was at 
 the time King George's prime minister. Every- 
 where the proposition was met with the most 
 indignant denunciations. But all this seemed 
 to make no difference. Inasmuch as the people 
 of America had determined that it was both 
 odious and wrong that they should be taxed for 
 the benefit of the mother country, the ministry 
 determined in their blind obstinacy that they 
 should be taxed all the sooner for having dared 
 to express their opinions. It was a matter of 
 will, from the beginning. The English govern- 
 ment meant to rule the people of the colonies 
 by the mere strength of its will. But after many 
 long years, and a weary struggle against obstacles 
 whose force the world will never fully understand, 
 that imperious will was humbled and broken. 
 The people triumphed, as, with the right on their 
 side, they ever must prevail. 
 
 The passage of the Stamp Act, in the year 
 
OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. Ill 
 
 1765, brought the matter to something like a 
 head. As soon as the news was received in this 
 country, the excitement and indignation knew 
 no bounds. The citizens of Boston and Phila- 
 delphia caused the bells to be tolled, in token of 
 their grief. The people of New York marched 
 in procession through the streets, bearing a copy 
 of the odious Act, with the representation of a 
 death's head attached to it, before them, to which 
 they appended the motto — " The Folly of Eng- 
 land, and the Ruin of America." The stamped 
 papers that were sent over, were seized and 
 destroyed ; and the agents of the government, 
 who were appointed to execute the law, were 
 forced to throw up their offices. 
 
 Col. Putnam entered into the general spirit of 
 resistance to such tyrannical exactions, with all 
 the ardor of his warm and honest nature. He 
 was active in stirring up his fellow citizens on all 
 sides to resistance. He likewise forwarded, by 
 every means in his power, the plans that were 
 formed among the colonies for harmony of action 
 in this most important matter. 
 
 Mr. Ingersoll had been appointed the stamp 
 master for Connecticut ; and Putnam, with others, 
 
112 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 was determined not to let him enter upon the 
 duties of his office. The committee who waited 
 upon him, requested him to resign ; but as he did 
 not answer them with a Yes or a No, they pro- 
 ceeded to take steps to make him comply with 
 their wishes. Putnam was an active adviser in 
 the entire movement. He had recently been laid 
 up by an accident himself, but he gave particular 
 directions how to proceed. A body of men were 
 collected in the eastern part of the colony, who 
 marched to Hartford, where they were told that 
 Mr. Ingersoll would be present on the following 
 day. He was reported to be then on his way 
 from New Haven. Instantly the party started 
 off to meet him by the way. They came upon 
 him at Wethersfield, where they made him sign 
 his own resignation, and certify likewise that he 
 did so "of his own free will and accord, and 
 without any equivocation or mental reservation." 
 They then stood him on a table, compelled him 
 to read aloud the paper he had just signed, and 
 afterwards lo shout three times — "Liberty and 
 Property!" The crowd responded with due 
 heartiness, honored him with a public dinner, 
 and then escorted him in safely lo Hartford, 
 
OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 113 
 
 where he publicly read his resignation a second 
 time, to the delight and satisfaction of everybody 
 who had turned out to hear it. There was not 
 the least hard feeling over it, but the whole trans- 
 action was relished as a capital joke, — which it 
 certainly was ; besides being, likewise, a deter- 
 mined piece of business. 
 
 Col. Putnam subsequently had a personal 
 interview with the colonial Governor respecting 
 the impossibility of enforcing so hateful an act 
 of parliament, which was perfectly characteristic 
 of the intrepid temper of the man. The Governor 
 asked Putnam what he should do with the stamp- 
 ed paper, if it should be entrusted to him by the 
 King's authority. "Lock it up," answered Put- 
 nam, " and give us the key." His excellency wish- 
 ed to know what next. "We will send you the 
 key safely again," said Putnam. " But if I should 
 refuse you admission to the room where it is 
 kept?" asked the Governor. " Then we shall tear 
 down your house for you ! " replied the determined 
 hero of the seven years' war. The story of this 
 interview of Putnam with the Governor got 
 abroad, and no stamped paper was ever sent into 
 the Connecticut colony. So loud were the pro- 
 10* 
 
114 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 tests, and so open was the defiance exhibited on 
 the part of the colonists, that the ministry finally 
 concluded to review their former determination, 
 and the Stamp Act was accordingly annulled. 
 As soon as the welcome news reached this coun- 
 try, the change in the public feeling was too 
 marked not to be heeded with thoughtful care by 
 the ministry. Thanksgivings and rejoicings were 
 offered on every side. Gladness beamed from 
 every countenance. The talk of the people was 
 now of their renewed affection for England and 
 the King, and the general heart settled down into 
 the calm joy that attends upon peace. 
 
 Trade instantly revived, and prosperity reigned. 
 So violent a storm was succeeded by so placid a 
 calm, that it makes one happy even at this 
 distant day to contemplate it. Col. Putnam 
 resumed his usual occupations on his farm again, 
 and in their pursuit reaped the rich rewards that 
 attend upon intelligent and contented labor. He 
 met with one or two quite severe accidents, 
 during this season of peace, from which he never 
 wholly recovered. It was at this time, too, that 
 he added the calling of inn-keeper to that of a 
 farmer, and gave public notice that he was ready 
 
OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 115 
 
 to accommodate the travelling public in the most 
 faithful way he knew how ; and a very popular 
 host he proved himself, too. People were fond 
 of partaking of the generous cheer with which he 
 always made their coming welcome. He hung 
 out his sign from one of the elm trees before his 
 door, upon which was represented General 
 Wolfe — the youthful hero of Quebec — in mil- 
 itary uniform, with his right arm pointing at 
 something in the distance, and a most earnest 
 and enthusiastic expression upon his face. This 
 sign is now in the possession of the Historical 
 Society of Connecticut, at their rooms in Hart- 
 ford. The iron staples are still to be seen, driven 
 into the old tree that waves its green crown, 
 every summer, before the place where stood his 
 hospitable mansion. 
 
 Gen. Lyman, the old commander of Putnam, 
 went to England about these times, to draw the 
 prize money that belonged to the men who served 
 under him in the expedition against Havana. 
 After many years' vexatious delay, he finally 
 succeeded in procuring the amount due them, 
 and returned home. A few of the officers had it 
 in their minds to take their money and purchase 
 
HG gen. Israel putnam. 
 
 a tract of land west of the Mississippi. Putnam 
 accordingly joined the party, and started off into 
 the wilderness to locate his purchase with the rest. 
 They sailed to the site upon which New Orleans 
 now stands, pushed up the Mississippi, laid out 
 the boundaries of their new colony, and returned 
 home again to take the necessary steps to send 
 forward emigrants. General Lyman did return 
 to the place the next year, and founded a settle- 
 ment where Natchez stands to-day. Here he 
 passed the remainder of his days. Putnam sent 
 forward men for a time in his stead, and furnish- 
 ed them with means to bring his own portion of 
 the lands speedily under cultivation. But other 
 work was in immediate reserve for him, than 
 that of leading forth a young colony to the banks 
 of the father of waters. Events were thickening, 
 and causes were ripening, and every sign gave 
 promise that some great epoch in history was 
 close at hand. 
 
 Although it could be urged that the odious 
 Stamp Act had been repealed, yet the British 
 Parbament passed a declaratory act, to the effect 
 that the mother country had the right to tax the 
 colon"*, Which ri Sl>t she should exercise just 
 
OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 117 
 
 when she saw proper. Mr. Pitt was laid up 
 with the gout at his country seat, and Mr. 
 Townshend, who was chancellor of the Exchequer 
 in his absence, brought forward a bill to levy 
 duties on paper, glass, painters' colors, and teas. 
 He also proposed a measure which aimed to 
 appoint boards of trade in the different colonies, 
 entirely independent of the colonial legislatures ; 
 which was as offensive as any measure of the 
 sort well could be. 
 
 To these plans the people of America showed 
 as much resistance as ever. They began to get 
 ready to oppose them, if the necessity finally 
 came, with force itself. The men of experience, 
 therefore, like Col. Putnam, took great interest 
 in organizing and drilling bands of young men, 
 feeling that the time was not far off when sol- 
 diers would be chiefly needed. This was in the 
 year 1767. The orators and leading men exerted 
 all their influence to arouse the people to a true 
 sense of their degradation and wrongs. Associ- 
 ations were formed all over the country, to further 
 the plans of resistance. The people refused to 
 have any intercourse whatever with the mother 
 country. The ladies denied themselves every- 
 
118 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 thing like foreign luxuries and exerted themselves 
 to make up clothing with their own hands for 
 their sons, husbands, and fathers. A spirit of 
 opposition pervaded all classes of society. Even 
 tea was interdicted, by general agreement, from 
 the table, because the women would not drink 
 what would help establish the power of England. 
 The excitement grew greater every day. The 
 crisis was approaching, One thought seemed to 
 control the public mind, — one resolve fired the 
 popular heart. 
 
 The British government of course began now 
 to bear down all the harder. They stationed 
 soldiers in the halls where the colonial legisla- 
 tures met, in order to break up their sittings. 
 But these bodies immediately assembled in 
 other places, with still stronger determination 
 to resist the tyranny of the mother country. 
 The troops goaded the colonists almost beyond 
 endurance. At last an outbreak did occur in 
 King street in Boston, — now State street, — on 
 the 5th of March, 1770 ; when the soldiery fired 
 upon the citizens, and killed several; the first 
 person who fell was a stout mulatto fellow at 
 the head of a party of sailors, whose name was 
 
OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 119 
 
 Crispus Attueks. Two others were killed on 
 the spot, and two more died a few days after- 
 ward. There had been trouble brewing for some 
 time between the town people and the soldiers, 
 and on the evening of the day just mentioned 
 the first outbreak occurred. Early the next 
 morning, Faneuil Hall was crowded with ex- 
 cited citizens, who determined that every for- 
 eign soldier should be withdrawn immediately 
 from Boston. No men were more bold in their 
 denunciations of the soldiery than James Otis 
 and Samuel Adams. This event occurred on 
 Friday night ; the citizens met at Faneuil Hall 
 on Saturday morning ; and on the Monday 
 following the troops were withdrawn and sent 
 to Castle William, in the harbor, and the city 
 became composed and quiet again. There were 
 most imposing ceremonies at the burial of the 
 victims of this sudden fight, and the " Boston 
 Massacre " was a bloody story that served to 
 stir still more deeply the hearts of the people to 
 open resistance. 
 
 General Gage was the Royal Governor of 
 Massachusetts Province at this time, and was 
 well known to Putnam during the French and 
 
120 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 Indian war. There were others also in Boston, 
 whom he had intimately known by means of 
 the same companionship. He was frequently 
 there about these days, and during the preva- 
 lence- of the troubles that ushered in the Revo- 
 lution. His voice was heard on all important 
 occasions, not more by his own countrymen 
 than by the British officers with whom he had 
 before been a companion in arms. He openly 
 counselled one party to resistance, and the other 
 he expostulated with to no purpose. The Brit- 
 ish officers asked him on which side he should 
 be found, in case it should come to open war. 
 " I shall be found on the side of my country al- 
 ways!"-— was his prompt and spirited reply. 
 They inquired of him again, how large an army 
 it would take to conquer the country ; in other 
 words, if five thousand soldiers could not march 
 the length and breadth of it, and not be troubled 
 by the inhabitants ? " If they behaved them- 
 selves, they could," was his answer ; « but if 
 they did not, and no men were at hand, the 
 American women would drive them out of 
 the country with broomsticks ! " 
 
 As the difficulties increased, and less and less 
 
OPENING OP TIIE REVOLUTION. 121 
 
 grew the probabilities that there could for a 
 much longer time be kept up even the appear- 
 ance of peace with the mother country, com- 
 mittees of vigilance were organized in the dif- 
 ferent colonies, whose duty it was to hold 
 frequent correspondence each with the other, 
 acquaint the different sections of the country 
 with what was going on, and perfect such 
 schemes for resistance as might finally be of 
 the greatest service. Col. Putnam was very 
 efficient upon one of these committees in Con- 
 necticut, and kept the people thoroughly ap- 
 prised of what was going forward. Besides 
 this, he gave much time to organizing the men 
 about him into companies, and to drilling them 
 to the stern service which was so soon to be 
 required at their hands. On one occasion, in 
 September, 1774, he was the means of creating 
 a false alarm, which called out the people all 
 along the line between New York and Boston, 
 so that the roads were covered. The story was, 
 that blood had been shed in Boston by the British 
 troops, and every heart beat warmly to avenge 
 the public wrongs. It is said that as many 
 
 as thirty or forty thousand men flew in- 
 11 
 
122 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 stantly to arms, believing that the British were 
 firing upon the town of Boston. Gen. Gage 
 saw what an excitement the rumor had cre- 
 ated, and knew from this the temper of the 
 colonists ; and therefore concluded to fortify 
 himself in his position without further delay. 
 The moment this alarm was given, Col. Put- 
 nam mounted his horse and started off for 
 Boston ; but being met on the way by a cap- 
 tain of militia, he learned that the whole story 
 was false, and turned about and rode home 
 again, reaching his house at sunrise on Sun- 
 day morning. The rumor grew out of the 
 British force having silently sailed up the Mys- 
 tic river during the night, and carried off all 
 the powder that was stored in the arsenal at 
 Charlestown. 
 
 When the conflict with the power of Eng- 
 land finally came on, it was not even then 
 supposed by the colonists that it would in- 
 volve their total separation from the mother 
 country ; indeed, they had not once seriously 
 thought of such a result, except to deplore it. 
 They merely resolved to resist, perhaps believ- 
 ing that England would in time relent in her 
 
OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 123 
 
 tyrannical demands, and give them enduring 
 peace and prosperity. Still, let the conse- 
 quences be what they might, they would at 
 least resist. And while showing such a spirit, 
 the King resolved that they should be forced into 
 submission. It is not at all likely that British 
 statesmen generally knew or cared much about 
 the feelings of the people of this country ; nor 
 did the King, or his ministers, know or care 
 any more. The whole plan was to extort 
 money enough from the North American col- 
 onies to assist in defraying the enormous ex- 
 penses of the British Government. The de- 
 bates in Parliament on the state of America 
 were very meagre, showing that scarcely any 
 interest was taken in the question, that was 
 at all commensurate with its great import- 
 ance. 
 
 Troops were quartered wherever the British 
 power thought their presence necessary. The 
 difficulties began in Boston. Gen. Gage hav- 
 ing occupied the town with his soldiers, and 
 broken up the Assembly of Massachusetts, it 
 met elsewhere, and styled itself a Provincial 
 Congress. Committees of Safety were ap- 
 
121 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 pointed, and it was instantly voted to raise 
 an army of twelve thousand men. Minute 
 men were also enrolled, to be ready to march 
 at a moment's warning. Arms and ammuni- 
 tion were secured as rapidly as circumstances 
 would allow. While affairs were in this sit- 
 uation, Gen. Gage despatched an expedition 
 of eight hundred men to Concord, twenty miles 
 from Boston, to destroy the ammunition and 
 stores that were known to be there collected. 
 This was the night of the 18th of April, 1775. 
 He was very secret in his operations, yet not 
 so secret as to elude the vigilance of the col- 
 onists, who were so closely watching him. Mes- 
 sages were despatched to points all along the 
 route they would be likely to take, directing 
 that measures should be instantly taken to op- 
 pose them. 
 
 When the British, who were commanded by 
 Col. Smith and Major Pitcairn, reached Lex- 
 ington, which is about half-way between Bos- 
 ton and Concord, it was just day-dawn on the 
 19th. They were of course very much aston- 
 ished to find a handfull of Americans — seventy 
 in all — drawn up on the green to offer them 
 
OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 125 
 
 resistance. Major Pitcairn rode up before them 
 and called out in a tone of authority, thinking 
 to intimidate them, — " Disperse, you rebels ! 
 Throw down your arms, and disperse ! " But 
 they paid no heed to his order ; whereupon he 
 discharged his own pistol, and ordered his troops 
 to fire into them. His order was instantly 
 obeyed, and four of the Americans fell dead. 
 The remainder rapidly scattered, of whom three 
 more were slain in climbing over the fences. 
 But they did not flee. They were joined by 
 others, and very soon large bodies of militia 
 were gathered in the vicinity, determined on 
 making farther resistance. The British force hur- 
 ried on to Concord, captured a portion of the 
 stores they found there, and retreated again 
 as fast as they could, knowing that the whole 
 country round was getting thoroughly excited 
 against them. They had a slight skirmish at 
 Concord, during which two of the American 
 and three of the British soldiers were killed, and 
 several more were wounded. It was at the 
 old North bridge, and the spot is now pointed 
 out to travellers where two of the three Brit- 
 ish soldiers were slain, and where they still 
 11* 
 
126 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 lie. They succeeded in destroying a consider- 
 able amount of stores, and broke open sixty 
 barrels of flour, of which they took pains to 
 waste as much as they could. They likewise 
 cut down the liberty-pole in the town, and set 
 the court-house on fire ; but a lady put out the 
 fire before much damage had been done. 
 
 Meantime the militia were collecting as fast 
 as they could from all the towns around. So 
 that when the British set out on their march 
 back to Boston, they found themselves haras- 
 sed in every conceivable way. From behind 
 walls, and trees, and fences, and whatever other 
 concealments offered, the Americans poured in 
 a steady and well directed fire upon them, which 
 was terribly galling and destructive. The road- 
 sides seemed to belch fire at their retreating 
 and rapidly thinning ranks. Every tree con- 
 cealed a musket. They could not see their en- 
 emy so as to take aim at them, and were there- 
 fore placed at every possible disadvantage. So 
 rapid was the increase of the Americans, and 
 so closely did they follow up the retreating 
 body of the British, that Col. Smith resolved 
 to get back to Boston now with all possible 
 
OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 127 
 
 despatch. At Lexington there was another 
 severe skirmish, and so tired and jaded were 
 the British, they thought they would be obliged 
 to surrender. 
 
 Fortunately for them, however, an express 
 had been sent back to Gen. Gage in Boston, 
 as soon as the British commander arrived at 
 Lexington - in the morning, acquainting him 
 with the astonishing fact that the whole coun- 
 try was already in arms. So that when they 
 reached Lexington again on their return from 
 Concord, they were saved from surrender, or to- 
 tal destruction, only by the timely coming up of 
 the nine hundred men whom Gen. Gage had 
 sent forward in such hot haste. This detach- 
 ment, which was commanded by Lord Percy, 
 met the fatigued British about half a mile be- 
 yond Lexington. It was between two and 
 three o'clock in the afternoon. As soon as 
 they had formed a hollow square and received 
 the retreating troops within its protecting lines, 
 the latter fell down upon the ground from sheer 
 exhaustion, panting and lolling their tongues 
 out of their open mouths. After resting and 
 refreshing themselves, both parties started on 
 
128 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 again for Boston. They went out of their 
 way to destroy, by burning, two houses, two 
 shops, and a barn, in Lexington, and then 
 pushed on. But the Provincials had been fast 
 gathering, each man fighting for himself, and 
 getting ready to pour in their fire again as 
 soon as the British should resume their march. 
 Pitcairn's horse was shot under him, and his 
 pistols he was forced to leave behind in their 
 holsters. They afterwards came into Gen. Put- 
 nam's possession. Their loss was very severe, 
 all the way. At West Cambridge they had 
 another skirmish with the Americans, in which 
 Dr. Joseph Warren, afterwards Gen. Warren, 
 came near being shot ; the ball knocking the 
 pin out of an ear-curl in his hair. The Brit- 
 ish sacked, pillaged, and murdered, all along 
 their bloody route to Boston. They came near 
 being cut off entirely by reinforcements of the 
 militia before they could reach Charlestown ; 
 but they at last succeeded in securing their 
 safety. They camped on Bunker Hill that 
 night, and on the next day went over to Bos- 
 ton, considerably broken in spirits, and convinced 
 
OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 129 
 
 that an army of British could not march through 
 the country unmolested. 
 
 On that 19th of April, 1775, the British lost 
 in all two hundred and seventy-three men, of 
 whom sixty were slain ; the Provincials lost 
 one hundred and three, of whom fifty-nine were 
 killed. It was not a great fight in itself, but 
 it was great and even grand in its consequences. 
 On that day a Nation was born. Then the 
 freemen of America learned, for the first time, 
 how to stand and fight for their own liberties. 
 An authentic statement of these occurrences 
 was drawn up by the American Committee, 
 and despatched by a vessel from Salem direct 
 to London. The latter city was soon in as wild 
 an excitement, almost, as Boston was at the 
 same moment. The ministry were openly taunt- 
 ed in the streets, and told that " the great British 
 army at Boston had been beaten by a flock of 
 Yankees ! " 
 
 The news of the battles of this memorable 
 day flew on the wings of the wind through the 
 length and breadth of the country. A man came 
 riding through the quiet town of Pomfret on 
 horse-back, bearing a drum about his neck, and 
 
130 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 beating it and calling out to all whom he met, 
 — " To arms ! To arms ! the first blood has been 
 shed at Lexington ! " Putnam was plough- 
 ing in the field, at some distance back from 
 his house, at the time, and Capt. Hubbard 
 was also at work in the next lot. As soon 
 as they found what was the cause for the 
 alarm, they set out for the place where their 
 services would be most likely to be wanted. 
 Hubbard walked home, got ready his military 
 accoutrements, and started off for Boston in his 
 own systematic and moderate way. Putnam 
 had his little son with him in the field. He at 
 once unyoked his oxen and took them out of 
 the furrow they were ploughing, sent word to 
 his wife by the boy where he had gone, took his 
 fastest horse from his barn, and rode away at 
 such a pace as we should have expected from 
 a man of his well-known character. 
 
 On the 21st he was at Cambridge, where 
 he attended a council of war that was suddenly 
 called to provide for the emergency. By that 
 time, there were at least twenty thousand Amer- 
 ican troops gathered around Boston. It was 
 resolved to fortify all the entrances to the town 
 
OPENING OF THE REVOLUTION. 131 
 
 without delay, and to watch the movements 
 of the British very closely. Putnam was sent 
 for by the Connecticut Legislature, which was 
 then in session at Hartford, to confer with them. 
 He hastened back, therefore, for that purpose. 
 A regiment of troops was at once organized, 
 and Putnam put at their head, with the title 
 of Brigadier General. He hurried back to Cam- 
 bridge, having been absent only a week. Sev- 
 eral who served with him in the French war, 
 now joined their services with his again in the 
 struggle for independence. 
 
 Gen. Ward was commander-general of all the 
 forces, though such an old and tried soldier as 
 Putnam was looked up to with great respect 
 and confidence by the whole body of the hastily 
 collected militia. It is proved that these two 
 generals for a brief time divided the responsi- 
 bility between them as they best could. Ward, 
 too, had served along with Putnam at the un- 
 fortunate storming of Ticonderoga, under Gen. 
 Abercrombie ; and thus strangely were they 
 brought together again. The British officers 
 did the best they could to bribe over the lead- 
 ing Americans. To Putnam they offered the 
 
132 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 rank of Major General in the British army, a 
 large sum of money, and generous provision 
 for his boys in the future. But his honest 
 spirit spurned all their offers. He was not 
 poor enough to consent to take bribes against 
 the liberties of his own countrymen. 
 
 Gage offered to let the Americans, who were 
 still living in Boston, depart on condition they 
 w T ould give up their arms ; but as soon as they 
 had complied with his terms, he refused to 
 keep his word. This only exasperated the mi- 
 litia so much the more. It was resolved now 
 to erect a line of fortifications all around Bos- 
 ton, stretching from Dorchester Heights to Chel- 
 sea, a distance of about twelve miles. Into 
 this work Gen. Putnam threw himself with 
 all his usual energy. He had become well ad- 
 vanced in years by this time, but his heart 
 beat as quick as that of many men not half 
 as old as he. The intrench ments were all 
 thrown up, and every care taken neither to 
 allow a British soldier to pass through them 
 from out of Boston, nor any supplies to be car- 
 ried in. They therefore held the British in the 
 town in a regular state of siege. 
 
OPENING OP THE REVOLUTION. 133 
 
 Putnam sent a party of thirty men, on the 
 27th of May, over from Chelsea to Hog Island, 
 to capture what live stock was there, that it 
 might not be of service to the British for food. 
 The water was not deep, and the men all waded 
 over, and began to drive off the cattle. A party 
 of marines were stationed there, however, and 
 a fight of course ensued with them. A schooner 
 was at once sent from the fleet in the harbor, 
 to help repel the bold American militia. But 
 the party managed to secure their prize, and re- 
 treated in good order and with safety. Putnam 
 afterwards joined them with a larger force, and 
 after nine o'clock in the evening they brought 
 a single cannon to bear on the schooner, com- 
 pletely disabling her, so that she drifted on 
 shore ; and at day-break they took whatever 
 there was valuable on board of her, and, after 
 placing hay under her stern, set her on fire. The 
 British were deeply chagrined to see one of 
 their vessels thus captured and burned by a lit- 
 tle force on the land, but they were unable to 
 help themselves. By this single manoeuvre, the 
 Americans carried away many hundred sheep 
 and cattle. 
 
 12 
 
184 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 On the 6th of June, it was agreed that an 
 exchange of prisoners should be effected be- 
 tween the two armies. Gen. Putnam and Dr. 
 Warren acted on behalf of the Americans, and 
 received the British party at Charlestown at 
 about noon. They marched under escort to 
 the ferry, and upon a signal being given, Major 
 Small and Major Moncrief, together with their 
 prisoners, landed from the British vessel. Put- 
 nam had served with these British oificers in 
 the French and Indian war. They had not 
 met since those former days of hardship and 
 intimacy. The moment they landed, therefore, 
 they forgot all else, and rushed into one an- 
 other's open arms. They embraced and kissed 
 each other, while the people stood around and 
 wondered what so strange a spectacle could 
 mean. They afterwards passed an hour or 
 two in social converse, at the house of a gen- 
 tleman near by, and at nightfall separated to 
 meet again in hostile array, only ten days later, 
 on the heights of Bunker Hill ! So fierce is 
 Avar, and so relentless is it in its demands. 
 
&^ 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 
 
 IT became necessary now for the Americans 
 to fortify Dorchester and Charlestown 
 Heights, inasmuch as it had been given 
 out that the British general had resolved to do 
 it himself. They could gain a great advantage, 
 if they could by their celerity get the start of 
 them. The enemy evidently meant to strengthen 
 their position by occupying Charlestown Heights, 
 from which they could easily make an irruption 
 into the surrounding country. 
 
 A council of war was therefore held at Cam- 
 bridge, at which it was finally decided, though 
 all were not in favor of the plan, to march over 
 \o Charlestown by night and hastily throw up a 
 fortification. Putnam favored the design with 
 all his influence an/1 arguments. He urged, in 
 the first place, that it would astonish the enemy 
 
136 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 to find themselves thus unexpectedly outwitted ; 
 and, in the next place, that even if it brought on 
 an engagement, a battle would be the best pos- 
 sible thing for the militia that were then collected. 
 They would rapidly learn discipline under fire, 
 and their ranks would close up with true military 
 compactness from that day forward. 
 
 It was objected to this proposal, that there 
 were then but sixty-seven barrels of powder to 
 the whole army ; and that it would be hardly less 
 than insanity to bring on a general engagement, 
 with such a trifling amount of ammunition. 
 But Putnam pleaded to have the experiment 
 tried. He feared nothing for the result. He 
 knew very well that the Americans were all good 
 marksmen, and that every soldier could kill his 
 man. Gen. Warren tried to argue him out of 
 his opinion ; but Putnam was convinced, for 
 himself, knowing what he did of war and its 
 results to an undisciplined force, that a smart 
 brush with the enemy would lead to the happiest 
 consequences. 
 
 Orders were therefore given by Major General 
 Ward, — who was the commander of the Massa- 
 chusetts forces, and so by courtesy of the whole 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 137 
 
 forces that were assembled around Boston, — 
 to Col. Prescott, to go over to Charlestown on 
 the night of the 16th of June, and throw up such 
 hasty intrenchments as would defy the efforts of 
 the British army to dislodge the soldiers within 
 them. A thousand men were placed under his 
 command. It was Friday evening. Before 
 leaving, that night, to go upon their hazardous 
 errand, they gathered on the common in the 
 centre of the town of Cambridge, where prayers 
 were offered to Heaven on their behalf by the 
 President of Harvard College. 
 
 Gen. Putnam undertook the supervision of the 
 expedition, although the work to be done was 
 placed directly in the hands of Col. Prescott. 
 Whenever, indeed, this immortal battle is spoken 
 of by the people of this country, it will have to 
 be admitted that these two men, above all others, 
 — Putnam and Prescott, — began and carried 
 forward the work which on that day was so 
 gloriously done. Putnam had a young son, 
 named Daniel, who was in the camp with him 
 as a volunteer. He told the boy to go to Mrs. 
 Tnman's, that night, which was the farm-house 
 
 where his quarters were; and if it should be 
 12* 
 
138 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 necessary to leave on the next day, to depart 
 with the rest without waiting for him. The boy 
 mistrusted that some great danger impended 
 over his father, and begged to be permitted to go 
 along with him. " You can do nothing where I 
 am going, my son," said the brave father. " There 
 will be plenty who will take care of me." 
 
 It was very soon after dark that Prescott began 
 his march from Cambridge over the narrow neck 
 formed by the Charles and Mystic rivers, — a 
 passage-way which was only about a hundred 
 and thirty yards across. The men moved on in 
 perfect silence, and the only lights they had to 
 see by were a few dark lanterns, which threw the 
 light backwards, instead of forward. Every 
 possible precaution was taken against discovery. 
 Bunker Hill stands nearest the neck, and is a 
 hundred and ten feet high. Breed's Hill is near 
 the southern extremity of Charlestown peninsula, 
 and only sixty-two feet in height. The distance 
 between these two hills, on their summits, is one 
 hundred and thirty rods. 
 
 The troops first came to the foot of Bunker 
 Hill, where they found the intrenching tools all 
 ready for their use, having been already sent 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 139 
 
 over in wagons. Until that moment, in fact, 
 none but the leaders knew for what purpose the 
 expedition had been undertaken. The order was 
 to fortify Bunker Hill ; but it was very apparent 
 that it would be of little use to do that, unless 
 Breed's Hill were fortified also, since the latter 
 hill most immediately commanded the town of 
 Boston. The leaders consulted what it was best 
 to do. Bunker Hill could easily be reached by 
 the guns from the enemy's ships near the neck, 
 and could not, either, effect much damage to them 
 in return. It was at length resolved to disobey 
 the strict letter of the instructions, and to fortify 
 the height which was nearest the city. Col. 
 Gridley undertook the engineering part of the 
 labor, which certainly required more skill than all 
 the rest. He was obliged to hasten their confer- 
 ence several times, telling them that the night 
 was fast slipping away, and that every moment 
 was of priceless value. 
 
 When they finally reached Breed's Hill, — 
 which has, ever since that day, taken the im- 
 mortal name of Bunker Hill, — Col. Gridley laid 
 out his plans, ran his quick eye over the ground, 
 and set the men to work with their picks and 
 
140 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 spades with all their energy. It was already- 
 full midnight before a single shovel-full of earth 
 was thrown up. Summer time as it was, the 
 nights were quite short, and by four o'clock in 
 the morning it would be day-break again. Hence 
 there were but four short hours for the men to do 
 their work. But they fell to with wonderful 
 alacrity and vigor, stimulated still more by 
 the examples that were set them by their lead- 
 ers. Prescott knew very well how to handle 
 a spade, and so did Putnam, who had not served 
 for seven years around Lake George against the 
 French and Indians, without taking such an 
 instrument in his hands very frequently. Never 
 were men known to labor more eagerly than 
 did these men. They were working for their 
 very lives, and that they knew. They had taken 
 only rations enough with them to last for one 
 day, and hence they felt obliged to throw up 
 protection against the assaults of the enemy in 
 Boston, which would furnish them with the sur- 
 est reliance: 
 
 The redoubt was constructed upon the top 
 of the hill, and was eight rods square. Its south- 
 ern side fronted the village of Charlestown, and 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 141 
 
 was most strongly fortified, because that quarter 
 was thought to be most liable to the enemy's 
 attack. Eastward it fronted an open field, 
 which extended down to Morton's Point. A 
 breastwork was thrown up, as if it were a con- 
 tinuation of this eastern side of the redoubt, 
 but still separated from it by a narrow pas- 
 sage, which was screened by what was termed 
 a "blind" in front. Another passage, or gate- 
 way, likewise opened from the rear wall of the 
 redoubt, conducting down the hill. 
 
 The officers several times during the night 
 stole softly down to the water's edge, to dis- 
 cover if the enemy had been alarmed by their 
 operations on the hill ; they could hear the cry 
 — " All's well!" passed from one ship to another 
 by the sentries, over the still surface of the water. 
 Finding matters going on so well, Gen. Putnam 
 hurried back during the night to Cambridge, to 
 make the needful preparations for the struggle 
 which he too well knew must come on the next 
 day. 
 
 Morning dawned slowly, finding the men still 
 engaged about their work on the hill. It was 
 a still day, in the very (lush and pride of the 
 
142 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 new summer. The British looked upon the 
 heights, and were filled with amazement. In 
 one brief night a work had been done, — and 
 done so silently, too, that no soul of them all 
 had caught a sound of what was going on, — 
 which compelled the British army either to eva- 
 cuate Boston, or to sally out and offer immediate 
 battle. They had not given the raw American 
 militia credit for so much energy and alacrity. 
 Their own plans were by this single act com- 
 pletely frustrated. The British officers held a 
 council of war at once, and determined to send 
 a body of regular troops over to the hill with 
 all possible despatch, to dispossess the defiant 
 Americans'. And while the necessary arrange- 
 ments to this end were being carried forward, 
 a brisk cannonading was opened and kept up 
 from the vessels of war, and from Copp's Hill, 
 upon the workers on the height. 
 
 Putnam's spirit took fire with the first sound 
 of the hostile cannon in the morning. He 
 mounted his horse forthwith, and rode over 
 the neck at the top of his speed. Prescott 
 was still there in the redoubt, working hard 
 himself, and cheering and inspiring the men 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 143 
 
 both by his words and example. They could 
 distinctly see the streets of Boston from the 
 height, and descry the British troops forming 
 and marching, and making ready for the con- 
 flict which they now knew was at hand. The 
 American soldiers were pretty thoroughly wear- 
 ied with their severe and uninterrupted night's 
 work, and some of the officers proposed to send 
 to Cambridge for reinforcements. " No," an- 
 swered Prescott, with promptness ; " they have 
 thrown up the works themselves, and it is but 
 fair to give them a chance to defend them." 
 Such talk of course infused a new ardor and 
 courage into their ranks. A messenger was, 
 however, sent over to Cambridge for refresh- 
 ments. 
 
 As soon as Putnam saw what was certain 
 to come, he again posted off to Cambridge, ask- 
 ing Major General Ward for reinforcements, 
 against the hour of need ; but the latter refused 
 to forward any, not yet satisfied that it was not 
 the design of the British to land at Lechmere's 
 Point, assail the camp at Cambridge, and so 
 cut off the body of Americans in Charlestown 
 altogether. He had substantial reasons for be- 
 
144 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 lieving this to be their leading design. Hence 
 he refused to send Putnam's Connecticut regi- 
 ment up to the hill at all. Putnam therefore 
 had his attention divided between Bunker Hill 
 and his own post at Inman's Farm, which it 
 was equally necessary for him to maintain. 
 
 Not until he was finally convinced of the in- 
 tention of the enemy to attack Charlestown 
 heights, did he concentrate all his energies on 
 what was there going forward. He took a hand- 
 ful of men, and tried to throw up intrenchments 
 on Bunker Hill, where they had paused to decide 
 which hill should be fortified, the night before. 
 Could this have been done, they could have com- 
 manded Breed's Hill, even after the latter had 
 been taken by the enemy. But the action came 
 on so soon that they were obliged to give over 
 their design, and hasten on to the help of their 
 friends at the redoubt on Breed's Hill. 
 
 Between twelve and one o'clock, with a burn- 
 ing sun high in the heavens, a force of nearly 
 three thousand of the best men of the British 
 army began to land at Morton's Point, in twenty- 
 eight barges, all under command of Gen. Howe. 
 They halted as they came to the shore, wait- 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 145 
 
 ing to rest and refresh themselves, and to be 
 strengthened by the detachments as fast as they 
 could be brought over. Their rich uniforms and 
 well-kept arms glittered and flashed in the bright 
 sunlight, and created a most imposing appear- 
 ance. It was soon reported in Cambridge that 
 the British had begun to land, and the excite- 
 ment was truly intense. The drums beat, the 
 bells were tolled, and the soldiers were instantly 
 hurrying in every direction. It was nearly two 
 o'clock in the afternoon, — and Saturday, too, — 
 when the reinforcements all arrived, making the 
 British army about four thousand strong. They 
 were all regular and tried troops, that had seen 
 service before ; on the contrary, the Americans 
 were but raw recruits, and looked on with feel- 
 ings of doubt as to the result, though with noth- 
 ing like fear. The latter, too, were nearly ex- 
 hausted with hunger and thirst ; and what was 
 worse, they began to entertain a half suspicion 
 that they had been placed in their present posi- 
 tion in order to be sacrificed. 
 
 Putnam look the general command outside of 
 the redoubt, overseeing the arrangements of the 
 
 men, and taking due advantage of all favora- 
 13 
 
146 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 ble circumstances. Warren, who was President 
 of the Provincial Congress, heard of the landing 
 of the British, while he was in Watertown ; and 
 sick as he was, hurried off to take a part in the 
 battle. Brave old Col. Pomeroy, too, the mo- 
 ment he caught the echoes of the cannonading 
 from the vessels of war, in the forenoon, bor- 
 rowed a horse of General Ward and rode down 
 to the neck ; and seeing the galling fire with 
 which it was raked from the vessels, he dis- 
 mounted and deliberately walked the whole dis- 
 tance through the whizzing balls, unwilling to 
 risk the value of the borrowed animal, but car- 
 ing nothing for his own life. Warren went 
 on the hill, and offered himself to Gen. Put- 
 nam as a common soldier. The General ex- 
 postulated with him, begging him to take him- 
 self away again, for his services were more 
 needed in another place. But Warren would 
 hear nothing to it. Neither would he consent 
 to assume anything like command. He went 
 into the redoubt where Prescott was, and shoul- 
 dered his musket with the common soldiers. 
 Prescott offered to transfer all authority to his 
 hands, but the latter would not consent. He 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 147 
 
 went to do simply a soldier's duty on that im- 
 portant day. 
 
 The British army began to advance with great 
 regularity and order. Previous to this, Gen. 
 Howe had ordered his artillery to play against 
 the American lines, and, by a signal already 
 agreed upon, caused a hot fire to be directed 
 against the redoubt from the guns on Copp's 
 Hill and the vessels in the river. The Ameri- 
 can guns — which numbered but two — an- 
 swered very feebly to those of the enemy ; and 
 Callender was withdrawing altogether to the 
 cover of the hill with them, because, as he said, 
 his cartridges were too large. Putnam rode up 
 to him and ordered him back on the ground, 
 threatening otherwise to blow out his brains on 
 the spot. He and his men returned, but they 
 mingled with the infantry, feeling confident that 
 they could not manage their guns to any effec- 
 tive purpose. 
 
 Howe divided his assaulting force into two 
 parts ; the one commanded by himself directed 
 its attack against the rail-fence, which was a 
 hastily constructed defence, made of new-mown 
 hay stuffed in between two parallel fences, and 
 
148 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 running down from a point below the breast- 
 works, and in their rear, to near the slough 
 which bordered Mystic river; — the other wing, 
 under Gen. Pigot, was to attack the redoubt. 
 Howe's artillery did not serve him much, on 
 account of the supply of balls being too large 
 for the pieces, and also of the boggy and miry 
 character of the ground. So the men were 
 obliged to rely upon the arms they bore in their 
 hands. 
 
 Not a word was spoken, apparently, as the 
 splendid army of Great Britain slowly toiled 
 up the hill in the hot sun. The Americans kept 
 out of sight, and waited almost impatiently for 
 the enemy's approach. There were now fifteen 
 hundred brave hearts within those entrench- 
 ments, eager to engage with the foe. Putnam 
 told the men, as he passed hastily along the 
 lines, dusty and perspiring, not to waste their 
 fire, for powder was very scarce. " Wait," said 
 he, " till you see the whites of their eyes, and 
 then take aim at their waistbands ! Fire low, 
 — and pick off the commanders, with the hand- 
 some coats." Prescott gave the same orders to 
 those within the redoubt. So did the other 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 149 
 
 officers all along the lines, behind the breast- 
 works and the rail-fence. 
 
 The moment the front ranks of the enemy- 
 came near enough, the word was given to fire. 
 The execution was beyond description. Not a 
 single shot seemed to have been wasted. The 
 British fell down in solid ranks, like grass be- 
 fore the scythe of the mower. Another volley- 
 followed from behind the intrenchments ; and 
 then another ; each doing as terrible work as 
 the first ; and instantly the whole body of the 
 British were struck with terror, and broke and 
 ran like sheep down the hill. Some of the Am- 
 ericans were so overjoyed to behold the result, 
 that they leaped over the rail fence, and would 
 have pursued them down to the water's edge ; 
 but they were prudently held in check by their 
 officers. 
 
 It was not long before Gen. Howe succeeded 
 in rallying his defeated troops once more, and 
 bringing them up to the attack as before. The 
 Americans made ready for them as rapidly as 
 they could. Putnam had ridden in hot haste 
 across to Bunker Hill, and tried in vain to bring 
 back the additional troops, — fragments of regi- 
 13* 
 
150 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 ments, — posted there, so that they might take 
 part in the battle. When the British came up 
 to the attack the second time, there were no 
 more Americans in the engagement than before. 
 Four hundred men had, however, arrived in 
 the meanwhile from Boston, under command 
 of Major Small, the old friend of Putnam. 
 Gen. Howe led the way this time, telling his 
 men they need not go a foot further than he 
 was willing to go himself. This time they 
 played their artillery with considerable effect. 
 They were obliged to march over the dead 
 bodies of their companions, which lay in rows 
 all around them on the hillside. Just at this 
 moment, too, dense cloads of smoke began to 
 roll up from the burning village of Charlestown 
 at the foot of the hill, which had been wantonly 
 set on fire by hot shot thrown from the British 
 battery on Copp's Hill. The expectation on the 
 part of the enemy was, that the smoke would 
 roll in between them and the Americans, so as 
 to allow them an opportunity to gain their rear 
 im perceived, and likewise to reach the breast- 
 works, which they were then resolved to scale. 
 Fortunately, however, a light breeze lifted the 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 151 
 
 smoke columns in its airy hands, and drifted 
 them in a body out towards the sea. Thus 
 the movements of the British were as apparent 
 as they were before. The Americans behind 
 their intrenchments waited until they came with- 
 in the prescribed distance, and then poured in 
 a volley that did even more murderous work 
 than they had done before. 
 
 Whole ranks, of officers and men alike, were 
 swept down before this resistless fire. Gen. 
 Howe found himself at one time standing al- 
 most entirely alone. The troops were filled with 
 direst confusion. It was more than their officers 
 could do, to hold them together. The broken 
 ranks could not be closed up and made whole 
 with the help of any exertions. No threats had 
 the least effect upon the panic-stricken regulars. 
 Alarmed, and dispirited, and overwhelmed with 
 double confusion, they turned their backs in 
 a body and ran off down the hill, beyond the 
 reach of the Provincials' deadly musketry. Gen. 
 Clinton, the British commander, saw the rout 
 that had been created by the stubborn Provin- 
 cial militia, and felt mortified and chagrined ; 
 so much so that he hastily threw himself into 
 
152 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 a boat, and, some five hundred more following, 
 crossed over with the reckless resolution of ser- 
 ving as a volunteer. A part of the British 
 officers protested against marching up the hill 
 again, to meet with certain destruction ; but 
 Howe had by this time found out where the 
 weakest point in the works lay, — between the 
 breastworks and the rail-fence, — and deter- 
 mined to make one final effort to carry it. It is 
 also related that some careless soldier within 
 the redoubt was overheard to say something 
 about the scarcity of the ammunition ; and this 
 fact, when reported to the officers, gave a little 
 more encouragement to the enemy. 
 
 Gen. Howe, therefore, led the third attack 
 against the American left, especially against 
 the point on the slope between the breast- 
 works and the rail-fence. Gen. Pigot, aided 
 by Gen. Clinton, marched up to attack the re- 
 doubt, aiming also to turn the American right. 
 The orders to the British soldiers were to take 
 the fire of the Americans, and then to charge 
 bayonets and scale the works. This is what they 
 should have done in the first place ; and what 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 153 
 
 they would have done, had Ihey known how 
 short the Americans were for ammunition. 
 
 While the British were getting ready to come 
 up to the third assault, the Americans had time 
 to refresh themselves, and in some degree to 
 recover from the protracted fatigue of the night 
 and day. They also began to hope, from the 
 long interval that elapsed between the second 
 and third attacks, that the enemy were finally 
 defeated, and would not venture to come up 
 again. Well might they have hoped it was 
 so, for they knew too well how low their am- 
 munition had begun to run ; and as for their 
 muskets, there were very few bayonets to them 
 all. Therefore, in this brief interval, they cast 
 about to know what they should do if the 
 emergency really came. Some prepared to club 
 their muskets, after having first discharged them 
 at the enemy. Some collected stones and other 
 missiles, to hurl at them in the last necessity. 
 They thought of everything, in fact, but fear. 
 
 Meantime Major General Ward sent over 
 three regiments to the field, hoping to help the 
 troops, to hold the hill. One detachment of 
 about three hundred did pass over the neck ; 
 
154 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 but the fire from the vessels' guns that swept the 
 entire passage was so severe, that the men hesi- 
 tated when they reached the spot and saw the 
 almost entire hopelessness of making the at- 
 tempt. Putnam first ordered these three hun- 
 dred to fall to work intrenching Bunker Hill, 
 but afterwards ordered them forward to the lines. 
 He was working like a hero all the while, rid- 
 ing to and fro at the top of his speed, to get 
 the scattered forces on Bunker Hill into mar- 
 tial order, and to lead them on to the defence 
 of Breed's Hill. He also rode down to the 
 neck, and shouted to the recruits on the other 
 side to come over, and lend the aid of their 
 bayonets. He then dashed across the exposed 
 passage, through the rain of the balls from the 
 enemy's cannon, in order to show them that 
 they had nothing to fear. But it was to no 
 purpose. 
 
 On came the British, at length, for the third 
 time. The Americans stood firm and resolute 
 in their lines, prepared to receive them. The 
 British artillery soon turned the breastworks, 
 however, sweeping the whole line of their in- 
 terior. The Americans were of course thus driven 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 155 
 
 within the redoubt, the breastwork being aban- 
 doned. But they had taken sure aim before they 
 left, and brought down many a proud British 
 officer. General Howe himself was wounded in 
 the foot. There was but one round a-piece to 
 the Provincials now, and when they had ex- 
 pended their first fire they knew they must make 
 a hand-to-hand fight of it. Hence they fired with 
 just as great precision as before, every shot bring- 
 ing down its man. 
 
 Then it was that they were put to their true 
 mettle. From that moment it was every man for 
 himself. The British came jumping over the 
 walls of earth, with fixed bayonets. They were 
 received with showers of stones in their faces, 
 with muskets used like clubs over their heads, 
 and with resistance in every possible style. The 
 fight was man against man. Every inch of 
 ground was stoutly contested. The redoubt 
 was already fast filling up with the enemy, and 
 the Americans saw that nothing was left them 
 but to retreat. Major Pitcairn, — the same 
 who opened the revolution on Lexington Green 
 in April, — was one of the first to mount the 
 walls of the redoubt, and he was instantly shot 
 
15G GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 by a negro soldier, while shouting to his rein- 
 forcement of marines behind him, — "Now for 
 the glory of the marines ! " Prescott ordered a 
 retreat, feeling certain that they could main- 
 tain their position no longer. This was car- 
 ried out in perfect order, the men keeping their 
 faces to the foe, and resisting stoutly for every 
 foot they were obliged to yield. Prescott and 
 Warren were the last to leave the redoubt. 
 The butts of the American muskets cracked 
 loud over the heads of the British soldiers, and 
 were in many cases shivered into fragments. 
 There was a glistening of steel in the sun, and 
 a clash and ring of bayonets and musketry. 
 There were shoutings and curses, and an in- 
 describable confusion of sounds and voices. The 
 faces of many of the militia were smutted 
 and blackened with powder, so that they were 
 scarcely known to their companions and friends. 
 Col. Gridley, who planned the works, was wound- 
 ed and carried off the hill. Prescott received 
 several bayonet thrusts, but fortunately was not 
 wounded. Warren retreated even after the lat- 
 ter did, and was shot through the head by a 
 musket ball, dropping dead in his tracks. There 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 157 
 
 he lay until he was recognized the next morn- 
 ing by Dr. Jeffries, a British surgeon, and an 
 intimate friend ; when he was taken up and 
 buried on the spot where he fell. He was 
 mourned by the whole army and province. Gen. 
 Putnam felt his loss as keenly as any one could ; 
 he compared his fate with that which a few 
 years before overtook young Lord Howe at 
 his side, while marching against the French at 
 Ticonderoga. 
 
 Parts of regiments at this juncture came pour- 
 ing down from Bunker Hill, and did effective 
 service in covering the American retreat. At 
 the rail-fence, which was manned by Putnam's 
 Connecticut troops, with others, a successful 
 effort was made for a short time to prevent 
 the British from turning their flank, and so 
 the latter were kept in check until the main 
 body could safely make their way out of the 
 redoubt ; but for this resolute stand, the retreat- 
 ing militia must have been cut off entirely. But 
 as soon as they saw that the rest of their com- 
 rades had taken to flight, they left their posi- 
 tion with all possible despatch. Putnam tried 
 every method to induce them to stand firm, 
 14 
 
158 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM 
 
 flying into a towering passion, and using lan- 
 guage that was for a long time afterwards re- 
 membered for its profanity. The old man could 
 not bear the thought of their deserting their 
 ground, and it is said that he was not wholly 
 aware at the time how low they had run for 
 powder. " Make a stand here ! " he shouted. 
 " We can stop them yet! In God's name, fire! 
 and give them one shot more ! " Pomeroy, too, 
 with his shattered musket in his hand, tried to 
 rally them for one more effort ; but it was in 
 vain. 
 
 Putnam covered their retreat in person, and 
 was not more than twelve rods distant from the 
 enemy, and fully exposed to their fire. He 
 came to one of the field-pieces that had been 
 deserted, which he roundly swore should not 
 be given up to the enemy. Only one man 
 could be found to remain there with him ; and 
 he was in another moment shot down at his 
 side, and the rapid advance of the British with 
 fixed bayonets drove him from the cannon also. 
 Colonel Trumbull, the painter of the Revolu- 
 tion, has represented Putnam, in his great bat- 
 tle piece at the national Capital, in the act of 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 159 
 
 defending this field-piece and covering the re- 
 treating militia. The painter has attired him 
 in a splendid blue and scarlet uniform ; where- 
 as his dress on that day was strikingly differ- 
 ent from that, and more truly befitted the char- 
 acter of the man and the nature of the work 
 he was engaged in. An old soldier, who was 
 in the fight of that day, has told us exactly how 
 the General was clad, and how he looked. He 
 says that he rode about the hill, and across the 
 neck between Charlestown and Cambridge, in 
 order to report to Gen. Ward, — " without any 
 coat, in his shirt sleeves, and with an old felt 
 hat on his head." This was certainly more a 
 dress for useful, than for ornamental purposes, 
 and would not be likely to encumber or em- 
 barrass any one who had hard and hasty work 
 to do. 
 
 The Americans retreated in good order down 
 the hill and across the neck, compelled, however, 
 to run the gauntlet of the galling fire from the 
 British vessels. Many of them were killed, as 
 was to be expected. They next took up their 
 position on Prospect and Winter Hills, about 
 a mile distant, which they proceeded at once to 
 
1G0 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 fortify. Here they lay all night. The British 
 occupied the ground they had so dearly gained, 
 and remained there in quiet until morning. Had 
 they pursued their advantage, and pushed on 
 upon Cambridge, it would have proved a great 
 day's work for them, after all. Many won- 
 dered at the time why they did not. But when 
 the report of their losses on that day came to 
 be given, there would seem to have been the 
 best reason in the world for the neglect. Out 
 of between four and five thousand troops that 
 were sent over from Boston, their loss in killed 
 and wounded amounted to fifteen hundred. It 
 was too terrible a slaughter for them to recover 
 from, in so short a time. Clinton, however, was 
 for pushing on ; Howe was more timid, and ad- 
 vised that the troops remain and rest where they 
 were. 
 
 This day's work was proof enough that the 
 Americans could boldly resist oppression and 
 tyranny. They had seen the fire and smoke, 
 and heard the yells and groans of battle. On 
 that Saturday afternoon, in an engagement 
 which lasted about two hours in all, they lost, 
 counting the killed, wounded, and missing, four 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 161 
 
 hundred and fifty men. This was in no sense 
 a victory on the part of the British. They may 
 have gained the field, because the ammunition 
 of the Americans gave out too soon ; but they 
 certainly lost the battle. Besides this, they 
 learned a lesson which they refused to read 
 before, that the people of America would fight 
 to the last drop of blood for their rights, their 
 soil, and their firesides. 
 14* 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SIEGE OP BOSTON. 
 
 THERE was no retreat for the Colonists 
 after the battle of Bunker Hill. The Rubi- 
 con had been crossed. They had taken the 
 sword, and made their appeal to the God of 
 battles; and by the sword, under the directing 
 care of a kind Providence, roust they only hope 
 
 to stand or fall. 
 
 There was no formal compact, or union, as yet 
 between the several Colonies ; yet they were even 
 then conferring together, through their delegates 
 in Philadelphia, as to the best method of making 
 : effective resistance to the tyrannical demands of 
 England. This Congress possessed no particular 
 power to pass any acts which should, bind the 
 Colonies, but was convened more for the purpose 
 of conferring upon the wisest plans for them to 
 adopt. Massachusetts had proposed a federal 
 
SIEGE OF BOSTON. 163 
 
 union, and likewise offered to subscribe to any 
 plan of the kind which should be brought forward 
 and established. The delegates from the other 
 New England Colonies agreed to the same thing. 
 Congress therefore acted with promptness, as 
 it should have done, if at all. It at once pro- 
 ceeded to organize and officer a regular army, and 
 placed Washington at its head. There were four 
 Major Generals appointed under him, — Lee, 
 "Ward, Schuyler, and Putnam. General Wash- 
 ington came on to Cambridge, and assumed 
 his high office on the 2nd day of July. He also 
 gave Putnam the commission which he brought 
 on from Congress, without any delay. From 
 others he withheld their commissions for a time. 
 Some of the Brigadier Generals felt aggrieved that 
 they had been superseded by men who ranked 
 lower in the armies of the separate colonies, and 
 left the army in consequence. Jealousies and 
 heart-burnings like these called for the exercise 
 of the highest degree of patience and tact on the 
 part of the Commander-in-Chief; and it was for- 
 tunate for our liberties that the country at that 
 time had a man like George Washington to place 
 in supreme command. It is sufficient to add that 
 
1G4 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 these officers returned to the army again, consent- 
 ing to overlook what had at first given them such 
 deep dissatisfaction. 
 
 The British immediately began to fortify 
 Charlestown, and carried out the plans of Put- 
 nam himself upon Bunker Hill. They likewise 
 strengthened their defences in Boston to the full- 
 est capacity. Washington, upon taking com- 
 mand, formed the army into three divisions : 
 Major- General Lee commanded the left wing, 
 reaching to the Mystic river, — Major-General 
 Ward commanded the right wing, stationed at 
 Dorchester and Roxbury, — and Major-General 
 Putnam commanded the advance of the centre, 
 while the Commander-in-Chief himself made his 
 head quarters at Cambridge. Putnam saw Wash- 
 ington for the first time in his life, when he arrived 
 at Cambridge, and the acquaintance thus formed 
 ripened into a friendship and intimacy, which 
 lasted through the whole of Putnam's remaining 
 days. 
 
 It is reported that a flag of truce arrived at the 
 American lines, about this time, which had come 
 from Major Small, the old friend of Putnam. Small 
 wished to see Putnam on urgent business. The 
 
SIEGE OF BOSTON. 165 
 
 latter consulted with Washington as to the expedi- 
 ency of meeting him as requested; but Washington 
 advised the step, and Putnam accordingly went 
 over. Major Small only wished to make a proposal 
 to his former companion in arms, on behalf of the 
 British commander. It was that Putnam should 
 desert the Continental Army, throw his influence 
 on the side of the King, and receive therefor — as 
 offered to him once before, — high rank, a liberal 
 compensation in money, and bountiful provision 
 for his sons. Putnam treated the proposal as he 
 had treated it once before, — with indignation and 
 scorn. The story goes, that Putnam confided the 
 proposal to no one but Washington, and that it 
 remained a secret for several years. 
 
 The Americans exerted themselves without 
 cessation to hedge the British in ; and for this pur- 
 pose they erected defences and fortifications at 
 every point, in a wide circuit of a dozen miles 
 around Boston, — from Dorchester Heights to 
 Charlestown, — where the enemy would be likely 
 to make an attempt to pass through. Thus they 
 were completely blockaded, except to the seaward. 
 Winter Hill, Prospect Hill, and Ploughed Hill 
 were fortified, to prevent them from making their 
 
1G6 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 way up the Mystic River. Putnam exerted him- 
 self greatly to fortify the latter hill, since it most 
 immediately checked any advantage they might 
 attempt to take from their position on Bunker 
 Hill. He never refused to work with his own 
 hands, entering into the labor required with all 
 his native impetuosity and ardor. 
 
 Congress put forth a solemn Declaration of 
 War, on the 6th of July. It was, at the time, 
 quite doubtful how it would be received by the 
 army which Washington was so actively engaged 
 in organizing ; and it was feared, if they should 
 refuse to adopt it as an expression of their own 
 sentiments, that they would break up and return 
 in time to their homes. They had enlisted for no 
 definite period, but had come forward as volun- 
 teers to repel the assaults of the British on Boston. 
 The Declaration was read at head-quarters, at 
 Cambridge, by the President of Harvard College, 
 on the 15th of July. On the 18th, it was read 
 to the division under command of General Put- 
 nam, on Prospect Hill; after which the soldiers 
 shouted " Amen " three times, a cannon was 
 fired, cheers were given by the troops, and the 
 flag of Connecticut was thrown to the breeze, 
 
SIEGE OF BOSTON. 167 
 
 bearing on one side the motto, " An Appeal to 
 Heaven" and on the other, " Qui transtulit, sus- 
 tineV The Essex Gazette, in narrating the 
 event, said, — " The Philistines on Bunker Hill 
 heard the shouts of the Israelites, and, being very 
 fearful, paraded themselves in battle array." For 
 some time after, frequent skirmishes occurred 
 between the two hostile armies, which tended to 
 make the raw American soldiers alert and mindful 
 of discipline. 
 
 A description of the American camp in those 
 days, from the pen of an army chaplain, is very 
 interesting at this time: — " The generals are upon 
 the lines every day. New orders from his excel- 
 lency are read to the respective regiments, every 
 morning after prayers. The strictest government 
 is taking place, and great distinction is made be- 
 tween officers and soldiers. Every one is made 
 to know his place, and keep in it, or to be tied up 
 and receive thirty or forty lashes, according to his 
 crime. Thousands are at work every day, from 
 four till eleven o'clock in the morning. It is sur- 
 prising how much work has been done. * * * * 
 Who would have thought, twelve months past, 
 that all Cambridge and Charlestown would be 
 
168 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 covered over with American camps, and cut up 
 into forts, and intrenchments, and all the lands, 
 fields and orchards laid common ; horses and cat- 
 tle feeding in the choicest mowing land, whole 
 fields of corn eaten down to the ground, and large 
 parks of well regulated locusts cut down for fire- 
 wood and other public uses ? This, I must say, 
 looks a little melancholy. My quarters are at the 
 foot of the famous Prospect Hill, where such 
 preparations are made for the reception of the 
 enemy. It is very diverting to walk among the 
 camps. They are as different in their forms as 
 the owners are in their dress, and every tent is a 
 portraiture of the temper and taste of the persons 
 who encamp in it. Some are made of boards, 
 and some of sail-cloth ; some partly of one and 
 partly of the other. Again others are made of 
 stone or turf, brick or brush. Some are thrown 
 up in a hurry ; others are curiously wrought with 
 doors and windows, done with wreaths and withes, 
 in the manner of a basket. Some are your proper 
 tents or marquees, looking like the regular camp of 
 the enemy. In these are the Rhode Islanders, 
 who are furnished with tent equipage and every- 
 thing in the most exact English style. However, 
 
SIEGE OF BOSTON. 169 
 
 I think this great variety rather a beauty than a 
 blemish in the army." 
 
 Washington felt the want of powder in his 
 army, during this summer and autumn, more than 
 anything else. He found, to his surprise, that at 
 one time he had but thirty-two barrels for the 
 entire army. Privateersmen were fitted out to 
 attack the enemy's vessels that were hovering on 
 the coast, and one of the latter was finally cap- 
 tured by Capt. Manly, with a large supply of 
 cannon and ammunition. There were no powder 
 mills in the colonies then. Washington was very 
 much afraid, too, lest the British commander 
 should find out his condition in this particular. 
 Vessels were fitted out from various ports for the 
 W^est Indies, to bring back supplies of powder 
 alone. New England rum was sent to the coast 
 of Africa, where it was exchanged for the much 
 needed commodity. 
 
 The British numbered about thirteen thousand 
 men, while the Americans hemming them in 
 counted nearly fifteen thousand. In November, 
 Gen. Putnam threw up other fortifications on 
 Cobble Hill, which was somewhat nearer to the 
 enemy in Boston than Ploughed Hill, which had 
 
 15 
 
170 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 already been occupied. This intrenchment went 
 by the name of " Putnam's impregnable fortress," 
 while the one at Prospect Hill, which was his 
 head quarters, was called " our main fortress." 
 The former was briskly fired upon by the Brit- 
 ish cannon, both from Bunker Hill and on board 
 their vessels, while the men were engaged in 
 throwing it up; but no damage resulted. As 
 soon, however, as the fortifications were completed, 
 the guns that were mounted within them opened 
 on the gun-boats and batteries of the enemy on 
 Charles river, and effectually drove them from 
 their troublesome position. General Gage was 
 becoming uneasy, thus shut in by the American 
 army. His men lay idle ; vice was fast increasing 
 in the ranks ; intoxication was becoming quite 
 common ; and the entire body of the troops 
 showed signs of a rapid demoralization. He saw 
 his mistake in remaining where he was. He 
 dared not march out into the surrounding coun- 
 try, and strike a blow ; for it might be that he had 
 not the present strength. There was also much 
 rising disaffection both among his officers and 
 soldiers. The Americans printed handbills, and 
 circulated them secretly within the British lines ; 
 
171 SIEGE OP BOSTON. 
 
 and these trifling things were a prolific cause of 
 permanent mischief. There is a handbill now in 
 possession of the Massachusetts Historical Soci- 
 ety, which was printed in London, and circulated 
 among the soldiers who were about to embark as 
 reinforcements for America. On one side is the 
 phrase, " Before God and man they are right" 
 On the back of the same, and evidently printed 
 after its arrival in this country, were two state- 
 ments, as follows, the reader remembering that at 
 Prospect Hill were Putnam's head quarters, and 
 at Bunker Hill those of Gen. Howe : — 
 
 PROSPECT HILL. 
 
 I. Seven dollars a month. 
 
 II. Fresh provisions, and in plenty. 
 
 III. Health. 
 
 IV. Freedom, ease, affluence, and a good farm. 
 
 BUNKER HILL. 
 
 I. Three pence a day. 
 
 II. Rotten salt pork. 
 
 III. The scurvy. 
 
 IV. Slavery, beggary and want. 
 
 General Gage wrote home to Lord Dartmouth, 
 in the month of June, — " The trials we have had, 
 
172 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 show that the rebels are not the despicable rabble 
 too many have supposed them to be." In July 
 he wrote again, in speaking of the rebellion, — 
 " This province began it, — I might say this town ; 
 for here the arch rebels formed their scheme long 
 ago." Provisions at length began to grow very 
 scarce. Gage sent out parties to obtain plunder 
 of this sort, but tfhey always returned unsuccess- 
 ful. Finally, in order to thin out the population, 
 it was determined to dismiss all the inhabitants 
 of Boston who were willing to go ; it being esti- 
 mated that there were between six and seven 
 thousand in the town, whose absence would make 
 quite a difference in the amount of supplies re- 
 quired. Those who wished to leave were told to 
 send in their names ; but as they were expressly 
 forbidden to carry any of their plate away, or 
 money to the amount of more than five pounds 
 — or twenty-five dollars, — to each person, not 
 more than two thousand names were given in. 
 People of property would not go, to leave their 
 wealth behind them, to be seized and divided 
 among a foreign soldiery. But in the number of 
 those who did leave, many of the women quilted 
 their silver spoons and coin into their under-gar- 
 
SIEGE OF BOSTON. 
 
 173 
 
 ments, and so carried off much of their valuables 
 in safety. 
 
 Congress began to grow impatient that Wash- 
 ington had not yet risked a pitched battle, and win- 
 ter now fast coming on. They found fault, some 
 of them, with his inefficiency. He was placed, 
 however, in most trying circumstances. He was 
 very short for the necessary supplies of war, while 
 the soldiers began to consider the time close at 
 hand — in September — when the term for which 
 they had enlisted had expired. He was himself, 
 therefore, in favor of bringing on an action be- 
 tween the armies as soon as it could be done 
 advantageously ; but the officers about the council 
 board thought otherwise. He drew up a letter to 
 Congress, describing his situation ; and a more 
 melancholy picture than he sketched, it is not 
 easy to imagine. He laid the whole blame upon 
 the shoulders of Congress, and charged it upon 
 them that the paymaster " had not a single dollar 
 in hand," and the commissary general could not 
 strain his credit any farther. He told them whose 
 fault he thought it was, that a majority of the 
 troops were " in a state not far from mutiny, upon 
 a deduction from their stated allowance." Win- 
 
 15* 
 
174 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 ter was approaching, and what, he asked, was to 
 be done ? All this, only three months after he 
 had taken the command. 
 
 Gage was called home in October, and General 
 Howe was appointed to the command of the 
 British in his place. The latter general, however, 
 was as unwilling to attack the Americans as Gage 
 had ever been. He had tried their mettle for 
 himself, in the battle on Breed's Hill. So he 
 strengthened his position in the town as much as 
 he could, and prepared to pass the winter com- 
 fortably where he was. He fortified Bunker Hill 
 more strongly still, and added to the defences on 
 Boston Neck. He pulled down many buildings 
 in the city, and erected military works in their 
 place. He tore out the pews of the " old South 
 Church," and converted the building into a riding 
 school for his cavalry. A British gentleman wrote 
 from Boston in October, " we are now erecting 
 redoubts on the eminences on Boston Common ; 
 and a meeting-house, where sedition has been 
 often preached, is clearing out to be made a rid- 
 ing-school for the light dragoons." Another writer 
 says, " in clearing everything away, a beautiful 
 carved pew, with silk furniture, formerly belong- 
 
SIEGE OF BOSTON. 175 
 
 ing to a deceased gentleman in high estimation, 
 was taken down and carried to Mr. John Arm- 
 ory's house, by the order of an officer, who ap- 
 plied the carved work to the erection of a hog- 
 stye." 
 
 A committee came on from Congress late in 
 the autumn, to confer with Gen. Washington 
 and lay down some definite plan of future oper- 
 ations. Dr. Franklin was of the number. Many 
 of the soldiers left pretty soon after, their terms 
 of enlistment having expired ; but an appeal to 
 the people of New England, which was soon 
 made, called forth a warm and most cheering 
 response. Ten thousand men placed themselves 
 in readiness to march at a moment's warning. 
 And pretty soon after, the wives of the officers 
 joined them in the camp, which brought around 
 lively times for the Christmas holidays. The wife 
 of Gen. Washington came on from Mount Ver- 
 non, not considering herself, just then, safe in 
 Virginia. 
 
 In January of the next year, 1776, the British 
 made preparations to send a fleet around to New 
 York. Washington heard of it, and ordered 
 Gen. Lee across the country to that city, with 
 
176 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 authority to collect such an army as he could 
 along his route, and then make the best defences 
 for the city he was able. Connecticut espec- 
 ially helped him to a large force. He at once 
 proceeded, therefore, to fortify the city, the 
 heights on Long Island, and the Highland 
 passes on the Hudson. Washington resolved 
 at length to force the enemy to an engagement, 
 in spite of the advice of a council of war to the 
 contrary. He therefore made ready to occupy 
 a strong position on Dorchester Heights, where 
 he could command the town and the harbor. 
 These heights are now within what is called 
 South Boston. 
 
 On the night of the 2d of March, he opened 
 his fires from an opposite direction upon the 
 city. These he kept up for the two nights fol- 
 lowing. The object of this was, to deceive the 
 British as to his real intentions ; so that when 
 they looked up at the Heights on the morning 
 of the 5th of March, they saw the morning of 
 the 17th of June previous acted all over again. 
 They were struck with terror. They saw that 
 the Americans now had it in their power to do 
 with them almost what they chose. They had 
 
SIEGE OF BOSTON. 177 
 
 but one course to pursue, and that was to re- 
 treat. The British commander planned an ex- 
 pedition against the fortified Americans, under 
 the command of Lord Percy, but it amounted 
 to nothing. A storm succeeded in scattering the 
 boats in which the troops had embarked, which 
 Washington himself very deeply regretted ; for 
 had it occurred otherwise, he was sure that the 
 entire British army would have fallen into his 
 hands. His own plan was to send a division 
 into the city from another quarter, the moment 
 the force under Lord Percy should leave it to 
 attack Dorchester Heights ; and Gen. Putnam 
 was to have led on this assault, with four thous- 
 and men. The story goes, that while this plan 
 of Washington's was under discussion in the 
 council of officers, Putnam could not sit eas}^ 
 in his chair, but kept going continually to the 
 door and windows to look out. Washington 
 urged him to be quiet, — to sit down and give 
 his advice as certain questions came up to be 
 decided. " Oh," said Putnam, " you may plan 
 the battle to suit yourself, General, and I will 
 fight it ! " Whether true or not, it is character- 
 istic enough to be quite probable. 
 
178 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 Nook's Hill — which was still nearer to the 
 British — was fortified on the night of the 16th 
 of March, and then they knew they might as 
 well be going. Accordingly they made all pos- 
 sible haste to embark. They began to move at 
 sunrise, and by the middle of the forenoon were 
 on board their vessels, and on their way out to 
 sea. This was glorious news- indeed. Boston 
 was at once ordered to be occupied by two de- 
 tachments of troops, under command of Gen. 
 Putnam. He took possession of all the fortifi- 
 cations which were thus hastily deserted, amid 
 general congratulations and rejoicings. It is re- 
 lated that the British left wooden sentries on 
 Bunker Hill, with muskets fixed upon their 
 shoulders ; but they inspired the Americans 
 with no great amount of fear, and did not so 
 much as serve to draw the charge from a sin- 
 gle musket. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 
 
 THE British fleet, with all the troops on 
 board, sailed immediately to Halifax. 
 Gen. Howe expected at that point to 
 be reinforced from England, before proceeding 
 to make any further demonstrations against the 
 Colonists. But he soon found his quarters there 
 too close to be altogether comfortable, and af- 
 terwards left for New York, reaching Staten 
 Island in the latter part of June. 
 
 Major General Lee, having had time merely 
 to plan his defences in and around New York, 
 was ordered in haste to take command of the 
 Southern army, and posted off io South Caro- 
 lina for that purpose. Putnam was sent to 
 New York in his place, and assumed command 
 there forthwith, receiving his orders from Gen. 
 Washington on the 29th of March, or only 
 
180 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM.' 
 
 twelve days after the British left Boston. His 
 special duty was to complete the defences that 
 had been designed by Gen. Lee, and to put the 
 army under his immediate command in as good 
 a state of discipline as he could. His head- 
 quarters in New York were opposite Bowling 
 Green. His family were with him there, and 
 in his military family were, with others, Major 
 Aaron Burr, his own son, and Major — after- 
 wards Colonel — Humphreys, who wrote the first 
 biography of the old soldier that was ever read. 
 
 Gen. Putnam had hard work to quell the feel- 
 ing of disaffection which he found to be so com- 
 mon around him. Oftentimes plots were set 
 on foot by Americans who favored the British 
 cause, to overthrow which required all his vig- 
 ilance and industry. There were plenty of 
 loyalists on Long Island, and in New Jersey, 
 who were not at all backward in aiding the de- 
 signs of the enemy, by performing the service 
 of spies upon the doings of the Americans. At 
 one time they had matured a plan to suddenly 
 seize the person of Gen. Putnam, and deliver 
 him over to the British. Putnam declared mar- 
 tial law, which of course subjected the city to 
 
OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 181 
 
 strict military rale, such as prevails in a camp. 
 No inhabitant was allowed to pass any sentry 
 at night, who could not give the countersign. 
 The people, likewise, not yet having had any 
 open rupture in that quarter with the British, 
 were in the habit of trading with their vessels 
 in certain commodities that were wanted by 
 them, which of course produced a strikingly 
 bad effect ; this traffic General Putnam forth- 
 with stopped ; he would not tolerate any com- 
 merce or communication between the fleet and 
 the shore. Those who were taken in the act 
 of going to and fro, were treated as open ene- 
 mies. He appointed an Inspector for the port, 
 whose duty it was, among other things, to give 
 permits to the oystermen. 
 
 He sent a body of a thousand men over to 
 fortify Governor's Island, and also threw up de- 
 fences at Red Hook, and along the Jersey shore. 
 The great object then was, to prevent the British 
 from landing ; having no navy, it was useless 
 for the Americans to think of giving any trouble 
 to the enemy's fleet where it was. Finding that 
 the expected reinforcements were but slow in 
 coming forward, the British general again put 
 16 
 
182 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 to sea hoping perhaps to fall in with them. Put- 
 nam, however, still kept at work according to 
 the original plan, and performed a vast deal of 
 labor, little of which at this time makes any 
 show on record, in rendering the city safe against 
 the assaults of enemies either without or within. 
 A British ship, about this time, sent a boat on 
 shore for refreshments, containing a midship- 
 man and twelve sailors. Putnam ordered an 
 attack on all such visitors, agreeably to which 
 order two of this boat's crew were killed and 
 the rest taken prisoners. 
 
 Washington left Boston, and reached New 
 York about the middle of April. He very well 
 knew that the next effort of the British would be 
 to strike a successful blow here, for, with a 
 base line for operations like New York, they 
 could penetrate northward to Canada, eastward 
 into New England, or westward into New Jer- 
 sey and Pennsylvania. Hence his exertions were 
 all put forth to prevent the city's falling into 
 their hands. Governor's Island had been forti- 
 fied by Gen. Putnam already ; which effectually 
 checked the entrance of the ships from the 
 Narrows. Hulks were now sunk in the chan- 
 
OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 183 
 
 nels of East River and the Hudson, to pre- 
 vent their vessels coming up. The great need 
 about the fortifications was heavy cannon. 
 Could the Americans have been properly sup- 
 plied with these, the city would never have fall- 
 en into the hands of the British as easily as it 
 afterwards did. While affairs remained in this 
 posture, Washington went on to Philadelphia, to 
 exchange views with Congress, which was still 
 in session there ; and during his absence Put- 
 nam again resumed the chief command. He 
 was much occupied, in the absence of the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, in putting down the secret 
 schemes and plots of the Tories, many of 
 whom where to be found in the lower counties 
 near the city, on Long Island, and along the 
 Connecticut shore. Several of this class were 
 arrested, and one was finally tried and executed, 
 as an example. 
 
 It being continually expected that the enemy 
 would soon arrive with a larger fleet and army, 
 every exertion was made to be ready to give 
 them a fitting reception. Congress recommend- 
 ed the building of fire-boats, or rafts, to oppose 
 the ships in their entrance from the Narrows ; 
 
184 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 and to this subject Gen. Putnam gave his imme- 
 diate and earnest attention. The expectation of 
 the daily arrival of a large British fleet was not 
 a vain one; for Howe's brother — Lord Howe, 
 or Admiral Howe, as he was called, — soon made 
 his appearance off New York, with reinforce- 
 ments that at once gave the conflict a much 
 more serious character than it had even assumed 
 before. This arrival occurred about the middle 
 of July. Just previous to this event, however, 
 the immortal Declaration of Independence had 
 been passed by the Continental Congress in 
 Philadelphia, declaring the Colonies of North 
 America no longer Colonies of Great Britain, 
 but free and independent States. This was a 
 step forward, and, for those times, quite a long 
 one. It was extremely doubtful how this act on 
 the part of Congress would be received by the 
 army, and much anxiety was for a time felt 
 concerning it. John Hancock, the President 
 of the American Congress, sent a copy of it to 
 Gen. Washington, who immediately caused it to 
 be read at the head of the army, at six o'clock 
 in the evening, accompanying his order with the 
 recommendations of a true and large-souled pa- 
 triot. 
 
OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK 185 
 
 Together with the force under Admiral Howe, 
 and that of Gen. Clinton, who had also returned 
 at about the same time from the south, Gen. 
 Howe was placed at the head of an army of 
 nearly twenty-five thousand men, the very flower 
 *of the European armies. Many of these were 
 troops that had been hired for the war by Eng- 
 land, who were called mercenaries. The Hes- 
 sians were of this character. These troops were 
 experienced in the art of war, and were already 
 in a very high state of discipline. Against them 
 the American Commander could muster only 
 about seventeen thousand men, raw militiamen, 
 but ten thousand of whom were said to be good 
 for anything like active service. The design of 
 the British General was to pass up the Hudson, 
 and, by preventing any further union between 
 the people of the Eastern and Middle States, to 
 conquer the one and put a stop to what was still 
 considered only a growing disaffection in the 
 other. Accordingly, not long after their arrival 
 off Staten Island, two vessels of war set out 
 and run the gauntlet of the American fortifica- 
 tions, on their way up the Hudson. The Ameri- 
 can guns opened on them as they passed, but 
 16* 
 
180 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 the wind being favorable, they received little or 
 no damage ; by taking advantage, also, of a very 
 high tide, the enemy's vessels cleared the sunken 
 hulks without any difficulty. After passing the 
 forts, they anchored in Tappan Zee, a broad part 
 of the river some forty miles above the city. In" 
 this position they could not be reached from the 
 shore, and they could intercept whatever sup- 
 plies came down the river for the American 
 army. 
 
 The most that could be done by the American 
 commander to annoy the enemy in their new 
 position, was done faithfully. To this end fire- 
 boats were constructed, and chevaux-de-frise was 
 sunk across the river. Fourteen fire-ships were 
 prepared to sail secretly among the enemy's ves- 
 sels of war, and destroy them by burning. But, 
 as it turned out, nothing came of all these in- 
 genious devices. The Americans should have 
 had a well equipped navy, in order to success- 
 fully compete with the enemy hovering on their 
 coasts. There was one invention, however, that 
 excited a great deal of interest then, and de- 
 serves to be mentioned in this place. It was 
 a marine apparatus, called the " American Tur- 
 
OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 187 
 
 tie," and was the device of a man by the name of 
 Bushnell, belonging to Connecticut. It was a 
 machine, shaped as nearly like a turtle as might 
 be, large enough in its interior to contain a man, 
 and provided with a galvanic apparatus and a 
 supply of powder with which, after having first 
 secured the powder to the bottom of the enemy's 
 vessel, to produce an explosion. The man sit- 
 ting within it could row himself about in any 
 direction, and was furnished with lead ballast 
 to sink himself out of sight below the surface of 
 the water. 
 
 It so chanced that Bushnell could not accom- 
 pany this machine on the expedition for which 
 it was designed, and so a fellow named Bije 
 (Abijah) Shipman was procured in his place. 
 Putnam, with several other officers, went down 
 to the shore, early one morning, the design be- 
 ing to drift down the stream and fasten his ex- 
 plosive instrument underneath the flag-ship of 
 Admiral Howe, — the Eagle. Just as he was 
 about to ensconse himself within the curious 
 craft, he must needs imagine that he could not 
 get along without a quid of tobacco. He stuck 
 his head out of his hiding-place, and told Gen. 
 
188 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 Putnam that he must have a fresh cud, the old 
 cud in his mouth would not last him half the 
 way there. None of the officers could just then 
 supply his want, though they promised him all 
 he wanted at a future time. He declared he 
 knew the plan would fail, and all for the want 
 of a fresh chew of tobacco ! It did fail. Put- 
 nam watched late into the morning to witness 
 the explosion under the Admiral's ship, but none 
 took place. He studied the proceeding keenly 
 through his glass, and at last descried the little 
 black object drifting away just to the left of the 
 Eagle. It had not come up quite* in the right 
 place. The sentinels on board the ship saw it 
 as it rose, and fired off their muskets at the 
 strange object. " Bije " went under as if they 
 had sunk him with their shot. He had de- 
 tached his powder magazine, which exploded in 
 about an hour after, as designed, throwing up a 
 tremendous spout of water all around. The 
 Eagle, as well as the other vessels of the fleet 
 near by, made haste to lift their anchors out 
 of the mud and sail away. From that day 
 until New York finally fell into the hands of 
 the British, their vessels kept at a very safe 
 
OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 189 
 
 and respectful distance. " Bije " declared that 
 he got his turtle under the Eagle, as intended ; 
 but, on the first trial, the screw with which 
 he was to secure the powder-magazine to her 
 bottom struck against a piece of iron ; this 
 made him " narvous," and he could do noth- 
 ing afterwards ! It all fell through, just be- 
 cause he was obliged to hurry off without a 
 fresh cud of tobacco ! 
 
 Washington ordered Gen. Greene to take 
 up his position at Brooklyn, on Long Island, 
 which was strongly fortified against an attack 
 from the Island, by a line of defences extend- 
 ing around from Wallabout Bay to Gowanus's 
 Bay. These were considered sufficient pro- 
 tection against the approaches of the British 
 by the land, while other defences furnished se- 
 curity against attacks by sea. Behind these 
 defences stretching from one bay to the other, 
 was a high ridge, — or back-bone, so to call 
 it, — thickly covered with a growth of wood. 
 There were only three places where they could 
 be traversed by a force of cavalry, or through 
 which artillery could be taken ; and at these 
 three points were roads, regularly constructed, 
 
190 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 which led from the ferry at the Narrows to 
 Brooklyn itself. 
 
 Unfortunately enough, Gen. Greene fell sick 
 of a fever, just at this critical time, and the 
 command devolved on Gen. Sullivan. On the 
 22d day of August, the British, under com- 
 mand of Gen. Clinton, commenced landing from 
 their ships, being well protected by their guns. 
 They made one encampment at Flatland, and 
 another, chiefly of Hessians, at Flatbush. The 
 British were divided, in fact, into three sec- 
 tions ; a right, a centre, and a left. Lord Corn- 
 wallis commanded the first, De Heister the 
 second, and Grant the third. The wooded 
 heights formed the natural barrier between the 
 two armies. If the British, therefore, were to fall 
 upon the American forces, they could hope to 
 reach them only by one of the three roads, or 
 passes, above mentioned. 
 
 Washington sent over Gen. Putnam to take 
 command of the camp in Brooklyn, on Sunday, 
 the 25th day of August. The battle — called 
 the Battle of Long Island in history — took 
 place on the 27th. With Putnam likewise 
 went over a reinforcement of troops, consist- 
 
OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 191 
 
 ing of six battalions. The directions were par- 
 ticularly to protect the passes through the woods 
 by every means possible. Gen. Sullivan had 
 pushed forward from the American camp in 
 Brooklyn, and erected a strong redoubt on the 
 heights that commanded Flatbush, where the 
 Hessians lay in force. 
 
 To the east of the wood, there was a nar- 
 row pass that conducted from Jamaica to Bed- 
 ford, and so to the rear of the American works 
 occupied by Gen. Sullivan. This was so cir- 
 cuitous to reach, that it was thought the point 
 least in danger ; and perhaps, also, in conse- 
 quence of the sudden illness of Gen. Greene 
 and the consequent change of command, its 
 importance as a post in the entire plan of de- 
 fences had not received quite as much atten- 
 tion as it deserved. Gen. Clinton found out 
 the party which guarded this pass was not so 
 strong but that they might be easily overcome ; 
 and in order to take timely advantage of the dis- 
 covery, he left his camp at Flatland, at nine 
 o'clock on the evening of the 26th, and stealthily 
 marched round to surprise the militia stationed 
 there. He reached the place just before the 
 
192 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 day dawned ; and so unexpected was his ap- 
 proach, that the entire party surrendered them- 
 selves prisoners, without offering any resist- 
 ance. This single point turned the entire for- 
 tunes of the day. 
 
 Clinton had previously arranged, that at about 
 the time when he should have taken this pass, 
 the right division should make demonstrations 
 on the American left, or against the other ex- 
 treme of their lines, in order to draw off their 
 attention from the real danger. These arrange- 
 ments were carried out to the letter, and with 
 surprising success. Gen. De Heister also made 
 a simultaneous attack with his Hessians upon 
 Gen. Sullivan's redoubt over Flatbush. But 
 neither attack was intended to be much more 
 than a feint to keep the Americans from any 
 suspicion of the real design. So that Clinton 
 finally stole unobserved through the easterly pass, 
 leading from Jamaica, with the van of the Brit- 
 ish army, supplied with all the artillery and cav- 
 alry he would be likely to require, and success- 
 fully turned the American left. And not until 
 the British had, in fact, come round and sud- 
 denly burst on the American rear, were the 
 
OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 193 
 
 latter aware of their danger. De Heister now 
 seriously attacked Gen. Sullivan's works in the 
 centre, while Clinton came upon them in the 
 rear. There they were, hemmed in between 
 two divisions of a hostile army. There was 
 no alternative but to surrender, and Sullivan 
 did surrender. He was taken prisoner himself, 
 as well as a large part of the force under his 
 immediate command. Many of the Americans, 
 however, fought their desperate way through 
 the enemy that pressed hotly upon them, and 
 retreated in safety to the camp at Brooklyn. 
 
 At the same time that the battle was going 
 on between the American centre and the Brit- 
 ish centre, as above described, Gen. Grant was 
 bringing up the British left to attack the Amer- 
 ican right, commanded by Lord Stirling. This 
 resulted also in a rout of the latter force, most 
 of whom, however, made good their way back 
 to Brooklyn. Stirling was himself taken pris- 
 oner, together with the body of militia he had 
 led forward to the vigorous assault which he 
 made upon the enemy in order the better to 
 cover the retreat of the remainder. Sullivan 
 did all that a brave man, suddenly surrounded 
 17 
 
194 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 by an enemy far superior in numbers, could 
 have hoped to do. He fought bravely for two 
 long hours, maintaining his ground for that time 
 against odds that would have appalled many 
 a commander less courageous and self-reliant 
 than he. 
 
 Gen. Washington came over from New York 
 during the heat of the engagement, and, from 
 the camp in Brooklyn, himself witnessed the 
 hopeless loss of the day. The British were 
 two against the Americans' one, and our troops 
 were in all respects inferior to those whom 
 they were called to meet. The Commander- 
 in-chief could not suppress his deep excitement, 
 at seeing the havoc thus suddenly produced by 
 the enemy ; yet there was nothing that he 
 could do then to retrieve the fallen fortunes of 
 his army. Gen. Putnam continued to carry 
 out his orders in strenfftheninsf the defences 
 of the camp, and providing for the next step 
 that had already been decided on. For it 
 became instantly evident that the Americans 
 could not hold their present position. They 
 must either risk another attack from Clinton, 
 
OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 195 
 
 which could terminate only in signal disaster, 
 or take counsel of prudence, and retreat. 
 
 Washington chose the latter. Had the Brit- 
 ish pursued their success without any delay, 
 they would unquestionably have struck the last 
 and heaviest blow at the American Revolution ; 
 it would then have appeared on the pages of 
 history only as a rebellion. But in the very 
 flush and excitement of victory, they suffered 
 the main advantage, and their only permanent 
 advantage, too, to escape them. The neglect was 
 very similar to that of which they were guilty 
 immediately after carrying the works on Bun- 
 ker Hill. There were less than five thousand 
 Americans in this battle, on the 27th of Aug- 
 ust, of which number the army lost some eleven 
 hundred, and the most of those, prisoners. The 
 estimate goes that nearly two thirds of all who 
 were engaged were under Lord Stirling, on 
 the American right, the greater part of whom 
 effected their retreat to the camp in perfect 
 safety. The prisoners taken comprised the 
 small parties at the pass on the Jamaica road, 
 who were captured by Clinton before daybreak, 
 and the body under Gen. Sullivan, who found 
 
196 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 themselves suddenly beset on one side by the 
 Hessians, and on the other by the British, un- 
 der Clinton, who had stolen around and fallen 
 upon their rear. 
 
 The enemy, instead of pushing forward at 
 the moment of victory, contented themselves w T ith 
 sitting down before the American defences, and 
 at once began to erect batteries from which 
 to assail them. Clinton fell to this work with 
 energy, on the very next night after the battle. 
 On that same night, too, Washington and Put- 
 nam silently removed their camp, with all its 
 provisions, equipage, ammunition, and general ac- 
 companiments, and went over the river. There 
 were nine thousand men to be got across, and 
 it must all be done in a few hours, and in 
 perfect silence. Washington proved himself 
 equal to so wonderful a task ; one which has 
 rarely been equalled, certainly never surpassed, 
 in the annals of successful or unsuccessful war. 
 The British sentinels descried the American 
 rear-guard crossing over in the midst of the fog, 
 just as the day broke in the east. The latter 
 were clear out of reach of the enemy's guns, 
 and had eluded them in a way they least ex- 
 
OPERATIONS IN NEW YORK. 197 
 
 The entire American army, therefore, now lay- 
 concentrated in New York. Governor's Island 
 was abandoned, and all the troops were called 
 in. The British possessed themselves of the 
 deserted positions on Long Island without any 
 delay, and thus the two armies were separated 
 only by the narrow breadth of East River, at 
 the farthest point not more than a half mile 
 across. 
 
 17* 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 
 
 ALONG line of fortifications was at once 
 erected by the British on Long Island. 
 A portion of their fleet sailed around and 
 entered the Sound at its eastern extremity, but 
 the main body of it remained at anchor not far 
 from Governor's Island, to operate in the direction 
 of either the East or Hudson river, as the case 
 might be. 
 
 Washington's quick eye saw what was the 
 enemy's object, at a glance. They intended to 
 cut off his communication with the back country, 
 and by surrounding him and his army where they 
 then were — on New York Island, — to compel a 
 speedy surrender, and so bring the war at once to 
 a close. In order to foil the enemy, he proceeded 
 to send off the stores that were not immediately 
 required for the army. Next he formed the army 
 
RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 199 
 
 into three divisions, one of which remained to 
 defend the city, which was placed under com- 
 mand of General Putnam, — one was sent to 
 King's bridge, some distance up the island, — and 
 one was stationed between the other two, so as 
 to be ready to go to the help of either in case of 
 an attack. Thus they remained from the 8th of 
 September until the 12th. It was plain that an 
 assault was to be made very soon, and a council 
 of war at last concluded it was best to evacuate 
 the city forthwith. The stores had already been 
 removed, and were now safe. On the loth of 
 September the retreat itself began. It com menced 
 a little sooner than was at first intended, on ac- 
 count of an attack from the enemy at Kip's Bay, 
 some three miles above the city. The Americans 
 who were stationed there fled in a cowardly man- 
 ner when they saw the enemy approaching, and 
 the reinforcement of two brigades sent up from 
 the city by Putnam, likewise turned and fled as 
 soon as they came in sight of the deserted works. 
 Washington hurried to the spot in a towering 
 excitement, and with his flashing sword ordered 
 the panic-stricken men whom he met to turn back 
 and give the enemy battle. But neither menaces 
 
200 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 nor personal example availed. For himself he 
 appeared perfectly reckless. He was left almost 
 alone within eighty yards of the enemy, who were 
 already beginning to surround him ; and had not 
 some of the soldiers who were near sprang 
 forward and forcibly turned his horse by the bridle, 
 he must have been taken prisoner. 
 
 Upon this movement, the Americans fell back 
 upon Harlaem Heights. The British ships — a 
 part of them — three days afterwards moved 
 towards the upper end of the island on the Hud- 
 son river side, and anchored opposite Blooming- 
 dale. Putnam retreated last from the city, and 
 of course was exposed to a double danger; he 
 had to run the gauntlet of the enemy now occu- 
 pying the main road on the easterly side of the 
 island, and the fire of the ships that had taken 
 position on the Hudson at Bloomingdale. He 
 chose the latter route for his retreat, and began 
 his rapid march. It was an extremely sultry day, 
 and the men were quite overcome with the heat 
 and fatigue. They fell fainting by the side of the 
 road, as they hurried on ; they stopped to slake 
 their feverish thirst at the brooks, and lay down and 
 died while in the act of drinking. The exertions 
 
RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 201 
 
 made that day by General Putnam were almost 
 superhuman. He pushed his horse to the top of 
 his speed, riding from one end of his division to 
 the other. The animal was flecked with foam. 
 Major Humphreys, his biographer, who was with 
 him on that trying occasion, wrote that when they 
 had nearly reached Bloomingdale, an aid-de-camp 
 came from Putnam at full speed, to inform the 
 regiment to which he belonged that a column of 
 British infantry was close upon their right. The 
 regiment filed oft* rapidly to the left, and their 
 rear was fired upon just as they had slipped past 
 the line which the British had now succeeded in 
 drawing across from river to river. The Colonel 
 of the regiment was shot down and killed on the 
 spot. The other divisions of the army had given 
 up General Putnam's command for lost ; and it 
 was not until after dark that his brigades all came 
 in safety inside the lines. Considering the many 
 difficulties with which Putnam had to contend, 
 his safe retreat is to be. set down as a truly won- 
 derful performance. 
 
 Sir Henry Clinton had hurried over from Kip's 
 Bay, on the easterly side, expecting to cut off Put- 
 nam's force, should it previously have escaped the 
 
202 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 snares set for it below. In the pursuit of this 
 plan, it was necessary for him to pass along the 
 east of Murray Hill, and intercept the Americans 
 at a point beyond. On Murray Hill lived a gentle 
 but very shrewd Quaker lady, the mother of the 
 well-known grammarian, Lindley Murray. Gen- 
 eral Putnam sent forward a message to her, request- 
 ing her, when Sir Henry Clinton should reach her 
 house, to detain him by some innocent stratagem 
 until the American army could have time to get 
 beyond his reach. The course of the latter lay 
 to the west of the hill, and so on northwardly. 
 Presently the British general came along. Mrs. 
 Murray was known to several of the officers, and 
 it was thought no more than an act of courtesy 
 in her to go to the door and invite them all in to 
 take a glass of wine. They were glad to accept 
 such an invitation, and accordingly went in and 
 sat down to her hospitalities. The ladies present 
 engaged the officers in agreeable conversation, and 
 they very soon became oblivious how time was 
 flying. Presently a negro servant, who had been 
 stationed by his mistress on the top of the house 
 to keep watch, entered the room and gave the 
 sign previously agreed on. Upon which Mrs. 
 
RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 203 
 
 Murray begged Sir Henry Clinton to step out 
 after her, as she had something she wished to 
 show him. He followed her in silence to the 
 observatory on the house-top ; and she then 
 pointed triumphantly to the retreating column of 
 Americans in the distance, already marching over 
 the plains of Bloomingdale. The General did not 
 so much as stop to take his leave, much less to thank 
 his fair hostess for her hospitalities ; but dashed 
 at a headlong pace down the stairs, mounted his 
 horse, and called on his troops to follow after at 
 the top of their speed. But his intended victims 
 had quite escaped him. The hospitable ruse of 
 the lady had done its work well. 
 
 The British under General Howe were thus in 
 full possession of New York, a portion of their 
 force occupying the city, but the greater part 
 being pushed forward to the upper end of the 
 island. They stretched their hostile lines across 
 from one river to the other. Up at King's bridge 
 were the Americans, as strongly fortified as their 
 position allowed. Advanced posts were also 
 occupied by the American troops, at one of which 
 General Putnam was placed in command. Par- 
 ties of the enemy appeared in the plains between 
 
204 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 the two hostile camps, shortly after the retreat of 
 the Americans to King's bridge. Lieut. Col. 
 Knowlton, — a very brave young officer from Con- 
 necticut, who served at the rail-fence during the 
 battle of Bunker Hill, — came in and reported to 
 the Commander-in-chief the strength of one of 
 these skirmishing parties. He was immediately 
 ordered to make a circuit and gain the enemy's 
 rear, at the same time that an attack was made 
 on them in front. The enemy saw fit to change 
 their position before Knowlton became aware of 
 it, and he fell upon them rather in flank than in 
 rear. In the heat of the conflict, to which he led 
 his men forward with very marked bravery, he fell, 
 pierced with the enemy's bullets. His wounds 
 proved mortal; but the men under him maintained 
 their ground, and finally drove the British from 
 their position entirely. No one in the army felt 
 the death of Knowlton more than General Put- 
 nam. He was his particular pet and favorite ; he 
 had served under him in the French and Indian 
 ■ war, was also present at the taking of Montreal, 
 and bore a part in the memorable hardships attend- 
 ant on the Havana expedition. He was born but a 
 few miles above Pom fret, in the town of Ashford, 
 
RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY 205 
 
 and had risen from rank to rank in the army with 
 great rapidity. General Washington lamented 
 his death in his general orders of the next day, 
 taking the same occasion to hold him up to the 
 army as an example of bravery well worth their 
 emulation. In contrasting the conduct of the 
 men on that day with their cowardly conduct at 
 Kip's Bay, Washington observed that this last 
 skirmish showed "what may be done, where offi- 
 cers and soldiers will exert themselves." 
 
 The policy of the British commander now, as 
 the armies lay opposite one another, was to bring 
 on a general engagement. Washington, however, 
 was averse to putting so much to hazard. While 
 he felt very certain that in a pitched battle he 
 could hardly expect anything but defeat, he was 
 also quite as well satisfied that he had it in his 
 power to harass the enemy to the last extremity 
 of endurance. Upon this latter, and only remain- 
 ing plan, therefore, he had at last determined. 
 
 But General Howe was not yet willing to 
 give over all further efforts to tempt, or force, the 
 American commander into the field. Disap- 
 pointed, however, in one way, he was none the 
 less ready to try another. Accordingly he set on 
 18 
 
206 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 foot a plan to gain their rear, cut them off from 
 all communication with supplies in the back coun- 
 try, and, having thus surrounded them, to force 
 them to lay down their arms. Nothing was more 
 plausible, in the way of a plan, and the results 
 expected from it would be very certain to follow ; 
 but the trouble arose in the attempt to carry it 
 out into practice. Still, Howe was eager to make 
 such an attempt. For this purpose, he ordered 
 several vessels of war up the Hudson, which 
 managed to pass Forts Washington and Lee 
 without receiving any material damage ; a few 
 days afterwards he took with him, in flat bottomed 
 boats, a large part of his army up through Hell 
 Gate, and landed at Frog's Point, not far from 
 the village of Westchester. This was about nine 
 miles above the American encampment on the 
 heights of Haerlem. 
 
 The British next set out across the country in 
 the direction of White Plains. The American 
 force lay stretched along a line some dozen miles 
 in extent, all the way from King's bridge to White 
 Plains. They invariably held possession of the 
 heights along the route, which gave them every 
 desirable natural advantage. As General Howe 
 
RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 207 
 
 had now disposed the two armies by his new 
 movement, the little Bronx river was all that lay 
 between them. On the other bank of the Bronx, 
 and about a mile from the main body, was posted 
 Gen. McDougall, with fifteen hundred militia. 
 He occupied a hill also, and it was easy for his 
 men to wade the river over to the main body, at 
 the point where he was stationed. Howe deter- 
 mined to attack this position of Gen. McDougall, 
 for which purpose he despatched one body of 
 Hessian troops to march around and surprise him 
 in rear, while a second body of British and Hes- 
 sians came up and assailed him in front. The 
 Americans, after a vigorous resistance, were com- 
 pelled to give way, but they kept up a spirited 
 and galling fire from behind the stone walls as 
 they retreated. Putnam was ordered to reinforce 
 McDougall, and hastened to do so ; but he met 
 the latter in full retreat, and it" was not judged 
 proper to try to retake the height from which his 
 men had been dislodged. 
 
 Washington expected that the British would 
 follow up this advantage with a general attack, 
 and he labored energetically through the night to 
 increase the strength of his present defences. 
 
208 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 Howe concluded to postpone the attack, however, 
 till another occasion. In the meantime, on the 
 niffht of the first of November, which was dark 
 and opportune for the purpose, Washington with- 
 drew his whole army to a post about five miles 
 distant, whither he had already managed to send 
 his baggage and provisions. Howe was not in- 
 clined to offer him any further molestation where 
 he was, but turned his attention to Forts Wash- 
 ington and Lee, which the Americans continued 
 to hold, much to the annoyance of the British, 
 because they were still in their rear. First he 
 made a demonstration against Fort Independence, 
 at King's bridge. The Americans deserted that 
 fortification as soon as they saw the British ap- 
 proaching, and retreated to Fort Washington. A 
 detachment of British pursued, and took up a 
 position between Fort Washington and Fort Lee; 
 while the rest of the army, with General Howe at 
 their head, returned by the Hudson to New York. 
 It was thus apparent to Washington that Howe 
 contemplated an invasion of New Jersey. To 
 provide against this, he ordered General Putnam 
 to take command of all the troops enlisted from 
 the west of the Hudson, and to cross the river at 
 
RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 209 
 
 once. This he did on the 8th of November, and 
 posted himself at Hackensack. Fort Lee was 
 placed in the command of General Greene, with 
 power to defend Fort Washington, which was on 
 the New York side of the river. Greene was 
 invested with discretionary powers in relation to 
 the defence of these two posts, and a difference 
 of opinion arose between himself and Washing- 
 ton as to the policy of attempting to hold them 
 any longer. The Commander-in-chief believed 
 the effort useless, especially as the enemy were 
 concentrating their forces for an assault ; but 
 Greene thought they should be held to the very 
 last, and proceeded to strengthen Fort Washing- 
 ton accordingly. He placed Colonel McGaw in 
 command there, with what he considered an ad- 
 equate force to defend the place. On the 15th of 
 November, McGaw received a summons from 
 Gen. Howe to surrender, threatening, if he did not, 
 that the garrison should be put to the sword. 
 McGaw refused, and sent a despatch across the 
 river to Greene, informing him of his situation. 
 Greene in turn forwarded the intelligence to Gen- 
 eral Washington, who was at Hackensack with 
 Putnam. Washington hastened to Fort Lee, and, 
 18* 
 
210 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 not finding Greene there, pushed in the night 
 across the river to the other fort. He met Green 
 and Putnam in the river, on the way back, with 
 the news that the garrison would hold out with- 
 out any difficulty. Accordingly all three went 
 back to Fort Lee. On the very next day, how- 
 ever, the British general stormed Fort Washing- 
 ton and put the garrison to ihe sword, as he had 
 threatened. On that single day, three thousand 
 of the Americans perished. 
 
 It was worse than useless now to attempt to 
 hold Fort Lee, and Washington directed the 
 immediate removal of the ammunition and stores. 
 They set to work to accomplish this as hastily as 
 possible ; but before they could fairly get clear of 
 danger, they found themselves nearly hemmed in 
 by a British force under Lord Cornwallis, on the 
 tract between the Hudson and Hackensack rivers. 
 
 They managed to secure their escape across the 
 Hackensack, but it was at a great risk ; and even 
 then, they left their cannon, tents, and a large 
 quantity of stores behind them, which in their 
 precipitate flight they were compelled to relinquish. 
 And now they were hardly better off than before; 
 for parallel with the Hackensack runs the Passaic 
 
RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 211 
 
 for a long distance. The British could again hem 
 them in, if they followed up the pursuit ; and to 
 avoid the same danger the second time, they 
 effected another hasty retreat across the Passaic. 
 Now began to set in the dark days of the Rev- 
 olution. The militia were discouraged with noth- 
 ing but retreat and defeat, and left the army in 
 large numbers as fast as their terms of enlistment 
 expired. The military stores amounted to scarcely 
 anything worth mentioning. It was late in No- 
 vember, and bleak winter was close at hand. Not 
 more than three thousand men in all still remained 
 under the standard of Washington. All around 
 them were disaffected persons and open loyalists; 
 and the army had thus a double foe to fight, and 
 a double danger to overcome. One by one the 
 cities of New Jersey fell into the enemy's hands, — 
 Newark, New Brunswick, Princeton, and Trenton; 
 they took possession of the country as fast as the 
 Americans retreated. And when that " phantom 
 of an army " — as Hamilton called it, — that still 
 clung to Washington, crossed the Delaware on 
 the eighth day of December, there was nothing 
 but that single river between the over-running 
 enemy and the city where the Continental Con- 
 
212 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 gress daily met to consult for the future of the 
 nation that was not yet born. The brothers Howe 
 — the General and the Admiral — seemed to have 
 everything their own way. They held the entire 
 country from Rhode Island to the Delaware, and 
 none knew how long before they would strike the 
 blow, so much dreaded, against Philadelphia itself. 
 They also scattered proclamations all over the 
 land, especially among those who had not yet 
 fully decided to embrace the cause of America 
 against England ; and in these proclamations they 
 freely offered pardon and favor to all who, within 
 a given time, would take the oath of allegiance 
 to the King. A great number embraced the offer 
 thus made, and by so much of course darkened 
 the prospects of those who were still hoping and 
 toiling for the ultimate independence of their 
 country. 
 
 General Putnam stood by his great Command- 
 er's side through the whole of this dark disaster, 
 unshaken in his resolution to do all that he could 
 do for his native land. When others faltered, he 
 never hesitated or swerved. Upon him Washing- 
 ton knew that he could depend, even if all others 
 finally failed him. 
 
RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 213 
 
 Congress having resolved that Philadelphia 
 should be defended to the last extremity, Putnam 
 was directed to enter upon the work of erecting 
 the proper fortifications. " Upon the salvation of 
 Philadelphia," wrote Washington, " our cause 
 almost depends." His selection of Putnam to 
 take supreme command there, sufficiently attests 
 the high confidence he reposed in his ability and 
 character. He wrote to the President of Congress, 
 on the 9th of December, that "a communication 
 of lines and redoubts from the Delaware to the 
 Schuylkill, on the north entrance of the city, might 
 be formed ; " that " every step should be taken to 
 collect a force, not only from Pennsylvania, but 
 from the neighboring states ; " and that the com- 
 munication by water should be kept open for sup- 
 plies. Putnam found a disaffected class of people, 
 — and people of wealth and influence, too, — in 
 the city, against whom it was very trying for him 
 to set up his own authority, with any hope of 
 success : yet he did succeed in bringing order out 
 of disorder, and by his sleepless energy established 
 the authority of the American arms. He was 
 summoned before Congress to confer with that 
 body respecting the city's safety, and in obedience 
 
214 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 to his suggestions they resolved to adjourn, and 
 did adjourn on the 12th to meet again on the 20th 
 of December, in Baltimore. 
 
 He at once placed the city under martial law, 
 as he had previously done at the time he held 
 supreme command in New York. Yet he was 
 extremely prudent about making any display 
 of his authority, too ; doing nothing that would 
 cause needless irritation on the part of the disaf- 
 fected inhabitants, and using every proper means 
 to conciliate their confidence and good will. He 
 labored to complete the defences, with all his 
 energy ; so arduous were his exertions, that his 
 health for a time gave way under them. He had, 
 in fact, a double duty to perform ; to erect de- 
 fences against the enemy without, and to secure 
 himself from an enemy equally formidable within 
 the city. It was while General Putnam was thus 
 engaged, that Washington boldly moved forward 
 and struck two decisive blows, — at Trenton, and 
 then at Princeton, — which suddenly electrified 
 and energized the whole army and country, it 
 was a part of the plan to have Putnam cooperate 
 in these brilliant exploits of the Commander-in- 
 chief, both with a portion of his Philadelphia 
 
RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 215 
 
 troops and a body of Pennsylvania militia ; but 
 the, fear of a sudden rising among the loyalists of 
 the city made such a design impracticable. Two 
 letters from Washington to Putnam, one just on 
 the eve of these bold enterprises, indicate very 
 plainly what were the feelings of the Commander- 
 in-chief at that time. In the first, he advises 
 General Putnam to remove the public stores to a 
 place of greater safety, as the enemy had said 
 they would enter the town within twenty days; 
 but in the other, written some days afterwards, he 
 expresses the opinion that the British are seized 
 with a panic, and that he will yet be able to drive 
 them out of the Jerseys altogether. 
 
 Finding that affairs were thus taking a favor- 
 able turn, he ordered Putnam into the field again. 
 He was directed, on the 5th of January, 1777, to 
 march the troops under his command to Cross- 
 wick, a few miles southeast of Trenton, where he 
 might be able both to keep a strict watch on the 
 enemy and to obtain any advantage that offered. 
 Washington's plan was to harass the British army 
 by every method within the reach of his ingenuity. 
 Putnam was ordered to keep spies out continu- 
 ally, so that he might not be taken by surprise ; 
 
216 GEST. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 and also to make it appear to the enemy, by such 
 means as he could, that his force was a great deal 
 stronger than it really was. Inasmuch as the Brit- 
 ish seemed inclined to make no demonstration 
 against them, but rather concentrated for the re- 
 mainder of the winter in New Brunswick and 
 Amboy, Putnam was soon after ordered into win- 
 ter quarters at Princeton, which was some fifteen 
 miles distant. He had but a handful of troops 
 with him at the most; and had he been attacked 
 in his position at any time, would have been forced 
 to retreat without offering battle. 
 
 He employed every device to conceal from the 
 enemy the actual paucity of his numbers. In the 
 battle of Princeton, Capt. McPherson, a Scotch 
 officer, had received a wound which it was thought 
 was about to terminate fatally. Until Putnam 
 quartered in the town, however, he had not even 
 had medical attendance, it being considered that, 
 as he was likely to die any day, it was therefore 
 quite useless; but Putnam provided him with a 
 careful physician, as soon as his case was known, 
 who did nil that he could for his relief. Beins: in 
 his presence oik; day, the Scotchman protested 
 his gratitude, and asked Putnam to what country 
 
RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 217 
 
 he belonged. " I am a Yankee," said the general. 
 " I did not believe," answered the sufferer, " that 
 there could be so much goodness in an American, 
 or in anybody but a Scotchman." The poor fel- 
 low thought himself about to die, at length, and 
 begged that a British officer, a friend of his, might 
 be sent for, under a flag of truce, to come and 
 help him make his will. Putnam wished to gratify 
 the dying man's request, but it would not answer 
 to let a British officer see what a meagre force he 
 had around him. Indeed, to tell the truth, he had 
 but fifty men in the town at the time, all the rest 
 of his men having been sent out to protect the 
 country around. Putnam's mother wit, however, 
 was as ready as ever to serve him. He sent out 
 a flag of truce with the errand, enjoining upon 
 the messenger not to return with the British officer 
 until after dark. The moment evening came on, 
 therefore, Putnam had all the windows in the 
 college buildings illuminated, as well as those in 
 the other vacant houses of the town. He like- 
 wise kept his little squad of fifty men marching 
 up and down the streets continually, and making 
 as much of a martial display as possible. Under 
 such highly imposing circumstances was the Brit- 
 19 
 
218 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 ish officer conducted to the quarters of his Scotch 
 friend, and finally suffered -to depart. When he 
 got back to the British camp again, he reported 
 that General Putnam could not have under his 
 command a force of less than five thousand men. 
 
 To protect the friends of the American cause 
 from the persecutions of loyalists, was a duty that 
 during this time en^a^ed much of the labor of 
 Putnam, and likewise exercised all the judgment, 
 delicacy, tact, and prudence, of which he was the 
 possessor. The rest of the winter was occupied 
 chiefly with skirmishes. Col. Neilson was sent, 
 on the 17th of February, with a hundred and fifty 
 men, to surprise a parfy of loyalists that had for- 
 tified themselves at Lawrence's Neck. There 
 were sixty of the other party, belonging to what 
 was called Cortlandt Skinner's brigade. They 
 were all taken prisoners. Major Stockton, their 
 commander, was sent to Philadelphia by General 
 Putnam, in irons. 
 
 Not long after this, another party of foragers 
 was reported to be scouring the country, and 
 Major Smith was sent forward to hang on their 
 rear until Putnam himself should come up. But 
 the Major was a little impatient, or ambitious of 
 
RETREAT OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 219 
 
 renown, and fell upon the party, which he had 
 already enticed into a snare, putting them to rout 
 and carrying off several prisoners, horses, and 
 baggage-wagons. 
 
 Thus the winter of 1776-7 passed away. In 
 the time he had been in New Jersey, General 
 Putnam had taken a thousand prisoners, and at 
 least a hundred and twenty baggage wagons. In 
 one skirmish he captured ninety-six wagons, laden 
 with provisions for the enemy. He likewise by 
 his prudence and firm, but conciliatory manner, 
 added great strength to the American cause, and 
 left the Jerseys at last, which he did in May, in a 
 very different condition from that in which they 
 were, when he first set foot upon their soil. Few 
 men, in the army or out, could have performed the 
 service for which the Commander-in-chief thought 
 him in all respects so admirably qualified. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 IN THE HIGHLANDS. 
 
 THE British were manoeuvring just at 
 this time so strangely, that "Washing- 
 ton was hardly able to determine what 
 object they really had in view next. They 
 had a force in Canada, under Bargoyne, with 
 which it was thought Howe was anxious to 
 open a communication by the Hudson River; 
 then it was suspected that the Canada troops 
 would go round to New York by sea, and thus 
 effect a union with the troops under Howe 
 without risking an attempt by land ; and then 
 again, in the month of July, it was a greater 
 mystery still in which direction Howe was go- 
 ing, when he set sail with his army from the 
 port of New York. All these contingencies 
 the American commander was obliged care- 
 fully to guard against. 
 
IN THE HIGHLANDS. 221 
 
 To this end, it was necessary, first, that the 
 fortress of Ticonderoga should be strengthened, 
 and provided against a surprise ; second, that 
 the passes in the Highlands should be so guard- 
 ed as to prevent any union of the two hostile 
 armies by way of the river; and third, that the 
 important post of Philadelphia should be de- 
 fended to the very last extremity. Enough, 
 one would think, to engage all the energies 
 of any commander. 
 
 The Highlands were to be defended at all 
 cost and hazard. An ingenious method had 
 already been devised by Generals Greene and 
 Knox to obstruct the passage of the enemy's 
 ships up the river, by means of a heavy chain, 
 supported at regular intervals by floating logs 
 of wood, and stretched across from one shore 
 to the other. A couple of armed vessels were 
 also to be stationed so as to rake the enemy's 
 ships, whenever they might approach. Arnold 
 had been previously entrusted with the com- 
 mand on the river, on account of Washington's 
 sympathy for the treatment with which Con- 
 gress had visited him ; but as his own private 
 affairs compelled him to be in Philadelphia, 
 19* 
 
222 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 his command was transferred to Gen. Putnam, 
 and the latter took post at the head of the army 
 of the Highlands, in the month of May, 1777. 
 
 The excessive labor and exposure which was 
 required of Gen. Putnam, while energetically 
 carrying out the plans for the protection of the 
 river, are thought to have brought on the sud- 
 den assault of disease which, not much more 
 than two years later, compelled his countrymen 
 to dispense with his active services altogether. 
 The width of the river where the cable was to 
 be thrown across, was five hundred and forty 
 yards. The cable was not to be stretched over 
 in a straight line from shore to shore, but diag- 
 onally, in order to offer a more effective resist- 
 ance to the current of the river. Working early 
 and late about business of this character, being 
 out in all weathers, and often standing in the 
 water for hours together, was quite too much 
 for the constitution of a man who did not slop 
 to consider that he was growing old, and finally 
 resulted in serious and irreparable mischief. i 
 
 Hardly had he entered upon his new com- 
 mand, when Washington proposed to him a 
 sudden descent upon the enemy who were forti- 
 
IN THE HIGHLANDS. 223 
 
 fied at King's bridge ; the letter written by the 
 latter on the subject is full of interest, and lets 
 the reader into the speculations of the great 
 man's mind in those trying times. But the 
 contradictory conduct of the enemy diverted his 
 attention from this design, and drew it rather 
 to the preservation of the important posts he 
 still held. As soon, then, as the British en- 
 campment at Brunswick was broken up, Wash- 
 ington made ready to oppose their march upon 
 Philadelphia, which he had reason to think was 
 the direction of their next movement. In or- 
 der to do this the more effectually, he sent for 
 the whole of Putnam's force except a thousand 
 men. These, with the militia of the region, were 
 thought to be sufficient to protect his position. 
 Then it was reported to Gen. Putnam that 
 Bnrgoyne was marching down upon him from 
 the direction of Canada ; and to provide against 
 this, he was obliged to hold four regiments in 
 readiness to march at a moment's warning. The 
 great danger on the Hudson just then seemed 
 to be, that Burgoyne from above and Howe 
 from below would succeed in uniting their for- 
 ces ; and that was the plan which it was very 
 
224 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 evident they had for a long time entertained. 
 Washington wrote him on the 1st of July thus: 
 " No time is to be lost. Much may be at stake, 
 and I am persuaded, if Gen. Howe is going 
 up the river, he will make a rapid and vigorous 
 push to gain the Highland passes." 
 
 For a long time matters were in a state of 
 perplexing uncertainty. It required all the vigi- 
 lance, and all the energy of a most skilful and 
 prudent general, to guard properly against rash- 
 ness on the one hand and negligence on the 
 other. The season wore on in this way, and 
 nothing of a decided character was undertaken 
 during the summer. Putnam celebrated the 
 first anniversary of the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence in the Highlands, in a rather novel style. 
 A public feast was made, toasts were drunk, 
 and patriotic feelings were appealed to. Guns 
 were also fired in commemoration of so great 
 an event, and just at sundown a huge rock was 
 thrown over a precipice with a crashing sound 
 like that of thunder, into the wooded valley 
 below. The rock had stood just on the edge 
 of the precipice, and weighed several hundred 
 tons 
 
IN THE HIGHLANBS. 225 
 
 At length Ticonderoga was abandoned to 
 the enemy; and then commenced in good earn- 
 est the march of the British downward upon 
 the country around the Hudson. Putnam was 
 ordered, on the receipt of the news, to forward 
 a part of his force northward to the succor of 
 Gen. Schuyler; and he also despatched Major 
 Burr, who was still a member of his military 
 staff, into Connecticut to collect recruits and 
 send them on with all possible haste to Albany. 
 Washington had by this time moved up nearer 
 to the Hudson, on the Jersey side. Gen. Sulli- 
 van and Lord Stirling were sent over into Put- 
 nam's camp, to be ready to move either to the 
 east or west, as circumstances should render 
 it necessary. Howe had just then set sail 
 from New York, and gone to sea, taking with 
 him a large part of the force from the city. 
 The anxious inquiry therefore was, Where had 
 he gone ? It might be to Philadelphia, — and it 
 might be to Boston. And it was necessary to 
 keep the troops in readiness to repel his attack 
 upon either place. Howe had sent a letter to 
 Burgoyne by a young American, which he no 
 doubt intended should fall into the hands of 
 
226 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 Gen. Putnam. The letter spoke of the fleet's 
 
 being about to sail for "B n," evidently 
 
 meaning Boston. Washington got the letter 
 from Putnam, and felt all the more sure that 
 the whole was only meant to deceive him ; he 
 was confident now, that the enemy had sailed 
 from New York for the purpose of taking 
 Philadelphia. And he made ready to march 
 with his forces at once in that direction. 
 
 The fleet made its appearance off the Dela- 
 ware cape, sure enough, and Washington sent 
 orders across the Hudson to Gen. Putnam to 
 forward even more troops than was before ar- 
 ranged for, which now left his post in a very 
 precarious condition. But on the very next day 
 the troops were sent back again, the enemy 
 having opened a new game by which to deceive 
 the American Commander, and keep him in 
 continual suspense. And in this way the sultry 
 season was passed, the troops marching this 
 way and that about the country, and wearying 
 themselves down as much with the fatigue as 
 they could have done in the same time with 
 active and constant service. 
 
 It was early in the month of August that 
 
IN THE HIGHLANDS. 227 
 
 one Edmund Palmer, an offieer in a company 
 of tories, was caught within the American lines 
 as a spy, and carried before Gen. Putnam. Sir 
 Henry Clinton, who commanded at New York 
 city, at once heard of Palmer's arrest, and sent 
 a vessel up the river with a flag of truce, to 
 demand his person as an officer in the English 
 service. A boat landed from the vessel, a 
 messenger leaped on shore, and came into the 
 camp and delivered Clinton's message. Clin- 
 ton threatened, if the spy was not given up, to 
 visit the Americans with speedy vengeance. 
 Putnam did not hesitate a moment, but sat 
 down to his table, and instantly wrote the 
 following reply to Clinton's haughty message : 
 
 "Head-quarters, August 7, 1777. 
 "Edmund Palmer, an officer in the enemy's 
 service, was taken as a spy lurking within our 
 lines; he has been tried as a spy, condemned as 
 a spy, and shall be executed as a spy, and the 
 flag is ordered to depart immediately. 
 
 "ISRAEL PUTNAM." 
 "P. S. He has been accordingly executed." 
 
 The oak tree was standing not many years 
 
228 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 ago, at Peekskill, from one of the branches of 
 which the tory spy met his fate. 
 
 Undoubtedly Clinton had sent out Palmer to 
 obtain information respecting the strength of Put- 
 nam's position. This more than ever led to the 
 belief that it was his intention to cut his way 
 through the Highland passes, and join his forces 
 with those of Burgoyne. General Putnam's camp 
 was, as already mentioned, in the village of Peeks- 
 kill, which is on the east side of the Hudson. On 
 the western side, and a few miles above, were 
 Forts Clinton and Montgomery, separated by a 
 narrow stream, but forming substantially, how- 
 ever, a single fortification. They were planted 
 on very high hills, inaccessible on the river side, 
 and reported by those who selected the position 
 to be almost impossible for an enemy to reach in 
 their rear. General George Clinton, who was at 
 the time Governor of New York, commanded 
 them in person, having about six hundred of the 
 militia of the State under him. Fort Indepen- 
 dence was on the eastern side, some three miles 
 below these, while Fort Constitution was built on 
 an island near the same shore of the river, and 
 about nine miles above Fort Independence. Put- 
 
IN THE HIGHLANDS. 229 
 
 nam had command of the whole of this region, 
 with its fortifications, and it was his single task 
 to see that the British from below did not force a 
 passage through, and thus unite with the army of 
 Burgoyne which was working down from above. 
 
 At this time the General formed the bold design 
 of making a sudden descent upon the British at 
 State n Island, Jersey City, York Island and Long 
 Island. He was well informed of the enemy's 
 strength at all these places, and felt sure of strik- 
 ing them a staggering blow. This design was to 
 be carried out in the month of September. But 
 Washington was obliged to draw away so large 
 a part of his soldiery, that for the present Putnam 
 reluctantly gave over the execution of his plan. 
 
 Sir Henry Clinton then took advantage of the 
 existing state of affairs to send two thousand men, 
 in four different divisions, into New Jersey, for 
 the purpose of committing depredations. Wash- 
 ington was in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, 
 and Putnam had not men enough to offer them 
 any opposition ; and thus the country lay entirely 
 open to their ravages. The foraging parties suc- 
 ceeded in driving off large numbers of cattle, with 
 which they returned in safety to New York. Put- 
 
 20 
 
230 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 nam did send Gen. McDougall in pursuit of them, 
 as soon as he heard of their conduct; but he 
 reached the scene of the troubles too late to pro- 
 tect any part of the country from the effects of 
 their thieving incursion. 
 
 On the 23d of September, Washington made 
 a still larger draft on Putnam's force, which now 
 reduced his command to something more than a 
 thousand reliable men. With these alone he was 
 expected to hold his own position in the High- 
 lands. The aid he looked for from the militia of 
 the country round about, amounted to hardly 
 more than nothing. 
 
 Sir Henry Clinton was aware how greatly this 
 force had been thus reduced, and resolved to take 
 advantage of it. Accordingly he embarked with 
 nearly four thousand troops on the river, and 
 reached Tarry town on the 5th of October. The 
 reader will see what an excessive amount of ex- 
 ertion Putnam was now obliged to put forth, in 
 order to hold the enemy in check and prevent the 
 contemplated union of the army below with the 
 army above. In the first place, all the troops he 
 had would not number more than half what th6 
 British numbered ; and these were divided up at 
 
IN THE HIGHLANDS. 231 
 
 four different points, — the two forts on the west- 
 ern bank of the river, and the two on the eastern. 
 Besides these, he must also keep his position at 
 Peekskill. Clinton landed at Tarrytown, and 
 marched up about five miles into the country. 
 Tarrytown is on the same side of the river with 
 Peekskill, where lay his camp. 
 
 The object of Clinton was merely to mislead 
 the American general ; for on the same night he 
 quietly marched his men back to Tarrytown, and 
 the next morning passed up the river again and 
 landed at Verplanck's Point, which is only 
 three miles below Peekskill. Upon seeing their 
 approach, Putnam fell back upon the heights in 
 his rear, which he had fortified against such an 
 emergency. It was then supposed, of course, that 
 the British commander was directing his attack 
 against Fort Independence, just above Putnam's 
 camp ; on the contrary, he had his eye fixed all 
 the time on Forts Clinton and Montgomery, some 
 six miles above Fort Independence, on the other 
 side. On that same evening, therefore, the British 
 fleet moved up nearer Peekskill ; while a force of 
 two thousand men dropped down the river, landed 
 at Stony Point — which is over against Verplanck's 
 
232 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 Point, — and struck off through the mountainous 
 country early the next morning to gain the rear 
 of Forts Clinton and Montgomery. They were 
 observed from the western side of the river, but a 
 dense fog and the interposition of the mountains 
 shut them out from view soon after, and no such 
 suspicion existed as that they had a thought of 
 making a circuit around the difficult hills of the 
 country. Besides, their boats still appeared to be 
 at Vcrplanck's Point, and their vessels were at 
 Peekskill neck. 
 
 While this detachment of the enemy were thus 
 pushing on to the rear of the fortresses in ques- 
 tion, Putnam took a couple of general officers with 
 him, and went down towards the river to recon- 
 nuitre. Those who had seen the enemy on the 
 other side at an early hour of the morning, sup- 
 posed that they must have returned to their station 
 at Verplanck's Point, inasmuch as nothing had 
 since been seen of them. But by this time they 
 were well on their way to the twin Forts which 
 they had resolved to assail. They were formed 
 into two divisions ; one advanced through the 
 forests and ravines, surmounting the innumerable 
 obstacles that lay in their way, intending to fall 
 
IN THE HIGHLANDS. 166 
 
 upon Fort Montgomery ; the other, which Clinton 
 himself conducted, hurried round to gain the rear 
 of Fort Clinton. The plan was, to commence the 
 assault at the same moment. At about two 
 o'clock in the afternoon it began. This was on 
 Monday. Several skirmishes had been had with 
 the outposts before the two hostile parties reached 
 the forts, but the Americans were driven back into 
 the fortifications every time. For three hours the 
 assault was kept up, with no abatement in its 
 fury. It was like the dashing of a sudden and 
 powerful storm. The British commander sent a 
 flag, demanding a surrender, after the fight had 
 been going on for a couple of hours ; but as the 
 Americans refused to yield, the attack was re- 
 newed with increased vigor. A messenger had 
 been sent to Putnam's camp, in the meanwhile, 
 to ask for assistance ; but there was some treach- 
 erous conduct in the matter, and the message 
 never was delivered at head quarters. Putnam 
 knew nothing of what was going on, until he had 
 started on his return from reconnoitring the enemy 
 at Verplanck's Point ; the firing up the river had 
 been heard at Peekskill, and word was brought 
 down with all possible despatch. He hurried 
 
 20* 
 
234 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 back to camp and sent five hundred men up the 
 river in great haste. They had five miles to march 
 before they reached the point at which they were 
 to cross, and by the time they came to that, the 
 action was all over. The news came that the 
 Americans were obliged to relinquish their posi- 
 tion, and, under cover of dusk, they made good 
 their retreat from the forts. The contest was 
 most severe and bloody, more than one third of 
 the Americans within the two forts having fallen 
 victims. 
 
 It was midnight when Governor Clinton reached 
 Peekskill in his retreat; and at a hasty conference 
 of the superior officers, it was thought worse than 
 useless to try to hold that post any longer. Put- 
 nam therefore ordered his men to march without 
 any delay ; and, the stores having been first with- 
 drawn, they set out for Fishkill, some twelve miles 
 distant by the road. The two vessels were burned 
 that had been stationed to defend the cable thrown 
 across the river, lest they should fall into the 
 enemy's hands. The British followed up their 
 advantages without delay, destroying several 
 buildings in and around Peekskill, sailing farther 
 up the river and committing ravages at Esopus, 
 
IN THE HIGHLANDS. 235 
 
 a village just below Kingston on the western 
 shore, burning, stores, mills, and dwelling-houses 
 without the least compunction, and exhibiting 
 traits of barbaric wantonness that would ill be- 
 come outright savages. This conduct of itself 
 aroused a feeling in that locality against the Brit- 
 ish, which tended more than anything to place 
 still farther off their prospects of final success. 
 These wanton and cruel acts were quite in keep- 
 ing with their treatment of the wounded and 
 dying Americans at Fort Montgomery. They 
 bestowed upon their own dead, after the battle 
 was over, a decent burial ; but threw the bodies 
 of the vanquished in piles into a pool not far from 
 the fort, where they were left exposed to the ele- 
 ments. Dr. Dwight, who visited the place about 
 seven months afterwards, in the month of May, 
 describes the scene that presented itself, in the 
 following style : — 
 
 " The first object which met our eyes, after we 
 had left our barge and ascended the bank, was the 
 remains of a fire, kindled by the cottagers of this 
 solitude, for the purpose of consuming the bones 
 of some of the Americans who had fallen at this 
 place, and had been left unburied. Some of these 
 
236 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 bones were lying, partially consumed, round the 
 spot where the fire had been kindled ; and some 
 had evidently been converted to ashes. As we 
 went onward, we were distressed by the foetor of 
 decayed human bodies. As we were attempting 
 to discover the source from which it proceeded, 
 we found, at a small distance from Fort Mont- 
 gomery, a pond of a moderate size, in which we 
 saw bodies of several men, who had been killed 
 in the assault upon the fort. They were thrown 
 into this pond, the preceding autumn, by the Brit- 
 ish, when, probably, the water was sufficiently 
 deep to cover them. Some of them were covered 
 at this time ; but at a depth so small, as to leave 
 them distinctly visible. Others had an arm, a 
 leg, or a part of the body, above the surface. 
 The clothes which they wore when they were 
 killed, were still on them, and proved that they 
 were militia, being the ordinary dress of farmers." 
 The British were on their way up to meet Bur- 
 goyne, inflated with high hopes, and drunk with 
 their grand expectations ; but suddenly there fell 
 a blow upon those hopes, which destroyed them 
 every one. The news met them that Burgoyne 
 had surrendered to General Gates! It was use- 
 
IN THE HIGHLANDS. 237 
 
 less to go farther. They turned their faces about 
 without hesitation, and, taking to their vessels in 
 the river, — after having first been at the pains to 
 demolish two of the deserted American forts, — 
 sailed down to New York. Putnam left Fish- 
 kili upon this, and took up his former station at 
 Peekskill. He had the great misfortune to lose 
 his wife while at the former place, in reference to 
 which General Washington soon afterwards wrote 
 him, — "I am extremely sorry for the death of 
 Mrs. Putnam, and sympathize with you upon the 
 occasion. Remembering that all must die, and 
 that she had lived to an honorable age, I hope you 
 will bear the misfortune with that fortitude and 
 complacency of mind that become a man and a 
 Christian." 
 
 It is said that Dr. Dwight — then an army chap- 
 lain, and afterwards President of Yale College, 
 — preached a sermon to the army on the Sunday 
 following the surrender of Burgoyne, taking his 
 text from Joel, 2 : 20, as follows: — " I will remove 
 far off from you the northern army." All the 
 officers were delighted with it, and General Put- 
 nam as a matter of course. The General walked 
 along with the young chaplain, after service was 
 
238 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 over, and desired to know where he got his text ; 
 "for," said he, " I don't believe there is any such 
 text in the Bible." Dwight only satisfied him that 
 there ivas such a text there, by producing the book 
 and pointing it out to him. Putnam declared 
 that there was everything in that book, and Dwight 
 knew just where to put his finger upon it! 
 
 After Burgoy ne's defeat, drafts were made upon 
 the northern army to increase the force of Gen- 
 eral Putnam, until in a short time he had nine 
 thousand men under his command. With this 
 large body at his disposal, he had planned an 
 enterprise against the enemy below at several 
 points, of whose success he was very sanguine. 
 But the British under General Howe were already 
 in possession of Philadelphia, and their fleet was 
 seeking a communication with that city to carry 
 them supplies. To this plan Washington wished 
 to put a stop. For this purpose he sent Col. 
 Alexander Hamilton to Putnam's camp, with 
 orders to forward him without delay, three brig- 
 ades. Hamilton then hurried on to Albany to 
 confer wit h General Gates. In a week he returned ; 
 and finding that Putnam had not forwarded the 
 troops as directed, sent an order couched in 
 
IN THE HIGHLANDS. 239 
 
 terms of the most severe reprimand. He also 
 wrote a despatch to Washington in relation to 
 Putnam's neglect of his orders, in which he ex- 
 pressed the opinion that the old General ought to 
 be displaced. His language, in the letter he 
 addressed to General Putnam, was harsh in the 
 extreme. Yet he excuses it on account of the 
 depth of his feelings. He said that he trembled 
 lest Sir Henry Clinton with his fleet had already 
 reached Howe at Philadelphia, and that all was 
 lost. 
 
 Putnam at once sent Hamilton's letter on to 
 the Commander-in-chief, and complained of its 
 temper and imputations upon him ; he said that 
 without the most direct and positive orders from 
 his commander, he could not think of such a thing 
 as sending away the body of the force which was 
 all he had to rely upon. But Washington ap- 
 proved the order which had been issued to the 
 General, and expressed himself dissatisfied with 
 his neglect to obey the same. For the first time 
 since he had entered upon the duties of a soldier, 
 had he thus received the censure, whether deserved 
 or not, of his superior officer. There is much to 
 be said in explanation of his conduct, and to say 
 
2-40 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 that does but divide the responsibility among those 
 on whom it should properly rest. Washington 
 was unacquainted with the exact state of matters 
 in the highlands, just at, that time ; there was a 
 mutinous spirit among a large portion of the 
 troops, who threatened to desert altogether unless 
 they could be paid ; and this Hamilton himself 
 knew; and Hamilton was evidently hasty, if not 
 impetuous, and used language, for a young man 
 of twenty, in his letter, such as no man of his 
 years should employ towards a scarred veteran of 
 sixty. 
 
 The order of Washington having finally been 
 complied with, General Putnam took a part of 
 his remaining force and moved down the river. 
 General Dickinson made a sudden descent on 
 Staten Island, on the 27th of November, with 
 fourteen hundred men ; and simultaneously with 
 this movement General Putnam ordered a diver- 
 sion upon King's bridge, that the enemy might not 
 suspect his stratagem ; but by some means they 
 received intelligence of his design, and were en- 
 abled to make good their escape. 
 
 Next he proceeded to New Rochelle, and at this 
 point got tilings in readiness to cross the Sound 
 
IN THE HIGHLANDS. 241 
 
 in open boats and surprise the enemy at Hunt- 
 ington and Satauket ; but this design was pene- 
 trated by the British in time to permit them to 
 vacate the forts and betake themselves to a place of 
 safety. Then he projected an enterprise against 
 Long Island to destroy large quantities of lumber 
 that had been collected at several points by the 
 British, for constructing barracks in New York, — 
 to fire several coasting vessels that were loaded with 
 wood for the British army then in possession of 
 Newport, in Rhode Island, — to capture what public 
 stores they could lay their hands on, and to attack a 
 regiment stationed near Jamaica. The whole ex- 
 pedition was divided into three parts, and placed 
 under the direction of as many commanders. This 
 expedition also turned out unfortunately, only one 
 sloop having been destroyed, together with a 
 quantity of timber. One of the commanders was 
 taken a prisoner, together with the whole of his 
 party, amounting to sixty-five men. 
 
 Governor Tryon, whose talent seemed to con- 
 sist in destroying, and whose name will forever 
 be associated in the mind of the people of west- 
 ern Connecticut with acts of incendiarism and 
 wantonness, had been sending out parties quite 
 
 21 
 
242 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 freely to commit such depreciations as they had an 
 inclination to. Putnam found that the only way 
 to put a stop to this conduct, was by acts of re- 
 taliation. Accordingly he despatched bodies of 
 men in this direction and that, wherever it was 
 possible to surprise the enemy's officers in their 
 position. On one of these marauding excursions 
 the Americans having learned that a noted tory 
 named Colonel James Delancy was at the village 
 of West Farms, a little below Westchester, they 
 stealthily approached and surrounded the house in 
 the night, and then hurried in to ransack it for 
 their prisoner. Delancy was in bed, and heard 
 them coming. Not knowing what else to do, he 
 bounded out and crept underneath with all pos- 
 sible agility. But the warm bed he had just left 
 testified to his presence ; and after searching care- 
 fully all about the room, they at last discovered him 
 in his novel hiding place, and proceeded to draw 
 him forth in triumph to public view. It was not 
 a very dignified or brave position for a Colonel to 
 be found in, but there he was. They bore him 
 away to head-quarters, a prisoner. Clinton found 
 the means to procure his release before long, by 
 proposing an exchange of prisoners. He after- 
 
IN THE HIGHLANDS. 243 
 
 wards earned a name of perpetual infamy, by- 
 placing himself at the head of those thieving and 
 lawless barbarians known by the name of Cow 
 Boys, that infested the neutral district between 
 the lines of the two armies. The novelist Cooper 
 has done full justice to the vile character of those 
 uncivilized creatures, who lived by preying even 
 on their own friends and relatives, in his novel 
 entitled " The Spy." They formed a class of 
 men, the like of whom it would be impossible to 
 find anywhere else in all our history as a country. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 PUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND DANBURY. 
 
 "N the middle of December, Gen. Putnam 
 went into winter quarters in the Highlands. 
 L- The work to which he was now to give 
 his attention, was the perfection of the defences 
 of the river. It was early in the month of Jan- 
 uary, 1778, when a party, among whom were 
 Governor George Clinton and Colonel Radiere, 
 a French engineer, made an actual survey of 
 the region, for the purpose of deciding the best 
 point at which a strong fortification should be 
 erected. West Point was finally decided on, 
 though not without the opposition of Radiere 
 and after an examination of the place by a 
 committee of the New York Legislature. The 
 French engineer displayed considerable petu- 
 lance at the final decision, and it was not long 
 before he gave place to the celebrated Polish 
 
PUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND DANBURY. 245 
 
 exile Kosciusko ; when the plans were carried 
 forward with energy and rapidity. To Gen. 
 Putnam alone his early friend and biographer, 
 Col. Humphreys, awards the credit of this most 
 sagacious selection. General Parsons was sent 
 across the river to break ground when the snow 
 lay two feet deep. Considering how poorly fed 
 and clad the soldiers were at this time, how 
 pinching was the cold, and what a miserable 
 pittance was doled out to them from time to 
 time for their services, it seems truly wonderful 
 what kept them together at all ; much more, 
 what motive could be strong enough to excite 
 their energies in such an undertaking at such an 
 inclement season. Putnam's own description of 
 the condition of his men, in one of his letters to 
 Washington, is well worth quoting from : " Du- 
 blois' regiment is unfit to be ordered on duty, 
 there being not one blanket in the regiment. 
 Very few have either a shoe or a shirt, and most 
 of them have neither stockings, breeches, nor 
 overalls. Several companies of enlisted artificers 
 are in the same situation, and unable to work 
 in the field. " This was the same long and 
 dreary winter which Washington passed with 
 21* 
 
246 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 his shoeless and almost starving army at Valley 
 Forge. It was in truth, the darkest period in 
 our Revolutionary history. Washington wrote 
 to Congress that he had with him at Valley 
 Forge "no less than two thousand eight hun- 
 dred and ninety-eight men in camp unfit for 
 duty, because they were barefoot and other- 
 wise naked" 
 
 In the month of November previous, Con- 
 gress had directed that the loss of the Forts 
 Clinton and Montgomery should be duly in- 
 vestigated by a court of inquiry, which was 
 composed of three of the leading officers of 
 the army. Putnam had gone home to Con- 
 necticut, about the middle of February, to take 
 care of his private affairs, which sadly needed 
 his personal attention ; but as soon as he re- 
 turned, the investigation took place. It is a 
 very common method, according to strict mili- 
 tary discipline, of getting at the real facts of 
 a great mistake or misfortune, or of a piece of 
 misconduct on the part of a general officer ; 
 but nothing in the present case was charged 
 against Gen. Putnam by the court, nor against 
 any one else concerned. Of course, while the 
 
PUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND DANBURY. 247 
 
 investigation was going on, Gen. Putnam was 
 deposed from his command, as was customary 
 and proper ; and that command he was not 
 permitted again to resume. The court found 
 that the two forts were lost on account of a 
 lack of men, and not from any fault of the 
 commanders. Washington sent to Putnam, 
 upon this, directions to return once more to 
 Connecticut, and hurry forward the fresh troops 
 which that State proposed to raise for the com- 
 ing campaign, — that of the year 1778. 
 
 The news came about the first of May, that 
 France had formed an alliance with the United 
 States, and Washington and all the rest began 
 to feel greatly encouraged. He even thought 
 that the campaign of that year would termi- 
 nate the struggle altogether. He wrote on to 
 Putnam, " I hope that the fair, and, I may say, 
 certain prospect of success will not induce us 
 to relax." 
 
 Directly after the battle of Monmouth, Gen. 
 Putnam left Connecticut to take command of 
 the right wing of the army. Nothing had yet 
 been accomplished, with the exception of this 
 single brilliant action, and the summer wore 
 
248 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 away with a series of aimless marches this 
 way and that, which almost wore out what 
 patience remained to the army. The British 
 at length — in September — gave the Ameri- 
 can Commander the idea that they were about 
 to embark from New York on an expedition to 
 Boston. As France had then openly taken 
 sides with us, a large French fleet lay near 
 Boston and along the coast, which it was 
 thought Sir Henry Clinton was eager to at- 
 tack. The entire eastern army was therefore 
 so disposed as to be ready to go to the imme- 
 diate aid of the East, in case of an invasion, 
 and also to hold and defend the important 
 posts already in their hands, in and around 
 the Highlands. Putnam was put in command 
 of two brigades not far from West Point, while 
 Generals McDougall and Gates were stationed 
 at Danbury, to protect the line of country 
 bordering on Long Island Sound. Two months 
 passed by, and still nothing was done. The 
 army was therefore ordered into winter quarters 
 early in the month of November. 
 
 General Putnam was ordered, this winter, to 
 quarter with his command near' Danbury. He 
 
PUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND DANBURY. 249 
 
 had three brigades under him, made up of 
 troops from Connecticut and New Hampshire. 
 Hazen's corps of infantry, and Sheldon's corps 
 of cavalry. In this position he was ready at 
 hand to assist either in the defences of the 
 Highlands, or to repel any assaults that might 
 be offered by parties of the enemy upon the 
 magazines along the Connecticut river, or the 
 dwellings and stores on the line of the Sound 
 shore. 
 
 The troops were but poorly paid at this 
 time, and there was a great deal of complaint 
 amongst them. Nor was it without reason. 
 They saw the day of payment no nearer at 
 hand than it had ever been. They were put 
 off, and put off, with promises continually. It 
 was cold weather, pinching and bitter ; and 
 poorly clad and illy fed as they were, their 
 prospects brightening at no turn, it is nothing 
 to wonder at that they should begin to feel 
 discouraged. The first evidence which Gen. 
 Putnam had of the existence of such a feeling, 
 was on finding that insubordination was act- 
 ually beginning to manifest itself. The old 
 General himself quartered at a farm house in 
 
250 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 Reading, but a short distance from Danbury, 
 and he was there when the news of the out- 
 break first reached him. 
 
 The General Assembly of Connecticut was 
 in session at the time, in Hartford ; and the 
 troops had, two brigades of them, resolved io 
 form in military line and march to Hartford to 
 demand the money which they began to think 
 was wrongfully kept back from them. These 
 two brigades were Connecticut troops, and had 
 a perfect right to demand their pay from the 
 legislature of that State. The other troops did 
 not stand in the same relation to the Lesris- 
 lature. When word was brought to Gen Put- 
 nam of the breaking out of the trouble, one 
 brigade was then under arms and all ready 
 to proceed to Hartford. He lost no time in 
 making up his mind what to do, as he never 
 did ; but instantly springing upon his horse, he 
 galloped away to the scene of the difficulties. 
 Riding up to the head of the column, he at 
 once appealed to their respect and affection 
 for their veteran commander, and harangued 
 them in a loud voice and with a great deal 
 of feeling. Said he to them, while he still sat 
 
PUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND DANBURY. 251 
 
 on his horse, — "My brave lads, whither are you 
 going ? Do you intend to desert your offi- 
 cers, and to invite the enemy to follow you 
 into the country ? In whose cause have you 
 been fighting and suffering so long ? Is it not 
 your own ? Have you no property ? no par- 
 ents ? no wives ? no children ? You have thus 
 far behaved like men ; the world is full of your 
 praises ; and posterity will stand astonished 
 at your deeds : — but not if you spoil it all at 
 last. Don't you consider how much the coun- 
 try is distressed by the war, and that your 
 officers have not been any better paid than your- 
 selves ? But we all expect better times, and 
 then the country will do us ample justice. Let 
 us all stand by one another, then, and fight it 
 out like brave soldiers! Think what a shame 
 it would be for Connecticut men to run away 
 from their officers ! " 
 
 An appeal like this, coming from the man 
 they all loved and respected so much, could not 
 go without its effect. The dissatisfied troops 
 softened in a moment, and testified to their 
 suddenly changed feelings by offering the cus- 
 tomary military salute as their General rode 
 
252 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 slowly down the line ; they presented arms, 
 and the drum l>egan again to beat. The Brig- 
 ade Major then gave the order to shoulder arms, 
 which they promptly obeyed ; and then marched 
 away to their parade ground and stacked their 
 arms without the least show of further dissatis- 
 faction. The rough but honest old soldier who 
 was at their head, exerted such a strong and 
 immediate influence over them, that they were 
 convinced that he was in the right, and they 
 were altogether in the wrong. 
 
 A single soldier who was engaged in the 
 mutiny, it was found necessary to confine in 
 the guard-house, and during the night he at- 
 tempted to make his escape ; but he was shot 
 dead by the sentinel, who had himself been 
 concerned in the mutiny of the day before. A 
 couple of soldiers were also executed on Gal- 
 lows Hill, about a mile from the head quarters 
 of Putnam ; one was shot for desertion, and 
 one was hung for being taken as a spy. The 
 latter was a tory. He was compelled to as- 
 cend a ladder to a height of some twenty feet, 
 with the rope around his neck, and then told to 
 jump off. This he refused to do. The lad- 
 
PUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND D ANBURY. 253 
 
 der had to be turned over by those below, so 
 as to throw him off and leave him swinging 
 in the air. The other — the deserter — was a 
 mere youth, not more than seventeen years 
 old ; and it is related that terrible work was 
 made at his execution. 
 
 The enemy, this winter, under the well known 
 Governor Tryon, made a descent upon the towns 
 and villages along the Sound, carrying their in- 
 cursions also as far into the interior as they 
 judged it prudent to go. They laid waste and 
 destroyed wherever they went. They set fire to 
 public buildings and private dwellings with per- 
 fect impunity, and witnessed the devastations 
 they created with evident satisfaction. 
 
 Tryon marched with a detachment of fifteen 
 hundred men from King's bridge over to Horse- 
 neck, or what is now known as West Green- 
 wich. This place was so called, because it was 
 a tongue, or neck of land, running out into the 
 Sound ; and upon it used to feed large quanti- 
 ties of horses, in the summer season. Gen. Put- 
 nam was there at Horseneck himself, with a 
 small force of only a hundred and fifty men to 
 oppose the advancing enemy. He was stationed 
 22 
 
254 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 on the brow of a steep hill, and had but two 
 iron cannon with him, but without drag-ropes or 
 horses. He determined, however, to show to the 
 enemy that he would not run as long as there 
 was a chance to harass them, or do them any 
 mischief. 
 
 The field-pieces were loaded and fired several 
 times at them, as they came up, performing con- 
 siderable execution. Resolved to put a stop to 
 such a proceeding at once, the British General 
 ordered a party of dragoons, supported by the 
 infantry, to charge upon the cause of the mis- 
 chief. Seeing what they were determined to do, 
 and feeling certain that there was no use in try- 
 ing to oppose his little handful of men to the 
 large body of the enemy at hand, Gen. Putnam 
 told his soldiers to retreat at the top of their speed 
 into a swamp near by, where cavalry could not 
 enter to molest them. He then waited himself 
 till the men had all got off safely, and when 
 the dragoons had come almost within a sword's 
 length of him in their impetuous chase, he took 
 a mad plunge down the precipice ; while their 
 horses recoiled, and the riders looked on with a 
 feeling of astonishment that almost amounted 
 
PUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND DANBURY. 255 
 
 to horror. They dared not continue the pur- 
 suit, so fearfully precipitous was the descent 
 over the rocks and stones. It was a feat of 
 reckless daring, especially for a man well along 
 in years, that was quite worthy of one, who, in 
 his younger days, went down alone into a cave 
 after a hunted wolf at midnight. 
 
 The road led round the hill ; but he was far 
 beyond their reach before they could recover 
 themselves sufficiently to set out after him by 
 that way. They hastily sent a volley of bullets 
 in pursuit of him, as he plunged down the rocky 
 steep ; one of them went through his hat, but 
 not a hair of his head was injured. There were 
 from seventy-five to one hundred rude stone 
 steps laid on this declivity, to assist the people 
 from below in climbing the hill to the ordinary 
 services on Sunday, at the church on the brow 
 of the same. Putnam's horse took him in a zig- 
 zag direction down these steps, and landed, him 
 safely in the plain. A man who stood not far 
 from the old General, just as he wheeled his horse 
 and made the reckless plunge, said that he was 
 cursing the British terribly. 
 
 He scoured the road at the top of his speed, 
 
256 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 and reached Stamford, a town about five miles 
 distant, in a very short time. He then collected 
 the few militia who were posted there, and, be- 
 ing joined also by some of his own men who 
 had just escaped, turned back to pursue and 
 harass the enemy. The latter had by this time 
 succeeded in committing many acts of destruc- 
 tion, and were even then on their retreat to Rye. 
 Putnam hung upon their rear, and succeeded in 
 taking thirty-eight prisoners, and a wagon-load 
 of ammunition and plunder which they were 
 carrying off, and which he afterwards restored 
 to their rightful owners. On the next day, he 
 sent the prisoners all back to the British lines, 
 under an escort, for the purpose of exchanging 
 them with American prisoners. Gov. Try on 
 was so much pleased with his humanity and 
 generosity, that he sent him back a suit of new 
 clothes, including a hat to take the place of the 
 one which had been perforated with the bullet. 
 
 As the Spring opened, the army moved up 
 into the Highlands again, concentrating itself 
 there on account of the demonstrations of Sir 
 Henry Clinton. It was plainly the intention of 
 the latter to possess himself of West Point and 
 
PUTNAM AT WEST POINT AND D ANBURY. 257 
 
 the river. Gen. Putnam held command at the 
 Clove, on the west side of the river. The Brit- 
 ish ascended in their vessels, and captured Stony- 
 Point ; and on the 15th of July it was recaptured 
 again by that daring spirit who led on a " forlorn 
 hope " in the darkness and storm of the night, 
 Anthony Wayne, or "Mad Anthony" — as he 
 was called by the army. But the Americans 
 had to abandon it finally, and afterwards the 
 British abandoned, it still again. Washington 
 removed his head-quarters to West Point, late 
 in July, and Putnam took his post at Butter- 
 milk Falls, some two miles below. The season 
 was passed chiefly in strengthening the defences 
 of this famous post, to which Putnam was no 
 small contributor. The year went by without 
 a single action of any greater importance than 
 that renowned one of Wayne against the for- 
 tress of Stony Point 
 
 22 
 
E 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 HIS LAST DAYS. 
 
 ^ARLY in December, the American army 
 went into winter quarters at Morristown. 
 There was no expedition on foot just then 
 by the enemy, which required them to be late 
 in the field. They had occupied themselves 
 chiefly in destructive excursions into the coun- 
 try, burning and laying waste wherever they 
 went. "Washington himself spoke of their op- 
 erations, in a letter to Lafayette, as amounting 
 to little more than burning defenceless towns 
 within reach of their own shipping, " where 
 little else was, or could be opposed to them, 
 than the cries of distressed women and helpless 
 children." 
 
 Pretty soon after going into winter quarters, 
 Gen. Putnam left the camp for an absence of a 
 few weeks to visit his family in Connecticut. 
 
HIS LAST DAYS. 259 
 
 Towards the last of the month he started on his 
 return, taking Hartford in his route, as usual. 
 He had travelled on the road to Hartford, how- 
 ever, but a few miles, when he was greatly sur- 
 prised to find that a sensation of numbness 
 was creeping over his right arm and leg. Un- 
 willing to think that it could proceed from any 
 other cause than the cold, he made strenuous 
 exertions to shake it off; but he soon found 
 that it was impossible for him to deceive him- 
 self. The numbness increased, until it had got 
 strong hold upon the limbs and one side of his 
 person. He w r as obliged to be removed to the 
 house of a friend, and even then he fought with 
 all the native vigor of his will against the un- 
 pleasant truth that was forcing itself upon his 
 mind. But it was to no purpose. The old 
 gentleman found he had been visited with a 
 severe shock of paralysis, and it was useless to 
 try to deny it any longer. 
 
 Henceforward, he must relinquish his active 
 connection with the war of the American Revo- 
 lution. It was a difficult matter for him to feel 
 resigned to inactivity, after having thrown him- 
 self with such ardor into the cause of his coun- 
 
260 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 try ; but he used his stock of philosophy, and, 
 as he always did in times of trial and difficulty, 
 resolved to make the best of it. For the rest 
 of his days, therefore, he must consent, as it 
 were, to lie on the shelf. He must hear the 
 roar of the cannon, but take no part in the 
 battle. It was a stern fatality, and one well 
 calculated to make the soul of any hero feel 
 impatient. 
 
 For more than eleven years he was consigned 
 to the retirement and quiet of his farm-life in 
 Pomfret, at the expiration of which time his 
 days drew to an end. He had not entirely lost 
 the use of his limbs, yet their strength and vigor 
 were so seriously impaired as to put physical 
 labor out of the question. He did not relax 
 any of his early interest in the details of farm- 
 ing, but, with his sons, carried on his agricul- 
 tural labors with his usual success. There was 
 one time, — about six months after his attack 
 of paralysis, — when he entertained the strong- 
 est hopes of being able to rejoin the army ; and 
 a letter from Gen. Washington in reply to one 
 of his own upon this subject, is to be seen now. 
 But these hopes all proved to be futile and 
 vain. 
 
HIS LAST DAYS. 261 
 
 No man was a better companion than Israel 
 Putnam, even after his misfortune from the as- 
 sault of disease. He was the life of every social 
 circle of which he formed a part, and as popular 
 with all his friends as any man could reasonably 
 wish to be considered. He loved his joke as 
 well as anybody ; and lost few opportunities 
 of having it, even at the expense of his best 
 friend. He was nowise indifferent to the pleas- 
 ures of the table, but could always tell a good 
 piece of meat, from the first taste of it. One 
 of "his descendants told the writer that " he could 
 play the knife and fork as briskly as a drummer 
 could his drumsticks." In all respects, Israel 
 Putnam was a hearty man. It was this very 
 quality that made him so sincere, so honest, so de- 
 voted, and so brave. Such a man could have no 
 half-way opinions; and what he honestly thought, 
 that he never hesitated to speak boldly out. To 
 the very last day of his existence, he retained the 
 possession of all these marked traits of char- 
 acter, together with the customary brightness 
 and vigor of his mental faculties. He made 
 friends wherever he went ; and he understood 
 the secret — if it is a secret — of keeping them. 
 
262 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 The same habits of activity that had charac- 
 terized him from his youth up, assisted to pre- 
 serve his health as long as it was preserved to 
 him ; and only a few weeks before the final 
 summons came to call him away, he performed 
 a journey on horseback to Danvers, his birth- 
 place, a distance of a hundred miles. But he 
 travelled slowly, resting as often as was necessary 
 along on the road. 
 
 Immediately upon the conclusion of the Treaty 
 of Peace between the United States and Great 
 Britain, by the terms of which the former were 
 declared to be free and independent States, 
 Washington addressed a letter to the war-worn 
 hero in his retirement, in which he said that 
 " among the many worthy and meritorious of- 
 ficers with whom he had had the happiness to 
 be connected in service through the war, and 
 from whose cheerful assistance and advice he 
 had received much support and confidence, the 
 name of a Putnam is not forgotten ; nor will be, 
 but with that stroke of time which shall oblit- 
 erate from my mind the remembrance of all 
 those toils and fatigues through which we have 
 struggled, for the preservation and establishment 
 
HIS LAST DAYS. 263 
 
 of the Rights, Liberties, and Independence of our 
 Country." 
 
 Many anecdotes are related of Gen. Putnam, 
 some of which have a foundation in truth, while 
 more, probably, take their rise only in the im- 
 aginations of those who gave them the first start 
 in the world. Among them all, however, there 
 is one which is quite good enough, old as it 
 may be to many, to reproduce in this biography. 
 A certain English officer, who was a prisoner 
 on his parole, or word of honor, took mortal of- 
 fence at some sharp remarks in which the Gen- 
 eral had indulged respecting the British, and 
 challenged him, thinking this the easiest way 
 to take satisfaction and correct the General's 
 candid opinion at the same time. Putnam ac- 
 cepted his braggart challenge without any hesi- 
 tation, and proposed to meet him in the follow- 
 ing way : — On the next morning, they were 
 both to be at a certain place by a specified 
 hour, and Putnam, who was the challenged 
 party, and of course had choice of them, was 
 to provide the weapons. When the English 
 officer arrived at the place agreed upon, he 
 found Putnam seated on a bench, on which 
 
264 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 stood close beside him a keg of what was, to 
 appearance, powder. A hole was bored into 
 the head, and a match had been thrust into the 
 hole, all ready to be lighted. Putnam removed 
 his pipe from his mouth, and told the English- 
 man to sit down on the bench on the other 
 side of the keg. As soon as the latter had 
 complied, Putnam lit the match by his pipe, 
 and began to smoke again with as much un- 
 concern as if there was no possible danger. 
 His opponent sat and watched the burning of 
 the match as long as he could, and then be- 
 gan to grow nervous. The moment the fire 
 came near to the few grains of powder that 
 lay scattered about on the head of the barrel, 
 the officer sprang up in great haste and ran off 
 at the top of his speed ! 
 
 " You are just as brave a man as I thought 
 you was ! " exclaimed the triumphant Putnam. 
 " This is only a keg of onions, with a little 
 powder sprinkled over its head, to try your 
 pluck ! I see you don't like the smell 1 " 
 
 He had the laugh against the Englishman, 
 who never forgave him for the mock test 1o 
 which he thus publicly put his personal courage. 
 
HIS LAST DAYS. 265 
 
 It is not necessary, after giving this connected 
 narrative of the life and services of a man like 
 Israel Putnam, to set about the task of summing 
 up those qualities of his character which every 
 reader has observed for himself in passing along, 
 It affords one sincere pleasure, however, to know 
 that his early habits of industry and thrift had 
 placed him beyond the reach of want in his old 
 age, which unhappily could not be said of many 
 others of that band of patriots to whose sacri- 
 fices we owe what we enjoy so freely to-day. 
 He had as pleasant a home as a man could de- 
 sire ; his large family, already grown up and 
 settled around him, found the same happiness 
 in his society that he did in theirs ; and, blessed 
 in all things, at peace with the world, and with 
 a soul full of tranquillity, he came to his end at 
 last like a shock of corn that is ripe in its sea- 
 son. 
 
 Two days before his death, he was violently 
 attacked with an inflammatory disorder,, which 
 obstinately refused to yield to the ordinary rem- 
 edies of medicine ; and on the 19th day of May, 
 in the year 1790, he passed away peacefully and 
 quietly, having reached the seventy-third year 
 23 
 
266 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 of an honorable age. His neighbors bore him 
 to the grave with every manifestation of sin- 
 cere sorrow for his loss ; and the news of his 
 death was received with feelings of unmingled 
 grief all over the country. Thus did he live for 
 seven full years to witness and participate in 
 the happiness of the country whose independ- 
 ence he had assisted to achieve, and it gave 
 him lasting joy to know that the part he had 
 taken in the struggle was not a hesitating or 
 an inconsiderable one. Dr. Whitney, his old 
 pastor, preached a discourse appropriate to his 
 death, from which the following paragraph is 
 an interesting extract : 
 
 " He was eminently a person of public spirit, 
 an unshaken friend of liberty, and was proof 
 against attempts to induce him to betray and 
 desert his country. The baits to do so were 
 rejected with the utmost abhorrence. He was 
 of a kind, benevolent disposition ; pitiful to the 
 distressed, charitable to the needy, and ready 
 to assist all who wanted his help. In his family 
 he was the tender, affectionate husband, the 
 provident father, an example of industry and 
 close application to business. He was a con- 
 
HIS LAST DAYS. 267 
 
 stant attendant upon the public worship of God, 
 from his youth up. He brought his family with 
 him, when he came to worship the Lord. He 
 was not ashamed of family religion. His house 
 was a house of prayer. For many years, he was 
 a professor of religion. In the last years of his 
 life, he often expressed a great regard for God, 
 and the things of God. There is one, at least, 
 to whom he freely disclosed the workings of his 
 mind; his conviction of sin; his grief for it; his 
 dependence on God, through the Redeemer, for 
 pardon; and his hope of a happy future existence, 
 whenever his strength and heart should fail him. 
 This one makes mention of these things, for the 
 satisfaction and comfort of his children and 
 friends ; and can add, that, being with the 
 General a little before he died, he asked him 
 whether his hope of future happiness, as for- 
 merly expressed, now attended him. His an- 
 swer was in the affirmative ; with a declaration 
 of his resignation to the will of God, and his 
 willingness even then to die." 
 
 He left a large family, whose descendants live 
 to honor the name of their ancestor in all parts 
 of our common country. The various relics 
 
268 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 which bring np his personal connection with 
 the French and Indian, and the Revolutionary 
 War, are preserved with sacred solicitude. 
 Among these are the pistols of Major Pitcairn, 
 with one of which the latter opened the Revo- 
 lution on Lexington Green. 
 
 The dust of the old Hero lies in the little 
 burying-ground of the village of Brooklyn, — 
 which village was once a part of Pomfret, 
 — and there mingles peacefully with the soil. 
 The tomb, — a brick-structure, upon which rests 
 a weather-browned slab, — is fast going to de- 
 cay, and sacrilegious hands have chipped off 
 pieces of the marble slab to carry away as tri- 
 fling memorials. The State of Connecticut, how- 
 ever, has pledged herself to aid generously in the 
 erection of a suitable monument, to be placed 
 upon the open green of the village, where all 
 who pass may be reminded of the man whose 
 labors and sacrifices brought them so priceless 
 a legacy. Upon the present fast-fading slab that 
 crowns the dilapidated vault, is to be traced the 
 following feeling and highly appropriate inscrip- 
 tion, from the pen of his friend and companion in 
 the army, Dr. Dwight, President of Yale College: 
 
HIS LAST DATS. 269 
 
 SACRED BE THIS MONUMENT, 
 
 to the memory 
 
 of 
 
 ISRAEL PUTNAM, ESQUIRE, 
 
 Senior Major-Gcneral in the armies 
 
 of 
 
 the United States of America • 
 
 who 
 
 was born at Salem, 
 
 in the Province of Massachusetts, 
 
 on the 7th day of January, 
 
 A. D. 1718, 
 
 and died 
 
 on the 19th day of May, 
 
 A. D. 1790. 
 
 PASSENGER, 
 
 if thou art a soldier, 
 
 drop a tear over the dust of a Hero," 
 
 who, 
 
 ever attentive 
 
 to the lives and happiness of his men, 
 
 dared to lead 
 
 where any dared to follow ; 
 
 if a Patriot, 
 
 remember the distinguished and gallant services 
 
 rendered thy country 
 
 by the Patriot who sleeps beneath this marble; 
 
 if thou art honest, generous and worthy, 
 
 render a cheerful tribute of respect 
 
 to a man, 
 
 whose generosity was singular, 
 
 whose honesty was proverbial ; 
 
 who 
 
 raised himself to universal esteem, 
 
 and offices of eminent distinction, 
 
 by personal worth 
 
 and a 
 
 useful life. 
 
 23* 
 
270 GEN. ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 The brave old man, who never knew the 
 meaning of fear, sleeps quietly in this humble 
 grave. A devious path has been worn among 
 the hillocks of the little yard, by the feet of 
 those who have come, year after year, to look 
 upon his last resting place. On the still sum- 
 mer afternoons, the crickets chirp mournfully 
 in the long wild grass, and the southerly breeze 
 wails in the belt of pines that neighbor upon 
 the spot. The associations are all of a thought- 
 ful sadness. But it is good for one to visit the 
 graves of the heroes who have departed, where 
 he may kindle anew that sentiment of patriot- 
 ism, without which he can become neither an 
 estimable citizen nor a noble man. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 Entomology, 
 The Aviary, 
 
 The Toilet, 
 
 Embroidery, 
 
 The Escrutoire, 
 
 Painting, 
 
 Riding, 
 
 Archery, 
 
 The Ornamental Artist, 
 
 L 'Adieu. 
 
 With more than six hundred illustrations. 
 A beautiful book for a present for all seasons. 
 452 pp Price $1.00. 
 
New Books Published by E. 0. Libby & Co. 
 LILY BELL; 
 
 OR, THE LOST CHILD, 
 
 BY ALICE FAY. 
 
 12mo.,360 pp Price $1 00. 
 
 WALTER MARCH; 
 
 OR, SHOEPAC RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 BY MAJOR MARCH. 
 12mo., Price $1 00. 
 
 FACA — AN ARMY MEMOIR. 
 
 BY MAJOR MARCH. 
 12mo., 350 pp Prce $1 00. 
 
 OUR FIRST FAMILIES : 
 
 A NOVEL OF PHILADELPHIA GOOD SOCIETY. 
 
 BY A DESCENDANT OF THEPENNS. 
 12mo., cloth, 407 pp Price $1 00. 
 
 THE MATCH GIRL : 
 
 OR, LIFE SCENES AS THEY ARE. 
 
 12mo., 418 pp., cloth, Price $1 00. 
 
 KATE STANTON ; 
 
 A PAGE FROM REAL LIFE. 
 
 12mo., 336 pp., cloth, Price $1 00. 
 
 ROZELLA OF LACONIA ; 
 
 ORt LEGENDS OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS AND MERRY 
 MEETING BAY. 
 
 BY I. W. SCRIBNER, M. D. 
 
 12mo., 489 pp., cloth, Price $1 00. 
 
 CARRIE EMERSON ; 
 
 OR, LIFE AJT CLIFTONVILLH. 
 
 BY C. A. HAYDEN. 
 12nio., 360 pp., Price $1 00. 
 
 E. O. LIBBY & CO., 76 & 78 Washington street, Boston, will 
 forward any of the books published by them, by mail, postage 
 paid, on receipt of the price. 
 
BOOKS OF TRAVEL, 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 E. O- LIBERT £& GO 
 
 Uos. 76 and 78 Washington Street, 
 BOSTON. 
 
 TURKEY AND THE TURKS. 
 
 BY HON. J. V. C. SMITH. 
 
 Jluthor of 
 Palestine, 
 
 A Pilgrimage to Egypt," " A Pilgrimage to 
 and " Letters from Ancient Cities of the East." 
 
 Travelling in Egypt, 
 Character of the Turks, 
 The Royal Family of Turkey 
 Officers of State, 
 The Sultan's Harem, 
 Constantinople, 
 The Seraglio, 
 
 CONTENTS : 
 
 Mosque of Achmet, 
 
 The Armory, 
 
 Their Religion, 
 
 Public Fountains, 
 
 Customs in Constantinople, 
 
 Hospitals, 
 
 The Trade, 
 
 Marriages and Divorces, 
 
 The Throne, 
 Metropolitan Mosques, 
 
 With other Chapters of Excursions and Observations. 
 
 This is one of the most reliable and interesting works 
 on Turkey and its inhabitants which has ever been pub- 
 lished. It is illustrated with many elegant and original 
 
 designs. 
 
 pp. 336 Price $1.00. 
 
Books of Travel Published by E. 0. Libby & Co. 
 
 FOUR YEARS ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 
 
 INCIDENTS ON LAND AND WATER. 
 
 Being a Narrative of the burning of the ships Nonantum, Hu- 
 
 mazoon, and Fanchon ; together with many startling and 
 
 interesting adventures on Sea and Land. 
 
 BY MRS. D. B. BATES. 
 
 A book of extraordinary experiences by the writer, who 
 is the wife of a New England sea captain. Three ships, in 
 which she was making the voyage to California, were suc- 
 cessively burned, and she was driven from one to another. 
 Her life in California, during its earliest settlement, was full 
 of incident, danger and hardship. The sale of the book is 
 evidence of its value and interest. Four editions have been 
 already issued and sold. 
 
 336pp Price $1.00. 
 
 RAMBLES IN EASTERN ASIA, 
 INCLUDING CHINA AND MANILLA, 
 
 DURING SEVERAL YEARS' RESIDENCE. 
 
 BY B. L. BALL, M. D. 
 
 A Review says of this book : — " Though a rambling 
 writer, this author is a keen observer, and has chronicled a 
 thousand things of interest occurring in his travels, many 
 of which are usually overlooked by voyagers. We welcome 
 his volume, as adding substantially to the stock of infor- 
 mation concerning the lands of which he writes. The story 
 of travel is agreeably told withal, and will serve to enliven 
 many a fireside during a long winter evening." 
 417pp Price $1.00. 
 
New Books Published by E. 0. Libby & Co. 
 
 New Biographical Series for Youth. 
 
 THE LIFE OF CAPT. JOHN SMITH, 
 
 THE POUNDER OP VIRGINIA, 
 
 Forms the first volume of this series. His life is replete 
 with romantic incidents, and being written in an easy and 
 attractive style, makes an instructive and entertaining work 
 for youth. 
 
 The design of the author is well expressed in the Preface, 
 in which he says : — 
 
 " The Author has set before himself the following objects : 
 To furnish from the pages of the world's history, a few ex- 
 amples of true manhood, lofty purpose, and persevering ef- 
 fort, such as may be safely held up either for the admiration 
 or emulation of the youth of the present day ; 
 
 To clear away, in his treatment of these subjects, whatev- 
 er mistiness and mustiness may have accumulated with time, 
 about them, presenting to the mental vision fresh and living 
 pictures, that shall seem to be clothed with naturalness, 
 and energy and vitality ; 
 
 To offer no less instruction to the minds, than pleasure to 
 the imaginations of the many for whom he has taken it in 
 hand to write ; 
 
 And, more especially, perhaps, to familiarize the youth of 
 our day with those striking and manly characters, that have 
 long ago made their mark, deep and lasting, on the history 
 and fortunes of the American Continent." 
 
 It is the design of the author, and the publishers, in this 
 enterprise, to furnish an attractive and valuable series of 
 books for the libraries of our American youth. 
 
 The series when complete will comprise ten or twelve 
 volumes. E. O. LIBBY & CO., 
 
 76 & 78 Washington Street. 
 
Hew Books Published by E. 0. Libby & Co. 
 
 NOTICES OF THE BIOGRAPHICAL .SERIES. 
 
 The favor with which this enterprise has been rceeived, is 
 shown by the complimentary notices of the Press. We quote a 
 few among many of the same character. 
 
 " Mr. Hill has treated his subject in an admirable manner, 
 condensing all the stirring incidents of the romantic career of his 
 renowned hero, yet giving the particulars of his life with sufficient 
 fulness to preserve the picturesqueness and romance which belong 
 to it. * * * The author may be congratulated on his 
 happy beginning." — New York Times. 
 
 " Written in a clear, vivacious style, possessing much of the 
 interest of a romance, without that hackneyed moralizing strain, 
 always out of place in a biography intended for youth." — Boston 
 Evening Transcript. 
 
 " In the well-written volume before us, the life of Capt. John 
 Smith becomes an exciting tale, with the rare charm of being true. 
 This is the first number of a biographical series, which, if the suc- 
 ceeding volumes realize the promise of its commencement, will 
 prove a valuable one." — Boston Journal. 
 
 " One of the prettiest issues of the press, and a very fascinating 
 work for youth. The tale is so pleasingly told, that no one could 
 help reading every word of the story of that romantic chieftain." 
 
 — Boston Traveller. 
 
 " The work is very attractive in its externals, and the events 
 of Capt. Smith's stirring career are faithfully set down." — Bos- 
 ton Courier. 
 
 " The author of this most admirably, and vividly written vol- 
 ume, — the first of a uniform series of the same general character, 
 
 — stands in the light of a public benefactor." — N. Y. Daily 
 News. 
 
 " The mechanical execution of this volume, both in paper, 
 type, and engravings, is very handsome." — New Bedford Mer- 
 cury. 
 
 " Scarcely less entertaining for young minds than Robinson 
 Crusoe." — Newburyport Herald. 
 
 " His eventful career is full of adventures of absorbing interest, 
 and every American youth wdl delight to pore over its exciting 
 details." — Salem Register. 
 
 " A hero from the beginning, and in his later years his fortunes 
 form a part of the romantic history of the country." — Boston 
 Daily Advertiser. 
 
 " Its style of typography and binding are in excellent taste, 
 and reflect great credit upon the publishers." — Saturday Mir- 
 ror. 
 
 " Billings, that prince of artists, will illustrate the series." — 
 Boston Cor. of Granite State Register. 
 
Juvenile Books Published by E. 0. Libby & Co. 
 
 Volume 1. — Good Child's Library, 
 
 THE EVENTFUL HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THREE LITTLE MICE, 
 
 "three blind mice, 
 
 see how they run. 
 they all run ifter the farmer's wife, 
 she cut off their tails with a carving knife j 
 
 DID YOU EVER SEE SUCH A SIGHT IN YOUR LIFE, 
 AS THREE BLIND MICE." 
 
 Beautifully illustrated with twenty most amusing engrav- 
 ings. 
 
 12^ cents plain 25 cents colored. 
 
Juvenile Books Published by E. 0. Libby & Co. 
 MORE TRUTH THAN FICTION ; 
 
 OR, 
 
 AUNT MARTHA'S STORIES 
 
 FOR 
 
 LITTLE FOLKS AT HOME. 
 
 BY MISS E. D. BROWN. 
 
 BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 An attractive Juvenile book. The work is illustrated, — 
 the stories are short and entertaining, and the volume will 
 be highly prized in juvenile circles. Aunt Martha must be 
 a very pleasant old lady, to be able to write so well in her 
 old age. Brave old lady ! you have made many young 
 hearts happy with your pen. — Boston Transcript. 
 
 A collection of pleasing tales for children, written in a 
 quiet, pleasant style, by " Aunt Martha," for her " grand- 
 nephews and grand-neices," with the desire of teaching 
 them that " the better children they are, the better men and 
 women they will be." — Christian Begister. 
 
 Cloth, gilt Price 40 cents. 
 
Juvenile Books Published by E. 0. Libby & Co. 
 
 SUNSHINE AND SHADE; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE DENHAM FAMILY. 
 
 BY SARAH MARIA. 
 
 WITH FINE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 " This little work is truly called ' Sunshine and Shade.' 
 There is more of the sunshine of life than the shade diffused 
 over its pleasant pages." 
 
 " The many pleasant pictures which make this work so 
 deservedly popular, commend themselves to every reader, 
 for the simple reason — they are so true to life, so sooth- 
 ing and genial, so well adapted to every walk in life." 
 
 This beautifully illustrated work is a fitting and appropri- 
 ate present for all seasons. — Uncle Samuel. 
 
 121 pp. 18mo., cloth,.. Price 37£ cents. 
 
 THE STRAWBERRY PARTY; 
 
 A GIFT BOOK FOR CHILDREN. 
 
 BY TllRACE TALMON. 
 ILLUSTRATED BY BILLINGS. 
 
 " All that can be said of a juvenile book we would say of 
 this. Mechanically beautiful ; intellectually instructive ; 
 morally beneficial to the youthful reader for whom it was 
 intended." 
 
 This is another of those chaste, moral, entertaining books 
 which the friends of the young have favored them with. Do 
 not fail to buy the book and present it to your little child, 
 sister or brother. It will afford them much pleasure, and 
 cost you but little. The book is beautifully illustrated. — • 
 American Patriot. 
 
 ISmo, cloth. 80 pp .Price 37 J. 
 
Juvenile Books Published by E. 0. Libby & Co. 
 BOYS' AND GIELS' HOME LIBBAKY. 
 
 Comprised in ten uniform and beautiful hooJcs, designed to 
 amuse and instruct juvenile readers. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH MORE THAN SIX HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 The first six of these little books treat of Nature and Art, 
 in that familiar style adapted to young readers. 
 
 The remaining four books contain stories and' poetry to 
 delight and to improve. 
 
 The Books are called : — 
 
 Birds and Flowers, 
 
 Shells and Minerals, 
 
 About Insects, 
 
 The Toilet and Embroidery, 
 
 Painting, Hiding, and Archery, 
 
 The Art of Ornamenting, 
 
 The Strawberry Party, 
 
 More Truth than Fiction, 
 
 Sunshine and Shade, 
 
 The Rich and the Poor. 
 
 These pretty volumes are put up in a box, ar.d will be a 
 valuable ornament to the book shelf of every little girl and 
 boy. 
 
 C 3? 
 
 82 
 

 
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