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lildltorial A<t€fress. 
 
 Rivington, Uit: King's ptint(;r, it is known, 
 was a tert'ible lory dur ng the KevoiutionHrj' 
 War, and was always asstiilijJg tlie rebels. ^»*- 
 Ktlma Allen, the dare devil of Vermont, de 
 termined to give him a licking; ii?:d some 
 reminiscenses in the New Tork Express, show 
 the clever manner in which Uivington got rid 
 of the unpleasant airair : 
 
 He had b en bold in his misrepresentations 
 of the "Rebels," and so pergonal in ills ren^ai-ks 
 that although he had assurances from Govern<!P 
 Clinton of safety for his person and properly, 
 yet there were some esjjecled visiters that he 
 did not wish to see. The foremost of these 
 was Etiian Alien. Kivington was a fine portly 
 looking man, and wore powder. At last Allen 
 appeared. His clerk who first saw hiip, well 
 knew his master's horror (or Allen. Kivington 
 afterwards gave to Mr. Dunlap the fsdioa'ium 
 account of the meeting;— "I was sitting after a 
 good'dinner, alone v.'iih my botile of Madeira 
 before nr^e, when 1 lienrd an unusiial noise in 
 the street^ and a huz/.a iroin the boys. I was 
 in the 2d story, and on stepping to ttie window, 
 saw a tall figure in tarnished regimentals, with 
 a large cocked hat and an enormously long 
 sword, followed by a crowd of hoys, who occa- 
 sionally cheered him with huxzas, of which he 
 seemed insensible, lie eume Uj) to my door 
 and slopped —i covdd see no nriore— my heart 
 told me it was Ethan Alien. I shut down my 
 window, and retired behind my table and bot- 
 tle, i was certain the hour of reckoning was 
 com^. There was no retreat. Mr. Stapls, 
 my clerk, came in paU r than ever, and clasp- j 
 ing bis hands, said, <Master, he has come. 1 1 
 know it. He entered the store and asked if! 
 Jrtmcs liivington lived iicre. I answered^ yes, 
 sir.' *Ih lie at home?' 'I will go and see, sir,' 
 1 fjuid; and now mas*er what is to be done ? — 
 Uiere he is, sir, in the store, and the boys 
 peeping at him from the street.' I had made 
 up my n*ind— 1 looked at the Madeirii — possi- 
 bly took a glass. Sliow liim ui^, said I, — and I 
 thought if such Maiieira cannot mollify him, he 
 must be harder than adamaiii. Tb^i'c was a 
 fearful moment of suspense. I listened — I 
 heard him on t:>e stairs, and henfd his long 
 sword clanking on every step. In iie stalked. 
 ♦Is your name James I{ivington>' It is, sir, smd 
 
no man coukl be more happy to see general 
 Evlsjus Allen— take u clsair, sir; by the table; 
 and afterwards h glaJis oj'this ilJadeira. He sat 
 down and began — *iir, i cotr.e ' Not s \vord> 
 ggneral, till you take a glass, and I fdied— ten 
 ;)car old, on oiy own kecpin>j— another g-hs:-» 
 sir, and then we will talic of o|d iifiairs. Sir, 
 we finished two boiUes, and parted as good 
 friends as if nothing h^^d ever happened to 
 jjiake us otherwise. 
 
 The Grave of Ethan Allen. 
 
 [From the Lewiston (Me.) Journal.] 
 
 To-day I h.ive paid a visit to the grave of Ethan 
 Allen, in Burhngton, Vt. The cemetery in which his 
 remains lie is nearly a mile from the lake, but the sit- 
 \iation is beautiful. The inclosure is shaded by a 
 large number of evergreens, and ornamented in that 
 tasteful and impressive manner with which mourning 
 friends love to decorate the resting-places of those 
 who have gone before them. The words over the 
 gateway disclose the trustful spirit with which the 
 Christian has entered the confines of eternity. 
 
 " I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord." 
 
 As I stood over the grave of Allen, I could but 
 wonder at tl'C narrow space which confined a spirit, 
 once so uneasy, brave and unconquerable. Yes ! 
 here mouldered the remains of him who, in the 
 gloomy morning of our revolutionary struggle, col- 
 lected from the country around a few choice spirits 
 and hast(^ned to Ticonderoga to summon the British 
 commander, " in the name of Jehovah and the Con- 
 tine) itid Congress," to surrender. When liberty 
 for>pd such defenders, victory was certain. 
 
 A plain maible slab is placed horizontally over the 
 grave; but tlie zeal of pilgrims to this hallowed spot 
 has broken and removed as relics nearly one-half of 
 the stone. A portion of the inscription is wanting, 
 but what remains runs thus : 
 
 " GEN. ETHAN ALLEN 
 
 RESTS BENEATH THIS 8T0HB. 
 
 • * « « « 
 
 The 12th day of Feb., 1789, 
 Aged 50 years. 
 His spirit tried the mercies of his God, 
 In whom bs beliey^d and strongly ttvwtcd." 
 
Tlie Honored Dead. 
 
 MONUMENT AND STATUE TO ETHAN ALLEN. 
 It was intended to have the monument to Ethan Allen 
 completed before winter- but unexpected hindrances 
 have delayed the work and it will not be finished trll next 
 season. But besides the monument provided for by le- 
 gislative enactment, the purpose now is to have a charac- 
 teristic colossal statue, probably of granite, and executed 
 by «n artist of genius, placed on the top of the column. 
 Leave was obtained of the Legislature to have this token 
 of individual respect for the memory of the hero sur- 
 mount the public memorial of the State. The cost of such 
 a statue will be $2,000, and a subscription is now in most 
 successful progress under the authority of the committee, 
 John N. Pomeroy and Charles Adams, Esquires, to raise 
 the means. Mr. Warren Root, of this place, for the pre- 
 sent has it in charge. The subscriptions are limited to one 
 dollar from each individual, (save that heads of fimilie? 
 are allowed to give at that rate for the members of 
 their families,) so that no one need be hindered from 
 joining in a work so grateful to the feelings 
 of Vermonters. To save time and expense, all subscrip- 
 tions are paid as they are subscribed. As soon as the 
 amount is raised (and that could be done in a week if 
 persons enough could be called upon in that time) , the 
 committee will place the execution of the statue in pro- 
 gress, so that when the monumental column is raised the 
 statue can be elevated to its place also — thus avoiding 
 further delay and a heavy additional expense. — Burling- 
 ton, Vt, Free Press, Dec. 4. . ' 
 

 .^: 
 
 
 A 
 
 ^ — ■^^ ^.V'-.f * ' 
 
 /a ^ 
 
Y^^n ^^LF. 
 
-V, t+l 
 
 NARRATIVE 
 
 o 
 
 F 
 
 COL. ETHAN ALLEN'S ^ 
 
 From the time of his being taken by the British, neai 
 
 Momreal, on the 25th day of September, in the 
 
 year 1775, to the time of his eyxliange, 
 
 on the 6th day of May, 1778. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 HIS VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, 
 
 With the most remarkable occurrences respecting himself, and many 
 ©iher continental Prisoners, of dilFcrent ranks and characters, 
 which fell under his observa -ion in the course of the same \ 
 particularly the destruction of the prisoners at New- 
 York, by General Sir William Howe, in the years 
 1776 and 1777 ; interspersed with some 
 Political Observations. 
 
 IVritten by himself^ and notv fiublished for the mfarnia- 
 tion of the curious in all Nations. 
 
 When God from chaos gave this world to be, 
 Man then he form'd, and formed him to be free. 
 
 Ainerican Independence , a poon, by Freneat. 
 
 To which are now added a considerable number of explanatorv 
 
 and occasional notes, together with an index of reference to 
 
 the most remarkabh occurrences in the narrative. 
 
 fVALFOLE, JV, ZT. 
 PUBLISHED BY THOMAS Sc THOMAS, 
 
 FROM THE PRESS OF CHARTER ^ HALE. 
 
 1807. 
 

 r 
 
 L 
 
 DISTRICT OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE." 
 
 Fomvzi : 
 
 ~i ^e it nmtraUtth) That on this 
 
 ' twenty second day of January, in the thirty first 
 
 ' year of the independence of the United States of 
 
 America— -.Isaiah Thomas and Alexander Thomas of 
 aid district, booksellers, have deposited in this office the 
 itle of a book, whereof they claim as Proprietors, in the 
 bllowing words, to wit : " ^^ narrative of Col. Ethan AU 
 fTz'ff Captivity ; from the time of his being taken by the 
 British, 7iear Montreal, on the 25th day of September, in the 
 rear 1775, to the time of his exchange, on the 6th day of 
 Way, 1778 : containing his voyages and travels, nvith themosi 
 'e?narkable occurrences respecting himself, and many other 
 Continental prisoners of different ranks, and characters, 
 which fell under his observation, in the same period: panic- 
 ilarly the destruction of the prisoners, at Keiv-York, by Gen. 
 Sir William Ho^ve, in the years 1776 aiid 1777 : Inter spers- 
 td with some political observations. Written by Himself 
 IVhen God from chaos gave this ivorld to be, 
 Man then heform'd, andform'd him to ^e/re^.— Freneau. 
 To ivhichure noiv added a considerable number of explanato* 
 ry and occasional notes, together ivith an index of reference t9 
 the most remarkable occurrences in the narrative.^* 
 
 In conformity to an act of Congress of the United States, 
 entitled, " An act for the encouragement of learning by 
 securing copies of Maps, Charts and other books to the 
 authors and proprietors therein mentioned"— And also 
 *' An act for the encouragement of learnmg by securmg 
 copies of Maps, Charts and other books to the authors 
 and proprietors of such copies therein mentioned, and ex- 
 tending the benefit thereof to the arts of designmg, engrav- 
 ing and etching historical and other prints." 
 
 A true copy of Record, ^.^t^xt r^i f 
 
 R. CUTTS SHANNON, Clerk, 
 
 Jttest, R, CUTTS SITJJVJVOJ^, Clerk of said District. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SAGS. 
 
 Intvoduction - - " ^ 
 
 Orders from Connecticut to take Ticonderoga, &c. - 15 
 
 Col. A. arrives there wii.h230 Green Moun:aiaBoys, May Qui 
 
 1773 - - - ■ !^ 
 
 His address to ofiacers and soldiers - i^- 
 
 Capt. Delaplacc surrenders the garrison, May 10, 1773 20 
 
 Col. Warner sent to take Crown Point, which was done, togeth- 
 er with 100 pieces of cannon - - 21 
 Capt. Arnold takes possession of a British sloop of war at St, 
 
 Johns, and the garrison, a Serjeant and twelve men 32 
 
 Speculative thoughts on the union of Canada with the States 23 
 Generals Schuyler and Montgomery ordered into Canada 24 
 
 Mission into Canada to reconnoitre, £vC. - - 25 
 
 A ccount of his success - - -27 
 
 Major Brown's proposition to take Montreal - 23 
 
 Preparations previous to attack on the city - - 29 
 
 Capture and detention of certain persons supposed spits SO 
 
 The escape of one exposes Col. A's plan - » j^. 
 
 Gen. Carlton's preparations to embark previous to knowing the 
 
 small number of Col. A's party - - 31 
 
 Number and description of the enemy's troops, and those under 
 
 Col. A. - - - 32 
 
 John Dugan's and Mr. Young^s flight, with their detachments 33 
 Retreat or Col. A. to avoid being surrounded - 34 
 
 His narrow escape of being shot - . - ji,. 
 
 Surrender ot himself and party, consisting of 38 - 35 
 
 Account of a horrid attack on Col. A. by two savages, and his 
 
 singular mode of escaping their fury - - /5. 
 
 Walks into Montreal between a British oiKcer and one of the 
 
 French noblesse - . - 37 
 
 General Prescoti's treatment of him - - 38 
 
 Humane, but bold attempt to save the lives of thirteen of his 
 
 men, Canadians - - - 3^ 
 
 His continement onboard the Gaspee schooner of war 40 
 
 Conjecture respecting the number of his men lost and wounded ib. 
 Treatment of prisoners - . - 41 
 
 Description of his irons - - - 42 
 
 Generous conduct of Bradley, a British officer - 43 
 
 The no less true than e.ttraordinary feat of twisting a ten pen^iy 
 
 nail from his irons vx^ith his teeth - . ' O- 
 
 Challenges Dr. l^ace for his abusa - -■ 45 
 
lY tOJf TENTS. 
 
 Polite treatmenS: received from Capt. M'Cloud and Capt. l.it- 
 
 tkjo];in, of the Briush - * - /^. 
 €oI. A. OiTers Capt Littlejohn his services as second in a dud, 
 
 which the later accepts - - _ 47 
 
 Gen. Anield's deiachiiient appears ojfQjiebec - 48 
 Col A. sets sail for England, as a prisoner; on board were Gol, 
 
 Guy Johnson, Col. Closs, &c. - - H, 
 Disagreable confinement on board ship - - 49 
 Continued forty days under distressing circumstances - 52 
 Odd dress of Col A. on his arrival in England, and the excite- 
 ment of public curiosity - - -53 
 Friendly conduct cf a gentleman of the name of Temple 55 
 Writes to Congress, letter not sent - - 56 
 The generous Lieut. Hamilton - - - 58 
 Col. A's confidence in his courage, and refiecilons on the possi- 
 ble event of his execution - - 59 
 I lis discourse with gentlemen who came 50 miles to see him 60 
 Boasts of his being a " full blooded yankee" - 63 
 Converses with two clergymen on Christianity, 8cc. - ib. 
 Ordered on board the Solebay frigate, and irons taken off Jan. 
 
 8th,irr6. - - -^ - ib. 
 
 Generous offer of an Irishman, by name Gillegan - - 65 
 
 Liberal donations of Irish gentlem^en in Cork - 67 
 
 Pecuniary cifer of Mr. Hays to Col. Allen - - 69 
 
 Caj)t. Symond's malignity - - - T'O 
 
 Time of leaving England Jan. 8th, and Cork Feb. 12th 71 
 
 Another tribute to the generosity of an Irishman - 73 
 
 Arrives at Cape Fear, in North Carolina, May 3d - 77 
 
 Great annoyance of the enemy from American riflemen 78 
 'Finds himself under a more ungenerous enemy than Capt. Sy- 
 
 m.onds ; viz. Capt. Montague - - 79 
 
 Genercsitv of British iTiidsiiipmen - - 8:^ 
 Anchors off New-York, beginning of June, and remains there 
 
 three days - - - - »^'. 
 
 Visited by Gov. Tryon, Mr Kemp, and other royalists 83 
 
 Arrives 2.1 II alifa:^, middle of June - - ilf^ 
 
 Cure of the scurvy by strawberries _ - - 85 
 
 Complains to Gov. Avbuthnot, of Halifax, of ill treatment 86 
 
 Inhuman confinement, and remonstrance against it - 39 
 
 Manner of employing tlie hours of captivity - - 90 
 
 K-ndnes3 cf a Mrs. Blacden - - -^ ih. 
 
 Writes 10 Gen. "Massey a severe letter - - 91 
 
 Leaves Hah'fos about the iSth October - - 92 
 
 Gentleman-like treatment from Capt. Smith • - 9:1 
 
 Proposal of a Capt. Burk to murder the Captain and his men 95 
 
 Firmly opposed by Col. Allen - - 96 
 
 Arrives at New-York, about ihc Ust of OcLober -^ 97 
 12cLs between Col. A. and the captain cf the transport ship to 
 
 which he was removed 9^ 
 
:■:»- 
 
 CONTENTS. V 
 
 Prisoners landed at New -York, on some of the last days of Nq- 
 
 vember - - - - • - lOl 
 
 Escape of sergeant Roger Moore and others - - ib. 
 
 Allowed to be on his parole in the city ... 102 
 
 Inhnmanity and enormities comnaitted on the prisoners in 
 
 New-York - - - - Ht, 
 
 Bad quality of provisions - - - 106 
 
 Advice to a young Pennsylvanian, a prisoner - - lOB 
 
 Tries, with other officers on parol, to relieve the sufferings of 
 
 the prisoners - - - - lid 
 
 Gen. Howe charged with being highly culpable in hla orders of 
 
 treatment of prisoners - - - - 111 
 
 Prisoners' sufferings made known by Col, AllciV to Colonels 
 
 Magaw, Miles and Atlee. - - - ll4 
 
 Gen. Washington's address at Trenton, by f^.lse fires, &c. 11 r 
 
 Prisoners sent within Gen. \Vashington\i lines for an exchange 11'^ 
 Conjecture of the number of prisoners wlio perislied in New- 
 York, from various causes - - - l^t 
 Propcsalof Gen. Sir Win. Howe, to Col. Allen, through an 
 
 agent, to accept a commission intha BritUh service l'^^. 
 
 Curious answer to the-agent ... 
 
 Qiiartered on the West part of Long-Island, Jan. 22, 1777 l'2'l 
 Gen. Burgoyne's conquest of Ticonderoga - iy. 
 
 Taken toNew-York, on the false pretence of breaking his pau^lelSS 
 Inhuman treatment in confir.em.ent - . ;,>. 
 
 Spirited behavior of Capt. Travis, under severe suTrrin^s V2T 
 
 Col, Allen, allov/ed a piece of p^rk and some biscuit to eat, ca 
 
 the third day cf his confinement - - 123 
 
 SuiTeringsof Capt. Vandyke, Williaai I^Iiller, Mjjor Wells, 
 
 Capt. "Bisseil, &c. &ic. - - 129 
 
 Description of the i^ridsh provost - . IS'i 
 
 Vilecharacter of Joshua Loring, commissary of prisonars 13G 
 
 Gen. St. Clair evacuates Ticonderoga, j uly 6th, 1777 133 
 
 Col, Hale's nnproper neglect to assist col. Warner 139 
 
 Battle between Gen, Eraser's troops, and those com.manded by 
 
 colonels Warner and Francis - , ' iu. 
 
 The brave col. Francis falls in fighting for his country ilf, 
 
 Retrt-at of col. Warner, after a brave resistance - ^^, 
 
 Gen. Stark, and the battle at Bennmg on, col, Herrick,&c. 141 
 Col. Baum and a col. Pfester, killed, of the IZ-ritish - I.43 
 
 Gei.. Stark re-attacked by a reinforcemen .fllOO - ib. 
 
 Col. Warner with 130 men, opportunely comes to their assiet- 
 
 ance - . _ „ I43 
 
 The enemy meet with a complete defeat - - ib. 
 
 Proclamation of Gen, Burgcyne - >. 14^ 
 
 Downfall and surrender of Burgoyne - - I49 
 
 The c: 1 j.^f 1 etUogises the French government 4. 1 52 
 
 The colc-nel lands en I, jberty ground , » I55 
 
CONTENTS. Vi 
 
 Acco-mpanies col Sheldon to Washi'ii'gr*»H?s^heSd quaTters 156 
 
 Is tredted respectfully by Washington - _ Of, 
 
 X. eaves headquarters in company witli- Gen. Gates and suit 
 
 for Fishkill - - . 15f 
 
 Bids farewell to Gen. Gates and arrives at Bennington on the 
 
 last day cf May * . , , j-^. 
 
 ^:y^ IT tvas at Jtrst intended to have published a Hit 
 %f the names of the subscribers to the work ; but as-the pa^^ 
 [lers are only fiariially returned, though we hear the num^ 
 beri^ large^ it ivm thought beat to omit them altogether. 
 
IN- announcing the publication of this lit- 
 tle, simple, true, and unvarnished narra- 
 tive, the publishers have complied v/ith the 
 wishes of a number of persons, v/ho had a 
 desire to keep in remembrance the hero of 
 Ticonderoga, and the exploits he performed. 
 It is believed that there is not a copy for sale 
 in any bookstore in the United States ; and 
 the style of printing, at the time of its first 
 appearance, which is now near thirty years 
 since, was in so unimproved a condition, that 
 it has never been seen but in the shabby 
 dress of a large and ragged pam.phlet. The 
 events of those '' troublous times," in 
 which Col. Allen took a conspicuous part, 
 are rendered doubly interesting from the 
 lively, unadorned manner of his own narra- 
 tion. The high compliments which he 
 pays to the prowess, uniform perseverance 
 and resolution, manifested by the " Green 
 Mountain Boys" of his native State, v/ill no 
 doubt be an inducement to them, and to his 
 countrymen generally, to read and preserve 
 this monument of him, and as they con the 
 pages of this 'Mittle book" which he has 
 *' left them," to imitate the coolness and 
 courage of the deceased veteran. 
 
Yin ALVESTISEMENT. 
 
 The siifFerings and cruelties borne hy him 
 and his fellow soldiers, frequently draw from 
 him in the course of his narrative, a lan- 
 guage the most severe, with respect to a 
 country from whom we originated, with 
 whom we are now at peace, and with whom 
 it is our policy to continue on a friendly foot- 
 ing ; but the candid and the feeling mind 
 should make great allov/ance for the unpar- 
 alleled situation of our affairs, for the suffer- 
 ings of his handful of little '^ Sparta7is,''^ for 
 whom he felt a father's and a brother's affec- 
 tion. These circumstances must h^ve given 
 a deep colouring to the pencil whicii was 
 pourtrayinghis own and his country's wrongs. 
 On the whole, we think this little tract may 
 be re-perused, with advantage and pleasure, 
 by the aged, and read vAth much edification 
 and entertainment by the young. As it is 
 deemed that the very words, in every res- 
 pect, made use of by the Colonel, would be 
 more acceptable to the reader, than any arti- 
 ficial decoration of style, we shall almost in- 
 variably adhere to the original. 
 
 The work is rendered interesting also by 
 a considerable nar^ber of original, explanato- 
 ry and occasional notes* 
 
JjYTROBUCTION, 
 
 IA''DUCED by a se^ise of diUy to my coimiry, and by 
 the afifilication of many of my worthy friends^ some uf^^hom 
 are of the first characters^ I have concluded to fmbiUh the 
 folloioing narrative of the extraordinary scenes of my ca/i- 
 tivity, and the discoveries ivhich I made in the course of the 
 sa77ie, of the cruel and relentless disposition and behavior 
 cfthe enemy ^ toivards the firisonsrs in their poTjer ; from, 
 which the state fiolitician^ and every gradation of charac- 
 ter among the /leojhlc, to the worthy tiller cf the soil, may 
 deduce such inferences as they shall think jirojier to carry 
 into practice. Some men are apjioinied hitooffice, in these 
 Slates^ who read the history of the cruelties of this wary 
 with the same careless indifference^ as they do the pages 
 pfthe Roman history ; nay^ some are preferred to places of 
 trust and profit by the tory influence. The instances are 
 (I hope) but rare<j and it stands all freemen in hand^ to 
 prevent their farther iufuence^ which-, of all other things^ 
 would be the most baneful to the liberties and happiness of 
 this country ; and, so far as such influence takes place^ rob 
 us of the victory we have obtained at the expense of so 
 much blood and treasure** 
 
 * The arnor patritz, which no lover of his country per- 
 haps possessed in a superior degree to the writer of this 
 Narrative, carries the Colonel in this instance, and in 
 some others, which the reader will witness in the course 
 of his perusal, a little too fir. There have, no doubt, 
 been traitors amon%' us to the American cause ; but the 
 word tory is of so indefinite a signification that it would 
 seem it mi,^-ht be laid aside with propriety, and one, of 
 mors (Jeiinite import, substituted. V/ere the colond 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 / should have exhibited to the jiuhlic a history of the facts 
 herein C07itai?iedy soon after my exchange^ had not the ur- 
 gency of my private affairsy together with more urgerit jiub- 
 lie business^ demanded my attention^ till afenv weeks before 
 the date hereof The reader will readily discern^ that a 
 narrative of this sort could not have been written when I 
 was a prisoner : My trunk and writings were often search- 
 ed under various pretences ; so that I never wrote a syl- 
 lable, or made even a rough minute whereon I might predi- 
 cate this narration^^ but trusted solely to ray memory for the 
 nvhole.* I have, however, taken the greatest care and 
 pains to recollect the facts and arrange them : but as they 
 touch a variety of characters and opposite interests, I am 
 sensible that alt will not be pleased with the relation of 
 thtm : Be this as it will, I have made truth my invariable 
 
 now living, and moved by the same spirit of patriotism 
 he once was, his ire would probably be directed generally 
 against the enemies of America, unprincipled foreigners, 
 and the desperate fugitives from justice, \yith whom 
 our large seaports are infested. 
 
 * This concession of the colonel ought not, however, 
 to derogcite from the accuracy cf this account. The 
 regular journalist, it is allowed, can lay claim to consider- 
 able correctness in point of date and place, but the in- 
 teresting occurrences of the moment are better fi^ed in 
 the memory without the use of pen. The mind, which 
 is accustomed to have its operations put on paper as tliey 
 make their transit over it, soon loses their impression, 
 under the consideration that it can always con^mand 
 them again, by a recurrence to their record on paper. 
 It has been thought by some, though the remark may 
 be irrelevant here, that the memory is gradually aftect- 
 cd, and perhaps injured by a too close attention to min- 
 ute down small, uninteresting- facts. 
 
INTRODUCTION. Xl 
 
 g^uide, and stake my honor on the truth of the facts. I 
 have been very generous ivith the British* in giving them 
 full and amfde credit for all their good usage, of any consid- 
 erable consequence-i ivhich I met with among them, during 
 my captivity ; ivhich was easily done, as I met with but 
 little, in comparison of the bad, which, by reason of the great 
 filurality of it, could not be contained i7i so concise a narra' 
 live ; so that I am certain that I have more fully enumc" 
 rated the favours which I received, than the abuses I suf- 
 fered. The critic will be pleased to excuse any inaccura- 
 cies in the performance itself, as the author has unfortun- 
 ately Tnissed of a liberal education. 
 
 JETHJJSJ- JLLEM 
 Bennjnc^oi^, March 25, 1779, 
 
 * The colonel, we presume, would wish to have ap- 
 peared, and actually to have been the unprejudiced histo- 
 rian of the times and facts of which he was treating. 
 And, considering the ferment of the times, and warmth 
 of his character, of the ardour of his friendships, and his 
 enmities, we may* v/onder that lie has not been more 
 severe in his strictures dli British treatment than he has. 
 But justice to a nation with whom we are on friendly 
 terms, and whose government generally, except where 
 its edicts have been abused by executive officers, is 
 conducted on the firmest basis of justice, and the rights 
 of man, requires that the reader should soften, in his 
 mind, the asperity of some of the veteran's obseryations. 
 
A 
 
 NARRATIVE 
 
 07 
 
 ©6?/ Othan Kytiic"^ 
 
 en 4 
 
 CAPTIVITY, ^c. 
 
 E 
 
 VER since I arrived to a state of man- 
 hood, and acquainted myself with the gener- 
 al history of mankind, I have felt a sincere 
 passion for liberty.* The history of nations, 
 
 * There is something peculiarly fascinating, to the 
 mind of youth, ia the word liberty. It is then 
 
 ** When the fresh blood grows lively, and returns 
 Brisk as the April buds in primrose season/* 
 
 that the goddess appears decorated in her most enchant«» 
 ing drapery. The horrors of tyranny then assume the 
 most forbidding garb, and the heart pants eripere seep.* 
 ti'inn tyrannis^ ZiTid to gh'e freedom to "oppressed hu- 
 manity." It is then that tales of " knights and barons 
 bold," the foes of oppression, catch the notice of youth, 
 
 B 
 
14 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 doomed to perpetual slavery, in consequence 
 of yielding up to tyrants their natural-born 
 liberties, I read with a sort of philosophical 
 horror;* so that the first systematical and 
 
 and give it a coiTespondent ardour. As the juvenile 
 heyday retreats, a more rational, but less enthusiastic 
 v'ew is taken of the subject. The same love of liberty 
 remains, but it rests on a surer basis, on the pedestal of 
 reason. This is the chaste dame that Goldsmith in his 
 Traveller alludes to, in the following extract, 
 
 *« And thou, fair Freeelom, taught alike to feel 
 The rabble's rage, and tyrant's angry steel ; 
 Thou transitory flower, alike undone 
 By proud Contempt, or Favour's fost'ring sun ; 
 Still may thy blooms the changeful elime endure, 
 I otily would repress them to secure ; 
 For just experience tells, in every soil. 
 That those who think must govern those who teil } 
 And all that Freedom's highest aims can reach, 
 Is but to lay proportion'd loads on each. 
 Hence, should one order disproportion' d grovr> 
 Its double weight must ruin all below." 
 
 * It is in the recollection of most of us, how popular, 
 at its commencement, was the revolution in France. A- 
 mericans, who were then just beginnmg to enjoy the 
 blessines of" self-government," could feel for those who 
 ivere deprived of them. They made the cause their 
 own Wq have Seen in what their professions of liberty 
 and equality have terminated. Setting aside the views 
 cf a few ambitious leaders, the love of liberty was as sm- 
 cere among the great body of Frenchmen, as it was, 
 perhaps, among our own countrymen. But that mtel- 
 ligenc^ and information, which are diffused in this 
 country, were not to be found in France. 1 he soil, it is 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 15 
 
 bloody attempt, at Lexington, to enslave A- 
 merica, thoro^jghly electrified my mind, and 
 fully determined me to take part with my 
 country : And, while I was wishing for an 
 opportunity to signalize myself in its behalf, 
 directions wxre privately sent to me from the 
 then colony (now state) of Connecticut, to 
 raise the Green Mountain Boys, and, if possi- 
 ble, with them to surprise and take the for- 
 tress, Ticonderoga.* This enterprise I 
 
 presumed, was therefore unfavorable to the cause of 
 Freedom, and invited the empty claims, and Uiiurpation 
 ©f a despot. No doubt. Col. Allen would have vieM^ed, 
 with more than " philosophical horror," the late assump- 
 tion of the throne of the Bourbons, by Bonaparte, when 
 comparing it with the professions of liberty with which 
 it was accomplished. 
 
 * This fortress is thus descrified in the edition of the 
 American Gazetteer, by Drs. Morse and Parish : 
 
 *' Ticonderoga, in the state of N. York, was built by the 
 French in the year 1756, on the north side of a peninsu- 
 la, formed by the confluence ©f the waters issuing fronn 
 Lake George into Lake Champlain. It is now a heap of 
 ruins, and forms an appendage to a farm. Its naine sig- 
 nifies JVbisy, in the Indian language, and was called by 
 the French, Corilhr. INIount Independence, in Addison 
 CO. Vermont, is about two miles S. E. of it, and separated 
 from it by the narrow strait which conveys the waters of 
 Lake George and South river into Lake Champlain. It 
 had all the advantages that art or nature could give it, 
 being defended on three sides by water surrounded by 
 
16 eOL. E. AtLEN's OBSERVATIONS 
 
 cheerfully undertook ; and, after first guard- 
 ing all the several passes that led thither, to 
 cut off all intelligence between the garrison 
 and the country, made a forced march from 
 Bennington, and arrived at the lake opposite 
 to Ticonderoga, on the evening of the ninth 
 day of May, 1775, with two hundred and 
 thirty valiant Green Mountain Boys ; and it 
 was with the utmost difficulty that I procured 
 boats to cross the lake. However, I landed 
 eighty three men near the garrison, and sent 
 the boats back for the rear guard, command- 
 ed by Col. Seth Warner ; but the day began 
 to dav/n, and I found myself under a necessi- 
 ty to attack the fort, before the rear could 
 cross the lake ; and, as it v/as viewed hazard- 
 ous, I hairansTied the cfiicers and soldiers in 
 tlie manner iollowing : ^' Friends and fellow. 
 
 Tocl^s, anci v/herc tKat fdls, the French erected a breasN 
 v/ork nine feet hij:i;h. This v/as the first fortress attack- 
 ed by the Americans daring the revohilionary war. 
 The troops imclerGen. Abercrombie were defeated here 
 
 I'd the year ITS 8, but it was taken the year following by 
 GcD. Amherst. It was surprised by Cols. Alien and Ar- 
 nold, May 10; 1775. and was retaken by Gen. Burgoyn.e, 
 in July, 1777. 
 
DURING HIS cAPriviry. 17 
 
 soldiers, You have, for a number of years 
 past, been a scourge and terror to arbitrary 
 power. Your valor has been famed abroad, 
 and acknowledged, as appears by the advice 
 and orders to me, from the General i^ssenibly 
 of Connecticut, to surprise and take the gar- 
 rison now before us. I now propose to ad- 
 vance before you, and, in person, conduct 
 you through the wicket-gate ; for we must 
 this morning either quit our pretensions to 
 valor, or possess ourselves of this fortress in 
 a few minutes ; and, inasmuch as it is a des- 
 perate attempt, vv'hich none but the bravest 
 of men dare undertake, I do not urre it ou 
 any contrary to his will. You that -will un- 
 dertake voluntarily, poise your hrelocks/^- 
 
 * This address, in its simple and artless clothing, af- 
 fects one as much, nay, more than the studied hsr- 
 ^rangues of crowned conquerors. It finds its way imine- 
 diately to the heart, and we anxiously look for the issue. 
 Thus it v^as tint the hero of Thermopylae addressed hi.s 
 litUe band, though far djiTe rent the event of the two en-; 
 lerprises ; and not unlike to it was the conclusion of 
 Hannibal's address to the Carthaginians, on their marck 
 to the Roman capital ; " But for yoi:^ there is no mid- 
 dle fortune between death and victoiy. Let thid be but 
 well fixed in your minds, and once again I say you ar^ 
 
 B 2 
 
18 COL. E. Allen's observatxoks 
 
 The men being, at this time, drawn up in 
 three ranks, each poised his firelock. I or- 
 dered them to face to the right ; and, at the 
 head of the centre-file, marched them imme- 
 diately to the wicket gate aforesaid, where 
 I found a sentry posted, who instantly snap- 
 ped his fusee at me : I ran immediately to- 
 wards him, and he retreated through the cov- 
 ered way into the parade within the garrison, 
 gave a halloo, and ran under a bomb-proof. 
 My party, who followed me into the fort, I 
 formed on the parade in such manner as to 
 face the two barracks which faced each oth- 
 er. The garrison being asleep, except the 
 sentries, we gave three huzzas which greatly 
 surprised them. One of the sentries made a 
 pass at one of my officers with a charged bay- 
 onet, and slightly wounded him : My first 
 thought was to kill him w^ith my sword ; but, 
 in an instant, I altered the design and fury of 
 the blov/ to a slight cut on the side of the 
 head ; upon which he dropped his gun, and 
 disked quarter, which I readily granted him,^ 
 
 * Here is a striking instance of the bravery of the 
 
DURIXG HIS CAPTIVITY. 19 
 
 and demanded of him the place where the 
 commanding officer kept ; he shewed me a 
 pair of stairs in the front of a barrack, on the 
 west part of the garrison, which led up to a 
 second story in said barrack, to which I im- 
 mediately repaired, and ordered the com» 
 mander, Capt. Delaplace, to come forth in- 
 stantly, or I would sacrifice the whole garri* 
 son ; at which the Capt. came immediately 
 to the door, with his breeches in his hand ; 
 when I ordered him to deliver to me the 
 fort instantly ; he asked me by what authori- 
 ty I demanded it : I answered him, '' In the 
 name of the great Jehovah, and the Continen- 
 tal Congress." The authority of the Con- 
 gress being very little known at that time,* 
 he began to speak again ; but I interrupted 
 himj and, with my drawn sword over his 
 
 soldier, united with the humariity of the man ; in a situ- 
 •tion when the destruction of one individuai of the ene- 
 my might be deemed of signal consequence in ensuring 
 success to the enterprise. 
 
 * If the colonel had expressed a little of his usual se- 
 rerity in this place, he might have remarked also; that 
 neither of the authorities he had mentioDed were much 
 known in a British camp. 
 
20 COL. E. Allen's observation's, 
 
 head, again demanded an immediate surren- 
 der of the garrison ; with which he then com- 
 plied, and ordered his men to be forthwith 
 paraded without arms, as he had given up the 
 garrison : In the mean time some of my oiii- 
 cers had given orders, and, in consequence 
 thereof, sundry of the barrack doors were beat 
 down, and about one third of the garrison im- 
 prisoned, which consisted of the said com- 
 mander, a Lieut. Feltham, a conductor of ar- 
 tillery, a gunner, two Serjeants, and forty 
 four rank and file ; about one hundred pieces 
 of cannon, one thirteen inch mortar, and a 
 number of swivels. This surprise was car- 
 ried into execution in the gray of the morn- 
 ing of the tenth day of May, 1775. The 
 sun seemed to rise that morning with a supe- 
 rior lustre ; and Ticonderoga and its depen- 
 dencies smiled on its conquerors, who tossed 
 about the flowing bowl, and wished success 
 to Congress, and the liberty and freedom of 
 America. Happy it was for me, at that 
 tim.e, that the then future pages of the book 
 of fate, which afterwards unfolded a misera- 
 ble scene of two years and eight months im- 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 21 
 
 prisonment, were hid from my view. But to 
 return to my narration : Col. Warner, v/ith 
 the rear guard, crossed the lake, and joined 
 me early in the morning, whom I sent off, 
 without loss of time, with about one hun- 
 dred men, to take possession of Crov/n Point, 
 which was garrisoned w^ith a serjeant and 
 twelve m^en ; which he took possession of the 
 same day, as also of upwards of one hundred ' 
 J)ieces of cannon. But one thing now remain- 
 ed to be done, to make ourselves complete 
 masters of lake Chamxplain ; this was to 
 possess ourselves of a sloop of war, v/hich ^ 
 was then lying at St. John's ; to effect which, 
 it was agreed in a council of war, to arm and 
 man out a certain schooner, which lay at 
 South Bay, and that Capt. (now general) Ar- 
 nold* should command her, and that I should 
 
 * This name, which now calls to mind the idea of 
 treason, at every mention of it, is " damn'd to everlast- 
 ing fame." Arnold was once a brave officer, persever- 
 in|,^, indefiligable and ready to undertake t'-e most daring 
 ofenterpiises. But his high style of living inducing 
 many unavoidable expenses, and the embarrassment 
 thereby occasioned, prompting him to commit va-' ' 
 rious acts of extortion upon the citizens of Philadelphia, 
 when he was appointed to the conam.?vnd in that place, ia 
 
■22 COL. E. ai^len's observations, 
 
 command the batteaux. The necessary prep- 
 arations being made, we set sail from Ticon- 
 deroga, in quest of the sloop, which was much 
 larger, and carried more guns and heavier 
 metal than the schooner. General Arnold, 
 with the schooner sailing faster than the bat- 
 teaux, arrived at St. John's ; and, by surprise, 
 possessed himself of the sloop, before I could 
 arrive with the batteaux : He also made pris- 
 oners of a sergeant and twelve men, who 
 were garrisoned at that place. It is worthy 
 remark that, as soon as General Arnold had 
 secured the prisoners on board, and had 
 made preparation for sailing, the wind, which 
 but a few hours before was fresh in the south, 
 and well served to carry us to St. John's, now 
 shifted, and came fresh from the north ; and, 
 in about one hour's time, Gen. Arnold sailed 
 
 1778, obliged Congress, on the remonstrance of some of 
 the inhabitants, and of the executive of Pennsylvania, to 
 have him arrested and tried by court martial. It corn- 
 inenced in June 1778, and ended in Ji.n. 1779, when he 
 was sentenced to be reprimanded. Tnis was the cause 
 of the traitor's conduct ; and, after having offered to 
 him, afterwards, the command of the left wing of the ar- 
 my, he preferred that of a little, though important for- 
 tress, to gratify his hate and resentment ia giving it up 
 10 the enemy. 
 
toURING HIS CAPTIVITVi 23 
 
 with the prize and schooner for Ticondero. 
 ga.* When I met him with my party, with- 
 in a few miles of St. John's, he sakitcd me 
 with a discharge of cannon, which I returned 
 with a volley of small arms : This being re- 
 peated three times, I went on board the sloop 
 with my party, where several loyal Congress 
 healths were drank. We were now masters 
 of lake Champkin, and the garrison de- 
 pending thereon. This success I viewed of 
 consequence in the scale of American poli- 
 tics ; for, if a settlement, between the then 
 colonies and Great -Britain, had soon taken 
 place, it would have been easy to have res- 
 tored these acquisitions; but viewing the 
 then future consequences of a cruel war, as it 
 has really proved to be, and the command of 
 that lake, garrisons, artillery, 8cc. it must be 
 viewed to be of signal importance to the A- 
 merican cause, and it is marvellous to me, 
 that we ever lost the command of it. Nothing 
 
 * This foi'tunate, or providential change of wind, 
 would have been noticed, in ancient times, as the inter- 
 vention of favoring deities. As it was not one of the 
 foibles of the colonel to be superstitious, he passes it over 
 with saying only, *' it was worthy remark.'* 
 
24 col. E. alien's observations, 
 
 but taking a Burgoyne, with a whole Brit- 
 ish army, could, in my opinion, atone for it ; 
 and, notwithstanding such an extraordinary 
 victory, we must be ubiiged to regain the 
 command of that lake again, be the cost what 
 it will : By doing this, Canada will easily be 
 brought into union and confederacy with 
 the United States of America. Such an 
 event would put it out of the power of the 
 western tribes of Indians to carry on a war 
 with us, and be a solid and durable bar 
 against any farther inhuman barbarities com- 
 mitted on our frontier inhabitants, by cruel 
 and biood- thirsty savages ; for it is impossi- 
 ble for them to carry on a war, except they are 
 sunporled bv the trade and commerce of 
 some civilized nation ; which to them would 
 be impracticable, did Canada compose a part 
 of the American empire.* 
 
 Early in the fall of the year, the little army. 
 
 * However practicable such a union might be, its pol- 
 cy may be doubted. Yet in the rage for purchasiiif; cm' 
 ^dres ^ ii iht British would be satisfied with a rea-^onadle 
 sum for it, there are probably sjieculatorsy who \YOuld 
 appear to purchase it. 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 25 
 
 under the command of the Generals Schuyler 
 and Montgomery, were ordered to advance 
 into Canada. I was at Ticonderoga, when 
 this order arrived ; and the Generals, with 
 most of the field officers, requested me to at- 
 tend them in the expedition ; and, though at 
 that time I had no commission from Con- 
 gress, yet they engaged me, that I should be 
 considered as an officer, the same as though 
 I had a commission ; and should, as occasion 
 might require, command certain detachments 
 of the army — This I considered as an honor- 
 able offer, and did not hesitate to comply with 
 it, and advanced with the army to the isle 
 Aux Noix ;^ from whence I was ordered, by 
 the general, to go in company with Major 
 Brown, and certain interpreters, through the 
 woods into Canada, with letters to the Cana- 
 dians, and to let them know, that the design 
 of the army was only against the English gar- 
 
 * Moix^ isle au, or A'ut isle, a small isle of 5^0 acres, near 
 the N. end oi lake Cliamplain, and Avithin the province 
 of Lower Canada. Here the British had a g-arrison of 
 100 men. It id about five mhes W. N. E. of th^ mouth 
 of La Cole River, twenty i\. ox Isle L.aMotte, ana tweive 
 or fifteen southward of St. Jonn's. 
 
26 COL. E., Allen's observations, 
 
 risons, and not the country, their liberties, or 
 religion : and having, through much danger, 
 negociated this business, I returned to the isle 
 Aux Noix the fore part of September, when 
 Gen. Schuyler returned to Albany ; and in 
 consequence the command devolved upon 
 general Montgomery, whom I assisted in lay- 
 ing a line of circumvallation round the for- 
 tress, St. John's.* After which I w^as ordered, 
 by the general, to make a second tour into 
 Canada, upon nearly the same design as be- 
 fore ; and withal to observe the disposition, 
 desisrns and movements of the inhabitants of 
 the country. This reconnoitre I undertook 
 with reluctance, choosing rather to assist at 
 the siege of St. John's, which was then close- 
 ly invested ; but my esteem for the general's 
 person, and opinion of him as a politician and 
 brave officer, induced me to proceed. 
 
 * St. Joh?2^s, a towTi and fort in Lower Canada, on 
 the west bank of Sorrel river, at the north end of lake 
 Champlain, twenty eight miles southward of Montreal. 
 It has been established as the sole port of entry and 
 clearance for all goods imported from the interior of the 
 United States into Canada, by an ordinance published by 
 the executive council of Lower Canada, the 7th of July, 
 1796. It was taken by General Montgomery, in Nov. 
 1775. North lat. 45; 9. west long, 72; 18. 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 27 
 
 I passed through all the parishes on the 
 river SoiTel,-^ to a parish at the mouth of the 
 same, which is called by the same name, 
 preaching politics ;t and went from thence 
 across the Sorrel to the river St. Lawrence, 
 and up the river through the parishes to Lon- 
 gueil, and so far met with good success as an 
 itinerant. In this round, my guard were 
 Canadians, my interpreter, and some few at- 
 tendants excepted. On the morning of the 
 24th day of September, I set out with my 
 guard of about eighty men, from Longueil, 
 to go to La Prairie ;J from whence I deter- 
 
 * Sorrel River^ the outlet of Lake Cliai-nphdn, which, 
 after a course of about 69 miles North, empties into the 
 river St. Lawrence, in north lat. 46, 10, and lon^^. 72, 
 25 west. Sorrel Fort,buiitby the French, is at the wes- 
 tern point of the mouth of this river. 
 
 t By politics, it is presumed, the author means eulo- 
 gising the government, under which he lived ; praising 
 its institutions, the saUitary and mild operation of its 
 la^vs, and the degree of liberty enjoyed by the poorest o- 
 his fellow citizens. In this view the occupation wa;- 
 beneficial and harmless. Far different is the conduct oi 
 the preacher of politics of the present day. Nis aim it 
 to disorganize, and /ds efforts are exerted to sap the 
 foundation of all regular government. 
 
 I La Prairie^ ?i populous little village, with narrow 
 dirty streets, on the river St. Lawrence, in Canadaj eigh- 
 
28 COL. I. Allen's observations, 
 
 mined to go to Gen. Montgomery's camp ; 
 but had not advanced tv/o miles before I met 
 with Major Brown, who has since been ad- 
 vanced to the rank of a Colonel, who desired 
 me to halt, saying that he had something of 
 importance to communicate to me and my 
 confidants ; upon which I halted the part}^, 
 and went into an house, and took a private 
 room with him and several of my associates, 
 where Col. Brown proposed that, '^ Provided I 
 would return to Longueil, and procure some 
 canoes, so as to cross the river St. lyawrence a 
 little north of Montreal, he would cross it a 
 little to the south of the town, with near two 
 liundred men,» as he had boats sufficient ; and 
 that we would make ourselves masters of 
 Montreal." — This plan was readily approved 
 by me and those in council ; and in conse- 
 quence of Vvdiich I returned to Longueil, coL 
 iected a few canoes, and added about thirty 
 English Americans to my party, and crossed 
 the river in the night of the 24th, agreeable 
 
 teen miles north of St. John's^ and nine south west of 
 Montreal. 
 
fcURll^G HIS CAPTIV^ITY. W 
 
 to the before proposed plan. Mj whole par- 
 ty, at this time, consisted of about one hun- 
 dred and ten men, near eighty of whom were 
 Canadians. We v/ere the most of the night 
 crossing the river, as w^e had so few canoes 
 that they had to pass and re-pass three times, 
 to carry my party across. Soon after day-break, 
 1 set a guard between me and the town, with 
 special orders to let no person whatever 
 pass or re-pass then}, and another guard on 
 the other end of the road, witli hke directions ; 
 in the mean time, I reconnoitered the best 
 ground to make a defence, expecting Col. 
 Brown's party w^as landed on the other side 
 of the town, he having, the day before, agreed 
 to give three huzzas with his men early in the 
 morning, which signal I was to return, that 
 we might eacli know that both parties w^ere 
 landed ; but the sun, by this time, being near 
 two hours high, and the sign failing, I began 
 to conclude myself to be in a premunire^ and 
 would have crossed the river back again, but 
 I knew the enemy wouldhave discovered such 
 an attempt ; and, as there could not more 
 
 C 2 
 
so COL. E. ALLEN^S OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 than one third part of my troops cross at one 
 time, the other two thirds would of course 
 fill into their hands. This I could not rec- 
 oncile to my own feelings as a man, much 
 less as an officer : I therefore concluded to 
 maintain the ground, if possible, and all to 
 fare alike. In consequence of this resolution, 
 I dispatched two messengers, one to La Prai- 
 rie, to Col. Brown, and the other to L'As- 
 somption, a French settlement, to Mr. Walk- 
 er, who was in our interest, requesting their 
 speedy assistance, giving them, at the same 
 time, to understand my critical situation : In 
 the mean time, sundry persons came to my 
 guards, pretending to be friends, but were by 
 them taken prisoners and brought to me. — 
 These I ordered to confinement,*- Hill their 
 friendship could be farther confirmed ; for I 
 was jealous they wxre spies, as they proved 
 to be afterwards : One of the principal of 
 them making his escape, exposed the weak- 
 
 * This precaution, it appears, was cominendable and 
 liecessary ; and had it been carried more rigidly into ex- 
 ecution would have prevented the escape of one of the 
 spies, and the miscarriage of the coleners intentions. 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 31 
 
 ness of my party, which was the final cause 
 of my misfortune ; for I have been since in- 
 formed that Mr. Walker, agreeable to my 
 desire, exerted himself, and had raised a con- 
 siderable number of men for my assistance, 
 which brought him into difficulty afterwards; 
 but, upon hearing of my misfortune, he dis- 
 banded them asrain. 
 
 The town of Montreal was in a great tu- 
 mult. Gen. Carlton and the royal party, 
 made every preparation to go on board their 
 vessels of force, as I was afterwards inform- 
 cd, but the spy, escaping from my guard to 
 the town, occasioned an alteration in their 
 policy, and emboldened Gen. Carlton to send 
 the force, which he had there collected, out 
 against me. I -had previously chosen my 
 ground, but when I saw the number of the 
 enemy, as they sallied out of the town, I per- 
 ceived it would be a day of trouble, if not of 
 rebuke ; but I had no chance to ilee, as Mon- 
 treal was situated on an island, and the river 
 St. Lawrence cut oiF my communication to 
 Gen, Montgomery's camp. I encouraged 
 my soldiery to bravely defend themselves. 
 
32 COL. E. Allen's obsiiirvationSj 
 
 that we should soon have help, and that we 
 should be able to keep the ground, if no 
 more. This, and much more, I affirmed with 
 the greatest seeming assurance, and which in 
 reality I thought to be in some degree proba- 
 ble. 
 
 The enemy consisted of not more than for- 
 ty regular troops, together with a mixed mul- 
 titude, chie% Canadians, with a number of 
 English who lived in the town, and some In* 
 dians ; in all, to the number of near five hun- 
 dred. 
 
 The reader will notice that most of my par- 
 ty were Canadians ; indeed it was a motley 
 parcel of soldiery which composed both par- 
 ties. However, the eriemy began the attack 
 from wood-piles, ditches, buildings, and such 
 like places, at a considerable distance, and I 
 returned the fire from a situation more than 
 equally advantageous. The attack began be- 
 tween two and three of the clock in the after- 
 noon, just before which I ordered a volun- 
 unteer, by the name of Richard Young,* with 
 
 * The names of these subordinate tmitors should be 
 
BURIN^ HIS CAPTIVITY. S3 
 
 a detachment of nine men as a flank guard, 
 which, under the cover of the bank of theriv- 
 er, could not only annoy the enemy, but at the 
 same time, serve as a flank guard to the left 
 of the main body. 
 
 The fire continued for some time on both 
 sides ; and I was confident that such a remote 
 method of attack could not carry the ground, 
 provided it should be continued 'till night : 
 But near half the body of the enemy began to 
 fiank round to my right ; upon which I order- 
 ed a volunteer, by the name of John Dugan, 
 who had lived many years in Canada, and un- 
 derstood the French Ian9:ua8:e, to detach about 
 fifty of the Canadians, and post himself at an 
 advantageous ditch, which was on my right, 
 to prevent my being surrounded : He advanc- 
 ed with the detachment, but, instead of occu- 
 pying the post, made his escape, as did like- 
 wise Mr. Young upon the left, with their de- 
 tachments. I soon perceived that the enemy 
 was in possession of the ground, which Du» 
 
 handed down to posterity, in company with that of Ar- 
 nold. 
 
34 COL, E. Allen's observations, 
 
 gan should have occupied. At this time I 
 had but about forty five men with me ; some 
 of whom were wounded ; the enemy kept 
 closing round me, nor was it in my power to 
 prevent it ; by which means, my situation, 
 which was advantageous in the first part of 
 the attack, ceased to be so in the last ; and, 
 being almost entirely surrounded with such 
 vast unequal numbers, I ordered a retreat, but 
 found that those of the enemy, who were of 
 the country, and their Indians, could run as 
 iiist as my men, though the regulars could 
 not. Thus I retreated near a mile, and some 
 of the enemy, with the savages, kept flanking 
 me, and others crowded hard in the rear. In 
 fine, I expected, in a very short time, to try 
 the world of spirits : for I was apprehensive 
 that no quarter would b(? given to me, and 
 therefore had determined to sell my life as 
 dear as I could. One of the enemy's officers, 
 boldly pressing in the rear, discharged his fu- 
 see at me ; the ball whistled near me, as did 
 many others that day. I returned the salute, 
 and mi sed him, as running had put us both out 
 of breath ; for I conclude we w^ere not fright- 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 55 
 
 ed^ : I then saluted him with my tongue in a 
 harsh manner, and told him that, inasmuch as 
 his numbers were so far superior to mine, I 
 w^ould surrender, provided I could be treated 
 with honor, and be assured of good quarter 
 for myself and the men who were with me ; 
 and he answered I should ; another officer, 
 coming up directly after, confirmed the trea- 
 ty ; upon which I agreed to surrender with 
 my party, which then consisted of thirty-one 
 effective men, and seven wounded. I order- 
 ed them to ground their arms, which they 
 did. 
 
 The officer I capitulated with, then direct- 
 ed me and my party to advance towards him, 
 which was done ; I handed him my sword, and 
 in half a minute after, a savage, part of whose 
 head was shaved, being almost naked and 
 painted, with feathers intermixed with the 
 hair of the other side of his head, came run- 
 ning to me with an incredible swiftness ; he 
 seemed to advance with more than mortal 
 
 * The colonel appears to be willing to give his con- 
 queror the same credit for his courage which he takes 
 for himself. This is the inaication of a uoble spirit, 
 
36 coL.E. Allen's observations, 
 
 ■a ' 
 
 speed ; as he approached near me, his hellish 
 visage \^^as beyond all description ; snakes' 
 eyes appear innocent in comparison uf his ; 
 his features extorted ;^ malice, death, mur- 
 der, and the wrath of devils and damned spir- 
 its are the emblems of his countenance ; and, 
 in less than twelve feet of me, presented his 
 firelock ; at the instant of his present, I 
 twitched the ofEcer, to whom I gave my 
 sword, between me and the savage ; but he 
 flew round with great fury, trying to single 
 me out to shoot me without killing the officer ; 
 but by this time I was near as nimble as he, 
 keeping the officer in such a position that his 
 danger was my defence; but, in less than 
 half a minute, I was attacked by just such 
 another imp of hell : Then I made the officer 
 fly around with incredible velocity, for a few 
 seconds of time, when I perceived a Canadi- 
 an, who had lost one ey€, as appeared after- 
 wards, taking my part against the savages ; 
 and in an instant an Irishman came to my as« 
 
 * Probably meant to be distorted ; though, from the 
 description it would appear that his visage had been eX' 
 tortcd from some " Gorgon or chim<jsra dire>'l 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 37 
 
 sistance with a fixed bayonet, and drove away 
 the fiends, swearing by Jasiis he would kill 
 them. This tragic scene composed my 
 mind. The escaping from so awful a death, 
 made even imprisonment happy ; the more so 
 as my conquerors on the field treated me 
 with great civility and politeness. 
 
 The regular officers said that they v/trc 
 very happy to see Col. Allen : I answered 
 them, that I should rather chose to have seen 
 them at Gen. Montgomery's camp. The 
 gentlemen replied, that they gave full credit 
 to what I said, and, as I walked to the town, 
 which was, as I should guess, more than two. 
 miles, a British officer walking at my right 
 hand, and one of the French noblesse at my 
 left ; the latter of which, in the action, had 
 his eyebrow carried away by a glancing shot, 
 but was nevertheless very merry and face- 
 tious, and no abuse was offisred me 'till I 
 came to the barrack-yard, at Montreal, where 
 I met general Prescott, who asked me my 
 name, which I told him : He then asked me, 
 
 D 
 
38 COL. £. Allen's osservations, 
 
 wliether I was that Col. Allen, who took Ti- 
 conderoga. I told him I was the very man : 
 Then he shook his cane over my head, call- 
 ing many hard names, among which he fre- 
 quently used the word rebel, and put himself 
 in a great rage. I told him he would do well 
 not to cane me, for I was not accustomed to 
 it, and shook my fist at him, telling him that 
 was the beetle of mortality for him, if he of- 
 fered to strike y^ upon which Capt. M'Cloud 
 of the British, pulled him by the skirt, and 
 whispered to him, as he afterwards told me, 
 to this import ; that it was inconsistent with 
 Ills honor to strike a prisoner. He then or- 
 dered a sergeant's command with fixed bay- 
 onets to come forward, and kill thirteen Cana- 
 dians, which were included in the treaty afore- 
 said. 
 
 It cut mc to the heart to see the Canadians 
 in so hard a case, in consequence ©t their 
 having been true to me ; they were wringing 
 
 * The intrepidity of Col. Allen, it seems, did not for- 
 sake him even in captivity ; nor could he repress the 
 ^arinp^ness of his spirit, even at the moment of danger. 
 
DURING HIS CAPnVITY. 59 
 
 their hands, saying their prayers, as I con- 
 duded, and expected immediate death. I 
 therefore stepped between the executioners 
 and the Canadians, opened my clothes, and 
 told Gen. Prescott to thrust his bayonet into 
 my breast, for I was the sole cause of the Ca- 
 nadians taking up arms. 
 
 The guard, in the mean time, rolling their 
 eye-balls from the General to me, as though 
 impatiently waiting his dread commands to 
 sheath their bayonets in my heart ; I could 
 however plainly discern, that he was in a sus- 
 pense and quandary about the matter : This 
 gave me additional hopes of succeeding ; for 
 my design was not to die, but save the Can- 
 adians by a finesse. The general stood a 
 minute, when he made me the following re- 
 ply ; *^ I w^ill not execute you now ; but you 
 shall grace a halter at Tyburn, God damn 
 you."* 
 
 * This harsh reply and resolve, it seems, had less of 
 grace, ihsiii comfort to the hero. Language like this is 
 said to be common in the field ; but fi^om one officer to 
 another, when one is prisoner to the other, is indefensi- 
 ble. The real hero fights for victory, and not for the op- 
 
40 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 I remember I disdainecl his mentioning 
 such a place ; I was, notwithstanding, a lit- 
 tle pleased with the expression,^ as it signifi- 
 cantly conveyed to me the idea of postponing 
 the present appearance of death ; besides his 
 sentence was by no means final, as to ** grac- 
 ing a halter, although I had anxiety about it 
 after I landed in England, as the reader will 
 find in the course of this history. Gen. Pres- 
 cott then ordered one of his officers to take me 
 onboard the Gaspee schooner of war, and 
 confine me, hands and feet, in irons, which 
 v/as done the same afternoon I was taken. 
 
 The action continued an hour and three 
 quarters, by the watch, and I know not to 
 this day how many of my men were killed, 
 though I am certain there were but few ! if I 
 remember right, seven were wounded ; one 
 of them, William Stewart, by name, was 
 
 portunity of exercising a talent of Billingsgate, at which 
 the meanest soldier in his army is his superior. 
 
 * This is giving the reader no very favorable idea of 
 the eligibility of the hero's situation. If a halter at a 
 distance could shed over his mind a ray of comfort, de- 
 plorable, indeed, must have been his fortime at that 
 ti,me. 
 
BURING KIS CAFTIVITY. ^i i 
 
 v/ounded by a savage with a toinahaAvk, after 
 he was taken prisoner and disarmed, but vras 
 rescued by some of the generous enemy ; 
 and so far recovered of his woilnds, that he 
 afterwards went v/ith the other prisoners to 
 England. 
 
 Of the enemy were killed, a major Garden, 
 who had been v/ounded in eleven dilTerent 
 battles, and an eminent merchant, Patterson, 
 of Montreal, and some others, but I never 
 knew their whole loss, as their accounts were 
 difTerent. I am apprehensive that it is rare, 
 that so much ammunition was expended, and 
 SO little execution done by it ; though such 
 of my party as stood the ground, behaved 
 with great fortitude, much exceeding that of 
 the enemy, but were not the best of marks- 
 men, and, I am apprehensive, v/ere all killed 
 or taken; the wounded v/ere all put into the 
 hospital at Montreal, and those that were not, 
 were put on board of different vessels in the 
 river, and shackled together by pairs, viz, 
 two men fVistened tosrether bv one hand-cuff, 
 being closely fixed to one ^vrist of each cf 
 
 D 2 
 
42 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 them, and treated with the greatest seventy, 
 nav as criminals. 
 
 I now come to the description of the irons, 
 which were put on me : The hand-cuiF was 
 of a common size, and form, but my leg irons, 
 I should imagine, would weigh thirty pounds ; 
 the bar was eight feet long, and very sub- 
 stantial ; the shackles, which encompassed 
 my ancles, were very tight. I was told by the 
 officer, who put them on, that it was the king's 
 plate, and I heard other of their officers say, 
 that it would weigh forty weight. The irons 
 were so close upon my ancles, that I could 
 not lie down in any other manner than on my 
 back. I was put into the lowest and most 
 wretched part of the vessel, where I got the 
 favor of a chest to sit on ; the same answer- 
 ed for my bed at night ; and having procur- 
 ed some little blocks of the guard, who day 
 and night, with fixed bayonets, watched over 
 me, to lie under each end of the large bar of 
 my leg irons, to preserve my ancles from gall- 
 ing, while I sat on the chest, or lay back on 
 the same, though most of the time, night and 
 day, I sat on it *, but at length, having a de- 
 
' DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 43 
 
 sire to lie down on my side, which the close- 
 ness of the irons forbid, I desired the captain 
 to loosen them for that purpose ; but was de- 
 nied the favor :* The Captain's name was 
 Royal, who did not seem to be an ill-natured 
 man ; but oftentimes said, that his express 
 orders were to treat me with such severity, 
 which was disagreeable to his own feelings ; 
 nor did he ever insult me, though many oth- 
 ers, who came on board, did. One of the offi- 
 cers, by the name of Bradley, was very gener- 
 ous to me ; he would often. send me victuals 
 from his own table ; nor did a day fail, but 
 that he sent me a good drink of grog.f 
 
 The reader is now invited back to the time 
 I was put into irons. I requested the privi- 
 lege to write to Gen. Prescott, which was 
 
 * The reader will call to mind the merciless manacles 
 and cruel trapping- s of Trenk. The colonel's sufferings 
 however could not be compared, in point of severity, with 
 'those of the unhappy prisoner of Magdeburg. 
 
 t This little fa vour, though scarcely of more value 
 than a " cup of water,*' has "met its reward" in the 
 gra,teful mention which the hero makes of it in this 
 NARRATIVE. All the return which the obliged could 
 make for this simple benefaction is in conveying the 
 name of the generous donor to those of posterity who 
 may chance to peruse this effusion of his gratitude. 
 
44 COL. E. Allen's osservations, 
 
 granted. I reminded him of the kind and 
 generous manner of my treatment of the pris- 
 oners I took at Ticonderoga ; the injustice 
 and ungentleman-like usage, which I had met 
 with from him, and demanded gentleman-like 
 usage, but received no answer from him.. I 
 soon after wrote to Gen. Carlton, which met 
 the same success. In the mean while many 
 of those who w^ere permitted to see me, were 
 very insulting. 
 
 I was confined in the manner I have related, 
 on board the Gaspee schooner, about six 
 weeks ; during?: which time I was oblii^ed to 
 throw out plenty of extravagant language, 
 which answered certain purposes, at that time, 
 better than to grace a history. 
 
 To give an instance upon being insulted, in 
 a fit of anger I twisted off a nail with my 
 teeth, which I took to be a ten-penny 
 nail ; it went through the mortise of the bar 
 of my hand- cuff, and at the same time I swag- 
 gered over those who abused me ; particu- 
 larly a Doctor Dace, who told me that I was 
 outlawed by New- York, and deserved death 
 for several years past ; was at last fully ripen- 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 45 
 
 cd for the halter, and in a fair way to obtain 
 it : When I challenged him, he excused him- 
 self in consequence, as he said, of my being 
 a criminal ; but I flung such a flood of lan- 
 guage at him that it shocked him and the 
 spectators, for my anger was very great. I 
 heard one say, damn him, can he eat iron ? Af- 
 ter that a small padlock was fixed to the hand- 
 cuff, instead of the nail ; and as they were 
 mean-spirited in their treatment to me, so it 
 appeared to me, that they were equally tim- 
 orous and cowardly.* 
 
 I was after sent with the prisoners taken 
 with me to an armed vessel in the river, 
 which lay off against Quebec, under the com- 
 mand of Capt. M'Cloud, of the British, who 
 treated me in a very generous and obliging 
 manner, and according to my rank ; in about 
 twenty-four hours I bid him farewel v/ith re* 
 
 * The reader may, perhaps, excuse the timidity of 
 the spectators at Avitnessing this extraordinary feat of 
 the colonel ; as it might reasonably be supposed to ex- 
 cite astonishment and terror ; £ind we may pardon Dr. 
 Dace for shewing any reluctance to engage with a pa- 
 tient of so potent a digestion as he must have supposed 
 him to be, if he could " eat iron." 
 
46 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 gret ; but my good fortune still continued ; 
 The name of the Capt. of the vessel I was put 
 on board, was Littlejohn ; who, with his ofii- 
 cers,behaved in a polite, generous, and friend- 
 ly manner. I lived with them in the cabin, 
 and fared on the best, my irons being taken 
 oif, contrary to the order he had received from 
 the commanding officer ; but Capt. Little- 
 john swore, that a brave man should not be 
 used as a rascal, on board his ship. 
 
 Thus I found myself in possession of hap- 
 piness once more, and the evils, I had lately 
 suffered, gave me an uncommon relish for it. 
 
 Capt. Littlejohn used to go to Quebec al- 
 most every day, in order to pay his respects 
 to certain gentlemen and ladies ; being there 
 on a certain day, he happened to meet with 
 some disagreeable treatment, as he imagined, 
 from a Lieut, of a man of war, and one word, 
 brought on another, 'till the Lieut, challeng- 
 ed him to a duel on the plains of Abraham. 
 Capt. Littlejohn was a gentleman, who en- 
 tertained a high sense of honor, and could do 
 no less than accept the challenge. 
 
 At nine o'clock the next morning they were 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 47 
 
 to fight. The Capt. returned in the evening, 
 and acquainted his Lieut, and me with the 
 affair : His Lieut, was a high blooded Scotch- 
 man as well as himself, who replied to his 
 Capt. that he should not want for a second. 
 With this I interrupted him and gave the 
 Capt. to understand that, since an opportuni- 
 ty had presented, I would be gl^d to testify 
 my gratitude to him, by acting the part of a 
 faithful second, on which he gave me his 
 hand, and said that he wanted no better man. 
 Says he, I am a King's officer, and you a 
 prisoner under my care ; you must therefore 
 go wdth me to the place appointed in disguise, 
 and added farther ; <* You must engage me, 
 upon the honor of a gentleman, that, whether 
 I die or live, or whatever happens, provided 
 you live, that you will return to my Lieut, on 
 board this ship." All this I solemnly engag- 
 ed him. The combatants were to discharge 
 each a pocket pistol, and then to fall on with 
 their iron-hilted muckle whangers ; and one 
 of that sort was allotted for me ; but some 
 British officers, who interposed early iu the 
 
48 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 morning, settled the controversy without 
 lighting. 
 
 Now having enjo3^ed eight or nine days' 
 happiness, from the polite and generous treat- 
 ment of Capt. Littlejohn and his ofRcers, I 
 w^as obliged to bid them farewxl, parting with 
 them in as friendly a manner as we had lived 
 together, vdiich, to the best of my memory, 
 was the elevendi of November : When a de- 
 tachment of Gen. Arnold's little army appear- 
 ed on point Levy,'^ opposite Quebec, w^ho 
 had performed an extraordinary march 
 through a wilderness country, with design to 
 have surprized the capital of Canada ; I was 
 then taken on board a vessel called the 
 Adamant, together with the prisoners taken 
 w^ith me, and put under the povv^er of an Eng- 
 lish merchant from London, whose namic was 
 Brook Watson : a man of malicious and cruel 
 disposition, and who was probably excited, 
 in the exercise of his malevolence, by a junto 
 of tories, w^ho sailed with him to England ; 
 
 * Xf-W, a point of land in the river St. Lawrence, op- 
 posite to the city of Quebec, 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 49 
 
 among whom were Col. Guy Johnson, Col. 
 Closs, and their attendants and associates, to 
 the number of about thirty. 
 
 All the ship's crew, Col. Closs, in his per- 
 sonal behavior excepted, behaved towards 
 the prisoners with that spirit of bitterness, 
 Vv'hich is the peculiar characteristic of to- 
 ries, when they have the friends of Amer- 
 ica in their power, measuring their loy- 
 alty to the English King by the barbarity, 
 fraud, and deceit which they exercise towards 
 the whigs. 
 
 A small place in the vessel, enclosed with 
 white-oak plank, was assigned for the prison- 
 ers, and for me among the rest. I should 
 imagine that it was not more than twenty 
 feet one way, and twenty two the other : In- 
 to this place we were all, to the number of 
 thirty four, thrust and hand-cufied, two pris- 
 oners more being added to our number, and 
 v/ere provided with two excrement tubs ; in 
 this circumference we were obliged to eat and 
 perform the offices of evacuation, during the 
 voyage to England ; and were insulted by ev* 
 
 E 
 
50 COL. E. ALLEN S OBSERVATIONS 
 
 cry black-guard sailor and tory on board, in 
 the cruellest manner ; but what is the most 
 surprizing is, that not one of us died in the 
 passage. When I was first ordered to go 
 into the filthy enclosure, through a small sort 
 of dooi, I positively refused, and endeavour- 
 ed to reason the before named Brook Watson 
 out of a conduct so derogatory to every senti- 
 ment of honor and humanity, but all to no 
 purpose, my men being forced in the den al- 
 ready ; and the rascal who had the charge of 
 the prisoners commanded me to go immedi- 
 ately in among the rest : He farther added 
 that the place was good enough for a rebel ; 
 that it was impertinent for a capital offender 
 to talk of honor or humanity ; that any thing 
 short of a halter, was too good for me ; and 
 that that would be my portion soon after I 
 landed in England ; for which purpose only 
 I was sent thither. About the same time a 
 Lieut, among the tories, insulted me in a 
 grievous manner, saying that I ought to have 
 been executed for my rebellion against New- 
 York, and spit in my face ; upon which, 
 though I v/as hand-cuffed, I sprang at him 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 51 
 
 with both hands, and knocked him partly 
 down, but he scrambled along into the cabin, 
 and I after him ; there he got under the pro- 
 tection of some men with fixed bavonets, who 
 were ordered to make ready to drive me in- 
 to the place aforementioned. I challenged 
 him to fight, notwithstanding the impedi- 
 ments that v/ere on mv hands, and had the 
 exalted plcabiiie to see the rascal tremble for 
 fear ; his name I have forgot, but Watson 
 ordered his guard to get me into the place 
 with the other prisoners, dead or alive ; and 
 I had almost as lieve die as do it, standing 
 it out till they environed me round with bay- 
 onets ; and brutish, prejudiced, abandoned 
 wretches they were, from whom I could ex- 
 pect nothing but death or woynds : Howev- 
 er, I told them, that they were good honest 
 fellows ; that I could not blame them ; that 
 I was only in a dispute v/ith a calicoe mer- 
 chant, who knew not how to behave towards 
 a gentleman of the military establishment. 
 This was spoke rather to appease them for 
 my ovvm preservation, as well as to treat Wat- 
 son with contempt ; but still I found that 
 
52 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 they were determined to force me into the 
 wretched circumstaRces, which their preju- 
 diced, and depraved minds had prepared for 
 me ; Therefore, rather than die, I submitted 
 to their indignities, being drove widi bayon- 
 ets into the filthy dungeon, with the other 
 prisoners, where we were denied fresh water, 
 except a small ailow^ance, which was very in- 
 adequate to our wants ; and, 1:1 consequence 
 of the stench of the place, each of us was soon 
 followed with a diarrhoea and fever, which oc- 
 casioned an intolerable thirst. When we 
 asked for water, w^e were, most commonly, 
 instead of obtaining it, insulted and derided ; 
 and, to add to all the horrors of the place, it 
 was so dark that we could not see each oth- 
 er, and were overspread with body lice. We 
 had, notwithstanding these severities, full al- 
 lowance of salt provisions, and a gill of rum 
 per day ; the latter of which was of the utmost 
 service to us, and, probably, was the means of 
 saving several of our lives. About forty 
 days we existed in this manner, when the 
 land's end of England was discovered from 
 the mast head ; soon after which the prison- 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 53 
 
 ers were taken from their gloomy abode, be- 
 ing permitted to see the light of the sun, and 
 breathe fresh air, which to us was very re- 
 freshing. The day foUoVvdng we landed at 
 Falmouth.* 
 
 A few days before I was taken prisoner, I 
 shifted my clothes, by which I happened to 
 be taken in a Can2.dian dress, viz. a short 
 fawn skin jacket, double breasted, an under- 
 vest and breeches of sagathy, worsted stock- 
 ings, a decent pair of shoes, two plain shirts, 
 and a red worsted cap : This was all the 
 clothing I had, in which I made my appear- 
 ance in England. 
 
 When the prisoners were landed, multi- 
 tudes of the citizens of Falmouth, excited by 
 
 * This description of the sufTerings of CoL Allen in- 
 duces one to execrate the perpetrators. Such cruelties 
 are fit only for the vilest of criminals. The brave should 
 respect the brave. But, in all offices, there maybe found 
 individuals who dishonor their stations. We are un- 
 willing to believe that such treatment ought to stigma- 
 tize a whole nation generally ; the power of these offi- 
 cers was abused ; and we see Man 
 
 " Dress'd in a little brief authority, 
 Commit such vile offence against high Heaveiij 
 As make the angels weep.'* 
 
54 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 curiosity, crowded together to see us, which 
 was equally gratifying to us. I saw numbers 
 of people on the tops of houses, and the ris- 
 ing adjacent grounds were covered with them 
 of both sexes : The throng was so great, that 
 the King's officers were obliged to draw their 
 swords, and force a passage to Pendennis 
 castle, which was near a mile from the town, 
 where we were closely confined, in conse- 
 quence of orders from Gen. Carlton, who 
 then commanded in Canada. 
 
 The rascally Brook Watson then set out 
 for London in great haste, expecting the re- 
 ward of his zeal ; but the ministry received 
 him, as I have been since informed, rather 
 coolly ; for the minority in parliament took 
 advantage, arguing that the opposition of A- 
 merica to Great Britain, vv^as not a rebellion : 
 If it is, say they, why do you not execute 
 Col. Allen, according to law? but the major- 
 ity argued, that I ought to be executed, and 
 that the opposition was really a rebellion, but 
 that policy obliged them not to do it, inas- 
 much as the Congress had then most prison- 
 ers in their power ; so that my being sent to 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 5 
 
 c 
 
 England, for the purpose of being executed, 
 and necessity restraining them, was rather afoil 
 on their laws and authority, and they conse- 
 quently disapproved of my being sent thith- 
 er : But I never had heard the least hint 
 of those debates, in parliament, or of the 
 working of their policy, till some time after 
 I left England. 
 
 Consequently the reader will readily con- 
 ceive I was anxious about my preservation, 
 knowing that I was in the power of a haughty 
 and cruel nation, considered as such. There- 
 fore, the first proposition which I determined 
 in my own mind was, that humanity and 
 moral suasion would not be consulted in the 
 determining of my fate ; and those that dai- 
 ly came in great numbers, out of curiosi- 
 ty, to see me, both gentle and simple, united 
 in this, that I would be hanged. A gentle- 
 man from iVmerica, by the name of Temple,* 
 and who was friendly to me,, just whispered 
 
 * The colonel, we think, would have done well to have 
 been a little more careful in preserving- the christian 
 nauies of his occasional benefactors ; as the historian is 
 better pleased in recording one act of such generosity 
 than twenty instances of abuse. 
 
56 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 me in the ear, and told me, that bets were 
 laid m London, that I would be executed ; he 
 likewise privately gave rne a guinea, but 
 durst say but little to me. 
 
 However, ag-reeable to iiiv first nesrative 
 proposition, that moral virtue would not in- 
 fluence my destiny, I had recourse to strata- 
 gem, which I was in hopes would move in 
 the circle of their policy. I requested of the 
 commander of the castle the privilege of writ- 
 ing to Congress, who, after consulting with 
 an oflicer that lived in town, of a superior 
 rank, permitted me to write. I wrote, in the 
 fore part of the letter, a short narrative of my 
 ill treatment ; but withal let them know that, 
 though I was treated as a criminal in Eng- 
 land, and continued in irons, together with 
 those taken with me, yet it was in conse- 
 quence of the orders which the commander 
 of the castle received from General Carlton ; - 
 and therefore desired Congress to desist from 
 matters of retaliation, till they should know 
 the result of the government in England, res- 
 pecting their treatment towards me, and the 
 prisoners v/ith me, and govern themselves 
 
DURING HIS CAPriVITY, 57 
 
 accordingly, with a particular request, that if 
 retaliation should be found necessary, it might 
 be exercised not according to the smallness 
 of my character in America, but in proportion 
 to the importance of the cause for which I 
 suffered — This is, according to m.y present 
 recollection, the substance of the letter, in- 
 scribed, To the illustrious Continental Congress, 
 This letter was wrote with a view that it 
 should be sent to the ministry at London, 
 rather than to Congress, with a design to in- 
 timidate the haughty English government, 
 and screen my neck from the halter. 
 
 The next day the officer, from whom I ob- 
 tained licence to write, came to see me, and 
 frowned on me on account of the impudence 
 of the letter, as he phrased it, and farther add- 
 ed, " Do you think that we are fools in Eng- 
 land, and would send your letter to Congress, 
 with instructions to retaliate on our own peo- 
 ple ? I have sent your letter to Lord North." 
 This gave me inward satisfaction, though I 
 carefully concealed it with a pretended resent- 
 ment, for I found I had come Yankee over 
 him, and that the letter had gone to the iden- 
 
KP, 
 
 COL. E. ALLEN S OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 tical person I designed it for. Nor do I 
 know, to this day, but that it had the desired 
 effect, though I have not heard any thing of 
 the letter since. 
 
 My personal treatment by Lieut. Hamilton, 
 who commanded the castle, was very gener- 
 ous. He sent me every day a fine breakfast 
 and dinner from his own table, and a bottle of 
 good wine. Another aged gentleman, whose 
 name I cannot recollect, sent i'ne a good sup- 
 per : But there was no distinction in public 
 support betvveen me and the privates ; we 
 all lodged on a sort of Dutch bunks, in one 
 common apartment, and were allowed straw. 
 The privates were well supplied with fresh 
 provision, and with me, took effectual meas- 
 ures to rid ourselves of lice. 
 
 I c6uld not but feel, inwardly, extremely 
 anxious for my fate. This I however con- 
 cealed from the prisoners, as well as from the 
 enemy, who Vv^ere perpetually shaking the 
 halter at me. I nevertheless treated them 
 with scorn and contempt : and, having sent 
 my letter to the ministry, could conceive of 
 nothing more in my power but to keep up 
 
BURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 59 
 
 my spirits, behave in a daring, soldier-like 
 manner, that I might exhibit a good sample 
 of American fortitude.* Such a conduct, I 
 judged, would have a more probable tenden- 
 cy to my preservation than concession and 
 timidity. This, therefore, \vs,s my deport- 
 ment ; and I had lastly determined, in my 
 own mind, that if a cruel death must inevita- 
 bly be my portion, I would face it undaunt- 
 ed ; and, though I greatly rejoice that I have 
 returned to my country and friends, and to 
 see the pov/er and pride of Great Britain 
 humbled ; vet I am confident I could then 
 have died without the least appearance of 
 dismay. 
 
 I now clearly recollect that my mind was 
 so resolved, that I would not have trembled 
 or shewn the least fear, as I was sensible it 
 could not alter my fate, nor do more than re- 
 
 * The British must doubtless have had a high idea of 
 the personal prowess of Col. Aliv-^n ; ar-.d however supe- 
 rior their regular discipline might liave appeared in 
 their own eyes, yet they could not but respect the cour- 
 age of an enemy. To this intrepid spirit, and to the es- 
 teem it must have excited, the colonel probably owes 
 his complimentary meals, and his daily bottle of wine. 
 
60 COL. E. alien's observations, 
 
 proach my memory, make my last act despi- 
 cable to my enemies, and eclipse the other 
 actions of my life. For I reasoned thus, that 
 nothing was more common than for men to 
 die with their friends around them, weeping 
 and lamenting over them, but not able to 
 help them, which was in reality not difierent 
 in the consequence of it from such a death as 
 I was apprehensive of ; and, as death was the 
 natural consequence of animal life to which 
 the laws of nature subject mankind, to be 
 timorous and uneasy as to the event or man- 
 ner of it, was inconsistent with the character 
 of a philosopher or soldier. The cause I was 
 engaged in, I ever viewed worthy hazarding 
 my life for, nor was I, in the most critical mo- 
 ments of trouble, sorry that I engaged in it ; 
 and, as to the world of spirits, though I knew 
 nothing of the mode or manner of it, I ex- 
 pected nevertheless, when I should arrive at 
 such a world, that I should be as well treated 
 as other gentlemen of my merit. 
 
 Among the great numbers of people, who 
 came to the castle to see the prisoners, some 
 gentlemen told me, that they had come fifty 
 
©UlliNG HIS CAPTIVITY. 61 
 
 Jniles on purpose to see me, and desired to 
 ask me a number of questions, and to make 
 free with me in conversation. I gave for an- 
 swer, that I chose freedom in every sense of 
 the word : Then one of them asked me what 
 my occupation in life had been ? I answered 
 him, that in my younger days I had studied 
 divinity, but was a conjurer by profession. 
 He replied, that I conjured wrong at the time 
 that I was taken ; and I was obliged to own, 
 that I mistook a figure at that time, but that 
 I had conjured them out of Ticonderoga.. 
 This was a place of great notoriety in Eng- 
 land, so that the joke seemed to go in my fa- 
 vour. 
 
 It was a common thing for me to be taken 
 out of close confinement, into a spacious gtecn 
 in the castle, or rather parade, w^here num- 
 bers of gentlemen and ladies v/ere ready to 
 see and hear me. I often entertained such 
 audiences with harrangues on the impractica- 
 bility of Great Britain's conquering the then 
 colonies of America. At one of these ihiies 
 I asked a gentleman for a bowl of punch, and 
 
 he ordered his servant to brinq; it^ which he 
 
 F 
 
62 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 did, and oliered it to me, but I refused to 
 take it from the hand of his servant ; he then 
 gave it to me with his own hand, refusing to 
 drink with me in consequence of my being a 
 state criminal : However, I took the punch 
 and drank it all down at one draught, and 
 handed the gentleman the bowl : This made 
 the spectators as well as myself merry.* 
 
 I expatiated on American freedom : This 
 gained the resentment of a young beardless 
 gentleman of the company,! who gave him- 
 self very great airs, and replied, that he 
 *' knew the Americans very wxll, and was 
 certain that they could not bear the smell of 
 powder. I replied, that I accepted it is a 
 challenge, and was ready to convince him on 
 the spot, that an Am.erican could bear the 
 smell of powder ; at which he answered that 
 he shouldnotput himself on a par with me. 
 
 * Those, who are acquainted with the exhilarating ef- 
 fect of this delicious beverage, can easily give credit to 
 this assertion of our hero. 
 
 t Probably some London cockney. There are peo- 
 ple of this description in all countries, rejidy to mock at 
 iiiisfortunej md insult the wretched. 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 63 
 
 I then demanded of him to treat the charact- 
 er of the Americans with due respect. He 
 answered that I was an Irishman ; but I as- 
 sured him, that I was a full blooded Yankee, 
 and, in fine, bantered him so much, that he 
 left me in possession of the ground, and the 
 lau gh went against him. Two clergymen 
 came to see me, and, inasmuch as they be- 
 haved with civility, I returned them the 
 same : We discoursed on several parts of 
 moral philosophy and Christianity; and they 
 seemed to be surprised, that I should be ac- 
 quainted with such topics, or that I should 
 understand a syllogism, or regular mode of 
 argumentation. I am apprehensive my Ca- 
 nadian dress contributed not a little to the 
 surprise, and excitement of curiosity : to see 
 a gentleman in England, regularly dressed 
 and well behaved, would be no sight at all ; 
 but such a rebel, as they were pleased to call 
 me, it is probable, was never before seen in 
 England. 
 
 The prisoners were landed at Falmouth a 
 few days before Christmas, and ordered on 
 board of the Solebay frigate, Capt. Syrnonds, 
 
64 COL. E. Allen's observatioiVs, 
 
 the eighth day of January, 1776, when our 
 hand irons were taken off. This remove 
 was in consequence, as I have been since in- 
 formed, of a writ of habeas corpus, which 
 had been procured by some gentlemen in 
 England, in order to obtain me my liberty. 
 
 I'he Solebay, widi sundry other men of 
 war, and ^ibout forty transports, rendezvous- 
 ed at the cove of Cork in Ireland, to take in 
 provision and water. 
 
 When we were first brought on board, 
 Capt. Symonds ordered all the prisoners, 
 and most of the hands on board, to go on the 
 deck, and caused to be read, in their hearing, 
 a certain code of lav/s, or rules for the regu- 
 lation and ordering of their behavior ; and 
 then, in a sovereign manner, ordered the pris- 
 oners, me in particular, off the deck, and 
 never to come on it again ; for, said he, this 
 is a place for gentlemen to walk. So I 
 went off, an officer following me, who told 
 me, that he would shew me the place allotted 
 for me, and took me down to the cable 
 tire, saying to me, this is your place. 
 Prior to this I had taken coldj by which I 
 
, DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 65 
 
 was in an ill state of health, and did not say 
 much to the officer ; but stayed there that 
 night, consulted my policy, and found I was 
 in an evil case ; that a Capt. of a man of war 
 was more arbitrary than a King, as he could 
 view his territory with a look of his eye, and 
 a movement of his finger commanded obedi- 
 ence. I felt myself more desponding than I 
 had done at any time before ; for I concluded 
 it to be a governmental scheme, to do that 
 clandestinely v/hich policy forbid to be done 
 under sanction of public justice and lav/.^'^- 
 
 However, two days after I shaved and 
 cleansedmyself as well as I could, and went 
 on deck. The Capt. spoke to me in a great 
 rage, and said, " Did I not order you not to 
 come on deck ?" I answered him, that at the 
 same time he said, ^* That it was the place 
 for gentlemen to walk ; that I was Col. Al- 
 len, but had not heen properly introduced to 
 him." He replied, " G-d damn you, Sir, be 
 careful not to walk the same side of the deck 
 
 * The colonel, smarting under such treatment, may 
 be excused, in some measure, for wishing to confound 
 the abuse of officers with that of the government. 
 
 F 2 
 
65 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 that I do.'* This gave me encourage ment, 
 and ever after that I v/alked in the manner he 
 had directed, except when he, at certain times 
 afterwards, ordered me off in a passion, and 
 I then w^ould directly afterwards go on again, 
 telling him to command his slaves ; that I 
 was a gentleman, and had a right to walk the 
 deck ; yet when he expressly ordered me off, 
 I obeyed, not out of obedience to him, but to 
 set an example to his ship's crew, who ought 
 to obey him. 
 
 To walk to the windward side of the deck 
 is, according to custom, the prerogative of the 
 Capt. of the man of war, though he, often- 
 times, nay commonly, walks with his lieuten- 
 ants, when no strangers are by : When a 
 Capt. from some other man of war, comes on. 
 board, the Capts. walk to the windward side, 
 and the other gentlemen to the leeward. 
 
 It was but a few nights I lodged in the ca- 
 ble tire, beWe I gained an acquaintance 
 with the master of arms ; his name was Gil- 
 legan, an Irishman, vdio was a generous and 
 well disposed man, and, in a friendly manner 
 made me an offer of living with him in a little 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 67 
 
 birth, which was allotted him between decks, 
 and enclosed with canvas ; his preferment on 
 board v/as about equal to that of a sergeant in 
 a regiment. I was comparatively happy in 
 the acceptance of his clemency, and lived 
 with him in friendship, till the frigate an- 
 chored in the harbor of cape Fear, North-Car- 
 olina, in America. 
 
 ■» 
 
 Nothing of material consequence happened 
 till the fleet rendezvoused at the cove of Cork, 
 except a violent storm which brought old 
 hardy sailors to their prayers. It v/as soon 
 rumoured in Cork that I was on board the 
 Solebay, with a number of prisoners from A- 
 merica ; upon which Messrs. Clark and Hays, 
 merchants in company, and a number of oth- 
 er benevolently disposed gentlemen, contrib- 
 uted largely to the relief and support of the 
 prisoners, who were thirty-four in number, 
 and in very needy circumstances. A suit of 
 clothes from head to foot, including an over 
 coat, or surtout, and two shirts, were bestow- 
 ed on each of them. My suit I received in 
 superfine broadcloths, sufficient for two jack- 
 ets, and two pair of breeches overplus of a 
 
6S COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 suit througlioutj eight fine Holland shirts 
 and stocks ready made, with a number of 
 pairs of silk and worsted hose, two pair of 
 shoes, two beaver hats, one of which was 
 sent me richly laced with gold, by Mr. James 
 Bonwell. The Irish gentlemen furthermore 
 made a large gratuity of wines of the best 
 sort, old spirits, Geneva, loaf and brown su- 
 gar, coiTee, tea and chocolate, with a large 
 round of pickled beef, and a number of fat 
 turkies, with many other articles, for my sea 
 stores, too tedious to mention here. To the 
 privates they bestowed on each man two 
 pounds of tea, and six pounds of brown su- 
 gar. These articles were received on board, 
 at a time when the Capt. and first Lieut, were 
 gone on shore, by permission of the second 
 Lieut, a handsome young gentleman, who 
 was then under twenty years of age ; his 
 name was Douglass, the son of Admiral 
 Douglass, as I was informed. 
 
 As this munificence was so unexpected 
 and plentiful, I may add needful, it impressed 
 on my mind the highest sense of gratitude to- 
 wards my benefactors ; for I was not only 
 
©URING KIS CAPTIVITY, 6P 
 
 supplied with the necessaries and convenien- 
 ces of life, but with the grandeurs and super- 
 fluities of it. Mr. Hays, one of the dona- 
 tors before mentioned, came on board, and 
 behaved in the most obliging manner, telling 
 me, that he hoped my troubles were past ; 
 for that the gentlemen of Cork determined to 
 make my sea-stores equal to those of the Capt^ 
 of the Solebay's ; he made an oiFer of live stock 
 and wherewith to support them; but I knew this 
 would be denied : And to crown all, did send 
 to me by another person lifty guineas, but I 
 could not reconcile receiving the whole to 
 my owa feelings, as it might have the appear- 
 ance of avarice ; and therefore received but 
 seven guineas only ; and am confident, not 
 only from the exercise of the present w^elt- 
 timed generosity, but from a large acquaint- 
 ance with gentlemen of this nation, that as a 
 people they excel in liberality and bravery.^ 
 
 * This tribute to the generosity of the Irish charac- 
 ter is well merited. Except among the lowest and most 
 ignorant, hospitality and generosity are proverbial ; and 
 though a degree of ridicvile is cast over the national 
 character, by applying to them the commission of most 
 of the bvMs which are current among us, yet the well 
 
70 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 Tv^o days after the receipt of the aforesaid 
 donations, Capt. Symonds came on board, full 
 of envy towards the prisoners, and swore by 
 all that is good, that the damned American 
 rebels should not be feasted at this rate, by 
 the damned rebels of Ireland ; he therefore 
 took away all my liquors before -mentioned, 
 except some of the wine which was secreted, 
 and a two gallon jug of old spirits which was 
 reserved for me, per favour of Lieut. Doug- 
 lass. The taking of my liquors Vv-as abomin- 
 able in his sight ; he therefore spoke in my 
 behalf, till the Capt. was angry with him ; 
 and, in consequence, proceeded and took 
 away all the tea and sugar, Vvdiich had been 
 given to t]ie prisoners, and confiscated it to 
 the use of the ship's crew. Our clothing was 
 not taken away, but the privates were forced 
 to do duty on board. Soon after this there 
 came a boat to the side of the ship, and Capt. 
 Symonds asked a gentleman who v/as in it, 
 in my hearing, what his business was? who 
 
 informed of all countries do them justice by allowing 
 that they do not fall short of other nations, in literary, 
 philosophical and other attainments. 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 71 
 
 answered that he was sent to deliver some 
 sea-stores to Col. Allen, which, if I remem- 
 ber right, he said were sent from Dublin ; but 
 the Capt. damned him very heartily, ordered 
 him away from the ship, and would not suffer 
 him to deliver the stores. 1 was farthermore 
 informed, that the gentlemen in Cork re- 
 quested of Capt. Symonds, that I might be 
 allowed to come into the city, and that they 
 would be responsible I should return to the 
 frigate at a given time, wiiich was denied 
 them. 
 
 We sailed from England the 8th day of 
 January, and from the cove of Cork the 12th 
 day of February. Just before we sailed, the 
 prisoners with me were divided, and put on 
 board three different ships of war. This gave 
 me some uneasiness, for they were to a man 
 zealous in the cause of liberty, and behaved 
 with a becoming fortitude in the various 
 scenes of their captivity ; but those, who 
 were distributed on board other ships of w^ar, 
 ■were much better used than those who tarri- 
 ed with me, as appeared afterwards. V/hen 
 the fleet, consisting of about forty five sail, in- 
 
72 COL. E. ALLEN'S OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 eluding five men of war, sailed from the cove 
 with a fresh breeze, tjie appearance was beau- 
 tiful, abstracted from the unjust and bloody 
 designs they had in view. We had not sail- 
 ed many days, before a mighty storm arose, 
 which lasted near twenty-four hours without 
 intermission : The wind blew with relentless 
 fury, and no man could remain on deck, ex- 
 cept he w^as lashed fast, for the waves rolled 
 over the deck by turns, with a forcible rapid- 
 ity and every soul on board was anxious for 
 thepreservationof the ship, alias their lives. 
 In this storm the Thunder-bomb man of war 
 sprang a leak, and was afterwards floated to 
 some part of the coast of England, and the 
 crew saved. We were then said to be in the 
 bay of Biscay. After the storm abated, I 
 could plainly discern that the prisoners were 
 better used for some considerable time.* 
 
 * The cause of the alternation is left to conjecture. 
 Probably, however, it was from compunction for the 
 unwarrantable severity inflicted on the prisoners, and 
 their alarm, during the storm, might have made them 
 apprehensive that this war of the elements was occasion- 
 ed by the displeasure of the Deity. Imminent danger 
 would have a tendency to relax the iron hand of oppres- 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITV. 75 
 
 Nothing of consequence happened after 
 this, till we had sailed to the island of Ma- 
 deira, except a certain favour which I receiv- 
 ed of Capt. Symonds, in consequence of an 
 application I made to him, for the privilege 
 of his tailor to make me a suit of clothes of 
 the cloth bestowed on mc in Ireland, which 
 he generously granted. I could then walk 
 the deck with a seeming better grace. When 
 we had reached Madeira, and anchored, sun- 
 dr}^ gentlemen with the Capt. went on shore, 
 who IiDonclude gave the rumor that I was in 
 the frigate ; upon which I soon after found 
 Irish generosity was again excited ; for a 
 gentleman of the nation sent his clerk on 
 board, to know of me if I v^^ould accept a sea- 
 store from him, particularly of wine. This 
 matter I made known to the generous Lieut. 
 Douglass, who readily granted me the favor, 
 provided the articles could be brc .ght on 
 board, during the time of his command ; ad- 
 ding that it would be a pleasure to him to serve 
 
 sion, when the breast is othenvise steeled agahist en- 
 Ueaties, or a view of the excess of human suft'ering. 
 
 G 
 
74 eoL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 me, notwithstanding the opposition he met 
 with before : So I directed the gentleman's 
 clerk to inform him, that I was greatly in need 
 of so signal a charity, and desired the young 
 gentleman to make the utmost dispatch, which 
 he'did ; but, in the mean time, Capt. Sy- 
 monds and his officers came on board, and 
 immediately made ready for sailing ; the 
 wind at the same time being fair, set sail 
 when the young gentleman was in fair sight 
 with the aforesaid store. "^ 
 
 The reader will doubtless recollect the sev- 
 en guineas I received at the cove of Cork : 
 These enabled me to purchase of the purser 
 what I wanted, had not the Capt. strictly for- 
 bidden it, though I made sundry applications 
 to him for that purpose ; but his answ^er to 
 me, when I was sick, was, that it was no mat- 
 ter how soon I was dead, and that he was 
 no ways anxious to preserve the lives of reb- 
 els, but wished them all dead ; and indeed 
 
 * This will remind the classical reader of the story of 
 Tantalus. The deprivation, however, nivist have been 
 more severely felt by Col. Allen, in the same proportioii 
 that wine is more palatable than water. 
 
BURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 75 
 
 that was the language of most of the ship's 
 crew. I expostulated not only with the 
 Capt. but Y/ith other gentlemen on board, on 
 the unreasonablerress of such usage ; infer- 
 ring that, inasmuch as the government in 
 England did not proceed against me as a 
 capital offender, they should not ; for that 
 they were by no means empowered by any 
 authority, either civil or military, to do so ; 
 for the English government had acquitted me 
 by sending me back a 'prisoner of war to A- 
 merica, and that they should treat me as such. 
 I farther drev/ an inference of impolicy on 
 them, provided they should, by hard usage, 
 destroy my life ; inasmuch as I might, if liv- 
 ing, redeem^pne of their officers ; but the 
 Capt. replied, that he needed no directions of 
 mine how to treat a rebel ; that the British 
 w^ould conquer the American rebels, hang the 
 Congress, and such as prom_oted thf rebel- 
 lion, me in particular, and retake their own 
 prisoners ; so that my life was of .no conse- 
 quence in the scale of their policy. I gave 
 him for answer, that if they stayed till they 
 conquered America, before they hanged me. 
 
76 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 / should die of old age, and desired that till 
 such an event took place, he would at least 
 allow me to purchase of the purser, for my 
 own money, such articles as I greatly need- 
 ed ; but he would not permit it, and when I 
 reminded him of the generous and civil us- 
 age that their prisoners in captivity in Amer- 
 ica met with, he said that it was not owing to 
 their goodness, but to their timidity ; for, 
 said he, they expect to be conquered, and 
 therefore dare not misuse our prisoners ; and 
 in fact, this was the language of the British 
 oflicers, till Gen. Burgoyne was taken ;■* hap- 
 
 * It was the plan of the British generals, to push a 
 body of troops from New -York, to join general Bur- 
 goyne at Albany, and by estabiishmg a Ime of British 
 posts on the Hudson, to intercept the intercourse be- 
 tween the New-Eng-land and southern states. While 
 general Burgoyne was attempting to advance towards 
 Albany, General Clinton with a force of three thousand 
 men took possession of fort Montgomery, after severe 
 loss. General V'aughan, with a body of troops, on board 
 of armed ships sailed, up the Hudson, as far as Livings- 
 ton's manor, where he landed a party, burnt a large 
 house belonging to one of the family ; then sent a party 
 to the opposite shore and laid in ashes the town of Kings- 
 ton. But general Burgoyne, despairing of the junction 
 between his army and the division from New-York, sur- 
 rounded by a superior army, and unable to retreat, con- 
 sented to capitulate, and on the 1 7th of October, sm> 
 
DURING h:3 captivity. 77 
 
 py event ! and not only uf the officers, but 
 of the whole British army. I appeal to ail 
 my brother prisoners, who have been with 
 the British in tlic southern department, for a 
 confirmation of what 1 have advanced on this 
 subject. The curgeoii of the Sclebay, 
 whose nam?, irj North, was a very humane 
 obliging man, and took the best care of the 
 prisoners who w^re sick. 
 
 The thii-d dTf cf May we cast ancor in 
 €iz harbor of Cape Fear,^^ in North- Caroli- 
 na, as did Sir Peter P.rker's ship, of fifty 
 ^mns, a little back of the bar ; for there v/as 
 no depth c? water x*jr him to come into the 
 harbour : These two men of war, and four- 
 
 rendered to the American general. The detachmen': 
 under general Vaiig'ivdn returned to New-York and the 
 plan of the British commanders was totally frustrated. 
 
 [ Webster's Elements. 
 
 * Cape Fear, is the southern point of Smith's Island 
 which divides the mouth of Cape Fear river into tv.o 
 channels, on the coast of North-Carolina ; S. W. of 
 Cape Look Out, and remarkable for a dangerous shoal 
 called the Frying Pa:-:, from its form. A light house 
 stands at the mouih of the river. It bears W.N. W. 
 from the point of the Cape, four miles distant. Near 
 this cape is Johnson's Fort, in Brunswick county, and 
 district of Wilmington. North latitude 33, 32 — west 
 longitude 78, 25. [Morse's Gazeteer. 
 
 G 2 
 
r. xt' 
 
 78 COL. E. ALLEN'S OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 teen sail of transports and others, came after, 
 so that most of the fleet rendezvoused at 
 cape Fear, for three weeks. The soldiers on 
 board the transports were sickly ^ in conse- 
 quence of so long a pr.3sage ; add to this, 
 the small pox carried off many of them : 
 They landed on the niain, and formed a camp; 
 bul; the riflemen annoyed them, and caused 
 tl.em to move to an island in the harbour ; 
 but such cursing of riflemen I never heard. 
 A detachment of regulars w^as sent up 
 Brunswick river ; as they landed, they were 
 fired on by those marksmen, and they came 
 back next day damning the rebels for their 
 unmanly v/ay of fighting, and swearing that 
 they would give no quarter, fer they took 
 sight at them, and were behind timber, skulk- 
 ing about. One of ths detachments said 
 they lost one man ; but a negro man who 
 was with them, and heard what was said soon 
 after told me that he helped to bury thirty- 
 one of them : This did me some good to find 
 my countrymen giving them battle ; for I 
 never heard such swaggering as among Gen. 
 Clinton's little army, who uommaaded at that 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 79 
 
 time ; and I am apt to think there were four 
 thousand men, though not tv/o thirds of them 
 fit ±ov duty. 1 heard numbers of them say, 
 that the trees in Amer.c^ should hai.tr well 
 with ir^ii that campai^^n for they would give 
 110 qua.xr : This was in the ir.ouths of most 
 who I hear! speak en th : :ubj:ct, officer as 
 well as sxdkr. I wished at tl :.t time my 
 country msn knew, as well as I diJ, what a 
 murderirg and cruel enemy d\tj had to deal 
 wit]: ; but experience has blnce taught this 
 country, what they aret^ expeet a: the hands 
 of Britons when in their power* 
 
 The prisoners, who had been sent on' board 
 different men cf war at the cove of Cork, 
 were collected toretLer, and the whole of 
 them put on board the Mercury frigate, Capt. 
 James Monta^;ue, except one of the Canadi- 
 ans, who died on the passaee from Ireland, 
 and Peter Noble, who made his escape from 
 the Sphynx maa of war in this harbour, and, 
 hj extraordinary swimming, got safe home to 
 New- Engl-' lid, and gave intelligence of the 
 usage of his brother prisoners. The Mer- 
 cury set sail from this port for Halifax, about 
 
80 COL. E. ALLEN-'S OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 the 20th of Maj^ and Sir Pc'Cr Parker was 
 about to sail with the land f ..rces, under the 
 command of Gen. Clinton, f^ the reduction 
 of Charleston, the capital cf South-Carolina, 
 andwh Ti I heard t^f his defeit in Halifax, it 
 gave me inexpressible satisfaction. 
 
 I new iciund myself under a worse Capt. 
 than Svmcnds ; for Montague was loaded 
 with ;"rejud*:ccs against every body, and ev- 
 ery thin^' t 'lat w':'.s not stamped with roy:Ity ; 
 and, being by nature underwitted, his wrath 
 was heavier tlian the ot:iers, or at least his 
 mind was in no instrincc liable to be divened 
 by f>;ood sense, hunicur or bra.very, of which 
 Symonds was by turns susceptible. A Capt. 
 Francis Proctor was added to our number of 
 prisoners when we were fxrst put on board 
 this ship : This gentleman had formerly be- 
 longed to the English service. The Capt. 
 and, in line, a! J l' :: gentlemen of the ship, 
 were very much incensed against him, and 
 put him in irons without the least provoca- 
 tion, and he was continued in this miserable 
 situation about three mcnths. In this pas- 
 sage the prijoriers were infected with the 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY, 81 
 
 scurvy, some more and some less, but most 
 of them severely. The ship's crew was to a 
 great degree troubled with it, and I conclud- 
 ed that it was catching : Several of the crev/ 
 died with it on their passage. I was weak 
 and feeble in consequence of so long and 
 cruel a captivity, yet had but little of the 
 scurvv. 
 
 The purser was again expressly forbid by 
 the Capt. to let me have any thing out of his 
 store ; upon which I went on deck, and, in 
 the handsomest manner requested the favour 
 of purchasing a few necessaries of the purser, 
 which was denied me ; he farther told me, 
 that I should be hanged as soon as I arrived 
 at Halifax. I tried to reason the matter with 
 him, but found him proof against reason ; I 
 also held up his honor to view, and his be- 
 havior to me and the prisoners in general, as 
 being derogatory to it, but found his honor 
 impenetrable. I then endeavored to touch 
 his humanity, but found he had none ; for 
 his prepossession of bigotry to his own party, 
 had confirmed him in an opinion, that no hu- 
 manity was due to unroyalists, but seemed 
 
82 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 to think that heaven and earth were made 
 merely to gratify the King and his creatures ; 
 he uttered considerable unintellis-ible and 
 grovelling ideas, a little tinctured with Mon- 
 archy, but stood well to his text of hanging 
 me. He afterv/ards forbade his surgeon to 
 administer any help to the sick prisoners.^ 
 I was every night shut down in the cable tire, 
 with the rest of the prisoners, and we all liv- 
 ed miserribly while under his pov/er : But I 
 received some scenerositv from several of the 
 midshipmen, who in degree alleviated my 
 misery ; one of their Denies was Putrass, the 
 names cf the others I do not recollect ; but 
 they v/ere obliged to be private in the bestow- 
 ment of their favour, which was sometimes 
 good wine bitters; and at others, a generous 
 drink of grog. 
 
 Some time in the first week of June, we 
 came to anchor at the Hook off New- York, 
 
 * This, if Col. Allen >vas not under a mistake, must 
 have been tliC acme of inhumanity. For tlie honour of 
 human nature, we trust it is. He must be a monster, 
 indeed, who could issue commands of so brutal a nature. 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 85 
 
 where we remained but three days ; in which 
 time Gov. Tryoa, Mr. Kemp, the old attor- 
 ney Gen. of Nev/-York, and several other 
 perfidious and over- grown tories and land- 
 jobbers, came on board. Tryon viewed me 
 with a stern countenance, as I was walking 
 on the leeward side of the deck, with the 
 midshipmen ; and he and his companions 
 were walking Vv^ith the Capt. and Lieut, on 
 the windward side of the same, but never 
 spoke to me, though it is altogether probable 
 that he thought of the old quarrel between 
 him, the old government of New- York and 
 the Green Mountain Boys : Then they went 
 with the Capt. into the cabin, and the same 
 afternoon "returned on board a vessel which 
 lay near the Hook, where at that time they 
 took sanctuary from the resentment of their 
 injured country. What passed between the 
 officers of the ship and these visitors I know 
 not ; but this I know, that my treatment 
 from the principal officers was more severe 
 afterwards. 
 
 We arrived at Halifax not far from the 
 middle of June, where the ship's crew, which 
 
84 COL. E. Allen's observations 
 
 was infested with the scurvy, were taken on 
 shore, and shallow trenches dug, into which 
 they were put, and partly covered with earth. 
 Indeed every proper measure was taken for 
 their relief : The prisoners were not per- 
 tnitted any sort of medicine, but were put on 
 board a sloop which lay in the harbour, near 
 the town of Halifax, surrounded with several 
 men of war and their tenders, and a guard 
 constantly set over them, night and day. The 
 sloop we had wholly to ourselves, except 
 the guard, who occupied the forecastle ; here 
 we w^ere cruelly pinched with hunger; it 
 seemed to me that we had not more than one 
 third of the common allowance : We were 
 all seized w^ith violent hunger and faintness ; 
 we divided our scanty allowance as exact as 
 possible. I shared the same fate with the 
 rest, and, though they offered me more than 
 an even share, I refused to accept it, as it was 
 a time of substantial distress, which in my 
 opinion I ought to partake equally with the 
 rest, and set an example of virtue and forti- 
 tude to our little commonwealth. 
 
Turing his captivity. 85 
 
 I sent letter after letter to Capt. Montague, 
 who still had the care of us, and also to his 
 Lieutenant, whose name I cannot call to 
 mind, but could obtain no answer, much 
 less a redress of grievances ; and, to add to 
 the calamity, near a dozen of the prisoners 
 were dangerously ill of the scurvy. I wrote 
 private letters to the doctors, to procure, if 
 possible, some remedy for the sick, but in 
 vain. The chief physician came by in a 
 boat, so close that the oars touched the sloop 
 We were in, and I uttered my complaint in the 
 genteelest manner to him, but he never so 
 much as turned his head, or made me anv 
 answer, though I continued speaking till he 
 got out of hearing. Oar caiise then became 
 very deplorable. Still I kept wTiting to the 
 Captain, till he ordered the guards, as they 
 told me, not to bring any more letters from 
 me to him. In the mean time an event hap- 
 pened worth relating : One of the men, al- 
 most dead of the scurvy, lay by the side of 
 the sloop, and, a canoe of Indians coming by, 
 he purchased two quarts of strawberriesj and 
 
 H 
 
86 COL. £. ALLEN'S OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 ate them at once, and it almost cured him. 
 The money he gave for them, was all the 
 money he had in the world. After that we 
 tried every way to procure more of that fruit, 
 reasoning from analogy that they might have 
 the same effect on others infested with the 
 same disease, but could obtain none.* 
 
 Meanwhile the Doctor's mate of the Mer- 
 cury came privately on board the prison sloop, 
 and presented me with a large vial of smart 
 drops, which proved to be good for the scur- 
 vy, though vegetables and some other ingre- 
 dients were requisite for a cure ; but the 
 drops gave at least a check to the disease : 
 This was a well-timed exertion of humanity, 
 but the doctor's name has slipped my mind, 
 and, in m^y opinion, it was the means of sav- 
 ing the lives of several men. 
 
 The guard, which was set over us, was by 
 this time touched with the feelings of com- 
 passion ; and I finally trusted one of them 
 with a letter of complaint to Governor Ar- 
 
 * The acid of any other vegetable, possessing it in an 
 equal degree, and taken in the same quantity, would 
 perhaps have h^d the same curative effect. 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 87 
 
 buthnot, of Halifax, which he found means to 
 communicate, and which had the desired ef- 
 fect ; for the Governor sent an officer and 
 surgeon on board the prison sloop, to know 
 the truth of the complaint. The officer's 
 name was Russel, who held the rank of Lieut, 
 and treated me in a friendly and polite man- 
 ner, and was really angry at the cruel and 
 unmanly usage the prisoners met w^ith ; and, 
 with the surgeon, made a true report of mat- 
 ters to Gov. Arbuthnot, who, either by his 
 order or influence, took us next day from the 
 prison sloop to Halifax gaol, where I first be- 
 came acquainted with the now Hon. James 
 Lovel, Esq. one of the members of Congress 
 for the State of Massachusetts-Bay. The 
 sick were taken to the hospital, and the Cana- 
 dians, who were effective, were employed in 
 the King's works ; and when their country- 
 men were recovered from the scurvv and 
 joined them, they all deserted the King's em- 
 ploy, and were not heard of at Halifax, as 
 long as the remainder of the prisoners contin- 
 ued there, which was till near the middle of 
 October. We wxre on board the prison- 
 
 I 
 
88 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 ^sloop about six weeks, and were landed at 
 Halifax near the middle of August. Several 
 of our English American prisoners, who 
 were cured of the scurvy at the hospital, 
 made their escape from thence, and after a 
 long time reached their old habitations. 
 
 I had now but thirteen with me, of those 
 who were taken in Canada, and remained in 
 gaol with me in Halifax, who, in addition to 
 those that were imprisoned before, made our 
 number about thirty four, who were all lock- 
 ed up in one common large room, without re- 
 gard to rank, education, or any other accom- 
 plishment, where we continued from the set- 
 ting to the rising sun ; and, as sundry of 
 them were infected with the gaol and other 
 distempers, the furniture of this spacious 
 room consisted principally of excrement tubs. 
 We petitioned for a removal of the sick into 
 the hospitals, but were denied. We remon- 
 strated against the ungenerous usage of be- 
 ing confined with the privates, as being co^i- 
 trary to the laws and customs of nations, and 
 particularly ungrateful in them, in coiise- 
 queiice of the gentleman-like usage which 
 
DURING. HIS CAPTIVITY. 89 
 
 the British imprisoned ofRcers met with in 
 America ; and thus we wearied ourselves, pe- 
 titioning and remonstrating, but to no pur- 
 pose at all ; for Gen. Massey, who command- 
 ed at Haliflix, was as inflexible as the Devil 
 himself, a fine preparative this for Mr. Lovel, 
 member of the Continental Congress. 
 
 Lieut. Russel, whom I have mentioned be- 
 fore, came to visit me in prison, and assured, 
 me that he had done his utmost to procure 
 my parole for enlargement ; at wliich a Brit- 
 ish Captain, who was then the town-major, 
 expressed compassion for the gentlemen 
 confined in the filthy place, and assured me 
 that he had used his influence to procure 
 their enlargement ; his name was near like 
 Ramsay. Among the prisoners there v/ere 
 five in number, who had a legal claim to a pa- 
 role, viz, James Lovel, Esq. Capt. Francis 
 Proctor, a Mr. Howland, master of a Conti- 
 nental armed vessel, a Mr. Taylor, his mate 
 and mvself. 
 
 As to the article of provision, we were v/ell 
 served, much better than in any part of mv 
 
 H 2 ' 
 
00 COL. E. alien's observations, 
 
 captivity ; and, since it was Mr. LovePs mis- 
 fortune and mine to be prisoners, and in so 
 wretched circumstances, I Vv^as happy that wc 
 were together as a mutual support to each 
 other, and to the unfortunate prisoners with 
 lis. Our first attention was the preservation 
 of ourselves and injured little republic y the 
 rest of our time we devoted interchangeably 
 to politics and philosophy, as patience was a 
 needful exercise in so evil a situation, but 
 contentment mean and impracticable. 
 
 I had not been in this gaol many days, be- 
 fore a worthy and charitable woman, Mrs. 
 Blacden, byname, supplied me with a good 
 dinner of fresh meats every day, with garden 
 fruit, and sometimes whh a bottle of wine ; 
 notwithstanding which I had not been more 
 than three weeks in this place, before I lost 
 all appetite to the most delicious food, by 
 the gaol distemper, as also did sundry of the 
 t prisoners, particularly a sergeant Moore, a 
 : man of courage and fidelity : I have several 
 times seen him hold the boatswain of the 
 : Solebay frigate, when he attempted to strike 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 91 
 
 him, and laughed him out of conceit of using 
 him as a slave. 
 
 A doctor visited the sick, and did the best, 
 as I suppose, he could for them, to no ap- 
 parent purpose. I grew weaker and weaker, 
 as did the rest. Several of them could not 
 help themselves. At last I reasoned in my 
 own mind, that raw onion would be good : I 
 made use of it, and found immediate relief 
 by it, as did the sick in general, particularly 
 sergeant Moore, whom it recovered almost 
 from the shades ; though I had met with a 
 little revival, still I found the malignant 
 hand of Britain had greatly reduced my con- 
 stitution with stroke upon stroke. Esquire 
 Lovel and myself used every argument and 
 entreatv that could be well conceived of, in 
 order to obtain gentlemanlike usage, to no 
 purpose. I then wrote Gen. Massey as se- 
 vere a letter as I possibly could, with my 
 friend LovePs assistance : The contents of 
 it was to give the British, as a nation, and 
 him as an individual, their true character. 
 This roused the rascal, for he could not bear 
 to see his and the nation's deformity in that 
 
92 eoL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 transparent letter,* which I sent him ; he 
 therefore put himself in a great rage about 
 it, and shewed the letier to a number of Brit- 
 ish officers, particukuiy to Capt. Smith of the 
 Lark frigate, who, instead of joining with 
 him in disapprobation, commended the spirit 
 of it; upon which Gen. Massey said to him, 
 do you take the part of a rebel against me ? 
 Capt. Smith answered, that he rather spoke 
 his sentiments, and there vv^as a dissension in 
 opinion between them. Some officers took 
 the part of the General, and others of the 
 Captain : This I was informed of by a gentle- 
 man who had it from Capt. Smith. 
 
 In a few days after this, the prisoners were 
 ordered to go on board of a man of war, 
 which was bound for New- York ; but two 
 of them were not able to go on board, and 
 w^ere left at Halifax ; one died, and the other 
 recovered. This was about the 12th of Oc- 
 
 * We can easily excuse, if excuse be necessary, this 
 conduct of the oppressed prisoner. After having tried 
 persuasion, entreaty and every mild mean to have his 
 condition ameliorated, the last resource seemingly was 
 to pourtray his sufferings, and the abuse and cruelty 
 which he had experienced in the most lively colours pes* 
 sible. 
 
DtTRING HIS CAPTIVITY. 93 
 
 tober, and soon after we had got on boaixl, 
 the Captain sent for me in particular to come 
 on the quarter deck : I went, not knowing 
 that it was Capt. Smith, or his ship at that 
 time, and expected to n^eet the same rigor- 
 ous usage I had commonly met with, and 
 prepared my mind accordingly ; but when I 
 came on deck, the Captain met me with his 
 hand, welcomed me to his ship, invited me to 
 dine with him that day, and assured me that 
 I should be treated as a gentleman, and that 
 he had given orders, that I should be treated 
 with respect by the ship's crew. This was 
 §o unexpected and sudden a transition, that 
 it drew tears from my eyes, which all the 
 ill usage I had before met with, was not able 
 to produce, nor could I at first hardly speak, 
 but soon recovered myself and expressed 
 my gratitude for so unexpected a favour ; 
 and let him know that I felt anxiety of mind 
 in reflecting that his situation and mine was 
 such, that it was not probable that it would 
 ever be in my power to return the favour. 
 Capt. Smith replied, that he had no reward 
 in view, but only treated me as a gentleman 
 
94 COL. E. Allen's observations,' 
 
 ougHt to be treated ; he said this is a muta- 
 ble world, and one gentleman never knows 
 but that it may be in his power to help anoth- 
 er. Soon after I found this to be the same 
 Capt. Smith who took my part against Gen. 
 Massey ; but he never mentioned any thing 
 of it to me, and I thought it impolite in me 
 to interrogate him, as to any disputes which 
 might have arisen between him and the Gen- 
 eral on my account, as I v^as a prisoner, and 
 that it was at his option to make free with 
 me on that subject, if he pleased ; and, if he 
 did not, I might take it for granted that it 
 would be unpleasing for me to query about 
 it, though I had a strong propensity to con- 
 verse with him on that subject. 
 
 I dined with the Captain agreeable to his 
 invitation, and oftentimes with the Lieuten- 
 ant, in the gun room, but in general ate and 
 drank with my friend Lovel and the other 
 gentlemen, who were prisoners with me, 
 where I also slept. 
 
 We had a little birth enclosed with canvas, 
 between decks, where we enjoyed ourselves 
 very v\^ell, in hopes of an exchange ; besides, 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 95 
 
 our friends at Halifax had a little notice of 
 our departure, and supplied us with spirituous 
 liquor, and many articles of provision for the 
 cost. Capt. Burk, having been taken pris- 
 oner, was added to our company, (he ha.d 
 commanded an American armed vessel) and 
 was generously treated by the Captain and all 
 the officers of the ship, as well as myself. We 
 now had in all near thirty prisoners on board, 
 and as we were sailing along the coast, if I 
 recollect right, off Rhode-Island, Capt. Burk, 
 with an under officer of the ship, whose name 
 I do not recollect, came to our little birth, pro- 
 posed to kill Capt. Smith and the principal 
 officers of the frigate and take it ; adding 
 that there were thirty five thousand pounds 
 sterling in the same. Capt. Burk likewise 
 averred that a strong party out of the ship's 
 crew was in the conspiracy, and urged me, 
 and the gentleman that was with me, to use 
 our influence with the private prisoners, to 
 execute the design, and take the ship with 
 the cash into one of our own ports. 
 
 Upon which I replied, that we had been too 
 well used on board to murder the officers ; 
 
96 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 that I could by no means reconcile it to my 
 conscience, and that in fact it should not be 
 done ; and, while I was yet speaking, my 
 friend Lovel confirmed what I had said, and 
 farther pointed out the ungratefulness of 
 such an act ; that it did not fail short of mur- 
 der, and in fine all the gentlemen in the birth 
 opposed Capt. Burk and his colleague : But 
 they strenuously urged that the conspiracy 
 w^ould be found out, and that it would cost 
 them their lives, provided they did not exe- 
 cute their design. I then interposed spirit- 
 edly, and put an end to farther argument on 
 the subject, and told them that they might de- 
 pend upon it, upon my honor, that I would 
 faithfully guard Capt. Smith's life : If they 
 should attempt the assault, I would assist 
 him, for they desired me to remain neuter, 
 and that the same honor that guarded Capt. 
 Smith's life, would also guard theirs ; and it 
 v/as agreed by those present not to reveal the 
 conspiracy, to the intent that no man should 
 be put to death, in consequence of what had 
 been projected; and Capt. Burk and his col- 
 league went to stifle the matter among 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 97 
 
 their associates. I could not help calhng to 
 mind what Capt. Smith said to me, when I 
 first came on board : '* This is a mutable 
 world, and one gentleman never knows but 
 that it may be in his power to help another."^ 
 Captain Smith and his officers still behaved 
 with their usual courtesy, and I never heard 
 any more of the conspiracy. 
 
 We arrived before New- York, and cast an- 
 chor the latter part of October where we re- 
 mained several days, and where Capt. Smith 
 informed me, that he had recommended m.e 
 to Adm. Howe and Gen. Sir Wm. Howe, as 
 a gentleman of honor and veracity, and desir- 
 ed that I might be treated as such. Capt. 
 Burk was then ordered on board a prison-ship 
 in the harbor. I took my leave of Capt. 
 Smith, and, with the other prisoners, was 
 
 * A memorable instance this of the value of a gener- 
 ous action. Had the conduct of Capt. Smith equalled 
 in atrocity and cruelty that of Capt. Simonds of the Sole- 
 bay, it is not impossible that Coi. Allen, goaded by his 
 repeated abuse, might have consented to the killing of 
 the ship's crew. In this instance the pious reader will 
 discern tiie hand of an overruling providence, who, even 
 in this life, frequently extends to the doer of a good ac- 
 tion its appropriate reward. 
 
 I 
 
98 cot. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 sent on board a transport- ship, which lay in 
 the harbour, commanded by Capt. Craige, 
 who took me into the cabin with him and his 
 Lieut. I fared as thev did, and was in eve- 
 ly respect well treated, in consequence of di- 
 rections from Capt. Smith. In a few weeks 
 after this I had the happiness to part with my 
 friend Lovel, for his sake, whom the enemy af- 
 fected to treat as a private ; he was a gentle- 
 man of merit, and liberally educated, but had 
 no commission ; they maligned him on ac- 
 count of his unshaken attachment to the cause 
 of his country. He was exchanged for a 
 Gov. Phillip Skene of the British. I was 
 continued in this ship till the latter part of 
 November, where I contracted an acquaint- 
 ance with the Cc pt, of the British ; his name 
 has slipped my memory. He was what we 
 may call a genteel hearty fellow. I remem- 
 ber an expression of his over a bottle of w^ine, 
 to this import : '^ That there is greatness of 
 soul for personal friendship to subsist between 
 you and me, as we are upon opposite sides, 
 and may at another day be obliged to face 
 each otlier in the field." I am confident that 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 99 
 
 he was as faithful as any officer in the Brit- 
 ish army. At ailother sitting he oftercd to 
 bet a dozen of wine, that fort Washington 
 would be in the hands of the British in tliree 
 days. I stood the htt, and would, had I 
 known that that would have been the case, 
 and the third day afterwards we heard a pro- 
 digious hea\^y cannonade, and that day the 
 fort v/as taken sure enough. Some months 
 after, when I was on parole, he called upon 
 me with his usual humour, and mentioned 
 the bet. I acknow ledged I had lost it, but 
 he said he did not m ean to take it then, as I 
 was a prisoner ; that he would another day 
 call on me, when their army came to Ben- 
 nington. I replied, that he was quite too 
 generous, as I had fairly lost it : besides, the. 
 Grt^en Mountain Boys would not suffer them 
 to come to Bennington. This was all in good 
 humour. I should have been glad to have 
 seen him after the defeat at Bennington, but 
 did not. It was customary for a guard to 
 attend the prisoners, which was often chang- 
 ed. One was composed of tories fi'om Con- 
 necticut, in the vicinity of Fairfield and Gi'een 
 
100 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 Farms. The sergeant's name was Hoit. 
 They were very full of their invectives a- 
 gainst the country, swaggered of their loyalty 
 to their king, and exclaimed bitterly against 
 the '' cowardly yankies," as they were pleas- 
 ed to term them, but finally contented them- 
 selves with saying that, when the country 
 was overcome, they should be well reward- 
 ed for their loyalty, out of the estates of the 
 v/higs, which w^ould be confiscated. This I 
 found to be the general language of tories, 
 after I arrived from England on the Ameri- 
 can coast. I heard sundry of them relate, 
 that the British Generals had engaged them 
 an ample rev/ard for all their losses, disap- 
 pointments and expenditures, out of the for- 
 feited rebels' estates. This language early 
 taught me what to do v/ith tories' estates, as 
 far as my influence can go. For it is really 
 a game of hazard between v/hig and tory : 
 The whigs must inevitably have lost ail, in 
 consequence of the abilities of the tories, 
 and their good friends, the British ; and it is 
 no more than right the tories should run the 
 same risk, in consequence of the abilities 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 101 
 
 of the whigs : But of this more will be ob- 
 served m the sequel of this narrative. 
 
 Some of the last days of November, the 
 prisoners were landed at New- York, and I 
 was admitted to parole with the other offi- 
 cers, viz. Procter, Rowland and Taylor. — 
 The privates were put into the filthy church- 
 es in New- York, with the distressed prison- 
 ers that were taken at fort Washington ; and 
 the second night, sergeant Roger Moore, 
 who was bold and enterprizing, found means 
 to make his escape with every of the remain- 
 ing, prisoners that were taken with me, ex- 
 cept three, who were soon after exchanged : 
 So that, out of thirty-one prisoners, who went 
 with me the round exhibited in these sheets, 
 two only died with the enemy, and three on- 
 ly were exchanged ; one of whom died after 
 he came within our lines ; all the rest, at dif- 
 ferent times, made their escape from the en- 
 emy.^ 
 
 * The siiffermi^s of our hero, during his captivity, 
 though perhaps the consequence of his own rasluiess, 
 were brought about by an ardent zeal in the cause of lib- 
 
 I ^ 
 
102 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 I now foiiiad myself on parole, and restrict- 
 ed to the limits of the city of New- York, 
 where I soon projected means to live in some 
 measure agreeable to my rank, though I was 
 destitute of cash. My constitution was al- 
 most worn out by such a long and barbar- 
 ous captivity. The enemy gave out that I 
 H'cis crazy, and wholly unmanned, but my 
 vitals held sound, nor was I delirious any 
 more than I have been from youth up ; but 
 my extreme circumstances, at certain times, 
 rendered it political to act in some measure 
 the madman ; and, in consequence of a regu- ' 
 t lar diet and exercise, my blood recruited, and 
 my nerves in a great measure recovered their 
 former tone, strength and usefulness, in the 
 course of six months. 
 
 I next invite the reader to a retrospective 
 sight and consideration of the doleful scene 
 of inhumanity, exercised by Gen. Sir Will- 
 iam Howe, and the army under his command, 
 
 erty, -vvhich -made him -willing to run hazards which cir- 
 cumstances would hardly justify. Had this not been 
 the case, he would probably have never been carried a 
 prisoner to England. i 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 103 
 
 towards the prisoners taken on Long- Island, 
 on the 27th day of August, 1776 ; sundry of 
 whom were, in an inhuman and barbarous 
 manner, murdered after they had surrender- 
 ed their arms ; particularly a Gen. Odel, or 
 Woodhul, of the militia, who was hacked to 
 pieces with cutlasses, when alive, by the light 
 horsemen, and a Capt, Fellows, of the Conti- 
 nental arm^y, who was thrust through with a 
 bayonet, of which wound he died instantly. 
 
 Sundry others were hanged up by the neck 
 till they were dead ; five on the limb of a 
 white oak tree, and without any reason as- 
 signed, except that they were fighting in de- 
 fence of the only blessing worth preserving : 
 And indeed those who had the misfortune to 
 fall into their hands at fort Washington, in 
 the month of Nov. following, met with but 
 very little better usage, except that they 
 were reserved from immediate death to fam- 
 ish and die with hunger ; in fine, the word 
 rebel, applied to any vanquished persons, 
 without regard to rank, who were in the con- 
 tinental service, on the 27th of August afore- 
 said, was thought, by the enemy, sufficient 
 
104 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 to sanctify whatever cruelties they were pleas- 
 ed to inflict, death itself not excepted ; but 
 to pass over particulars which would swell 
 my narrative far beyond my design. 
 
 The private soldiers, who were brought to 
 New- York, were crowded into churches, and 
 environed with slavish Hessian guards, a peo- 
 ple of a strange language, who were sent to 
 America for no other design but cruelty and 
 desolation ; and at others, by merciless Brit- 
 ons, whose mode of communicating ideas be- 
 ing intelligible in this country served only to 
 tantalize and insult the helpless and perishing ; 
 but, above all, the hellish delight and triumph 
 of the tories over them, as they were dying 
 by hundreds : This was too much for me to 
 bear as a spectator ; for I saw the tories ex- 
 ulting over the dead bodies of their murder- 
 ed countrymen. I have gone into the church- 
 es, and seen sundry of the prisoners in the 
 agonies of death, in consequence of very 
 hunger, and others speechless, and near 
 death, biting pieces of chips ; others plead- 
 ing for God's sake, for something to eat, 
 and at the same time, shivering with the 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 105 
 
 €old. Hollow groans saluted my ears, and 
 despair seemed to be imprinted on every of 
 their countenances. The filth in these church- 
 es, in consequence of the fluxes, was almost 
 beyond description. The floors were cover- 
 ed with excrements. I have carefully sought 
 to direct my steps so as to avoid it, but could 
 not. They would beg for God's sake for 
 one copper, or morsel of bread. I have seen 
 in one of these churches seven dead, at the 
 same time, lying among the excrements of 
 their bodies. 
 
 It was a common practice with the enemy, 
 to convey the dead from these filthy places, 
 in carts, to be slightly buried, and I have seen 
 whole gangs of tories making derision, and 
 exulting over the dead, saying, there goes 
 another load of damned rebels. I have ob- 
 served the British soldiers to be full of their 
 black-guard jokes, and vaunting on those oc- 
 casions, but they appeared to me less malig- 
 nant than tories.* 
 
 * However the reader of these enormities may feel 
 exaspc-rated, as vndou.bttdly he does, at the conduct of 
 the British mid alienated Americans, it is wrong to ac- 
 
106 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 The provision dealt out to the prisoners 
 was by no means sufficient for the support of 
 life: It was deficient in quantity, and much 
 more so in quality. The prisoners often 
 presented me with a sample of their bread, 
 which I certify was damaged to that degree, 
 that it was loathsome and unfit to be eaten, 
 and I am bold to aver it, as my opinion, that 
 it had been condemned, and was of the very 
 worst sort. I have seen and been fed upon 
 damaged bread, in the course of my cap- 
 tivity, and observed the quality of such 
 bread as has been condemned by the enemy, 
 amonr? which was very lit'Ie so effectually 
 spoiled as what was dealt out to these prison- 
 ers. Their allowance of meat (as they told 
 me) was quite trifling, and of the basest sort, 
 I never saw any of it, but v/as informed, bad 
 as it was, it was swallowed almost as quick 
 
 ciise a body of men, indiscpimmately, of the commission 
 of crimes. Among the latter were nodoubt^ many who 
 were not^.orry for, or might exult in the persec^ition ; 
 but iis probably there were many wlio acted from what 
 they deenied principle. A whole sect of any descrip- 
 tion do not merit denunciation in consecmtnce of the 
 perfidy of a part. 
 
DURING KIS CAPTIVIXr. 107 
 
 as they got hold of it, I saw some of them 
 suckmg bones after they were speechless ; 
 others, who could yet speak, and had the 
 use of their reason, urged me, in the strong- 
 est and most pathetic manner, to use my in- 
 terest in their behalf ; for you plainly see, 
 said they, that we are devoted to death and 
 destruction ; and, after I had examined more 
 particularly into their truly deplorable con- 
 dition, and had become more fully apprized 
 of the essential facts, I was persuaded that it 
 was a premeditated and systematical plan of / 
 the British council, to destroy the youths of 
 our land, with a view thereby to deter the 
 country ,, and make it submit to their despot- 
 ism ; but that I could not do them any mate- 
 rial service, and that, by any public attempt 
 for that purpose, I might endanger myself by 
 frequenting places the most nauseous and 
 contagious that could be conceived of. I re- 
 frained going into the churches, but frequent- 
 ly conversed with such of the prisoners as 
 were admitted to come out into the yard, and 
 found that the systematical usage still contin- 
 ued. The guard would often drive me 
 
108 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 away with their fixed bayonets. A Hessian 
 one day followed me five or six rods, but by 
 making use of my legs, I got rid of the lub- 
 ber. Sometimes I could obtain a little con- 
 versation, notwithstanding their severities. 
 
 I was in one of the church yards, and it was 
 rumoured among those in the church, and 
 sundry of the prisoners came Vv^ith their usual 
 complaints to me, and among the rest a large 
 boned, tall young man, as he told me, from 
 Pennsylvania, who was reduced to a mere 
 skeleton ; he said he was glad to see me be- 
 fore he died, which he had expected to have 
 done last night, but was a little revived ; he 
 farthermore informed me, that he and his 
 brother had been urged to enlist into the Brit- 
 ish, but had both resolved to die first ; that 
 his brother had died last night, in conse- 
 quence of that resolution, and that he expect- 
 ed shortly to follow him ; but I made the 
 other prisoners stand a little off*, and told him 
 with a low voice to enlist ; he then asked, 
 whether it was right in the sight of God ? I 
 assured him that it was, and that duty to 
 himself obliged him to deceive the British by 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 109 
 
 enlisting and deserting the fxrst opportunity ; 
 upon which he answered with transport, that 
 he w^ould enlist. I charged him not to men- 
 tion my name as his adviser, lest it should get 
 air, and I should be closely confined, in con- 
 sequence of it. The integrity of these suf- 
 fering prisoners is hardly credible. Many 
 hundreds, I am confident, submitted to death, 
 rather than enlist in the British service, which, 
 I am informed, they most generally were pres- 
 sed to do. I was astonished at the resolution 
 of the two brothers particularly ; it seems that 
 they could not be stimulated to such exer- 
 tions of heroism from ambition, as they were 
 but obscure soldiers ; strong indeed must 
 the internal principle of virtue be, which sup- 
 ported them to brave deaths and one of them 
 went through the operation, as did many 
 hundred others. I readily grant that instan- 
 ces of public virtue are no excitement to the 
 sordid and vicious, nor, on the other hand, 
 will all the barbarity of Britain and Hesh- 
 land* awaken them to a sense of their duty 
 
 * Meant for Hesse, in Germany. These troops were 
 
 K 
 
110 COL. E. Allen's observations,, 
 
 to the public ; but these things will have their 
 proper effect on the generous and brave. — * 
 The officers on parole were most of them zea- 
 lous, if possible, to afford the .miserable sol- 
 diery relief, and often consulted with one 
 another on the subject, but to no effect, being 
 destitute of the means of subsistence, which 
 they needed ; nor could the officers project 
 any measure, which they thought would al- 
 ter their fate, or so much as be a mean of get- 
 ting them out of those filthy places to the 
 privilege of fresh air. Some projected that 
 all the officers should go in procession to 
 Gen. Howe, and plead the cause of the per- 
 ishing soldiers ; but this proposal was nega- 
 tived for the following reasons, viz. because 
 that Gen. Howe must needs be well acquaint- 
 ed, and have a thorough know^ledge of the 
 state and condition of the prisoners in every 
 of their wretched apartments, and that much 
 more particular and exact than any officer on 
 
 v/hat were called mercenaries ; being in the pay of a 
 foreign power. To a free born American, the taking 
 up of arms in any other cause than the defence or honor 
 of his own country, appears indescribably degrading. 
 
JDURING HIS CAPTIVITY. Ill 
 
 parole could be supposed to have, as the Gen- 
 eral had a return of the circumstances of the 
 prisoners, by his own officers, every morn- 
 ing, of the number which were alive, as also 
 the number which died every twenty four 
 hours; and consequently the bill of mortality, 
 as collected from the daily returns, lay be- 
 fore him with all the material situations and 
 circumstances of the prisoners ; and provid- 
 ed the coicers should go in procession to 
 Gen. Hovv^e, according to the projection, it 
 would give him the greatest affront, and tliat 
 he would either retort upon them, that it 
 was no part of their parole to instruct him in 
 his conduct to prisoners ; that they were 
 mutinying against his authority, and, by af- 
 fronting him, had forfeited their parole ; or 
 that, more probably, instead of saying one 
 word to them, would order them all into as 
 wretched a confinement as the soldiers whom 
 they sought to relieve ; for, at that time, the 
 British, from the General to the private cen- 
 tinel, were in full confidence, nor did they so 
 m?uch as hesitate, but that they should con- 
 quer the country. Thus the consultation of 
 
112 COL. E. Allen's observation's, 
 
 the officers was confounded and broken to 
 pieces, in consequence of the dread, which at 
 that time lay on their minds, of offending 
 Gen. Howe ; for they conceived so murder- 
 ous a tyrant would not be too good to des- 
 troy even the officers, on the least pretence of 
 an affront, as they were equally in his power 
 with the soldiers ; and, as Gen. Howe per- 
 fectly understood the condition of the private 
 soldiers, it was argued that it was exactly 
 such as he and his council had devised, and 
 as he meant to destroy them it would be to 
 no purpose for them to try to dissuade him 
 from it, as they were helpless and liable to 
 the same fate, on giving the least affront ; in- 
 deed anxious apprehensions disturbed them 
 in their then circumstances. 
 
 Mean time mortality raged to such an in- 
 tolerable degree among the prisoners, that the 
 very school boys in the streets knew the men- 
 tal design of it in some measure ; at least, 
 they knew tliat tlicy were starved to death. 
 Some poor Vv^omen contributed to their ne- 
 cessitv, till their children were almost starv- 
 <:vd, and all persons of common understand- 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVItY. 113 
 
 ing knew that they were devoted to the cru- 
 dest and worst of deaths. It was also pro- 
 posed by some to make a written representa- 
 tion of the condition of the soldiery, and the 
 officers to sign it, and that it should be couch- 
 ed in such terms, as though they were appre- 
 hensive that the General was imposed upon 
 by his officers, in their daily returns to him 
 of the state and condition of the prisoners ; 
 and that therefore the officers, moved with 
 compassion, were constrained to communi- 
 cate to him the facts relative to them, nothing 
 doubting but that they would meet with a 
 speedy jedress ; but this proposal was most 
 generally negatived also, and for much the 
 same reason offered in the other case ; for it 
 was conjectured that Gen. Howe's indigna- 
 tion would be moved against such officers as 
 should attempt to whip him over his officers' 
 backs ; that he w^ould discern that himself 
 was really struck at, and not the officers who 
 made the daily returns ; and therefore self 
 preservation deterred the officers from either 
 petitioning or remonstrating to Gen, Howe, 
 
 K 2 
 
114 COL. E. ALLEN'S OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 either verbally or in writing ; as also the con- 
 sideration that no valuable purpose to the dis- 
 tressed would be obtained. 
 
 I made several rough drafts on the subject^ 
 one of which I exhibited to the Cols. Ma- 
 gaw, Miles, and Atlee, and they said that they 
 would consider the matter ; soon after I 
 dialled on them, and some of the scentlemen 
 informed me, that they had written to the 
 Gen. on the subject, and I concluded that 
 the gentlemen thought it best that they should 
 write without me, as there was such spirited 
 aversion subsisting between the British and 
 me. 
 
 In the mean time a Col. Hussecker, of the 
 continental army, as he then reported, was 
 taken prisoner, and brought to New-York, 
 who gave out that the country was almost uni- 
 versally submitting to the English king's au- 
 thority, and that there would be little or no 
 more opposition to Great-Britain : This at 
 first gave the officers a little shock, Imt in a 
 few days they recovered themselves ; fpr this 
 Col. Hussecker, being a German, was feast- 
 ing with Gen. De Heister, his countryman^ 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 115 
 
 and from his conduct they were apprehensive, 
 that he was a kna^^e ; at least he was esteem- 
 ed so by most of the officers ; it was never- 
 theless a day of trouble. The enemy blas- 
 phemed. Our little army was retreating in 
 New-Jersey, and our young men murder- 
 ed by hundreds in New-York : The army 
 of Britain and Keshland prevailed for a little 
 season, as though it v/as ordered by Heaven 
 to shew, to the latest posterity, what the Brit- 
 ish would have done if they could, and what 
 the general calamity must have been, in con- 
 sequence of their conquering the country, 
 and to excite every honest man to stand 
 forth in the defence of liberty, and to estab- 
 lish the independency of the United States of 
 America forever : But this scene of adverse 
 fortune did not discourage a Washington : 
 The illustrious American hero remained im- 
 moveable. In liberty's cause he took up his 
 sword : This reflection was his support and 
 consolation in the day of his humiliation, 
 when he retreated before the enemy, through 
 New-Jersey into Pennsyivania. Their tri- 
 umph only roused his indignation ; and the 
 
116 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 important cause of his country, which lay near 
 his heart, moved him to cross the Delaware 
 again, and take ample satisfaction on his pur- 
 suers. No sooner had he circumvallated his 
 haughty foes, and appeared in terrible array, 
 but the host of Heshland fell. This taught 
 America the intrinsic worth of perseverance, 
 and the generous sons of freedom flew to tha 
 standard of their common safeguard and de- 
 fence ; from which time the arm of Ameri- 
 can liberty hath prevailed.-^ 
 
 This surprize and capture cf the Hessians 
 enraged the enemy, who were still vastly 
 
 * The American army being greatly reduced by the 
 loss of men talvcn prisoners, and by the departure of 
 men whose inlistments had expired, general Washing- 
 ton was obliged to retreat towards Philadelphia ; gener- 
 al Howe, exulting in his successes, pursued him, not- 
 withstanding the weather was severely cold. To add to 
 the disasters of the Americans, general Lee was surpris- 
 ed and taken prisoner at Baskenridge. In this gloomy 
 state of affairs, many persons joined the British cause 
 and took protections. But a small band of heroes check- 
 ed the tide of British success. A division of Hessians 
 had advanced to Trenton, where they reposed in secur- 
 ity. General Washington was on the opposite side of 
 the Delaware, with about three thousand men, many of 
 whom were without shoes or convenient clothing j and 
 theriver was covered with floatinp; ice. But the gener- 
 al knev/ the importance of striking some successful 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 117 
 
 more numerous than the continental troops : 
 They therefore collected, and marched from 
 Princetown, to attack Gen. Washington, who 
 was then at Trenton, having previously left 
 a detachment from their main body at Prince - 
 to^vii, for the support of that place. This 
 was a trying time, for our worthy General, 
 though in possession of a late most astonish- 
 ing victory, was by no means able to with- 
 stand the collective force of the enemy ; but 
 his sagacity soon suggested a stratagem to ef- 
 fect that which, by force, to him was at that 
 time impracticable : He therefore amused the 
 enemy with a number of fires, and in the 
 night made a forced march, undiscovered by 
 them, and next morning fell in with their rear 
 guard at Princetown, and killed and took most 
 of them prisoners. The main body too late 
 perceived their rear was attacked, hurried 
 back with all speed, but to their mortification, 
 
 blow, to anhnate the expiring hopes of the country ; and 
 on the night of December 25th, crossed tiie river, and 
 fell on the enemy by surprize, and took the "\vhoIe body 
 consisting of about nine hundred men. A few were 
 kiUed, among whom was colonel Rahl the commander. 
 
 [ Webster's Elemmt!t, 
 
118 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 found they were out-generalled, and baffied 
 by Gen. Washington, who was retired with 
 his little army towards Morristown, and v/as 
 out of their power.* These repeated suc- 
 cesses, one on the back of the other, cha- 
 grined the enemy prodigiously, and had an 
 amazing operation in the scale of American 
 politics, and undoubtedly was one of the corn- 
 er stones, on which their fair structure of In- 
 dependency has been fabricated ; for the 
 
 * On the 2d of January 177/, lord Corn wallis appear- 
 ed near Trenton, v/iih a strong body of troops. Skir- 
 mishing took place, and impeded the march of the Brit- 
 ish anny, until the Americaias liad secured their artille- 
 ry and baggage ; v/li-en they retired to the south \7ard of 
 .the creek, and repulsed the enemy in their attempt to 
 pass the bridge. As general Washington's force was 
 3ioi sufBcient to meet the enenriy, and his situation v/as 
 critical, he determined, with the advice of a council of 
 vrar, to attempt a stralao-em. He f>:ave orders for the 
 troops to light fires in their camp, [which were intend- 
 ed to deceive the enemy,] and be prepared to maixh. 
 Accordingly at tvv'elve o'clock at night the troops left 
 the ground, and by a circuitous inarch, eluded the vigi- 
 lance of the enemy, and early in the morning, appeared 
 at Princetown. A smart action, ensued, but the British 
 troops gave way. A party took refuge in the college, a 
 building with strong stone walls, but were forced to sur- 
 render. The enemy lost in killed, wounded and pris- 
 oners, about five hundred men. The Am^ericans lost 
 but few m^n ; but among them was a most valuable oHi- 
 cerj general Mercer. [ Webster^ s Elements. 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 119 
 
 country at no one time has ever been so much 
 dispirited as just before the morning of this 
 glorious success, which in part dispelled the 
 gloomy clouds of oppression and slavery, 
 v/hich lay pending over America, big with 
 the ruin of this and future generations, and 
 enlightened and spirited her sons to redouble 
 their blows on a merciless, and haughty, and, 
 I may add, perfidious enemy. 
 
 Farthermore, this success had a mighty ef- 
 fect on Gen. Howe and his council, and rous- 
 ed them to a sense of their own weakness, 
 and convinced them that they were neither 
 omniscient nor omnipotent. Their obduracy 
 and death-designing malevolence, in some 
 measure, abated or was suspended. The 
 prisoners, who were condemned to the most 
 wretched and crudest of deaths, and v/ho 
 survived to this period, though most of them 
 died before, were immediately (frdered to be 
 sent within Gen. Washington's lines, for an 
 exchange, and, in consequence of it, were 
 taken out of their filthy and poisonous places 
 of confinement, and sent out of New-York to 
 their friends in haste ; several of them fell 
 
120 coLe E. Allen's observations, 
 
 dead in the streets of New- York, as they at- 
 tempted to walk to the vessels in the harbor, 
 for their intended embarkation. What num- 
 bers lived to reach the lines I cannot ascer- 
 tain, but, from concurrent representations 
 which I have since received from numbers of 
 people who lived in and adjacent to such 
 parts of the country, where they were re- 
 ceived from the enemy, I apprehend that 
 most of them died in consequence of the 
 vile usage of the enemy. Some, who were 
 eye-witnesses of that scene of mortality, more 
 especially in that part which continued after 
 the exchange took place, are of opinion, that 
 it was partly in consequence of a slow pois- 
 on ;-* but this I refer to the doctors that 
 attended them, who are certainly ^the best 
 judges. 
 
 Upon the best calculation I have been able 
 to make from personal knowledge, and the 
 
 * This conjecture is not probable ; and, however we 
 may feel for the injuries of our oppressed fellow citi- 
 zens, we need not recur to any thing but facts to prove 
 their severity. If coarse fare, and unwholesome ali- 
 ment were meant by the colonel, for « slow poison,** 
 it v/as, no doubt, administered to the;m. 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 121 
 
 many evidences I have collected in support 
 of the facts, I learn that, of the prisoners ta- 
 ken on Long- Island, fort Washington, and 
 some fev/ others, at different times and places, 
 about two thousand perished with hunger, 
 cold and sickness, occasioned by the filth of 
 iheir prisons, at Nev/-York, and a number 
 more on their passage to the continental 
 lines; most of the residue, vvho reached 
 their friends, having received their death 
 wound, could not be restored by the assist- 
 raice of physicians and fi'iends ; but, like 
 their brother prisoners, fell a sacrifice to the 
 relentless and scientific barbarity of Britain. 
 I took as much pains as my circumstances 
 would admit of, to inform myself not only of 
 matters of fact, but likev;ise of the very de- 
 sign and aims of Gen. Hovv^e and his council : 
 The latter of which I predicated on the for- 
 mer, and submit it to the candid public. 
 - And lastly, the aforesaid success of the 
 American arms had a happy effect on the 
 continental officers, who were on parole at 
 New- York : A number of us assembled, but 
 
 L 
 
122 COL. E. Allen's observu\tions, 
 
 not in a public manner, and, with full bov/ls 
 and glasses, drank Gen. Washington's health, 
 and were not unmindful of Congress and our 
 w'orthy friends on the continent, and almost 
 torg6t that we were prisoners. 
 
 A few days after this recreation, a British 
 officer of rank and importance in their army, 
 whose name I shall not mention in this nar- 
 rative, for certain reasons, though I have men- 
 tioned it to some of my close friends and con- 
 fidants, sent for me to his lodgings, and told 
 rae, '' That faithfulness, though in a wrong 
 cause, had nevertheless recommended me to 
 Gen. Sir William Howe, who was minded to 
 make me a Colonel of a regiment of new lev- 
 ies, alias tories, in the British service ; and 
 proposed that I should go with him, and some 
 other ofHcers, to England, w^ho would embark 
 for that purpose in a few days, and there be 
 introduced to Lord G^ Germaine, and proba- 
 bly to the King ; and, that previously I 
 should be clothed equal to such an introduc- 
 tion, and, instead of paper rags, be paid in 
 hard guineas ; after this should embark with 
 Gen. Burgoyne, and assist in the reduction 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 123 
 
 of the country^ which hifallibly would be con- 
 quered, and, when that should be done, I 
 should have a large tract of land, either in the 
 New-Hampshire grants, or in Connecticut, it 
 would make no odds, as the country w^ould 
 be forfeited to the crown." I then replied, 
 "■ That, if by faithfulness I had recommend- 
 ed myself to Gen. Hov/e, I should be loth, by 
 unfaithfulness, to lose the General's good 
 opinion ; besides, that I viewed the offer of 
 land to be similar to that w^hich the devil of- 
 fered Jesus Christ, "' To give him all the 
 kingdoms of the world, if he would fall down 
 and worship him ;" when at the same time, 
 that the damned soul had not one foot of land 
 upon earth." This closed the conversation, 
 and the gentleman turned from nie with an air 
 of dislike, saying, that I was a bigot ; upon 
 which I retired to my lodgings.^" 
 
 Near the last of November I vv^as admitted 
 to parole in New-York, with many othei 
 
 * This conduct of colonel Allen, though spriof^-- 
 ingfroRi duty, ought not to be passed over without trib- 
 utai'V praise. The refusal of such an oflfer and in such 
 circumstances^ Avas highly meritorious. Though the 
 
124 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 American officers, and on the 22d day of Jan- 
 uary, 1777, was with them directed by the 
 British commissary of prisoners to be quarter- 
 ed on the v/esterly part of Long-Island, and 
 our parole continued. During my imprison- 
 ment there, no occurrences worth observation 
 Irippened. I obtained the means of living as 
 veil as I desired, which in a orreat measure 
 repaired my constitution, which had been 
 greatly injured by the severities of an inhu- 
 rrian captivity. I now began to feel myself 
 composed, expecting either an exchange, or 
 continuance in good and honorable treat- 
 ment ; but alas ! my visionary expectations 
 £Oon vanished. The news of the conquest 
 cf Ticonderoga by Gen. Burgoyne,^ and the 
 
 man of strict honour, and rigid integrity, deems the 
 I 'audit of his own conscience an ample re^A^ard for his 
 best actions, it is a pleasing employment, to those who 
 witness such actions, to record them. It is an incentive 
 to others to " go and do likewise." 
 
 * In June, 1777, the British army, amounting to ser- 
 en thousand men, besides Indians and Canadians, coin- 
 manded by f^eneral Burgoyne, crossed the lake and laid 
 siege to Ticonderoga. In a short time, the enemy 
 gained possession of Sugar Hill, which commanded the 
 Am.erican lines, and general St. Clair, with the advice of 
 a council of war, ordered the posts to be abandoned. 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 125 
 
 advance of his army into the country, made 
 the haughty Britons again to feel their impor- 
 tance, and with that their insatiable thirst for 
 cruelty. 
 
 The private prisoners at New- York, and 
 some of the officers on parole, felt the severi- 
 ty of it. Burgoyne was their to a stand demi- 
 god : To him they paid adoration : In him 
 the tories placed their confidence, ** and for- 
 got the Lord, their God," and served Howe, 
 Burgoyne, and Knyphausen,* *' and became 
 vile in their own imaginations, and their fool- 
 ish hearts were darkened, professing" to be" 
 great politicians, and relying on foreign and 
 merciless invaders, and with them seeking 
 the ruin, bloodshed and destruction of their 
 
 The retreat of the Americans was conducted under ev- 
 ery possible disadvantage — part of their force embarked. 
 in batteaux and landed at Skenesborough— a part march- 
 ed by the way of Castletown ; but they were obliged to 
 leave their heavy cannon, and, on their march, lost great 
 part of their baggage and stores, while their rear was. 
 harrassed by the British troops. An action took place 
 between colonel Waraer, with a body of Americans 
 and General Frazcr, in which the Am.ericans were de« 
 feated, after a brave resistance, with the loss of 9, v^iiua- 
 hit ofiicer, colonel Francis. 
 
 * Knyphftiisen, a Hessian General, 
 
126 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 couiitry, '* became fools," expecting witli 
 them to share a dividend in the confiscated 
 estates of their neighbours and countrymen 
 who fought for the whole country, and the re- 
 ligion and liberties thereof: ^' Therefore 
 
 God gave them over to strong delusions, to 
 believe a lie, that they all might be damned*'' 
 The 25th day of August I was apprehend- 
 ed, and, under pretext of artful, mean and 
 pitiful pretences, that I had infringed on my 
 parole, taken from a tavern, where there were 
 more than a dozen officers present and, in the 
 very place where those officers and myself 
 were directed to be quartered, put under a 
 strong guard, and taken to New- York, where 
 I expected to make my defence before the 
 commanding officer ; but, contrary to my ex- 
 pectations, and without the least solid pre- 
 tence of justice or a trial, was again encircled 
 With a strong guard with fixed bayonets, and 
 conducted to the provost- gaol in a lonely 
 apartment, next above the dungeon, and was 
 denied all manner of subsistence either by pur- 
 chase or allowance. The second day I oiFer-^ 
 ed a guinea for a meal of victuals, but was de- 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY, 127 
 
 nied it, and the third da.y I offered eight 
 Spanish milled dollars for a like favor, but 
 was denied, and all that I could get out of the 
 Serjeant's mouth, was that, by God he would 
 obey his orders. I nov/ perceived myself to 
 be again in substantial trouble. In this con- 
 dition I formed an oblique acquaintance with 
 a Capt. Travis, of Virginia, who was in the 
 dungeon below me, through a little hole 
 which was cut, with a pen-knife, through the 
 floor of my apartment which communicated 
 with the dungeon ; it was a small crevice^ 
 through which I could discern but a very 
 small part of his face at once, v/hen he applied 
 it to the hole ; but from the discovery of him 
 in the situation which we were both then in, I 
 could not have known him, which I found to 
 be true by an after acquaintance. I could nev- 
 ertheless hold a conversation with him, and 
 soon perceived him to be a gentleman of high 
 spirits, who had a high sense of honor, and 
 felt as big, as though he had been in a palace, 
 and had treasures of wrath in store against 
 the British. In fine I was charmed v/ith the 
 spirit of the man ; he had been near or quite 
 
128 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 four months in that dungeon, with murder- 
 ers, thieves, and every species of criminals, 
 and all for the sole crime of unshaken fidelity 
 to his country ; but his spirits were above 
 dejection, and his mind unconquerable. I en- 
 gaged to do him every service in my power, 
 and, in a few weeks afterwards, v/ith the unit- 
 ed petitions of the officers in the provost, pro- 
 cured his dismission from the dark mansion 
 of iiends to the apartments of his petitioners. 
 And it came to pass on the 3d day, at the 
 going down of the sun, that I was presented 
 with a piece of boiled pork, and some biscuit, 
 which the sergeant gave m.e to understand, 
 was my allov/ance, and I fed sweetly on the 
 same ; but I indulged my appetite by de^ 
 grees, and, in a few days more, was taken 
 from that apartment, and conducted to the 
 next loft or story, where there were above 
 twenty continental, and some militia officers, 
 Y/ho had been taken, and imprisoned there, 
 besides some private gentlemen, who had 
 been dragged from their own homes to that 
 iilthy place, by toriesa Several of every de« 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 129 
 
 nomination mentioned died there, some be- 
 fore, and others after I was put there. 
 
 The history of the proceedings relative to 
 the provost only, were I particular, would 
 swell a volume larger than this whole narra- 
 tive : I shall therefore only notice such of the 
 occurrences which are most extraordinary. 
 
 Capt. Vandyke bore, with an uncommon 
 fortitude, near twenty months' confinement in 
 this place, and in the meantime vv^as very ser- 
 viceable to others who were confmed with 
 him. The allegation against him, as the 
 cause of his confinement, was very extraor- 
 dinary : He was accused of setting fire to the 
 city of New- York, at the time the west part 
 of it was consumed, v/hen it was a knovv^n 
 fact, that he had been in the provost a week 
 before the fire broke out ; and, in like man- 
 ner, frivolous w^ere the ostensible accusations 
 against most of those who were there confin- 
 ed ; the case of two militia officers excepted, 
 v/ho were taken in their attempting to escape 
 from their parole ; and probably there may be 
 some other instances which might justify such 
 a confinement. 
 
130 COL. E. ALLEN'S OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 Mr. William Miller, a committee man, 
 from West Chester county, and state of New- 
 York, was taken from his bed in the dead of 
 night, by his tory neighbours, and was starv- 
 ed for three days and nights in an apartment 
 of the same gaol ; add to this the denial of 
 fire, and that in a cold season of the year, in 
 which time he walked day and night, to de- 
 fend himself against the frost, and when he 
 complained of such a reprehensible conduct, 
 the word rebel or committee man was deem- 
 ed by the enemy a sufficient atonement for 
 any inhumanity that they could invent or in- 
 fiict. He was a man of good natural under- 
 standing, a close and sincere friend to the lib- 
 erties of America, and endured fourteei^ 
 inonths' cruel imprisonment with that magna- 
 nimity of soul, which reBects honor on him- 
 self and country. 
 
 Major Levi Wells, and dipt. Ozias Bissel, 
 were apprehended and taken under guard 
 from their parole on Long- Island, to the pro- 
 vost, on as fallacious pretences as the form- 
 er, and were there continued till their ex» 
 change took Dlace, which was near five 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 131 
 
 months. Their fidelity and zealous attach- 
 mefiit to their country's cause, which was 
 more than commonly conspicuous was, un- 
 doubtedly the real cause of their confinement. 
 
 Major Brinton Payne, Capt. Flahaven, and 
 Capt. Randolph, who had at different times 
 distinguished themselves by their bravery, 
 especially at the several actions, in which 
 they were taken, were all the provocation 
 they gave, for which they suffered about a 
 year's confinement, each in the same filthy 
 gaol.* 
 
 A few weeks after my confinement, on the 
 like fallacious and wicked pretences, was 
 brought to the same place, from his parole on 
 Long-Island, Major Otho Holland Williams 
 now a full Col. in the continental army. In 
 his character are united the gentleman, offi- 
 cer, soldier, and friend ; he walked through 
 the prison with an air of great disdain ; said 
 he, " Is this the treatment which gentlemen 
 
 * The sufferings of the prisoners in New- York, who 
 remained faithful to their country's cause, are stated, 
 on'other authorities, besides that of Col. Allen, to hare 
 been severe and excessive. 
 
152 COL. E. allun's observations, 
 
 of the continental army are to expect from 
 the rascally British, when in their power ? 
 Heavens forbid it 1" He v/as continued there 
 about five months, and then exchanged for a 
 British Major. 
 
 John Fell, Esq. now a member of Con- 
 gress for the state of New-Jersey, was taken 
 from his ownhouse by a gang of infa^mous to- 
 ries, and by order of aBritish Gen. was sent to 
 the provost, where he was continued near 
 one year. The stench of the gaol, which 
 was very loathsome and unhealthy, occasion- 
 ed a hoarseness of the lungs, which proved 
 fatal to many who were there confined, and 
 reduced this gentleman near to the point of 
 death ; he was indeed given over by his 
 friends who w^ere about him, and himself con- 
 cluded he must die. I could not endure the 
 thought that so worthy a friend to America 
 should have his life stolen from him in such 
 a mean, base, and scandalous manner, and 
 that his family and friends should be bereav- 
 ed of so great and desirable a blessing, as his 
 farther care, usefulness and example, might 
 prove to them, I therefore wrote a letter to 
 
DURING HIS CArXIVITY. 153 
 
 Gen. Robertson, Vv'lio commanded in town, 
 and being touclied with tlie most sensible 
 feelings of humanity, which dictated my pen 
 to paint dying distress in such lively colours 
 that it VvFou^ht conviction even on the obdu- 
 racy of a British General, and prodacedhis 
 order to remove the now honorable John Fell, 
 esq. out of a gaol, to private lodgings in 
 town ; in consequence of v.diich lie" slowly 
 recovered his health. There is so extraor- 
 dinary a circumstance which intervened cc:i- 
 cerning this letter, that it is worth noticing. 
 Previous to sending it, I exhibited the 
 same to the gentleman on v/hcse belialf it 
 was written, for his approbation, and lie for- 
 bid me to send it in the most positive and 
 explicit terms ; his reason wrs, '' That the 
 enemy knew, by every morning's report, the 
 condition of all the prisoners, m.ine in partic- 
 ular, as I have been gradually coming to my 
 end for a considerable time, and they very 
 well knew it, and likewise determined it 
 should be accomplished, as they had served 
 many others ; that, to ask a favor, would give 
 
 the merciless enemy occasion to triumph 
 
 M ^ 
 
134 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 over me in my last moments, and therefore I 
 will ask no favors from them, but resign my- 
 self to my supposed fate." But the letter I 
 sent without his knowledge, and I confess I 
 had but little expectations from it, yet could 
 not be easy till I had sent it. It may be w^orth 
 a remark, that this gentleman was an Eng- 
 lishman born, and, from the beginning of the 
 revolution, has invariably asserted, and main- 
 tained the cause of liberty. 
 
 The British have made so extensive an im- 
 provement of the provost during the present 
 revolution till of late, that a very short defi- 
 nition will be sufficient for the dullest appre- 
 hensions. It may be with propriety called 
 the British inquisition, and calculated to sup- 
 port their oppressive measures and designs, 
 by suppressing the spirit of liberty ; as also 
 a place to confine the criminals, and most in- 
 famous wretches of their own army, where 
 manv s:entlemen of the American army, and 
 citizens thereof, were promiscuously confin- 
 ed, with every species of criminals ; but they 
 divided into different apartments, and kept at 
 as great a remove as circumstances permit- 
 
DURING HIS CArTlVlTY. 135 
 
 ted ; but it was nevertheless at the option of 
 a villanous serjeant, who had the charge of 
 the provost, to take any gentleman from their 
 room, and put them into the dungeon, which 
 was often the case : At two different times I 
 was taken dowm stairs for that purpose, by a 
 file of soldiers with fixed bayonets, and the 
 Serjeant brandishing his sword at the same 
 time, and having been brought to the door of 
 the dungeon, I there flattered the vanity of 
 the Serjeant, w^hose name was Keef, by which 
 means I procured the surprizing favor to re- 
 turn to my companions ; but some of the 
 high mettled young gentlem.en could not bear 
 his insolence, and determined to keep at a 
 distance, and neither please or displease the 
 villain, but none could keep clear of his a- 
 buse ; however, mild measures were the 
 best ; he did not hesitate to call us damned 
 rebels, and use us with the coarsest language. 
 'The Capts. Flahaven, Randolph and Mercer, 
 were the objects of his most flagrant and re- 
 peated abuses, who were many times taken 
 to th« dungeon, and there continued at l\is 
 pleasure. Capt. Flahaven took cold in the 
 
156 COL. E. ALLEN'S OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 dim2:con, and was in a declininp; state of 
 health, but an exchange dehvered him, and 
 in all probability saved his life. It was very 
 mortifying to bear v/ith the insolence of such 
 a vicious and ill bred, iniDcrious rascal. Re- 
 monstrances against him were preferred to the 
 commander of the tov/n, but no relief could 
 be obtained, for his superiors v/ere undoubt- 
 edly well pleased with his abusive conduct to 
 the gentlemen, under the severities of his 
 power ; and remonstrating against his infer- 
 nal conduct, only served to confirm him in 
 authority ; and for this reason I never made 
 any remonstrances on the subject, but only 
 streaked him, for I knew that he was but a 
 cat's paw in the hands of the British officers, 
 and that, if he should use us well, he would 
 immediately be put out of that trust, and a 
 v.'orse man appointed to succeed him ; but 
 there was no need of making any new appoint- 
 ment ; for Cunningham, their provost mar- 
 shal, and Keef, his deputy, were as great ras- 
 cals as their army could boast of, except one 
 Joshua Loring, an infamous tory, who was 
 Commissary of prisoners; nor can any of 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 137 
 
 these be supposed to be equally criminal with 
 Gen. Sir William Howe and his associate^, 
 who prescribed and directed the murders and- 
 cruelties, which were by them perpetrated. 
 This Loring is a monster ! — There is not his 
 like in human shape. He exhibits a smiling 
 countenance, seems to wear a phiz of human- 
 ity, but has been instrumentally capable of the 
 most consummate acts of wickedness, which 
 were first projected by an abandoned British 
 council, clothed with the authority of a Howe, 
 murdering' premeditatedly, in cold bloochnear 
 or quite two thousand helpless prisoners, and 
 that in the most clandestine, mean and shame- 
 ful manner, at New- York. He is the most 
 mean spirited, cowardly, deceitful, and des- 
 tructive animal in God's creation below, and 
 legions of infernal devils, w^ith ail their tre- 
 mendous horrors, are impatiently ready tp 
 receive Howe and him, with all their detest- 
 able accomplices, into the most exquisite ag- 
 onies of the hottest region of hell fire.* 
 
 * The publishers would suppress some of the language 
 and expressions Col. Allen occasionally makes use of; 
 
 • M 2 •" 
 
138 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 The 6tli day of July, 1777, Gen. St. Clair, 
 and the army under his command, evacuated 
 Ticonderoga, and retreated with the main 
 body through Hubbardton into Castleton, 
 which was but six miles distance, when his 
 rear- guard, commanded by Col. Seth War- 
 ner, was attacked at Hubbardton by a body of 
 the enemy of about two thousand, command- 
 ed by General Fraser. Warner's command 
 consisted of his own and two other regiments, 
 viz. Francis's and Hale's, and some scatter- 
 ing and enfeebled soldiers. His whole num- 
 ber, according to information, was near or 
 quite one thousand; part of which were Green 
 Mountain Boys ; about seven hundred out of 
 tlje whole he brought into action. The ene- 
 luv advanced boldlv, and the two bodies form- 
 ed within about sixty yards of each other. 
 Col. Warner having formed his own regi- 
 ment, and that of Col. Francis's, did not wait 
 for the enemy, but gave them a heavy fire 
 
 hut, presiimmg the reader to make all reasonable allow- 
 ance both for the style, and toe matter, it was thought 
 litest eligible to give the narrative in the very dress fur- 
 bished by the author. 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 139 
 
 from his whole line, and they returned it with 
 great bravery. It was by this time danger- 
 ous for those of both parties, who were not 
 prepared for the world to come ; but Colonel 
 Hale being apprised of the danger, never 
 brought his regiment to the charge, but left 
 Warner and Francis to stand the blowing of 
 it, and fled, but luckily fell in with an incon- 
 siderable number of the enemv, and to his 
 eternal shame, surrendered himself a pris- 
 oner.* 
 
 The conflict was very bloodv. Col. Fran- 
 CIS fell in the same, but Col. Warner, and the 
 officers under his command, as also the sol- 
 diery, behaved with great resolution. The 
 enemy broke, and gave way on the right and 
 left, but formed again, and renewed the at- 
 tack ; in the mean time the British grenadiers, 
 in the centre of the enemy's line, maintained 
 the ground, and finally carried it with the 
 point of the bayonet, and Warner retreated 
 with reluctance. Our loss was about thirty 
 men killed, and that of the enemy amounting 
 
 * See note in pages 124 and 125. 
 
140 COL. E. Allen's observations^ 
 
 to three hundred killed, mchiding a Major 
 Grant. The enemy's loss I learnt from the 
 confession of their own officers, when a pris- 
 oner with them. I heard them likewise com- 
 plain, that the Green Mountain Boys took 
 sight. The next movement of the enemy, 
 of anv material consequence, Avas their invest- 
 ing Bennington,^" with a design to demolish 
 it, and subject its Mountaineers, to which 
 they had a great aversion, Vv^ith one hundred 
 and fifty chosen men, including tories, with the 
 highest expectation of success, and having 
 chosen an eminence of strong ground, forti: 
 
 * The Americans had collected a qus.ntity of stores at 
 Bennington ; to destroy which as well as to animate the 
 royalists and intimidate the patriots, general iku^goync 
 detached colonel Baum, with five hundred men and one 
 hundred Indians. Colonel Breyman was sent to rein- 
 force him, but did not arrive in time. On the 16th of 
 August, general Stark, with about eight hundred brave 
 militia men, attacked colonel Baum, in his entrenched 
 camp about six miles from Bennington, and killed or 
 took prisoners nearly the whole detachment. Thenextday 
 colonel Breyman was attacked and defeated. In jicse 
 actions, the Americans took about seven hundred prison- 
 ers and these successes served to revive the spirits of 
 the people. This success liowever was in part counter- 
 balanced by the advantfiges gained on the Mohawk by 
 colonel St. Leger ; but this officer, atta.cking fort Stan- 
 wix, was repelled, and obliged to abandon the attempt. 
 
DvURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 141 
 
 cd it v/lth slight breast works, and two pieces 
 of cannon ; but the government of the young 
 state of Vermont, being previously jealous of 
 such an attempt of the enemy, and in due 
 time had procured a number of brave militia 
 from the government of the state of New- 
 Hampshire, v/ho, together with the militia of 
 the north part of Berkshire county, and 
 state of Massachusetts, and the Green Moun- 
 tain Boys, constituted a body of despera- 
 does,* under the command of the intrepid 
 Gen. Stark, who in number were about equal 
 to the enemy. Col. Herrick, w^ho command- 
 ed the Green Mountain Rangers, and who 
 was second in command, being thoroughly 
 acquainted wdth the ground where the ene- 
 my had fortified, proposed to attack them m 
 their works upon all parts, at the same time. 
 This plan being adopted by the General and 
 his council of war, the little militia brigade 
 of undisciplined heroes, with their long brown 
 firelocks, the best security of a free people, 
 without either cannon or bayonets, was, on 
 
 * Nothing more is meant by this expression tlian ^ 
 brave and resolute band. 
 
142 COL. E. Allen's observatioxs, 
 
 the 16th day of August, led on to the attack 
 by theu' bold commanders, in the flice of the 
 enemy's dreadful fire, and to the astonishment 
 of the world, and burlesque of discipline, car- 
 ried every part of their lines in less than one 
 quarter of an hour after the attack became 
 general, took their cannon, killed and capti- 
 vated more than two thirds of their number, 
 which immortalized Qen. Stark, and made 
 Bennington famous to posterity. 
 
 Among the enemy's slain was found Col. 
 Baum, their commander, a Col. Pfester, who 
 headed an infamous p-ans: of tories, and a 
 large part of his command ; and among the 
 prisoners was Major Meibome, their sec- 
 ond in command, a number of British and 
 Hessian officers, surgeons, &c. and more 
 than one hundred of the aforementioned Pfes- 
 ter's command. The prisoners being collect- 
 ed together, were sent to the meeting house 
 in the town, by a strong guard, and General 
 Stark not imagining any present danger, the 
 militia scattered from him to rest and refresh 
 themselves ; in this situation he w^as on a 
 sudden attacked by a reinforcement of one 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 143 
 
 thousand and oiie hundred of the enemy, 
 commanded by a Gov. Skene, with two field 
 pieces : They advanced in regular order, 
 and kept up an incessant lire, especially from 
 their field pieces, and the remaining militia 
 retreating slowly before them, disputed the 
 CTOund inch by inch. The enemy were 
 heard to halloo to tliem, saying, stop Yan- 
 kees. In the mean time, Col. Warner, with 
 about one hundred and thirty men of his re- 
 giment, Vv'ho were not in the first action, ar- 
 rived and attacked the enemy v/ith great fury, 
 being determined to have ample revenge on 
 account of the quarrel at Hubbardton, which 
 brought them to a stand, and soon after Gen. 
 Stark and Col. Herrick, brought on more of 
 the scattered militia, and the action became 
 general ; in a few minutes the enemy were 
 forced from their cannon, gave way on all 
 parts and fled, and the shouts of victory were 
 a second time proclaimed in favor of the mi- 
 litia. The enemy's loss in killed and prison- 
 ers, in these two actions, amounted to more 
 than one thousand and two hundred men, and 
 our loss did not exceed fifty men. This was 
 
144 COL. E. allbn's observations, 
 
 a bitter stroke to the eneni}^, but their pride 
 would not permit them to hesitate but that 
 they could vanquish the country, and as a 
 specimen of their arrosrancv, I shall insert 
 General Burgoyne's proclamation. 
 
 " By John Burgoync, Esq. Lieutenant- 
 General of his Majesty's armies in America, 
 Colonel of the Queen's regiment of light 
 dragoons, Governor of fort William in North- 
 Britain, one of the Representatives of the 
 Commons of Great Britain in Parliament, 
 and commanding an army and fleet employ- 
 ed on an expedition from Canada, &c. &c. &:c. 
 
 '* The forces entrusted to my command 
 are designed to act in concert and upon a 
 common principle, with the numerous armies 
 and fleets which already display in every 
 quarter of America, the power, the justice, 
 and, when properly souglit, the mercy of the 
 Kine:. 
 
 " The cause, in which the British arms arc 
 thus exerted, applies to the most afiecting in- 
 terests of the human heart ; and the military 
 servants of the crown, at first called forth for 
 the sole purpose of restoring the rights of the 
 
BURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 145 
 
 eonstitution, now combine with love of their 
 country, and duty to their sovereign, the oth- 
 er extensive incitements vv^hich spring from a 
 due sense of the general privileges of man- 
 kind. To the eyes and ears of the temper- 
 ate part of the public, and to the breasts of 
 suffering thousands in the provinces, be the 
 melancholy appeal,whether the present unnat- 
 ural rebellion has not been made a founda- 
 tion for the completest system of tyranny 
 that ever God, in his displeasure, suffered for 
 a time to be exercised over a fro ward and 
 stubborn generation. 
 
 *' Arbitrary imprisonment, conf.scation of 
 property, persecution and torture, unprece- 
 dented in the inquisitions of the RomJsli 
 church, are among the palpable enormities 
 tliat verify the affirmative. These arc inflict- 
 ed by assemblies and committes, who dare 
 to profess themselves friends to liberty, upon 
 the most quiet subjects, without distinction 
 of age or sex, for the sole crime, often for 
 the sole suspicion, of having adhered in prin- 
 ciple to the government under which they 
 v/ere born, and to which, by every tie, divine 
 
146 COL. E. Allen's observations, 
 
 and human, they owe allegiance. To con- 
 summate these shocking proceedings, the 
 profanation of religion is added to the most 
 profligate prostitution of common reason ; 
 the consciences of men are set at nought ; 
 and multitudes are compelled not only to 
 bear arms, but also to swear subjection to an 
 usurpation they abhor. 
 
 " Animated by these considerations ; at 
 the head of troops in the full powers of health, 
 discipline, and valor ; determined to strike 
 where necessary, and anxious to spare where 
 possible, I by these presents invite and ex- 
 hort all persons, in all places where the pro- 
 gress of this army may point } and by the 
 blessing of God I will extend it far, to main- 
 tain such a conduct as may justify me in pro- 
 tecting their lands, habitations and families. 
 The intention of this address is to hold forth 
 security, not depredation to the country. To 
 those whom spirit and principle may induce 
 to partake of the glorious task of redeeming 
 their countrymen from dungeons, and re-es- 
 tablishing the blessings of legal government, 
 I oiTer encouragement and employment ; and 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 147 
 
 tions, I will find means to assist their under- 
 takings. The domestic, the industrious, the 
 infirm, and even the timid inhabitants, I am 
 desirous to protect, provided they remain qui- 
 etly at their houses ; that they do not suffer 
 their cattle to be removed, nor their corn or 
 forage to be secreted or destroyed ; that they 
 do not brcak up their bridges or roads : nor 
 by any other act, directly or indirectly, en- 
 deavour to obstruct the operations of the 
 king's troops, or supply or assist those of the 
 enemy. — Every species of provision brought 
 to my camp, will be paid for at an equitabk 
 rate, and in solid coin, 
 
 ** In consciousness of Christianity, my royal 
 master's clemency, and the honor of soldier- 
 ship, I have dwelt upon this invitation, and 
 wished for more persuasive terms to give it 
 impression : And let not people be led tQ 
 disregard it, by considering their distance 
 from the immediate situation of my camp.— ^ 
 I have but to give stretch to the Indian forces 
 under my direction, and they amount to thous- 
 ands, to overtake the hardened enemies of 
 Great-Britain and America : I consider them 
 the same wherever they may lurk. 
 
148 COL, E. Allen's observations, 
 
 ** If, notwithstanding these endeavours, and 
 sincere inclinations to ellect them, the phren-i 
 sy of hostility should remain, I trust I shall 
 stand acquitted in the eyes of God and men, 
 
 in denonnciii Grand exccutiuE^ the ven^^eancc 
 
 o o o 
 
 of the state against the v/ilful outcasts. — The 
 Jiiessengcrs of justice and of wrath await 
 tliem in the field ; and devastation, famine, 
 ^nd everv concomitant horror that a reluc- 
 tant but indispensible prosecution of military 
 duty must occasion, will bear the way to their 
 TCtum. J. BURGOYNE. 
 
 ^* By order of his excellency the Lieut. 
 General, Robt. Kingston, 
 
 Secret an/, 
 '' Camp near Ticonderoga^ 4th July^ Yill. 
 
 Gen. Burg'oyne v/as still the toast, and the 
 severities towards the prisoners were in great 
 TiicaBure increased or diminislied, in propor- 
 tion to the expectation of conquest. His 
 very ostentatious Proclamation was in the 
 hand and mouth of most of the soldiery, espe- 
 cially the tories, and from it, their faith was 
 raised to assurance. — I v/ish my countrymen 
 ia general could but have an idea of the as- 
 
DURING KIS CAPTIVITY. 149 
 
 suming tyrann}', and haughty, malevolent, and 
 insolent behavior of the enemy at that time ; 
 and from thence discern the intolerable calam- 
 ities which this country have extricated them- 
 selves from by their public spiritedness and 
 bravery. — The downfall of Gen. Burgoyne ;^ 
 and surrender of his whole army, dashed the 
 aspiring hopes and expectations of the enemy, 
 and brought low the imperious spirit of an 
 opulent, puissant and haughty nation, and 
 made the tories bite the ground with an- 
 guish, exalting the valor of the free-born sons 
 
 * General Burgoyne, after collecting his forces and 
 stores, crossed tlie Hudson with a view to penetrate to 
 Albany. But the American army being reinforced dai» 
 ly, held him in check at Saratoga. General Gates now 
 took the command, and was aided by the generals Lin- 
 coln and Arnold. On the 19 th of September, the Amcr» 
 icans attacked the British army, and with such bravery, 
 that the enemy could boast cf no advantage, and night 
 put an end to the action. The loss of the enemy was 
 about five hundred. General Burgoyne was confined in 
 a narrow pass — -having the Hudson on one side and im- 
 passable woods on tlie other — a body of Americans wai 
 in liis rear — his boats he had ordered to be burnt, and he 
 could not retreat— while an army of thirteen thousand 
 men opposed him in front. On the 7th of October, the 
 armies came to a second action, in which the Bi iush lost 
 general Frazer, with a great number of oracers and men, 
 and were driven within their lines. On the part of the 
 Americans the loss was not great, but generals Lin- 
 coln and Arnold were wounded. "^ Wcts.Ekm, 
 
 N 9. 
 
150 COL. z. Allen's obs^ervations, 
 
 of America, and raised their fame and that of 
 their brave commanders to the clouds, and 
 immortalized Gen. Gates with laurels of 
 eternal duration.— No sooner had the knowl- 
 edge of this interesting and mighty event 
 reached His Most Christian Majesty,* who in 
 Europe shines with a superior lustre in good- 
 ness, policy and arms, but the illustrious pot- 
 entate, auspiciously influenced by Heaven to 
 promote the reciprocal interest and happiness 
 of the ancient kingdom of France, and the 
 new and rising states of America, passed the 
 great and decisive decree, that the United 
 States of America, should be free and inde- 
 pendent. — Vaunt no more, Old England ! 
 consider you are but an island ! and that your 
 power has been continued longer than the ex- 
 ercise of your humanity. Order your brok- 
 en and vanquished battalions to retire from 
 America, the scene of your cruelties. Go 
 home and repent in dust and sackcloth for 
 your aggravated crimes. The cries of be- 
 
 * The colonel, it seems, though professedly a staunch 
 >^hig', can, when good occasion offers, speak well of 
 
 kings. 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 151 
 
 reaved parents, widows, and orphans, reach 
 the Heavens, and you are abominated by eve- 
 ry friend to America. Take your friends 
 the tories with you, and be gone, and drink 
 deep of the cup of humiliation. Make peace 
 with the princes of the house of Bourbon,* 
 for you are in no condition to wage war with 
 them. Your. veteran soldiers are fallen in 
 America, and your glory is departed. Be qui- 
 et and pay your debts, especially for the hire 
 of the Hessians. There is no other way for 
 you to get into credit again, but by reforma- 
 tion and plain honesty, which you have des- 
 pised ; for your power is by no means suffi- 
 cient to support your vanity. I have had op- 
 portunity to see a great deal of it, and felt its 
 severe effects, and learned lessons of wisdom 
 and policy, when I wore your heavy ironsj 
 and bore your bitter revilings and reproach- 
 
 * The author, when writing the above, would scarcely 
 have credited the tale, had he been told it, that England 
 would be a flourishing and pov/erful nation after the 
 house of Bourbon should be humbled in the dust. But 
 such appears to be the fact ; and the new dynasty of Bo- 
 naparte, after destroying every vestige of the rightful 
 claimants to the throne is embracing in the extending, 
 circle of its supremacy, every power in Europe, it i% 
 feared, except England. 
 
152 COL. E. Allen's oeservations^ 
 
 es. I have something of a smattering of phi- 
 losophy, and understand human nature in all 
 its stages tolerably well ; am thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with your national crimes, and as- 
 sure you that they i:0t only cry aloud for 
 Heaven's vengeance, but excite mankind to 
 rise up against you. Virtue, wisdom and 
 policy are, in a national sense, Always connec- 
 ted with power, or in other words, power is 
 their olFspring, and such power as is not direc- 
 ted by virtue, wisdom and policy, never fails 
 fmally to destroy itself as yours has done. — 
 It is so in the nature of things, and unfit that 
 it should be otherwise ; for if it was not so, 
 vanity, injustice, and oppression, might 
 reign triumphant forever. I know you have 
 individupJs, who still retain their virtue, and 
 consequently their honor and humanity. 
 Those I really pity, as they must more or less 
 suffer in the calamity, in which the nation is 
 plunged headlong ; but as a nation I hate 
 and despise you. 
 
 My affections are Frenchified. — I glory iii 
 Louis the sixteenth, the generous and power- 
 ful ally of these states ; am fond of a connec- 
 tion with so enterprizing, learned, polite, 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 153 
 
 eourteous, and commercial a nation, and am 
 sure that I express the sentiments and feelings 
 of all the friends to the present revokition. I 
 begin to learn the French tongue, and rec- 
 ommend it to my countri'men before He- 
 brew, Greek or Latin, (provided but one of 
 them only are to be attended to) for the trade 
 and commerce of these states in future must 
 inevitably shift its channel from England to 
 France, Spain, and Portugal ; and therefore 
 the statesman, politician and merchant, need 
 be acquainted with their several languages, 
 particularly the French, which is much in 
 vogue in most parts of Europe. Nothing 
 could have served so effectually to illuminate^ 
 polish, and enrich these states as the present 
 revolution, as well as preserve their liberty* 
 Mankind are naturally too national, even 
 to a degree of bigotry, and commercial inter- 
 course with foreign nations, has a great and 
 necessary tendency to improve mankind, 
 and erase the superstition of the mind by ac- 
 quainting them that human nature, policy and 
 interest, are the same in all nations, and at 
 the same time they are bartering commodi- 
 ties for the conveniences and happiness of 
 
154 COL. E. axlen's gbservations, 
 
 each nation, they may reciprocally exchange 
 such part of their customs and manners as 
 may be beneficial, and learn to extend chari- 
 ty and good will to the ^vholc world of man- 
 kind. 1 was confined in the provost- gaol 
 
 at New- York the 26th day of August, and 
 continued there to the third day of May, 
 1778, when I was taken out under guard, and 
 conducted to a sloop in the harbour at Newr 
 York, in which I was guarded to Staten- Isl- 
 and, to ^Gen. Campbell's nuarters. where. I 
 was admitted to eat and drink Vvith the Gen* 
 and several other of the British field officers, 
 and treated for two days in a polite manner. 
 As I v/as drinking wine with them one even- 
 ing, I made an observation on my transition 
 from the provost-criminals to the company of 
 gentlemen, adding that I was the same man 
 still, and should give the British credit by 
 him (speaking to the Gen.) for two days good 
 usage. 
 
 The next day Col. Archibald Campbell, 
 who was exchanged for me, came to this 
 place, conducted by Mr. Boudinot, the then 
 American commissary of prisoners, and sa- 
 luted me in aha^idsome manner, sayinsr that 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVITY. 155 
 
 he never was more glad to see any gentle- 
 man in his life, and I gave him to under- 
 stand that I was equally glad to see him, and 
 was apprehensive that it was from the same 
 motive. The gentlemen present laughed at the 
 fancy, and conjectured that sweet liberty was 
 the foundation of our gladness ; so we took a 
 glass of wine together, andtheni was accompa- 
 nied by gen. Campbell, col. CampbellMr. Bou- 
 dinot, and a number of British officers, to the 
 boat, which was ready to sail to Elizabeth- 
 town-point. Mean while I entertamed them 
 with a rehearsal of the cruelties exercised to- 
 wards our prisoners ; and assured them that 
 I should use my influence, that their prison- 
 ers should be treated in future in the same 
 manner, as they should in future treat ours ,; 
 that I thought it was right in such extreme 
 cases, that their example should be applied 
 to their own prisoners ; then exchanged the 
 decent ceremonies of compliment, and part- 
 ed. I sailed to the point aforesaid, and, in a 
 transport of joy, landed on liberty ground,^ 
 
 * To appreciate the real value of any of the pleasures 
 of life,.it is necessaey? perhaps, to be for a while deprired 
 
156 COL. E. Allen's obsehvations, 
 
 and, as I advanced into the country, received 
 the acclamations of a grateful people. 
 
 I soon fell into company with Col. Shelden, 
 of the light horse, who in a polite and oblig- 
 ing manner accompanied me to head-quarters, 
 Valley Forge, where I w^as courteously re- 
 ceived by Gen. Washington, with peculiar 
 marks of his approbation and esteem, and 
 was introduced to most of the generals, and 
 many of the principal officers of the army, 
 who treated me with respect, and after hav- 
 ing offered Gen. Washington my farther ser- 
 Tice, in behalf of my country, as soon as my 
 
 of them. Hunger, though an unpleasant sensation, gives 
 us a most excellent relish for a well furnished repast ; 
 and the bird, who has recently escaped the confinement 
 of the fowier, cleaves the sstherwith lighter pinions than 
 his feilow, who has long; hopped, languidly? from spray 
 to spray, unconscious of tlie pains of captivity. After 
 such a recital of woes as the reader has vv'itnessed, he will 
 think that the feelinpjs of Col. Allen on his arrival, must 
 have nearly repaid him for the cruelty of his suficrings, 
 iind the length of his continemcnt. 
 
 ** Swift as I move, where earth's blest blessings dwell, 
 
 What glad presentiments my bosom swell! 
 
 What recollections ! Memory's power restores, 
 
 Home of my chiUhood, thy beloved shores ! 
 
 Fair, bursting through oblivion's mist, appear 
 
 Thy deep-gr«£n vales, hold hills, and fountains clear.'* 
 
 Home, afoon^ 
 
DURING HIS CAPTIVIXr. 157 
 
 health, ^^aich was- very much impaired, would 
 admit, and obtain his licence to return home, 
 I took my leave of his excellency, and set 
 out from Valley Forge with Gen. Gates and 
 Jiis suit for Fish Kill, wher< we arrived the 
 latter end of May. In this tour the Gen. 
 %vas pleased to treat me with the familiarity 
 of a companion, and generosity of a lord, and 
 to him I made known some striking circum- 
 stances which occurred in the course of my 
 captivity.— I then bid farewell to my noble 
 Gen. and the gentlemen of his retinue, and 
 set out for Bennington, the capital of the 
 Green Mountain Boys, where I arrived the 
 evening of the last day of May to their great 
 surprise ; for I was to them as one rose from 
 the dead, and now both their joy and mine 
 was complete. Three cannon were fired that 
 evening, and next morning Col. Herrick gave 
 orders, and fourteen more were discharged, 
 welcoming me to Bennington, my usual place 
 of abode ; thirteen for the United States, and 
 one for young Vermont. 
 
 ^14888 362 
 
lis coi. E. allem's observations, &c. 
 
 After this ceremony was ended we moved 
 the flowing bowl, and rural felicity, sweeten- 
 ed with friendship, glowed in each counte- 
 nance, and with loyal healths to the rising 
 States of America, concluded that evening, 
 and, with the same loyal spirit, 
 
 I ^VTF 
 
 CONCLUDE MY NARRATIVE. 
 
subscribers' names. 
 
 Of the following list of subscribers the titles are omitted. W 
 intended publishing a complete catalogue of the names q 
 those who have subscribed for the work. But as many o^ 
 the papers were tiot returned in season.^ it was found to bt 
 impossible without a delay of its publication. 
 
 Jona. Atherton, Cavendish. 
 James D. Brown, Windsor. 
 M. R. Bartlett, Boston. 
 Clark Brown, Montpelier. 
 S. Boynton, do. 
 
 J. Bellows, Jun. Walpole. 
 J. Bellows, 2d. do. 
 
 Salmon Bellows, do. 
 J. G. Bond, Keene. 
 Ira Blake, Chester. 
 Guy Bridgman, Guilford, 
 A. Cady, Keene. 
 Watson Crosby, Brattleboro' 
 Silas W. Cobb, Montpelier. 
 S. Churchill, Woodstock. 
 S. Button, Jun. Cavendish. 
 S. Day, Montpelier. 
 S. Dewey, do. 
 
 James Dean, do. 
 Parley Davis, do. 
 S. Dinsmoor, Keene. 
 J. Emerson, do. 
 S. Elliot, Brattleboro*. 
 N. Estabrook, Andover. 
 Silvester Forbes, Windsor. 
 Jesse Fletcher, Ludlow. 
 R. Fletcher, Cavendish. 
 Joel French, Montpelier. 
 Isaac Freeman, do. 
 Geo. Grlsv/old, Flanover. 
 John Grout, Acworth. 
 T. W. Hal!, Cornish. 
 R. Healy, Acv/orth. 
 U. C. Hatch, Cavendish. 
 
 J. R. Hammond, Mount Holly 
 Jona. Hunt, Hanover. 
 H. Hitchcock, Windsor. 
 
 F. Hunter, do. 
 R. Hubbard, Sullivan. 
 
 G. H. Hall, Brattleborough. 
 p. C. Higgins, do. 
 
 F. Holbrook, do. 
 L. Joy, 2d. do. 
 E. Joslin, Keene. 
 
 B. Joyner, Montpelier. 
 E. Ives, Ludlow. 
 
 E. Kilburn, Walpole. 
 A. Knapp, Berlin. 
 S. Osgood, Hanover. 
 
 A. Parker, Cavendish. 
 John Parker, do. 
 
 J. Proctor, do. 
 S. Prentiss, Walpole. 
 S. Prouty, Langdon. 
 W. Ripley, Cornish. 
 T. Shipley, Keene. 
 T. Stone, Cavendish. 
 N.R. Smith, Walpole. 
 L. Tuttle, Bellows' Falls. 
 
 G. Taylor, Burke. 
 
 C. Webb, Rockingham, 
 L. Weld, Guilford. 
 
 J. Wells, Keene. 
 
 B. W^illey, Walpole. 
 
 J. Wellman, jr. Ccrnish. 
 J. Woodman, Newgrantlif.m. 
 J. WhitCj Newpon. 
 
«- • » A ^^ 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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