i' ■ ,; . ;^^y 
 
 LAKE GEORGE 
 
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 'a 
 
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A NARRATIVE OF EVENTS 
 
 LAKE GEORGE, 
 
 FROM THE EARLY COLONIAL TIMES 
 
 TO THE CLOSE OF THE 
 
 REVOLUTION. 
 
 B Y B'^^'J-'f D E COSTA. 
 
 •I 
 
 N E W Y O R K . 
 
 1868. 
 
 > 
 
No._A^ 
 
 S event y -five copies printed. 
 
 
THIS work contains the substance of a paper read be- 
 fore the New York Historical Society. It is designed 
 to give a plain statement of the chief events that occurred 
 at Lake George, during the period intervening between 
 its discovery by the French, and the termination of the 
 war for American Independence. The fragmentary mate- 
 rials used have been gathered from many different sources, 
 yet it is believed that no essential fact has been omitted, 
 through negligence or want of patient research. It would 
 prove an easy task to compile a large volume from the 
 Englisli and French reports, yet it was the author's design 
 to com))ross the material into a small space for a special 
 use. There are, nevertheless, periods in the history of 
 Lake George that have left no record ; while it should be 
 observed that a full history of the Lake would embrace 
 the history of a large portion of the state of New York. 
 
 Stuvvesant Park, New York, 18iJ8. 
 
COLONIAL DAYS 
 
 P A K T I . 
 
 |IIE existence of Lake George was first 
 made kuown to Europeans by the French. 
 In July, 1609, Champhiin ascended the 
 St. Lawrence, in company with a party 
 of lluroiis and Algonquins, and sailed across the 
 lake which now bears his name. He had joined 
 these Indians in an expedition against the 'hostile 
 Iroquois, for the purpose of gaining their good will. 
 As they proceeded on the way, the Indians described 
 the country to be traversed, and the region which was 
 inhabited by their enemies. Champlain says, " The 
 Indians told me . . . that we must pass by a water- 
 fall, which I afterwards saw^ and then enter another 
 lake three or four leagues long." That lake was 
 Lake George, the outlet of which, at Ticonderoga, 
 forms a beautiful fall. This bold explorer never 
 saw the lake itself." Encountering their enemies 
 
 {!) — Doc. His. N. Y., Vol. iii. p. 5. (2) — Charlevoix has been 
 quoted by various authors, as saying that Champlain passed the rapids 
 and sailed up Lake St. Sacrament; yet Charlevoix says nothing of 
 the kind. His account of the matter indicates precisely the contrary. 
 In the face of Champlain's own statement, Lossing iv/ers that he 
 crossed the lake and went as far south as Glen's JFalls. Field Book, 
 Vol.i. p. 108. ' 
 
6 COLONIAL DAYS. 
 
 near Crown Point, whither they had come to meet 
 them, the Hurons and their confederates gained an 
 easy victory by means of the arquebus of Champhxin, 
 and returned with ten or twelve prisoners. 
 
 The first white man who is known to have seen 
 Lake George was Father Jogues.' May 29, 1646, he 
 was on his way to the Mohawk country, to perfect a 
 treaty. Attended by Jean Bourdon, the engineer, who 
 was one of the principal residents of Quebec, he ar- 
 rived in a canoe at the outlet of the lake on the eve of 
 the festival of Coy-jrus Christi^^ and named it Lac du 
 St.. Sacrement? Lake of the Blessed Sacrament. By 
 the Iroquois it had been known as Andiartarocte,* 
 wliicli meant the Tail of the Lake, i. e. the place where 
 Lake Chamjjlain closes. The next day they continued 
 their course southward, on foot, " with great fatigue, 
 for they had to carry on their backs their bundles and 
 baggage." The Algonquin guides were forced to leave 
 a great portion of their baggage on the border of the 
 lake. 
 
 (!) — Isaac Jogues, a member of the Society of Jeeup, was boru in 
 Orleans, France, in 1607, and lell a martyr to the Faith in 1646. being 
 cruelly murdered by the Mohawks, among whom he was laboiing as 
 a missionary. He was the lirst Roman Catholic missionary to enter 
 the State of New York. When lie left Canada to go on liis mission, 
 he had a presentiment of his coming fate, saying, Iho, nee redibo, 
 (2) — A festival kept on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, in 
 commemoration of the supposed Real Presence of Christ in the Sacra- 
 ment. (3) — In giving it this name, the reference was 7!oMo the purity 
 of the water. It was wholly in honor of the festival. ScGJlefatiimsdes 
 JesuUes, 1646, p. 15. (4) — Father Bruyasin his MS. work on Mohawk 
 Jtadicals, says: " Ganniatarc, & \ake: Ganniatariakte, I pass it with 
 something." Potier, in his Huron Grammar, mentions un and nd as 
 convertible. Hence tlie form Gavdiiritare. Garocte means, " Go 
 quickly." The name *' Horikan " — Silvery Water — lias no authority, 
 and is simply a fancy of Cooper's. 
 
COLONIAL 1) A V S . 7 
 
 The_y readied their destination, accomplished their 
 object, and, June 1 G, started on their return. The Re- 
 lation says : " They travelled several days by land, not 
 without trouble, for they had, like Aiabian horses, to 
 carry their victuals and baggage, the brooks being the 
 only taverns to be met with. Arriving on the border 
 of Lake St. Sacrament, they made canoes, or small 
 boats, with bark ; and setting out in them, they pad- 
 dled and sailed until the twenty-seventh of the same 
 month of June, and then landed at the first French 
 habitation."' 
 
 Father Jogues, therefore, was probably the first 
 European who sailed upon the waters of the beautiful 
 Lake of the Holy Sacrament. 
 
 It is true that others of the Fathers travelled 
 in the vicinity about this time. Among them was 
 Father Bressani, who was carried away captive by the 
 Mohawks in 1644; but he says nothing in his Eela- 
 tion- about the lake. 
 
 The map published by the Jesuits in 1 004. indeed, 
 has a dotted trail from the south end of Lake St. 
 Sacrament to the Mohawk villages ; yet the absurd 
 form given to the lake shows that whoever made the 
 map had never sailed upon its waters. The trail laid 
 down was probably the course pursued by the Indians. 
 Father Poncet,^ who was made a prisoner by the 
 
 (1) — Relation 1646, p. 18. Father Jogues hap been represented {see 
 Brodhead's New York, p. 423) as returning by the " same route " that 
 he came. The authority given is Father Tanner's curious Latin worli, 
 compiled chieiiy from the Relations. On this point he is clearly 
 wrong, as well as in regard to the date of Father Jogues' return, 
 nbich was on the 17th, and not the 16tb, of June. (2) — Col. Doc, 
 7x. 46. ndations des Jcsuitcs, 1665, Vol. iii. p. 6. (3) — ib., 1653, 
 Vol. p. n. 
 
O COLONIAL DAYS. 
 
 Iroquois in 1652, is silent respecting the lake. Father 
 LeMoyne, who wrote four years later, maintains the 
 same reticence. 
 
 January 30, IGGG, the French operations became 
 active, and Courcelles, Governor of Canada, left Fort 
 St. Theresa to attack the IMohawks near the banks of 
 the Hudson, but he returned February 12, without in- 
 flicting much injury upon the enemy. Later in the 
 year, about the 1st of July, Sorel marched on the same 
 errand, and while on his way met a deputation of 
 Indians who were going to Montreal to effect a peace. 
 Accordingly he returned, and on the 12th of the 
 month a treaty was made with the Oneidas, it being 
 agreed to " open a trade and commerce by the Lake 
 du Saint Sacrement."' 
 
 September 14, Tracy, then Viceroy of Canada, find- 
 ing the Mohawks extremely troublesome, sent the 
 Governor, Courcelles, with a considerable force, to 
 destroy their forts and villages. Tracy himself joined 
 the expedition. Considerable success attended their 
 efltbrts, though both the Viceroy and the Governor 
 were disabled by hardship, and were carried back 
 tlie most of the distance by their men, reaching Mon- 
 treal in fifty-three days from the time they set out. 
 The route taken by these expeditions is not noted 
 with accuracy, yet it is highly probable that they 
 passed over Lake St. Sacrament. 
 
 In 1668 Fathers Fremin, Pierron, and Bruyas 
 went up Lake Champlain, and passed south from 
 Ticonderoga by land. Near by the Indians showed 
 
 (1) — Col. Doc; VoLix. p. 46; iii. p. 126. 
 
COLONIAL DAYS. 9 ■ 
 
 them a place where some water-dwellers exchanged 
 iliuts for tobacco. AVe give a translation of the 
 account as narrated by the Fathers themselves. They 
 say: 
 
 " We arrived at three-fourths of a league from the 
 rapids, where Lake St. Sacrament empties. We 
 halted at this place without knowing the reason, 
 except that we saw our Indians pick up at the water's 
 edge, gun-flints almost completely cut. We did not 
 then give it any attention, but we subsequently learned 
 the mystery, for our Iroquois told las that they never 
 foiled to halt at that place to pay homage to a nation 
 of invisible men, who dwelt there at the bottom of the 
 water, and were engaged in preparing gun-flints almost 
 ready for use, for those who passed, provided they 
 rendered them their obeisance by offering them some 
 tobacco. If they gave much they gave the stones 
 liberally. These water-men join canoes like the 
 Iroquois ; and when their great chief plunges into 
 the water to enter his palace, he makes such a loud 
 noise that it fills with terror the minds of all those 
 who are not aware of his great genius.'" 
 
 The Indians conversed ou the subject very seriously ; 
 but the good Fathers explain that these stones, so 
 useful in striking fire, were thrown up by the waves 
 during the storms, and that the invisibles aforesaid 
 have nothing to do with the matter. 
 
 The reverend Father says in the Relation, that while 
 he stopped on an island on Lake Champlain, the rest 
 went forward, the boatmen " landing at the end of the 
 
 {l) — Eelations dcs Jesuites, 1668. Vol. iii. p. 5. 
 
I O COLONIAL D A ^' S . 
 
 Lake dii St. Sacrement, aud preparing for the portage. 
 Each one loads himself with baggage and canoes, in 
 which, re-embarking, [in Lake St. Sacrament] at last, 
 after some paddle-strokes, we left ihem, joyful to have 
 reached the end of the lake, whence there lemained 
 thirty leagues to make by land." 
 r« The language of the Relation is here a little obscure, 
 but he i)robably means that only a part of the Indians 
 re-embarked. We are, however, informed that the 
 Iroquois kept a regular guard at this point. They 
 remembered the expedition of Tracy two years befoie, 
 and "all the country of the Iroquois was then in 
 apprehension of a new army, so that fourteen men 
 were continually on the watch at the end of the lake 
 to discover the march of the army and give prompt 
 news to all the nation, that they might set ambushes 
 in the woods to attack and cut us in pieces. But 
 instead of enemies," says the Father, " we were angels 
 of peace ; and they, instead of lions, were servants, 
 and helped us to carry our packages. We marched 
 in their company by small days' journeys."' 
 
 We find nothing further of interest, until Waite and 
 Jennings crossed the lake on their way to Canada, to 
 negotiate for the return of the English, who were 
 taken prisoners by the French and Indians at Hatfield 
 and Deerfield. Massachusetts, September 19, 1C77. 
 Under date of December 1.3, following, it is said : 
 " Securing, with some difficulty, an Indian guide on 
 whom they could rely, they proceeded to Lake George, 
 where, finding a canoe, they crossed to the outlet of 
 
 {!) — Itelations ties Jesuites, 16C8. Vol. iii. p. C. 
 
COLONIAL PAYS. II 
 
 th;it lake in three days."' From thence they went on 
 to St. .John's, and at once found a part of the pris- 
 oners. 
 
 In 1G90, hostilities being threatened between the 
 French and English, the former at Montreal, Baucroft, 
 says, were frequently alarmed by reports that the 
 Indians and colonists were building canoes and de- 
 scending Lake St. Sacrament.- But on June 21, of 
 the next year, the English moved in earnest, and 
 Major John Schuyler left Albany to attack Fort La- 
 praire. His force consisted of two hundred and sixty 
 whites and friendly Indians, of wliich inimber no less 
 than sixty-eight were killed and wounded before liis 
 return. 
 
 His expedition attracted much attention at the time, 
 but resulted in little real good. During this expe- 
 dition he sent scouting-parties out on Lake St. Sa- 
 crament, as it was then universally called, who ranged 
 up and down its waters." The expedition of Colonel 
 Philip Schuyler to the same place, the following year, 
 does not appear to have gone nearer the lake than 
 Ticonderoga. 
 
 In 1692 Menteth, who commanded six hundred 
 French, moved during the winter against the Mohawks 
 livin<r south of the Hudson, and defeated them with 
 considerable loss. It is not so clear that he crossed 
 the lake on his way south, yet he returned that way. 
 The French report says, under date of March 2 : 
 " Came to sleep at Lake St. Sacrament ; several of 
 
 (1) — Attack on Hatfield and Decrfield. Bradford Cluh, p. 32. 
 (2) — Bancroft, Vol. iii. p. 184. (3) — Col. Doc, Vol. iii. p. 800. 
 
12 COL O N I A L !) A Y S^ . 
 
 the Indians left us to hunt, and as they alone were 
 master of the prisoners, whom they did not guard very 
 strictly, many of them escaped." 
 
 The next morning they moved on, and on the 4th 
 they arrived at the place where they had [jreviously 
 deposited a quantity of provisions, which they found 
 spoiled. This caused a " universal and most rigid 
 fast." Some of the party boiled theu" moccasins with 
 a few potatoes to satisfy their hunger. They reached 
 Montreal on March 17.' 
 
 Queen Anne's war commenced in 1702, and con- 
 tinued until 1713. During this war the lake was 
 used to some extent, and was, on the whole, the favor- 
 ite route to Canada. It involved a portage at Ticou- 
 deroga, but it was considered by far the most healthy. 
 The war, however, went on for about nine years 
 before the quiet of the lake was seriously disturbed. 
 At that time the colonists prepared to invade Canada, 
 and on August 28 Colonel Nicholson marched with 
 four thousand men, one half of whom were Germans 
 and Indians. But he had scarcely reached the site of 
 the present village of Caldwell, at the head of Lake 
 St. Sacrament, when he heard of the failure of Gen- 
 eral Hill's expedition against C^uebcc, and received 
 orders to return to Albany. 
 
 In 1745 hostilities again broke out with the French, 
 who came down by the way of Lake Champlain and 
 Fort Edward, in the course of the war destroying 
 Saratoga and capturing Fort JMassachusetts, which 
 was situated within the limits of WiUiamstown, Mass. 
 
 (1) — Doc. His. N. Y., Vol. i.\. p. 560. 
 
COLONIAL DAY*. 1 3 
 
 Durini; this war the l.-ike was visited by six hundred 
 Duteli and friendly Indians. The former went on a 
 scout down the lake in canoes, but did not meet with 
 the enemv. Later, the French commander, Devillers, 
 sent scouts to the lake, which he calls " Lake St. 
 Laurent," who reported that thej- found camps and 
 cabins sufficient to accommodate the above-mentioned 
 number of men. The camps appeared as if they had 
 not been left more than a month. Yet the war closed 
 without any hostilities on the lake, which was next 
 used to some extent by Indian smugglers. About 
 this time a party of the Six Nations, who had deserted 
 and established themselves near IMontreal, seem to 
 have monopolized the illicit trading between Albany 
 and Montreal.' On one occasion they saved the life 
 of a captive of another tribe, who had been taken to 
 Crown Point, and carried him in tlieir canoes across 
 Lake St. Sacrament to his home. 
 
 The next year General Johnson, afterwards Sir 
 William Johnson, visited the lake with several tribes 
 of Indians. He tells ns in his account of the Oneidas, 
 that tills tribe often used a tree as a symbol of stability, 
 but that their true symbol is a stone, called Onoga. 
 His visit to the lake was marked only by the setting 
 up of the Indian signs. He writes : " I went on Lake 
 St. Sacrament in ITiC, when, to show the enemy the 
 strength of our Indian alliance, I desired each nation 
 to affix their symbol to a tree, to alarm the French. 
 The Oneidas," he says, " put up a stone, which they 
 painted red."" 
 
 (l)_Colden'8 Five Katioui', Vol. ii. p. 121. (2) — Uoc. His. N. Y., 
 Vol.iv. p.2TL 
 
14 C O I, O X I A 1. 1> A Y s . 
 
 In tlie year 1749 Kalm, the Swedish traveller, 
 intended to pass down the lake, but was finally obliged 
 to go by the way of Whitehall, though he testifies that 
 the common route at that time lay over St. Sacrament, 
 which indicates that the lake was well known. 
 
 We find no record of anything of much interest in 
 connection with the lake from this time forward, until 
 the year 1755, when, on the 28th of August, General 
 Johnson built a military road, and, marching to the 
 lake, encamped at its head with a small army, designed 
 to operate against Crown Point, and repel the aggres- 
 sions of the French, who were now preparing to assert 
 their claims to a large part of the country. Immedi- 
 ately on his arrival he changed the name of the lake, 
 and ordered that it should in the future be known as 
 Lake George, " not only," as he said, " in honor of 
 his Majesty, but to ascertain his undoubted dominion." 
 This change was one that must ever be regretted, 
 since no more beautiful or appropriate name could be 
 suggested than that given by the devout Father Jogues, 
 by which it was known for more than a century. 
 " Lake Jogues," would be preferable to Lake George. 
 
 When Johnson reached the lake he found the whole 
 country covered with primeval woods, where, he says, 
 though not with exact truth, " no house was ever 
 liefore built, not a spot of land cleared." And while 
 he was here engaged in making preparations to 
 advance, the French general, Dieskau, made his 
 appearance near the southern spur of French Moun- 
 tain, with an army of two thousand men, a portion of 
 whom were Indians. 
 
 A council of war was held on the morning of Sep- 
 
COLONIAL I) AYS. 1 5 
 
 tember 8, when it was resolved to send a force to 
 meet the enemy. General Johnson at first proposed 
 a somewhat small number of men for this service ; 
 but the old Mohawk sachem, '■ King Hendrick," a 
 firm friend of the English, declared that the force was 
 insufficient. " If they are to fight," said the chief, 
 " they are too few ; if to be killed, they are too many." 
 Again, when Johnson proposed to divide the force into 
 three parties, he took three sticks, and said : " Put 
 these together and you cannot break them : take them 
 one by one, and you can break them easily." Thus 
 the question was settled, and Colonel Williams was 
 placed in command of twelve hundred men, among 
 whom was a body of Mohawk Indians under Hen- 
 di'ick. 
 
 Colonel Williams met the enemy at a brook four 
 miles east of the lake, where the road to Glen's Falls 
 now passes, and was unfortunately drawn into an 
 ambush laid in the form of a half moon. The enemy 
 ac once opened a galling fire, under which the English 
 force was mowed down like grass. The aged Hen- 
 drick, who rode horseback and directed the movements 
 of his men, fell from his saddle, mortally wounded ; and 
 Colonel Williams was killed by a bullet, while stand- 
 ing on or near a rock, (which is still pointed out,) 
 giving his orders. Colonel Whiting immediately suc- 
 ceeded to the command, and ordered the troops to fall 
 back to the main body at the lake, from whence rein- 
 forcements had already been sent to their aid. This 
 movement was accomplished with coolness, notwith- 
 standing the previous blunder. 
 
 Dieskau rapidly followed, and at eleven o'clock 
 
l6 COLONIAL DAYS. 
 
 reached the eminence where the slight earthwork 
 called Fort Gage was afterwards built. Hoyt, who 
 conversed with several soldiers engaged in the battle, 
 gives an account of their impressions when they saw 
 the disciplined Frenchmen appearing on the hill : 
 " The regulars advanced in a column of platoons, then 
 a novelty to j)rovincial troops, and as the day was fine, 
 their polished arras glittered through the tops of the 
 intervening trees like masses of icicle, multijilying 
 tlieir number ten-fold."^ 
 
 Johnson's camp was situated near the site of the 
 ruins of Fort George, where he had formed a slight 
 breastwork of logs, and was somewhat prepared to 
 meet him. After a brief delay the enemy attacked 
 with much fury, and the battle raged for a period of 
 five hours. Dieskau's Indians, however, feared the 
 artillery of the English, and the French were unable, 
 with all their exertions, to carry the position. Finally 
 they gave up the attempt and retreated, the English 
 Jumping over the breastworks and pursuing for some 
 distance. At sunset the remnant of the French army 
 halted near the scene of the morning engagement, and 
 while refreshing themselves there, were suddenly 
 attacked by two hundred New Hampshire men from 
 Fort Edward, under Captain McGinnis. They were 
 at once routed, and fled in dismay, leaving all their 
 baggage, while the blood of the slaughtered men 
 mingled with the water of a shallow pond, which has 
 since been known as " Bloody Pond." 
 
 General Johnson was wounded earlj' in the engage- 
 
 (1) — Aiitiquariau Uesearclies, p. 276. 
 
C O L O N I A L D AYS. I 7 
 
 nifiit at his cnmp. nnil retired to his tent, tuniiiiir over 
 the command to General Lyman, ^ho stood in the 
 most exposed jjositions, coolly giving his orders and 
 cheering on the men nntil the victory vsas secured. 
 Still. Johnson did not have the magnanimity even to 
 mention Lyman in his despatches, though in his tent 
 he admitted the great value of his services. A con- 
 spiracy' was even formed among certain of the officers 
 to accuse Lyman of cowardice. The conspiracy failed, 
 but that brave man was kept from the enjoyment of 
 his just reward. On the other hand General Johnson 
 obtained great credit, and, in addition to the grant 
 of a large sum of money by Parliament, was created 
 a baronet. 
 
 In this engagement the intrepid Dieskau was 
 woinided- and taken prisoner. His motto — Valor 
 wins — signally failed in this instance. His whole 
 army might have been either destroyed or captured, if 
 the advantage gained had been followed up. Lyman 
 strenuously advocated this policy, but Johnson thought 
 it unsafe. 
 
 The troops engaged were chiefly from New England, 
 New York furnishing only eight hundred. The loss 
 was estimated at about tliree hundred in killed and 
 wounded. The French lost from four to six hun- 
 
 (1) — Kevicw of Mil. Operations in N. A., 1755-6. Scries B, p. 64. 
 (2) — He was wounded twice. Some authorities say tliat the second 
 shot — a severe one in his hips — was given by a renegade Frencli- 
 man : while others aHirm that it was tired by one of the Kuglisli, who, 
 on approaching the wounded general to make him a prisoner, saw 
 him put his hand in his breast as if to draw a pistol, whereas he was 
 simply feeling for hie watch. Dieskau died in Surcuuc, France, from 
 the etfect of his wounds, September 8, 1767. 
 
15 COLONIAL DA Y S . 
 
 dred. They retreated to Crown Point an<l alian- 
 doned the campaign. 
 
 Tliis was tlie first battle fouglit at Lake George. It 
 was of great importance, both inasmuch as it rebuked 
 the arrogant assumptions of the French, and taught 
 them the hopelessness of seeking to divide the common 
 interests. The residt filled the whole country with 
 the wildest joy, and the people everywhere began to 
 take heart. 
 
 Before leaving this subject, however, it may be 
 proper to notice the spirit displayed by New York, 
 then distracted by internal dissensions, and imder 
 the influence of the wrong leaders. The struggle 
 going on was upon New-York ground, and was more 
 especially designed for the protection of her ]ieople. 
 The French power was in the ascendant, and an 
 easy route by water was open between Montreal and 
 the city of New York. The French fully announced 
 their ambitious designs by the estabishment of a fort 
 and colony at Crown Point twentj-five years before ; 
 and yet the people of New York, who at this time 
 numbered not less than 55,000, seemed, on the whole, 
 altogether too willing to yield their backs to the smiter. 
 " But," saj-s Smith, in his history of New York, " a 
 very different spirit prevailed in tlie eastern colonies ; 
 for, upon the southern defeat, Massachusetts added 
 eight hundred, and Connecticut fifteen hundred, men 
 to the forces already under Genei'al Johnson's com- 
 mand."' And when New York complained that tlie 
 funds granted by Parliament to the Colonies were not 
 
 (D — Smilli, Vol.ii. 2GL 
 
COLONIAL I> A Y .S . 1 9 
 
 justly divided, tlio agent sai<l, uniuiio- (itlier things, l)y 
 the way of reply, that the New Englanders had "in a 
 measure become the Swiss of the continent, in which 
 quality they are not unacceptable."^ In fact, this year 
 Massachusetts had every fifth able-bodied man in the 
 field. 
 
 It is true that the figures have been used to show 
 that New York at this time contributed her full quota. 
 Yet, in a crisis like that of 175.5, there was no time to 
 talk of quotas. The knife of the savage was at her 
 throat, but there was no popular uprising ; while 
 Governor DeLancey, who affected considerable zeal, 
 contented himself by sending the home government 
 the preposterous story that New York had furnished 
 three thousand men for Shirley's e.vpedition to Niag- 
 ara. It has been said that if the New England men 
 did the fighting they were paid for it. But if they 
 were paid they were not paid by New York. It 
 would be every way unjust to view the New England 
 troops as mercenaries. " Come," said Pomeroy, who 
 represented the true spirit of New England, " come to 
 the help of the Lord against the mighty ; you that 
 value your holy religion, and your liberties, will spare 
 nothing, even to one half of your estate." 
 
 During the months of October and November, the 
 troops were engaged in building a fort on the site now 
 occupied by the Fort "William Henry Hotel. It was 
 named in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, brother 
 of George III. 
 
 About this time a series of scouting expeditions 
 
 (1) — Smith, Vol. ii. 261. 
 
20 C O I, f) X I A L DAYS. 
 
 was commenced. They were continued at intervals 
 for two or three years. These expeditions were 
 chiefly conducted by Rogers and his Rangers. He 
 was often accompanied by Israel Putnam, who, in the 
 Revolutionary army, ranked nest to Washington. 
 
 October 14, Rogers, Putnam, and a soldier named 
 Butterfield, embarked from Fort "William Henry in a 
 birch canoe for Crown Point, then in possession of the 
 French. They landed nine miles from the outlet of 
 the lake, and then travelled on foot to the vicinity of 
 the fort where they lay in ambush. "At length," they 
 say, "a frenchman Came out Towords lis without 
 his Gun and Came within fifteen Rods of Where we 
 lay then I with another man Run up to him In order 
 to Captivate him — • But he Refused To Take (Juorter 
 so we Kill.d him and Took of his Scalp in plain sight 
 of the fort then Run and in plain view about Twenty 
 Rods and made our Escape."' 
 
 Such is the account signed by Rogers and Putnam ; 
 yet it is hard to believe that an unarmed man would 
 refuse to take quarter, under the circumstances. We 
 must rather put it down as one of those barbarous 
 acts in which Rogers delighted. 
 
 One Captain Doolittle reports that he went on a 
 scout to Ticonderoga, October 24, 1755, and that 
 " after a tedias march over hills and holes we Indoav- 
 oured to Disscover ye french on this side ye Carrying 
 Place but Could not hear of any of ye Chojiing or 
 Sliooting or Druming we went Down To the lake but 
 Could not Disscover them." Crossing over to Ticon- 
 
 (1) — Doc. Hist. K. Y., Vol. i. p. 175. 
 
C O L O N I A I, I) A V S . 2 1 
 
 deroga he saw the Frencli from a distance "light up ye 
 fires and Beat ye Drums there a|i|iears to be about 
 150 Tents [and] some small Boarden llouseu." He 
 afterwards attempted other observations, but a thick 
 fog set in and " our Provision being spent Could 
 tarrer no Longer God knows whether we Ever Get 
 home if we Do I would Humbl}' Present these few 
 Lines to Gen!. Wm. Johnson."' This gives a fair 
 idea of the literary character of these rejjorts. 
 
 October 29, while the autumnal foliage of the lake 
 was still in its glory, Robert Rogers and Israel Putnam 
 went down the lake on a scout. On the 31st they 
 " made a Discovry of a nomber of fires By night Scit- 
 uated on a Point of Land on ye West Side of ye 
 Lake," upon which they landed half a mile distant on 
 the same side. The next morning they sent spies, who 
 found four tents and some fires, whereupon Rogers 
 sent back to Fort William Henry for reinforcements. 
 He then took a boat and went down to within twenty- 
 five rods of their fires, and discovered " a Small Fort 
 with Several Small Log Camps within ye Fort which," 
 he says, " I Judged to Contain about 1-4 of an acre. 
 Said Fort being open towards ye AVater The rest 
 Picketted." The next morning, Putnam, who had also 
 gone over to reconnoitre, returned and reported that 
 the enemy's sentry was posted twenty rods from their 
 fires. Putnam went forward untU he came " so nigh 
 that he was fired upon by one of ye Centeries within 
 a Rod of him. But unfortunately upon Preparing to 
 Fire upon him fell into a Clay Pit and wett his Gun 
 
 (1) — Doc. Hist. N. York, Vol. iv. p. 175. 
 
22 C O L U N I A 1, l> AYS. 
 
 made ye Best retreat he was able, hearing ye Enemy 
 Close to their Heels.'" Afterwards the French rallied 
 and endeavored to bring the English between a cross 
 fire on the lake ; but the latter detected the ruse, 
 launched their batteaux, and opened a tire with the 
 swivels or "wall peices," which were mounted on 
 board. This had the desired effect, and " divers " of 
 the French were killed. Putnam, who at this junc- 
 ture was on the shore, was in great danger again ; but, 
 hurriedly launching his batteau, he joined the rest of 
 the party, though not before the enemy, who made him 
 a special mark, had " Shot thro' his Blanket in Divers 
 Places." Finally, the English " put ym to ye Bush." 
 When they " Got fairly into ye Lake,''' says the 
 report, we " Lay upon Our Oars and Inqtiired after 
 the Circomstances of ye Party. Found none Killed, 
 but one AVounded which Gave Joy to all of us after 
 so Long an Engagement which I Judge was near 2 
 liours."^ Putnam was now in training for the great 
 work that he was afterwards to do in the War of the 
 Revolution. 
 
 The report of James Connor of Colonel Cockcroft's 
 regiment, who went on a scout November .5, shows 
 the location of the stockaded fort which was the scene 
 of Putnam's adventure. It ajjpears that the French 
 had now posted their advance guard on the east side 
 of the Narrows. Connor found their fires on the night 
 of November .5, when he fell back four miles and 
 passed the next night in the mouth of a " little creek " 
 ou the east side — probably Siielving Fall Creek. 
 
 (1) — N. York Doc. Hist., Vol. iv. p. 176. (2) — ib. 
 
C O L O ^' I A L DAYS. 23 
 
 The next day he went with two men over the hills ou 
 the east side of the lake, until he came opposite the 
 fort on the west side, where the lake was about three 
 hundred yards wide. Here they saw the French 
 come down to the water and carry up timber on hand- 
 spikes to the encampment. They also heard " work- 
 men chopping and hammering," and saw "a breastwork 
 round their encampment with pickets.'" 
 
 This was probably what is called Friend's Point, 
 near Anthony's Nose, at least if their estimate of dis- 
 tances is correct. Connor says that he built a fire on 
 an island twenty miles from Fort William Henry, 
 though, according to his own statement, this island 
 must have been south of the Narrows, which are only 
 fourteen miles from the head of the lake. But his 
 account is not perfectly clear, and, possibly, the location 
 of the fort in (juestion was at the more advantageous 
 position afforded by Sabbath Day Point. 
 
 The scouting was carried on by the use of boats 
 until the lake was frozen over, when- it was continued 
 by parties going over the ice with snow-shoes and 
 sleds. 
 
 In 175G the Earl of Loudon assumed the command 
 of the English forces in North America. His plan 
 contemplated a general attack upon the Canadas. 
 One portion of his army was designed to move against 
 Niagara ; another was to attack Fort du Quesne ; a 
 third was to cross the country from Cambridge and 
 operate on the river Chaudiere, while the fourth was 
 to attack Crown Point. In accordance with this plan, 
 
 (1) — N. York Doc. Hist., Vol. iv. p. 178. 
 
24 C O I, O N I A L PAYS. 
 
 six thoiisanil men now assembled near the head of 
 Lake George to attack the latter position. The colo- 
 nial authoi-ities gave the command of this force to 
 General Winslow, before Loudon reached New York ; 
 but when this came to liis knowledge he wished to 
 supersede Winslow by Abercrombie, who was one of 
 the regular officers. Before this and similar disputes 
 could be settled, the season passed away, and the 
 troops were sent back to Albany and New Yoi'k. 
 
 It is universally conceded that Loudon was a weak 
 and inefficient commander, and totally disqualified for 
 the position in which favoritism placed him. If 
 remarkable for anything, it was for his insolence and 
 tyranny ; of the which the citizens of New York had 
 no small experience. Franklin, in his Autobiog- 
 raphy,' gives us a view of his character. It appears 
 that Franklin had occasion to visit Lord Loudon's 
 oHice in New York, where he met a Mr. Innis, who 
 ))r<iught the despatches of Governor Denny from 
 Philadelphia, the answer to which he expected the 
 next day. Meeting him a fortnight afterwards. Dr. 
 Franklin expressed liis surprise because he had not 
 returned. Mr. Innis explained that he had called 
 every day, but the despatches were not ready. " Is it 
 possible," said Franklin, " when he is so great a 
 writer ? I see him constantly at his escritoire." 
 "Yes," said Innis, "but he is like St. George on the 
 signs ; always on horseback, but never rides forward." 
 
 At one time Lovidon had no less than fifty thousand 
 trooiis under his command, of which large number 
 
 (1) — .Spiirks- Lil'o, p. 2J!). 
 
COLONIAL I) A Y S . 25 
 
 fifteen tlionsaud were frnm the Old ]i;iy State, then 
 not at all in danger. With this force, .an able com- 
 mander might have crushed out the entire pojjidation 
 of Canada ; and yet nothing was done for the country. 
 This season, however, there was, as usual, more or 
 less scouting, with frequent attacks by the French and 
 Lidians upon the English teamsters. 
 
 July 7, Rogers, being down the lake with his 
 Rangers, took several French prisoners. This hard- 
 hearted wretch coolly says in his official report, that 
 " one of the wounded could not march ; therefore ])ut 
 put an end to him to prevent discovery."' The cir- 
 cumstances of the case fulh' prove that this barbarous 
 act admitted no justification. 
 
 July 18, Rogers went into the camp, near Sara- 
 toga, " with eight captives and four scalps."- 
 
 But though Loudon did nothing during the summer, 
 the cold season was not allowed to pass in quiet. 
 March 18, 1757, a force of French and Indians under 
 Rigaud, attempted to surprise Fort AVilliam Ilenrj'. 
 After a careful examination of the position, Rigaud 
 found that, owing to the vigilance of the garrison, it 
 would be impossible to storm the fort. Accordingly, 
 he turned his attention to the destruction of the bat- 
 teaux and other vessels, in wliich attempt he was, at 
 first, not very successful. The next day he invested 
 the fort on all sides, and called upon the commander 
 to surrender, which he refused to do, saying that he 
 
 (1) — Doc. Hist., Vol. iv. p. 185. (2) — From the unpublished MS 
 Journal of the Kev. Jolm (iraham, Chaplain to the Connecticut 
 troops. 
 
26 COLONIAL DAYS. 
 
 should defend himself as long as possible. On the 
 next night the French again resorted to the use of 
 fire, and as the English opposed them with only a few 
 shot and shells, they succeeded in burning more than 
 three hundred batteaux, besides three sloojjs that were 
 caught in the ice, and a storehouse filled with provis- 
 ions and munitions of war. The absence of wind on 
 that night saved the fort itself from destruction. The 
 next two nights the snow prevented all operations. 
 On the 2 2d a final attempt was made upon a new 
 sloop on the stocks, whose bowsprit almost touched the 
 bastion of the fort. In this they were successful. 
 They also burned two other storehouses ftdl of provis- 
 ions, the hospital, a saw-mill, and more than twenty 
 buildings.' On the 23d they decamped witli a large 
 amount of plunder. 
 
 Stark was in the fort at the time, and doubtless 
 rendered good service ; but the dramatic story of his 
 saving the garrison from surprise, which is told in his 
 Life, has no foundation in fact. The French did not 
 attempt any assault, nor did they cut holes in the ice 
 to dispose of the bodies of their slain, as that narrative 
 claims." 
 
 Emboldened by Eigaud's success, and influenced by 
 the withdrawal of a large portion of the troops from 
 the vicinity of the lake, who had been ordered away 
 to Louisburg to share in the miserable failure of Lord 
 Loudon, the commander-in-chief, Montcalm, deter- 
 mined to make one more attempt against Fort William 
 
 (D — Col. Doc, Vol. X. p. 571. (2) — Stark's Slcraoir of JoUu 
 Stark, p. 20. Lossiiig's Field liook, Vol. i. p. 110. 
 
COLO S 1 A L 1> A Y S . 2^ 
 
 HeniT. Accordingly, on the 12tli of Jnly following, 
 an army of nine thousand French and Indians, under 
 Montcalm, left Montreal fully equipped, and with a 
 formidable train of artillery. 
 
 The best account of the expedition is given hv an 
 eye-witness, Father Roubaud, who attended the Al>e- 
 nakis Indians as their priest and adviser. He says in 
 his journal :i ""We traversed the length of Lake 
 Champlain, where the dexterity of the Indian furnished 
 us with an amusing spectacle. Standing up in the 
 bow of his canoe, with sjjear in hand, he darted it with 
 wonderful address, and struck the large sturgeons, 
 without their little skiffs, which the least irregular 
 motion would have overturned, appearing to lean 
 in the slightest degree to the right hand or the left. 
 . . . The fisherman alone laid aside his paddle, but in 
 return he was charged to provide for all the others, 
 an office in whose duties he fully succeeded." 
 
 At the end of six days they came iu sight of the 
 fortifications at Ticonderoga, which place had been 
 appointed as a general rendezvous for the forces. As 
 the Indians approached the shore, they arranged them- 
 selves in the order of battle, each tribe under its own 
 ensign. " Two hundred canoes thus formed in beau- 
 tiful order," he saj-s, "furnished a spectacle that caused 
 even the French officers to hasten to the banks." 
 
 "\^niile the army lay at Ticonderoga, several prelim- 
 inary engagements occurred on Lake George. 
 
 July 21, M. de St. Ours,* who was scouting at 
 
 (1) — Kip's Early Jesuit Missions, p. 144. (2) — Col. Doc, Vol. .\. p. 
 
28 COLONIAL DAYS. 
 
 Me a la Barque, with teu men, was attacked by five 
 English barges, each carrying sixteen men. There 
 were also one hundred English on the shore. Yet 
 St. Ours made so good a defence that he was able to 
 escape with the loss of four — three slightly, and one 
 mortally, wounded. The English loss, though exag- 
 gerated by the French, was probably considerable. 
 This took place at Harbor Island, a little south of 
 Sabbath Day Point. 
 
 July 23, M. Marin, who had been sent toward 
 Fort Edward with one hundred and fifty men, mostly 
 Indians, attacked the English outposts, and inflicted 
 considerable loss, returning to Ticonderoga in safety, 
 with no less than thirty-two scalps.' 
 
 July 20, Colonel John Parker, of the New Jersey 
 regiment, was sent down the lake to reconnoitre, with 
 a large party of men in boats. He was severely 
 defeated, his force being completely cut in pieces. 
 The French report says that about four hundi'ed 
 Indians, under M. de Corbiere, lay in ambush among 
 the islands above Sabbath Day Point, and that when 
 Colonel Parker's party had advanced too far to retreat, 
 they attacked and defeated them with great slaughter. 
 Only two barges escaped, and one hundred and eighty 
 of the English were taken prisoners. This was 
 acknowledged to be a severe disaster.^ No less than 
 a hundred and thirty-one were killed outright by the 
 savages, who pursued them by land and water, merci- 
 lessly cutting them down. Only twelve were so fortu- 
 
 (1) — Col. Doc, Vol. X. p. Mil. (2) — ib., D94. I'cuu's Arcliivcs, 
 472. Kip's Early Jesuitt;, i». I.j2. 
 
C O L O N I A r. DA y 
 
 29 
 
 nate as to esrajie liotli fa])tivi(y anil flcatli. The 
 prisoners were treated by tlie Indians witli the most 
 horrible barbarity. Father Eoubaud, who gives an 
 account of their atrocities, liardly dared to raise his 
 head, expecting to see the English murdered before 
 his eyes. Eventually his fears proved too true, and 
 he was obliged to witness a spectacle more hcnTililc 
 than anything he had yet seen. He writes : " My 
 tent had been placed in the middle of the camp of the 
 Outaouacs. The first object which presented itself to 
 my eyes on arriving there, was a large fire, while the 
 wooden spits fixed upon the earth gave signs of a 
 feast. There was indeed one taking place. Pnit, () 
 heavens ! what a feast ! The remains of the body of 
 an Englishman were there, the skin stripped off", and 
 more than one half the flesh gone. A moment after, 
 I perceived these inhuman beings eat with famishing 
 avidity of this human flesh ; I saw them take up this 
 detestable broth in large spoons, and apparently with- 
 out being able to satisfy themselves with it. They 
 informed me that they had prepared themselves for 
 this feast by drinking from skulls filled with human 
 blood, while their smeared faces and stained lijis gave 
 evidence of the truth of the story. "What rendered it 
 more sad was, that they had placed very near them 
 some ten Englishmen to be spectators of their infamous 
 repast." 
 
 The good man was powerless in the midst of these 
 barbarities, and his appeals in behalf of the prisoners 
 were met by threats or gibes, the savages in one 
 
 (1) — Kip's Early Jesuits, p. loo. 
 
30 COLONIAL DAYS. 
 
 instance replying by offering liim a piece of broiled 
 human flesh. The prisoners were at last taken out of 
 their hands by IMontcalni, and sent under guard to 
 Montreal. 
 
 On the first of August the main body of the army 
 finally embarked on Lake George, the Chevalier Levi 
 having marched, three days previous, down the west 
 side of the lake, with a force of three thousand men, to 
 protect those who were to follow on the water. The 
 barges sailed at two o'clock in the afternoon, and 
 soon left " Bald Mountain," (Rogers Slide) " to 
 the north." Afterwards they " doubled a cape," 
 (Anthony's Nose) and remained there during a severe 
 storm which lasted six hours. They also " tarried a 
 short time opposite to the Sugar Loaf." Father 
 Roubaud says that they had not gone more than four 
 or five leagues before they saw the proofs of their 
 victory of the 24th. lie writes : " There were the 
 abandoned English boats, . . . but the most striking 
 spectacle was the great number of the . dead bodies of 
 the English." Some were lying on the banks, and 
 others were floating in the water. 
 
 The next morning at daybreak. Father Roubaud 
 reached " the Bay of Ganasouke," (Northwest Bay, 
 near Bolton,) and landed near de Levi's camp. At 
 10 o'clock de Levi marched forward, and at noon 
 Montcalm moved on in the boats, now with the artil- 
 lery in the van. In the evening two boats came down 
 the lake from Fort William Ilenry, while the fleet 
 was quietly winding along the dusky shore of " Sandy 
 Bay." The English, perceiving the boat which be- 
 longed to llie |)riests, then covered liy an awning. 
 
C O I. O N I A I, DAYS. 31 
 
 steered for it unsuspectingly, as if too see what it was. 
 As they apjiroached, a sheep in the boat Ijappened to 
 bleat, when they took the alarm and endeavored to 
 escape. The silence with which these operations had 
 been conducted now ended, and twelve hundred sava- 
 ges suddenly flew to the pursuit, uttering the most 
 horrid cries. The English first gained the land, 
 deserted their boats, and fled to the woods ; but not 
 until four of their number had been killed and two 
 taken prisoners. Father Roubaud says that when 
 the account of the aflflur came to Montcalm, he was 
 " charmed with the detail," and retired to make his 
 plans for the next day. During the night, however, 
 the army continued to move on, and reached the bay 
 on the west side of the lake, near P'ort AVilliam Henry. 
 The artillery did not arrive until daybreak. It con- 
 sisted of thirty-two cannon and five mortars, placed 
 on platforms and borne on boats. In passing around 
 the point, now called Cramer's Point, the batteries 
 came in full view of the English, who were saluted by 
 a " general discharge," which at " this time was mere 
 ceremony, but it announced more serious matters." 
 
 The lake now resounded on all hands with the 
 sounds of war, and everything was in motion. Fort 
 William Henry, which the French sometimes called 
 Fort George, is described by Father Roubaud as " a 
 square, flanked by four bastions ; the curtains were 
 strengthened with stakes, the trenches were sunk to 
 the depth of eighteen or twenty feet." The walls were 
 built of pine trees covered with sand. It mounted 
 nineteen cannon and four or five mortars, while the 
 garrison consisted of five hundred men. Seventeen 
 
32 COLONIAL DAYS. 
 
 hundred men occupied a fortified camp on the site of 
 the ruins of Fort George. Montcalm landed on the 
 west side of the lake, a short distance from the Lake 
 House, and jdanted his batteries about seven hundi-ed 
 yards from the fort. He afterwards marched his 
 regular troops to a position south of the fort, sending 
 LaCorne with seventeen hundred French and Indians 
 a little further on, where they could hold the rciad 
 leading to Fort Edward. He then called upon 
 Colonel Munroe to surrender, which demand he i)osi- 
 tively declined, as he was expecting immediate rein- 
 forcements from General "Webb. 
 
 The siege lasted six days, during which time the 
 fort was defended with great vigor, though without 
 much loss of life on either side. Aid was earnestly 
 requested of General Webb, whose troops were 
 anxious to march to the rescue ; Init that cowardly 
 officer finally decided to do nothing, and advised 
 Colonel Munroe to surrender, who, seeing the hope- 
 lessness of his situation, agreed to capitulate. On the 
 morning of August 9, at seven o'clock, a white flag 
 was hoisted on the fort, and the surrender was made 
 on the conditions that the garrison and the troops of 
 the intrenched camp should march out with the honors 
 of war, carrying away arms and baggage, and take 
 with them one cannon, out of respect for the gallant 
 defence they had made, and be furnished with a 
 sufficient escort to Fort Edward. The French accord- 
 ingly took possession at noon. 
 
 Father Koubaud says that the terms of caijitulation 
 were submitted to the Indian chiefs, and that the 
 articles were ■• universally ai)plMuded." Yet tlic com- 
 
COLONIAL DAYS. 33 
 
 pact was soon violated in tlie most horrible manner. 
 The Indians were thirsting for blood and jiluuder, and 
 even while the military ceremony of taking possession 
 was going on, they penetrated through the embrasures 
 of the fort into the casemates where the sick re- 
 mained who could not march out of the fort with their 
 companions. Some of these were among the first vic- 
 tims of savage cruelty. Father Roubaud witnessed 
 their atrocities. He writes : " I saw one of these bar- 
 barians come forth out of the casemates, which nothing 
 but the most insatiate avidity for blood could induce 
 him to enter, for the infected atmosphere which exhaled 
 from it was insupportable. lie carried in his hand a 
 human head, from which streams of blood were flow- 
 ing, and which he paraded as the most valuable prize 
 he had been able to seize." " But," he continues, 
 " this was only a slight prelude to the tragedy of the 
 morrow. Early in the morning the Indians began to 
 assemble about the intrenchments, demanding of the 
 English everything valuable which their greed}' eyes 
 could perceive. . . Nor were these requirements re- 
 jected by the English. They undressed, they stripped 
 themselves, to purchase their lives." In the mean- 
 while the troops detailed to attend them on the 
 march to Fort Edward, arrived and hastily formed, 
 and the English began to file out. Says Father 
 Roubaud : " Woe to those who closed the march, or 
 the stragglers whom illness or any other reason sepa- 
 rated from the main body ! They were as good as 
 dead, and their lifeless bodies soon covered the ground. 
 . . . This butchery, which was at first only the work 
 of a few savages, became the signal which transformed 
 
34 C O L O N I A L 1) A y s . 
 
 them into so many ferocious beasts. Tliey discliarged 
 riglit and left heavy blows with their hatchets on those 
 who came witliin tlieir reach." 
 
 The number that fell in massacre, which filled the 
 ])ublic mind with horror, varies greatly. Father Kou- 
 baud says the number killed did not exceed forty 
 or fifty, and adds : " The patience of the English in 
 thus being contented to bow their heads to the weapons 
 of the executioner, had the effect of shortly stop- 
 ))iiig the slaughter ; but," he adds, •' this did not 
 turn the savages either to reason or eijuity. With 
 fearful cries they engaged themselves in making 
 prisoners." 
 
 The most of the accounts of this affair are wild 
 exaggerations, the loss by death and captivity being 
 placed at from five hundred to fifteen hundred. 
 The first victims were the negroes and friendly In- 
 dians.' Speaking of the conduct of the former during 
 the siege, one of the gunners wrote that " Our blacks 
 behaved better than the whites."- 
 
 It would be difficult to exonerate Jlontcalm from 
 all blame. He might have anticipated the events that 
 occurred, and j)ro\ided a sufficient safeguard. Le 
 Corne, who indeed promised much in the way of pro- 
 tection to the English, did little ; and Carver, in his 
 journal, mentions one French soldier who repulsed 
 the English with abusive language when they appealed 
 fur protection. Yet it would be unjust to ignore the 
 conduct of many of the French officers and soldiers 
 
 {!) — Iloyt says tliat one friendly Indian was burned. Ant. Re- 
 searches, p. 290. (2) — Col. Doc., Vol. vi. p. 1005. 
 
COLONIAL DAYS. 35 
 
 wlio ]iaz;xi-(k'd tlieir own lives to save those of the 
 English. Father Roubaud, the good priest of the 
 Abenakis, was every way true to his profession, and 
 labored earnestly to rescue the victims of savage cru- 
 elty. Among others, an infant separated from its 
 mother, and had fallen into the hands of a relentless 
 chief, who threatened it with death, unless ransomed 
 hj a scalp. This child was saved by the priest, who 
 obtained a scalp from the stock of one of his own 
 Indians. Father Roubaud, after getting possession of 
 the child, carried it in his arms until he secured an 
 P^nglish woman to act as its nurse. This woman had 
 possession of the cliild but a few hours before its 
 mother appeared, and, frantic with joy, clasped it in 
 her arms. 
 
 That class of writers who furnish what may be 
 called the Apocrypha of history, have delighted in 
 wild exaggerations of this event. Drawing their 
 material from the crudest sensation accounts of the 
 day, they have not hesitated to record as facts the 
 most improbable fancies. It is to be regretted that 
 these accounts have crept into so many of our popular 
 school histories, in one of which", now extensively used, 
 we are informed that when IMontcalm went away, he 
 left the dead bodies of one hundred women shockingly 
 mangled and weltering in their blood. The account 
 is based upon a supposed letter of Putnam's^ that was 
 never written, and is of the same authority as that 
 favorite but now exploded story of the school-boy, 
 which relates Putnam's descent into the wolf's den. 
 
 (1) — Lossiug's Field Book, Vol. i. p. 111. 
 
36 COLONIAL DAYS. 
 
 National enmity has had nnu-li to ilo with these niis- 
 representatioMS of Montcalm, who was every way a 
 noble and hnmane man, as well as the ablest general 
 of his day in all North America. Yet Smollet, in his 
 History of England, did not hesitate to lay upon liim 
 (in addition to the massacre of Fort A\'illiam Henry) 
 the charge of giving up twenty English soldiers at the 
 cai)ture of Oswego, the previous year, to be butchered 
 by the Indians. The charge, however, was thoroughly 
 refuted at the time by an official investigation. The 
 real author of the calamity of Fort William Henry, 
 was Lord Loudon, who left the country exposed to 
 the enemy. 
 
 The French delayed at Fort William Henry until 
 August 16. On the previous night the fort was com- 
 pletely destroyed by fire, and while the ruins were 
 stUl wreathed in smoke, Montcalm embarked and 
 sailed down the lake. We conclude the account of 
 this sad event in the language of Bancroft, who says : 
 " The Canadian peasants returned to gather their 
 harvests, and the lake resumed its solitude. Nothing 
 told that living men had reposed upon its margin, 
 but charred rafters of ruins, and here and there, on 
 the hill-side, a crucifix among the junes to mark a 
 grave."' 
 
 On the following year another large army assembled 
 at tlu' head of the lake for the purpose of reducing 
 Ticonderoga, and atoning for the acts of the French 
 in the previous year. It was commanded by General 
 Abercrombie, who had succeeded Lord Loudon. The 
 
 (1) — liniiciofl's U. S., Vol. iv. p. 206. 
 
COLONIAL I> A Y S . 37 
 
 ciimpaign was planned with great contideiice. and was 
 inaugurated by scouts and skirmishes. On the 23d of 
 June three separate detachments of Rogers' Hangers 
 were sent out on the lake to reconnoitre ; and 
 on Wednesday morning, July "), at eight oVlock, 
 the well-appointed army, now sixteen thousand 
 strong, embarked in more than one thousand boats 
 and batteaux. The day was one of unusual beauty, 
 and scarcely a cloud obscured the sky. The fleet 
 was arranged in complete military order. The 
 Regulars sailed in the centre, the I'rovinci.als on 
 the left, and the Light Infantry on the right of 
 the advanced guard. The army was composed of 
 fine and varied material. There was the sturdy, 
 brown-faced farmer from Massachusetts and Con- 
 necticut, the determined, phlegmatic Dutchman, the 
 hardy Englishman, the dashing Green-Mountain 
 Boy, and the intrepid Scot. Lord Howe's regiment 
 was one of much note, while its young commander 
 was the " Lycurgus " of the whole army, being e\ i- 
 dently of much more imjiortance than ^Vbcrcrombie 
 himself. 
 
 The troops moved in high spirits, confident of an 
 easy victory. But few more splendid scenes have 
 ever been witnessed. The lines of boats adorned 
 with streamers and fiags, the troops chul in bright 
 national colors, the burnished arms, the insignia of 
 rank, the placid water, the long banks of oars dipping 
 to martial notes, and the bright summer suu shining 
 down upon all — formed a display of rare beaut}'. 
 Not the least conspicuous part of the jiageant was the 
 Highland Regiment, of which old Duncan Campbell, 
 
3S COLONIAL DAYS. 
 
 of Inversliaw, was Major. They could not have 
 appeared to finer advantage even on their own bright 
 Locli Katrine. Moving out fi-om under the shadow 
 of the French Mountain, they sail on towards the 
 verdant isles, as if performing some holiday parade, 
 reminding us of Scott's jiicture in the Lady of the 
 Lake : 
 
 " Now you might sec the tartans brave. 
 And plaids and plumage dance and wave; 
 Now see the bonnet sink and rise, 
 As his tough oar the rower plies; 
 See flashing at each sturdy stroke, 
 The wave ascending into smoke; 
 See tlic proud pipers on the bow. 
 And mark the gaudy streamers flow 
 From their loud chanters down, and sweep 
 The furrowed bosom of the deep. 
 As rushing through the lake amain. 
 They plied the ancient Highland strain." 
 
 The fleet continued on its course all day until dusk, 
 when they reached Sabbath Day Point. Here they 
 remained until eleven o'clock, waiting for three brig- 
 ades and the artillery ; and when these came up all 
 moved on. At nine o'clock the next morning, the)' 
 arrived at the foot of the lake, disembarked, and 
 marched towards the French outworks. The route 
 lay through dense forests ; and being led by unskilful 
 guides, the troops fell into some disorder, though still 
 able to move on. Lord Howe led the right centre 
 column, and when near Trout Brook, encountered the 
 party of De Trepazec, less than three hundred in 
 number, returning from a scout at Eogers' Slide. The 
 French opened fire, and at the first volley Lord 
 Howe was killed by a musket-ball. This threw the 
 English into still greater confusion, but thp_v rallied 
 
C O L O N I A L DAYS. 39 
 
 ami attackeil the Freiifh with such inipetuo.sit_v. that 
 nearly the whole body was either killed, wounded, or 
 made prisoners. De Trepazec himself was mortally 
 wounded. By this engagement the English gained 
 nothing, except the forest, in which the principal por- 
 tion of the troops passed the night. An officer who 
 wrote a letter to a New York paper, speaks of the 
 action as higlily discreditable to the English, who 
 behaved badly, on the whole, and at one time came 
 near being beaten by a mere handful of men. 
 
 The next morning, the 7th instant, Abercrondjie 
 withdrew the whole army to the landing-])lace. Col- 
 onel Bradstreet then went forward to rebuild tlie 
 bridges. In the afternoon the main body of the army 
 advanced to attack the French works. The assault 
 was made with much spirit. Three times the English 
 were repulsed, and as often returned to the charge ; 
 but " at the end of four hours, after a series of efforts 
 that would liave done honor to the soldiers of Cffisar, 
 and an exhibition of valor that would have rivalled 
 the most romantic days of chivalry," the army, about 
 seven o'clock, was ordered to retire, though not before 
 the English had fired by mistake upon one of their 
 own corps. The night was spent at the landing, and 
 Saturday morning the army embarked and rowed 
 sadly up the lake, arriving at Fort George on Sunday 
 evening, the 9th. No corps suffered more than the 
 Highlanders, who, until now, with one exception, — 
 the Battle of Fontenoy, in 1745, — had always been 
 completely successful. Three times they mounted 
 the French works, but not being supjiorted tliey wei'e 
 forced to retire. Grav-haired Uuncaii C'ami)bell fell 
 
40 COLONIAL DAYS. 
 
 at tlie lieafl of liis regiment, with John Campbell the 
 commander, who was succeeded by Colonel Gordon 
 Graham. During the battle, Abercrombie remained 
 at a safe distance, and not a single piece of artillery 
 was used by the English, who, under a general of 
 respectable spirit and capacity, would have easily cap- 
 tured Ticouderoga. During the day Abercrombie 
 ordered a movement against the enemy's left wing ; 
 but after several boats had been sunk by the artillery 
 of the French the attempt was given up. This is a 
 jjoint that the most careful writers have failed to 
 notice.^ 
 
 The inglorious campaign was not terminated, how- 
 ever, before Colonel Bradstreet marched from the 
 lake with twenty-seven hunilred men and destroyed 
 the French forts at Frontenac. When this had been 
 accomplished, Bradstreet returned to the lake, and the 
 bulk of Abercrombie's army went into winter quarters 
 at Albany, New York, and elsewhere. 
 
 The next year Abercrombie was removed, and Lord 
 Amherst was appointed in his place. This able gen- 
 eral accomplished the reduction of Ticonderoga with 
 but little loss of life. Before the campaign opened, 
 Rogers was active on the lake with his Rangers. 
 March 3, he left the head of the lake with three hun- 
 (h-ed and fifty-eight men, and proceeded on the ice to 
 the Narrows, and afterwards went on to Ticonderoga. 
 Tliere he suffered a severe defeat from the French 
 and Indians, and returned by the way of Sabbath Day 
 Point to Long Island, about five miles from Fort 
 
 (1) — N. Y. Col. Doc, Vol. X. p. 846. 
 
C O L O N' I A L D A V S . 4 I 
 
 William Ilciiiy. At this place he encamped (ni the 
 night of the 8th. Tlie next day he went to Fort 
 Edward, carrying the wounded on sleds. 
 
 June 21, General Amherst, accompanied by Gen- 
 eral Gage, moved to Lake George with a portion of 
 the forces, composed of the Royal Highlanders and 
 Provincials, who at once busied themselves in strength- 
 ening the camp. 
 
 On the 27th, some English othcers fishing at 
 Diamond Island were surprised by the French scouts 
 and nearly captured. July 1, troops to the number 
 of fifteen hundi-ed, under Colonel Montressor, were 
 busy buildhig a stone fort,' afterwards called Fort 
 George, having in the meantime erected a temporary 
 stockade. July 2, the enemy was extremely bold, 
 notwithstanding the preparations of Amherst. On 
 that day sixteen of the Jersey Blues had gone out 
 from the fort to get brushwood for the ovens, and 
 were attacked by two hundi-ed and forty French, who 
 killed and scalped six, wounded two, took four pris- 
 oners, and only four escaped. Tlie French raised a 
 loud halloo, and displayed the scalps in plain sight of 
 the fort, and then ran to their canoes, which were only 
 two miles from the head of the lake." 
 
 July 3, the most of the articles buried by Aber- 
 crombie, at the close of the previous season, still 
 remained undiscovered, though the French had found 
 and raised a battery of eight pieces sunk in the lake. 
 July 5, the "Halifax Sloop,'"* mounting fourteen guns, 
 
 (1) — Knox Jour., Vol. i. p. 378. (2) — N. Y. Mercury, July 9, 1759. 
 (3) — "On the 11th. instant was launched here, in 13 Days from 
 laying the Keej, the Sloop Earl of Halilax, 51 Feet Keel, about 100 
 
42 CO L O N I A I. D A Y * . 
 
 wliieli Iiad been sunk to ])revent capture, was success- 
 fully raioeil. July 12, Major Campbell antl four hun- 
 dred men embarked in batteaux and " proceeded to 
 the islands on the lake to drive the enemy from 
 thence," taking a floating battery of one twelve-pound 
 gun. The French were driven away, and their "works 
 and huts " destroyed and burned. The name of the 
 islands in question is not given. The French lost one 
 canoe and all the men in it. 
 
 The preparations for the expedition having been 
 made with great care, the army, composed of more 
 than eleven thousand men, embarked in whaleboats 
 and batteaux, on the morning of the 21st of July, 
 and moved down the lake in four columns, the sloop 
 Flalifax sailing in the rear. The soldiers rowed by 
 turns. An incredible amount of labor was spent in 
 embarking, and some of the boats proved useless. 
 One, with a hundred barrels of powder, sunk before 
 leaving the shore ; likewise a raft with two ten-inch 
 mortars. 
 
 At ten o'clock the army reached the Narrows, and 
 after pausing a short time moved on with a fresh 
 breeze and a hazy sky. At night the expedition 
 moored,' the weather being rough with " a disagreeable 
 tumbling sea." The next day was Sunday, July 23, 
 but at daylight the fleet proceeded, and in a few hours 
 reached the foot of the lake. The army landed with- 
 
 Tons Burt lien, built by the direction of Commodore Loriiig and Col. 
 UiiKley. Her risking being fitted, expected she will sail on a cruise 
 on the Lake, in a day or two." Letter from Lake tieorge, Aug. 21, 
 1758. (1)— I'rcjhably below .Sabbath Day I'oint. 
 
N I A L 1) A V 8 . 
 
 43 
 
 out delay, and marclied for Fort Tiooiidcroga. They 
 reached the enemy's intrenchments after some light 
 skirmishing, and the troops lay upon their arms all 
 night. In the morning, seeing Gener.al Amherst 
 drawing up his artillery, and finding that he had also 
 launched batteaux iu the lake, the French abandoned 
 their intrenchments, of which the English took pos- 
 session, in the face of a brisk fire, and began prepara- 
 tions for a siege ; but at ten o'clock on the night of 
 the 2Gth, some deserters from the French came in, 
 announcing that the enemy had evacuated the fort and 
 were retreating. Very soon after the magazine blew 
 up and set the wood-work on fire. The flames rapidly 
 communicated with the loaded guns and shell, and for 
 a time created a continuous fire. The next morning 
 a sergeant went into the fort, at the risk of his life, 
 and hauled down the French flag. Thus the fort was 
 taken with a loss of only thirty or forty in killed 
 and wounded. This might have been done the year 
 before. 
 
 But Lord Amherst, though a brave and faithful 
 officer, fiiiled to take advantage of his success. Instead 
 of moving at once against the French, and to the aid 
 of Wolfe, he delayed to rebuild the works at Ticon- 
 deroga and Crown Point, and prepare batteaux, until 
 more than two months had slipped away, when the 
 season was too far advanced to begin operations. The 
 French army was not more than one fourth as large 
 as his own, and Montcalm never seriously intended to 
 hold Ticonderoga, where it was impossible for him to 
 receive reinforcements, and yet they were allowed to 
 escape down Chamidain. Nevertheless, his victory 
 
44 COLONIAL DAYS. 
 
 brought comparative peace to the shores of Lake 
 George, and ultimately removed the contest towards 
 the Caiiadas, so that on September 21, Lieutenant- 
 Governor DeLancey issued a proclamation calling 
 upon the settlers to return once more to their homes, 
 where they lived in quiet until the war of the Revo- 
 lution. 
 
 In the meanwhile, many of those who had served in 
 the wars applied to the Colony of New York for grants 
 of land around the lake. Among them was Eogers 
 the Ranger, who, with twenty-five others, applied 
 for twenty-five thousand acres of land on the west 
 side of Lake George, extending from Fort William 
 Henry to Tongue Mountain. It may also be noted, 
 that here, in 177G, Rogers, bemg then a Tory, re- 
 newed the application to the British authorities, coolly 
 proposing " Rogers' Mount," as the name of the 
 grant. 
 
 April 20, 1773, Mr. Samuel Deall, a merchant of 
 New York, who was much interested in building mills 
 and improving the lands around Ticouderoga, peti- 
 tioned for the exclusive right to establish a ferry across 
 Lake George, though the right was not granted. He 
 was associated in the improvements here with one 
 Lieutenant Stoughton, who was drowned on tlie lake 
 near the close of the year 1767, when his boat went 
 to the bottom with all its valuable freight. 
 
 About this time the settlers had become quite 
 luimerous. As early as 17G8,Mr. Deall had a small 
 vessel on the lake called the " Petty Anger,"' which 
 
 (1) — This is probably a mistake of llic iirinter. It sbould read 
 
COLONIAL DAYS. 45 
 
 was designed to traverse the lake, " if any freight 
 offers worth going (i\er."' It \\as in charge of 
 one John Jones, who lived near Fort 'William 
 Henr^y. 
 
 The Indians came here in the snmmer season iu 
 considerable numbers, feeling that they had a tolerable 
 right to the soil. They were not always peaceably 
 tolerated, as appears from the following account of 
 Levi Beardsley, who says his grandfather, before the 
 Revolution, made annual excursions to the great for- 
 ests bordering on Lake George, the favorite hunting- 
 ground of the Iroquois. He tells that on one occa- 
 sion, " coming near a swampy piece of ground, his 
 companion remarked that game was plenty in that 
 neighborhood, and asked him to walk with him to the 
 edge of the swamp, where some one had shot a large 
 buck a few days before. They re])aired to the spot, 
 where his companion pulled away a few pieces of 
 rotten wood, that had been thrown on a large Indian, 
 who lay there partly stamped iu the mud. I have no 
 suspicion," he says, " that my grandfather ever shot, 
 or encouraged the shooting of Indians, but it is very 
 certain, that he occasionally associated with those who 
 indulged in this interesting business. Those times 
 were perilous," he continues, " and conflicts fiequent 
 between the white and red man. . . . They were inev- 
 
 " Petti-auffa,"^a small vessel or sliip. The following extract from 
 Dunlap'8 New York, (Vol. ii,, Appen., p. 177,) fjives a correct idea 
 of this class of vessels, in one of wliich Mr. Vandcrbilt bcf;an liis 
 career as a Staten-Island ferryman : " A pcrri augur or petty auga, a 
 boat without keel, with two masts and two large fails, the lack of keel 
 supplied by lee-boards — all these manage<I by one man, who was 
 likewise helmsman, aud very frequeutly drunk." 
 
46 C O L O N I A L D A Y S . 
 
 it:ible, and of no uncommon occurrenfe ; for it was a 
 question wlietlier the red man alone should enjoy the 
 game of the country.'" 
 
 The handful of military stationed at Ticonderoga, 
 were now chiefly useful in preserving the peace 
 among the lawless inhabitants of the New-Hamp- 
 shire Grants, which extended as for south as the head 
 of tlie lake. Prominent among the New-Hampshire 
 men, who, at times, invaded the territory of New 
 York, was Colonel Ethan Allen, who often played the 
 part of a swaggering brigand. The fortifications were 
 now, also, in a bad condition. In 17G8, Fort George 
 was practically abandoned. In April, 1773, the fort 
 at Crown Point caught fire, and the magazine, contain- 
 ing one hundred barrels of powder, blew up, completely 
 destroying the works. The minutes of the Council at 
 the close of the following September, say that Ticon- 
 deroga was in so ruinous a condition, that there was 
 no accommodation for more than about fifty men. In 
 1774, Governor Tryon reported that " only a few men 
 were kept at the south end of Lake George to facili- 
 tate the transportation of supplies to Ticonderoga 
 and Crown Point ;" from which it appears that the 
 British authorities were but poorly prepared for the 
 events about to take place. 
 
 (1) — Beardslcy's Remiuiscencei*, p. 16. (2) — Doc. Ilist., N. Y., i. 
 
HEVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 
 
 TART II. 
 
 |IIE War of the Revolution liroke out iu 
 1 77.J, and was signalized at Lake George 
 liy an earthquake, which did no harm. 
 But the lake at once became the theatre 
 uf exciting events, as it still formed a part of the 
 central route between Albany and Montreal. The 
 English felt the importance of keeping possession of 
 tliis route, and one of their journals of that date says, 
 that, in event of its being held by the Americans, the 
 British troops would be brought around to New York 
 by water, as another campaign could not be thrown 
 away in " frog-battles " on the lakes. Yet Burgoyne 
 ultimately thought differently. 
 
 The Americans, however, were on the alert, and the 
 New-Englanders resolved on the seizure of Ticon- 
 deroga, which was the key of the whole position. 
 This was accomplished by Benedict Arnold and Ethan 
 Allen, on the morning of May 10, without the loss of 
 a man. And sei'ious efforts were recently made to 
 show that a similar exjiloit was performed at Fort 
 George, two days afterward. One account, which not 
 long since appeared, stated that on the reception of 
 the news of the Battle of Lexington, one Daniel Parks, 
 of Queensbury, rai.-ed a band of xolunteers and after- 
 
40 REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 
 
 wards marchefl to Fort George, wliioli, together with 
 " Fort Gage," was garrisoned by two companies of 
 artillery. On his arrival at the fort his demonstra- 
 tions were so impressive as to cause the garrison to 
 flee down the lake to Diamond Island, where they 
 intrenched. The commander, it appears, was left 
 behind, and, on surrendering his sword, is repre- 
 sented as telling Parks that his neck would " stretch " 
 for " this thing." According to the representations 
 given, this alleged action of Daniel Parks was quite 
 as meritorious as the capture of Ticonderoga. But 
 tliough it may seem a pity to spoil a story, we never- 
 theless have abundant means for proving the account 
 a fabrication. 
 
 It has already been shown that the fort was aban- 
 doned eight years before this time, while Governor 
 Ti-yon reported that the year previous only a few men 
 lived there to forward supplies ; while " Fort Gage," 
 the little earthwork on a neighboring eminence, which 
 was probably erected in 17;')',) liy General Amherst, 
 never possessed a garrison or a gun. The position at 
 the head of the lake had at this period lost its former 
 importance, and therefore it is not reasonable to sup- 
 pose, that while no effort was made to strengthen 
 more commanding posts. Fort George had been rein- 
 forced bv two companies of artillery. Indeed, this 
 was a force superior to all the other garrisons com- 
 bined. Besides, the intercepted despatches of General 
 Carlton to General Gage, show that the total mmiber 
 of British troops in Canada at this time numbered 
 only seven hundred and twenty-five, including the 
 garriscnis at Ticonderoifa, Skene^boroU''h, and Crow u 
 
R E V O L U T I O N A K V SCENES. 49 
 
 Point. The condition of atiairs at the hike, prior to 
 1775, would constitute a sufficient denial of the story 
 of Parks. 
 
 And the documentary evidence of the year 1775, 
 goes to show that everything remained unchanged, 
 except that fewer persons lived near the fort. May 
 12, there were only two persons at the fort, who were 
 engaged in the express business. The fort had no 
 commander, but the lake had a nominal " Governor " ; 
 and the apprehension and dismissal of this person has 
 furnished the only ground for the romance of Daniel 
 Parks. The person thus treated was Mr. John Nord- 
 berg,^ formerly an officer in the English army. In 
 1774, as a reward for his military services, he was 
 
 (1) — Mr. Nordborg was a native of Sweden, where ho was toorn in 
 1710. Favoring the French faction there, he was persecuted, and left 
 Sweden. He entered the British service in January, 1758, as one of 
 the foreign officers of the Royal Americans. He served in the French 
 war, receiving two wounds. He afterwards went with his battalion 
 to the West Indies. In 1773 he went to England, being invalidated, 
 but returned to America the next year as Governor of Lake George. 
 May the 12th, (not April, as Governor Tryou says, in Col. Doc, Vol. 
 viii. p. 597,) he was apprehended at his cottage and sent away. De- 
 cember 15, the rrovincial Congress gave him liberty to remove to 
 England; but it appears that he remained in New York, where ho 
 died October 9, 1782. See Jour. Prov. Congress of N. Y., Vol.i. p. 220. 
 We also find the following in Henry's travels at Lake Superior, 1771, p. 
 231: " Mr. Norburg, a Russian gentleman, acquainted with metals, and 
 holding a commission in the sixtieth regiment, and then in garrison 
 at Micbilimackinac, accompanied us on this latter expedition. As we 
 rambled, examining the thocls, or loose stones, in search of minerals, 
 Mr. Norburg chanced to meet with one, of eight pounds weight, of a 
 blue color, and semi-transparent. This he carried to England, where 
 it produced in the proportion of sixty pounds of silver to a hundred 
 weigUt of ore. It was reposited in the British Museum. The same 
 Mr. Norburg was shortly afterward appointed to the government of 
 Lake George." 
 
50 K E V O L U T I O N A U y SCENES. 
 
 appointed " Governor" of Lake George, an offiee 
 without duties. The terms of his appointment left 
 him at liberty to reside anywhere in America. At the 
 period referred to, he was living, not in Fort George, 
 but in a cottage near by, where, being an old man, and 
 an invalid, he passed his time after the manner of a 
 hermit, gladly esca])ing from the political discussions 
 of the day. And the records show that ]\Ir. Nordberg 
 was actually visited by a party who went through the 
 form of an arrest, but afterwards gave him a passport 
 to New Lebanon. The person who took this respon- 
 sibility was Captain Bernard Romans, a member of 
 the Connecticut Committee appointed to take posses- 
 sion of " Ticonderoga and its dependencies."' 
 
 Several writers, in giving an account of the action 
 of the Connecticut Committee, state that Romans left 
 his associates at Bennington, and did not appear until 
 he came to Ticonderoga, May 14. Mott says in his 
 journal : " Mr. Romans left us and joined us no more ; 
 we were all glad, as he had been a trouble to us, all 
 the time he was with us."- 
 
 It appears that Romans, finding it impossible to 
 manage the other members of the C'ommittee, with 
 reference to the surprise of Ticonderoga, decided to 
 seize Fort George on his own account. This was 
 certainly included in the instructions of the Committee, 
 and it was the only thing left him to do, as the sur- 
 prise of Skeuesborough was already provided for. 
 Therefore, without consulting any one, he went to 
 
 (l) — Soe Appendix. I. (2) — CoDn. Hist. Col.. Vol. i. p. 
 
REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 5I 
 
 the head of the lake, took possession of what tune 
 and the weather had left of Fort George, and sent 
 away Mr. Nordberg to New Lebanon. 
 
 Romans felt that the capture of an abandoned fort 
 was not a thing to boast of, and therefore gave no pub- 
 licity to his action. It has never even been mentioned 
 in connection with the capture of Ticonderoga. 
 
 Daniel Parks may have followed in the train of 
 Captain Romans, and may also have been a member 
 of the garrison, when it was soon after found necessary 
 to maintain a small force at this point ; but that he 
 raised troops for the capture of what he knew to be a 
 ruinous and deserted work, is not to be supposed for a 
 moment. Mott says in his Journal, that they sent 
 men " to waylay the roads " leading to " Fort Edward 
 and Lake George," ' for the express purpose of pre- 
 venting alarm in what was, on the whole, a Tory 
 neighborhood. Indeed, it has not been proved that 
 Parks was on the ground at the time in any capacity. 
 Still, there is a monument in the burying-ground at 
 Sandy Hill which states that he was the man to whom 
 the British officer surrendered Fort George. But, as 
 shown from the above account, the fort had neither 
 garrison nor commander. The story is a myth. 
 
 From a document' never before published, we learn 
 the outside cost of the work of Captain Romans, 
 which probably was less than thirty shillings. The 
 document is also of value, in showing what disposition 
 was made of the British prisoners taken at Ticon- 
 deroga. 
 
 (1) — Conn. Hist. Coll., Vol. i. p. 169. (2) — See Appendix. II. 
 
52 K p; V O L U T I O H A 11 Y SCENES. 
 
 Soon after Mr. Nordberg's dismissal, the colonial 
 authorities found it necessary to establish a small garri- 
 son at Lake George, chiefly for the purpose of forward- 
 ing supplies to the troops operating on Lake Champlain. 
 
 May 25, it was voted by the Continental Congress 
 to leave the authorities of New York to decide what 
 troops should be stationed at Lake George. May 30, 
 New York not having raised any troops, Goveruor 
 Trumbull, of Connecticut, ordered one thousand men, 
 under Colonel Hinman, to Ticonderoga, where four 
 hundred of them arrived about the middle of June. 
 July 1, there were upwards of one hundred men sta- 
 tioned at each end of the lake. 
 
 Major General Philip Schuyler, of New York, hav- 
 ing been appointed to the command of the Northern 
 department, went down Lake George, July 17, 
 arriving at Ticonderoga the next morning, when he 
 formally superseded Colonel Hinman, who had pre- 
 viously displaced Benedict Arnold from the command. 
 We may judge of the degree of discijiline which was 
 maintained at this time by the following extract from 
 his letter to Washington. He writes: 
 
 ''About ten, last night, I arrived at the landing- 
 place, at the north end of Lake George, a post occu- 
 pied by a captain and one hundred men. A sentinel 
 on being informed I was in the boat, (juitted his post 
 to go and awaken the guard, consisting of three men, 
 in which he had no success. I walked up and came 
 to another, a sergeant's guard. Here the sentinel 
 challenged, but suffered me to come up to him, the 
 whole guard, like the first, in the soundest sleej)."' 
 
 (1) — Letters to VVasliiugtou, Vol. i. p. 6. 
 
K E V O L f T I O N A R V S C EXES. 53 
 
 July 24, there were two Imndred and thii-ty-tliree 
 men p{ Colonel Goose Van Schaick's regiment, at or 
 near Fort George. About this time the soldiers at 
 Fort George were in a mutinous condition, and 
 suffered greatly for the «ant of blankets, so that 
 several of their officers, when visiting at Albany, pro- 
 fessed that they did not dare to return without them. 
 
 The operations of the Americans this year weie 
 conducted by Schuyler and Montgomery. The army 
 was supplied with food and war material by the trans- 
 ports on Lake George. Early in the campaign 
 Schuyler was forced by sickness to leave the field, 
 and Montgomery captured Fort St. John and Mon- 
 treal. In the attack upon Qviebec he failed, after a 
 siege of three weeks, which ended in an assault that 
 cost his own life, and the surrender of a portion of 
 the troops who penetrated into the lov>'er town. The 
 remaining portion of the invading army wintered at 
 Sillery. On' the first of April, 177G, Wooster, who 
 had succeeded to the command, made another attempt 
 upon Quebec, but failed. Soon after the English re- 
 ceived reinforcements, and the Americans were obliged 
 to retire. 
 
 A more efficient commander being needed in Can- 
 ada, General Thomas was appointed, and his army 
 was made independent of the department under Schuy- 
 ler. He at once moved toward the scene of action, 
 hoping to stay the tide of defeat. April 17, he passed 
 down the lake, and the next day forty batteaux started, 
 carrying five hundred troops. On the 19th, a person 
 at the lake, writing, says : " The whole of the troops 
 that are now on the lake and here, will amount to 
 
54 REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 
 
 upwards of fifteen huiidi-ed men ; so that I tliink we 
 shall make a very respectable figure before Quebec 
 when we all arrive." They never arrived ; and Gen- 
 eral Thomas died of the small-pox. 
 
 At this time Benjamin Franklin, Siunnel Chase, 
 and Charles Carroll reached the lake. They had been 
 appointed by Congress, as Commissioners, to proceed 
 to Canada and negotiate with the authorities there. 
 They were accompanied in this mission by the Rev. 
 John Carroll, afterwards the Roman Catholic Bishop 
 of Baltimore. The account of this trip across Lake 
 George is given by Charles Carroll in his journal.' 
 Portions of the journal are of sufficient interest to be 
 reproduced here : 
 
 "April 19, 177G. We embarked about one o'clock, 
 in company with General Schuyler, and landed in 
 Montcalm's Bay, about four miles from Lake George. 
 After drinking tea we again embarked, and went 
 about three or four miles further ; then landed (the 
 sun being set) and kindled fires. The longest of the 
 boats, made for transportation of troops over Lakes 
 George and Champlain, are thirty-six feet in length 
 and eight feet wide ; they draw about a foot of water 
 when loaded, and carry between thirty and forty men, 
 and are rowed by the soldiers. They have a mast 
 fixed in them, to which a square sail or blanket is 
 fastened, but these sails are of no use, unless with tire 
 wind abaft, or nearly so. After we left Montcalm's 
 Bay, we were delayed considerably in getting tluough 
 the ice ; but, with the help of tent-poles, we opened 
 
 (1) — Baltimore, 1860. Published by the Jlaryland Uist. Society. 
 
R E V O L U T I O N A K Y S <' K. N K S . 55 
 
 ourselves a passage through it into free water. The 
 boats fitted up to carry us across, had awnings over 
 tliem, under wliich we made up our beds, and my fel- 
 low-travellers slept very comfortably. We left the 
 place, where we passed the night, very early on the 
 20th. 
 
 " 20th. We had gone some miles before I arose ; 
 soon after I got out of bed, we found ourselves entan- 
 gled in the ice. We attempted, but in vain, to break 
 through it in one place, but were obliged to desist and 
 force our passage through another, which we effected 
 with much difficulty. At eight o'clock we lauded to 
 breakfast. After breakfiist, the general looked to 
 his small boat ; being desirous to reach the lauding at 
 the north end of Lake George, we set off together ; 
 but the general's boat, and the other boat with part of 
 the luggage, soon got before us a considerable way. 
 After separating, we fell luckily in with the boat 
 bringing the Montreal and Canada mail. Dr. Frank- 
 lin found in the mail a letter for General Schuyler. 
 When we had weathered Sabaty point, we stood over 
 for the western shore of the lake, and a mile or two 
 below the point we were overtaken by the general, 
 from whom we learned the cause of his delay. Mr. 
 Chase and myself went on board the general's boat, 
 and reached the landing-place at the south [north] 
 end of Lake George, nearly two hours before the 
 other boats. Lake George lies nearly north and 
 south. ... Its shores are remarkably steep, high, and 
 rocky, (particularly the east shore), and are covered 
 with pine and cedar, or what is here termed hemlock ; 
 the country is wild and appears utterly mcapable of 
 
56 REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 
 
 cultivation ; it is a fine deer country, and likely to 
 remain so, for I think it never will be inhabited. I 
 speak of the shores, and am told that the country 
 inland resembles these. 
 
 " The season was not sufficiently advanced to admit 
 of catcliing fish, a circumstance that we had reason to 
 regret, as they are so higlily prized by connoisseurs 
 in good eating, and as one of our company is so 
 excellent a judge of this science.'" 
 
 The Commissioners accomplished no good by their 
 visit to Montreal, and the party returned by Scnith 
 Bay and Fort Edward. 
 
 May 31, General Schuyler was now at the lake, 
 having his headquarters at Fort George. About 
 this time he was visited by Mr. Graydon, who came 
 to the lake to bring money for the troops. Speaking 
 of the journey between Fort Edward and the lake, 
 he says : " It was almost an entire wood, acquiring a 
 deeper gloom, as well from the general prevalence of 
 pines, as from its dark, extended covert, being pre- 
 sented to the imagination as an apjjropriate scene for 
 the ' treasons, stratagems and spoils ' of savage hos- 
 tility."- 
 
 He was received at the lake by Schuyler with great 
 cordiality and respect, and a]ipears to have heartily 
 approved his tacti(.'s in dealing witli the New-England 
 
 (1) — Mr. Carroll writes under date of April 5, when the Commie- 
 missioners were afceuUinj; the Hudson: "Just before we doubled 
 Cape Anthony's Nose, Mr. Chase and I landed to examine a beautiful 
 fall of water. 3Ir. Chase, apprehensive of the leg of mutton being 
 boiled too much, was impatient to get on board." (2) — Memoirs, p. 
 142. 
 
K E V O L U T I O N A R Y SCENES. 57 
 
 troops uiuler bis command. Gra3-clon bears testimonj' 
 to bis irritability, but tliinks tbat tbe New-EiigLand 
 men deserved the contemptuous treatment which they 
 received at his hands, a very striking instance of wbicii 
 is recorded. Eventually, however, his policy failed. 
 As Greene observes : " New-England men could not 
 persuade themselves that the man who, in bis official 
 intercourse with them, could not command his ' peev- 
 ishness ' was qualified to command tbem."^ Tliis 
 remark is conceived in the spirit of that ancient decla- 
 ration, which teaches tbat the ability to rule one's 
 spirit is a truer mark of greatness than the capacity 
 to take a city ; yet, if mutual forbearance bad been 
 exercised, Schuyler might, perhaps, have continued in 
 command of this department to the end, and finally 
 achieved the victory tbat afterwards crowned the 
 efforts of Gates. 
 
 A polished gentleman of the old school. General 
 Philip Schuyler carried all his high-bred courtliness 
 into the camp, where he found it difficult to recognize 
 the worth of those New-England men, who, at times, 
 like many of their fellow patriots of New York, pos- 
 sessed noble and disinterested natures, veiled under a 
 rude garb and ordinary mien. Hence, the mutual 
 dislike and open hostility which afterwards had so 
 much to do in removing this able soldier and wise 
 statesman from the command of tbe Department of the 
 North. 
 
 But let us not anticipate events. July 17, General 
 Gates, who, a month previous, had succeeded Thomas 
 
 (1)— Life of General Grecuo, Vol. i. p. 43G. Giaydon. p. 143. 
 
$8 K E V O I- T: T I O N A K T SCENES. 
 
 iu command of the army, which had now been driven 
 fer out of Canada, issued an order from his head-quar- 
 ters at Ticonderoga, forbidding " the wanton waste of 
 powder " at Fort George. Powder was at this time 
 scarce, and a rebuke was perhaps needed, yet Gates, 
 having entered the department of his superior, had no 
 authority to administer it. Nine days before, the ques- 
 tion of jurisdiction liad come up iu Congress, and the 
 decision was against Gates, who was ordered to act in 
 liarmony with Schuyler, and restrict the use of his 
 authority to his own immediate command. 
 
 October 1, Schuyler wrote to General Gates, saying 
 that a blow at Fort George was probably meditated 
 by the lingiish, to destroy the communications of the 
 American forces, and recommended a reinforcement. 
 No harm came, however; yet in the following No- 
 vember the New York Committee of Safety wrote 
 that the Tories had a plan to seize and hold Fort 
 George, iu connection with the Indians and Cana- 
 dians. Tliis, likewise, was simply an ungrounded 
 fear, as on the ninth of the same month General 
 Gates writes somewhat tartly to Colonel Gansevort, 
 because he kept the boats and provisions at Fort 
 George, and sent forward no flour, telling him that 
 " there is not an enemy within a hundred miles of the 
 post." 
 
 Several w'riters have stated that about this time 
 a severe battle was fought by a party of Amer- 
 ican militia of Saratoga county,' who met a band of 
 Tories and Indians near Sabbath Day Point, when 
 
 (1) — LossiLR'e Field Book, Vol. i. p. 110. 
 
REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 59 
 
 tlie former achieved a victory. Yet this story does 
 not appear ia print until a very recent date. The 
 following paragraph from Mr. Neilson's little book 
 on Burgoyne's campaign, contains the only authority 
 found thus far. He says, speaking of events at this 
 time, " My [step] grandfather, at the head of fifty 
 men, had a desperate encounter with about eighty 
 Indians and Tories at Sabbath Day Point, in which 
 the enemy were defeated, with a loss of forty killed 
 and wounded."' 
 
 Unfortunately, however, the chronicles of the day, 
 which gave minute accounts of every skirmish, say 
 nothing whatever either about such an engagement or 
 victory. The only traces found by the author, of a 
 conflict at this place appear in a fragment of a manu- 
 script letter now in the State archives at Albany. It 
 was written by " J. Deane, Indian Interpreter " to 
 General Schuyler, and bears date of June 25, 1777. 
 In the course of his remarks he speaks of " the war- 
 riors of Aghmejasne, who took a party of our people 
 at Sabbath Day Point."^ In the absence of reliable 
 testimony, we shall therefore feel obliged to receive 
 with extreme caution Nelson's account of a victory 
 at the above place. Lossing repeats Nelson's story, 
 but gives no authority. So important an engagement 
 would certainly have been mentioned in some docu- 
 ment or newspaper of the day.' 
 
 (Ij — Burgoyne's Campaign, p. 85. (2)— Miss. Papers, 1777, Vol. 
 ii. p. 20. (3) — The autlior has not been able to learn even the 
 of tlic person who commanded in tliis alleged light. 
 
6o R E V O I, r T I O N A R Y SCENES. 
 
 It would be improper to pass over this year with- 
 out speaking of the severe sickness wliich prevailed. 
 When the army under Gates was obliged to retreat 
 up Champlain to Ticonderoga, the sick were trans- 
 ported over Lake George to the hospitals established 
 around the fort at its head. This site was selected on 
 account of its genial atmosphere and general advan- 
 tages. On the 14th of July there were no less than 
 three thousand sick men lying at this place.' many 
 of whom were suffering from small-pox and typhus 
 fever. Between the 12th and 2(5th of July, Hfty-one 
 men were here consigned to the grave. AVhat is now 
 the village of Caldwell was one great eharnel house. 
 The circumstances were rendered worse by the fact, 
 that the hospitals were extremely destitute of all those 
 means and appliances which in our own daj- go so fjir 
 to alleviate human misery. The sufferings of the 
 troops at Valley Forge could not be compared with 
 the misery of our patriotic troops on the shore of this 
 beautiful lake. 
 
 Among those prostrated by disease and borne to 
 this place, was General James Wilkinson, afterwards 
 the co-laborer of Aaron Burr, and Baron de Woedtke." 
 Wilkinson says : " There at Fort George, in spite of 
 medical aid, I was reduced to the last extremity ; every 
 hope of my recovery had expired ; I was consigned to 
 
 (1) — American Arcliivcs, Vol. i., .Series v. pp. 232-237-651. (2) — 
 Barou Ue Woedtlio was many years an orticer in the Prussian 
 army. He came to America, and March 16, 1776, was appointed 
 brigadier-general, and ordered to Canada. He died at Lalic George, 
 at about the close of .July, and was buried with the liouors due to liis 
 rank, VV asUin^'tou's Writings, Vol. iv. p. 6. 
 
R E V O L l" T I O N A R Y SCENES. 6l 
 
 the grave, and a coffin was prepared for my accommo- 
 dation."' Yet he I'ecovered from this sickness, and in 
 course of time the diseases abated, and the liospitals 
 were cleared, tliough too many of them had been 
 rendered tenantless by Deatli. 
 
 Towards the close of the season, Trumbull passed 
 up the lake from Ticonderoga, in a boat with General 
 Gates, under whom he was serving as adjutant-gen- 
 eral. He gives in his journal a beautiful picture of a 
 mountain on fire, a scene well adapted to impress the 
 mind of the embryo artist, who was about to lay aside 
 the sword for the mahl stick. He writes : " My taste 
 for the picturesque here received a splendid gratifica- 
 tion. Some of the troops who had passed before us 
 had landed on the west shore of the lake and lighted 
 fires for cooking. The season was cold and dry — 
 the leaves had fallen in masses — the fire had extended 
 to them, and spread from ledge to ledge, from rock to 
 rock to the very summit, where it was from seven 
 hundred to a thousand feet high. In parts the fire 
 crept along the crevices of the rock ; at times an 
 ancient pine tree rose up a majestic pyramid of flame ; 
 and all this was reflected in the pellucid surfitce of the 
 lake, which lay like a beautiful mirror in the stillness 
 of the dark night, unruftled by the oars of our solitary 
 boat, and these were frequently suspended that we 
 might enjoy the magnificent scene."- 
 
 Winter closed in gloomily upon the country, as well 
 as upon the lake. About New- Year's day, the lake 
 was frozen over, and navigation ceased. The cold 
 
 (1) — Memoirs, Vol. i. p. Sii. (2) — Trumbull's Keminiscences, p. 37. 
 
62 REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 
 
 season passed away without any event of importance 
 occurring in the various garrisons. But when the 
 of 1777 opened, the whole aspect of affairs underwent 
 a change. 
 
 In order to render the operations of the army 
 more effective, Congress, May 22, confirmed General 
 Schuyler in his command, and added to his former 
 jurisdiction, including Ticonderoga, Fort Stanwix, 
 Albany, and their dependencies.' Thus Gates was 
 put out of the field. General St. Clair was then 
 placed in command at Ticonderoga. Eventually, that 
 officer, acting on his own respoiisibility, decided, in 
 view of the impending peril, to evacuate the post. 
 For this act Schuyler was severely blamed, yet he 
 was in no wise responsible ; while St. Clair himself 
 was afterwards fully acquitted by a military court. 
 The day after the evacuation of Ticonderoga, Schuyler, 
 writing to Washington from Fort P^dward, says, " I 
 have not been able to learn what is become of Gen- 
 eral St. Clair and the army."^ 
 
 St. Clair executed this movement on the night of 
 July 6, sending one regiment and the sick to AVhite- 
 hall, while the rest of the troops marched by the new 
 road through the woods to Ilubbardstown. The Brit- 
 ish, under General Frazer, took possession, and thus 
 the evacuation of all jjoints on Lake George became 
 necessary. St. Clair's retreat having become known, 
 preparations were made in season to leave Fort 
 George ; and when the Americans deserted that work 
 
 (1)- Journal Congress, Vol. iii. p. 183. (2)— Washington's Writ- 
 ings, Vol. iv. p. 491. 
 
REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 63 
 
 they took all their baggage and stoi-es, and set the 
 fort on lire. The match was applied July 16, and 
 Major Yates marched away to Fort Edward, with 
 seven hundi-ed men. Burgoyne, who was then mov- 
 ing victoriously southward, thus writes of the affair : 
 " The garrison of Fort George in manifest danger 
 of being cut off by the direct movement from Skenes- 
 borough to Hudson's River, took the measure I ex- 
 pected of abandoning the Fort, and burning the vessels, 
 thereby leaving the lake entirely free. A detachment 
 of the King's Troops from Ticonderoga, which I had 
 ordered to be ready for that event, with a great embark- 
 ation of provisions, passed the lake on the same day 
 that I took possession of this communication by land." 
 Schuyler, in his letter to Washington, before referred 
 to, says that there were •' no carriages to remove the 
 stores from Fort George," which he expected would 
 be immediately attacked. Yet it appears that Colonel 
 Gates found means seven days after to bring away 
 every thing in safety. Schuyler also justified the 
 giving up of Fort George, on which point Wash- 
 ington susj>ended his opinion, merely remarking that 
 others had informed him " that a s])irited, brave, 
 judicious officer, with two or three hundred good 
 men, together with the armed vessels you have built, 
 would retard Burgoyne's passage across the Lake for a 
 considerable time, if not render it impracticable, and 
 oblige him to take a more difficult and circuitous 
 route." To this Schuyler replies: "The fort was part 
 of an unfinished bastion of an intended fortification. 
 The bastion was closed at the gorge. In it was a 
 barrack capable of containing betvifeen thirty and fifty 
 
64 REVOLUTIONARY SCENES. 
 
 men ; without (litcb, without wall, without cistern ; 
 without any picket to prevent an enemy from running 
 over the wall. So small, as not to contain above one 
 hundred and fifty men, commanded by ground greatly 
 overlooking it, and within point blank shot ; and so 
 situated that five hundred men may lie between the 
 bastion and the Lake, without being seen from this 
 extremely defensible fortress. Of vessels built there, 
 one was afloat and tolerably fitted ; the others still 
 upon the stocks ; but, if the two had been upon the 
 water, they would have been of but little use, without 
 rigging and guns."' 
 
 The same poor condition jirevailed at Fort Edwai'd, 
 where Schuyler had only fifteen hundred men, with 
 only two pieces of small u-on cannon, all the artillery 
 having been sent to the southern department by order 
 of Washington. We may easily imagine what must 
 have been the real state of affairs. An extract from 
 a letter written by Governeur Morris to John Jay, 
 when at Valley Forge, January, 1780, says: "Our 
 troops, — heu niiserors. The skeleton of an army 
 presents itself to our ej'es in a naked, starving con- 
 dition, out of health, out of spirits. But I have seen 
 Fort George," he adds, " in the summer of 1777."' 
 
 Lake George being wholly given up by the Amer- 
 icans, it now became a part of the British line of 
 communication with Canada. Colonel Anstruther was 
 the commandant. 
 
 It is almost universally conceded, however, tliat lie 
 erred greatly in failing to bring his army by this 
 
 (1)— Washington's Writings, Vul. iv. p. -IW, (2) — Life of Uover- 
 neur Morris, Vol. i. p. 154. 
 
l; H \- O L V T I <) N A H V S () K N K s . 65 
 
 route after the surrender of Ticouderoga. If he had 
 done this, instead of moving by the way of South 
 Bay, the result would doubtless have been far differ- 
 ent. The general plan of the campaign was esteemed 
 judicious, and it gained the ajiproval of King George 
 himself. But that monarch saw the dangers of South 
 Bay, and earnestly recommended the route by Lake 
 George. In revising the plan he says : " If possible, 
 possession must be taken of Lake George, and nothing 
 but an absolute impossibility of succeeding in this, 
 can be an excuse for proceeding by South Bay and 
 Skenesborough.'" Still, Burgoyne afterwards made 
 as good a use of the lake as he was able to, and by 
 this route he brought reinforcements and supplies. 
 Depots were formed at both Fort George and Dia- 
 mond Island, though eventually all of the stores were 
 accumulated at the latter place. 
 
 But the British were not allowed to hold the lake 
 unmolested. "While Burgoyne was busy prosecuting 
 his campaign in the direction of Saratoga, an expe- 
 dition was sent by General Lincoln to his rear. This 
 expedition was placed under the command of the ever- 
 active Colonel John Brown, who surprised the out- 
 works of Ticouderoga, and met with considerable 
 success.^ He then embarked with his forces in some 
 captured vessels, and sailed to attack Diamond Island, 
 
 (1) — Quoted in Alberm&rle's Memories of the Marquis of Rocking- 
 ham, {Vol. ii. p. 331) from the original manuscript in tlie handwriting 
 of King George, now in the British Museum. This testimony seems 
 to have escaped all of our American writers. The author's attention 
 was directed to it by Major-General del'eyster. (2) — Sec Chapter ix. 
 on Ticouderoga. 
 
66 R K V O L U T I ( ) j\ A It Y SCENES. 
 
 situated within four miles of Fort George. In this 
 expedition he failed. Tlie artillery of the garrison 
 was so well served that he was unable to come to 
 quarters. The result we may give in Burgoyne's own 
 words. He reports : 
 
 " On the 24th instant, the enemy upon Lake George 
 attacked Diamond Island in two divisions. Captain 
 Aubrey^ and two companies of the 47th regiment 
 had been posted at that island from the time the army 
 passed the Hudson River, as a better security for the 
 stores at the south end of Lake George than Fort 
 George, which is on the continent, and not tenable 
 against artillery and numbers. The enemy were 
 repulsed by Captain Aubrey with great loss, and pur- 
 sued by the gunboats under his command, to the east 
 shore, where two of their principal vessels were re- 
 taken, together with all the cannon. They had just 
 time to set fire to the other batteaux, and retreated 
 over the mountain." 
 
 Colonel Brown regained Lincoln's camp in safety. 
 He afterwards fell a martyr to liberty. He was a 
 man of much character and ability, but he was kept 
 from advancement by Ar-nold, who then had the ear 
 of General Gates. 
 
 AVhen Burgoyne was defeated and undertook to 
 retreat, he started for Lake George, hoping to escape 
 by this route to Canada. But the skill of Gates 
 finally caused him to capitulate ; and thus Lake 
 George once more became free from British rule. 
 
 (1) — Thomas Aubrey, second son of Sir Thomas Aubrey, of Glan- 
 borgaushir. entered the army as ensign in 1762. and served in Florida. 
 Ho was at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and was made major in 1782, and 
 afterwards arose to the rank of colonel. He died January 15, 1814. 
 
1! K vol, I T I II .N A K V S C H N K S . 67 
 
 Nothing of importance occurred in this vicinity 
 until 1780, when Sir John Johnson invaded the north- 
 ern part of New York, and marked liis track in aslies 
 and flames. His object was to reco\er three barrels 
 of silver plate buried in the cellar of his former man- 
 sion at Johnstown. He succeeded in finding the 
 treasure, which was borne away by forty soldiers, each 
 of whom carried a portion in his haversack. Sir John 
 was pursued on his return by a force under Governor 
 Clinton, who went down Lake George to Ticonderoga, 
 where he was obliged to abandon the pursuit. 
 
 Jlajor Carlton improved the occasion of this raid to 
 strike a blow at Forts Ann and George. Fort Ann 
 was taken October 10. The next day, Carlton, while 
 marching against Fort George, was met by a party of 
 twent3'-five men sent from that place by the com- 
 mander, Colonel Chipman, to obtain provisions at Fort 
 Edward. They were immediately tired upon by 
 Carlton, but managed to escape and return to Fort 
 George. Chipman, supposing that it was an enemy's 
 scout, sent out all but fourteen of bis men, who met 
 and engaged the enemy near Bloody Pond. The 
 Americans were signally defeated, the whole force 
 being either killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. 
 Carlton then hurried to the fort, wliich was obliged to 
 capitulate. The Americans lost twenty-eight men, 
 eight vessels, and twenty-eight flat-boats, which were 
 in the lake.' 
 
 With this event military operations on Lake George 
 
 (1) — Hough's Northurii Inv«siou — Washington's Works, Vol. 
 p. 269. 
 
bb K E V O L I T I O iV A It V S C E N E S . 
 
 ended. During the war of 1812 they were not 
 renewed, as at that time the lake liad h)st its import- 
 ance as part of a great militarj' route. 
 
 For the last eighty-five years Lake George has 
 erijo3'ed all the advantages that flow from peace ; and 
 yet it still retains its native wilduess. The lack of 
 water-power and the lightness of the soil, retard the 
 progress of mechanic and agricultural arts ; and the 
 shriek of the locomotive will perhaps never be heard 
 around these shores. As this mountainous country 
 will hardly require or admit the use of railroads, the 
 stage-coach will hold undisputed sway, and, under a 
 wise management, furnish to tourists, who pass by the 
 Lake- George route to the Schroon Lake and the 
 Adirondacks, a mode of transit that is at once easy, 
 expeditious, and safe. 
 
 Lake George may therefore be considered beyond 
 the reach of those invasions which have destroyed the 
 value of so many American retreats. Elegant villas 
 will multiply along its borders, and its romantic isles 
 will, in course of time, be crowned with cottages ; yet 
 the visitor at the lake will never miss its old and 
 exquisite charm, or fail to find retirement and peace. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 ACCOUNT OF BERNARD ROMANS. 
 
 t MSS. in Coinieoticut State Library. Revolutionary War, Vol. iii. 
 p. 26. Furnished by C'barlcs J. IloaJly, Esq., Librarian.] 
 
 Colony of Connecticut to Bern.\rd Uom.\n.s, Esq' ])'. 
 for monies advanced & for which he gave obligations, viz' : 
 
 To ]/ Heman Allen going E.\press after Ethan 
 
 Allen, 120 miles 
 
 To p'' Elisha Phelps fp rec' on file 
 To p'' e.xpences 3 Persons from Ben*'" to Albany 
 To p'' Benjamin French for Pork 4 bb'" {? rec' 
 To p'' Gershom Hewit Expence over lake . 
 l"o p'' Jn° Stevens Canaan, E.xpence p rec" . 
 To p'' ditto d" ^ d" . 
 To p'' George Palmer Esq' for flower 4p d' . 
 To my Expences at Albany .... 
 To ditto, on road to Still Water, Fort Edward iV 
 To ditto, at & near Fort Edward, getting men to- 
 gether ^*'- ^ 
 
 'I'o p'' Abram Wing in part for Expences 
 T'o d° Cash to John Stevens .... 
 
 To d" horse shoeing 7/6 — Expen' on road 5/- . 
 To ])'' Butler for Expen" as Express to Stillwater 
 
 To horse hire for ditto 
 
 To Expen' on road at mead' runbridge & Fort 
 
 Geo: 16 men 1.10.— 
 
 To Expen" on Lake & at Ticonderoga Landing . . 7. 6 
 To d° at Ticond" & on Lake returning . . . . 9. 4 
 To p"" enlisted men for their Exp". — Peter Cas- 
 
 wel p Rec' '^- '— 
 
 To Expe' on road & at Saratoga, returning . . . 9.— 
 To d° at Lanesborough ''" . ' " ' '" 
 
 To p'' Mayhon Wagoner to Transport Prisoners ) ^jo. 6 
 from Lake to Lanesborough . . ■ S 
 
 £2.16. 
 
 30. 0.— 
 
 . 9.06 
 
 12. 0.— 
 
 1.10.— 
 
 3.16.— 
 
 2.16.— 
 
 3. 1. 6 
 
 7. 6 
 
 9.— 
 
 9. — 
 
 1. 8.— 
 
 .12. 6 
 
 .12.— 
 
 .15.— 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 To ])'' Prisoners Expences at Laneshorough 
 
 To fetchinti my horse rode by Ju" Brown, & 
 keeping &' ...... 
 
 To advanced mony to one of Prisoners sick 
 
 To p'' for 10 Loaves Bread for Prisoners 
 
 To lO'" Pork for ditto 
 
 To p"* two Wnggoners from Lanesbor." to Noble- ) ^j 
 town 58 miles each — they found themselves ^ 
 
 To p'' Exp' at Lanesbor" 5/- d" on Road 7/6 
 
 To p^ for Ton Iron to M' French, for Chains . 28. 
 
 To Expences advanced on the Road as ,p Bill 
 from Hartford to Bennington including a Gun 
 bo' for Cap' Mott 50/- for which he must be 
 charged & also 3.3/3 Expence paid for ^[ott 
 
 To Expences on the Road .... 
 
 12.— 
 7. 6 
 
 12. 6 
 10.— 
 
 £131.11.10 
 
 Supra— C 
 
 By Cash rec* of Mess" Ueane Lcffingwell &' 
 
 p Rec' 100. 0. 
 
 By an order on Treasurer in full this acco' this ( qi ii in 
 
 31" day May 1775 S 
 
 £131.11.10 
 
 Errors Excepted 
 
 .\t> B Romans. 
 
A P P E X I) I X. 73 
 
 II. 
 
 PETITION OF JOHN XORDBEKG. 
 
 [ From T. Y. Miscellaneous Papers, Vol. xxxi. p. 15. N. Y. Revolu- 
 tionary Papers, I. p. 206. In Office ol Secretary of State at Albany.) 
 
 " The most respect.\ble Gextlemex, 
 
 Provinci.\l Coxgress in New York. 
 
 " I beg leave to represent to the most respectable Con- 
 gress this circumstance. 
 
 '■ I am a native of Sweden, and have been persecuted for 
 that, I have been against the French faction there. 
 
 " I liave been in His Britanick Magesty's Service sinse 
 January I 758. 
 
 " I have been twice shot through my body here last war 
 in America, & I am now 65 years old — reduced of age, 
 wounds & and gravels, which may be seen by Doctor Jones'" 
 certificate. 
 
 " 17 73. I got permission in Jamaica to go to London 
 where I petition to be an Invalid officer, but as a foreigner 
 I could not enjoy a commission in England, or Ereland His 
 Magisty was graciously pleased to give me the allowance 
 for Fort George 7 shilling sterling per day, with liberty to 
 live where I please in America, because the fort has hecn 
 abauilnni'd tliis 8 year and only 2 men remain there for to 
 assist :iiiy i\|iicss going between New York and Canada. 
 I arrivrii In rc' in New Y^ork last year in September with 
 intention to live in New Y'ork : as I heard nothing els than 
 disharmonj- amongst (jentlemen which was not agreeable 
 to my age. I resolved to go to Fort George and live there 
 in a little Cottage as an Hermit, where I was very happy 
 for 6 months. 
 
 " The 1 2 of May last Mr. Romans came & took ])os- 
 session of Fort George, Mr. Romans behaved very genteel 
 and civil to me. I told that I did not belong to the army 
 and may be considered as a half pay officer invalid, and 
 convinced him that I was pleagd with Gravell, Mr. Romans 
 give me his passport to go to New Lebanon for to recover 
 my health, & he told me that in regard to my age, I may 
 go where I please. 
 
 " As I can't sell any bill for my subsistance, & I can't live 
 upon wind and weather, I therefore beg and implore the 
 
74 APPENDIX. 
 
 most respectalilc Congress permission to go to England, 
 and I intend to go to my native counti-y. I could have gone 
 away secret so well as some others have done, but I will 
 not upon any account do such a thing — 1 hope the most 
 respectable will not do partially to refuse me, because major 
 Etherington, Captain Brown, Captain Kelly which is in 
 th" army have been permitted to go to England, and it 
 may happen they return here again on actual Service, 
 which old age & infirmities render me incapable of. 
 
 " As it is the custom among the Christian nations and 
 the Turks, that they give subsistance to every Prisoner 
 according to their Rank should the most respectable Con- 
 gress, have any claim upon me to be a prisoner here, I hope 
 they will give me my subsistence fi-om th 1 2 of May last, 
 according to My Rank as Captain I implore the favor of 
 the most respectable Congress answer. I have the honour 
 to remain with great resjiect, 
 
 " Gentlemen 
 
 " Your most obed' humble Servant 
 
 " John Noudberg. 
 "New York, decenib'' 1775." 
 
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