|C&-iH S^ e

KINNEY'S HEROIC STATUE OF

THE

MOUNTAIN HERO

AND HIS

ASSOCIATES.

BY
HENEY W. DE PUY. \

NEW YORK:
A. RANNEY, 195 BROADWAY.
1855.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855,
BY PHINNEY & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Northern
District of New York.

CONTENTS.
Ikteoduotion  U
CHAPTER I.
KAELT HESTOET OF TEEMONT.
Early Discoveries — Cartier at Hotchelaga — Interview with the Na
tives — Return toTrance — Champlain — His Discoveries — Hudson —
The Green Mountains^The Six Nations — The Adirondacks — Fire
Arms— Torture of a Prisoner — War between the French and
Indians — Corlear — French Expedition against the Mohawks — ^Fiist
English Prisonera in Canada — ^Montreal attacked by the Indians —
Massacre at Schenectady — French Invasion of New Hampshire —
Death of Major Waldron — English Expedition against Canada — Sir
Wilham Phipps — Captain John- Schuyler — French Emulation of
Indian Cruelty — Burning of Deerfield — Rev. John Williams — The
March over the Green Mountains — Death of Mrs. Williams — The
Forest Sermon^-The Daring Boy — Sufferings of the Captives —
Ransom of Rev. Mr. Wilhams— The Bell of St. Regis— Border
Warfare — Colonial War with Canada — English Army on Lake
Champlain — Fleet on the St Lawrence — Peace — First Settlements
ill Vermont — Frontignac — Joliet — Exploration of the Missis
sippi — Lake Champlain — Crown Point — Progress of the English
and French Colonies — Fort Dummer — Lovewell's War — The
Jesuit RoUe — Siege of Louisbourg — Indian Depredations— ^Mas
sacre at Fort Massach'isetts— Heroic Defense of " Number Four ••—
Captain Hobbs— Saratoga— Tho Abbe Picqnet— French War ctf
1756^Sir William Johnson— Expedition against the Fretich-—
Johnson's Victoiy ovsr Dicskau — Indian Depredations — Captain
Johnson— Subjugation of Canada again undeitaken — General
Abercrombie- John SrAEK— His Intrepidity— Montcalm's Ad
vances toward Fort Wilham Henry— Massacre at Fort Edward—
Ibbabl Pctnam— William Pitt— Putnam's Battle with Firs

VI OOKTENTS.
Abercrombio's Defeat at Ticonderoga— Capture of Putnam--Cni-
elties inflicted upon him — Attempt to burn him — Rescue — The
Fair Captive — Amherst takes Ticonderoga and Crown Point —
DestiTiction of the Village of St Francis — General Wolfe — His
Death and Victoiy at Quebec— Death of Montcalm— Vaudreuil
defeated at Montreal — Canada suiTendered to the Enghsh— Close
of the French War,  13 to 116

CHAPTER IL
THE HEW-HAMPSHIKE GEANTS.
he Peace of 1763 — Advance of the English Settlements — The
Delius Grant — Conflicting Grants by the British Crown — Contro
versies arising therefrom — New- York Charter — Correspondence
between the Governors of New Hampshire and New York —
Charter of Bennington — Giants of Lands by tbe Governor of New
Hampshire — Proclamation of Governor Colden — Counter-Procla
mation — Appeal to the King — An Ambiguous Decree — Excitement
among the People — Agent sent to England — Determination to
repel the New-York Claimants — Ethan Allen — His early Life —
He becomes interested in the New-Hampshire Grants — Journal of
Ika Allen — Scheme of a Land Speculator — The Allens in New
York — Ira Allen's Foresight — ^Adventure with a Ghost — Seth
Waenee — Personal Appearance of Warner — His Favorite Pur
suits — Capt. Remembee Bakee — Is a Soldier in the French War —
Removes to the New-Hampshire Grants — Samuel Robinson — Set
tlement of Bennington — Establishment of a Church and a
School — Jedediah Dewey — Oppressive Measures of New York 
Indictments — Convention of the Settlers — Samuel Robinson — The
King's Order — It is disregarded by Governor Tryon — Procla
mation — Indictments — Ejectment Trials at Albany — Anecdote of
AUen — New Attempts to deprive tho People of their Property 
Defensive Measures—" Hideous Groans "—The Green -Mountain
Boys— Reward offered for the Arrest of Allen— AUen's Proclama
tion—His Courage— Attack upon Captain Baker's House— His
Capture and Rescue— Attempt to arrest Warner- A Rumored
Invasion— ConcUiation— Allen's Protest— Joy in Bennington—
Quarrel Renewed— Letter to Governor Tryon— The "Beech-
Seal "—The Scotch Emigrants— Proceedings in Clarendon—" The

OOHTENTS. Vll
Bloody Law " — Allen's Opinion of it — PubUc Meetings — Doctor
Samuel Adams — Benjamin Hough — AUen's Certificate — Trials of
the Pioneers — Tyranny of the Goveniment — Rescue of a Pris
oner — Treason Trials — Murder of Wilham French — Dawn of the
Revolution,  116tolS6
CHAPTER IIL
ETHAN ALLEN.
Character of the Patriots of '76 — Ethan AUen — His Position — Re
view of the Causes which produced the Revolution — The Stamp
Act — ^The Tea Tax — The First Congress — Measures of Resist
ance — Contemplated Enterprise against Ticonderoga — Ethan
AUen chosen its Leader — His Plan — The Boy-Guide — ^AUen
crosses the Lake — The Fortress attacked — Confusion of the
Enemy — ^AUen and Delaplace — Surrender of the Garrison — Crown
Point and Skenesborough Secured — Arnold's Naval Victory —
AUen and Congress — ^AUen and Paraon Dewey — Capture, of
AUen — Naeeativb of Allen's Captiviti — His Account of the
Victory at Ticonderoga — He faUs into the Hands of the Enemy —
A Singular Shield — Barbarity of Colonel Prescott — AUen put in
Irons — The Tenpenny Nail — Allen's ChaUenge of Doctor Dace —
Magnanimity of Captain Litllejohn — The Duel — Rehance upon
AUen's Honor — Cruel Treatment of Prisoners — The Petty Ty
rant — Voyage to England — Allen's Sufferings — Landing at Fal
mouth — Expected Execution of AUen — His Letter to Congress —
Reflections upon Death — Conversations with his Visitors — Captain
Symonds — The Generous Irishmen — ^AUen sails from England —
The Voyage — ^Arrival in America — From Bad to Worse — Meeting
with old Enemies — IUness — Cruelty and Kindness — Mrs. Blac-
'den — Removal to New York — ^A Humane Commander — ^AUen's
Gratitude — The Prison Ship — ^Battle of Bennington — AUen on
Parole — The American Prisoners in New York — ^Parbarity of the
British — Incredible Sufferings — Starvation, Disease and Death —
Washington— General Howe— The British Bribe— AUen's Reply-i-
AUen and Rivington— Captain Vandyke — Mr. MiUer— Majors
Wells and Paine — Mr. FeU — Evacuation of Ticonderoga — Battle
of Hubbardton — Triumph of Allen — Burgoyne's Surrender —
Burgoyne's Proclamation — AUen and the British Officer — AUen's
Libieration— His Return to Vermont,  196 to 279

Till OONTENTS. CHAPTER IV.
THE GEEEN-MOUNTAnr HEECES.
Charter of the Early Settlers of this Country— Influence of their
Example — The Puritans and the Followers of Penn — ^Indian Con
verts — Origin of the Revolution — Reflections on the Character and
Services of Congress — Deolaeation of Independence — Bunker
HiU — Ticonderoga — Campaign of 1775 — General Montgomery —
Genei-al Schuyler — Montgomery enteis Canada — Death of Captain
Baker — Etham Allen — Siege of St John's — Mutiny — James
Livingston — Surrender of Fort Chambly — Seth Waenee — The
Green-Mountain Rangers — Repulse of Carleton — Surrender of St
John's — Carleton's Retreat from Montreal — Extraordinary Manih
of Ajnold — The British retire to Quebec — ^The Assavdt Begun —
Death of Montgomery — The Cowardly Commandera — Honors to
Montgomery — His Character — His Widow — Arnold — Major Moi^
gan — Retreat of the Americans — Reinforcements — ^Energy of
Warner — General Gates — Naval Preparations — ^Battle on Lake
Champlain — Plans of the British — SuppUes for Ticonderoga —
Close of the Campaign of 1776 — (Jeneral Carleton — The Green-
Mountain Pledge — Burgoyne — The Campaign Opened — Evacua
tion of Ticonderoga — General St Clair — Retreat of the Americans
— ^Batfle of Hubbardton — ^Advance of the British — Jane McCrea —
Account of her Murder — ^A New-Hampshire Patriot — General
Stark — Movements of Burgoyne — The Foray upon the Green
Mountains — Battle at Cambridge — Skirmishing — Rain — The Bel-
Ucose Parson — Stark's Speech — Battie of Bennington — The
British Reinforced — The Victoiy at Bennington — Genei-al Stark's
Account — Colonels Warner and Herrick — Honor to General Stark'a
Genius — Important Consequences of this Victory — Censure ot
Stark in Congress changed to Thanks — General Burgoyne's Opin
ion of iis Antagonist changed — Spoils and Trophies — Expenses
of Stark's Brigade — Traveled Cannon — British, German and Toiy
Prisoners — Lions and Lambs — Curiosity to see Lord Napier  A
Bereaved Mother— General Lincoln— Colonels Brown and Johnson
at Lake George— Brown's Success- Generals Gates and Burgoyne
—Engagement at Saratoga— British Testimony to American Patri
otism—The Spu-it of '76 ; Death ratiier than Dishonoiv-Burgoyne's
Difficulties thicken— He Surrenders— Medal and Thanks to OfiuanJ

OONTENTS. ix
Gates — Feats of the Green-Mountain Boys — British Reh'cat from
Ticonderoga, with loss — Difficnlties of the Inhabitants of the New-
' Hampshire Giants — Their Need of a Government — Declare their
¦ Independence as a State — Congress refuses to receive them — They
form a Constitution — Council of Safety — Its Officers and Powers
— Ira Allen on Ways and Means — A Regiment raised and paid
from Tory Property — Governor Chittenden — Incidents of his Life
— Ira Allen Secretaiy of State — His Appearance and Services —
Measures of Vermont opposed — Ethan Allen's Return — His
Welcome — His Military Distinction — Is Agent from Vermont to
Congress — Governor Clinton's Proclamatibn — General AUen's
Counter-Proclamation — He advocates Law and Order — A Hanging
Postponed— Excitement iu consequence — General AUen's Speech
— " Somebody shaU be Hanged " — General Allen's Quarrel with
his Brother Levi — The Tooth-drawing — Colonel Seth Waenee —
Dies in Poverty — Inscription on his Tomb — His Widow's Petition
to Congress — Widow Storey — Her Secret Retreat — Destruction of
Royalton — Pursuit of the Indians — Their Kindness to Female
Prisoners — Anecdotes of the Indians — Daring of Mra. Stone — Mrs.
Barker and her Infants — Adverse Claims for Vermont Territory —
Congress censures Vermont — Vermont extends its Territory —
Poetry for the Green-Mountaineers — British Overtures to Ethan
AUen — AUen's Letter to Congress — General Haldimand negotiates
privately with Vermont Leadei"S — Allen and Fay mislead the
English — Their Commission — General Haldimand's Instruction to
his Agent — The Agent's Notes of Interviews — Ira AUen's Ingen
ious Delays — Notice of his Career — Washington reconciles Ver
mont and Congress — FeeUng of the People— Difficulties with New
York — Ethan AUen suppresses Insurrection — His Characteristic
Proclamation — ^Vermont admitted an Independent State, 1789 —
Ethan AUen's Retirement — Becomes an Author— Character of his
Book— A popular Anecdote of him Contradicted— His Integrity-
Scene in Coui-t — Changes his Residence— Characteristic Courtship
of his Second Wife— Amusing Account of the Marriage—" The
Church Mihtant and the Church MiUtary "-AUen's Kindness—
The Lost Children Found— Tribute to his Patriotism— His Death ,
— Inscription on his Torab  279 to 424

INTEODUCTION.
" Far be from me or my friends," says a distinguished writer,
"such frigid philosophy, as .may conduct us, indifferent and
unmoved, over any ground that has been dignified by wisdom,
bravery or virtue. The man is little to be envied whose patriot
ism would not gain force upon the plains of Marathon, or whose
piety would not grow warm among the i-uins of lona." And
thus, among the objects that attract the attention of people, in
all countiies, as they advance in civilization, few are sought with
more avidity than the facts concerning their early history.
Our patriotism is warmed, and our virtue is strengthened,
while gazing upon the fields where the blood of our ancestora
was shed in defense of liberty, or while perusing the story of the
perils, sufferings, and self-sacrificing heroism of those who won
our national independence. Nothing, therefore, can tend mora
strongly to the preservation of the liberties of our own favored
and happy country, than a familiarity with the deeds, and an
admiration for the character, of our revolutionary ancestors.
Our glorious institutions can be in no danger while there is a
sentiment of patriotism among the people, which glows at
ihe recital of our country's renown, and which cherishes tha

Xli IH TEOD0OTION.
memory of its heroes. To foster this feeling, as well as to direct
attention to a class of patriots whose claims to the gi-ateful re
membrance of those who enjoy the blessings of free institutions
have been too much disregarded, is the design of the present
volume. No portion of our country has a history so replete with
Btin-ing events as that- bordering upon Lake Champlain. Situ
ated between the French province of Canada and the Enghsh
colonies, and simultaneously claimed by each, it was, for one
hundred and fifty years, the grand highway of their .warlike
expeditions against each other, and the scene upon which their
bloodiest and most hotly contested battles were fought. Here
many of the heroes of the American Revolution received their
first experience in the art of war, and achieved that renown which
afterward placed them at the head of armies whose noble pur
pose sanctified their resort to the awful arbitrament of battla
There, too, the most powerful and threatening army sent out to
crush the freedom of this countiy, began its march in triumph,
and there ended it in a most disastrous defeat. The history of
the Green-Mountain state, which sti-etches along the east shore
of Lake Champlain, is so closely interwoven with that of the
armies which have trodden its soil, and of the wars in which
they were engaged, that the one cannot be fairly written to the
exclusion of the other.
In addition to the usual authorities on American history con
sulted in the preparation of this volume, especial indebtedness.
to tho. foUowing is acknowledged — Slade's Vermont State

INTEODTJOTION. Xlll
Papere — Williams' and Thompson's Histories of Vermont —
and Chipman's Lives of Warner, Chittenden and Chipman.
These are all Vermont authors. Rev. Samuel Williams, D. D,
author of the first History of Vermont, was the grandson
of Rev. John Williams, the " Deerfield Captive," and father of
Charles K. WiUiams, for many yeai-s Chief Justice of Vermont,
and recently the popular governor of that state. He was one
of the founders and the principal benefactor of the University
of V^ermont, at Burlington. For several years he employed his
talents, almost if not quite gratuitously, in delivering lectures in
natural philosophy, and in forwarding the progi-ess'of the Uni
versity. With only four hundred and eighty dollars raised by
subscription, he purchased the first philosophical apparatus for
the institution. That this apparatus might be as complete as
possible. Dr. WiUiams expended the money in the most fnigal
manner, admitting nothing of foreign manufacture which eould
be made at home, and nothing of brass where it might be made
of wood. Dr. Williams had removed to Vermont as early as
1111, and resided at Rutland. In 1793, he published his
History of Vermont, in one volume. The narrative was then
brought down to the Revolutionary war ; but the work was
afterwai'd greatly enlarged, and, in 1809, was published in two
volumes of about five hundred pages each. The histoiy of the
state was brought down to the period of the publication of the
work. The few copies of it yet in existence are highly prized.
The copy which the writer of this obtained, although much
worn, printed on coarse paper, and roughly bound, cost as much

xiv INTEODTICTION.
as a dozen volumes of new works got up in the most faultless
modern style. Rev. Zadock Thompson, of Burlington, has also
published a large work of six hundred pages of smaU type,
comprising the Natural and Civil History and a Gazetteer of the
state. It is a work of great research and value, and as a large
portion of it can be of especial interest to Vermonters only, it
should hold a prominent place in the libraiy of every citizen of
that state.
The compiler is indebted to the couitesy of several gentlemen
of Vermont for important assistance in the prepai'ation of these
pages. From the Hon. Charles K. WiUiams was received a fils
of the "State Banner," published at Bennington in 1841, and
containing a series of "Historical Readings," by Hon. Hiland
HaU, which have been freely used in the portion of this wort
relating to the difSculties between New York and the New-
Hampshire Grants. From George F. Houghton, Esq, of St.
Albans, many valuable suggestions were derived, as weU as a
most eloquent address on the Life of Seth Warner, delivered by
him before the Vermont legislature. This and two other ad
dresses, by Prof. James D. Butler, on the early history of Vermont,
have supplied these pages with several impoitant incidents not
found elsewhere. Chauncey Goodrich, Esq., of Burlington, and
Brigadier-general Ethan AUen Hitchcock, (grandson of the " Hero
of Ticonderoga," ) also communicated facts which have enriched
the present work.
Hon. Henry Stevens, the distinguished antiquary of Vermont
courteously placed a considerable portion of his large and

INTEODUOTIOK. XY
invaluable collection of State Papers at the disposal of tne
compiler. For many years, Mr. Stevens has been indefatigable
in coUecting documents concerning the early history of Vermont.
The papers of the early settlers of the state — the correspond
ence of Revolutionary officers — and the documents in the
archives of the nation, or oopies of them, have been treasured
up by Mr. Stevens. Vermont is under great obligations to him
for his services in searching for and an-anging official papers and
other testimony touching the origin, progress, and final consum
mation of the struggle which resulted in giving to the American
Switzerland that proud individuaUty of which it so justly boasts.
Vermont wiU only do justice to itself, its founders, and to Mr.
Stevens, when these records of a state whose history is more
remarkable than that of any other in the union, are placed
lefore the public. When this is done, the world wiU be satisfied
that these early settlers were men of no common mould, and
their series will be better understood and more gi-atefuUy
appreciated than at present.
For a mere handful of men to resist the combined efforts of
New York on the one side and New Hampshu-e on the other,
while repulsed if not rejected by the home government, and
menaced by a foreign foe — involved the exercise of no ordinary
sagacity, and an amount of nerve and energy with which, in
this day, we are not famihar. But so it was. While maintain
ing an open war with,- the neighboring states, they protected the
whole line of our frontier by keeping on terms with the common
enemy, while at the same time they rendered moie efficient aid

xvi INTEODTJiOTION.
to the government which discarded them, than either of the
states alluded to. The official con-espondence with Washing.
ton — comprised in the Papers of Mr. Stevens — goes to
demonstrate this beyond a doubt..
The engraving of the Heroic Statue of Gen. Ethan AUen will
be regarded as an attractive feature of the present volume. The
Statue is the production of B. H. Kinney Esq^ a young and self-
taught Vermont artist ; and, although his first great undertaking, is
of promising excellence, and gives evidence of a high order of art
istic ability. It is the length and breadth, the depth and power of
Ethan Allen, moraUy and historically considered, and in his phys
ical no less than in his intellectual characteristics, — an artistio
realization of one of the most practical and common-sense
characters that ever hved. Those who look upon it are at once
convinced that it is an actual likeness of the Hero of Ticonde
roga. This is the best evidence of the genius of the sculptor,
that his work is invariably regarded as a truthful rem||^ntation.
The. statue is of heroic size — one-third lai'ger than life — and
represents the subject in a bold, commanding attitude ; his camp
cloak thrown from his left and resting on his right shoulder ; hia
hand grasping the sword at his side; and his whole expression
resolute and fuU of energy — as if he had just uttered those
memorable words at Ticonderoga, and intended to see hia
demands complied with at aU hazai-ds. The engraving is the
more valuable as it is the only picture of the statue that the
sculptor has pennitted to be engraved. As the reader may be
interested to know something more of Mr. Kinney, the following

INTEODUCTION. XVU
notice of his career, as_ furnished by himself in a private letter
to a friend, will appropriately close this notice of his statue :
" I was bred, from infancy to manhood, in the town of Sunderland,
Bennington county, Vermont — the town in which Ethan Allen first
Uved, aud which for nearly twenty years was his residence. During
my boyhood I listened to the tales respecting the great hero of the Green
Mou n f a i 11 s, with those thrUling emotions and the wild deUght which are
only known to mountaineers. Many were the acts of " desperate valor,"
performed by my schoolmates and myself, in sham fights emulating
the daring deeds of the Green-Mountain Heroes of '76. And the
impression which I received at that time of tbe noble spirit of patriotism
which stimulated the fearless and true-hearted Hero of Ticonderoga, has
grown brighter and blighter as I have grown to years of manhood, and
witnessed the neglect of duty to their country, in the pursuit of selfish
ends, so characteristic of a considerable portion of the prominent men
of this age. This is the reason of my selecting Ethan Allen as the first
great subject of my labora in my favorite art."

MOUNTAIN HEROES.

CHAPTEE I.
EARLY HISTORY OF VERMONT.
¦ the savages, of murderous soul.

In painted bands, dark to the combat roll.
With midnight orgies, by the gloomy shade.
On the pale victim point the reeking blade ;
Or cause the hamlet, lulled in deep repose,
Wo more to wake, or wake to ceaseless woes." HUMPHBETS.
Of the adventurous band of navigators, who, early
in the sixteenth century, sailed westward in the wake
of those frail caravels, the Mina, Pinta, and Santa
Maria, James Cartier, a Frenchman, was the first to
explore t^ interior of the vast continent to which
Columbus .had led the way. "While sailing along the
Atlantic coast, in 1534, in search of a passage to China,
he discovered the mouth of a great river, to which he
subsequently gave the name of " St. Lawrence." * The
following spring, in the belief that the St. Lawrence
was the desired channel to the East Indies, a larger ex
pedition was equipped, which Cartier conducted direct
to this noble stream, and sailed two hundred leagues
inland. There the navigation was obstructed by "a
* Thus named in honor of the Saint whose festival occurred on the
day (lOib August) of its discovery.

20 ETHAN ALLEU AND GEEEN-MOUNTATN HEEOES.
great and swift fall." At this point, Cartier found a
large Indian viUage, bearing the name of Hochelaga.
The population was more numerous, the wigwams
were more substantially built, and the town was more
strongly fortified than any other occupied by the abo
rigines, of wliich the early settlers of the couifry have
given a description. Cartier conciliated the natives by
presents of hatchets, beads and rings — articles more
magnificent than any of which they had previously had
a conception — and. thej regarded him and his associ
ates as celestial beings. To Cartier all was so new and
strange, that he almost deemed himself transported to
some land of enchantment. He erected a fort where
the city of Montreal now stands, calling it, in honor of
his king, Mount Koyal. There he passed the winter,
formed alliances vtdth the Indians, and took formal pos
session of the country, which he named New France.
Ascending the hill which towered above his fortress,
and overlooked the country for many miles around, he
was enraptured with the scene upon whi^ he gazed.
Before him the mighty St. Lawrence, coming solemnly
from an unknown land, rolled on majestically toward
the ocean ; the distant horizon was bounded by the lofty
mountains of Vermont,* crowned with perpetual ver
dure-; while illimitable forests, robed in the gorgeous
hues of autumn, were spread out before him in every
direction. Donnacona, the Indian king who conducted
him to the summit of the hill, informed bim that he
might sail westward on the great river, for three
moons — passing through several immense lates —
• So called when the state was organized, from two Freudi wonU
verd, green, and mont, mountain.

DISCO VEEIES OF OAETIEE. 21
without reaching its source; that the river had its
origin in a sea of fresh water to which no limits were
known. Far to the south-west, he continued, there was
another great river,* which ran through a country
where there was no ice or snow ; to the north, there
was a large inland sea of salt water,f extending to a
region of perpetual ice ; while southward there were
rivers and smaller lakes, penetrating a beautiful and
fertile country, belonging to a powerful and warlike
nation called the Iroquois.
The next spring, Cartier, taking with him Donna
cona and several of the natives, returned to France,
and represented to the king the advantages that would
result from a settlement in this country, principally
by means of the fur trade ; but the fallacious opinion
then prevalent among all the nations of Europe, that
such countries only as produced gold and silver were
worth the possession, had such influence on the mon
arch, that he slighted the judicious advice of Cartier,
and deferred making any establishment in Canada;
But, although this object was generally neglected, some
individuals entertained just views of its importance ;
and among the most zealous for prosecuting discov
eries and making a settlement there, was Eoberval, a
nobleman of Picardy. The king, at length convinced
of the expediency of the measure, resolved to send
Cartier, accompanied by this nobleman, again to Can
ada. The expedition was undertaken in 1640, and an
attempt was made to found a colony ; but in the
course of a year or two, the enterprise was abandoned.
The colony was broken up, and for upward of half a
• The Ohio. t Hudson's Bay.

22 ETHAN AT,T,F.yr AND GEEEN-MOTTNTAIN HEEOES.
century, the French made no further attempt to estab
lish themselves on the St. Lawrence.
In 1600, one Chauvin, a commander in the French
navy, made a voyage to Canada, from which he re
turned, with a profitable cargo of furs. The public
now began to turn more attention to this country. An
armament was equipped, and the command given to
Pontgran. He sailed in 1603. Five years afterward,
Samuel de Champlain, who had accompanied Pont-
gran's expedition, founded the city of Quebec* In
1609, accompanied by several friendly Indians, he
proceeded to the locality described by Cartier. He
afterward sailed up the Richelieu or Sorel river, and
entered a lake to which he gave his own name.f He
also visited Lake George, which, from the extreme
purity of its waters, he called St. Sacrament.:]: It is
inferred from his own narrative, that he then proceeded
across the country, and touched the Hudson river at
Glen's Falls. During the same season, Henry Hudson
sailed up the river to which his name is given, as far
as Albany. Possibly, at the same time that Champlain
was resting near the head waters of the Hudson, the
English navigator was encamped scarcely forty miles
below. Strange that two adventurers, in the service
of different sovereigns, ruling three thousand miles
* This was the original Indian name, signifying narrov), because
the St Lawrence, which, from that point to the ocean, is from ten to
fifteen miles wide, is there reduced to a width of about one mile.
t The Indian name of Lake Champlain was Canaideri- Guanmte, sig
nifying the mouth or door of the country. Another Indian name was
Petawa-Boiique, signifying alternate land and water.
% The origin.il Indian name was Horicon, meaning Silver IVater. It
was also caUed Canaideri-oit, or The Tail of tlie Lake.

CHAMPLAIN AKD HUDSON. 23
away, and approaching from different points of the
compass, should so nearly meet in the vast forests
of wild America— each exploring a part of the conti
nent never before traversed by Europeans. Strange,
too, that the vicinity where these adventurers so nearly
met, should, for almost a hundred and fifty years, be
the boimdary between the nations respectively repre
sented by them, and the scene of their frequent and
bloody conflicts for supremacy.
Although that beautiful portion of Vermont border
ing on Lake Champlain was thus early explored, and
although settlements were made in its immediate
vicinity, by the Dutch at Albany in 1613 — by the
English at Springfield, on the Connecticut, in 1635 —
and by the French at Montreal in 1640, the whites did
not permanently occupy any portion of the territory
comprised in the present boundaries of the State, until
the year 1724. Situated between the settlements of
the French on the one hand, and those of the English
on the other, it was constantly exposed to the incur
sions and depredations of both, in the almost inces
sant warfare maintained between them. The dense
forests of the Green Mountains became the favorite
lurking places of the wielders of the tomahawk, and
resounded with the war-whoop of those savages who
were willing to be allies for either of the contending
parties. They were traversed by the prisoners taken
in the French wars, and were witnesses of their heroism
and of their sufferings. For these reasons, actual set
tlements were perilous and impracticable. It was a
dis.duted ground between the English and the French,
o?- which many a guerilla battle was fought. And

24 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
tnns the history of Vermont is so closely interwoven
with that of the regions adjacent, that it will be neces
sary, in the progress of this narrative, in ordei to
exhibit a complete view of the transactions in which
Vermont was interested, or in which its early heroes
bore a distinguished part, often to carry forward au
account of events which transpired beyond the geo
graphical limits of the state.
In his expedition across the lake which bears his
name, Champlain was accompanied by only two
Frenchmen — the balance of the party, amounting to
about sixty, were Huron and Algonquin warriors, who
had determined on a hostile excursion into the terri
tory of the Iroquois, or, as they were afterward desig
nated by the English, the Five Nations.
This federal association is said to have derived its
origin from the most remote antiquity ; and, as the
name imports, it comprehended five Indian nations, of
which the Mohawks have obtained the most lasting re
nown, and which were confederated, on terms of tho
strictest equality, in a perpetual alliance, for united
conquest and mutual defense. The members of this
united body reckoned themselves superior to all the
rest of mankind, and the distinctive appeUation which
they adopted* was expressive of this opinion. But the
principles of their confederacy displayed far more pol
icy and refinement than we might expect from the arro
gance of their barbarous name. They had embraced
the Roman practice, of increasing their strength by
incorporating the people of other nations with them
selves. After every conquest of an enemy, when they
On^je-Honioe,— that is, "Men sui-passing all others."

THE FIVE NATIONS. 25
had indulged their revenge by some cruel executions,
they exercised their usual policy, in the adoption of
the remaining captives ; and frequently with so much
advantage, that some of their most distinguished sa
chems and captains, were derived from defeated aud
adopted foes. Each nation had its own separate repub
lican constitution, in which rank and office were claimed
only by age, procured only by merit, and enjoyed but
by the tenure of public esteem. In no community was
age accorded more respect, or youth endowed with
greater beauty.* The people of the several nations,
and especially the Mohawks, were distinguished by the
usual Indian qualities of attachment to liberty, forti
tude in the endurance of pain, and preference of craft
and stratagem to undisguised operations in war,f and
by a more than usual degree of perseverance, resolution,
and active intrepidity. Almost all the tribes around
this people, and even many at a great distance, who
were not included in their confederacy, acknowledged
a subjection to it, paid a tribute which two aged
sachems were annually deputed to collect, :J: and were
restrained from making war or peace without the con
sent of the Five JSTations. It was the policy of all the
* Such was the efficacy of the Indian mode of Ufe, in developing the
finer proportions of which the huraan frame is susceptible, that, when the
statue of the ApoUo-Belvidere was beheld, for tho first time, by Benjamin
West, the distinguished American painter, he staited at the unexpected
likeness, and exclaimed, "How like it is to a young Mohawk wamor I "
t In this peculiarity most of the Indian tribes resembled the ancient
Spartans ; as' they did also in the dUigence with which tliey cultivated
conciseness of speech.
t "Ihave often had opportunity to observe what anxiety the poor In
dians wtre under, while tiiese two old men remained m tiiat part of tha
2

26 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
chiefs to affect superior purity, and to distribute among
the people their own share of tribute and plunder.
All matters of common concernment were transacted
in general meetings of the sachems of each nation;
and the influence of time, aided by a long course of
judicious policy and victorious enterprise, had com
pletely succeeded in causing the federal character and
sentiments to prevail over tbe peculiarities of their sub
ordinate national associations. When, at a period
subsequent to the first visit of the Europeans, the Tus-
carora tribe was vanquished, they were permitted to
revive their broken estate, by ingrafting it on this
powerful confederacy, by being associated as a new
member of the general union, instead of being diffused
and losing their identity among the other tribes, and
the confederacy thereafter obtained the name of the
Six Nations. Both the French and English writers,
who have treated of the character or affaire of this
people, have concurred in describing them as at once
the most judicious and politic of the native powers,
and the most fierce and formidable of the native
inhabitants of America.
"When the French under Champlain settled in Can
ada, they found the Five [Rations engaged in a bloody
war with the powerful tribe of Adirondacks, by whoui
they had been driven from their original possessions
around Montreal, and between the Connecticut river
and Lake Champlain, now the state of Vermont, and
forced to seek an asylum in the region bounding on
country where I was. An old Mohawk sachem, in a poor blanket, and
dirty shirt, may be seen issuing his order with as arbitrary an authority
as a Roman dictator."— Colden.

THE FIVE NATIONS. 27
Lake Ontario and the Mohawk river. The Five Na
tions, however, were regaining their lost ground, and
had compelled the Adirondacks to fly for safety behind
the strait where Quebec is built. But the tide of suc
cess was suddenly turned by the arrival of Champlain,
who naturally joined the Adirondacks, because he
had settled on their lands. Near the place where the
fortress of Ticonderoga was afterward erected, the
Indians, with whom Champlain was exploring the
country, encountered a body of two hundred Iroquois,
who were on their way down the lake on a war expe
dition. Loud shouts at once arose from both parties,
as they snatched up their weapons and prepared for
action. Champlain and the two Frenchmen with him,
each armed with an arquebuse,* participated in the
conflict, and as the Iroquois had no previous knowl
edge of fire-arms, they soon fled in dismay, leaving
fifty warriors dead on the field, while ten or twelve
prisoners were captured by the Adirondacks.f All
engaged in this expedition went to their homes highly
* "A sort of hand-gun ; a species of fire-arms anciently used, which
was cocked with a wheel. It carried a ball that weighed nearly two
ounces. A larger kind, used in fortresses, carried a baU of three ounces
and a half." — Encyclopedia.
+ If, on this occasion, the Indians were for the firet time witnesses of
the deadly eifect of fire-arras, the French were equally surprised by tiio
fiendish cruelties inflicted by the Indian waniois upon their prisoners.
"After proceeding about eight leagues down the lake," says Dr. Fitch
in his admirable history of Washington county, "they landed aftfir
nightfaU ; and, taking one of the prisoners, mado a speech to him, up
braiding him with the barbarities which he and his people had perpe
trated in the war, without showing raercy in any instance, and informing
him, that it would now devolve on him to submit to the same destiny.
They then told him to sing if he had any courage : this he commenced

28 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNl.i^IN HEEOES.
pleased with Champlain, and from this time onward,
their several tribes were firmly attached to the French
and their interests.*
doing, but in the most sad and dolorous tones. A fire had been previ
ously kindled, and was now burning briskly. Each Indian took from
it a brand, and commenced burning the skin of the poor creature, a lit
tle at a tirae, to make hira sufl^er longer torment Remitting this at times^
they would then throw him on his back in the water. Afterward, puU
ing oflF his finger-nails, they put hot ashes on the ends of his fingers.
Next, they tore the scalp from tbe top of his head, and then di-opped
melted pitch upon the naked skuU. They then pierced holes through
his arms neai- the wrists, and with sticks drew out therefrom the sinews
and nerves, forcibly puUing upon them, until they were rent asunder.
Strange cries at times were uttered by this miserable creature ; yet, dur
ing the whole of the horrid performance, he was so firm and unshaken,
that one would hav« said he did not feel any pain. The Indians urged
Champlain to take a firebrand, and join them in their employment
But he remonstrated with them, telUng them he was unused to such
cruelties — that his people only shot at their enemies with their guns,
and if they would only permit him to have one shot at the captive with
his arquebuse, it was all he would ask. They would not consent to
this ; and, unable longer to endure the sight, he turned away with dis
gust Perceiving his disquietude, they called him back, teUing him to
do as he bad desired. He hereupon discharged his arquebuse at the
sufferer with such effect; that, as Charlevoix intimates in describing this
scene, he had no occasion for desiring a second shot Even now that
their victim was dead, they were not satisfied, but, ripping him open,
they threw his entrails into the lake, and then cut off his head, arms
and legs, preserving only his scalp, which they added to the number
they had taken from those who had been tiUed in the Battle. More
atrocious stiU, they took his heart, and cutting it into a number of shoes,
gave a piece to one of his own brothers, and to each of the other pris
onera, ordering them to eat it These put it into tlieir mouths, but were
unable to swaUow it ; whereupon, some of the Algonquin Indians who
guarded the prisoners, aUowed them to spit out the whole and throw it
into the water."
* Champlain died at Quebec, in December. 1634 — one hundred yeare
alter Cartier had discovered tiie St Lawrence. He was govemra of

FEENOH WAEFAEE WITH THE INDIANS. 29
From this period, an implacable war was carried on
by the Iroquois against the Canadian settlements on
the St. Lawrence. For a time, the conduct, the bravery,
and especially the fire-arms of the French, proved an
overmatch for the skill and intrepidity of the Five Na
tions, who were defeated in several battles, and reduced
to great distress. It was at this critical juncture, that
the first Dutch ship arrived in the Hudson river, with
the colonists who established themselves at Albany.
The Iroquois, easily procuring from, these neighbors a
supply of that species of arms to which alone their
enemies had been indebted for their superiority, re
vived the war with so much impetuosity and success,
that the nation of the Adirondacks was completely an
nihilated ; and the French too late discovered, that they
had espoused the fortunes of the weaker people.*
Canada from 1610 until the time of his death, with the exception of
three years, during which period the English had possession of the
country. By his arduous efforts, Quebec, as early as 1626, began to
assume the appearance of a city. That year a stone fortress was built,
and the colony was rapidly growing into power. Champlain died after
having been more than thirty years a resident of Canada. He is repre
sented by the writers of that time, as a man of much penetration, activ
ity and intrepidity. He could not have succeeded in establishing a new
city and colony in the midst of a populous, warlike, and savage nation,
if he had lacked great ability, enterprise and courage. He was a man
of eminent piety, and zealous in the propagation of the Catholic faith.
He often said, " the salvation of one soul was of more value than the
conquest of au empire."
* One of the stratagems of the Five Nations is worthy of mention.
At one time they sent the French a proposal for a peace, to which the
latter readily inclined, and requested the Indians to receive a deputation
of Jesuits, whose exertions, it was expected, would conciliate their sin
cere fi'iendship. The Five Nations willingly agreed, and desired to see
the priests immediately; but the instant they got hold of them, they

30 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
Hence originated the mutual dread and enmity that so
long subsisted between the French and confederated
Indians, and entailed so many calamities upon both.
The French colony, being in extreme distress, solic
ited aid from the mother country. Two regiments
were sent out by the king, and thus strengthened,
Courcelles, governor of Canada, dispatched a party by
the way of Lake Champlain, in the winter of 1665, to
attack the Five Nations. The French, less accustomed
to the climate, and. less acquainted with the country
than their savage enetnies, attempted vainly to imitate
their rapid and secret movements. They lost their way
among the wastes of snow, and often enduring the
greatest misery, arrived, without knowing where they
were, at the village of Schenectady, which a Dutch
man of consideration, named Corlear, had recently
founded. The French, exhausted and stupefied with
cold and hunger, resembled rather an army of beggars,
than of hostile invaders, and would have fallen an easy
prey to a body of Indians who were in the village, if
Corlear, touched with compassion at their miserable
appearance, had not employed both influence and arti
fice with the Indians, to persuade them to spare their
unfortunate enemies, and depart to defend their own
people, against a more formidable attack in a different
quarter, which he led them to expect. When the In
dians were gone, Corlear and his townsmen gave re
freshments to the famishing Frenchmen, and supplied
them with provisions and other necessaries to carry
marched to attack the Indian aUies of the French, and taking the priests
with them as hostages, to enforce the neutraUty of tlieir countrymen, gave
the Adirondacks a signal defeat.

FEENCH EXPEDiriON AGAINST THE MOHAWKS. 31
them home : having taught them, by a sensible lesson,
that it is the mutual duty of men to mitigate by kind
ness and charity, instead of aggravating by ambition
and ferocity, the ills that arise from the rigors of
climate and the frailty of human nature. The French
governor expressed much gratitude for Corlear's* kind
ness, and the Indians never resented his benevolent
stratagem. The names of two of the ofl^icers of Cour
celles in this expedition are perpetuated, the one by the
Sorel river, the other by the town of Chambly.
To retrieve the misfortunes of their winter expedi
tion, the French, in the spring of 1666, with all the
militia of Canada, amounting to twenty companies of
foot, martihed into the Mohawk country. The expedi
tion was attended with great expense and fatigue,
being continued for more than seven hundred miles
through an uncultivated and hostile country ; and
failed in materiallj'^ harassing the Indians. At the ap
proach of the French, the savages .easily found places
of safety by retiring into the woods and swamps,
where the French armies could not follow them. The
result, however, was favorable to the cause of peace.
* This man enjoyed great influence with tho Indians, who, after his
death, always addressed the governors of New York with the title of
Corlear, an expression, in their view, significant of kindness, friendship,
and confidence. Grateful for his unexpected, if not undeserved hospi
tality, Courcelles invited Corlear to visit him in Canada. The invitation
was accepted, but on his journey thither, this noble man was unfortu
nately drowned in Lake Champlain. The lake in which he perished, the
Indians afterward called Corlear's Lake, by which narae it was commonly
known among the English and Dutch, for many years. The erroneous
idea, that Champlain perished in the lake which bears his name, was
obviously derived from this incident

«2 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
The French, exhausted with the expense and fatigue
of the campaign, and mortified by their want of suc
cess, did not wish to repeat the experiment of another
expedition into the Indian territory. The Indians
were not pleased to see the war brought into the heart
of their own territory, and were not yet able to oppose
a large body of men armed and disciplined in the
European manner, with much prospect of success.
And at length, after a long period of severe but inde
cisive hostilities, both partie.^, wearied of war, but not
exhausted of animosity, agreed to a general peace,
which was concluded in the year 1667. Thus, for the
first time, the blessings of complete peace were real
ized by the French colonies.
During the partial cessation of hostilities between
the French and Indians, for almost twenty years, the
former, by insidious artifices, did much to influence
the Indians against the English settlers in New Eng
land, and doubtless afforded them aid in their bar-
barous warfare upon the English settlements. The
French, whose suppleness of character and demeanor*
was always more acceptable to the Indians in their
native condition, than the grave, unbending spiiit of
the English, found it easier to cultivate and employ,
than to check or eradicate the treachery and cruelty
* A? curious instance of the complaisance of the French, is related by
Oldmixon in his account of the savages who were greatly charmed with
the good breeding of the French, in alwivs appearing perfeotiy naked
in their mutual conferences. Oharlevoix, a French author, boasted tliat
the Fren''h were the only Europeans who had ever succeeded in render
ing themselves ."igreeable to the Indians. Whatever reason he may have
had for this boast, he had no reason to glory in the means by whioh
thoy courted popularity

FIEST ENGLISH PEISONEES IN CANADA. S3
of their Indian neighbors. The encouragement of the
French allies prevailed with the Indians to reject all
friendly overtures from the English, which, at first,
they seemed willing to accept, and their native ferocity
prompted them to signalize their enmity by a series of
unprovoked and unexpected massacres. So openly did
the French afford aid to the Indians toward the close
of King Philip's war, that Frenchmen were known to
accompany their war-parties, and several prisoners,
taken in battle, were carried to Canada and sold to the
French. Hatfield, a settlement on the Connecticut
river, furnished the first of that long procession of
prisoners who, during the succeeding seventy years,
were transported from New England across the Green
Mountains and over Lake Champlain to Canada.
Toward the close of 1677, fifty Indians from Canada
surprised the settlement, and captured about twenty
prisoners, among wliom were several women and chil
dren. On their march to Canada, the prisoners en
dured great hardships, and were often threatened with
death. One man was actually burned at the stake,
with the usual Indian barbarity. The remainder were
sold to the French. Two of the women were wives of
men named Wait and Jennings. On hearing that
they had been conveyed to Canada, tbe husbands
made application to the governor of Massachusetts for
commissions, authorizing them to proceed to Canada,
find ransom them. Starting in the winter, they pursued
their perilous journey across Lake Champlain, and
finally arrived at Chambly. There they found the
captives, some of whom had been pawned by the sav-
a^'cs for liquor. Paying two hundred pounds for the
2*

34 . ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
ransom ofthe prisoners, these noble men started in the
spring of 1678 on their return home. Their progress
was slow, for they were compelled to procure their
provisions by hunting. Early in the summer they
reached home, without accident. This was the first
tour performed by New-England men across the coun
try so often traversed for simdar purposes in the sub
sequent wars, and which became the grand theater of
military operations between the French and English
in later times. After this event, tranquillity prevailed
along the New-England frontiers for about ten years.
The peace which, for nearly twenty years, had been
maintained between the French and the Five Nations,
was broken in 1687, and hostilities were carried on
between them with a mutual fury and ferocity, that
seemed totally to obliterate the distinctions between
civilized and savage men. Although unaided, the
Five Nations maintained the struggle with an energy
that promised the preservation of their independence,
and finally, with a success that threatened even the
subjugation of their civilized adversaries. Undertaking
an expedition with twelve hundred of their warriors
against Montreal, they conducted their mar-ch with
such rapidity and secrecy, as to surprise the French in
almost unguarded security. The suddenness and fury
of their attack proved irresistible. They burned the
town, sacked the plantations, put a thousand of the
French to the sword, and carried away a number of
prisoners whom they burned alive ; returning to their
friends with only a loss of three of their own number.
They strained every nerve to follow up their advantage,
and shortly after their attack on Montreal, possessed

FEENCH EXPEDITION AGAINST SCHENECTADY. 35
themselves of several fortresses which the garrisons
abandoned in the panic. They reduced every station
that the French possessed in Canada, to a state of the
utmost terror and distress. Nothing could have saved
the French from utter destruction, but the ignorance
which disabled the Indians from attacking fortified
places ; and it was evident that a single vigorous act
of interposition by the English colonists — compelled
by treaty to remain inactive spectators ofthe contest —
would have sufiiced to terminate forever the rivalry
of France and England in this quarter of the world.
The condition ofthe French in Canada, was suddenly
raised from the brink of ruin, by the arrival of a strong
reinforcement from the parent state, under the conL-
mand of a skillful and enterprising ofiicer, the old Count
de Frontignac, who now assumed the government of
the French settlements, and quickly gave a different
complexion to their affairs. He set on foot a treaty
with the Five Nations, and succeeded, meanwhile, iu
obtaining a suspension of their hostilities. About this
time war was declared between France and England ;
and he boldly determined to revive the drooping spirits
of the colony, by making an attack upon New York.
A considerable body of French and Indians was
accordingh'- collected and dispatched in the depth of
winter against New York. By a strange coincidence,
which must ever stain the name of the French colonists
with the blackest ingratitude and dishonor, this party,
like their predecessors in 1666, after wandering , for
twenty-two days through deserts rendered trackless by
snow, approached the -pillage of Schenectady in so
exhausted a condition that they had determined to

36 ETHAJiT ALLEN AND GEEE-\-MOL" .NTAIN \ililiO-cS.
"urrentx©^ A^emselves to the inhabitants as prisoners of
war. But, arriving at a late hour on an inclement
night, (February 8, 1690,) and hearing from the mes
sengers that they had sent forward, that the inhabitants
were all in bed, without even the precaution of a pubhc
watch, they exchanged their intention of imploring
mercy to themselves, for a plan of nocturnal attack
and massacre of the defenseless people, to whose charity
their own countrymen had once been so deeply in
debted. This detestable renuital of good with evil,
was executed with a barbarity which of itself must be
acknowledged to form one of the most revolting and
terrific pictures that has ever been exhibited of hu
man cruelty and ferocity. Dividing themselves into
a number of parties, they set fire to the village in
various places, and attacked the inhabitants with fatal
advantage, when, alarmed by the conflagration, they
endeavored to escape from the burning houses. The
exhausted strength of the Frenchmen seemed to revive
with the work of destruction, and to gather energy
from the animated horror of the scene. Not only were
all the male inhabitants tliey could reach put to death,
but women and children were barbarously murdered.
But either the delay occasioned by their elaborate
cruelty, or the more merciful haste of the flames to
announce the calamity to those who might still fly
from the assassins, enabled many of the inhabitants to
escape. The efforts of the assailants were also some
what impeded _ by a sagacious discrimination which
they thought it expedient to exercise. Though un
mindful of benefits, they were not regardless of policy,
and of a number of Mohawk Indians who were in the

WAEFAEE IN NEW ENGLAND. 37
village, not one sustained an injury. Sixty persons
perished in the massacre, and twenty-seven were taken
prisoners. Of the fugitives who escaped half naked,
and made their way through a storm to Alban}-,
twenty-five lost their limbs from the intensity of tbe
frost. The French having totally destroyed the vil
lage, retired across Lake Champlain loaded with plun
der. They were pursued by a party of young men,
who killed or captured twenty-five.
In concert with the expedition against New York
under D'Aillebout, Frontignac sent a party of French
and Indians, under the command of Sieur Her tel, to
lay waste the frontier settlements of Massachusetts
and New Hampshire.* This expedition was also
* At Salmon Falls, in New Hampshire, thirty persons were kiUed,
and fifty-four, chiefly women and childi'en, were earned into captivity.
Among the prisoners was a Mr. Rodgers, who, being quite corpulent,
was unable to carry the burden imposed upon him, and attempted to es
cape in the woods. The Indians caught him, stripped, beat and pricked
him with their knives ; then tied him to a tree and danced around him
until they had kindled a fire. They gave him time to pray and take
leave of his fellow-prisoners, who were compelled to witness his death.
They pushed the fire toward him, and when he was almost stifled, took
it away to give him time to breathe, and thus prolong his misery ; they
drowned his dying groans with their hideous singing and yelling ; all
the while dancing around the fire, and cutting off pieces of his fle,=5h-and
throwing them in his face. When he was dead they left his body broil
ing on the coals, in which state it was found by his friends, and buried.
An anecdote of a different character is told of this expedition. Whilo
an Indian was preparing strings to bind a jjrisoner named Toogood, the
latter seized his gun and went backward, keeping the gun pointed at the
Indian, and threatened to shoot hi™ if ho alarmed the others, who had
passed over the brow of a hill. By compelling the Indian to foUow him
some distance, he was enabled to make his escape, his adversary calling
him Nogood, Nogood. When the Indian retumed to his companions
witiiout gun or prisoner, they ridiculed him heartily

38 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
successfm, and marked with cruelties scarcely lesi
monstrous than those committed at Schenectady. The
success that attended these expeditions served to revive
the spirits of the French colony, and at the same time
occasioned great alarm in every part of the English
plantations. Aided by Frontignac, the Indians made
frequent incursions into the English settlements, and
wherever they went committed the most horrid acts
of savage cruelty.* The French, by giving premiums
for scalps, and by purchasing the English prisoners,
animated the Indians to exert all their activity and
* In 1689, the Indians, having resolved upon attacking Dover in New
Hampshire, employed their usual art to lull the suspicions of the inhab
itants. So civil and respectful was their behavior, that they occasionally
obtained permission to sleep in the fortified houses in the town. On
the evening, of the fatal night, they assembled in the neighborhood^ and
sent their women to apply for lodgings at the houses devoted to destruc
tion. When all was quiet, the doors were opened and the signal givea
Against Major Waldron, one of the principal inhabitants, their animosity
was particularly excited by his former harsh dealings with the Indians.
They rushed into his house, and hastened to his apartment Awakened
by the noise, he seized his sword and di'ove them back ; but when re
turning for his other arms, was stunned with a hatchet aud fell They
then dragged him into his hall, seated him iii an elbow-chair upon a
long table, and insultingly asked, "Who shall judge Indians now?"
After feasting upon provisions which they compelled the rest of the
family to procure, each one, with a knife, cut gashes in Waldron's breast,
saying, " I cross out my account 1 " They then cut off his nose and
ears, and forced them into his mouth ; and when, weakened frora th9
loss of blood, he was about to fall from the table, his own sword was
held under him, which put an end to his tortures. At other houses, sim
ilar acts of cruelty were perpetrated, and in the whole, twenty-three
pereons were killed, and twenty-niue carried prisonei-s to Canada, who
were shortly sold to the French. Many houses were burned and much
property was plundered; but so expeditious were the Indians, that
they had fled beyond reach before the neighboring people could he
collected

EXPEDITION AGAINST QUFBEC. 39
address, and the frontier inhabitants endured the most
aggravated sufferings.
To avenge these barbarities, a combined invasion
of Canada was projected. An expedition commanded
l)y Sir William Phipps,* sailed from Boston against
Quebec ; and the united forces of Connecticut and
New York, under the command of General Winthrop,
were to march against Montreal, by the way of Lake
Champlain. The first, commanded by Phipps, con
sisted of forty vessels, and the number of troops on
board amounted to over two thousand. These were
furnished by Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Phipps arrived before Quebec so late in the season,
that there was but little opportunity for accomplishing
his purpose. The English were arrested in various
* Sir William Phipps was a native of Massachusetts, and notwith
standing a mean education, and the depression of the humblest circum
stances, had raised himself by the mere vigor of his mind to a conspicuous
rank, and gained a high reputation for spirit, skill and success. He kept
sheep in his native province until he was eighteen years of age, and was
afteiTvard apprenticed to a ship-carpenter. When he was freed from his
indentures, he pursued a seafaring Ufe, and attained the station of captain
of a merchant vessel. Having met with an accouut of the wreck of a
Spanish ship, loaded with great treasures, near the Bahama Islands, about
fifty yeaiB before, he conceived a plan of extricating the buried treasures
from the bowels of the deep ; and, transporting himself to England, he
stated his scheme so plausibly, that the king was struck with it, and in
1683 sent him out with a vessel to make the atterapt It proved unsuc
cessful ; and all his urgency could not induce the king to engage in a
repetition of it But the Duke of Albemarle, resuming the design,
equipped a vessel for the purpose, and gave the command of it to Phipps,
who now realizing the expectations he had formed, succeeded in raising
specie to the value of $1,500,000, from the bottom of the ocean. Of
this treasure he obtained a portion sufficient to make his fortune, with a
still larger meed of general consideration and applause.

4:0 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAiN HEEOES.
severe encounters, and compelled at length to make
a precipitate retreat ; and the fleet, after having sus
tained considerable loss in the voyage homeward,
returned to Boston.
General Winthrop, with a thous'and men, marched
from Albany into the northern wilderness, with tlie
design of passing through Lake Champlain and cap
turing Montreal. But this army, the forerunner of the
many marshaled hosts that for almost a century after
ward, made Lake Champlain and the- country border
ing on it their highway, was retarded by defeptive
arrangements, and disappointed by the friendly In
dians who had engaged to furnish them with canoes
for crossing rivers. After marching some distance
toward Montreal, the commander deemed it expedient
to retreat without doing any injury to the enemy.
Yexed at having the expedition thus abandoned,
and knowing that the friendly Indians were losing
confidence in the energy and power of their Enghsh
allies. Captain John Schuyler, (grandfather of General
Philip Schuyler of our revolutionary history,) enlisted
a force of thirty whites and one hundred and twenty
Indians, the same fall, and made an excursion to the
St. Lawrence, destroyed the village of La Prairie, took
nineteen prisoners, devastated the country in tho
vicinity of Montreal, and returned in triumph to
Albany.* Tlie following year, (1691,) Major Peter Schuyler,
(brother to John Schuyler,) having acquired extraor
dinary infiuence with the Five Nations by his courage,
• Fitch's History of Washington County.

FEENCH EMULATION OF INDIAN CEUELTT. 4fl
good sense, and friendly attention to their interests,
undertook an expedition against Montreal, at the head
of a considerable body of colonial and Indian forces.
Though the invaders were finally compelled to retreat,
the French sustained great loss in several encounters •
and such was the spirit and animosity of the Fiv
Nations, that they continued, during the winter, to
wage incessant and harassing hostilities against the
French, although the colonial troops had returned to
their homes. Count Frontignac was so exasperated
by their continued assaults, that he condemned to a
death accompanied by all the torments French inge
nuity could devise, two Mohawk captives, whom the
fate of war had thrown into his power.* The peace of
Eyswick, in 1697, put an end to hostilities for a brief
period, between the rival colonies of the French and
English. In a few years war again broke out in Europe, and
hostilities speedily recommenced in America. The
" Shortly before the execution, some Frenchman, le.ss inhuman than
his governor, threw a knife into the prison, and one of the Mohawks
immediately dispatched himself with it ; the other, expressing contempt
at his companion's raean evasion of gloiy, walked to the stake, singing
in his death-chant, that he was a Mohawk warrior ; that all the power of
man could not extort an expression of suffering from his lips ; and that it
was ample consolation to him to reflect that he had made many French
men suffer the same pangs that he must now himself undergo. When
attached to the stake, he looked round on his executioners, their instru
ments of torture, and the assembled multitude of spectators, with all the
complacency of heroic fortitude, and, after enduring for some hours, with
coroposed mien and triumphant language, a series of barbaiities too atio-
cious to be narrated, his sufferings were terminated by the interposition
of a French lady, who prevailed with the governor to order that mortal
blow, to which human cruelty has given the name of coup de grace, oi
etroke of favor

42 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
first blow fell upon Deerfield, which was at that time
the most northerly settlement on the Connecticut river,
a few families at Northfield excepted. Against this
place a party of two hundred French, and one hundred
aud fifty Indians was sent. They were under the
command of Hertel de Bouville, assisted by four of hia
brothers, all of whom had become distinguished in the
wars. They passed up Lake Champlain until they
reached the Winooski (at that time called French)
river. There they crossed over to Connecticut river,
and traveled on the ice until they arrived in the vicin
ity of Deerfield. Early on the morning of March 12,
1704, Eouville attacked the village. The snow around
the fort was in many places drifted nearly to the top
of the palisades, and the enemy found no diificulty
in surmounting these defenses. The' occupants were
buried in profound sleep. A simultaneous assault was
made upon all the houses, the doors were broken open,
and the people seized in their beds. When resistance
was attempted, the tomahawk or musket ended the
strife. A few were so fortunate as to escape by flight
to the adjacent woods ; but the greatef part were either
killed or made prisoners.
Early in the assault, about thirty Indians attacked
the house of the Eev. John Williams, who, awaking
from a sound sleep, instantly leaped from his bed, ran '
toward the door, and found a party entering. Calling
to awaken a couple of soldiers in his chamber, he
seized a pistol, presented it at the breast of the fore
most Indian, and attempted to shoot him ; but the
pistol missed fire. He was instantly overpowered,
bound, and kept for an hour without his clothes. Two

MASSACEE AT DEEEFIELD. 43
of his young children were dragged to the door and
murdered, and his negro-woman shared the same fate.
Mrs. Williams and five children, the youngest of whord
was but a few weeks old, were also captured.
Another dwelling-house was successfully defended
by seven armed men and a few women, by whom it
was occupied. While the brave defenders were pour
ing their fire upon the assailants from the windows and
loop-holes, the no less brave women were busily em
ployed in casting balls for future supply. Unable to
carry the house, or intimidate the defenders to a sur
render by all their threats and stratagems, the enemy
gave up their efforts, and cautiously endeavored to
keep out of the range of the shot. But notwithstanding
their precautions, several were singled out and shot
down by the marksmen in the house.
Having collected the prisoners, plundered and set
fire to the buildings, Bouville began to retrace his
march to Canada. But a party of the inhabitants who
had escaped, returned to the village, and, joined by the
men who had defended their house, and a few people
who had hurried on from Hatfield, pursued the enemy,
and a sharp diirmish ensued ; but, being at length
nearly encircled by a superior force, they were com
pelled to retire, with the loss of nine of their number.
The pursuit, though highly honorable to the bravery
of the pursuers, exposed the captives to imminent
danger. During the fight, the English maintained
their ground with great resolution, and at one crisis,
Bouville, apprehending a defeat, sent orders for the
captives to be tomahawked ; but fortunately Irhe mes
senger was killed before he delivered his orders.

44 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
Preparations were however made by the Indians who
guarded the prisoners, to put them to death in case
of the defeat of their party. On the retreat of tbe
English, Eouville countermanded his order, and saved
the captives.
The whole number of prisoners amounted to one
hundred and twelve. Forty-seven were slain, and the
loss of the enemy was about the same. The entire
village was reduced to ashes with the exception of one
house, which is stiU standing, and the traces of the
tomahawks and bullets are still to be seen.
Soon after the action, Eouville commenced hia
march for Canada. Most gloomy were the prospects
ofthe captives. Many were women then in a condition
requiring the most tender treatment ; some were young
children whose feeble frames could not sustain the
fatigues of a day ; others were infants, carried in the
arms of their parents. Several of the men were suffer
ing from severe wounds. The distance to Canada was
nearly three hundred miles, through a country wild
and waste. It was in the midst of winter, and the
ground was deeply covered with snow. The whole
party was unsupplied with provisions, and dependent
solely for food upon the game that should be kUled
on their route. The first day's march was necessarily
slow and difficult. The Indians, probably from a de
sire to save the young to dispose of in Canada, or to
retain for their own service, rather than from tender
ness, assisted the parents by carrying the children
upon their backs. At night, they encamped by clear
ing away the snow, spreading boughs, and construct
ing slight cabins of brush. The prisoners were as

SUFFEEINGS OF THE CAPTIVES. 45
comfortably lodged as circumstances would admit. To
prevent escapes, the most athletic were bound, and se
cured according to the Indian mode, and this was prac
ticed at the subsequent night camps. Notwithstanding
this precaution, Joseph Alexander, one of the prisoners,
had the good fortune to escape. To deter others from
similar attempts, Mr. Williams, who was considered as
the head of the captives, was informed, that in case of
another escape, the remainder should suffer death by
fire. In the course of the night, some of the Indians'
became intoxicated witli spirits which they had found
at Deerfield, and fell upon Mr. Williams' negro and
mui'dered him.
The second day's march was equally slow, and Mr.
Williams was permitted, for a short time, to assist his
distressed wife in traveling, who now began to be ex
hausted ; but he was soon torn from her and placed at
the head of the column, leaving her to struggle along
unassisted. At the upper part of Greenfield meadow,
it became necessary to pass Green river, a small stream
then open, in performing which, Mrs. Williams fell
Into the water ; but recovering herself, she with diffi
culty reached the shore and continued her route. An
abrupt hill was now to be surmounted, and Mr. Wil
liams, who had gained the summit, entreated his mas
ter (for so the Indian who captured him was called,)
for leave to return and help forward his distressed
wife, but was barbarously refused, and she was left
to struggle with difficulties beyond her power. Her
ferocious master finding her a burthen, sunk his hatchet
in her head, and left her dead at the foot of the hill.
Her body was soon after taken up by a party from

46 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUlTrAIN HEEOES.
field, and interred in the- public burial-ground in that
town, where her grave-stones, with those of her hus
band, Mr. Williams, are still to be seen.
Eouville encamped the second night in the northerly
part of the present town of Bernardston. A young
woman and an infant were dispatched in the course
of this day's march. At this camp a consultation
was held by the Indians in regard to killing and
scalping Mr. Williams ; but his master, unwiUing ta
part with so valuable a prize, interfered and saved
him from the hatchet. The next day the captives
were more equally distributed for convenience of
marching, and several exchanged masters. The fourth
day brought the army to Connecticut river, about
thirty miles above Deerfield, probably in the upper
part of Brattleborough, Vermont. Here slight sledges
were constructed, for the conveyance of the children,
wounded and baggage, and the march, which was now
on the ice, became more rapid. One female was this
day relieved from her sufferings by a stroke of the
hatchet. The march on Connecticut river continued several
days without any extraordinary incident, excepting
now and then the murder of an exhausted captive.
On the first Sunday, the prisoners were permitted to
halt and rest themselves, and Mr. Williams delivered a
discourse from these words : * " The Lord is righteous.
for Ihave rebelled against his commandments : Hear
I pray you, all people., and behold my sorrow : My
" This sermon is said to have been delivered at the mouth of Williams'
river, in Rockingham, Vermont : from -""hich circumstance the river
received its name.

ANECDOTE. 47
virgins and young men are gone into captioityP
Lamentations, i. 18.
At the mouth of White river, Eouville divided his
force into several parties, and they took difterent routes
to the St. Lawrence. The one which Mr. Williams
accompanied, ascended the former river, and passing
the highlands to the Winooski, proceeded down
that stream to Lake Champlain, and continued the
march on the lake to Missisco bay, near which they
joined a party of Indians on a hunting excursion. On
reaching the Sorel, they built canoes and passed down
to Chambly, where they found a French fort and a
small garrison. Their route was then continued to the
village of Sorel, where some of the captives had already
arrived. Mr. Williams was thence conveyed down
the St. Lawrence to the Indian village of St. Francis,
and some time after, to Quebec ; and after a short
residence at that place, was sent to Montreal, where he
was humanely treated by Governor Yaudreuil. Some
of Mr. Williams' children accompanied another party,
and after much delay and great suffering, arrived at
various Indian lodges on the St. Lawrence. In a few
instances, the captives were purchased of the Indians ;
but the greatest proportion were retained by them,
at their lodges in various parts of the country. Of
the. one hundred and twelve taken at Deerfield,
about seventeen were killed, or died on the march,
and the sufferings of all were severe in the extreme.
An anecdote is told of a boy among the prisoners who,
having nothing given him to eat, ran up to an old
Indian, and snatched a bone from his hands. Contrary
to the expectation ofthe other captives, the Indian was

48 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
not displeased, but laughed heartily at the courage of
the lad. He was afterward treated with much kind
ness, and became a favorite with the Indians.
During his captivity, Mr. Williams was permitted
to visit various places on the St. Lawrence, and in his
interviews with the French Jesuits, he found them
zealously attached to the Eoman Catholic religion, to
which tbey spared no pains to convert him, as well as
the other captives ; and in some instances they inflicted
punishments for nouTCompliance with their ceremonies.
But they found him as zealously attached to his own
faith, and through his influence, most of the captives
continued firm in the protestant persuasion. In 1706,
a flag-ship was sent to Quebec by Governor Dudley, by
which fifty-seven of the captives were obtained and
conveyed to Boston,* among whom was Mr. Williams*
aud his children, with the exception of his daughter
Eunice, who, notwithstanding all the exertions of her
father to obtain her redemption, was left among tie
Indians, and, adopting their manners and customs,
married a savage, by whom she had several children.
Some time after the war, she with her husband, visited _
her relations at Deerfield, dressed in the Indian cos
tume ; and though every persuasion was tried to induce
her to abandon the Indians, and to remain among her
connections, all proved ineffectual ; she returned to
* This worthy man was born at Roxbuiy, Massachusetts, in the year
1664. In 1683, after graduating at Hartford coUege, he became tho
pastor of the church at Deerfield, and was the fii-st settled minister in
the western part of Massachusetts. His people found in him an able,
conscientious, and judicious friend, capable both of directing their devo
tions, and of assisting thera in tho difficulties and hardships of frontier
life. After his return to Boston, several of the wealthiest parishes in

THE BELL OF ST. EEGIS. 49
Canada, and there ended her days, a true savage.
Twenty-eight of the captives remained in Canada,
and, mixing with the French and Indians, and adopting
their manners and customs, forgot their native country,
and were lost to their friends.
New York having agreed with the French and
western Indians to remain neutral, the enemy were
enabled to pour their whole force upon Massachusetts
and New Hampshire, the inhabitants of which, for ten
that vicinity, urged him to settle with them. He declined any offer of
this kind, aud, in accordance with a vow made in his captivity, he re
turned to Deei-field, collected his scattered flock, and began again with
them the labors, aud endured with them the privations and perils of a
new settlement His salary was at firat forty pounds, but was raised in
1711 to sixty. He married a second wife, by whom he had several chil
dren. He remained at Deei-field until his death, in 1728. His grandson,"
Dr. Samuel WiUiams, was the first historian of Vermont. Charles K.
WiUiams, the son of the latter, was for thirty years a judge of the
supreme court of Verraont, and recently governor of that state.
One of the motives for the expedition against Deerfield, was to recover
a bell which had been purchased in France for a Roman Catholic church
at St Regis, on the St. Lawrence. The French ana English being then
at war, the vessel in which the bell was shipped feU into the hands af
the latter. It was taken to Salem, and in 1703, purchased for the church
of Mr. Williams, at Deerfield. After the massacre at the latter place.
" the beU was conveyed in triumph through the forest to Lake Cham
plain, at the spot where Burlington now standsj-where the Indians buried
it with the benedictions of father Nicolas, the priest of St Regis, who
accompanied them. Thus far they had carried it by means of timber
upon their shoulders. They hastened home and returned in early spring,
with oxen aijd &led, to convey the sacred bell, now doubly haUowed in
ihfh minds, to its destination. The Indians of the village had never
heard the sound of a bell, and powerful was the impression upon their
minds, when its deep tones, louder and louder, broke tho silence of the for
est, as it approached their village at evening, su.spended upon a cross-piece
of timber, and rung continuaUy by the delighted earners. It was hung
in the steeple with solemn ceremony, and there it remains."  Losmg.

50 ETHAN ALLIIN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
years, endured the miseries peculiar to an Indian war,
of which no description can give an adequate idea. The
enemy was at all times prowling about the frontier
settlements, watching in concealment for an opportu
nity to strike a sudden blow, and to fly with safety.
The women and children retired into the garrisons;
the men left their fields uncultivated, or labored with
arms at their sides, and with sentinels at every point
whence an attack could be apprehended. Yet, not
withstanding these precautions, the Indians were often
successful, killing sometimes an individual, sometimes
a whole family, sometimes a band of laborers ten or
twelve in number ; and so swift were they in their
movements, that but few fell into the hands of the
English. Determined to give the frontiers no respite, and
probably animated by the success of Eouville at Deer
field, four hundred French and Indians marched from
Canada, the same year, (1704,) across the Green Moun
tains, and, on the 31st of July, fell upon Lancaster
in Massachusetts. Six fortified houses were simul
taneously attacked, but the enemy met with so warm
a reception that they were compelled to retire. Before
they left the place, most of the other buildings were
fired, and reduced to ashes. Three hundred men irom
the adjacent towns, hurried on to the place toward
the close of the day, came up with and engaged the
enemy, and several were killed on each side.
In the autumn, the French suffered a severe loss,
by the capture of a large store-ship called the Seine,
on her passage from France ; on board of which were
a number of ecclesiastics and laymen, of great fortunes.

COLONLAL WAE WITH CANADA. 51
The cargo was estimated at two hundred thousand
dollars. The loss of this ship was a great embarrass
ment to the military operations of the French in
Canada, and very few depredations were committed
in 1705. Vaudreuil, the governor of Canada, made
propositions to Gbvernor Dudley of Massachusetts, for
a treaty of neutrality between the hostile colonies.
The latter, then contemplating the conquest of Canada,
was opposed to the measure, but he had the address
to protract the negotiation, under the pretense of con
sulting the other English governors. In the mean
time, negotiations for an exchange of prisoners were
carried on ; and it was by this arrangement that a
large portion of the Deerfield captives were finally
released. In 1707, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Ehode
Island dispatched an armament against Port Eoyal
in Nova Scotia, then in possession of the French,
which returned, however, without effecting its object ;
but in 1710, the troops of New England, assisted by
a British fleet, succeeded in reducing the place, and
in compliment to Queen Anne, changed its name to
Annapolis. The only effectual way to put an end to the depre
dations ofthe enemy, seemed to be the subjugation of
Canada. Eepresentations to this effect were acqui
esced in by the British ministry early in 1709, and
they promised to dispatch a squadron, containing five
regiments, to Boston. The colonial governments east
of Connecticut, were required to raise twelve hun
dred men, with suitable transports and provisions for
three months, to accompany the British troops against

52 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN nEEOES.
Quebec. The other colonies were to equip fifiieen
hundred men to proceed by the way of Lake Cham
plain, and make an attack upon Montreal. The latter
were put under the command of Governor Nicholson,
who, early in the summer, marched to Lake Cham
plain, to be in readiness to cooperate with the arma
ment to be dispatched against Quebec. These Were
joined by six hundred Indians. While the latter
were engaged in the construction of canoes, the for
mer were cutting roads between the Hudson river
and Lake Champlain, erecting forts, and supplying
them with provisions. Every thing promised success.
The- Indians appeared to be heartily engaged in the
enterprise. Joy and triumphant exultation pervaded
the colonies. But the English squadron was delayed
far beyond the appointed time, and at last intelligence
arrived that, on account of reverses in Portugal, the
fleet destined for this enterprise was directed to pro
ceed to the relief of the British army in Portugal.
In connection with this disappointment, a fatal epi
demic broke out among the troops on Lake Champlain.
Probably not less than a thousand men fell victims
to this epidemic, which, with the non-arrival of the
promised force from England, induced Nicholson to
abandon the enterprise and to dismiss his troops.
Thus terminated the second great effort for the sub
jugation of the French in Canada.
Encouraged, however, by the success of his expedi
tion against Port Eoyal, Governor Nicholson visited
England in 1710, to concert another campaign for
the complete subjugation of Canada. His plans were
adopted, and in June, 1711, Admiral Walker, with a

BEITISH FLEET DISPEESED. 53
fleet of fifteen ships of war, and forty transports,
bringing an army of veteran troops, arrived at Boston.
Taking on board two additional regiments, he sailed
from that port about the last of July. At the same
time, Governor Nicholson repaired to Albany, to take
command of the troops that were to proceed by the
way of Lake Champlain. When the fleet had ad
vanced ten leagues up the St. Lawrence, the weather
became tempestuous and foggy. A difference of
opinion arose concerning the course to be pursued :
the English pilots recommending one course, and
the colonial another. The admiral, like most English
officers, preferred the advice of his own pilots to the
colonial. Pursuing the course they recommended,
during the night, nine transports were driven upon
the rocks and dashed to pieces. From every quarter
cries of distress arose, conveying, through the dark
ness, to those who were yet afloat, intelligence of the
fate of their comrades, and of their own danger. The
shrieks of the drowning pleaded powerfully for assist
ance, but none could be afforded until the morning
dawned, when six or seven hundred, found floating
on the scattered wrecks, were rescued from death,
more than a thousand having sunk to rise no more.
Only one of the colonial vessels was wrecked, but
all the persons on board escaped the watery grave
in which so many of their brethren from the mother
country were lost. Weakened by this terrible disaster,
the admiral determined to abandon the enterprise and
return to England.
The army designed to invade Canada by way of
Lake Champlain, had not advanced far from j^lbany,

64 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
befbre they received intelligence of the disaster which
had attended the fleet. Nothing remained for Nichol
son but to disband his troops and return. The Mar
quis de Vaudreuil, governor of Canada, had been at
Quebec, preparing to repulse the British armament.
He received intelligence from the fishermen, that sev
eral vessels had been wrecked, and that numerous
dead bodies, with red coats, had drifted to the shore,
but that there were no ships ip the river. Vaudreuil,
justly concluding that the English fleet had suffered
so much as to induce them to abandon their attempt
upon Quebec, ordered his united forces to Montreal
and Lake Champlain, to oppose the advance of Nich
olson's army. Three thousand French troops were
posted at Chambly, to check his approach to Mon
treal. But Vaudreuil soon learned that he had nothing
to fear from the colonial army ; that it had been dis
banded upon the intelligence of the disaster that had
befallen the fleet; and that the people of Albany,
instead of being engaged in any hostile attempts against
Montreal, were in much anxiety concerning their own
safety. But he was not prepared to take advantage
of the calamities of the English, and invade the col
onies. Such was the disastrous termination of the
third systematic attempt to subjugate Canada.
In 1713, the treaty of Utrecht put an end to the
wars between the French and English colonies, and for
thirty years they enjoyed the benefits of peace. Dur
ing this period of tranquillity, the earliest settlements
in Vermont occurred, and were made almost contempo
raneously by the English on the Connecticut river, and
by the French on Lake Champlain. The boundaries

FEENCH DISCOVEEIES. 55
between the two nations had never been defined, and
as the outskirts of their respective settlements began
to meet, disputes in regard to jurisdiction arose, and
the red flames of war were again kindled.
The early discoveries of Cartier had turned the eyes
of France toward the St. Lawrence and the neighbor
ing territory, and established her claim to it, according
to that peculiar code by which European powers had
deemed it proper to apportion among themselves the
rest of the world. Although Canada had scarcely any
likeness to the smiling and luxuriant aspect of Florida,
or even of Virginia, yet it opened into regions of vast
extent ; and the tracing to distant fountains the sea
like abyss of its waters, presented more than common
attraction to curiosity and adventure. But for fifty
years after their discovery, the French government
gave but little encouragement to the plan of colonizing
these northern regions, and after the project was un
dertaken, more attention was given to the consolidation
and improvement of the colony, than to exploring the
expanse of interior America. The Count de Fron
tignac, however, was of a more enterprising spirit. He
extended the range of settlement to the shores of Lake
Ontario, built there a fort to which his own name was
given, and opened an intercourse with the tribes who
roamed over the boundless- plains westward of the
Alleghanies. Not content with this, he determined to
explore the mighty stream which was said to pour its
stupendous current in a direction opposite to that of
all the streams then known in Aiherica, but toward
some distant ocean that lay far in the south and west.
In the existing. darkness as to the boundaries of the

56 ETHAN AT, T.F.N AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
continent, it was concluded that this could only be the
Mer Vermeio, or Gulf of ' California, by which it was
hoped that the long-sought passage might be found to
the golden regions of India. The strongest motives,
therefore, impelled the count to strain every effort for
its discovery. There was no want of bold and fitting
men ready to engage in the enterprise. M. Joliet, with
but six white men and two Indians for guides, setting
forth in two bark canoes, undertook to cross this great
continsnt. Proceeding to Lake Michigan, they passed
by way of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to the Missis
sippi. Floating down the current, they heard in a few
days, from the right, the roar of a great stream, and
soon after saw another river, with even a more prodig
ious current than that of the Mississippi. Following
these two streams until they reached the mouth of the
Arkansas, thoy became convinced that the Mississippi
emptied itself into the Gulf of Mexico, and not, as they
had expected and hoped, into the Pacific. Fearing
that, by following f&rther on, they might fall into the
hands of the Spaniards who were exploring the gulf,
they determined to return to Canada. La Salle after
ward followed the same route, and as early as 1699,
the French began settlements in lower Louisiana, and
in 1717 founded New Orleans.
Being in possession of the inland seas of Canada, as
they were called, and of the mcnths of the two largest
rivers in North America, the French conceived the
magnificent idea of uniting their northern and south
ern possessions by a chain of forts along the ban.ks of
the Ohio and Mississippi, and by that means of ^on-
fining the English colonists to the eastern side o\ the

THE FEENCH FOETDTT LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 67
Alleghanies. In pursuance of this plan, in the year
1731, they ascended Lake Champlain with a consider
able force, intending to erect fortifications at the most
commanding positions. No measure could have been
better adapted to promote their own interest. It was
through Lake Champlain that their troops had marched
in their expeditions against Schenectady, the Mohawk's
castles, and Deerfield. It was through this lake that
their scouting parties found the most easy and safe
passage in their excursions against the English colonies.
In all the attempts of the English to effect the conquest
of Canada, the attacks upon Montreal it was always
contemplated should be effected through the waters of
Lake Champlain. To erect a fortress at the sonth end
of this lake was to secure the whole navigation of it,
and the command of a large portion of the English
and Indian frontier. From this commanding situation,
the French could not only defeat the attempts of the
English to penetrate their own country, but would
always have a magazine of arms and ammunition, to
supply their own troops and scouting parties, and an
asylum to which the Indians might readily retreat,
from their plundering and scalping expeditions against
the English frontiers. And by means of the river
Sorel and the lake, the fort might always be reinforced
in three or four days, or receive any supplies without
difficulty or danger.
The French garrison was at first placed on the east
side of the lake, and the settlement began in what is
now the town of Addison. On the western side, a
more convenient situation was found, however, in
which the harbor was good, and the fortress would bo
3*

58 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOTTNTAtN HEEOES.
encompassed by water on three of its sides. On this
spot, now called Crown Point, the French erected a
fort sufficiently strong to resist any force that could
be suddenly or easily brought against it, and gave it
the name of St. Frederick. The land on which it was
erected properly belonged to the Six Nations; but
it was claimed by the government of New York, and
had been granted by one of their governors. So early as
1696, to Dellius, the Dutch minister of Albany. The
designs of the French, and the dangerous consequences
attending the erection of their new fort, were well un
derstood in the English colonies. The Massachusetts
government was not a little alarmed. Mr. Belcher,
the governor, gave the first information to the gov
ernment of New York, of the French proceedings.
Still, through the passiveness of the council, the French
were suflered to advance nearly two hundred miles
toward Albany, and to erect a fortress which would
enable them, in any future war, to make their assaults
with safety and success upon the frontier settlements
of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
The war which had so long distressed the frontiers
of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, effectually pre
vented the progress of settlements to the north and
west. From 1703 to 1713, the inhabitants being
constantly harassed by calls for military service, agri
culture was suffered to languish, many people were
killed or captured, a heavy public debt was incurred,
and the population of the country was vastly below
what it would have been, had an uninterrupted peace
been maintained. According to Hutchinson, from
1676, the beginning of Philip's war, to 1713, five or

POPULATION OF THE COUNTET. 69
BIX thousand of the youth of the country had been
destroyed by the enemy, or diseases contracted by the
war ; nine in ten of these would have been fathers of
families, and, in the course of forty years, must have
multiplied to near one hundred thousand. The north
ern and western part of New York was a wilderness,
little known to the English.
Nor was the war less embarrassing to the progress
of settlements and population in Canada. In 1714, the
whole number of inhabitants, from fourteen to sixty
years of age, able to bear arms, was four thousand
four hundred and eighty-four. The standing forces at
that time were twenty-eight companies of marines,
paid by the king, containing six hundred and twenty
eight men ; but the Indians were numerous, always
ready to turn out on short notice, and as they were fre
quently led by daring French officers, their incursions
were generally attended with distressing consequences.
Believed from the war, the inhabitants of New
England now turned their attention to their internal
affairs, and the improvement of their plantations ; and
the settlers who had been shut np in fortified houses,
or driven from their plantations, now flattered them
selves that they should not again be molested by the
Indians. But this was a vain hope, for a renewal of
war between England and France must necessarily
produce hostilities between their colonies, and all the
horrors of savage war must be again sustained. A
fleet sufficient to block up the St. Lawrence, and a
small invading army by Lake Champlain under an
able commander, would have put an end to the embar^
rassments so long suffered by the English colonies.

60 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
During the calm which followed the peace of Utrecht,
the'English colonies increased their settlements north
and west. New York, Massachusetts, and New Hamp
shire extended their grants of land into the present
limits of the state of Vermont. Fort Dummer was
erected by Massachusetts in 1724, on the west bank
of the Connecticut river, near the place where the vil
lage of Brattleborough has since grown up, and was
thus named in compliment to Mr. Dummer, lieutenant-
governor of Massachusetts. Other forts were built in
its immediate vicinity on the east bank of the Con
necticut, and many families settled near them on both
sides of the river. These pioneers were considerably
harassed by a war, which raged principally in New
Hampshire, between the whites and Indians, and which
was generally known as "Lovewell's war," from the
name of a successful leader of the English. The In
dians were said to have been instigated by Sebastian
Eolle, a Jesuit, who had long been settled among them,
and possessed great influence with several tribes.* The
war was begun in 1723, and concluded in 1725.
* Rolle was slain in battle, while fighting against the English He
had been a very active agent in, if not the principal cause of the war,
and his death was considered a very auspicious event, by the Enghsh.
It must he acknowledged, however, that he was a loss to the literaiy
world. Previous to his residence at Nonidgewock, he had spent six
years in traveUng among the various tribes in the interior of America,
and he had learned most of their languages. He was nearly forty yeara
a missionary, twenty-six of which he had spent at Norridgewock among
the Indians ; and with their manners and customs he had become inti
mately acquainted. His letters on various subjects, evince that he was
a man of superior natural powers, which had been improved by aa edu
cation in a coUege of Jesuits in Europe. With the learned languages he
was thoroughly acquainted, and by his assiduity, he had taught many

LOUISEOUEG. 61
In 1744, England again declared war against France
and Spain, which again involved the colonies in hos
tilities with the enemies of the mother country and
their Indian allies. The savages took up the hatchet
with great alacrity, and the frontier posts suffered
severely. Commerce, in general,, and especially the
fisheries, suffered great injury from privateers fitted
out at Louisbourg, a French port on Cape Breton.
Its situation gave it such importance, that nearly six
millions of dollars had been expended on its fortifi
cations. The place was deemed so strong as to de-
, serve the appellation of the Dunkirk of America.
In peace, it was a safe retreat for the ships of France,
bound horneward from the East and West Indies.
In war, it gave the French the greatest advantages
for ruining the fishery of the northern English colonies,
and endangered the loss of Nova Scotia. The reduc
tion of this place was, for these reasons, an object
of the highest importance to New England ; and Mr.
of his converts to read and write, and to correspond with him in their
own language. With the principal clergymen of Boston, he held a cor
respondence in Latin. He possessed great skill iu controversy, and
made some attempts at Indian poetry. By a compliance with the In
dian mode of life, and a gentle, condescending deportment, he had
gained the affections of the savages. But he used the oflSces of devotion
as incentives to Indian ferocity, and even kept a flag, on which was de
picted a cross surrounded by bows and an'ows, which he used to hoist
on a pole at the door of iis church when he gave the Indians absolution,
previous to their engaging in any enterprise. A dictionary of tha
Non-idgewock language, composed by him, was found among his papers,
which is now deposited in the library of Harvard college. It is a quarto
volume of five hundred pages. Rolle was in the sixty-seventh year of
, his age when he was killed. His natural son, hy an Indian woman who
had served him as a laundi'ess, was also slain during the war.

62 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
Vaughan of New Hampshire, who had often visited
that place as a trader, conceived the project of an
expedition against it. He communicated it to Gov
ernor Shirley, and being ardent and enthusiastic, con
vinced him that the enterprise was practicable, and
inspired him with his own enthusiasm. Early in Jan
uary, 1745, before he received any answer to the
communications he had sent to England on the sub
ject, he requested of the members of the general
court, that they would lay themselves under an oath
of profound secrecy in regard to a proposal of very
great importance. They readily took the oath, and-
he communicated to them the plan which he had
formed of attacking Louisbourg. The proposal was
at first rejected, but it was finally carried by a ma
jority of one. Letters were immediately dispatchef
to all the colonies, as far as Pennsylvania, request
ing their assistance, and an embargo on their ports
Forces were promptly raised, and William Pepperreh
was appointed commander of the expedition. This
officer, with several transports, sailed from Nantucket
on the 24th of March, and arrived at Canso on the
4th of April. Here the troops, joined by those of
New Hampshire and Connecticut, amounting collec
tively to upward of four thousand, were detained
three weeks, waiting for the ice, which environed the
island of Cape Breton, to be dissolved. At length
Commodore Warren, agreeably to orders from England,
arrived at Canso in the Superbe, of sixty guns, with
three other ships of forty guns each ; and, after a
consultation with the general, proceeded to cruise
before Louisbourg. The general soon after sailed with

SIEGE OF LOUISBOUEG. 63
the whole fleet; and on the 30th of April, coming
to anchor at Chapeaurouge Bay, landed his troops.
Lieutenant-colonel Vaughan conducted the first col
umn through the woods within sight of Louisbourg,
and saluted the city with three cheers. At the head
of a detachment, chiefiy of the New-Hampshire troops,
he marched in the night to the north-east part of the
harbor, where they burned the warehouses containing
the naval stores,- and staved a large quantity of wine
and brandy. The smoke of this fire, driven by the
wind into the grand battery, so terrified the French
that, spiking the guns, they abandoned it and re
tired to the city. The next morning, Vaughan took
possession of the deserted battery ; but the most
difficult labors of the siege remained to be. performed.
The cannon were to be drawn nearly two miles over
a deep morass, within gun-shot of the enemy's prin
cipal fortifications ; and for fourteen nights the troops,
with straps over their shoulders, sinking to their
knees in mud, were employe4 in this arduous ser
vice. The approaches were then begun in the mode
which seemed most proper to the shrewd understand
ings of untaught militia. Those officers who were
skilled in the art of war, talked of zig-zags and
epaulements ; but the troops made themselves merry
with the terms, and proceeded in their own way.
By the 20th of May, they had erected five batteries,
one of which mounted five forty-two-pounders, and
did great execution. Meanwhile, the fleet cruising
in the harbor had been equally successful; it cap
tured a French ship of sixty-four guns, loaded with
stores for the garrison, to whom the loss was as

64 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
distressing as to the besiegers the capture was for
tunate. English, ships of war were, besides, con
tinually arriving, and added such strength to the
fleet, that a combined attack upon the town -was
resolved upon.
Discouraged by these adverse events and menacing
appearances, Duchambon, the French commander,
determined to surrender ; and, on the 16th of June,
1745, articles of capitulation were signed. After the
surrender of the city, the French flag was kept flying
on the ramparts, and several rich prizes were thus
decoyed. Two East-Indiamen, and one South Sea
ship, valued at six hundred thousand pounds, were
taken by the squadron at the mouth of the harbor.
This expedition was one of the most remarkable
events in the history of North America. It was not
less hazardous in the attempt, than successful in tho
execution. It displayed the enterprising spirit of
New England ; and though it enabled Britain to
pm-chase a peace, yet it excited her envy and jeal
ousy against the colonies, by whose exertions it was
acquired. The intelligence of this event spread rap
idly through the colonies, and diffused universal joy.
Well might the citizens of New England feel some
what elated. Without even a suggestion from the
mother country, they had projected, and with but
comparatively little assistance achieved, an enterprise
of vast importance to her and to them. Their com
merce and fisheries were now secure, and their mari
time cities relieved from all fear of attack from a
quarter recently so great a source of dread and
discomfort.

FEENCH FLEET DI8PEESED. 65
Fired with resentment at their loss, the French made
extraordinary exertions to retrieve it, and to inflict
chastisement on New England. The next summer
they dispatched to the American coast a powerful
fleet, carrying a large number of soldiers. The news
of its approach spread terror throughout New England
but an uncommon succession of disasters deprived it
of all power to inflict injury. After remaining a
short time on the coast, it returned to France, hav
ing lost two admirals, both of whom, it was supposed,
put an end to their lives through chagrin ; having
also, by tempests, been reduced to one-half of its
former force, without effecting any of the objects
anticipated. In former wars, several routes had been traversed
by the enemy in approaching the frontiers of the New-
England colonies from Canada. One by the river St.
Francis through Lake Memphremagog,* thence over
portages to the Pasumsic river, which empties into the
Connecticut at Barnet. Another was through Lake
Champlain by the present town of Whitehall, thence
up Wood or Pawit creek, and over the Green Moun
tains to the Connecticut. Otter creek, the Winooski,
Lamoille and White rivers, emptying into Lake Cham
plain, were also frequented routes in passing over the
Green Mountains to the corresponding rivers on its
eastern slope emptying into the Connecticut. All
portions of that territory were therefore familiar to the
* This lake is thirty miles long, and two or three in width. It lies
mostly in Canada, but the south end extends into Vermont The Indian
words from which its name is derived are Mem-plow-bouqtie, signifying
a large expanse of water. — See Thompson's Gazetteer.

66 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
French, and as the scouting parties of the English
were also penetrating northward to. intercept the en
emy, Vermont, which had been the highway of war
parties, became the scene of many fierce and bloody
affrays. The French fortress of St. Frederick, (called
afterward, by the English, Crov^n Point,) afforded great
facilities for sudden and successful attacks upon the
English settlements. The history of a war on the fron
tiers is little else than the recital of the exploits, the
sufferings, and the deliverance of individuals, of sin
gle families, or, at most, of small parties. The first
incursion of the Indians was at the "great meadow,"
(now Putney, Vt.,) a few miles above Fort Dummer.
They killed a few individuals at various times, and
carried others into captivity. One case of heroism is
mentioned with pride. Two Indians captured Wil-
liam~ Phipps in his field. After they had conducted
him some distance, the Indians being some distance
apart, Phipps knocked down the nearest Indian with
his hoe, and, seizing his gun, shot the other. But, on
returning to the fort, he fell into the hands of three
other Indians, who killed him.
In August, 1746, a party of nine hundred French
and Indians attacked Fort Massachusetts, near the
south-west corner of Vermont. The garrison consisted
of only twenty-two men, under the command of Ser
geant Hawks. Notwithstanding the inferiority of
his force, this brave officer, knowing the character of
the French commander, resolved to defend the place
to tho last extremity. For twenty-eight hours, with
small-arms onlj', and a scanty supply of ammunition,
he resisted the efforts of the enemy, and kept them at

HEEOISM OF SEEGEANT HAWKS. 67
a respectful distance. Habituated to sharp-shooting,
the garrison singled out the assailants wherever they
exposed themselves, and brought them down at long
shot. Instances occurred in which the enemy were
thus killed, at the extraordinary distance of sixty
rods'; and they often fell when they supposed them
selves in perfect security. Having at length expended
most of his ammunition, the brave commander reluc
tantly consented to submit, and a capitulation was
agreed upon, by which the garrison were to remain
prisoners of war until exchanged or redeemed, to be
humanely treated, and to be shielded from the cruelty
of the Indians. Vaudreuil, in violation of the articles
of capitulation, delivered one half of the captives into
the hands of the irritated Indians. Hawks * lost but
one man during the siege, but the enemy, according to
information afterward obtained, had forty-seven killed
or badly wounded.
In the mean time, Shirley, having effected the con
quest of Louisbourg, which must ever remain one of
the hardiest enterprises recorded in military annals,
determined on the conquest of Canada. His plan,
like all previous ones for the accomplishment of that
purpose, contemplated a simultaneous attack on Quebec
by a fleet, and an expedition by the way of Lake
Champlain against Crown Point and Montreal. Like
the others, ill-success attended this enterprise.
* Sergeant Hawks rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the army,
in the war of 1755, and was at the attack on Ticonderoga in 1758, and
with the army in the conquest of Canada. Bold, hardy, and enterprising,
he acquired the confidence and esteem of his superior officei-s, and was
intrusted with important commands. He was no less valued by the in
habitants of Deerfield, his native town, for his civil qualitie&

68 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
Early in the year 17;47, the fort at Number Pot,?
(now Charlestown,) near Fort Dummer, was attacked
by a party of three hundred French and Indians,
imder the command of a Frenchman named Debehne.
It was defended by Captain Phinebas Stevens, and
thirty men. The fort being constructed of combustible
materials, the enemy believed it possible to set it on
fire, and thereby compel the garrison to surrender
without further opposition. To effect this, the neigh
boring fences, and a log hut about forty rods to wind
ward, were soon set on fire, and as the wind was
strong, the flames approached, and covered the fort
with a dense body of smoke, through which was heard
the terrifying yell of the savages, and a constant roar
of musketry. Undaunted, the brave little garrison
resolved to defend their post to the last extremity,
and a novel scheme was adopted to extinguish the
approaching flames, which now began to threaten its
destruction. By great exertions, no less than eleven
trenches, or subterranean galleries, were carried under
the walls, of such a depth that men standing in them
to extinguish the fire on the exterior walls, were
completely protected from the shot of the enemy.
Buckets of water, from a well within, were handed
to the men, who kept the parapet constantly moist
ened. Several hundred barrels were thus expended,
and the fort rendered perfectly secure from the ap
proaching flames. In the mean time, a brisk fire
was continued upon the enemy, when they could he
distinguished through the smoke. Thus baffled in
his plan, Debeline resolved to carry the place by
other means ; a sort of carriage was prepared, loaded

DEFENSE OF NUMBEE FOUE. 6!^
with burning fagots, and forced toward the fort;
flaming arrows were also tried, but his efforts to fire
the place proved abortive. On the second day, De
beline proposed a cessation of hostilities until sunrise
the next morning, to which Stevens assented; and
in the moriiing, before the. time had expired, Debeline
approached with fifty men, under a flag, which he
planted within twenty rods of the fort. A jDarley
was then agreed on, and Stevens admitted a lieutenant
and two men into the fort as hostages, and the same
number were sent out to Debeline, who demanded
that the garrison should lay down their arms, pack
up their provisions in blankets, surrender the fort,
and be conducted prisoners to Montreal; and Ste
vens was requested to meet him without the fort,
and give an answer. Stevens accordingly met the
French commander, but before he had time to return
his answer, Debeline threatened that if the terms
were rejected, the fort should be stormed, and in case
any of his men should be killed, the garrison should
be put to the sword. Stevens coolly replied, that
as he had been intrusted by his government with the
command of the fort, he should hearken to no terms,
until he was satisfled that he could no longer defend
it. Stevens returned to the fort and found his men
unanimously determined to defend the place or die
in the attempt. This resobition was communicated
to the French commander about noon ; the hostages
were exchanged, and the firing was renewed with a
shout from the Indians, and it continued until day
light the next morning, when Stevens was familiarly
saluted with a "good morning" from the enemy, and

70 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
a proposition was made for a cessation of arms for
two hours. Soon after, two Indians approached with
a flag, and promised tbat if Stevens would sell them
provisions, they would leave the place without further
efforts. In reply, they were told that five bushels of
corn would be given for each captive in Canada, for
whom they should give hostages, to remain until the
captives should be delivered. In the attack which
continued three days, thousands of balls were pom-ed
upon the fort, yet not a man of the garrison was
killed, and only two wounded. Debeline, convinced
that he could not operate upon the fears of his enemy,
or gain possession of the place without an assault,
continued a distant fire a short time ; then reluctantly
withdrew from the fort. When the intelligence of
this brave defense was received at Boston, Commo
dore Sir Charles Knowles, who happened to be at
that station, was so highly gratified at the conduct
of Stevens, that he sent him an elegant sword ; and
Number Four, when incorporated into a town in
1763, was called after tiie commodore's name, Charles
town. It should have been named after its heroic
defender. Although baffled ip their attempt on Number Four,*
Debeline's forces remained on the frontiers, divided
into small parties, and were engaged in several severe
skirmishes with the hardy English pioneers. Fort
Dummer, Bridgman's fort, and others, were the scenes
of some of these affrays. Others occurred with

* This was one of the four townships granted on the east side of tha
¦Connecticut by Massachusetts, and then distinguished by no other nanio
than their number.

BATTLE NEAR POET DUMMEE. 71
of colonial rangers, who made frequent excursions over
the Green Mountains, and sometimes to the vicinity
of Crown Point. One of these bands of rangers, con
sisting of forty men, under the command of Captain
Hobbs, met the enemy twelve miles west of Fort
Dummer. The latter, one hundred and fifty in num
ber, were commanded by a half-breed named Sackett.
Confident of victory from their immense superiority
in number, the enemy rushed up impetuously, but
were checked by the well-directed fire of Hobbs. The
two commanders had been known to each other in time
of peace, and were celebrated for their intrepidity.
Sackett, who could speak English, in a stentorian voice
frequently called upon Hobbs to surrender, and threat
ened, in case of refusal, to rush in and sacrifice his
raen with the tomahawk. Hobbs, in tones which shook
the forest, as often returned a defiance, and urged
his enemy to put his threat in execution. The action
continued with undaunted resolution, and, not unfre-
quently, the enemy approached Hobbs' line, but were
driven back to their first position, by the fatal fire
of his sharp-sighted marksmen ; and thus four hours
elapsed without either side. giving up an inch of their
original ground. At length, finding Hobbs determined
on death or victory, and that his own men had suffered
severely, Sackett ordered a retreat, carrying off" his
dead and wounded, and leaving his antagonist to con
tinue his march without further molestation.
In November, 1747, a descent was made upon Sara
toga, where about thirty families were collected. A
party of French and Indians concealed themselves near
tiie fort at night. In the morning, a few of the Indiana

72 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
approached the fort, and were fired upon by the garri
son as soon as they were discovered. The Indians,
pretending to.be wounded, fell ; then rose up, and, run
ning a short distance, fell again. The English rushed
out to take them prisoners, when the French, who had
been concealed, surrounded and quickly disarmed them.
Several were massacred and others were carried into
captivity.* The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, again gave
peace to the colonies. Prisoners were to be released
on both sides without ransom, and all conquests
mutually restored. This war had been extremely
* This expedition was led by the Abbe Picquet,- a distinguished
Jesuit missionary. He was bom in 1708. He became very celebrated
in France, at an early age, and seemed rapidly winning his way to the
highest distinction in the church ; but the activity of his zeal induced him
to become a missionary among the Indians. He came to America in 1733,
and reraained thirty years. He established a mission at La Presentation,
(now Ogdensburg,) where he also erected a fort Mills, workshops aiid
trading-houses were completed in rapid succession. Beginning with only
six families in 1749, there were ninety the year following, and four hun
dred in 1751. His industry and energy were remarkable. He labored
from three o'clock in the morning until nine .u night His disinterest
edness was extreme. He supported himself by his own exertions, having
a daily aUowance of only two pounds of bread and a half-pound;of pork
fi-om the government ; which caused the savages to say, on au occasion
when they gave him a deer and some partridges, " We doubt not. Father,
but that there have been disagreeable expostulations in your stonaach,
because you have had nothing but pork to eat Here's something t«
put your affairs in order." Picquet had the address to attach the Six Na
tions to the French interests. Three thousand of these Indians were in
hie colony. He afterward distinguished himself in the war which re
sulted in the conquest of Canada. When, in 1760, he saw that all -was
lost, he went to New Orleans by the way of the lakes and the Missis
sippi, and about two years afterward he returned to France, and died iti
1781.

FRENCH ENCEOACHMENTS.

73

disastrous to the colonies. Many lives were lost, tho
increase of population was checked, great losses were
sustained in the commercial interests of the country,
and a burdensome debt of several millions had been
incurred. With . the return of peace, however, com
merce revived, the settlements began to extend, and
public credit was restored.
But only a brief interval of repose was allowed to
the colonies. In 1766, eight years from the peace of
Aix-la-Chapelle, Great Britain again declared war
against France, on the ground of the encroachments
of the French upon the English territories in America.
Some years previous to this war, the French had com
menced a chain of posts, designed to extend from the
head of the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, with a
view to maintain a communication between their
northern possessions and Louisiana. In 1750, the
English government granted a large tract of land on
the Ohio river to an association called the Ohio com
pany, formed for the purpose of settling the country,
and carrying on a trade in furs with the Indians. The
French governor of Canada, apprehending both the
loss of the fur trade and the interruption of his com
munications with Louisiana, claimed the whole country
between the Ohio and the Alleghanies, and prohibited
the further encroachments of the English. He also
opened a new communication between Lake Erie and
the Ohio, and stationed troops at posts along the line.
The Ohio company, thus threatened in their trade,
persuaded Governor Dinwiddle of Virginia, in 1753,
to send a remonstrance to the French commandant.
Geoege Washington was the bearer. The commandant
4

74 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOKS.
returned for answer that he had taken possession of
the country by order of the governor-general of Can
ada, whose orders alone he could regard. The British
government, on learning the claim set up by the
French, directed the Yirginians to resist it by force. _
In 1754, an expedition was conducted against tho
French by Washington ; but the superior force of the
enemy obliged him to capitulate, with the privilege of
returning with his troops to Virginia. This was prop
erly the commencement of what is commonly styled
the French war., although the formal declaration was
not made till 1756. In the nnean time, the British
government recommended the colonies to unite for
their common defense. A convention of delegates
from all the northern colonies accordingly met at Al
bany in 1764, and adopted a plan of union; but it
was rejected both by the provincial assemblies and hy
the home government : by the former because Jt gave
too much power to the crown, and by the latter because
it gave too little. The substance of the plan was the
formation of a grand council, consisting of delegates
from the several colonies, subject to the control of a
president-general to be appointed by the crown, whose
assent should be essential to the adoption of any meas
ure of policy. This council, it was proposed, should
have power to enact general laws, apportion the quotas
of men and money to be raised by each colony, deter
mine the building of forts, regulate the operations of
armies, and concert all measures for their common
protection and safety. It is worthy of remark that this
plan of union was perfected on the fourth of July the
day which afterward became so memorable in our

EXPEDrriON AGAINST CEOWN POINT. 75
history. In the spring of 1765, vigorous preparations
were made for carrying on the war. An expedition
under General Braddock, directed against the French
on the Ohio, was unfortunate. Owing to the arrogance
and rashness of the commander, the British troops
were surprised and defeated, with great loss, by a very
inferior force of French and Indians. General Brad
dock was \nortally wounded, and the conduct of the
retreat devolved on Washington, who was in command
of the colonial militia, and by whom the army was
saved from total destruction.
In connection with Braddock's expedition against
Fort Du Quesne, two others were concerted : one
against Fort Niagara and Frontignac, to be com
manded by Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, and
one against Crown Point, to be commanded by Gen
eral William Johnson. - The former of these met with
so many delays, that when it arrived at Oswego, the
season was so far advanced, that prudence forbade
the further prosecution of the enterprise.
The forces destined to attack Crown Point, with
the requisite military stores, could not be collected
at Albany until the last of August, 1756. Thence
the army under command of General Johnson, pro
ceeded to the south end of Lake George,* designing
to proceed to the outlet of the lake at Ticonderoga,
^nd there erect a fort to aid in the operations against
Crown Point. There he learned that an armament,
fitted out in France, had eluded an English squadron
* Until this time the lake had been called St Sacrament, but Johnson
gave it the narae of Lake George. Recently, efforts have been made
to restore to this beautiful lake the original Indian name of Horicon.

76 ETHAN" ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES,
sent to intercept it, and had aiTived at Quebec ; and
that Baron Dieskau, commander of the French forces,
was rapidly advancing to the defense of Crown Point.
Finding that no immediate attack would be made by
the English, and being informed that Johnson's camp
was not strongly fortified, Dieskau resolved on march
ing toward the English lines. An express that had
been sent out by Johnson, returned about midnight,
bringing word that the enemy was within four miles
of Fort Edward, apparently intending to attack that
post. It was probably only a detached party of In
dians that had been seen by the express. This mis
information caused a severe disaster. A council of
officers was assembled, who advised that a force
should be sent to intercept the enemy, whether de
feated or victorious, when on his way back from Fort
Edward. Colonel Ephraim Williams, with a thousand
troops, and Hendrick, a celebrated Indian chief, with
two hundred Indians, were accordingly detached for
this purpose, on the morning of September 8th. They
had proceeded but four miles, when they encountered
the enemy. Dieskau, informed by his runners of
their approach, had halted and prepared for their
reception, forming his forces in a semicircle, the ends
of which were far in advance of the center, and con
cealed from view by the forest. Into this ambuscade
the detachment marched, wholly unsuspicious that
any enemy was within several miles. Suddenly the
war-whoop resounded in every direction, and a gall
ing fire was opened all along the front and left side
of the column. Williams, to obtain a more defensible
position, ordered his men to ascend the rising ground

VICTOET OF GENEEAL JOHNSON. 77
on their right. But this only brought them upon tho
other wmg of the French line. Both Williams and
Hendrick, with numbers of their followers, fell, and
a confused retreat ensued. A large portion of these
troops were from western Massachusetts, and there
were few families in that district who did not mourn
the loss of relatives or friends who were cut off in
" the bloody morning scout at Lake George," as this
encounter was familiarly designated.*
As the firing came nearer, it was manifest that
Williams was defeated ; and three hundred men un
der Colonel Cole, were sent out to cover the retreat.
The discomfited soldiers soon began to arrive in large
bodies, and at length, Dieskau's troops made their
appearance. The order and regularity with which
the grenadiers advanced in platoons, with their bur
nished muskets glittering in the sun, we can readily
imagine caused no small trepidation among the raw
troops of which Johnson's force was composed. Fortu
nately, a considerable pause was made by the French
before commencing the attack, enabling the men
measurably to recover from their panic, and when
once engaged, they fought with the calmness and
resolution of veterans. The camp was assailed by
the grenadiers in front, and by the Canadians and
Indians upon both flanks. But a few discharges of
artillery against these last, caused them to fall back
and secrete themselves behind logs and trees, from
whence they afterward maintained only. an irregular
and nearly harmless fire. General Johnson being
wounded, was compelled to retire to his tent, and
" Fitch's History of Washington County

78 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
the command subsequently devolved upon General
Lyman, who several times stationed himself in front
of the> breastwork, the better to inspirit the men and
direct their movements. For nearly four hours the
battle lasted ; and the assailed still standing firm at
every point, Dieskau was constrained to order a re
treat. This order appears to have been obeyed with
more alacrity than any that had been given for some
time previous. So hastily did the men withdraw
that their leader, having been wounded in his foot
was unable to keep pace with them. Reclining
against a stump to obtain temporary relief from his
pain and fatigue, he was discovered by a provincial
soldier. Dieskau, to propitiate the soldier, was about
drawing out his watch to present to him ; whereupon
the soldier, deeming he was searching for a pistol,
discharged his musket at the baron, giving him a
grievous wound in the hip, of which he died twelve
years afterward. The French retreated to the ground
where the forenoon engagement had occurred, and
there paused for the night, searching out the bodies
of the slain, and rifling them of whatever they found
of value upon them.*
This victory revived the spirits of the colonists,
depressed by the recent defeat of General Braddock;
but the success was not improved by General John
son. With an apathy quite unaccountable, he failed
to follow up his victory, and drive the French from
Lake Champlain, as he might easily have done. The
remainder of the campaign was employed in the
erection of Fort William Henry, at the head of Lake
• Fitch's History of Wa.shington County

EEVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1755. 79
George. In the fall his army was discharged, with
the exception of six hundred men who occupied the
forts on the frontier. The French retained possession
of Ticonderoga,* and fortified it. Thus ended the
campaign of 1755. It opened with the brightest pros
pects: immense preparations had been made, yet
not one of the objects of the three principal expe
ditions had been attained ; and, by this failure, the
whole frontier was exposed to the ravages of the
Indians, which were accompanied by their usual acts
of barbarity. The expedition under Braddock had
been conducted -with extreme imprudence and rash
ness, and had terminated in defeat and disgrace.
The movement against Niagara, under Shirley, had
been too extensive in its plan to be concluded in one
campaign ; and at the northward, Baron Dieskau had
given Johnson an opportunity to gain a victory
without leaving his camp or exposing himself to
danger. The army under General Johnson, on the frontiers
of New York, although it checked incursions to the
north-west quarter of Massachusetts, afforded but lit
tle security to the frontiers on Connecticut river.
The St. Francis tribe of Indians, commanding an
easy route through Lake Memphremagog and several
neighboring streams, made frequent inroads, and killed
many persons. But the most disastrous affair that
occurred on Connecticut river, was at Bridgman's
* The original Indian name was Cheonderoga, signifying noisy, in
reference to the rush of waters at the outlet of Lake George. It was
at first called by the French Carillon, a word havmg the same signifi
cation as the Indian name.

80 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
Fort. A fortified house had been destroyed at the
same place in 1747, and another was built soon after,
and is still standing in Vernon, Vt. The Indians
found the men belonging to this fort at work in a field,
and shot them. Three women, with eleven children,
were taken prisoners and carried to Crown Point.
Another band of Indians, the year previous, had
captured several persons at Number Four, and had
taken them to Canada. Among these prisoners was a
Mrs. Johnson, who, on the second day's journey, gave
birth to a daughter, and named her Captive.* In
this critical situation, she had little hope of escaping
the hatchet ; but, contrary to their usual conduct, the
Indians treated her and her infant with tenderness,
carrying them part of their route on a litter, and
they took much pains in nursing the infant. After
a painful captivity, this little band of sufl'erers was
ransomed, and returned again to their friends.
The colonies, considerably encouraged by the results
of the campaign of 1755, determined to renew and
increase their exertions. General Shirley, to whora
the superintendence of all the military operations
* Captive Johnson was married to Colonel George Kimball, and was
still living a few years ago. At Vernon, near where she was born, a
monument bas been erected, on which is the following inscription : " This
is near the spot that the Indians encamped tbe night after they took
Mr. Johnson and family, Mr. Labaree and Mr. Parnsworth, August 30th,
1754, and Mrs. Johnson was delivered of her child half a mile up this
brook. "When trouble is near the Lord is kind.
He hears the Captive's ciy ;
He can subdue tlie savage mind.
And learn it sympathy." [See Thompson's Gazeteer.

OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1756. 81
had been confided, assembled a council of war at
New York, to concert a plan for the ensuing year.
He proposed that expeditions should be carried on
against Du Quesne, Niagara, and Crown Point, and
, that a body of troops should be sent, by the way
of the rivers Kennebec and Chaudiere, to alarm the
French for "the safety of Quebec. This plan was
unanimously adopted by the council. Shirley, on the
last of January, returned to Boston to meet the as
sembly of Massachusetts, of which colony he was
governor. He endeavored to persuade them to con
cur in the measures proposed ; but, disgusted with
the proceedings of the last campaign, and especially
at General Johnson for neglecting to pursue his ad
vantages, they were unwilling to engage in offensive
operations, unless the command of their forces should
be given to General Winslow, who had acquired
popularity by his success in Nova Scotia. Their
wishes were complied with, and their concurrence
was then granted. In April, news arrived from
Great Britain, that the conduct of General" Johnson,
instead of being censured, was considered highly
meritorious; that, as a reward for his success, the
king had conferred upon him the title of baronet,
and parliament a grant of five thousand pounds
sterling; that his majesty disapproved of the conduct
of Shirley, and had determined to remove hira from
command. This information not being oificial, Gen
eral Shirley continued his preparations with his usual
activity and zeal. While engaged in collecting at
Albany, the troops from the different colonies. General
Webb brought from England, oflicial information of

82 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
his removal. On the 26|h of June, General Aber
crombie arrived and took command of the armj'.
It now consisted of about twelve thousand men, and
was more numerous, and better prepared for the field,
than any army that had ever been assembled in
America. The change of commanders delayed the operations
of the English army. The French were active ; and
on the 12th of July, General Abercrombie received
intelligence that they meditated an attack upon
Oswego, a post of the utmost importance. General
Webb was ordered to prepare to march with a regi
ment for the defense of that place. In the mean
time. Lord Loudon, who had been appointed com
mander-in-chief over all the British forces in the
colonies, arrived in America. Amidst the ceremo
nies which followed, the affairs of the war were for
gotten. General Webb did not begin his march until
the 12th of August. Before he had proceeded far,
he learned that Oswego was actually besieged by a
large army of French and Indians. Alarmed for his
own safety, he proceeded no further, but employed
his troops in erecting fortifications for their defense.
General Montcalm, the commander of the French
troops in Canada, began the siege of Oswego on the
12th of August. On the 14th, the English commander
having been killed, terms of surrender were proposed
by the garrison, and were agreed to. These terms
were shamefully violated. Several of the British oifi-
cers and soldiers were insulted, robbed, and massa
cred by the Indians. Most of the sick were scalped
in the hospitals, and tho French general delivered

CLOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1766. 83
twenty of the garrison to the savages, that being the
number they had lost during the siege. Those un
happy persons were, doubtless, according to the Indian
custom, tortured and burnt. In this expedition the
French took fourteen hundred prisoners, and an im
mense quantity of provisions and munitions of'war.
General Webb was permitted to retreat, unmolested, to
Albany. Lord Loudon pretended it was now too late
in 'the season to atterapt any thing further, -though
the troops under General Winslow were within a few
days' march of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and
were sufficient in number to justify an attack upon
those places. He devoted the remainder of the season
to making preparations for an early and vigoro
campaign the ensuing year. This spring had opened
with still more brilliant prospects than the last ; and
the season closed without the occurrence of a single
event that was honorable to the British arms, or
advantageous to the colonies. This want of success
was justly attributed to the removal of the provincial
ofiicers, who were well acquainted with the theater
of operations, but whora the rainistry, desirous of
checking the growth of talents in the colonies, were
unwilling to eraploy. Yet the several asserablies,
though they saw themselves thus slighted, and their
money annually squandered, made all the prepara
tions that were required of them for the next campaign.
In the campaign of 1756, two persons, who were
destined to win imperishable honor in the war of the
Revolution, received their first military discipline.
These were Israel Putnam and John Stark. Thero
were no great engageraents during the year in which

84 ETHAN ALLEN AND OEEEN-MOUJS TAIN 11EE0.:S._
they could distinguish themselves ; but in the arduous
duties of scouts or rangers, they were eminently useful,
and were soon found to be foremost among the skillful,
active and daring. In January, 1757, Major Bogers,
in whose company of rangers Stark* was a lieutenant,
was ordered on a reconnoitering expedition down Lake
George toward Ticonderoga. Traveling now on the
* Stark was born in N"ew Hampshire, August 28th, 1728. His early
life was one of great hardship. In 17,^2, he was taken prisoner by the
Indians. While on a hunting excui-sion with three other persons, far to
the north of the English settlements on the Connecticut, and while sep
arated from his companions, he was seized hy a party of ten Indians.
On being questioned about his companions, he pointed in a direction
opposite to that which they had taken, aud thus succeeded in leading the
Indians two miles out of the way. His companions, unfortunately, be
coming alarmed at his absence, and ignorant of its cause, fired several
guns as a signal to bim. This betrayed them to the savages. But John
had the courage, as the Indians were coming up to them, to hail them
and urge them to escape. While tbey were retreating, four Indians fired
upon them, but, at the moraent of the discharge, John struck the guns
of two, and his brother William was by this means enabled to escape.
John was severely beaten for this. When the Indians returned to St
Francis, the captives were compelled to "run the gaunflet" One of
them was severely beaten ; but Stark snatched a hatchet from the nearest
Indian, and attacked with great fury all who attempted to strike him.
This pleased the old raen of tbe tribe, and won Stark rauch favor. He
appears to have caught the humor of the Indians, and to have known
how to approach them on tbe side of their prejudices. On one occasion,
he was ordered by tbem to hoe their corn. Well aware that they regai'ded
labor of this kind as fit only for squaws and slaves, he took care to cut
up the corn and spare the weeds, in order to give them a suitable idea
of his want of skill in unmanly labor. As this experiment upon their
good nature did not answer its desired object, he threw his hoe into tho
river, declaring " it was the business not of warriors, but of squaws to
hoe com." This spirited deportment gained him the titie of "young
chief," and the honor of adoption into tho tribe. — See Eriefett's Life of
Stark.

STAEK IN BATTLE. 85
ice and now on snow-shoes, they, on the third day,
crossed to Lake Champlain, and seeing some sleds
approach, hastened toward and captured some of
thera. From the prisoners they learned there. was a
large force at Ticonderoga. Knowing that those who
escaped would convey intelligence which would speed
ily bring out an overwhelming company in pursuit of
him, Bogers directed an immediate return to Fort
William Henry. On their way back, tramping over
the snow in single file, as the foreraost raen gained the
summit of a hill, they unexpectedly found themselves
close upon two hundred of the enemy, who were drawn
up in a semicircle to receive them. The rangers re
coiled before the tire that blazed in their very faces,
and crimsoning the snow with their blood, they reached
the rear under Stark, who was fifteen rods distant on
. the sumrait of another hill. They here forraed their
line, and firmly stood, in snow four feet in depth, and
repelled every attack of the eneray from two o'clock
until nightfall. Bogers, wounded upon the head, and
by a bullet through his wrist, was so disabled that the
entire comraand devolved on Stark. At sunset, sorae
of the men suggested that they ought to make their
escape before the piercing cold of the winter's night
closed upon them ; but Stark, standing hiraself where
the shot fell thickest, and knowing that their safety
depended on maintaining their ground till after dark,
threatened to shoot the first raan who should attempt
to fly. Evening came, and the French now abandoned
tlie combat, and withdrew, leaving half their number
scattered upon the trampled and blood-stained snow
<if the hill-side, sleeping that sleep that knows no

86 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
waking. Forty-eight of the rangers reraained un-
wounded, and the company now dragged themselves
through the woods and snow the livelong night,
reaching the shore of Lake George in the morning.
All were now quite exhausted with their fatigues, and
the wounded wer .3 wholly unable to advance further
on foot. Stark hereupon generously offered to travel
with two others to Fort William Llenry, at the opposite
end of the lake, and obtain sleds for conveying the
wounded. He accordingly departed, and reached the
fort in the evening. The sleds being procured, he
iraraediately set out with them to return to his com
rades, traveling all night and arriving at their bivouac
upon the following morning. And finally he drew a
loaded sleigh back to the fort, reaching there in the
evening. He thus stood out three days and two nights
of severe and incessant toil, engaged for nearly four
hours in a hot corabat, and the reraainder of the time
in traveling over snow and ice. Such was the future
hero of Bennington.
At the coraraenceraent of the year 1767, a council
was held at Boston, composed of Lord Loudon and
the colonial governors. At^this council, his lordship
proposed that New England should raise four thousand
troops for the coraing campaign, and that New York
and New Jersey should supply a proportionate number.
These requisitions were complied with, and in the
spring he found himself at the head of a very consid
erable army. Admiral Holborn arrived at Halifax in
July, with a powerful squadron, and a reinforcement of
five thousand men under the command of Lord Howe.
Lord Loudon sailed from New York with six thousand

CAMPAIGN OF 1757. 87
regulars to join these troops at the place of their ar
rival. Instead of the complex operations undertaken
IP previous campaigns, he limited his plan to a single
object. Leaving the posts on Lake Champlain strongly
garrisoned, he resolved to direct his whole disposable
force against Louisbourg ; Halifax having been deter
mined on as the place of rendezvous for the fleet and
anny destined for the expedition. Information was
soon received, however, that a French fleet had lately
sailed from Brest ; that Louisbourg was garrisoned by
six thousand regulars exclusive of provincials ; and
that it was also defended by seventeen line-of-battle
ships which were moored in the harbor. There being
no hope of success against so formidable a force, the
enterprise was deferred until the next year ; Loudon
proceeded to New York, and the colonial troops were
dismissed. The Marquis de Montcalm, availing himself of the
absence of the principal part of the English force,
advanced with an army of nine thousand men, and
laid siege to Fort William Henry. Montcalm had
won a distinguished reputation on the continent of
Europe, and had met with extraordinary success in
America. The conquest of Oswego had raised his
fame among the Indians, and given him the comraand
of alinost all their tribes and commerce. He pursued
the advantages he had gained, with much discretion.
The garrison at Fort William Henry consisted of be
tween three and four thousand regulars under the
command of Colonel Monroe, and its fortifications
were strong and in good order ; and for the additional
security of this important post, General Webb was

88 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOtTNTAlN HEEOES.
stationed at Fort Edward with an army of four thou
sand men. The French commander, however, urged
his approaches with such vigor, that, within six days
after the investment of the fort. Colonel Monroe, the
commandant, having in vain solicited succor from Gen
eral Webb, found it necessary to surrender by capitula
tion. The garrison was to be allowed the honors of
war, and to be protected against the Indians until
¦within the reach of Fort Edward ; but the next morn
ing, a great nuraber of Indians, having been permitted
to enter the lines, began to plunder ; and meeting with
no opposition, they fell upon the sick and wounded,
whom they iraraediately massacred. Their appetite
for carnage being excited, the defenseless troops were
attacked with fiend-like fury. Monroe in vain im
plored Montcalm to provide the stipulated guard, and
the massacre proceeded. All was turbulence and
horror. On every side savages were butchering and
scalping their wretched victims. Their hideous yells,
the groans of the dying, and the frantic shrieks of
others shrinking from the uplifted toraahawk, were
heard by the French unmoved. The fury of the sav
ages was permitted to rage without restraint until
fifteen hundred were killed, or hurried captives into
the wilderness. The day after this awful tragedy.
Major Putnam* was sent with his rangers to watch"
" Israel Putnara was born at Salem, Massachusetts, January 7th, 1718.
Courage, enterprise, activity and pei-severance were his prominent char
acteristics. He was also distinguished for a faithful discharge of all the
duties of his station, and for the raost undeviating principles of honor,
humanity and benevolence. In 173D, ho removed to Pomfi-et, Connect
icut, where ho .npplied himself to agricultural pui-suits until the opening

MASSACEE AT F jET WILLIAM HPNEY. 89
the motions of the enemy. When he came to the
shore of the lake, their rear was hardly beyond the
reach of musket shot. The prospect was horrible in
the extreme ; the fort demolished ; the barracks and
buildings yet burning ; innumerable fragments of hu
man carcasses still broiling in the decaying fires ; and
dead bodies, raangled with tomahawks and scalping-
knives, in all the wantonness of Indian barbarity,
were everywhere scattered around. Who can forbear
exclaiming with the poet, .
" Man is to man the surest, sorest ill ! "
Thus ended the third carapaign in America ; happily
forming the last of a series of disasters resulting from
folly and mismanagement, rather than frora want of
raeans and military strength. The successes of the
French left the colonies in a gloomy state. By the ac
quisition of Fort William Henry, they had obtained full
possession of the Lakes Champlain and George; and
by the destruction of Oswego, they had acquired the '
dominion over those other lakes which connect the St.
Lawrence with the waters of the Mississippi. The first
afforded the easiest admission from the northern colo
nies into Canada, or from Canada into those colonies;
the last united Canada to Louisiana. By the continued
possession of Fort Du Quesne, they preserved their
ascendancy over the Indians, and held undisturbed
of the war with the French in 1755, when he was appointed to the com
mand of a company of rangers. His hardy and adventurous disposition
always led him to the post of the greatest fatigue and danger, and he
often came near falling into tbe bands of the enemy, or being slain in
his frequent skirmishes with them. His services during the campaign
of 1756, had been rewarded by promotion to the rank of major

90 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOKS.
control of the country west of the Alleghany moun
tains. The British nation was alarraed and indignant,
and the king found it necessary to change his councils.
At the head of the new ministry, he placed the cele
brated William Pitt, afterward earl of Chatham, who
was raised by his talents from the humble post of
ensign in the guards, to the controLof the destinies of
a mighty empire ; under his administration public con.
fidence revived, and the nation seemed inspired with
new life and -vigor. He was equally popular in both
hemispheres ; and so proraptly did the governors of
the northern colonies obey the requisitions of his cir-
cular letter of 1757, that by May, in the following year,
Massachusetts had seven thousand, Connecticut five
thousand, and New Hampshire three thousand troops,
prepared to take the field. The zeal of Massachusetts
was particularly ardent. The people of Boston en
dured taxes which took away two-thirds of the income
on real estate ; one-half of the effective men in the
province were on some sort of military duty ; and the
transports for carrying the troops to Halifax were
ready to sail in fourteen days frora the tirae of their
engageraent. The mother country was not less active.
While her fleets blockaded or captured the French
armaraents, she dispatched Admiral Boscawen to
Halifax with a forraidable squadron of ships, and an
army of twelve thousand men. Lord Loudon was
replaced by General Abercrombie, who, early in the
spring of 1768, was ready to enter upon the campaign
at the head of fifty thousand men, the most powerful
army ever j^et seen in America.
In the winter of 1757, when Colonel Haviland wa»

PUTNAM CONQUEEING FIEE. 91
commandant at Fort Edward, the barracks adjoining
the north-west bastion, took fire. They stood but twelve
feet from the magazine, which contained three hundred
barrels of powder. On its first discovery, the fire raged
with great violence. The commandant endeavored in
vain, by discharging some pieces of heavy artillery
against the supporters of this range of barracks, to
level them with the ground. Putnam arrived from an
island where he was stationed, at the raoraent when
the blaze approached that end which was contiguous
to the raagazine. With the promptness, energy and
daring that always characterized hira, Putnam at once
made a vigorous attempt to extinguish the conflagra
tion. A way was opened by the postern gate to the
river, and the soldiers were employed in bringing
water, which he, having mounted on a ladder to the
eaves of the building, received and threw upon the
flame. It continued, notwithstanding their utmost
efforts, to gain upon them. He stood, enveloped in
smoke, so near the sheet of fire, that a pair of blanket
mittens was burnt entirely from his hands. He was
supplied with another pair dipped in water. Colonel
Haviland, fearing that he would perish in the flames,
called to him to come down ; but he entreated that he
might be suffered to remain, since destruction must
inevitably ensue if their exertions should be rfemitted.
The gallant coraraandant, not less- astonished than
charmed at the boldness of his conduct, forbade any
more effects to be carried out of the fort, animated the
men to redoubled diligence, and exclaimed, "If we
must be blown up, we will all go together." At last,
when the barracks were seen to be tumbling, Putnara

92 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
descended, placed hiraself at the raagazine, and contin
ued, from an incessant rotation of replenished buckets, to
pour water upon its blazing walls. The outside planks
were already consumed by the proximity ofthe fire, and
as only one thickness of timber intervened, the trepi
dation now becarae -general and extrerae. Putnam,
still undaunted, covered with a cloud of cinders, and
scorched with the intensity of the heat, raaintained his
position until the fire subsided, and the danger was
over. He had contended for one hour and a half with
. that terrible eleraent. His legs, his thighs, his arms,
and his face were blistered ; and when he pulled off
his second pair of mittens, the skin from his hands
and fingers followed them. It was a month before he
recovered. The coraraandant, to whora his merits had
before endeared him, could not stifle the emotions of
gratitude due to the man who had been instrumental
in preserving the magazine, the fort, and the garrison.
Three points of attack were involved in the cam
paign of 1768 : Louisbourg, Ticonderoga, and Du
Quesne. General Amherst conducted the enterprise
against Louisbourg with an array of fourteen thousand
men. Preparations had been made on such an ex
tensive scale, that the coraraander at Louisbourg soon
saw that all resistance would be in vain, and he
accepted terms of capitulation. The comraand of the
St. Lawrence was by this surrender placed in the
hands of the English. The expedition against Fort
Du Quesne was equally successful; the garrison es
caping down the Ohio, the evening before the arrival
of the British array.
The army destined to execute the plans against

STOEMING OF TICOXDEKOGA. 93
Ticonderoga, was commanded by General Abercrom
bie, and consisted of more than fifteen thousand men,
attended by a formidable train of artillery. Early
in July, the general embarked his troops on Lake
George, and commenced operations against Ticonde
roga. After debarkation at the landing-place, in a
cove on the west side of the lake, the troops were
formed into four columns, the British in the center,
and the provincials on the flanks. In this order they
raarched toward the advanced guard of the French,
which, consisting of one battalion only, posted in a
logged camp — destroyed what was in their power, and
made a precipitate retreat. While Abercrombie was
continuing his march in the woods toward Ticonde
roga, the columns were thrown into confusion, and
in some degree entangled with each other. At this
juncture. Lord Howe, at the head of the right cen
ter column, fell in with a part of the advanced guard
of the enemy, which had been lost in the wood in
retreating from Lake George, and immediately at
tacked and dispersed it, killing a considerable num
ber, and taking one hundred and forty-eight prisoners.
This success was attended by the loss of the gallant
nobleman, who fell in leading the attack. The English
army, without further opposition, took possession of
a post within two miles of Ticonderoga. Abercrom
bie, having learned frora the prisoners the strength
of the eneray at that fortress, and, from an engineer,
the condition of their works, resolved on an imme
diate storm, and made instant disposition for an as
sault. The troops having received orders to march
up briskly, rush upon the. enemy's fire, and reserve

94 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
their own till they had passed a breastwork, marched
to the assault with great intrepidity. TJnlooked-for
impediments, however, occurred. In front of the
breastwork, to a considerable distance, trees had been
felled with their branches outward, many of which
were sharpened to a point, by means of which the
assailants were not only retarded in their advance,
but, becoming entangled among the boughs, were ex
posed to a very galling fire. Finding it impracti
cable to pass the breastwork, which was eight or nine
feet high, and rauch stronger than had been repre
sented, General Abercrorabie, after a contest of near
four hours, ordered a retreat, and the next day re
suraed his former camp on the south side of Lake
George. In this brave but ill-judged assault, nearly
two thousand of the assailants were killed and
wounded, while the loss of the enemy, who were
covered during the whole action, was inconsiderable.
General Abercrombie iraraediately recrossed Lake
George, and entirely abandoned the project of cap
turing Ticonderoga.
In the raonth of August, five hundred men were
eraployed, under the orders of Majors Bogers and
Putnam, to watch the motions of the enemy near
Ticonderoga. At South Bay they separated the party
into two equal divisions, and Eogers took a position
on Wood creek, twelve miles distant from Putnam.
Upon being, some time afterward, discovered, they
formed a reunion, and concerted measures for return
ing to Fort Edward. Their march through the woods
was in three divisions, by files : the right commanded
by Eogers, the left by Putnam, and the ceiiter by

CAPTUEE OF PUTNAM. 95
Captain D'Ell. At the moment of moving, the
famous French partisan, Molang, who had been sent
with five hundred men to intercept their party, was
not more than one mile and a half distant from them.
Major Putnam, was just emerging from the thicket,
into the comraon forest, when the eneray rose, and,
with discordant yells and whoops, commenced an
attack upon the right of his division. Surprised,
but undisraayed, Putnam halted, returned the fire,
and passed the word for the oth^r divisions to ad
vance to his support. D'Ell came. The action^
though widely scattered, aud principally fought be
tween man and man, soon grew general, and intensely
warm. Major Putnam, perceiving it would be impracticable
to cross the creek in his rear, determined to maintain
his ground. Inspired by his example, the officers and
men behaved with great bravery; sometimes they
fought collectively in open view, and sometimes in
dividually under cover : taking aim from behind the
bodies of trees, and acting in a manner independent
of each other. For himself, having . discharged his
fusee several times, at length it missed fire, while
the muzzle was pressed against the breast of a large
and well-proportioned savage. This warrior, availing
himself of the indefensible attitude of his adversary,
with a tremendous war-whoop, sprang forward with
his lifted hatchet, and corapelled him to surrender;
and, having disarmed and bound him fast to a tree,
returned to the battle.
The intrepid Captains, D'Ell and Harman, who
now commanded, were forced to give ground, for a

[)L> ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-^fOUNTAIN HEEOES.
little distance ; the savages, conceiving this to be tho
certain harbinger of victory, rushed impetuously on,
with dreadful and redoubled cries. But the two
partisans, collecting a handful of brave men, gave
the pursuers so -warm a reception, as to oblige them,
in turn, to retreat a little beyond the spot at,, which
the action had comraenced. Here they raade a stand.
This change of ground placed the tree to which
Putnara was tied, directly between the hottest fire of
the two parties. Human iraagination can hardly
figure to itself a more deplorable situation. The balls
flew incessantly from either side ; raany struck the tree,
while sorae passed through the sleeves and skirts of
his coat. In this state of jeopardy, unable to move
his body, to stir his limbs, or even to incline his
head, he remained more than an hour — so equally
balanced, and so obstinate was the flght! At one
moment, while the battle swerved in favor of the
eneray, a young savage chose an odd way of dis
playing his humor. He found Putnam bound — he
might have dispatched him at a single blow — but he
loved better to excite the terrors of the prisoner, hy
hurling a tomahawk -at his head; or rather, it would
seem, his object was to see how near he could throw
it without touching him. The weapon stuck in the
tree a number of times, at a hair's breadth distance
from the mark. When the Indian had flnished his
amusement, a French officer, perceiving Putnam, came
up to hind, and, leveling a fusee within a foot of his
breast, attempted to discharge it — it missed fire. In
effectually did the intended victira solicit the treat
ment due to his situation, by repeating that he was

PUTNAM IN OAPTIVITT. 97
a prisoner of war. The degenerate Frenchman, dead
to sensibility, violently and repeatedly pushed the
muzzle of the gun against Putnam's ribs, and finally
gave hira a cruel blow on his jaw with, the butt-end
of his piece. After this dastardly deed he left hira.
At length, the active intrepidity of D'Ell and Har
man, seconded by the persevering valor of their fol
lowers, prevailed. They drove from the field the
enemy, who left about ninety dead behind them. As
they were retiring, Putnam was untied by the Indian
who had raade hira prisoner, and whom he afterward
called master. Having been conducted for some dis
tance from the place of action, he was stripped of
his coat, vest, stockings, and shoes ; loaded with as
many packs of the wounded as could be piled upon
him ; strongly pinioned, and his wrists tied as closely
together as they could be pulled with a cord. After
he had marched through no pleasant paths, in this
painful manner, for many a tedious mile, the party
(who were excessively fatigued) halted to breathe.
His hands were now immoderately swelled frora the
tightness of the ligature, and the pain had become
intolerable. His feet were so much scratched that
the blood dropped fast from them. Exhausted with
bearing a burden above his strength, and frantic
with torments exquisite beyond endurance, he en
treated the Irish interpreter to implore, as the last
and only grace he desired of the savages, that they
would knock him on the head at once, or loose his
hands. A French officer, instantly interposing, or
dered his hands to be unbound, and some of the
packs to be taken off. By this time, the Indian who

98 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
captured him, and who had been absent with the
wounded, coming up, gave him a pair of moccasins,
and expressed great indignation at the unworthy treat- ¦
ment his prisoner had suffered.
That savage chief again returned to the care of
the wounded, and the Indians, about two hundred
in nuraber, went before the rest of the party to the
place where the whole were that night to encamp.
They took with them Major Putnara, on whom, be
sides innumerable other outrages, they had the bar
barity to inflict a deep wound with a tomahawk in
the left cheek. His sufferings were, in this place, to
be consummated. A scene of horror, infinitely greater
than had ever met his eyes before, was now preparing.
It was determined to roast him alive. For this pur
pose they led him into a dark forest, stripped him
naked, bound him to a tree, and piled dry brush,
with other fuel, at a small distance in a circle around
him. They accompanied their labors, as if for his
funeral dirge, with screams and sounds inimitable
but by savage voices. They then set the piles on
fire. A sudden shower damped the rising flame.
Still they strove to kindle it, until, at last, the blaze
ran flercely round the circle. Major Putnam soon
began to feel the scorching heat.
His hands were so tied that he could move his
body. He often shifted sides as the fire approached.
This sight, at the very idea of which all but savages
must shudder, afforded the highest diversion to his
inhuman tormentors, who demonstrated the delirium
of their joy by corresponding yells, dances, and ges
ticulations. He doubted not that his final hour was

PUTNAM IN CAPTIVITY. 99
idevitably corae. He summoned all his resolution,
and- coraposed his mind as far as circumstances could
admit, to bid an eternal farewell to all he held most
dear. To quit the world would scarcely have cost
him a single pang, but for the idea of home, but for
the remerabrance of domestic endearments, of the
affectionate partner of his soul, and of their beloved
offspring. His thoughts were ultimately fixed on a
happier state of existence, beyond the tortures he
was beginning to endure. The bitterness of death,
even of that death which is accorapanied with the
keenest agonies, was in a manner past — nature, with
a feeble struggle, was quitting its last hold on sub
lunary things, when a French officer rushed through
the crowd, opened a way by scattering the burning
brands, and unbound the victira. It was Molang
himself, to whom a savage, unwilling to see another
human sacrifice immolated, had run and communi
cated the tidings. That commandant spurned and
severely reprimanded the barbarians whose nocturnal
powwows and hellish orgies he suddenly ended. Put
nam did not want for feeling or gratitude. The
French commander, fearing to trust him alone with
them, remained until he could deliver hira in safety
into the hands of his master.
The next day he was allowed his blanket and moc-
casinSj and permitted to march without carrying any
pack, or receiving any insult. To allay his extreme
hunger, a little bear's meat was given him, which
he sucked through his teeth. At night the party
arrived at Ticonderoga, and the prisoner was placed
under the care of a French guard. The savages, who

100 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
had been prevented from glutting their diabolical
thirst for blood, took another opportunity of manifest-
. ing their malevolence for tbe disappointraent, by hor
rid grimaces and angry gestures ; but they were no
more suffered to offer violence or personal indignity
to him. Colonel Peter Schuyler was then a prisoner
among the French. No sooner had he heard of Major
Putnam's arrival, than he went and found him, in a
comfortless condition, without coat, waistcoat or hose ;
the remnant of his clothing miserably dirty and rag
ged ; his beard long and squalid ; his legs torn by
thorns and briers ; and his face gashed with wounds
and swollen with bruises. Through Colonel Schuyler's
intervention, Putnam was treated according to his
rank, and clothed in a decent manner. The follow
ing year an opportunity was afforded for an exchange
of prisoners, and Putnam was released.*
* On his return from Canada, Putnam was accompanied by Mis.
Howe, known as the " fair captive," who bad been taken at Bridgman's
Fort in 1756. Her history was very affecting. Hor first husband was
William Phipps, an account of whose death, after having slain two
of his Indian captoi-s, near Fort Dummer, has already been related. Her
second husband was Mr. Howe, who was also slain at the time of her
captivity. On the march to Canada, she had endured extreme suffering,
the poignancy of which was increased by the cruel ti-eatment which her
children received from the Indians. She was taken to Crown Point, and
from thence, by the way of Montreal, to the village of St Francis'
her master having failed to sell her. "Our provisions," she says, in he?
deeply afiecting naixative, "were so scanty, as well as insipid and un
savory, the weather was so cold, and the traveling so very bad, that it
almost seemed as if I must have perished on the way. The lips of my
poor child were sometimes so benumbed, that, when I put it to my breast,
it could not, till it grew warm, imbibe the nourishment requisite for its
support While we were at Montreal, we went into the house of a certain
French gentleman, whose lady, on being sent for, and coming into the

THE FAIE CAPTIVE. 101
The campaign of 1758 had been highly honorable
to the British arms, and the result of it was very
important. Of the three expeditions, two had com
pletely succeeded, and the leader of the third had
room where I was, to examine me, seeing I had an infant, exclaimed
suddenly in this manner : ' D  it, I will not buy a woman that has a
cbUd to look after.' There was a swill-pail standing near me, in which
I obseiTed several crusts and crumbs of bread swiraraing on the surface
of the greasy liquor it contained. Sorely pinched with hunger, I skim
med thera of with my hands and ate them ; and this was all the refi-esh-
meut which tbe house afforded me." Mrs. Howe's children, being
claimed by different Indians, were separated from their mother and from
each other. Even her babe was snatched from her. " This," she says,
in her narrative, " was a severe trial. The babe clung to my bosom with
all its might; but I was obhged to pluck it thence, and deliver it,
shrieking and screaming enough to peneb-ate a heart of stone, into the
hands of those unfeeling wretches, whose tender mercies may be termed
cruel" It was taken to Missisco, where, .some weeks after, Mrs. Howe
was permitted to visit it "I had preserved my milk," she says, "in
hopes of seeing my beloved child again. And here I found it, it is true,
but in a condition that afforded me no great satisfaction — it being
greatly emaciated and almost starved. I took it in my arras, and put
its face to raine, and it instantiy bit me with such violence, that it seemed
as if I must have parted with a piece of my cheek. I was permitted to
lodge with it that and the two following nights ; but every morning that
inteiTened, the Indians, T suppose on purpose to torment me, sent me
away to another wigwam, which stood at a littie distance, though not
so far from the one in which my distressed infant was confined, but that
I could plainly hear its incessant cries, and heart-rending lamentations."
During her rambles with the Indians, she was frequently on the point of
perishing with hunger, and as often subjected to hardships seemingly
intolerable. On one occasion she was infoi-med by a friendly Indian,
that one of ber children was in a wigwam seven miles distant, and she
deterrained to visit him. " While I was busy in contemplating this af
fair," she says, "the Indians obtained a little bread, of which they gave
rae a small share. I did not taste a morsel of it myself, but saved it all
for my poor child, if I should be so lucky as to find him. At length,
having obtained leave of my keepers to be absent for one day, I set ofl

102 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOHNTAIN HEEOES.
made an iraportant conquest. To the comraanding
talents of Pitt, and the confidence which they in
spired, this change of fortune must be chiefly attrib
uted; and in no resp§cts were these talents more
strikingly displayed than in the choice of men to
execute his plans. The advantages of this campaign
early in the morning, and beheld, as I drew nigh, my httle son without
the camp. He seemed to be nearly starved. I took him iu my ai-ms,
and he spoke- to me these words in the Indian tongue : 'Mother, are you
come ? ' I took him into the wigwam with me, and observing a number
of Indian children in it, I distributed aU the bread which I had reserved
for my own child, among them all ; othei-wise I should have given great
offense. My little boy appeared to be very fond of his new mother, kept
as near me as possible while I stayed, and when I told him I must go, he
fell as though he had been knocked down with a club." Two of Mra.
Howe's daughters were of man-iageable age, and to add to the number
of her miseries, the Indians selected a couple of their young men to
many them. The fright and disgust which the intelligence of this in
tention occasioned to these poor young creatures, added infinitely to the .
soiTOws and perplexities of their frantic mother. But she found an op
portunity of conveying to the governor a petition tiat her daughtera
might be received into a convent, for the sake of securing the salvation
of their souls. Happily, this.expedient succeeded. After Mi-s. Howe had
been a year with the Indians, she was pm-chased by an old Frenchman,
in whose family new trials awaited her. She was still beautiful, and
both her master and his son, who held a commission in the French army,
became passionately fond of her, and she was greatly embarrassed by their
importunities, from which she saw no way of escape. Finally, she found
an opportunity of telhng the stoiy of her woes to Colonel Peter Schuy
ler, who was then a prisoner at Montreal. He immediately endeavored
to procure her hberty ; but the Frenchman who had purchased her from
the savages, unwilling to part with so fair a purchase, demanded an im
mense ransom. Colonel Schuyler, however, obtained from the governor
an order that she should be given up for the price that had been paid for
her ; nor did his active goodness rest, until he had restored every one of
her five sons to her. One of her daughtera subsequently raarried a French
oiEcer, and the other returned home. Such is a brief narrative of the
Bufferings of one of the early Vermont matrons.

CAMPAIGN OF 1769. 103
had, however, been purchased by an expensive effort,
and corresponding exhaustion of provincial strength ;
and when, by his persuasion, the colonies resolved
upon making the most vigorous preparation for the
next, they soon discovered that their resources were
by no means comraensurate with their zeal.
Notwithstanding these difficulties, it was resolved
to signalize the year 1759 by the complete conquest
of Canada. The plan of the campaign was, that three
powerful armies should enter the French possessions
by three different routes, and attack all their strong
holds at nearly the same time. At the head of one
division. Brigadier-general Wolfe, a young officer who
had signalized himself at the siege of Louisbourg, was
to ascend the St. Lawrence, and to proceed against
Quebec, escorted by a strong fleet to cooperate with
his troops. The central and main army, composed
of British and provincials, was to be conducted
against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, by General
Amherst, the new coraraander-in-chief, -who, after raak
ing hiraself raaster of these places, was to proceed
on Lake Champlain, and by the way of the Eichelieu
river to the St. Lawrence, and, descending that river,
form a junction with Wolfe before Quebec. The third
army, to be composed principally of colonial troops,
reinforced by a strong body of friendly Indians, was
to be commanded by General Prideaux, who was to
lead this division first against Niagara, and, after
the reduction of that place, to embark on Lake On
tario, and proceed down the St. Lawrence against
Montreal. The second of these expeditions properly
belongs to the scope of this narrative ; while the others

104 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
can only be described sufficiently to show their in
fluence upon the military operations carried on by
way of Lake Champlain.
Early in the year 1769, General Amherst commenced
preparations for his part of the enterprise. But so
many difficulties occurred to retard the operations of
his army in that unsettled part of the country, that
the summer was already far advanced, before he could
pass Lake George with his troops and artillery. Aware
of the danger of surprise, and not unmindful of the
disaster that the British troops had sustained the year
before, this able and judicious officer proceeded with
the greatest circumspection : leaving nothing to chance,
but making provision for every difficulty or opposition
that could be foreseen. At length, in the latter end of
July, he arrived in the vicinity of Ticonderoga, with
his array of regulars and provincials in excellent order,
and amply supplied with artillery^, military stores, and
provisions. The enemy had watched all his motions,
in the hope of finding an opportunity to gain some
advantage ; but they ventured to make no opposition
to his troops, either when crossing the lake, or effecting
their landing. Having passed the lake and landed his
stores, Amherst immediately began to make prepara
tions to reduce the fortress by a regular siege. At first
the eneray appeared deterrained to make a stubborn
defense. They soon found that they had an able
officer to oppose ; that Amherst was cautious, resolute,
well prepared for undertaking the siege, and not dis
posed to subject anything to unnecessary risk or hazard.
Despairing of making a successful defense, and having
orders to retreat from place to place toward the center

TTCONDEEOGA ABANDONED BY THE FEENCH. 105
of operations at Quebec, rather than to run the risk of
diminishing the French force by surrendering prisonera
of war, they set about dismantling the fortifications ;
and, having done some small injuries to the works,
abandoned them and retired to Crown Point ; leaving
their heavy artillery, several sunken boats, and ^he
works but little daraaged, though on fire.
Having succeeded in his atterapts against Ticonde
roga, Araherst began to repair and enlarge the fortifi
cations ; and to prepare his bateaux and other vessels
for an expedition against Crown Point. Scouting and
ranging parties were constantly eraployed, hovering in
the neighborhood of that place, and watching all the
motions of the enemy. One of these parties brought
intelligence that the French had also abandoned Crown
Point and were gone down the lake without destroying
the works. Amherst detached a body of rangers to
take possession of the place ; and on the 4th of August
embarked with his army; landed the same day, and
placed his troops within the eneray's- works. Thus was
effected the reduction of Ticonderoga and Crown Point.
No sooner was their conquest corapleted, than Araherst
undertook the erection of new works, strengthened and
enlarged the old ones, and began another fort : deter
mined that the eneray should never again obtain pos
session of a post which had been so dangerous and
distressing to the British provinces. The French troops
retired to the Isle Aux Noix at the north end of Lake
Charaplain. Crown Boint had been in the possession of the
French for thirty years, and from the time, of its erec
tion had afforded facilities for predatory excursions into
5*

106 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
the English colonies ; and many were the prisoners who
had there suftered all the barbarities that savage inge
nuity could devise. Its conquest insured safety to the
frontiers of New England from incursions by way of
Lake Champlain ; but another channel, through which
the settlements on the Connecticut had been harassed,
remained still open. This was the Indian village of St.
Francis, situated at the mouth of the river of that
name. This place the Indians had enriched with the
pillage of the New-England settlements, and they had
garnished it with the scalps of raany hundreds of their
victiras. Passing up the St. Francis river to Lake
Memphremagog, and from thence to the Connecticut,
these Indians had been enabled to make sudden and
successful incursions into the colonies of New Hamp
shire and Massachusetts, and to return to their homes
in safety. Amherst resolved to attempt the destruc
tion of this village. Major Eogers, of the New-Hamp
shire rangers, was selected for this arduous duty. Two
hundred of the most hardy and resolute men in the
army were placed under his command. The massacre
at Fort William Henry, and the numberless other
atrocities which their kindred and friends had suffered
from these Indians, were fresh in the minds of all ; and
they exulted in the expectation that the time for retri
bution had now corae. The orders which they received
frora Amherst were little calculated to restrain their
ferocity. "Eeraeraber," said he, "the barbarities that
have been coraraitted by the eneray's Indian scoundrels
on every occasion, where they had an opportunity of
showing their infaraous cruelties on the king's subjects,
which they have done without mercy. Take your

DESTEUCTION OF AN INDIAN VILLAGE. 107
evenge, but forget not that though these villains have
dastardly and promiscuously murdered the woraen and
children of all ages, it is my orders that no woraeij or
children are killed or hurt." The only practical route
to the Indian village was by way of Missisco bay, near
where the French were encamped. The utmost circum
spection being necessary to avoid a discovery of the
enemy, Eogers was seven days in reaching the bay.
Concealing his boats he pushed forward through the
woods, to the village of St. Francis. On the 2d of
October, after having forded many streams and passed
through raany swamps, with incredible labor, Eogers
reached the St. Francis river, and succeeded in fording
it, although it was five feet in depth with a strong cur
rent. October 4th, in the evening, they came in sight
of the Indian village. Disguised as Indians, Eogers,
with two other officers, went forward to reconnoitre
the place. They discovered that the Indians were
wholly unsuspicious of danger, engaged in a dancing
frolic. Their revelry was continued till four o'clock in
the morning, when they retired to their huts, and all
became still. The troops, relieved of their packs, had
refreshed themselves, and were now led up ; and, half
an hour before sunrise, in three divisons, made a sim
ultaneous attack on three sides of the village. So
completely were the savages surprised and confounded,
that they made but little resistance, and an indiscrimi
nate massacre in true Indian style now took place. Tho
cabins were forcibly entered, and their inmates knocked
down, or shot dead in their attempts to fly, few escaping.
In the obscure light, and confusion of the onset, it was
impossible to distinguish age or sex. As the sun arose.

108 ETHAN ALLEN AND onE;:^--MO[:NT.UN HEEOES.
it revealed to their view a scene so horrid that the men
might have relented, but for the sight of the scalps of
their murdered countrymen, six or seven hundred of
which, suspended on poles, were waving in the air in
all parts of the village. This steeled their hearts to
all emotions of compassion, and they continued to
dispatch all alike ; and about seven o'clock the work
was terminated by a general conflagration of the vii-.
lage. Of its three hundred inhabitants, two hundred
were slain. Twenty women and children were taken
prisoners, but most of tbem were soon after liberated.
Five English cajDtives were found in the place, and were
set free. Two hundred guineas in coin were found,
and a silver image weighing ten pounds, together
with a large quantity of clothing and some provisions.
Collecting the provisions, and such articles as they
could easily transport, they set flre to the town, and
reduced it to ashes. At seven o'clock in the morning,
the affair was completely over ; Eogers then assembled
his men, and found that one was killed, and' six slightly
wounded. Having refreshed his men for one hour,
the major made no further delay, but set out on his
return. To avoid his pursuers, Eogers now took a
different route, and marched up St. Francis river :
meaning to have his men collect, and rendezvous at
Coos on the Connecticut. On their march, they were
harassed by some of the eneray, and several times at
tacked in the rear. In these encounters they lost seven
of their men. At length, Eogers, favored by the dusk
of evening, formed an ambuscade, and fell upon the
enemy where they least expected it; by this stroke,
he put an end to any further annoyance from them.

GENEEAL WOLFE. 109
For about ten days the detachment kept together till
they had passed the eastern side of Lake Memphre
magog. It was then thought best to scatter into
smaller parties, and make the best of their way to
some of the English settlements. Their sufferings
now began to be severe, not only from the excessive
fatigues they had undergone, but from hunger. Their
provisions were expended, and they were yet at a dis
tance from any place of relief. Sorae were lost in the
woods, and others perished at Coos, being unable to
hold out any further. But Eogers, with most of his
men, persevered amidst all their sufferings, till they
arrived at Number Foui'. This enterprise had been
dangerous and fatiguing to the men who had been
engaged in, it; but it made a deep impression on the
enemy. It carried alarm and consternation into the
heart of Canada, and convinced the Indians that the
hand of vengeance was now come upon them.
During the operations of Amherst at Lake Champlain,
General Wolfe prosecuted his daring and important ex
pedition against the capital of Canada. Strong natu
rally, and still stronger by art, Quebec had obtained
the appellation of Gibraltar of America ; and every
attempt against it had failed. It was now commanded
by Montcalm, an officer of distinguished reputation ;
and its capture must have appeared chimerical to any
one but Bitt. He judged rightly, however, that the
boldest and most dangerous enterprises are often the
most successful, especially when committed to ardent
minds, glowing with enthusiasm and emulous of glory.
Such a mind he had found in Wolfe, whose conduct
had attracted his attention. In June, 1759, Wolfe

110 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
landed with eight thousand troops a few miles below
Quebec. Frora this position, he could take a near
and distinct view of the obstacles to be overcome.
These were so great, that even the bold and sanguine
Wolfe perceived more to fear than to hope. But he
resolved to do his best. He declared he would rather
die than to fail in th6 enterprise. Yarious attempts
were made against the French, but besides his superior
position, Montcalm's forces were much more numerous
than those of Wolfe, and the latter was several times
repulsed with the loss of many men. Nothing, how
ever, could shake the resolution of this valiant com
mander, or induce him to abandon his purpose.
Baffled and harassed in all his previous assaults.
General Wolfe seems to have determined to flnish the
enterprise by a single bold and desperate effort. This
was to surmount the heights of Abraham, which over
looked Quebec, and were then deemed inaccessible.
To mislead the French, the English fleet sailed several
miles up the river, making occasional deraonstrations
of a design to land troops ; while on the night of Sep
tember 12th, a strong detachment of flat-bottomed boats
was dispatched down the St. Lawrence, to a point a
mile above the city. The army landed about an hour
before daybreak, clambered up a precipitous steep,
three hundred feet high, and by sunrise, five thousand
troops were marshaled on the heights of Abraham — a
position which commanded the city. Montcalm would
not at first believe the intelligence of this movement ;
but, as soon as he was aware of its truth, he made all
prudent haste to decide a battle which it was no longer
possible to avoid. About nine in the morning, the

DEATH OF GENEEAL WOLFE. Ill
main body of the French advanced briskly to the
charge, and the action soon became general. Mont
calm having taken post on the left of the French army,
and Wolfe on the right of the English, the two generals
met each other where. the battle was most severe. The
English troops reserved their fire until the French had
advanced within forty yards of their line, and then,
by a general discharge, made terrible havoc among
their ranks. The fire of the English was vigorously
maintained, and the eneray everywhere yielded to it.
General Wolfe, who, exposed in the front of his battal
ions, had been wounded in the wrist, betraying no
symptoms of pain, wrapped a handkerchief round his
arm, and continued to encourage his men. Soon after,
he received a shot in the groin ; but, concealing the
wound, he was pressing on at the head of his grena
diers with fixed bayonets, when a third ball pierced
his breast.* The army, not disconcerted by his fall,
• On receiving his mortal wound, Wolfe was conveyed into the rear,
where, careless about himself, he evinced, in the agonies of death, the
most anxious solicitude concerning the fate of the day. "Support
me," he said to an ofiicer near him; "let not my brave soldiers
see me drop. The day is oui-s— keep it" Frora extrerae faintness,
he had reclined his head on the arm of an oflficer, but was soon aroused
by the cry of " They fly, they fly ! " " Who fly ? " exclaimed the dying
hero. " The French," answered his attendant; "they give way every
where." " What ! " feebly exclairaed Wolfe, " do they run already 2 Go
to Colonel Preston and tell hira to march Webb's regiment immediately
to the bridge over the St Charles so as to cut off the fugitives' retreat.
K ow, God be praised, I die happy." These were his last words, and in
the midst of son-owing companions, just at the moment of victory, he
expired. A death more full of mihtary glory bas seldora been recorded
by the pen of the historian, or celebrated by the pencil of the painter.
General Wolfe was only thirty-three years of age. He possessed those
mihtary talents, which, with the advantage of years and opportunity of

112 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOtTNTAIN HEEOES.
continued the action under Monckton, on whora the
coraraand now devolved, but who, receiving a ball
through his body, soon yielded the command to Gen
eral Townshend. Montcalm, fighting in front of his
battalions, received a mortal wound about the same
time ; and General Senezergas, the second in command,
also fell. The British grenadiers pressed on with their
bayonets. The center of the French army was broken.
The Scottish highlanders, drawing their broadswords,
corapleted the confusion of the eneray. An attempt
was made by them to rally, but after a brief and fierce
confiict, they retired, leaving the British undisputed
masters of the field. The loss of the French was much
greater than that of the English. Although Quebec
was strongly defended by its fortifications. General
Townshend had scarcely prepared to get his heavy
artillery upon the heights for a siege, when the inhab
itants capitulated on condition that, during the war,
they might enjoy their civil and religious rights. A
garrison of five thousand English troops was placed
in the city, and the fleet sailed out of the St. Lawrence.
The fall of Quebec did not produce the immediate
submission of Canada. The main body of the French
action to moderate his ardor, expand his faculties, and give to his intui
tive perception and scientific knowledge the con-ectness of judgment
perfected by experience, would have placed him on a level with the
most celebrated generals of any age or nation. Montcalm was every
way worthy to be a competitor of Wolfe. He had the truest military
genius of any officer whom the French had ever employed in America.
After he had received his raortal wound, he was carried into the city ;
and when informed tiiat it was mortal, his reply was, " I ara glad of it"
On being told that be could survive but a few hours, " So much the bet
ter," he replied, " I shall not then live to see the surrender of Quebec."

EXPEDITION AGAINST MONTEEAL. 113
army retired to Montreal. There they remained dur
ing the winter, making extensive preparations for the
recovery of Quebec. In the month of April, 1760,
the French army sailed down the St. Lawrence, and
effected a landing near Quebec. General Murray, to
whom the care of maintaining the English conquest
had been intrusted, had taken every precaution to
preserve it ; but his troops had suffered so much from
the extreme severity of' the winter, that instead of
five thousand, the original number _ of the garrison,
there were scarcely three thousand fit for service.
But with this small army he resolved to meet the
enemy in the field, and marched out to the heights
of Abraham, to defend that important location against
the French ; but after- a fierce encounter, Murray
was obliged to retreat into the city. But before tho
French could prepare their batteries, and bring their
guns to bear upon the fortifications, a British fleet
most opportunely arrived, and the French precipi
tately retreated to Montreal. There the Marquis de
Yaudreuil, governor of Canada, had^ fixed his head
quarters, and determined to make his last stand.
For this purpose he called around him the whole
force of his colony.
While Yaudreuil was thus preparing for resistance.
General Amherst was concerting and executing meas
ures to bring all the British armies in America, to
act in concert against Montreal. He had sent in
structions to General Murray, at Quebec, directing
him, as soon as the season would perrait, to advance
up the river St. Lawrence by water, toward Montreal,
with aU the troops that could be spared from the

114 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
garrison of Quebec. ' He appointed Colonel Haviland
to command a body of troops, which were to pro
ceed frora Crown Point, through Lake Champlain,
to take possession of. the ' Isle Aux Noix ; and from
thence they were to advance by the shortest practi
cable route, to the banks of the river St. Lawrence.
For himself, he proposed to go with the main body
of his array by the way of the Mohawk to Lake
Ontario; to erabark his troops at Oswego, sail over
the lake, and down the river St. Lawrence, to the
Island of Montreal. By this plan, he proposed to
bring all his troops against that place, and to inclose
and surround the eneray on that island. Almost on
the same day, the armies from Quebec, from Lake
Ontario, and from Lake Champlain, were concen-
" trated before Montreal, and Yaudreuil was speedily
compelled (September 8, 1760) to capitulate. In 1763,
peace was ratified between England and France, by
which all the possessions of the French in Canada
were ceded to the English.
Thus terminated a war, which originated in an at
tempt on the part of the French to surround the
English colonists, and chain them to a narrow strip
of country along the coast of the Atlantic ; and ended
with their giving up the whole of what was then
their only valuable territory in North America. The
immediate advantage the colonies derived from the
successful issue of the contest was great and appa
rent. Although, for a short period after the conquest
of Canada had been eft'ected, they were subject to
attacks from the Indian tribes attached to the French,
they were soon enabled to visit their cruelties with

CLOSE OF THE FEENCH WAE. 115
severe retribution, and to procure a lasting repose,
as the Indians had no forts to which to repair for
protection or aid. But the indirect results, though
almost unperceived at first, were Jar more iraportant,
and prepared the way for those momentous efforts
which resulted in the loss to Great Britain of the
fairest portions of her colonies, and the establish
ment of her vassal as a rival. The colonies became
inured to the habits and hardships bf a railitary life,
and skilled in the arts of European warfare ; while
the desire of revenge for the loss of Canada, which
France did not fail to harbor, was preparing for thera
a raost efficient friend, and making way for the anom
alous exhibition of a despotic sovereign exerting all
his power in the cause of liberty and independence.

CHAPTEE II.
THE KEW-HAMPSHIRE GRANTS
"Look now abroad — another race has filled
These populous borders — wide the wood recedej
And towns shoot up, and fertile plains are tilled ;
The land is fuU of harvests and green meads ;
Strearas, numberless, that many a fountain feeds.
Shine diserabowered, and give to sun and breeze
Their virgin waters ; the full region leads
- New colonies forth, that toward the western seat
Spread, hke a rapid flame among the autumnal lea-.-^s," Beyakt.
Up to the close of the French war in 1760, the
territory now composing the state of Yermont, was
an uncultivated wilderness. The only considerable
settleraent within its liraits was at Fort Dummer,
now Brattleborough. This fort had been built under
the authority of Massachusetts, in 1724, and gave pro
tection to a few families in its immediate vicinity_
The region between Lake Champlain and the Con
necticut river is not known to have been the perma.
nent habitation of the Indian tribes, although it was
often traversed by them in their hunting excursions,
and in their warlike expeditions against each other.
The constant warfare which was maintained between
the Indians on the St. Lawrence, and those on the
Mohawk, as well as the subsequent wars between
the French and English colonies, were carried on
chiefly through Lake Champlain and its vicinity, ren
dering the settlement, by Indians or whites, extremely

RESULTS OF PEACE. 117
hazardous. To prevent the unwelcome incursions of
the Indians attached to the French interests, and to
give protection to the frontier settlements. Fort Dum-
xner was erected ; as was also, about twenty years
afterward. Fort Hoosic or Massachusetts, the site of
which is now pointed out between the villages of
WiUiamstown and North Adams. For a series of
years previous to 1759, the French had held posses
sion of the forts at Ticonderoga ahd Crown Point,
and their vicinity had been the scene of many bloody
and destructive battles between them and their Indian
allies on the one hand, and the English colonists on
the other. In these warlike operations, as well as in
the incursions of the .^savages, rauch of the best blood
of New England had been spilt, and many of its
most valuable inhabitants had been carried into cap
tivity. In their retaliatory expeditions against Can
ada, the English colonists had traversed the greater
portion of Yermont, and had become charmed with its
beauties and fertility. The French also regarded this
region as an attractive portion of their possessions, and
while, in the intervals of peace, the English colonists
were gradually spreading their settlements northward
on the Connecticut, French adventurers as eagerly
sought homes along the borders of Lake Champlain.
The war having terminated in the conquest of
Canada, the frontiers of New York, Massachusetts
and New Hampshire were no longer exposed to the
inroads of the French, or the ravages and depreda
tions of the Indians. The prospect was that the un
settled parts of the country would now afford pleasant
and safe abodes for a large body of farmers, who

118

ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.

might wish to advance their fortunes by establishing
settlements along the frontiers. No portion of the
country appeared more inviting than that situated
between Lake Champlain and the Connecticut, and
it was eagerly explored by adventurers and specula
tors. The soil was, in many places, of uncommon
fertility, favorable to the production of grain, and in
all, to grazing and the raising of cattle. It was plenti
fully watered by numerous streams, and abounded
TOth excellent timber. In such a soil and situation,
it was thought by the hardy pioneers, the labor and
hardships of a few years could scarcely fail to secure
for them valuable farms, with the ease and indepen
dence which are the proper rewards of industry and
frugality. Encouraged by such prospects, many peo
ple began to settle, or to speculate in those lands. As
early as 1696, indeed. Governor Fletcher, of the prov
ince of New York, bestowed a considerable portion
of the nresent state of Yermont upon Godfrey Del
lius, one of his favorites, who was the minister of the
Dutch church in Albany. Dellius was ohe of the ¦
commissioners for Indian affairs, and had previously
obtained from the Mohawk Indians, fraudulently, as
they said, a deed of their title to the same lands.
This singular and very liberal donation, conveyed
to Dellius eight hundred and forty square miles of
territory. The avarice of the minister, and the gen
erosity of the governor, are equally entitled to a smile,
if it is permissible to smile at any transaction between
so venerable a prelate as "our Loving Subject the
Eeverend Godfredius Dellius, Minister of the Gospel
att our city of Albany," and so august a magistrate

THE DELLIUS GEANT. 119
as " his Excellency, the Honorable Benjamin ffletcher,
his Majesty's Governor and Commander in Chief of
the Province of New Yorke and the territories de
pending thereon in America." The conveyance was
made upon the following condition: "He Yielding
Eendering and Paying therefore Yearly and every
Year unto us our Heirs and Successors on the feast
Day of the Annunciation of our blessed Yirgin Mary
at our city of New Yorke the Annuail Eente of one
Eaccoon Skinn in lieu and stead of all other Eents
Services Dues Dutyes and Demands whatsoever for
the said Tract of Land and Islands and Premises."
The Earl of Bellaraonte, who succeeded Fletcher,
justly regarding these and other large grants as cal
culated to impede the settlement of the country, rec
ommended the annulment of these grants or patents
by the legislature. This was accordingly done, and
the assembly, exercising ecclesiastical as well as civil
authority, also passed a resolution, suspending Dellius
from the ministry for "deluding the Maquaas [Mo
hawk] Indians, and illegal and surreptitious obtaining
of said grants." Dellius returned to Holland, and,
regarding his title as still valid, transferred his claim
to the Eev. John Lydius, his successor in the min
istry at Albany, whose descendants long afterward
attempted the enforcement of the claim. From 1731,
until the conquest of Canada in 1760, the French
governors of that province made grants of nearly
all the lands contiguous to Lake Champlain, and
various settleraents were begun ; but they were all
abandoned during the last French war.
In the charters granted by the sovereigns of England

120 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
to the early colonists on the continent, so little was
known ofthe geography of the country, and so trifling
was the value of the grants considered, that their
definition of boundaries was extremely vague, as they
well might be, the crown having no precise notions of
the extent or situation of the territories it was ceding
to its favorites. Accordingly, as the importance of the
colonies increased, and the people became interested
in knowing the exact liraits of their possessions, it was
found that there were, in several instances, conflicting
claims to the same tract of country. Hence arose
many imbittered controversies between the colonies,
sorae of. which were not finally settled until long after
the Eevolution. The territory comprising the state of
New York is an example of the difficulty attendant
upon these questions. By the terras of the charters to
Massachusetts and Connecticut, the possessions of each
were to extend westward to the South sea or Pacific
ocean. Although the Dutch had for several years been
in possession of the Hudson river, it does not seem to
have been fully known that the above g:fants conflicted
with their interests, although they contained the follow
ing condition : " Provided always, that the said lands,
islands, or any of the premises by the said letters patent
intended or meant to be granted, were not then actually
possessed or inhabited by any other Christian power
or State." After the conquest of "New Netherlands,"
as the Dutch possessions were called, Charles II. granted
thera to his brother, the Duke of York. The terms of
this charter, (the controversy respecting which resulted
in the adraission of Yerraont as a separate state ofthe
Union) will interest the reader.

THE CHAETEE OF NEW YOEK. 121
"Chaeles THE Second, by the Grace of God, King
of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of
the Faith, &c. To all to whom these presents shall
come. Greeting : Know ye, that we, for divers good
causes and considerations, have, of our especial grace,
certain knowledge and mere motion, given and granted,
and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors,
do give and grant unto our dearest brother, James,
Duke of York, his heirs and assigns, all that part of
the main land of New England, beginning at a certain
place, called or known by the name of St. Croix, next
adjoining to New Scotland in America; and from
thence extending along the sea coast, unto a certain
place called Petuaguine, or Pemaquid, and so up the
river thereof to the furtherest head of the same, as it
tendeth northwards ; and extending from the river of
Kenebeque, and so upwards, by the shortest course of
the river Canada, northwards : And all that island
or islands, commonly called by the several name or
names of Matowacks or Long Island, situate, and being
towards the west of Cape Cod, and the NaiTOw High-
gansetts, abutting upon the main land, between the
two rivers there, called or known by the several names
cf Connecticut and Hudson's Eiver, together also with
the said river called Hudson's, and all the lands from
the west side of Connecticut river to the east side of
Delaware Say: and also, all those several islands,
called or known by the names of Martin's Yineyard,
and Nantuckes, otherways, Nantucket ; together with
all, &c. Dated the twenty ninth day of June, in the
twenty sixth year of the reign of King Chaeles the
Second." The boundary between New York and Connecticut
was ultiraately fixed at a distance of twenty miles east
of the Hudson, it being found that lands had been
granted by the Connecticut authorities, and settlements
made, thus far westward ; and, for a similar reason, the
same arrangement was made in regard to the boundary
between Massachusetts and New York. The governor
6

122 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES,
of New Hampshire, thinking it probable that the juris-
diction of his government, the charter being somewhat
ambiguous, was designed to extend as far westward as
that of Massachusetts and Connecticut, took prompt
measures, as soon as the importance of the territory
seemed to justify the step, to establish this boundary
During the peace which preceded the last French war.
Benning Wentworth, then governor of New Hampshire;
wrote to Governor George Clinton, of New York, in
regard to the subject. He said, "I have it in command
frora his Majesty, to make grants of the unimproved
lands within ray government, to such ofthe inhabitants
and others as shall apply for grants of the same, as will
oblige themselves to settle and iraprove, agreeable to
his Majesty's instructions. The war, hitherto, has pre
vented me from making so great a progress as I hoped
for on my first appointment ; but as there is a prospect
of a lasting peace with the Indians, in which your
Excellency has had a great share, people are daily
applying for grants of land in all quarters of this
governraent, and particularly some for townships to he
laid out in the western part thereof, which will fall in
the neighborhood of your government. I think it my
duty to apprise you thereof, and to transmit to your
Excellency the description of New Hampshire, as the
king has determined it in the words of my commission,
which, after you have considered, I shall be glad if you
will be pleased to give me your sentiments in what
manner it will aftect the grants raade by you or preced
ing governors ; it being my intention to avoid, as much
as I can, consistent with his Majesty's instructions,
interfering with your government." Governor Clinton

GUJJEENATOEIAL COEEESPONDENCE. 123
placed this letter before the council ; they "humbly ad
vised his Excellency to acquaint Governor Wentworth.
in answer to his said letter, that this province [New
York] is bounded eastward by Connecticut river ; the
letters-patent from King Charles H. to the Duke of
York, expressly granting ' all the lands from the west
side of the Connecticut river to the east side of Del
aware bay.' " This resolution of the council was
transmitted to Governor Wentworth.
Previous to receiving a reply from the governor of
New York, Wentworth granted (January 3d. 1749) to
William Williams and sixty-one other persons, a town
ship, six miles square, which, in allusion to his own
name, was called Bennington. It was situated twenty-
four miles east of the Hudson river, and six miles north
of the Massachusetts line. Wentworth gave informa
tion to Clinton of this grant, and promised to make
no further cessions of land in that vicinity until the
question of jurisdiction should be decided. Both
governors consented to make representations of the
matter to the king, and await his decision. Notwith
standing this, Wentworth, during the ensuing four or
five years, continued to make grants of lands on the
west side of the Connecticut, amounting, in all, to
fourteen townships in 1754. That year hostilities
coramenced between the English and French colonies,
and until the final conquest of Canada, no further
applications were made for lands within the disputed
limits. During the continuance of the war, the New-
England troops cut a road from Number Four, on the
Connecticut, to Crown Point, on Lake Chataplain.
From the sumnlits of the Green Mountains they looked

124 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
admiringly upon the smiling and luxuriant valleys
beneath them, and many a hardy volunteer selected
the place where, at the close of the war, he should
wish to establish a home. Upon the conquest of Can
ada, these persons applied foi grants to the governor
of New Hampshire, within whose jurisdiction the
lands were generally supposed to be. By the advice
of his council, Wentworth directed a survey to be
made of Connecticut river for sixty miles ; and three
lines of townships to be laid out, on each side. The
applications for lands increased, and new surveys
were made. So rapid was the progress, that during
the year 1761, not less than sixty townships, of six
miles square, were granted on the west of Connecticut
river. The whole nuraber of grants, in one or two
years raore, amounted to one hundred and thirty-eight ;
and their extent was frora Connecticut river, to what
was considered twenty miles east of Hudson river, so
far as that extended to the northward ; and after that,
as far west as the eastern shore of Lake Champlain.
The cultivation of the country, and the number of the
settlers, increased with surprising rapidity; and Mr.
Wentworth had an opportunity to accumulate a large
fortune, by the fees and donations which attended the
business, and by a reserve of five hundred acres,
which he raade in every township, for himself.
To check the proceedings of New Harapshire, and
to intiraidate the settlers, Mr. Colden, lieutenant-gov
ernor of New York, issued a proclamation, setting
forth the charter to the Duke of York, asserting its
validity, claiming that the jurisdiction of New York
extended eastward to the Connecticut river, and

COUNTEE-PEOOLAMATIONS. 125
commanding the sheriff of the county of Albany to
make a return of all persons who, under color of
grants from Governor Wentworth, had taken pos
session of any lands west of the Connecticut. To
counteract the influence of this proclamation, Mr.
Wentworth also published one, pronouncing the char
ter to the Duke of York to be obsolete ; asserting that
New Hampshire extended as far westward as Massa
chusetts and Connecticut; and assuring the settlers
upon his grants that they would be confirmed by the
crown, even should the jurisdiction be transferred to
New York. The people were exhorted not to be in
timidated, but to be industrious and diligent in the
cultivation of their lands ; and the civil officers were
required to exercise jurisdiction as far westward as
grants had been made, and to punish all disturbers
of the peace. After such assurances _from a royal
governor, they entertained no suspicion that a c~on-
test between two provinces, respecting the extent of
their jurisdiction, would ever affect the rights of those
who had fairly purchased their lands from a governor
appointed by the king.
Hitherto, the claira of New York to the territory
in question had been founded on the grant to the
Duke of York. But when application was raade to
the crown for a confirmation of the claim, it was
supported by a petition, purporting to be from a large
nuraber of the settlers on the New-Harapshire grants,
representing that it would be for their advantage to
be annexed to the colony of New York, and praying
that the western bank of Connecticut river raio-ht be
established as the eastern boundary of that province.

126 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOHNTALS- HEEOES.
The application from New York was referred to the
board of trade, and upon their recommendation, sec
onded by a report of a comraittee of the privy-council,
an order was made by the king, (July 20, 1764,) de
claring " the western banks of Connecticut river, from
where it enters the province of Massachusetts Bay,
as far north as the forty-fifth degree of latitude, to le
the boundary-line between the two provinces of New
York and New Hampshire."
This decree, like many other judicial determinations,
while it closed one controversy, opened another. The
jurisdiction of the governor of New Hampshire, and
his authority to grant lands,- were circumscribed on
the west by Connecticut river ; but the grantees of
the soil found themselves involved in a dispute with
the government of New York. From the words " to
5e," in the royal declaration, adverse conclusions were
drawn. The government assumed that they referred
to time past, and construed them into a declaration
that "the Connecticut always had formed the eastern
boundary of New York ; consequently, that all the
grants made by Mr. Wentworth were illegal, and that
the lands might be granted again. The grantees un
derstood the words as simply designed to affect the
future, and not to annul the validity of past transac
tions. They regarded it as merely extending the ju
risdiction of New York, from that period, over their
territory. But they had no apprehension that it could
in any way affect the title to their lands. Having
purchased and paid for those lands, under grants
from the crown, they did not understand by what
perversion of justice they could be compelled, by the

EXCITEMEOT AMONG THE PEOPLE. 127
Bsme authority, to repurchase or abandon them. To
the change of jurisdiction they wore willing to sub
mit, although, at first, the governor, of New Hamp
shire remonstrated against it. However, he was at
length induced to abandon the contest, and issued a
proclamation "recoraraending to the proprietors and
settlers due obedience to the authority and laws of
the colony of New Y'ork." In this state of things,
the governraent of New York proceeded to extend
its jurisdiction over the New-Harapshire grants, di
viding the territory into four counties, and establish
ing courts of justice in each." The settlers were called
on to surrender their' charters, and repurchase their
lands under grants frora New York. Most of them
pereraptorily refused to comply with this order. New
grants of their lands were, therefore, made to others ;
in whose names actions of ejectment were comraenced,
and judgments obtained, in the courts at Albany.
The attempts to execute these judgments, by dispos
sessing the settlers, met with a determined and ob
stinate resistance. For the purpose of rendering this
resistance raore effectual, various associations were
forraed ; and at length, a convention of representatives.
from the several towns on the west side of the raoun
tains was called. This convention, after mature de
liberation, appointed Samuel Eobinson, of Bennington,
an agent, to rejpresent to the court of Great Britain
the grievances of the settlers, and obtain, if practi
cable, a confirmation of the New-Hampshire grants.
Mr. Eobinson proceeded to London, and laid the
subject before his Majesty.
By this means he obtained an order from the king.

128 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEBN-MOLTSTAIN HEEOES.
(July 24, 1767,) as follows: "His Majesty, taking tbf
said -report [a report of the board of trade] into con
Bideration, was pleased, with the advice of his private
council, to approve thereof, and doth hereby strictly
charge, require and comraand, that the Governor or
Commander in Chief of his Majesty's Province oi
New York, for the time being, do not, upon pain
of his Majesty's highest displeasure, presume to make
any grant whatsoever, of any part of the lands de
scribed in the said report, until his Majesty's further
pleasure shall be known, concerning the same."
Notwithstanding this explicit prohibition, the gov
ernor of New York continued to raake grants ; and
writs of ejectment continued to be issued, returnable
to the supreme court at Albany. On trial of these
actions, it was decided that duly authenticated copies
of the royal orders to the governor of New Hamp
shire, and of the grants made in pursuance of those
orders, should not be read in evidence. Thus, com
pelled to abandon a legal defense, the settlers were
driven to the last resort. A convention of the people
asserabled at Bennington, and "resolved, to support
their rights and property under the New-Hampshire
grants, against the usurpation ajid unjust claims of
the governor and council of New York, by force, as
law and justice were denied thera."
Conspicuous araong those who were, by their re
sistance to New York, laying the foundation upon
which the independent state of Yermont has been
reared — indeed tbe leader and champion of that reso
lute band of husbandmen who first planted themselves
in the wilderness of the Green Mountains — wap

the ALLEN FAMILY. 129
Ethan Allen. Joseph Allen, the father of Ethan,
was a native of Coventry, Connecticut ; but afterward,
on his marriage to Mary Baker, removed to Litchfield,
where Ethan, was born, January 10, 1737. The father
of Ethan Alien was a sober, industrious farmer, of
good character, and in moderate circumstances. Af
ter the birth of Ethan, his parents removed to Corn
wall, where other children were born, making, in all,
six sons and two daughters : Ethan, Ileman, Lydia,
Heber, Levi, Lucy, Zimri and Ira. All the brothers
grew up to manhood, aud four or five of them emi
grated to the territory west of the Green Mountains,
among the first settlers, and were prominent mem
bers of the social and political compacts into which -
the inhabitants gradually formed themselves. Bold,
active and enterprising, they espoused w'ith zeal and
defelided with energy, the cause of the settlers against
what were deemed the encroaching schemes of their^
neighbors, and, with a keen interest, sustained their
share in all the border contests. Nothing is known
of the early life of Ethan Allen, previous to his re
moval to Bennington, Yerraont. This was about the
year 1772, although, being interested in a considera
ble portion of the New-Hampshire grants, he had
spent much of his time in exploring the lands in the,
vicinity of the Green Mountains, for the purpose of
locating townships, and had taken an active part in
the controversy with New Y^'ork for three or four of
tbe previous years. Next to Ethan, Ira, the youngest,
was the most energetic of the brothers, and entered
into the land speculation with more zeal than the
others. While thus engaged, he kept a journal of hia

130 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
proceedings, and a few extracts from it cannot bs
uninteresting ; for they depict, in a lively manner, the
nature of the transactions in which he was engaged,
and are illustrative of his character. His foresight
in the choice of the location where the beautiful and
flourishing town of Burlington has grown up, will per
haps excite quite as much admiration as the shrewd
ness he displayed in disposing of worthless lands.*
1772. " My next object was to make a map of the town
ship of Mansfield with the allotraents and survey-bills
thereof, agreeable to the bond, &c., I had given the Pro
prietors of said town the preceding suraraer. I soon
completed the map, but turning, my attention to the
field-books that Captain Eemember Baker and I had
kept, a difficulty arose in ray mind, for my object was
to sell out of Mansfield at all events, and if possible, to
get the ninety pounds for the survey, &c. A great pro
portion of the corners of said lots were made on Spruce
or Fir timber, and if I described them as such, it would
show the poorness ofthe town, and raise many questions
I wished to avoid. I raade use of a stratagem that an
swered my purpose. In ray survey-bills I called Spruce
and Fir, Greenwood, a narae not known by the people
of Sharon, (the place where the Proprietors lived.)
They asked what kind of timber Greenwood was. I
told them full, straight trees, that had a gum much
like the gum on Cherry-trees, &c. While the Proprie
tors were busy in inspecting the map, survey-bills, &c.,
I took aside the Brother of one of the principal Pro
prietors, who was an ignorant fellow, and. owned two
rights of land in the town. I tried to buy his rights,
but he dare not sell thera without first consulting his
Brother. By this the Proprietors all got the alarm
that I wished to purchase, and Land in Mansfield was
* The original manuscript of Ira Allen's journal is in the possession
of Heniy Stephens, Esq., of Barnet, Vermont, the distinguished anti
quary of that state. The extracts are given verbatim, and are now, foi
the first time, placed before the public.

THE ALLENS IN NEW TOEK. 133
considered of consequence. I was urged to sell back to
the Proprietors the twenty rights I had bought, which
I did, and obtained the ninety pounds for the survey,
&c., which I considered of more consequence than the
whole town. Having closed this business satisfactory
to myself, I returned to my Brothers, and had a hearty
laugh with the Brothers Heman and Zimry, on inform
ing them respecting the Greenwood, &c.
1772. "Some lands were owned by Edward Burling
and others at the White Plains, twenty-one miles from
New York which we wanted. Col. Ethan Allen, Capt.
Eemember Baker and myself armed with hatchets and
pistols, a good case of pistols each in our pockets, with
each a good hanger set out to purchase the aforesaid
and other lands in the colony of New York. We trav
eled under the character of British officers, going frora
Canada to New York to erabark for London, and made
no sraall parade. My brother Heraan being then in a
merca,itile line, set out for New York, but was seldom
in corapany with us as he was too much known on that
road. We put up at a tavern near Mr. Burling's, hav
ing pi-eviously concerted measures with Heman to ac
quaint Mr. Burling of our intentions and the reason of
our traveling in that manner, the time we should call
on him &c. We proceeded according, bought great
part of Mr. Burling's lands and bought of others, spent
three days there without the suspicion who we were.
The evening before we left there after closing our busi
ness, Heman carae & putting up at the sarae house, as
it was necessary to be together as we should part next
morning, for Heman was to make purchases in New
York (Zimry was also occasionally to purchase Lands)
it was -with much difficulty Heman could get introduced
to our company that evening by the diffidence of the
Landlord, and after questions of the supposed British
Officers, questioning the character of the Connecticut
merchant &c. But Heman got leave by bringing in
his hand a liberal Bowl to be introduced. It was with
difficulty we could all keep our countenances till the
Landlord retired, which was very soon. It was curi
ous to see the astonishment of the Landlord the next

132 ETHAN al:.en and geees-mountaiji hkeoes.
morning, when we called in our bill all together, and
declared who we were, informing a Pedler who was.
present, going direct to New Yuri?, that bounties were
ofi'ered for ue, giving our names &c. We saw the Ped
ler set out at full speed to New York to raise a party
against us, as he supposed we were going to continue
speculating in lands, depending on our own arms for
defence. On his arrival in New York he went to the
Governor and Council, and gave his deposition of our
being purchasing Lands &c. at the White Plains. At
first it was proposed to send a party of light horse
men after us, and preparations were made for that
purpose; but James Duane, Esq. observed that we
were daring fellows and no doubt well mounted, and
had gone directly out of the colony in hopes of being
pursued to laugh at our pursuers, that it was in vain
to pursue Green Mountain Boys "on their guard &c.
Mr. Duane was perfectly right, for within two hours
after the express arrived in New York we were in the
colony of Connecticut, in hopes of being pursued, to
gain a greater opportunity to satarize our adversaries.
1773. "I went and pitched a number of hundred-acre
lots contiguous to Burlington Bay. The land in itself
was great part poor-looking Pine plains. This move
of mine, astonished my friends, who had observed me
to be very enterprising in pitching good lands, and that
much good land reraained untouched in Burlington ;
and I gave no reasons for my conduct, which raised
many questions and disputes ; indeed I did not but in
part explain rajj^self to my worthy friend and partner.
Baker ; for I found he had but little opinion of that
place, but looked for good lands, more than situations ;
observing that good lands would certainly be of conse
quence, but it was hard to determine where places of
consequence would arise in a country so extensive and
new, that after securing the best of the lands by pitches,
we might in consequence of settlements, &c., be [a few
lines illegible in the original manuscript] of situations,
and pitch or purchase any lands we might think of con
sequence. These remarks were of much good sense, but
Baker had not explored the country so rauch as I had

lEA ALLEN S JOUENAL. 133
and I had settled my opinion from which I was deter
mined not to depart, nor give any further reasons. Fre
quent satires passed on me respecting Burlington Pine
Plains. One rainy day Stephen Lawrence, Joshua Stan
ton and others had been fishing at the Falls, the rain
proving too hard came into the fort where Baker kept
spirits &c. for sale &over a bowl of Piftich began severely
to bulragg me for pitching Burlington pitch pine plains
(by knic name I was called Stub) they carried the joke
so far as to call Stub a fool for pitching such lands
that he could not give any good reason for it. Stub as
cheerfully ans-wered to that name as to any other, re
solved to take them a lifile in and give no satisfactory
reasons neither, observed that he was surprised that
they could not see use for such lands considering its
situation &c., that for a double bowl of punch he would
give his reasons. This they agreed to give, but Stub
would have the punch in and take a good drink before
he began to give his reasons. This was done with so
much apparent candor that the corapany coraplied, the
punch was brought in and Stub took the first drink and
passed it round. All attention was then paid for Stub
to give his -reasons for pitching Burlington Pine Plains.
When Stub putting on a serious countenance began.
That the life of raan was by sacred writ estimated at
three score years atid ten, tbat although sorae survived
that period of life, yet many fell short and none could
tell the time of their dissolution, that dry Pine plain
was easy digging and good burying ground, and if as
suggested by some, the spirits ofthe deceased conversed
with each other and viewed the conduct of posterity
it would be convenient passing from Tomb to Tomb
through that light dry earth and to see frora the high
sand bank the multitude carry on comraerce in Bur
lington Bay &c. This serious satire and having first
got a double bowl of punch, induced Stub's neighbors
to say very little more to him about Burlington Pine
Plains for considerable time." *
* The following amusing narrative of Ira Allen's adventure with a
ghost, as told by him in the autobiography from which the above extracts

134 ETHAN ALLEN ANT GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES,
Seth Waenee was second only to Ethan Allen ia
that energetic resistance to the claims of Governor
Tryon, which ultimately led to the independence of
Yermont. He was born in Woodbury, Connecticut,
are taken will doubtless be interesting, as illustrative of the charac
ter of the Aliens : " Mr. and Mrs. Mclntire were from Scotland, and
had two daughters about twenty-four years of age. The old lady aud
her daughters used to amuse me by telUng many frightful stories respect
ing ghosts, apparitions, &c., appearing to people in Scotland, &c., amongst
which was many stories respecting an old woman appearing without a
head. One evening I challenged the old woman without a head, and all
the ghcsts, (fee, to meet me at any tirae and place they chose. This ex
ceedingly alarmed my honest landlady and daughtera, and they all seemed
exceeding anxious for my safety for being so presumptuous as to make
such a challenge, and not doubting but that I should meet with difficulty
the first time belated and in the woods in the evening. The next day 1
found a part of the hogs tbat had been strayed away and become -wild,
with 3,11 the art I had, could not get them so gentle as to come to them till
near dark, at which time I was at least three miles in the wilderness.
There was then a snow on the ground about four inches deep. I made
tbe best of my way to gain a foot-path from Mr. Mclntire's to a beaver
meadow. In the way I passed a thicket of Hemlock, (Sec, under which
it was dark. I cut a staif about three feet long to defend '^y eyes &c
fi-om limbs that might come in ray face. In this way I found the foot
path, in which several loads of hay had been can-ied from the meadow
to the house which bad mixed leaves, snow, (fee, so that I could discover
the foot path for twenty rods before me. At this time for the first time
that night I thought of the old woman without any head at which I had
a hearty laugh to think whether I should turn out if she met me in that
narrow path. I thought no more of the matter till I had walked about
one mile, when to my no small surprise at about eight rods distance, I
discovered the perfect appearance of a woman in the path without any
head ; her shoulders, waist, arras akirabo, her hands on her hips, women's
clothes & feet below were in perfect shape before rae which I viewed
with astonishment.
I reasoned to myself is this appearance fictitious or real. If the God
of Nature authorises such apperalions then there is no flying from them.
What injuiy can they possibly do me ? I had been promised faithfully

BEFH WAPJyEE. 135
in 1743. His father. Dr. Benjamin Warner, removed
to Bennington in 1763, only one year after the first
settlement was made in that town. Although quite
young, Seth at once took a prominent part in tbe vari
ous controversies and straggles which were incident to
the early settlement of a new state. He was distin
guished in his youth, as he was afterward in his man
hood, for the solidity and extent of his understanding.
With no other scholastic advantages than such as a
common school education afiorded, yet those advan
tages were eraployed to the best possible pm-pose ;
and, at his majority, he was possessed of a fund of
knowledge, which was as serviceable as if it had been
obtained in the classic walks of Harvard, or under the
elms of Yale.
Coming to the state of Yermont, as Seth Warner
did, while the soil was yet but poorly tilled, whUe the
not to flinch at any such appearance I wiU see it out : on this determi
nation, kicked the snow away that I might know where I made the dis
covery, and advanced with my cane in my hand for a blow as soon as I
aiTived near enough. With trembling approaches I came within about
thirty yards, before I discovered the cause of such an appearance. The
facts were that a tree had been broken by the wind leaving a stump,
which the woodcocks had pecked the baik off in that shape so long that
the wood had become whitish and the bark of the other part faDen off.
The darkness of the night prevented me from seeing the darker colour,
while the reflection of snow shone the other part of the stumps forming
che size and figure of a woman n-ithout a head. Had it been a little
lighter the whole stump would have been seen, or a little darker and no
part could have been seen. To satisfy myself, I went back to where
I kicked away the snow, and tbe old woman again appeared in per
fect shape. I occasionally passed tbat place frequently after, but not
at a time when such an opportunity could he discovered. Had I been
frightened and ran* away, I might Uke Qtheia have beheved in such
appearances."

136 ETHAN_ ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
forests were uncleared, while no school-house or churct
had been erected, there was, it would seera, but little
to encourage the mind of that Connecticut boy to
become a resident among the Green Mountains. But
the rivers, lakes and ponds were filled with large
quantities of excellent fish. The' forests abounded
with every variety of game, and in the dells and on
the hills could be seen flowers of rare excellence and
beauty. "Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these." Young Warner was a skillful
botanist. He sought, partly from necessity but chiefly
from choice, to render himself familiar with such
plants and roots as were indigenous to Yermont. We
are assured that no man acquired more information
touching the nature and properties, of such natural
productions than he. With such invaluable knowledge,
he was exceedingly useful in new settlements, where he .
could administer relief when medical assistance could
not easily be obtained.
Young Warner was a huntsman, too. The ready
pen of that romance- writer who cordially sympathizes
with every effort to learn the character of the early
settlers of this state, represents him, under the character
of "Colonel Warrington," as a successful lover of the
pleasures of the chase.' Traveling back eighty years,
if we wish to see him as he was, we flnd him an
inhabitant of one of the rude cabins that were thinly
scattered through the wilderness. We observe him
felling the forest, or tilling the soil which had never
been touched by any hand before. There -will be found
around his cabin, unbroken silence, save when the
stroke of his ax awakens the echo, or the howl of the

SETH WAENEE. 137
wolf disturbs the dull ear of midnight. In the midst
of all his labors, as well as his pastime, he is compelled
to be ready with the loaded musket to repel the lurk
ing savage. " You see a man of a very fine and
even majestic appearance. Though tall and muscular
so compactly and finely set are his 'limbs, that his
contour presents nothing to the eye in the least clis-
proportioned or ungainly. His features seem to_cor-
respond in regularity of formation to the rest of his
person, while his countenance is rather of the cool and
deliberate cast, indicative, however, of a mild, benevo
lent disposition, as well as a sound and reflecting in
tellect. Every development, indeed, whether of his
shapely head or manly countenance, goes to show a
strong, well-balanced character, and one capable of
action beyond the scope of ordinary men."*
It is said by contemporaries who have seen him at
the head of his brave " Green-Mountain Eegiment,"
armed and equipped for duty, that no man could
bestride a horse with more grace and dignity than he.
With a broad and intellectual forehead, relieved by
a profusion of nut-brown hair, and with sparkling blue
eyes beaming forth under eye-brows most beautifully
arched, his physiognomy gave unmistakable signs of
an intelligent, courageous and energetic man.
Such was tbe skillful huntsman and the practical
botanist, before the blast of war blew in the ears of the
early settlers of the New-Hampshire grants. Contin
uing to use his quick eye-sight and stead}' arm in
hunting after game in the forests, and indulging his
scientific taste in the dells and dingles where medica.
" See the " Green Mountain Boys," by Daniel P. Thompson, Esq.

138 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
l^lants were most abundant, he became widely known
as one upon whose , usefulness and humanity reliance
could be reposed. And thus was laid the basis of that
reputation which, in after times, rendered him so in
fluential and powerful for good when " the slings and
arrows of outrageous Fortune " were hurtled at those
who, like himself, had pitched their tents among the
green hills of Yermont.
Captain Eememeee Baeee, who was early associated
with Allen iand Warner, was, like the latter, a native
of Woodbury, Connecticut. He was born about the
year 1740. In his youth he was deprived of his father,
who was accidentally shot by a neighbor, while on a
hunting excursion. Young Baker, being thus left an
orphan, was sent to live with, and learn the trade of a
joiner, by whom he was taught to read and write, and
was raade acquainted with figures. In the year 1757,
he enlisted as a soldier in an expedition against Can
ada. He also served in the ensuing carapaign as a
non-coramissioned officer, and gained much applause
for his intrepidity. He was also at the storraing ofthe
French lines when Abercrorabie was defeated before
Ticonderoga, and his bravery in that fatal action, as
well as his discretion on the retreat of the colonial
forces, gave him considerable distinction. He contin
ued a third year in the service, but returned to Con
necticut after the conquest of Canada. In the year
1763, he removed to the New-Hampshire Grants, as
the country which afterward received the hame of
Yermont was then called, where he spent considerable
time in exploring the wild lands, and in hunting the
game with which the Green Mountains then abounded.

BENNINGTON. 139
He finally rem.oved with his faraily to Arlington, where
he built the first mills that were erected north of Ben
nington. This afforded great encouragement to the
settlers, and the population in the vicinity of Arlington
increased with much rapidity.
The charter of Bennington, although dated January
3d, 1749, was not actually issued until March, 1750.
The survey, however, was made in 1749 — and it was
no doubt designed that the actual occupancy of the
territory would, as in the case of Connecticut and
Massachusetts, result in settling whatever controversy
might arise, respecting jurisdiction, in favor of New
Hampshire. The charter of the town had been granted
in sixty -four equal shares, or "rights," as they were
called, of three hundred and sixty acres each. ' The
grantees resided principally, if not -^'holly, at Ports
raouth, New Hampshire. But none of them, it is
believed, ever removed to the town. The first settlers
were purchasers under the original proprietors, and •
were from Massachusetts. Samuel Eobinson, of Hard-
wich, who had been for several years a captain in the
French war, on his return from Lake George to Fort
Massachusetts, while proceeding up Hoosic river, mis
took the Walloomscoik * for that streara, and followed
it up to the tract of country which had been granted
under the name of Bennington. There he discovered
that he had missed his way, and directed his course to
the fort. He was much pleased with the country, and
returned to his family with a determination to begin a
settlement upon it. He accordingly repaired to New
* See Thompson's Gazetteer of Verraont — an invaluable work to all
Vermonters.

140 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
Hampshire, made purchases of a considerable portion
of the "rights," and then sought for persons who would
undertake to occupy the lands. These were readily
found, and the settlement of the town was coramenced
in the spring of 1761. The first emigrants were Har-
woods, Eobinsons and Pratts, and, with their families,
consisted of about twenty persons. They traveled on
horseback, and in that way transported all their house
hold effects, of which, it may be imagined, there was
no considerable variety or quantity. They reached
the town on the 18th of June. Benjamin Harwood,
(who was still living a few years ago,) was the first
person born in the town, (January 12th, 1762.) In the
fall of 1761, inany other families settled in Bennington,
and the place rapidly" grew in iraportance. Among
the first cares of the people, after the erection of suita
ble habitations, was the establishment of a church and
a school. The first meeting of the proprietors, of
which a record has been kept, was held February 12th,
1762. A committee was then appointed "to look out
a place for a meeting-house ; " and soon after a site
was agreed upon, and a church was immediately con
structed, which was paid for, partly by individual con
tributions, and partly by a tax on the proprietors of
the town. Upon the organization of the church, the
" Cambridge platform " was adopted, except such parts
as admitted, according to the New-England fashion of
that day, the aid of the civil raagistrates in enforcing
the support of the ministry, and their coercive power
over the church in other matters. They denominated
themselves "Congregationalists," but being in advance
of the great majority of their brethren of that period

THE PIONEEES OF VEEMONT. 141
in the liberality of their views of religious freedom,
were for sorae time called "Separatists." In the fall of
1763, the Eev. Jedediah Dewey, of Westfield, Massa
chusetts, became pastor of the church, and in addition
to the encouragement he obtained frora voluntary con
tributions, he received frora the proprietors of the town
a donation of three hundred and sixty acres of land,
eligibly situated, which was called "the minister's
right." Mr. Dewey continued to reside with the con
gregation at Bennington until his death, in 177S. In
1763, the proprietors voted a tax for building a school-
house, and sixty dollars were contributed toward sup
porting a school "to be kept in these parts of the
town." The early settlers suffered great inconvenience for
the want of roads, bridges and mills. To overcome
these difficulties, the inhabitants taxed theraselves lib
erally — opened roads in various directions, and con
structed bridges where necessary. For the erection of
each saw and flouring mill, a bounty of forty dollars
was paid by the proprietors. Meantime, araong the
inhabitants of the New-England colonies, a raarket had
been found for the lands granted by Governor Went
worth, and settlers were flocking over the raountains
from various quarters. The easy terms upon which
the townships had been patented, enabled the original
purchasers to dispose of shares and single farms at
very low prices, thus holding out strong allurements to
settlers. Apprehensions as to the vali^lity of their
title, raay also have induced the first proprietors to
prefer a quick sale with small profits, to the uncertain
prospect of larger gains at a future day. By this

142 ETHAN .ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
union of policy and interest, the lands were rapidly
sold, in tracts of various dimensions, to practical farm
ers, who resolved to establish themselves as permanent
residents on the soil. Many settlements were begun,
and when, after enduring almost incalculable hardships
and the severest toil, they began to realize the blessings
for which they had labored so indefatigably, the alarm
ing intelligence reached them, that they must repur
chase their lands from the government of New York,
at exorbitant prices, or be expelled from their homes
and deprived of their possessions. To pay a second
time for their lands at their original value, would have
been regarded as grossly unjust ; *but to be required to
purchase the improvements which they had made in
effort and self-denial, was a demand which they felt
that they could raeet only with armed resistance.
In regard to the jurisdiction of the government of
New York, which had been established by order of
the crown in July, 1764, as here_tofore stated, they were
not disposed to have any serious controversy. They
were, indeed, familiar with the laws and institutions of
New Hampshire, and preferred them to those of New
York. New Hampshire, as well as the other New-
England provinces, recognized the townships as little
republics, in which the people, at annual town-meetings
appointed their own legal officers, and, in conformity
with established laws, made their own municipal regu
lations. In New York, most of these matters were
then either subjects of direct provincial legislation, or
carae under the still more anti-republican superintend
ence of the governor and council, or of the judges of
the courts, who were the creatures of their appointment.

GOVEENOE TETON.

143

The people contemplated with regret' the withdrawal
of power from themselves which eariy education had
made dear to them, and long experience had proved to
be convenient and just. Besides, the division of New
York into large tracts of territory termed manors, of
which individuals denominated landlords or patroons,
were the owners, and all who cultivated the soil were
their tenants, subject to the payraent of quit-rents, alien
ation fees, and other acknowledgments of dependence
and subjugation, accorded ill with their New-England
notions of personal equality and independent o-wmer-
ship ofthe soil. But notwithstanding this strong pref
erence to the government of New Hampshire, the
jurisdiction of New York, had jurisdiction been the
sole aim of Governor Tryon, would have been quietly
acquiesced in.
But the governor of New York had other objects in
view, than that of simply extending the powers of his
government over the- people inhabiting the "New-
Hampshire Grants." Those grants contained a large
quantity of fertile lands, much of which had been
made highly valuable by the improvements of the
settlers ; and the temptation to derive a pecuniary
profit from them was "too strong to be resisted.* He
therefore called on the settlers, by proclaraation, to
surrender their grants and repurchase their lands from
him. A few of the towns near Connecticut river com
plied ; but most of them, including all those west of
the Green Mountains, refused. Upon this refusal,
* The fees to the governor of New Hampshire, for granting a town
ship, were about ohe hundred dollars ; under the government of New
York they usually amounted to between two and three thousand dollare.

144 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
Governor Tryon raade new grants of the town to
others : principally to his friends and dependents,
including sorae belonging to bis council, and also
judges of the courts, raembers of the bar, and of
the colonial assembly. The limitation of these grants
to a favored class who were connected ¦with the gov
ernraent, will account for the pertinacity with which
the New- York clairas were afterward prosecuted by
the rulers of the province, as well as the apathy with
which their successive efforts to eject the original
settlers were seconded by the people at large.
The New- York purchasers caused their lands to be
surveyed preparatory to making sales or leases of
tnem. This proceeding was quite unacceptable to the
actual occupants of the land, and whenever the sur
veyors were discovered, they were roughly driven
from their employment. One of the surveyors, in at
tempting to run a line across the farm of Samuel
Eobinson, of Bennington, was attacked by him with
a hoe and driven off. For this, Eobinson was ap
prehended ; but after being confined for two months
in the jail at Albany, was released, on the payment
of a fine. Others who resisted were indicted, but
the sheriff of Albany county, (which then extended
to the Connecticut river,) was generally unsuccessful
in his attempts to arrest thera. The people were
alarmed by these and other deraonstrations by the
governor of New York, but having a strong reliance
upon the justice of their cause, and being confident
that the crown had been deceived in regard to the
subject, or that a wrong construction had been placed
upon the order of the king, prepared a remonstrancp

. APPEAL TO THE KING. 145
against the proceedings of New York, and in the fali
of 1766, at a convention 6f the several towns on the
west side of the Green Mountains, appointed Samuel
Eobinson as their agent to present the remonstrance,
and to advocate their application for relief, by his
personal solicitations. They could not conceive that
a parental government, in which character they were
disposed to view that of the mother country, could
possibly desire to deprive them of their hard-earned
property, for the benefit of a few land-speculators.
By sorae of the towns, their share of the expense of
the erabassy was levied in the forra of a tax upon
the proprietors ; while in others, resort was had to in
dividual subscriptions. An order from the king was
obtained, as heretofore stated, forbidding the issue of
further grants by the governor of New York ; but
before the purpose of his mission had been fully ac
complished, Mr.. Eobinson was seized with the small
pox, and died.
The progress of Governor Tryon, in his efforts to
obtain possession of the disputed lands, underwent
sorae interruption from the order of the king in re
gard to making grants. It was, however, soon dis
covered, that the order did not, technically, prohibit
his taking possession of Jands which he had already
granted, but only forbade the issue of new grants. In
October, 1769, the governor's council advised him
that the king's order " did not extend to prevent the
governor frora the granting of any lands which had
not previously been granted by New Harapshire."
He therefore proceeded to issue new patents, and in
effect whoUy neglected the king's oi-der, and continued

146 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN. HEEOES.
giving lands to his friends, without regard to their
having been previously granted by New Hampshire.
Thus, the mission pf Mr. Eobinson to England, although
attended with apparent success, had no other effect
upon the New-York government, than to impose a
temporary check upon its operations. However, it
inspired the settlers with new confidence in the jus
tice of their cause, and gave them strong reasons to
hope that their rights would eventually be acknowl
edged and protected by the "home government," which
was then recognized as the supreme authority that
would finally decide the question.
In 1769, the efforts of the New- York claimants to
obtain possession of the disputed lands, were again
commenced with great vigor. In October of that
year, a nuraber of the inhabitants of Bennington were
assembled on the farm of James Brackenridge, in the
western part of the town, for the purpose of assisting
him in harvesting his corn. While they were thus
employed, a number of surveyors came upon the farm,
ahd appeared to be running a line across it. Mr.
Brackenridge, and Mr. Samuel Eobinson left their
work, and entered into conversation with them. The
surveyors declared that they were acting under the
authority of the state of New, York, for the purpose of
dividing among the proprietors the patent of Wallum-
Bchaik.* Brackenridge and Eobinson forbade their
proceeding further, stating, at the same time, that it
• It was asserted that, about ten years previous to the grant of tho
township of Bennington by Governor Wentworth, a Dutchman, named
Wallum, had obtained from the governor of New York, a grant, cov
ering nearly all of the same territory, although he took no measures

INDICTMENTS, l'±7
was not their intention to use violence, but merely
to protest against the proceeding, for the purpose of
preserving their legal rights. Much conversation took
place, and finally the party desisted from their sur
vey, and retired. Upon this, Abrahara Ten Brook,
one of the proprietors of the patent, petitioned the
governor and council of New York on the subject;
stating, that the commissioners and surveyors for di
viding the patent of Wallumschaik, had been "-vio
lently opposed by sundry persons, and prevented by
their threats from executing the trusts reposed in
thera." Uj)on which a proclamation was issued by
the governor "for apprehending and securing the
principals and ringleaders ; " and at the following
January term of the court at Albany, several per
sons who had been present were indicted, as rioters.
Among them was the Eev. Jedediah Dewey, Joseph
Eobinson, Elijah Fay, Thomas Henderson, Ebenezer
Eobinson, and John Stewart. None of thera, how
ever, were arrested or brought to trial. Other at
tempts, of a similar character, were attended with
the sarae results, and actions of ejectraent were
brought by the New-York grantees against the set
tlers. Affairs were approaching a crisis. Upon the
actions of ejectraent depended the title to the lands,
so far as the courts of New York could determine
the question. Although the people had but little con
fidence in these tribunals, they resolved to appear and
to occupy it. The grant was called Wallumschaik — the termination
"chaik" meaning scrip or patent. This gave name to the stream pass
ing through it ; the orthography of which, in accordance with the
pronunciation, was changed to Walloomscoik.

148 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
make the best defense in their power. The manage
ment of the business was intrusted to Ethan AUen.
Bold, enterprising, ambitious, and having extreme
confidence in his powers, both of body and mind,
he entered zealously upon his task. His aid was
rendered the more valuable, by reason of his exten
sive acquaintance in New England and New York.
Although laboring under the disadvantages of a de
fective early education, he possessed considerable gen
eral information, anu he could write a letter or an
argument in strong aud intelligible, if not accurate
and polished language ; and he could address a mul
titude, and, when occasion required, a court, with skUl
and effect. Upon his selection as an agent to defend
the suits brought against the settlers, he went to New
Hampshire, and obtained copies of Governor Went-
worth's coraraission and instructions- from the king,
under which he had acted in making the grants.
He next proceeded to Connecticut, and engaged the
services of Mr. IngersoU, an eminent counselor of
that time. In June, 1770, they appeared before the'
court in Albany. An action of ejectment against
Josiah Carpenter, of Shaftsbury, carae on for trial;
and the defendant's counsel offered in evidence the
docuraents above mentioned, together with the char
ter of the township, and a deed of the land in ques
tion from the original proprietor to the defendant.
This evidence was rejected by the court, on the
ground that the New-Hampshire charter were illegal
and void, and the jury were directed to find a ver
dict for the plaintiff. Two other actions were tried
with the same result. As all the cases were precisely

THE TEIALS AT ALBANY. 149
like these, their decision was regarded as a precedent
for the residue, and no further atterapts at a defense
were raade, in the various trials which ensued.''^ The
defendants and their friends did not, however, con
template that the matter would end at Albany. Af
ter Allen retired frora the court, several gentlemen,
interested in the New-York grants — one of whom
was the king's attorney-general for the colony — called
upon him, and urged him to go horae and advise his
friends to make the best terms they could with their
new landlords ; intimating that their cause was now
desperate, and reminding him of the proverb, that
"might often prevails against right." Allen coolly re
plied : " The gods of the valleys are not the gods of the
* In 1779, Allen published a work, entitled, "A Vindication of the
opposition of the Inhabitants of Vermont to the governor of New
York, and of their right to form into an independent state, humbly
submitted to an impartial world, by Ethan Allen." From this work,
the following characteristic account of these trials is taken : " In the
year 1769, the claimants under the subsequent grants from New York,
and not residing on the controverted premises, brought actions of
ejectment in the suprerae court held at Albany, against sundry actual
settlers, who clairaed the soil by virtue of prior grants from New
Hampshire. But raost, if not all the judges and attornies, particularly
Messrs. Duane and Kerap, which attended the court, were patentees
under New York ; and some of them interested in the very patents'
on trial. The plaintiffs appearing in great state and magnificence,
which, together with their junto of land thieves, made a brilliant ap
pearance ; but the defendants appearing but in ordinary fashion, having
been greatly fatigued by hard labor wrought on the disputed premises,
and tbeir cash much exhausted, made a veiy disproportionate figuro
at court. In fine, interest, conviction and grandeur, being all on one
side, easily turned the scale against the honest defendants, and judg
ments without mercy, in favor of the claimimts under New York, vria
given against tliera," &c.

1.50 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
hiUs ;" and when asked by Kemp, the attorney-genera!,
to explain his meaning, he replied : " K you will ac
company me to the hill of Bennington, the sense will
be made clear."
The purpose of his mission being thus brought to
a close, Mr. Allen returned and reported the partic
ulars to his constituents. The news spread from hab
itation to habitation, and created a sudden and loud
murmur of discontent among the people. Seeing, as
they thought, the door of justice shut against them,
and having tried, in vain, all the peaceable means
of securing their rights, they resolved to appeal to
the last arbiter of disputes. The inhabitants of Ben
nington immediately assembled, and carae to a for
mal determination to defend their .property by force,
and to unite in resisting all encroachments upon the
lands occupied by persons holding titles under the
warrants granted by the governor of New Hampshire.
This was a bold step; but it was promptly taken,
and with a seeming deterraination to adhere to it,
at any hazard, and without regard to consequences.
Nor was this decision changed or weakened by a
proposition on the part of the New-York patentees,
made abont this tirae, which allowed to each occu
pant a fee-simple of his farm, at the same price for
which the unoccupied lands in his neighborhood were
sold. The first purchasers still insisted that this was
requiring them to pay twice for their lands ; and that,
in any view, the proposal was not just, inasmuch ms
the value of the unoccupied lands depended mainly
on the settlements which had been raade in their vi
cinity, by the toil, and at the expense, of the original

DETEEMINATION OF THE MODNTAINEEES. 151
occupants. In short, the time for talking about char
ters, and boundaries, and courts of judicature, was
past, and the mountaineers were now fully bent on con
ducting the controversy by a more summary process.
Actions of ejectment continued to be brought before
the Albany courts ; but the settlers, despairing of suc
cess, after the decision of the first cases, did not ap
pear in defense, nor give themselves any more trouble
in the raatter. Next carae sheriffs and civil magis
trates to execute the writs of possession, and by due
course of law to remove the occupants from the lands.
At this crisis, the affair assumed a tangible shape.
The mountaineers felt theraselves at home on the soil
which they had subdued by their own labor, and in
the territory over which they had begun to exercise
supreme dominion, by meeting in conventions and
committees, and taking counsel of each other on pub
lic concerns. To drive one of them from his house,
or deprive hira of his hard-earned substance, was to
threaten the whole community with an issue, fatal
alike to their dearest interests, and to the rights which
every man deems as sacred as life itself. It was no
wonder, therefore, that they should unite in a com
mon cause, which required their combined efforts to
maintain. But the results of the trials at Albany had
given additional confidence to the New-York claim
ants, and they determined on renewed efforts to ob
tain possession of the disputed lands. The proprietors
of the Wallumschaik patent made another attempt
to survey the township of Bennington ; but, as in pre
vious instances, the endeavor was unsuceessful. The
surveyors had not proceeded far, when they were met

152 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
by a body of twenty or thirty of the settlers, who
warned them to desist, in so decided a tone, that they
abandoned the undertaking. This was in September,
1770. Abraham Ten Brook, one of the proprietors
of the patent, in behalf of himself and the other pro
prietors, petitioned the governor and council of New
York on the subject; stating "that the proclamation
which the governor had issued on the 11th of Decem
ber, 1769, for apprehending rioters, had been attended
with no efiect — that actions of ejectment had been
tried at the last summer-assizes at Albany, against the
settlers, and three different verdicts obtained against
thera, and that another defendant had made default —
that these judgments had induced the petitioners to
believe the commissioners might proceed unmolested ;
but that they had been opposed by a riotous aud
tumultuous body, who armed themselves with clubs,
and warned them to desist from their business;
threatening them with violence, &c.- The petition
also stated that the coraraissioners did not think it
safe to proceed further, and prayed the governor and
council for aid and relief in the premises.'-' The pe
tition was taken into consideration, and in October,
1770, the council advised the governor "to issue a
proclamation for apprehending Simeon Hatheway, Mo
ses Scott, Jonathan Fisk, and Silas Eobinson, prin
cipal authors and actors in said riot, and to insert
in the proclaraation, the declaration that the governor
had orders from the king, to protect the New-York
claimants with his whole power and authority."
At this i^Jcriod, and for some time afterwai'd, one of
the most acti^-e and efficient advocates and supporters

LEGAL PEOCEEDINGS EENEWED. 153-
of the New- York government, was John Munro, pro
prietor of a patent under that province, lying upon
White creek and extending into the present town of
Shaftsbury. Pie held the office of justice of the peace
for Albany county, and resided on his patent. He
had a number of tenants and dependents about him,
and by his boldness and energy of character, was very
troublesome to the occupants of the New-Harasphire
grants. In obedience to the governor's proclamation,
Henry Ten Eyck, sheriff of the county of Albany, in
company with Munro and others, repaired to the house
of Silas Eobinson, in Bennington, early on the morning
of the 29th of November, and arrested him. By at
tacking him unexpectedly, and returning precipitately
to Albany, they succeeded in committing him to the
jail, before any attempt could be made by his neigh
bors to rescue him. The sheriff" was much elated by
his success, and wrote an account of it to the governor,
who returned a highly complimentary letter, and di
rected him to keep the prisoner in custody until he
should be released by due course of law. Eobinson was
afterward indicted, but was finally released, on giving
bail for his appearance at court. Fourteen others were
indicted with Eobinson, but no attempt was made to
arrest thera.
Frora the time judgments were rendered in the eject
ment suits at Albany, in the spring of 1771, various
efforts were made by the sheriff to put the plaintiffs in
possession of the preraises which had been adjudged
to thera, but without success. Wherever he went, he
was sure to be met by a party larger than that which
accompanied him, and was told that any attempt to

154 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEZx'-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
execute a writ of possession would certainly be resisted
by force. These facts being reported to the governor,
he directed thera to summon the militia of the county
to his aid. This was accordingly done, and in July,
1771, an attempt was made to arrest James Bracken
ridge. The following account of this expedition is
from Ira Allen's History of Yermont : *
"The sheriff of Albany county summoned the posse
to aid him in serving a writ of possession upon James
Brackenridge. The sheriff was followed by seven hun
dred and fifty men well armed, and three hundred set
tlers assembled to resist hira. The settlers had full
notice of his approach, and had corapleted their ar
rangeraents for defence. An officer with eighteen men
was placed in the house — one hundred and twenty
behind trees in a wood near a road through which the
sheriff must march and would naturally halt his men.
The other division was stationed behind a ridge of
land in a meadow, within gunshot of the housej and
out of sight of the sheriff's men. Thus an ambuscade
was formed to have a crossfire on the sherifi''s men
without endangering theraselves, and to be ready
against the sheriff forced the door, which was to be
known by hoisting a red flag above the top of the
chiraney. When the sheriff approached, all were si
lent : he and his men were completely within the
ambuscade before they disco^'ered their situation. Mr.
Ten Eyck, the sheriff", went to the house and demanded
entrance as the sheriff of Albany county, and threat
ened on refusal to force the door. The answer was
' Attempt it and you are dead men.' He repeated his
demand and threat without using any force, & received
for a second answer hideous groans froni within! At
this time the two divisions exhibited their hats on the
points of their guns, which appeared to be more nu
merous than they really were. The sherifi" and his
* This is a small work, published by Alien in London, in 1 798. It is
DOW rarely to bo met with.

DEFENSI'VE MEASUEES. 155
posse seeing their dangerous situation, and not being
interested in the dispute, made a hasty retreat, so that a
musket was not fired on either side, which gave satis
faction to and cemented the union of the inhabitants, &
raised their consequence in the neighboring provinces."
Although the New- York clairaants had been foiled in
their attempts to execute. their writs of possession, they
did not abandon their determination to substantiate
their claims by other means. Finding that the militia
of Albany county could not be relied upon to act
efifectually against the settlers, they sought to accom
plish their object by less direct means. The old prac
tice of indictment for riots was again resorted to ;
favorable offers of titles under New York were made
to prominent individuals residing on the grants ; offices
were conferred on others ; and persons from New York
were encouraged to make settlements on unoccupied
lands which had been granted by New Hampshire.
By these means it was hoped divisions would be created
among the people, and the New- York interest so much
strengthened as to secure its predominance. In order
eft"ectually to resist these moveraents of the New- York
authorities, committees of safety were appointed by
the several towns west of the Green Mountains, who
met in convention, passed resolutions, and adopted
regulations which had the potency of laws with their
constituents. It was decreed, araong other things, that
no officer of New York should convey any person from
the New-Hampshire Grants without permission of the
committee of safety ; and that no surveys should be
made, or settlements attempted by people frora New
York, upon any portion of the territory originally in
dispute between New York and New Hampshire J'or

156 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
a violation of this law, the offender was to be punished
according to the judgment of the committees of safety,
or "the ideas of the people." Nevertheless, the civil
officers of New York were to be allowed the exercise
of their proper functions in the collection of debts, and
also in other matters not connected with the controversy
in regard to lands. That a force might be ready to act
in any emergency, a railitary association was formed,
of which Ethan Allen was appointed commandant,
with the title of colonel, and Seth Warner, Eemember
Baker, Eobert Cockrane, Gideon Warner, and some
others were appointed captains. The men were armed,
and occasionally raet for military exercise. John
Munro, in a letter to Governor Tryon, stated that "the
rioters had established a company at Bennington, com
manded by Captain Warner — and that on New Year's
day (1772) his company was reviewed and continued
all day in railitary exercise and firing at marks."
In pursuance of the policy heretofore mentioned, the
grantees raade atterapts to establish settlements on the
western borders of the grants. Whenever this was
done, Ethan Allen, at the head of a detachment of the
"Green-Mountain Boys," as the men under his com
mand were called, promptly met the intruders and
drove them oft". The New- York sheriffs continued to
be pursued with unremitting eagerness, whenever they
dared to set their feet on the forbidden ground. With
these various affairs on his hands, it will readily be
imagined that the commander of the Green-Mountain
Boys was not idle ; nor was it surprising that he should
attract the particular notice of the New- York goverur
ment. So many complaints were made of the riotous

Allen's peoclamation. 157
and disorderly proceedings of his volunteers and as
sociates ; such was the indignation of the New- York
party on account ofthe harsh measures adopted by them
toward the persons whom they seized as trespassers
upon their property ; and so entirely did they set at
defiance the laws of New York, to which their oppo
nents accounted them amenable, that the governor
was tempted to try the virtue of another proclaraation,
in which he branded the deed of dispossessing a New-
York settler with the opprobrious name of felony, and
offered a reward of twenty pounds to any person who
would apprehend and secure Allen, or either of eight
other persons connected with hira, and raentioned by
name. Whether this proclamation was thought too mild in
its terms, or whether new outrages had added to the
enormity of the offense, it is not easy to decide ; but
another was promulgated, enlarging the bounty for
Allen to one hundred and fifty pounds, and for Seth
Warner and five others to fifty pounds each. Not to
be outdone by the authority of New York in exercising
the prerogatives of sovereignty. Colonel Allen and his
friends sent out a counter-proclamation,* offering a
* Advertisement. £95 Reward. Whereas James Duane and John
Kempe of New York, have by their raenaces and threats greatly dis
turbed the public Peace and Repose of the honest Peasants of Benning
ton and the settlements to the Noi-thward, which Peasants are now, and
ever have been in the Peace of God & the King, and are patriotic and
liege subjects of Geoi-ge the Third, — Any person that will apprehend
those common disturbers, viz., James Duane and John Kerape, and. bring
thera to Landlord Fays at Bennington, shaU have £15 Reward for James
Duane, and £10 for John Kempe, paid by Ethan Allen,
Remember Bakek,
Dated at Poultney, Feb. 5th 1772. Kobeet Cookbane,

158 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
reward for the apprehension of the persons who had
become most obnoxious to the inhabitants of the New-
Hampshire Grants. Notwithstanding the frequency
of proclamations, it is believed that no person was
apprehended in consequence of them, which is a proof
that the people of the parts of New York adjoining
the New-Hampshire grants were more favorable to
the settlers than were prominent raen of the colony ;
otherwise, the allurement of the reward would have
induced combinations for seizing individual ofi"enders,
particularly as the people were required by law to
assist the sheriff in the execution of his office. Allen
never denied that the conduct of himself and his
mountaineers, interpreted by the laws of New York,
or the laws of any well-ordered society, was properly
called riotous ; but he contended that they were driven
to this extremity by the oppression of their stronger
neighbors ; that no other raeans were left by which they
could defend their property ; and that, under such cir
cumstances, they were perfectly justified in resorting to
these raeans. They encroached not upon the posses
sions of other people ; they remained on their own soil ;
and, if- riots existed, they were caused by those who
carae araong them for molestation and injury. Yiew-
ing things in this light, he thought it hard, and with
reason, that he should first be called a rioter, then a
criminal rioter, and last of all be denounced to the
world as a felon, with a price set upon his liberty, and
threats of condign punishment if he should be taken.*
But Allen, who was brave even to rashness, was in
no degree intimidated by the reward offered for his
• See Sparks' Life of Ethan Allen.

DAEING OF COLONEL ALLEN. 159
apprehension, and this he designed that those who had
advised that measure should fuUy understand. Much
anxiety was felt by his friends for his safety, on account
of the many opportunities which his indifference to
danger afforded for arresting him. Allen, however,
laughed at their fears, and offered a bet that he would
proceed to Albany, alight at the most prominent house
o^ entertainment, drink a bowl of punch, and finally
escape unharmed. This was accepted. Having made
the necessary arrangements, Allen proceeded to Albany,
and, after deliberately alighting from his horse, and
entering the house with a haughty air, called for a
bowl of punch, according to the terras of his bet. The
intelligence that "Ethan Allen was in the city," spread
rapidly, and a large concourse of people collected
around the house, among whom was the sheriff of
Albany county. Allen was wholly unraoved. Having
finished his punch, he went to the door, raounted his
horse, and giving a hearty "Hnzza for the Green
Mountains," departed unharmed. Those who were
disposed to arrest him felt that the enterprise would
not be unaccompanied with danger.
On another occasion, Allen's temerity very nearly
proved his ruin. While traveling upon the shores of
Lake Charaplain, opposite Crown Boint, with a single
corapanion, he stopped at the house of a Mr. Eichards.
It happened that, at the sarae time, a party of six sol
diers from the neighboring fortress, fully armed, were
at the house, with the intention of remaining during
the night. Knowing Allen, they determined on arrest
ing him, and obtaining the tempting reward offered by
the government of New York for his apprehension.

160 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOtTNTAIN HEEOES.
Mrs. Eichards overheard their conversation, and when
lighting Allen and his companion to their roora, in
formed them of the design of the soldiers ; and silently
raising a window, advised them to escape. When the
soldiers discovered that Allen had left the house, they
threatened Mrs. Eichards with punishment, for con
niving at the escape of the heroic leader of the Green-
Mountain Boys ; but she apologized, on the ground
that if she had failed to do so, the peojjle would have
torn down her house, and driven herself and family
from their possessions.
John Munro, who has been heretofore mentioned as
an active and determined partisan of New York, in
the hope of receiving the reward offered by Governor
Tryon, and to enjoy the honor which would attend the
success of such an undertaking, resolved on capturing
and carrying to Albany one of the persons who had
been outlawed by the proclamation. He accordingly
assembled ten or twelve of his friends and dependents,
and, on the morning of March 22d, 1772, before day
light, surrounded the house of Eeraeraber Baker, of
Arlington, for the. purpose of arresting hira. Armed
with swords and pistols, they burst open the door and
entered the house. Baker was severely wounded upon
the head and arm by a sword. His wife, and a son
about twelve years of age, were also treated with great
inhuraanity, the one being wounded upon the head and
neck by the blow of a sword, and the other receiving
a dangerous cut upon his arm. Baker, being over
powered by numbers, was bound, thrown bleeding into
a sleigh, and driven rapidly towai-d Albany. The alarm
was spread with great rapidity, and in a short time ten

EEMEMBEE BAKEB.

161

well-armed men mounted their horses, and started in
pursuit of the captors. Others, as speedily as prepara
tions could be raade, hastened to their assistance. As
Munro, with his prisoner, reached the Hudson river,
the party in pursuit also arrived at the ferry. Munro
and his party abandoned their prisoner and fied.
Captain Baker, who was nearly exhausted from loss
of blood, needed the immediate care of his hardy
friends. They dressed his wounds, and carried bin:.
back to his family, to the extreme joy of the entire
community. Munro, in the report of this transaction
to tho governor of New York, represented the conflict
at Baker's house as a very desperate one, and said " he
had reason to be thankful to divine Brovidence, for the
iwcservation of his life, and that of the whole j)arty."
An account ofthe scene, written, as it was understood,
by Ethan Allen, was published in the Connecticut
Courant, of June 9, 1772, with the ensuing title : "The
following contains a true narrative, of the sufferings
and abuses received by Mr. Eemember Baker, his Wife
and FamUy, on the 22d day of March, A. D. 1772,
at his own dwelling-house in Arlington, and on the
lands granted by his late Excellency Benning Went
worth, Esq., late Governor of the Brovince of New
Hampshire." *
"This wicked, inhuman, most barbarous, infamous,
cruel, villainous and thievish Act was perpetrated,
committed, and carried into execution by one John
Munro, a reputed Justice of the Beace, living near that
place, with a number of ruffians, his neighbors — who,
* This curious document, the style of which was well suited to the
leelings and comprehension of the uneducated Green-Mountain Boys, is
rep'.ibl ished verbatim.

162 ETHAN ALLEN AND UKKlsa -MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
after a Lords day consultation in plotting this wicked
and horrid design, surprised the said Baker in his said
dwelling-house, about the first appearance of morning
light, on the said 22d day of March, and, after making
an attempt to discharge their fire-arms through the
said Baker's house, and finding their fire-arms missing
fire, said Munro with his attendants, did with axes
forcibly break and enter the said Baker's house, and
with weapons of death, spread destruction round the
room, cutting with swords and bruising with fire-arms
and clubs men women and children, swearing by — ^*
he would have Baker dead or alive, and that he would
burn the house. Baker Wife & Children and all the
effects, and to compass and bring this villainous scheme
into execution, did with his own wicked and rebellious
hand convey fire from the hearth in the said house to
a cupboard in the roora, it being the raost convenient
place to answer his intentions, when all on a sudden,
as quick as a flash, a Judas spirit, that of gain and
plunder, overballanced his wicked noddle. This being
agreed on, he instantly thrust his sword at Mrs. Baker
with an intention to have ended at that instant her life
(as he has since confessed) when her right arm, near
her elbow joint, for tbat time, happily preserved her
from the intended murder. Others, in the mean time,
his attendants, were mauling and beating and bruising
his children. Mr. Baker, having at that time posted
hiraself in his Charaber for the better security of him
self, faraily and effects, finding their raaiice oaths and
iraprecations principally levelled at his person, thought
most proper to leave his chamber, thinking thereby to
draw the murderers after him and so give his family
in their wounded circumstances a better opportunity
to save theraselves from impending ruin and utter de
struction, accordingly burst a boar^ from the gable end
of the house and leaped out of the window he had by
that means made, when part of the ruffians, by the
• Wherever oaths occur in the original narrative of the assault upon
Mr. Baker, as well as other documents republished in those pages, theit
place -will be supplied with a dash.

EEMEMBEE BAKEE. 163
said Justice's comraand, were ordered (after firing on
said Baker, and saying three tiraes successively, 
hira he is dead) to set on him a large spiteful wilful
and very malicious dog, educated and brought up
agreeable to their own forms and customs who being
like those other servants of the devil at that time all
obedience, seized the said Baker, and being instantly
joined by those his cruel partners, bound and pinioned
him so fast that he was unable to use or raake even the
least resistance in defence of hiraself, his unhappy
wounded wife, or his poor helpless distressed children.
"And not being as yet satisfied with their own un
lawful proceedings, and their thirst for blood not being
quenched, the better to enhance & increase their horrid
crime and procure a fell draught of human blood, to'
quench their unnatural thirst, did convey the said
Baker to the carriage in which they rode ; where in
his confined state, the said John did with his attend
ants. Tomahawk, cut and slash in spots, that their eyes
might see a life languish out by degrees in strearas of
blood, while they did with a  at alraost every
breath, laugh him in the face, to express their satisfac
tion in his agonizing groans.
"In this- awful and lamentable situation, almost on
the verge of eternity, by. means of the bruises, cuts,
and great effusion of blood, said Baker with a voice
according to his strength, called for his clothes as he
was yet naked from his bed, who was denied them by
the said Justice, which after several strokes with hip
naked sword over said Baker's naked face and eyes,
and breaking the same in three pieces and gave him
this reflection, that  him he would cloath
him as a  traitor; which aggravating
threats, gave them a new sip to their beloved re
venge. — Thus they continued - him in his naked jour
ney, for the space of four railes and a half, with raany
cruel words, and hard blows stopping his breath with
handkerchiefs, till alraost suffocated, lest he should
apply to sorae person for relief
" The said Justice and attendants had taken what of
the effects belonged to the house, he and they thought

164: ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
worthy their present affrighted notice ; although they
would in probability have been more faithful in the
prosecution of self and worldly gain, had not they
have feared a surprise in so unchristian an act. — They
pursued their journey with severe words and cruel
threats as though resolved to take a full swing and
make an ample feast of human cruelty, until pursued
by three persons loyal and faithful subjects to the
Crown of Great Britain, whose banner they mean ever
more to live and die under, and, after inquiring for the
preservation of the life of said Baker, were immediately
fired on by several of Munro's party and robbed of
what interest he had with hira, to the value of forty
dollars, as a fresh sip and recruit to their hellish de
mand. These distressing tidings being soon spread on
the prernises, enhanced the innocent inhabitants, and
for the preservation of Baker his family & their own
persons, families and efi"ects, some of thera did pursue
the said carriage about thirty miles, and when said
John with his attendants, being savage like, conscience
struck and condemned, run and hid themselves so pri
vate that it is not known by his or their acquaintances
where they have been ever since ; leaving the said
Baker with very little remains of life, unable to tight
for himself, who willingly in his capacity accepted of
mercy, which he had been so long a stranger to.'
"The foregoing -contains but a very short, though
true account of the barbarous conduct of the said John
towards the said Baker and family, and such conduct
exercised by a pretended civil raagistrate, or such a
magistrate rather must be dishonorable, a reproach,
shame, disgrace &c. on the laws, restrictions, regula
tions, peace, manners, good order and economy, both
of the Laws of God and Man. The above an(i rauch
more can be attested with good authority, as many
worthy persons were eye witnesses of the said tragedy.
The robbery has since been confessed by the said Justice
and he has promised to make amends."
But to return to the spring of 1772. The attack
upon Captain Baker, as might have been anticipated,

ATTEMPT TO AEEEST WAENEE. 163
produced a strong feeling of indignation araong his
friends and partisans. This was still further increased
by a subsequent atterapt of Munro to arrest Captain
Seth Warner. The latter, with a single friend, was
riding on horseback in the vicinity of Munro's resi
dence. Munro, with several of his dependents, met
them, and entered into conversation. Suddenly, Munro
seized the bridle of Warner's horse, and commanded
those present to aid in his arrest. Warner, after advis
ing the New- York magistrate to desist, struck him over
the head with his cutlass so powerfully, that he fell to
the ground insensible. The spectators, intimidated by
this energetic action, made no attempt to interfere ; and
Warner rode off, without further molestation. Munro
received no perraanent injury, and speedily recovered.
He wrote to the governor, however, giving a raost
disraal account of the state of affairs in his vicinity ;
stating, among other things, that the " rioters," by their
number and boldness, were "striking terror into the
whole country — that he was in a continual fear of
thera, as he could not find a single magistrate or
officer that would speak or act against them — that he
was almost worn out with watching, and that nothing
but the most vigorous measures for the defense of his
property, would save it from destruction."
It now became the fixed determination of the set
tlers, at all hazards, to maintain their position by ex
pelling from the New-Hampshire Grants every person
who should attempt to act under the authority of the
New- York claimants. While the feelings of the peo
ple were highly exasperated by the occurrences which
have been narrated, intelligence reached Bennington

166 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
that Governor Tryon was ascending the Hudson, with
a body of British troops, who were on the way to sub
due the refractory Green-Mountain Boys. This news
was the more readily credited, as the royal troops had
recently been employed at " Bateman's Batent," in the
colony of New York, to quell an insurrection founded
on a dispute in regard to the title or rents of lands ;
and it was also known that the Now- York claimants to
the New-Hampshire Grants, had applied to the gover
nor to send the troops of the regular army against the
Green-Mountain Boys. The report of the approach of
Governor Tryon at first produced alarra. The com
mittees of safety, with the military officers, met in con
vention, to consult on the measures proper to be tak^n.
Their perilous situation was anxiously discussed, and
on full consideration it was finally resolved, that " it
was their duty to oppose Governor Tryon and his
troops to the utmost of their power." This resolution
being taken, every practical raeasure was adopted to
make their resistance eft'ectual. Two pieces of cannon
and a mortar were procured from Fort Hoosic and
taken to Bennington, and a general rally of all persons
capable of bearing arms was instituted. A plan of op
erations was devised, by which a few sharp-shooters
were to be stationed in a narrow, pass on the road
leading from Albany to Bennington, who were to re
main in concealment,, and shoot down the officers as
they approached with their troops. The same marks
men were then to return through the woods, and join
another party of their comrades in a similar position,
where they were to exercise their unerring skill in
tho use of the rifle, and, when they could no longer

EENEWED NEGOTIATIONS. 167
maintain their position, retreat to the main body, who
would be prepared to receive the invading troops, dis
ordered and dispirited as it was supposed they would be
by the loss of their officers. A trusty person was dis
patched to Albany, with instructions to await the
arrival of Governor Tryon's array ; to observe the
officers particularly, that he might distinguish them
again ; and to ascertain as many particulars as he
should be able in regard to the number of the eneray,
the time of marching, and their intended movements.
The messenger returned with the welcome information,
that the troops were bound for Ticonderoga and Crown
Boint, and that they had no intention of marching
toward Bennington. Although the people were hap
pily relieved frora the necessity of putting their valor
to the test, their prorapt and bold preparations for the
onset were a pledge that in no event would it have
terrainated in their dishonor. The increased nuraber
of troops stationed within their immediate vicinity,
could have no other effect than to strengthen their ap
prehensions as to the ultimate designs of the governor
of New York.
Information of the proceedings of the Green-Moun
tain Boys, during this alarm, soon reached the gover
nor of New York, in letters frora Munro, and also frora
several individuals, who, in consequence of having re
purchased their lands frora New York, had excited the
animosity of their neighbors, and deemed it prudent to
flee to Albany, during the preparations to resist Gov
ernor Tryon. This magistrate, from the nuraber and
deterrained spirit of the settlers, as indicated during
their apprehension of an invasion, seems to have been

168 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
impressed with the difficulty of subduing them by force,
and to have come to the determination of trying what
could be done by negotiation. He accordingly pre
pared a letter, addressed to the Eev. Mr. Dewey and
other principal inhabitants of Bennington, in which, af
ter censuring the illegality of their conduct, he expressed
a strong desire to do thera justice, and invited them to
send a deputation of such persons as they raight choose,
to lay before -him a full statement of their grievances,
and the reasons for their resistance to his authority.
" That there raay be no obstruction," continued the gov
ernor, " to your laying before rae, in council, as soon as
possible, a fair representation of your conduct, I do
hereby engage full security and protection to any per
sons whora you shall choose to send on this business
to New York, from the tirae they leave their homes to
the time of their return, except Eobert Cockrane, as
also Allen, Baker and Sevil, mentioned in my procla
mation of the 10th of December last, and Seth Warner,
" whose audacious behavior to a civil raagistrate has
subjected him to the penalties of the laws of his
country." This letter was duly delivered to the occupants of
the New-Hampshire Grants by the sheriff of Albany
county. On receiving this invitation to negotiate, the
people of Bennington and the neighboring towns as
sembled by their committees, took the subject into con
sideration, and promptly acceded to the proposal. They
returned a firra and respectful answer to Governor
Tryon, detailing the oppressions which they had suf
fered, and urging hira to discontinue all violent pro
ceedings against thera, until a full representation of

Allen's vindication. 169
the matter could be made to the king, and his full de
cision of all the points involved in the controversy
could be obtained. Captain Stephen Fay, with hia
son, Dr. Jonas Fay, were appointed delegates to return
this answer to Governor Tryon, with authority to make
particular explanations, in case that functionary should
wish them to do so.
Neither was the opportunity to be passed over by
Allen and his proscribed friends, of vindicating them
selves against the aspersions cast upon them by their
enemies, and the stigma of being pointed out to the
world as rioters, abettors of mobs, and felons. They
sent a joint dispatch to Governor Tryon, in the natme
of a protest against the treatment they had received,
and in justification of their motives and acts. Allen
was again the penman for his brethren ; and, consider
ing their provocations, and the degree of excitement
to which they had been wrought up, their remonstrance
was clothed in language sufficiently respectful — breath
ing the spirit of men conscious of their dignity, and
resolute in the defense of their rights, but ready to
meet the awards of justice, and abide by the decision
of a fair and impartial tribunal.* Some of their ar
guments are put in a forcible manner. "If we do not
oppose the sheriff and his posse," say they, " he takes
immediate possession of our houses and farms ; and
when others oppose officers in taking their friends so
indicted, they are also indiated, and so on, there being
no end of indictments against ns, so long as we act the
bold and manly part, and stand by our liberty. And
it comes to this at last : that we must tamely be dispos-
• See Life of Ethan Allen, by Jared Sparka
8

170 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
sessed, or oppose officers in taking possession ; and as a
next necessary step, to oppose the taking of rioters, so
caUed, or run away like so many cowards, and quit
the country to a number of cringing, polite. gentlemen,
who have ideally possessed themselves of it already."
Again: "Though they style us rioters for opposing
them, and seek to catch and punish us as such, yet in
reality themselves are the rioters, the tumultuous, dis
orderly, stimulating faction, or in fine the land-jobbers ;
and every violent act they have done to compass their
designs, though ever so much under pretense of law,
is in reality a violation of law, and an insult to the
constitution and authority of the crown, as well as
to many of us in person, who have been great suf
ferers by such inhuman exertions of pretended law.
Eight and wrong ^re eternally the same to all periods
of time, places and nations ; and coloring a crime with
a specious pretense of law, only adds to the criminality
of it, for it subverts the very design of law, prostituting
it to the vilest purposes." " We beg leave to observe,"
says Allen, "that as, on the one hand, no consideration
whatever shall induce us to remit, in the least, of our
loyalty and gratitude to our most gracious sovereign,
nor of a reasonable submission to your Excellency ; so,
on the other hand, no tyrannical exertions of the powers
of the government, can deter us from asserting and
vindicating our undoubted rights and privileges as
Englishmen." "No person or persons," continues the
sturdy patriot, " can be supposed to be under any par
ticular compact or law, -except it presupposeth, that
that law will protect such person or persons in his or
their properties ; for otherwise the subject would, by

CONCILLATOEY EECOMMENDATION. 171
law, be bound to be accessory to his own ruin and
destruction, which is inconsistent with the law of selt-
preservation ; but this law being natural as well as
eternal, can r^over be abrogated by the law of raen."
And again : "The transferring or alienation of property
is a sacred prerogative of the true owner — kings and
governors cannot intermeddle therewith." * Had kings
and governors,' in those days, possessed much foresight,
they would have been more reluctant to drive men
like Ethan Allen to the utterance and armed main
tenance of such principles.
Governor Tryon received the agents who were the
bearers of these communications, with affability and
kindness. He invited them to meet with his council
and discuss freely the subjects in dispute. After
ward, a comraittee of the council made a report to the
governor respecting the controversy, and made the fol
lowing recommendations : "The comraittee are desirous
your Excellency should afford the inhabitants of those
townships all the relief in your power, by suspending,
till his Majesty's pleasure shall be known, all prosecu
tions in behalf of the crown, on account of the criraes
with which they stand charged, by depositions before
us ; and to recoraraend it to the owners of the contested
lands under grants from this province, to put a stop,
during the sarae period, to all civil suits concerning
the lands in question." This report of the committee
was approved by the governor and council, and with
this intelligence the Fays returned to their constituents,
and were hailed as the harbingers of peace and joy.
* This letter is published entire in Slade's Vermont Slate Papers — a
eillection of historic documents of great interest.

17^ ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
The people had never asked for more than was imp'ded
in these terms, being well persuaded that, however
the question of jurisdiction might be settled, the king
could never sanction a course of proceeding which
would deprive them of their property. Gladness was
diffused rapidly throughout the cabins of the remotest
settlers. A large public meeting was held at Benning
ton, where the minutes of the governor's approval of a
peaceful policy were read amid loud acclamations, and
for the moment, the raeraory of all forraer griefs was
swept away by the overflowing tide of enthusiasm in
favor of Governor Tryon. The following account of
the proceedings of this meeting was sent to Albany
by the Fays :
"We, as messengers, laid before the above comraittee
an extract of the minutes of his Majesty's council of
the province of New York of the 2d instant, together
with his Excellency Governor Tryon's letter of the
same date, directed to the inhabitants of Bennington,
&c., and after reading the same, the above committee
and a nuraerous concourse of the inhabitants of the
- adjacent country and other spectators, gave a full and
unanimous vote in favor of the papers aforesaid ; and
the thanks of the people were presented to us for our
diligence in procuring these papers. Beace was also
recommended on the whole New Hampshire Grants,
by all who were present ; when the whole artillery of
Bennington, with the small-arms, were several times
discharged in honor of the governor and council of
New York. — Health to the king — Health to Governor
Tryon — Health to the council of New York— Uni
versal peace and plenty, liberty and prosperity, by

QUAEEEL EENEWED. 173
sundry respectable gentlemen, some of whom were
from neighboring provinces. Stephen Fat,
Jonas Fay."
This season of rejoicing was -of but short continuance.
The reconciliation was not so complete as the peoplQ
iraagined. The seeds of contention had not been
eradicated, and it was but a short time before the
forraer aniraosity between the Green-Mountain Boys
and the governor of New York resuraed its wonted
vigor. The conciliatory resolve of the governor and
council contained an ambiguity which had escaped the
notice of a people eager to believe that they were to
receive justice. The New- York grantees were re
quested to refrain from prosecuting their claims until'
the king's pleasure could be known ; but nothing was
said in regard to suspending executions where suits
had already been decided in their favor. There was
no prohibition of their claiming possession ofthe lands
which had been a-warded to them by such decisions,
nor were they required to desist from surveying the
lands and determining their situation or boundaries.
Hence, many actual sources of dissesision and tumult
still remained open. Unfortunately, an act of violence
on the part of the inhabitants of the Grants, hastened
the interruption of the friendly feeling which it was
hoped had been established. During the absence of
the commissioners in New York, intelligence was re
ceived at Bennington that Mr. Kockburn, a surveyor
who was especially odious to the people, was busily
engaged in some of the northern townships, in the
survey of lands. A small party, with Colonel Allen
at their head, went in pursuit of Mr. Kockburn, and

174 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
succeeded in capturing hira and in destroying bin in-
strumunts. He was taken to Castleton, tried by a
court-raartial, and threatened with death should he
ever 'agdin enter the interdicted territory. But at this
juncture, the result of the mission of the Fays to New
York was learned, and Mr. Kockburn was released.
and the sentence against him withdrawn. During the
expedition in search of Mr. Kockburn, Ethan Allen
and his party dispossessed the tenants of an intruder
in New Pla ven,. near the raouth of Otter creek. The
charter of the townships had been granted by l^ew
Harapshire in 1763, and as early as 1769, a settleraent
was commenced under the charter, arid a saw-mill
erected. Soon afterward. Colonel Eeid, of New York,
who claimed under a subsequent patent from that prov
ince, forcibly turned out the New--Harapshire settlers
and put his own tenants in possession. They erected
additional log-houses and a grist-mill. Allen gave these
persons a short time to remove their effects, and then
burned the houses, requiring the people to repurchase
under New Hampshire, or leave the district. Fang-
burn, the forraer proprietor, was put in possession of
his saw-mill, but the machinery of the grist-mill was
destroyed. Governor Tryon, on hearing of these ex
ploits, was much exasperated. He wrote a letter to
the inhabitants of the Grants, complaining of this con
duct as an insult to the government, and a violation
of public faith. This letter was taken into consider
ation by the comraittees of the several townships,
asserabled at Manchester, who returned a bold and
decisive, though conciliatory answer. They asserted
that their conduct could be no breach of faith, because

LETTEE TO GOVEENOE TETON. 175
none was plighted untU the 16th of July, when the
proposition of Governor Tryon was accepted by the
people in convention at Bennington, and that tha
transactions complained of had happened before that
time; that if there had been any violation of the
compact, the New- York claimants had been the ag
gressors in undertaking to survey and occupy the
territory in dispute. If such conduct, contended they,
was not forbidden by the agreement proposed by Gov
ernor Tryon and accepted by the people, they had
wholly misunderstood the character of his proposition,
and had been deceived in regard to the compact which
had received their approval. They assured him that
they had never consented, and never would consent to
abandon their property to the land speculators of New
Y''ork. Although the forras of civility were retained
in the correspondence, it was evident that the situa
tion of the people was precisely what it had been
previous to any attempt at negotiation. Indeed, as is
usual in cases of unsuccessful efforts at reconcUiation,
the aniraosity of the parties was increased, and the
prospect of a peaceful termination of the difficulties
was much diminished.
A meeting of deputies, from the towns on the west
side of the Green Mountains, was held at Manchester,
on the 21st of October, 1772, which not only confirraed
all previous resolutions to resist the New-Yorkers, but
adopted others still more belligerent. For the purpose
of strengthening their interest on the Grants, the New-
York government renewed the policy of appointing
several ofthe most conspicuous and influential settlers
to office. In some instances these appointments were

176 ETHAN ALLEN AND OEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
attended with the anticipated results, and the individ
uals thus distinguished became the adherents of the
government by which they had been honored. To
counteract the tendency of this policy, it was decreed
by the convention, that no person residing within the
limits of the disputed territory should hold or accept
office under New York. On conviction before a proper
tribunal of Green-Mountain Boys, the offender was to
be punished at the discretion of the " court." The pun
ishment under this decree, which continued in force
for several years, was comraonly ¦whipping and banish
ment — the whipping was quaintly denominated "the
application of the beech-seal^'' or, as Ethan Allen
sometiraes had it, "a castigation with the twigs of the
wilderness." The New-Harapshire Grants were thus
actually separated frora New York, and thenceforward
acted as an independent republic, the people making
and administering their own laws, and yielding only a
nominal allegiance to the authority of the British crown.
Indeed, the people of Bennington seem never to have
fully acknowledged the jurisdiction of New York. Un
til near the beginning of 1770, the notiflcations of all
town-meetings were usually headed, "Brovince of New
Hampshire ; " but after that tirae they were siraply en
titled "Town of Bennington," without any allusion to
the province in which it was situated. This was con
tinued until 1778, when the inhabitants of the Grants
formally announced their independence, and adopted
a written constitution. During the intermediate pe
riod they existed as a thorough democracy ; all law-s
and regulations, as well as the time and manner ol
their enforcement in particular instances, being decided

THE SCOTCH EMIGEANTS. 177
upon in general meetings of the people. The conven
tion at Westminster, it is true, had sent Jehiel Hawley
and James Brackenridge as commissioners to London,
to seek redress of their grievances from the governor
of New York ; but the subject of taxing the colonies
then engrossed the entire attention of the home gov
ernment, and prevented any decisive action being
taken in regard to the matter.
From the fall of 1772 until the comraenceraent of
the Eevolution, the controversy with New York was
carried on with increasing vigor and animosity. Its
history is one of repeated attempts on the part of the
New-York authorities to take possession of the disputed
lands ; of indictments against the occupants of the
New-Hampshire Grants as rioters for resisting these
attempts ; of laws and proclamations for their appre
hension and punishment ; of the forcible expulsion of
the New- York intruders ; and of the arrest, punishraent
or banishraent of persons on the Grants who counte
nanced the New- York titles or jurisdiction. Only a
few of the raost iraportant incidents of this period need
be mentioned. The settlement at Ne'w-Haven Falls,
the scene of Ethan Allen's summary raanner of award
ing justice, becarae the subject of further difficulties.
In July, 1773, Colonel Eeid, who then resided in New
York, induced a number of Scotch emigrants, who had
recently landed in that city, to accompany hira to New
Haven, and becorae his tenants upon the lands which
he clairaed under a patent from New York. This
party took immediate possession of the improve
ments — a second time expelling the New-Hampshire
settlers. Having repaired his mills, Colonel Eeid
8*

178 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
returned to New York, leaving the Scotch raen to retain
possession of the premises and to continue the im
provements. Intelligence of this invasion was sent to
Bennington, and Allen, Warner, Baker and others im
mediately repaired to the scene of action, and forcibly
reinstated the New-Hampshire claimants. The ma
chinery of the flouring mills was broken, and the
miller was warned not to repair it, "on pain of suf
fering the displeasure of the Green-Mountain Boys."
The Scotchmen, who were accompanied by their fam
ilies, on being inforraed of the nature of the contro
versy, declared that they had been deceived by Colonel
Eeid, reraoved frora the place, and finally settled near
the Mohawk river. To prevent further intrusions,
Allen and his party caused a block-fort to be erected
at the place, and supplied it with a sraall garrison,
which thenceforward afforded full protection to the
people in that vicinity. A similar fort ¦was built on
the Winooski, amply furnished with arms and ararau
nition. Further defensive measures were contemplated,
and an agent was actually sent abroad to purchase the
necessary munitions of war.
In consequence of information received at New York,
of these and other occurrences of a similar character,
the council advised Governor Tryon, "that the fre
quency of riots and the boldness of rioters made it ne
cessary to employ a military force ; " and unanimously
requested him to demand of General Haldimand, the
commander of the regular forces, " a sufficient number
of troops to occupy Ticonderoga and Crown Boint, to
aid the magistrates in the performance of their duty.'"
This requirement was made by the governor, but was

ALLEN AND THE " DUEHAMITES." 179
not well received by the general, who did not appear
to be convinced of the propriety of assenting to the
use of the regular troops for such a purpose. A volu
minous correspondence ensued between the two officials,
which was protracted until so late in the season that
it became impracticable to transfer the troops to the
proposed stations.
The town of Clarendon and its vicinity was the the
ater of repeated disturbances. The first settlers ofthe
town, which they called Durham, had purchased from
the heirs of Lydius. They favored the claims of New
York, although they declined to repurchase their lands
of either New York or New Hampshire. Governor
Tryon, in the hope of obtaining their aid against the
claimants of lands under New-Hampshire grants, ac
quiesced in the validity of their title from the heirs
of Lydius. Some of their principal men were ap
pointed magistrates, and they recognized the juris
diction of New York. This defection, in the midst of
the New-Hampshire Grants, gave rauch uneasiness to
the Green-Mountain Boys, and various measures Were
adopted to induce the "Durhamites," as they were
called, to recognize the validity of the titles from
Governor Wentworth. In. order either to terrify or
force them into a compliance with the views of the
Green-Mountain Boys, Allen and Baker, with one
hundred armed men, raarched to Clarendon in the
autumn of 1773. The persons against whom the ex
pedition was chiefly undertaken, having notice of the
approach of the hostile force, effected their escape.
Allen and his party remained in the town several
days, "visiting the inhabitants, and exhorting them to

180 ETHAN ALLEN AKD JEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
repent of their New- York attachments." After com
mitting several acts of violence, and threatening still
severer measures should their requirements be disre
garded, they returned to their homes. The persons
who had fled from Clarendon proceeded to New York,
and placed before the governor and council a full
statement of the alledged outrages of Allen and his
party, which they denominated "the Bennington mob."
In the winter of 1774, the New- York grantees com
bined their influence, and applied to the assembly for
legislative aid against the Green-Mountain Boys. The
result was a law purporting to be an act for the pre
vention of turaultuous and riotous assemblies, and the
punishment of rioters, which may safely be pronounced
to be one of the inost extraordinary specimens of leg
islative despotism that ever disgraced a statute-book.
After naming Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, Eemember
Baker, Eobert Cockrane, Beleg Sunderland, Silvanus
Brown, James Brackenridge, and John Smith as the
principal leaders in the riots, the law empowered the
governor and council to issue a proclamation requiring
those persons, or any others ¦who should be indicted for
a sirailar offense, (that of resisting the sheriff,) to sur
render themselves for comraitment to any justice of
the peace, within seventy days fi-om the date of such
requirement ; and in case this summons should be dis
obeyed, the person neglecting to surrender himself was
to be "adjudged and deemed" convicted, and to suft'er
death without further trial ; and the supreme court
was authorized to pass a judicial sentence in the same
manner as if an actua trial had been had, and a ver
dict of guilty duly rendered! This law was enacted

THE "BLOODT law." 181
on the 9th of March, 1774, and on the sarae day the
governor, never weary of offering rewards for the ap
prehension of Allen and his associates, issued a proc
lamation promising a reward of one hundred pounds
for the arrest of Ethan Alien, and fifty pounds for
either of the other persons accused as "the principal
ringleaders of the Bennington mob." The purpose of
these proceedings was to inflict a punishment so severe
upon these persons, as would overawe the opposition
to the authority of New York. The effect was far
otherwise. "They may," said Allen laughingly, ^^ sen
tence us to be hung for refusing to voluntarily place
our necks in the halter ; but how ¦will the fools manage
to hang a Green-Mountain Boy before they catch him ? "
The committees of the several townships assembled in
convention, and took up the subject with more calraness
than could have been anticipated under circurastances
BO irritating. They reviewed the causes of the contro
versy, asserted anew their rights, affirmed that they
were not the aggressors, that all the violence to which
they had been accessory was fully justified" by the
laws of self-preservation, and that they were deter
mined to maintain the ground they had taken, without
fear or favor, at every hazard and every sacrifice.
They closed their public proceedings by a resolve, that
all necessary preparations should be made, and that
the inhabitants should hold themselves in readiness at
a minute's warning to defend those among thera " who,
for their merit in the great and general cause, had
been falsely denominated rioters;" declaring, at the
same time, that they would act only on the defensive,
and that in all civil cases, and criminal prosecutions —

182 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
really such — they would assist the proper officers to
enforce the execution of the laws.
In addition to these public doings of the people at
large by their representatives, the proscribed persons,
at the head of whom was Ethan Allen, published a
manifesto, to which they jointly affixed their names,
containing a defense of themselves, and free remarks
on the New-York act and proclamation. To look for
moderation as a prominent quality in a paper of this
kind, is perhaps more than would be authorized by the
nature of the case, or the character of the individuals
concerned ; yet it expressed sentiments which we should
be sorry not to find in men whom we would respect,
and in whom we would confide in the hour of peril.
It spoke in a tone of deep coraplaint of the injuries
they had suffered from the ¦vindictive persecutions of
their enemies, protested against the tyrannical abuse of
power which would arraign thera as criminals for pro
tecting their own property, and threatened death to
those who "should be tempted by the wages of un
righteousness offered in the proclamation," and under
take to put in execution against them the sanguinary
edict of the New- York assembly. After these decisive
manifestoes of the belligerent parties, acts of violence
might be anticipated. These were, however, not nu
merous, nor of a decisive character. There were a few
cases in which the "beech-seal" was applied to the
partisans of New York with considerable energy ; but
this punishment was reserved for the most incorrigible
offenders. Milder measures were adopted with the'
less dangerous and active, and usually with success.
Eidicule was often emp^-^yed, and constituted the

PUNISHMENT OF DOCTOE ADAMS. 183
principal ingredient of the punishments inflicted upon
them. An instance of this is found in the case of
Doctor Samuel Adams, of Arlington. He openly
declared himself a partisan of New York, and ¦was
accustoraed to speak disrespectfully of the conventions
and committees, and advised the public to peaceably
purchase the title to their lands from New York. He
was informed by his neighbors that his conversation
was unacceptable, and they admonished him to be
more prudent in the expression of his views. Far
from producing a reform, their hints served only to
stimulate the anger of the courageous doctor, who forth
with armed himself with pistols and other weapons,
and proclaimed his opinions raore loudly and decidedly
than ever. He announced his full determination to
defend himself to. the best of his ability against any
person who should approach him with any unfriendly
design. Such a threat was not likely to be disregarded,
and the doctor was ^seized in an unguarded moment,
and compelled to surrender. He was taken to the
"Green-Mountain Tavern" in Bennington, (then kept
by Captain Stephen Fay, and now occupied as a pri
vate residence by his grandson, Samuel Fay, Esq.,)
where he was arraigned before the committee, who,
not satisfied with his defense, sentenced hira to a novel
punishment, which was immediately infiicted. Before
the door of the tavern stood a sign-post, twenty-five
feet high, the top of which was adorned with the skin
of a catamount stuffed to the size of life, with its head
turned toward Albany, its jaws distended, and its for
midable teeth portending destruction to all who should
approach from that direction. The contumacious

184 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
doctor was tied into a chair, and drawn up to the top
of the sign-post, where, according to the decision of
the court, he was to remain suspended for two hours.
This occasioned great merriment to the large assem
blage which was present to witness the affair, and so
mortified Doctor Adams that he returned to his houso
in silence, and thenceforward took no part in the
controversy. It will be borne in mind, that the resolutions adopted
by the conventions of the people were regarded as the
law of the New-Hampshire Grants. Offenses against
the dearest rights of the people, when they threatened .
to be attended with any degree of success, were pun
ished with commensurate severity. The case of Ben
jamin Hough will serve as an example of this. He
was araong those who applied to the asserably of New
York for legislative aid against the Green-Moun
tain Boys, and was commissioned as a justice of the
peace, on the very day that the assembly passed its
sanguinary law and the governor issued his offensive
proclamation against the defenders of their mountain
homes. Taking with him these documents, he returned
to his residence in Clarendon, and undertook to estab
lish the authority of New York. He was repeatedly
warned not to act as a magistrate, but, being found
incorrigible, was taken before the committee of safety
at Sunderland. The committee ordered the resolution
of the convention of the New-Harapshire Grants to be
read, in which the holding of any office, civil or raili
tary, under the colony of New York, within that dis
trict, was declared to be penal. The prisoner confessed
that he had been active in procuring the passage of

185
the odious New- York law, and in exercising his au
thority as a magistrate, but pleaded the jurisdiction of
New York in justification of his conduct. The sentence
of the committee was as follows : " That the prisoner
be taken from the bar of this committee of safety, and
be tied to a tree, and then, on his naked back, receive
two hundred stripes ; his back being dressed, he should
depart out of the district, and on return, without spe
cial leave of the convention, to suffer death." This
sentence was carried into execution in the presence of
a large concourse of people ; and at his request the
following certificate was furnished for his future
reference : — ¦ " SuNDEELAND, 30th January, 1775.
"This may certify the inhabitants of the New-
Hampshire Grants, that Benjamin Hough hath this
day received a full punishment for his crimes com
mitted against this country ; and our inhabitants are
ordered to give him, the said Hough, a free and unmo
lested passport toward the city of New York, or to
the Westward of our Grants, he behaving himself as
becometh. "Given under our hands the day and date aforesaid.
Ethan Allen,
Seth Waenee."
When this paper was handed to Hough, Allen
observed that the certificate, together with the receipt
on his back, would, no doubt, be admitted as legal
evidence before the suprerae court and the governor and
council of New York, although, in several instances,
to his knowledge, the king's warrant to Governor
Wentworth and his excellency's sign-manual, with the
great seal of the province of New Harapshire, would

186 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAlN HEEOES.
not. Living, as we now do, in the enjoyment of just
and equal laws, and in tiraes when such penalties are
never inflicted, it is no slight task to forra a proper
estimate of the measures now under review. Those
who regard them as severe must bear in mind that,
aside frora the alternative of surrendering their farms,
which their industry had made to blossom as the rose,
or a determined resistance by force, the settlers on the
New-Hampshire Grants were threatened with penalties
the most inhuman, for endeavoring to defend the
homes that were dear to them. "Let it not be said,"
remarks a distinguished Yermonter,''^ " that the inflic
tion of this barbarous punishraent proves that the
people of the Grants were less civilized than the peo
ple of other parts of New England ; for long afterward
this relic of barbarisra was found in the crirainal code
of all the states ; but a more advanced state of civili
zation has since broken up the habit by which it had
been continued through generations of civilized man,
and it has been exploded, never again to find a place
in the code of any of the American states." Aside
frora the reasons heretofore given for retaliation on the
part of the Green-Mountain Boys, it need not escape
remembrance that as necessity drove them to resistance,
so sound policy would naturally dictate that such re
sistance should be of a character to inspire a full and
firm belief that it would be effectual. Every prospect
of reconciliation or subraission to the clairas of New
York had vanished. The New-Harapshire grantees,
believing the action of the New- York authorities to
originate in the avarice of a set of speculators who
• Hon. Daniel Chipman.

PEIVATIONS OF THE PIONEEES. 187
coveted their lands, and that the people of New
York felt no disposition to aid in enforcing such
claims — satisfied that the public sentiment •was highly
favorable to the rights of the settlers — and being
aware, from past experience, that the militia of the
colony could never be induced to contend against
them — regarded with contempt every threat or legal
enactment intended to inspire terror. The idea of
submission seeras never for a raoment to have occupied
the attention of the handful of brave men against
whora these raeasares were directed. Educated in the
school of adversity, and inured to hardships and dan
gers, they met and sustained the shock with a firm,
unbroken spirit.
At the comraenceraent of the controversy in regard
to the jurisdiction of the New-Harapshire Grants, the
population of that district is supposed not to have
exceeded three hundred families ; but in the year 1775
the number of inhabitants was estimated at twenty
thousand. The smoke of the settlers' cabins curled up
from almost all the nuraerous, beautiful and fertile
valleys which nestle amid the Green Mountains ; and
the sound of the woodman's ax echoed from almost
every hill-side. As is usually the case with the pio
neers of a new country, the early settlers of Yerraont
were poor, and wholly dependent upon their efforts for
obtaining homes for themselves and families. Their
descendants can scarcely realize the privations and
sufferings they endured in thus establishing themselves
in the unbroken wUderness. In numerous instances,
families proceeded to the farms they had purchased,
miles from any other human habitation, and encamped

188 ETHAN AIJLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
in the forest until, by their own unaided efforts, they
could erect log-cabins. Many of them traveled in
canoes, or on foot, carrying their entire effects upon
their backs. The heads of other families proceeded^ to
their farms in the suramer, erected cabins, cleared
their lands, and in the winter brought their families to
their rude and solitary homes. It was not uncommon
for them to travel on foot, drawing their household
utensils on "handsleds," and, frequently, when the
wife was too feeble to endure these trials, the husband
would draw her in this manner. A single family
would thus move into a township, and reside months
without seeing another huraan being. Mr. Amos Cut
ler, the first settler in the town of Brandon, spent an
entire winter without seeing any other person ; and
Mr. Abijah Wheelock, an early- pioneer of Calais, after
a flourishing town had grown up around him, would
allude pleasantly to the hermit-life he had formerly
endured, by asserting there had been a time when he
¦was the most respectable man in the town. The wife of
Thomas Whitraore, the earliest settler in Marlborough,
spent the most of one winter alone, her husband being
absent on business. This lady lived to the advanced
age of eighty-seven years, and saw a flourishing state
grow up, where but a few scattered families resided
when she entered the territory. Throughout her active
years she performed the duties of a nurse; and so
indispensable was her assistance considered in that
vicinity, in cases where the census . of the new state
was affected, that the good old lady was enabled to
boast, in her declining years, that she had assisted at
the birth of over two thousand children !

A NEW TEOUBLE. 189
The New-Hampshire grantees were by no means so
engrossed by their own troubles as to be indiff'erent to
the policy pursued by the mother country toward her
colonies in America. As the settlers were chiefly
emigrants from Connecticut and Massachusetts, they
sympathized with the feelings of discontent which
pervaded those colonies. Those residing on Connecti
cut river, who had surrendered their original charters,
and taken out new grants under the broad seal of New
York, and had submitted to the jurisdiction of that
colony, were comparatively unconcerned spectators of
that bitter controversy in which the grantees on the
west side of the raountains were interested. But their
freedom from participation in the angry contest be
tween the settlers and the governor of New York,
ga-ve them a better opportunity to understand and
resist the tyrannical measures which England was
preparing for the more complete subjection of the
colonies. An event took place in the spring of the
year 1776, in their midst, which served still further to
arouse their detestation of the policy of the mother
country. When, at a former day, the line was estab
lished between Massachusetts and Connecticut, many
inhabitants, who had received grants of land from the
former province, in compensation for their services
against the French and Indians, found themselves
thrown into the latter, and were required to abandon
their possessions. The state of Massachusetts, with
a commendable sense of justice, made thera, in com
pensation, a grant of ¦what is now the towns of Butney,
Dummerston and Brattleborough, Yermont, — hence
called, in those days, "the Equivalent Land," — and

190 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
their title, it is believed, was respected by New Harap
shire. These men were of the old Buritan stock, and
when, upon the conquest of Canada, in which they
had aided, the British parliaraent established the
Roraan Catholic faith as the religion of that province,
by an act called "the Quebec Bill," it was extremely
exasperating to their feelings ; and one Lieutenant
Spalding, of Dummerston, on one occasion, called the
king "the Bope of Canada." This remark, which
might have been wisely and judiciously passed over,
was seized upon by the royal satellites, as a good
opportunity to show their power, and Spalding was
arrested for high treason, and imprisoned in the jail at
Westminster. This was on the 28th of October, 1774,
and on the 29th, a raajority ofthe inhabitants of Dura-
merston assembled and chose a comraittee of- corre
spondence, "to join," in their own language, "with
other towns and respectable bodies of people, the bet
ter to secure and protect the rights and privileges of
theraselves and fellow-creatures frora the ravages and
erabarrassraents of the British tyrant and his New-
York and other emissaries." This led to such concert
that a large body of men from Dummerston, Butney,
Guilford, Halifax and Draper, (now Wilmington,) pro
ceeded to Westminster, opened the door of the jaU, and
released Spalding frora imprisonment.
This brought the controversy to a point, and it now
became manifest that, on the one side, if the royal
authority was to be upheld, the whole apparatus of
executive and judicial power must be brought into
play, numerous crirainal proceedings instituted, and
civil ejectments must follow; and on the other, the

EXCITEMENT OF THE PEOPLE.

191

abandonment of the proceedings must be compeUed
by the people, and the whole machinery of royal
oppression resisted and stayed, at once and forever.
Both parties prepared for the crisis ; and as the
court was to hold its next session on the 14th of March,
1775, at Westminster, they had about four months to
make preparations and arrangements. On the 13th of
March, 1776, they assembled at Westminster, the loyal
officers ofthe county being supported by their adherents.
The whigs, as they were then called, came also in con
siderable numbers, and having learned that it was the"
private intention of the royal party^ to get the first
possession of the court-house, they placed therein about
one hundred men, commanded by a captain of the ,
militia, and deterrained to keep possession until their
grievances were laid before the judges and redressed.
Near the setting of the sun, the sheriff came with his
posse, part of whom were arraed with muskets, and
deraanded admittance ; which was refused, unless he
would order his men to lay aside their arms. About -
ten o'clock at night, the chief justice came among
thera, and assuring their captain that no atterapt
should be made to molest them until morning, the
latter withdrew the principal part of his force, leav
ing only a small body of men, arraed with bludgeons ;
araong whora was WiUiara French, a young farraer,
not twenty-two years of age, who lived in Brattle
borough. The people of that town, who lived in his
iraraediate neighborhood, were of the opposite party,
and, indeed, sorae of thera were in the sheriff's band ;
that officer being himself an inhabitant of the town.
French, who generally acted with his friends in Dum

192 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
merston, appears, though holding no official station, to
have been much esteemed for his honesty, bravery and
patriotism; and the treatment he afterward received
frora his opponents, sufficiently attests how much they
feared his influence. About eleven o'clock at night, the
persons appointed to watch reported that the sheriff,
\yith an armed force, was approaching, and means were
taken to prevent his coming into the house.
When he came up, he again deraanded entrance,
and was refused as before. He then- ordered his men
to fire, which they did by aiming above the heads of
the people within ; but finding that this produced no
effect, he repeated his order, and the muskets were
leveled and discharged with such effect, that the de
fenders were driven back, and the assailants rushed
into the house, and coraraenced a horrid butchery upon
the defenseless raen. William French, in facing them,
received five bullet- wounds in different places : in his
thigh, leg, mouth, face and forehead. Several others
were sevei'ely wounded ; and one, Daniel Houghton,
was shot through the body, and after lingering a few
days, expired. About twenty, who had not retreated,
including the wounded, were seized and inhumanly
thrust into prison ; and the bleeding body of the dying
French was dragged to the prison-door, and thrown
in among them, with circumstances of the most cruel
insult and brutality.
The court was opeHed at the usual hour on the next
morning, with something like triumphal ceremony, and
adjourned formally until three o'clock in the afternoon.
But that court never reassembled. The news of the
murder spread with great rapidity, and before the

WILLIAM FEENCH. 193
appointed hour, the people were rushing to the scene
from all directions. The principal aggressors took
the alarm, and fled precipitately. On the 15th of
March, an inquest was held on the body of French,
and on the same day it was committed to the ground,
a the coraraon burial-place at Westrainster — the mili
tia from the neighboring towns attending, and firing
volleys over his grave. A tombstone was soon brought
from Dummerston, bearing an inscription peculiarly
illustrative of the times, and placed at the head,
where it still remains. Being of slate, taken from
the quarry near his residence, it is not of the most
enduring character, but quite liable to injury and
decay. For, while the face of the stone retains to
this day the "rude but emphatic inscription," the rains
and snows of nearly eighty winters, lodging on the
top, have percolated between the layers, and partially
separated them; so that, if they had not been re
tained together by a small rivet of lead, inserted
oy no one knows who or when, the whole must long
since have crumbled and been lost.'* With the burial
• The following is a literal copy of the inscription upon the dki
aionument : In Memory of WiUiam French
Son of Mr Ifathaniel French 'Who
Was shot at Westminster March ye 13th
1775 by the hands of Cruel Ministereal
tools of George ye 3d in the Corthouse at
a 11 a Clock at Night in the 22d year of
his Age 
Here WiUiam French his Body Ues
9

194 ETHAN ALI^N AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
of WiUiam French, were buried the hopes of subja-^
gaclfig tbe men who dwelt on the hills and in the
vaLe/s cf the Green Mountains. The spirit of re
sisting oppression to the last extremity, awakened by
his death, was never extinguished ; and within two
years from that time, there v/as proclaimed from the
same building in which he was martyred, the decla
ration of the independence of Yerraont.
Highly irritated by the massacre of William French,
a committee of the larger portion of the people on the
east side of the Green Mountains met at Westrainster,
April 11, 1775, and adopted the following resolution :
"Yoted, that it is the duty of said inhabitants, as
predicated on the eternal and immutable law of self-
preservation, to -wholly renounce and resist the admin
istration of the government of New York, tUl such tirae
as the lives and property of those inhabitants may
be secured by it ; or till such time as they can have
opportunity to lay their grievances before his raost
gracious Majesty in council, together with a proper
remonstrariOi- against the unjustifiable conduct of that
goveriiinen:, with an humble petition to be taken out
of so oppressive a jurisdiction, and either annexed to
some otner governraent, or erected and incorporated
into a new one, as raay appear best to the said inhab
itants, to the royal wisdom and clemency, and till
such time as his Majesty shall settle this controversy."
For Murder his blood for Vengance cries
King Georg the third his Tory crew
tha with a bawl his head Shot threw
For Liberty and his Countrys Good
he Lost his Life his Dearest blood

SUSPENSION OF THE CONTEO-VEEST. 195
What would have been the final result of the con
troversy with New York, had not the attention of
the people been diverted frora the subject by one of
greater iraportance, can only be conjectured. But a
higher and raore raomentous controversy, involving
the independence of the whole American people,
was brought before them, and they forgot their land
difficulties, their "beech-seal" certificates, and their
midnight riots.

CHAPTEE III.
ETHAW ALLEH-.
"The mountains green that witnessed firet his fame,
From rocks to rocks resounded far his name.
As the tough horn-beam, (peering o'er those rocks,)
With gnai-led grain the riving thunder mocks.
Indignant Allen, manacled in vain.
With soul revolting, bit the British chain." HuMPHEETS.
The American Eevolution called forth the latent
energies of many individuals, who would, in a more
peaceable state of political affairs, have slumbered in
obscurity, and gone down to the grave unhonored and
unknown. The very nature of the policy of Great
Britain toward this country — a policy every way
tyrannical and oppressive — was calculated to call into
action the efforts of every friend of liberty. It was an
attempt to strip the people of their rights, and manacle
them with the fetters of slavery. But, thanks to the
spirit which prevaUed among our fathers — thanks to
the patriotism which then warmed the hearts of the
people — the mercenaries of a foreign power were
unequal to the task of accomplishing the designs of
their masters. True-hearted volunteers rallied to the
calls of the brave and wise men of our country,
imbued with a spirit worthy of the little band which
defended the pass of Thermopylae. They fought and
conquered ; and their declining years were cheered

ETHAN ALLEN. 197
with the knowledge that the country for which they
had struggled so long and fearfully, was prosperous
and happy, and that their deeds were gratefully
remerabered. Perhaps no individual, of equal advantages, and in
the station he occupied, contributed raore toward
establishing the independence of our country, than
Ethan Allen. The raass of the people araong whom
he resided, were rude and uncultivated ; yet bold in
spirit, and zealous in action. It consequently followed,
that no one but a raan of strong natural endowments —
of much decision, energy ahd bravery — could control
their prejudices and inclinations. Habit had rendered
thera familiar with danger, and impatient of restraint :
hence it followed, that no policy, unless proceeding
from a source in which they had confidence, ever
gained their approbation. Upon Allen, whose courage
was undoubted, and whose zealous devotion to their
interests was universally acknowledged, they implicitly
relied. They had known hira in adversity and pros
perity — they had weighed hira, and found nothing
lacking. To friend or foe, he was ever the sarae
unyielding advocate of the rights of raan, and uni
versal liberty. The policy, therefore, he upheld, as
beneficial to the common cause of American liberty,
ever found strong and efficient supporters in the
friends with whom he associated, and by whom he-
was known.
From the commencement of our revolutionary
struggle until its final close, Ethan Allen proved a
zealous and strenuous supporter of the cause. Whether
in the field or council — whether at horae, a freeman

198 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAtN HEEOES.
among the mountains of Yermont, or loaded with tho
manacles of despotism in a foreign country, his spirit
never quailed beneath the sneer of the tory, or the
harsh threats of insolent authority. A stranger to
fear, his opinions were ever given without disguise or
hesitation ; and, an enemy to oppression, he sought
every opportunity to redress the wrongs of the op
pressed. It is not to be supposed, however, that he
was faultless. Like other men, he had his errors —
like other men, his foibles : yet he was not -wiUfuUy
stubborn in either. When convinced of an erroneous
position, he was ever willing to yield ; but, in theory,
as in practice, he contested every inch of ground ; and
only yielded, when he had no weapons left to meet
his antagonist. This trait in his character serves, at
least, to prove that he was honest in his conclusions,
however erroneous the premises from which they
were deduced.
The period at which we have now arrived in the
life of Ethan Allen, places him in a more conspicuous
and interesting position before the reader. Heretofore
he has been seen only as the zealous friend of the
section in which he resided — as the champion of
the hurable citizen, contending for the rights of indi
vidual property, and private justice. In these offices
of friendship and duty, however, he had ever the con
fidence and the esteera of his neighbors. He had
evinced a spirit of patriotism, and a love of freedom,
which warmly recommended hira to the notice and
the adrairation of the most deterrained and able
advocates of Araerican liberty. That he should have
been selected, therefore, as the leader in an enterprise

EEVIEW OF COLONLAL HISTOET. 199
of the highest moment to the cause of liberty, was
alike due to his principles, his services, and his
position. A hasty glance at the posture of affairs at this
juncture, however well the reader may be acquainted
with it, cannot be improper. During the seventy-one
years frora 1689 to 1760, the colonies were involved
in four wars, occupying,- in all, twenty-seven years ;
not to albide to the interminable hostilities which raged
between them and the Indian tribes, along their
frontier settlements. Yet, in this period, the popula
tion had increased from two hundred thousand to
about three mUlions. The arts and .raanufactures,
being opposed by the raother country, raade but little
progress ; but there was a steady advancement in
agriculture. Trade and commerce had gone on greatly
increasing — so much that, in the ten years preceding
the revolutionary war, the average annual exports, to
Great Britain and elsewhere, amounted to four million
pounds sterling, and the imports, to three and a half
millions. In the mean tirae, colleges, and other supe
rior institutions of learning, had been established in
nearly all the colonies, and popular instruction pro
vided for, especially in New England. The country
was advancing in intellectual culture ; and, more than
all, the necessity of uniting for the common defense,
and the intercourse of the colonies that grew out of it,
had tended to create a national spirit, which the events
of the twelve years succeeding the peace of 1760, still
further developed and strengthened. >
The colonists, from the first, always cherished a
jealous sense of their rights. As early as the middle

200 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.

I

of the seventeenth century, it was a settled doctrine
among them, that the authority of parliament was
limited to the regulation of trade, and that taxes
could not be iraposed upon them without their own
consent. Brevious, indeed, to the peace of Paris, the
home government had never attempted to interfere
with internal taxation. For a century, however, be
fore that event, a variety of restrictions had, frora
time to tirae, been iraposed upon the trade of the colo
nies ; the object of which was to oblige the colonists
to buy and sell exclusively in the English markets.
Colonial manufactures were also, in every possible
way, discouraged. These restrictions produced rauch
discontent. In 1764, the first act avowedly for the
purpose of raising a revenue in Araerica was passed
in parliament. This was followed, the next year, by
the famous "stamp act," making illegal all deeds,
mortgages, bonds, notes, and other instruments of a
like character, unless written upon stamped paper,
upon which a duty to the crown was iraposed, varying
in amount with the transaction which they represented.
These acts excited great displeasure throughout the
colonies ; and in October, 1765, a congress of delegates
from Ehode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New
York, New Jersey, Maryland, and North and South
Carolina, met at New York, and passed several reso
lutions, acknowledging the rightful authority of parlia
ment, but denouncing the stamp act, and other
enactments of the kind, as subversive of the just
rights and liberties of the colonists, as natural-born
English subjects. The proceedings of this body were
sanctioned by all the colonies. The public indignation,

EESISTANCE TO TAXATIO^T. 201
inflamed by newspapers, pamphlets, and popular meet
ings, rose to the highest pitch. Combinations were
everywhere formed, to abstain from using articles of
British manufacture, and, in every way, to oppose the
measures of the horae governraent. The officers ap
pointed under the stamp act were, in raany places,
insulted, abused, and forced to resign ; and when the
tirae arrived for the act to go into operation, neither
staraps nor stamp-officers were to- be found. Business
of all kinds requiring stamps, was, for a time, sus
pended ; law-proceedings were stayed, and the courts
were closed. The next year the stamp act was re
pealed ; although the repeal was accompanied by a
declaration of the "right of parliament to bind the
colonies in all cases whatsoever." In a few months
from this tirae, a new ministry carae into power, and a
new plan for taxing Araeilca was introduced into
parliaraent : that of levying a tax on glass, paper,
pasteboard, painters' colors, and tea, imported into
the colonies. To enforce this law, a body of troops
was sent out, and quartered in Boston. These meas
ures produced great exasperation in the colonies, and
led to combinations against using the articles subjected
to duty. In 1770, this act was repealed, with the ex
ception of the duty on tea. The colonists were only
the more decided in renouncing the use of that article.
An act of parliament was passed in 1773, allowing
the East-India company a remission of certain govern
ment charges on the tea they should send to America,
which would enable them to sell tea to the colonists
cheaper than they could sell it in England. This was
done with the hope of inducing the colonists to returu

202' ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
to the use of ihe article. In this submission to the tax
upon tea, it was expected that the principle, that
parliament had a right to tax the colonists, would be
adopted ; and the way would be open for indiscrimi
nate and oppressive taxation. Large shipments of tea
were accordingly made ; but the Americans refused to
pay the slight duty upon it. The cargoes sent to New
York and Bhiladelphia, were not suffered to be
landed ; in Charleston, it was not allowed to be sold ;
and, at Boston, it was thrown into the harbor, by a
party of men disguised as Indians. These proceedings
excited the fierce displeasure of the British govern
ment, especially againgt Boston ; and in March, 1774,
"the Boston port bill," so called, was passed, prohibit
ing all commercial intercourse with that city. Another
bill subverted the charter-government of Massachu
setts, vesting the appointment of the councU and
judges in the crown ; and a third, shortly after, era-
powered the governor to send persons indicted for
capital offenses, to another colony, or to Great Britain,
for trial. These violent proceedings awakened the
greatest indignation throughout the colonies. All
made coramon cause with Massachusetts. In the fall
of 1774, a general congress met at Bhiladelphia, and
adopted a declaration of rights and grievances, and
agreed to an entire suspension of all commercial inter
course with Great Britain, until the repeal of the acts
of which they complained. They likewise voted an
address to the king ; another to the people of Great
Britain, and a third to the inhabitants of Canada.
These peaceful measures for redress proving in
effectual, the feeling of the necejsity of resisting by

BLOODSHED AT LEXINGTON. 203.
force became quite general in the colonies. Brepara-
tions began to be made ; warlike stores were collected,
and the people began to arm. In Massachusetts,
Governor Gage had convoked the legislative assembly,
but afterward judged it expedient to countermand the
meeting. Notwithstanding this, the assembly con
vened, and, the governor not appearing, organized
themselves, and adopted a plan for the defense of the
province. They resolved to raise a force of twelve
thousand men, and to request the other New-England
states to increase the number to twenty thousand.
Early the next year, (1775) parliaraent, in spite of the
conciliatory counsels of the Earl of Chatham, pro
ceeded to pass a bill restraining still further the trade
of New England. Soon after, restrictions were im
posed upon the middle and southern colonies, except
New York, Delaware, and North Carolina. These
exceptions were made with a view to produce dissen
sions araong the colonies ; but it failed of its object.
This brings us to the comraenceraent of actual hos
tilities. General Gage, the royal governor of Massa
chusetts, sent a detachment of eight hundred soldiers
to destroy some mUitary stores which were deposited
at Concord. On their way, they arrived at Lexington,
on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, where they
found a company of provincial militia assembled on
parade. This company, not instantly obeying an or
der to throw down their arms and disperse, were
fired upon, and eight of their number killed. The
detachment proceeded to Concord, and destroyed the
stores, though not without opposition and bloodshed.
But the spirit of the people was up; and on their

204 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOU:STAiN UEEOES.
return to Boston, the British were harassed the whole
way, and' continually fired upon from behind walls,
buildings and fences. The British loss, in kiUed,
wounded and missing, amounted to nearly three
hundred ; the American, to less tlian one-third of that
number. The vigilant patriots of Massachusetts, then the
very hot-bed of rebellion, early perceived the neces
sity of securing Ticonderoga the moment hostilities
should commence. E"arly in March, 1775, Samuel
Adams and Joseph Warren, members of the com
mittee of correspondence of Boston, sent a secret
agent into Canada, to ascertain the opinions and
temper of the people of that province, concerning the
great questions at issue, and the momentous events
then pending. After a diligent but cautious per
formance of this delicate task, the agent sent word to
them from Montreal, that the people were, at best,
lakewarm; and advised tbat, the moment hostUities
.commenced, Ticonderoga and its garrison should be
seized. This advice was coupled with the positive
assertion, that the people of the New-Hampshire
Grants were ready to undertake the bold enterprise.
Within three weeks after this information was received
by Adams and Warren, the battle of Lexington
occurred. This event aroused the whole country,
and the patriots flocked frora all quarters to Boston.
The provincial asserably of Connecticut was then in
session, and a plan was thei-e concerted for surprising
Ticonderoga, and seizing the cannon in that fortress
for the use of the array then gathering in the vicinity
of Boston. The whole plan and proceedings were

EXPEDITION AGAINST TICONDEEOGA. 205
of a private character, without the public sanction
of the asserably, but with its full knowledge and
tacit approbation. A coramittee was appointed, with
instructions to proceed to the frontier towns, inquire
into the state of the garrison, and, should they deem
it expedient, raise men and take possession of it.
Eighteen hundred dollars were supplied by the pro
vincial territory, to purchase arras and ammunition,
and defray the other expenses of the expedition. On
their way to Bennington, to lay their plans before
Ethan Allen and secure his cooperation, they en
listed betw^een forty and fifty volunteers, among whora
was Colonel James Easton, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
On arriving at Bennington, they found that Ethan
Allen was already preparing to accoraplish the pro
posed object. He was chosen the commander of the
expedition ; Colonel Easton was appointed second in
comraand, and Seth Warren, the third. Colonel
Allen's Green-Mountain Boys, to the number of two
hundred and thirty, were speedily in readiness, and
on the 7th of May the little army reached Castleton.
It was there decided that Colonel Allen and the
principal officers, with the main body of their forces,
consisting of about one hundred and forty men,
should raarch directly to Shoreham, opposite to'
Ticonderoga ; that Captain Herrick, with thirty men,
should keep on to Skenesborough, (now Whitehall,)
at the head of Lake Champlain, seize the establish
ment of Major Skene, and hasten with the boats and
stores they might capture, to join Allen at Shoreham ;
and that Captain Drylas should proceed to Panton,
and secure every boat or bateau that should fall in

206 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEIf -MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
his way. They were joined at Castleton by Colonel
Benedict Arnold, who, in the French wars, had
greatly distinguished hiraself, at the battles in the
vicinity of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Possess
ing great genius, a restless character, and an intre
pidity bordering upon madness, he seems to have
conceived the same plan. To this end, he had con
ferred with the comraittee of safety -of Massachusetts,
who appointed him colonel, with authority to enlist
volunteers for the attempt to capture Ticonderoga.
In pursuance of this arrangement he proceeded to
Castleton, and his surprise was extreme at finding
himself anticipated. But, as nothing could delight
hira more than to engage in this hazardous service
he consented, after being assured that the Green
Mountain Boys would serve only under their favorite
leader, to put himself under the comraand of Colonel
Allen. It was deemed essential to the success of
the enterprise, that it should be conducted with pro
found secrecy, and sentinels were posted upon all the
roads, to prevent any ruraor of their approach frora
reaching the menaced point. Allen, with his little
army, reached Shoreham, opposite Ticonderoga, on
the night of May 9th, 1775. It was iraportant to
have a guide who was acquainted with the grciunds
around the fortress, and the places of access. Allen
made inquiries as to those points, of Mr. Beraan, a
farraer residing on the shore of the lake. He replied
that he seldora crossed to Ticonderoga, and had no
special knowledge in regard to the internal arrange
ment of the fortress ; but that his son Nathan, a young
lad, passed rauch of his time there in corapany with

ATTACK ON TICONDEEOGA. 20^
the boys of the garrison. Nathan was called, and ap
peared by his answers to be familiar with every part
of the fort, and every passage by which it could be
approached. In the opinion of Ethan Allen, he was
the very person to guide him in the enterprise; and by
the consent of his father, and a little persuasion, Na
than Beraan was engaged for that purpose. But a
serious difficulty now occurred. They had but a few
boats, and none had been sent from Skenesborough or
Panton. The day began to dawn, and only the officers
and eighty-three men had crossed the lake. Delay
was hazardous, for the garrison, if aroused, would
make stout resistance. Alien,- therefore, resolved not
to wait for the rear division to cross, but to attack the
fort at once. He drew up his men in three ranks upon
the shore, and in low but distinct tones, briefly ha
rangued them; and then, placing hiraself at their head,
with Arnold by his side, they raarched quickly but
stealthily up the height to the sally-port. The sentinel
snapped his fusee at the commander, but it missed
fire, and he retreated within the fort under a covered
way. The Americans followed close upon his heels,
and were thus guided by the alarmed fugitive directly
to the parade within the barracks. There another
sentinel made a thrust at Colonel Easton, but a blow
upon the head from Allen's sword made him beg for
quarter, and the patriots met with no further resist
ance. As they rushed into the parade, they gave a
tremendous shout, and filing off into two divisions,
forraed a line of forty men along each of the two ranges
of barracks. The aroused garrison leaped from their
pallets, seized their arras and rushed for the parade,

208 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
but only to be raade prisoners by the intrepid New-
Englanders. Allen demanded to be shown to the
apartment of Captain Delaplace, the commandant of
the garrison. It was pointed out, and Colonel Allen,
with Nathan Beraan at his elbow, who knew the way,
hastily ascended the stairs, which were attached to the
outside of the barracks, and called out with a voice of
thunder at the door, ordering the astonished captain
instantly to appear, or the whole garrison should be
sacrificed ! Startled at so strange and unexpected a
summons, he sprung from his bed and opened the door,
when the first salutation' of his boisterous and unsea
sonable visitor was an order immediately to surrender
the fort. Eubbing his eyes and trying to collect his
scattered senses, the captain asked by what authority
he presumed to make such a demand. "In the name
of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress !"
replied Alien.'* The commandant began to remon
strate, but Colonel Allen cut short the thread of his
discourse by lifting his sword over his head, and reit
erating the demand for an immediate surrender. Hav
ing neither perraission to argue nor power to resist.
Captain Delaplace subraitted, ordering his men to pa
rade without arms, and the garrison was given up to
* This is the language of Allen as given by himself in his narrative.
But it was asserted by those who stood near him, tbat his demand was
enforced by an emphatic oath. Lossing [see " Field-Book of the Revo
lution,"] was told by the surviving brother of a man named Rice, who
stood at Allen's side, that he exclaimed, " In the name of the Great Je
hovah and the Continental Congress, by  ." "Delaplace." says
Lossing, " had about as rauch i-'^-spect for the ' Continental Congrrss ' as
Allen had for 'Jehovah,' anc^, they respectively relied upon a' .J feared
powder and ball more than either."

OAPTUEE OF OEOWN POINT. 209
the victors. It is a singular fact that the " Continental
Congress," instead of authorizing Allen to take Ticon
deroga, were entirely ignorant of the enterprise, and
did not meet for organization until six hours after the
surrender of the fortress. This achievement, besides
being the first on the part of the patriots, was of the
utmost importance. Ticonderoga afld Crown Point
commanded the great avenue between Canada and
the other colonies, and its possession gave the Ameri
cans facilities for the subsequent brilliant campaign in
Canada, and the military spoils taken by A.llen were
of incalculable benefit to the army near Boston.
These spoils consisted of one hundred and twenty
pieces of iron cannon, fifty swivels, ten tons of musket-
balls, three cart-loads of fiints, thirty new carriages, a
considerable quantity of shells, a warehouse full of
material for boat-building, and a large quantity of
other stores.
Warner crossed the lake with the rear division, and
marched up to the fort just after the surrender was
made. He was immediately dispatched against Crown
Point, but a strong head-wind drove his boats back,
and he returned to Ticonderoga. He renewed the
attempt on the 12th of May, and succeeded in obtain
ing possession of the fortress without bloodshed. Thus
another strong position was secured, and a great addi
tion was made to the munitions of war acquired at Ti
conderoga. Previous to this aft'air. Colonel AUen had
sent a messenger to Captain Eemember Baker, who
was at Winooski Eiver, requesting hira to join the array
at Ticonderoga with as large a number of raen as he
could assemble. Baker obeyed the summons ; and

210 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
when he was coming up the lake with his party, he
met two small boats, which had been, dispatched from
Crown Point to carry intelligence of the reduction of
Ticonderoga to St. John's and Montreal, and solicit re
inforceraents. The boats were seized by Baker, and
he arrived at Crown Boint just in time to unite with
Warner in taki»g possession of that post. Thus the
main object of the expedition was attained ; but the
troubles ofthe leaders were not at an end. No sooner
had the fort surrendered, than Arnold assumed the
command, affirming that he was the only officer in
vested with legal authority. His pretensions were not
heeded, and although he was vehement and positive,
yet it was in vain to issue orders which nobody would
obey; and finally he consented to a sort of divided
control between Colonel Allen and himself, he acting
as a subordinate, but not wholly without official con
sideration. But the plan of the captors of Ticonderoga would
not have been complete had they not secured to them
selves the exclusive control of the lake, to accomplish
which it was necessary to take a -corvette the Eng
lish kept stationed near St. John's at the north end of
Lake Champlain. They resolved, therefore, to arra a
schooner, (taken at Skenesborough) for the purpose,
the comraand of which was given to Arnold, while
Allen was to follow him in fiat-boats with a reinforce-
m.ent. The ¦wind blowing fresh frora the south, the
vessel of Arnold left the flat-boats far in the rear. He
approached the corvette unexpectedly, the captain of
¦which ¦was far from apprehending the danger that
menaced him, and took possession of it without

PEEPAEATIONS FOE THE WAE. 211
resistance; and, as if Heaven was pleased to distin
guish with evident tokens of its favor these first
achieveraents of the Araericans, the wind suddenly
changed from south to north, so that, in a few hours.
Colonel Arnold returned safely to Ticonderoga.
Colonel Allen exhibited great discretion in his new
position. An account of his expedition was sent to
the Massachusetts, Connecticut and New-York com
mittees of safety, with an urgent solicitation for a re
inforcement of his brave little army, and a supply of
provisions. These were accordingly sent, and meas
ures were taken to organize an army at the north for
the defense of Lake Champlain. In the accomplish
ment of this object, and in the hope of having an ex
pedition sent against Montreal and Quebec, Allen vis
ited the provincial Congress at New York, as well as
the general Congress at Philadelphia. Some opposition
was made to his appearance before the former of these
bodies, on account of the troubles existing between
New York and the New-Hampshire Grants, and the
prominent part taken by Allen in the hostilities result
ing from them. But the majority felt the importance
of forgetting local controversies in the impending con
test with the mother country, and Ethan AUen was
treated with the cordiality due to one engaged with
thera in a great cause, and with the distinction raerited
by one whose services had been of the raost important
character. Allen's representation had immense influ
ence, not only in favor of his projects for the conquest
of the British array in Canada, but in fixing the de
termination of Congress and the country to resist, by
force of arms, the tyrannical measures of the British

212 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
government. While on his way to lay his schemes
before the Continental Congress, he visited Bennington,
where the Eev. Mr. Dewey preached, before him and
other officers, a sermon on the capture of Ticonderoga.
In his prayer, Mr. Dewey, ¦with much fervor, poured
forth his thanks to the Lord for having given the pos
session of this important fortress into the hands of a
people struggling for the defense of their dearest
rights. Allen was displeased, and as the preacher
continued in this strain of thanksgiving, the bluff old
hero cried out, " Parson Dewey ! " The reverend gen
tleman gave no heed to the interr-aption. AUen ex
claimed still louder, "Parson Dewey!" But as the
minister- pursued his prayer, Allen sprung to his feet
and roared out in a voice of thunder, " Barson Dewey ! "
The clergyman opened his. eyes and gazed with aston
ishment at AUen. The latter then said with great
energy, " Barson Dewey, please make mention of my
being there ! " *
But Ethan AUen, who has the imperishable honor of
achieving the first moraentous enterprise in the his
tory of the American Eevolution, had the misfortune,
soon afterward, to fall into the hands of the British,
and to be carried a prisoner to England. The narra
tive of this captivity, written by Allen after his return
to Yermont, will forra the remainder of the present
chapter, in order that the subsequent history of the
part taken by the Green-Mountain Heroes in the
Eevolution, raay be given without interruption. The
* This anecdote is given on the authority of Aaron Robinson, Esq,
son of Moses Robinson, the second, governor of Vermont, and is un-
doubtedly authentic

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 213
" Narrative " was first published in 1779. " The critic,"
he says in the original Preface, " will be pleased to ex
cuse any inaccuracies in the perforraance itself, as
the author has unfortunately raissed of a liberal edu
cation." The Narrative, the faults of which the author
so happily excuses, is here republished, witheut alter
ation, from the original edition :
NARRATIVE.
Ever since I arrived at the state of raanhood, and
acquainted myself with the general history of mankind,
I have felt a sincere passion for liberty. The history
of nations, doomed to perpetual slavery, in consequence
of yielding up to tyrants their natural-born liberties, I
read with a sort of philosophical horror ; so that the
first systematical and bloody atterapt, at Lexington, to
enslave Amerisa, thoroughly electrified my mind, and
fully -determined me to take part with my country.
And, while I was wishing for an opj)ortunity to signal-
ize rayself in its behalf, directions were privately sent
to me from the then colony, (no'w state) of Connecti
cut, to raise the Green-Mountain Boys, and, if possible,
with them to surprise and take the fortress of Ticonde
roga. This enterprise I cheerfully undertook ; and,
after first guarding all the several passes that led
thither, to cut off all intelligence between the garrison
and the country, made a forced raarch frora Benning
ton, and arrived at the lake opposite to Ticonderoga,
on the evening of the ninth day of May, 1775, with
two hundred and thirty valiant Green-Mountain Boys ;
and it was with the utmost difficulty that I procured
boats to cross the lake. However, I landed eighty-
three men near the garrison, and sent the boats back
for the rear guard, commanded by Col. Seth Warner,
but the day began to dawn, and I found myself under
the necessity to attack the fort, before the rear could
cross the lake ; and, as it was viewed hazardous, I
harangued the officers and soldiers in the manner
foUowing : —

'214 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
"Friends and fellow soldiers, Y'ou have,. for a num
ber of years past been a scourge and terror to a'rbitrary
power. Your valor has been famed abroad, and ac
knowledged, as appears by the advice and orders to
me, from the General Assembly of Connecticut, to
surprise and take the garrison now before us. I now
propose to advance before you, and, in person, conduct
you through the wicket-gate ; for we must this morning
either quit our pretensions to valor, or possess ourselves
of this fortress in a few minutes ; and, inasmuch as it
is a desperate attempt, which none but the bravest of
men dare undertake, I do not urge.it on any contrary
to his will. You that will undertake voluntarily, poise
your firelocks."
The men being, at this time, drawn up in three ranks,
each poised his firelock. I ordered them to face to the
right, and at the head of the centre-file, raarched them
iraraediately to the wicket-gate aforesaid, where I found
a sentry posted, who instantly snapped his fusee at
me ; I ran immediately towards him, and he retreated
through the covered way into the parade within the
garrison, gave a halloo, and ran under a bomb-proof
My party, who followed me into the fort, I formed on
the parade in such' a manner as to face the two bar
racks which- faced each other.
The garrison being asleep, except the sentries, we
gave three huzzas which greatly surprised them. One
of the sentries made a pass at one of my officers ¦with
a charged bayonet, and slightly wounded him : My
first thought was to kill him with my sword ; but, in
an instant, I altered the design and fury of the blow
to a slight cut on the side of the head, upon which he
dropped his.:gun, and asked quarter, which I readily
granted him, and demanded of hira the nlace where
the commanding officer kept; he shewed me a pair
of stairs in the front of a barrack, on the west part of
he garrison, which led up to a second story in said
parrack, to which I immediately repaired, and ordered
he commander, Capt. De la Place, to come forth in
stantly, or I would sacrifice the whole garrison; at
VFhioh the Capt. came immediately to the door, with

1

NAEEATIVE OE ALLEN's OAPTIVITT. 215
his breeches in his hand ; when I ordered him to
deliver me the fort instantly ; he asked me by what
authority I demanded it : I answered him, " In the
name of the great Jehovah, and the Continental
Congress.^'' The authority of the Congress being very
litle known at that time, he began to speak again ; but
I interrupted him, and with my drawn sword over
his head, again demanded an immediate surrender of
the garrison ; with which he then complied, and ordered
his men to be forthwith paraded without arms, as he
had given up the garrison. In the mean time some
of my officers had given orders, and in consequence
thereof, sundry of the barrack doors were beat down,
and about one third of the garrison imprisoned, which
consisted of the said coraraander, a Lieut. Feltham, a
conductor of artUlery, a gunner, two Serjeants, and
forty-four rank and file ; about one hundred pieces of
cannon, one thirteen inch mortar, and a number of
swivels. This surprise was carried into execution iu
the grey of the raorning of the tenth of May, H 775. The
sun seemed to rise that morning with a superior lustre ;
and Ticonderoga and its dependencies smiled to its
conquerors, who tossed about the flowing bowl, and
wished success to Congress, and the liberty and freedom
of America., Happy it was for me, at that time, that
the then future pages of the book of fate, which after
wards unfolded a miserable scene of two years and
eight months imprisonment were hid from my view.
But to return to my narrative : Col. Warner, with
the rear guard, crossed the lake, and joined me early
in the morning, whom I sent off, without loss of tirae,
with about one hundred men, to take possession of
Crown Point, which was garrisoned with a Serjeant
and twelve men ; which he took possession of the sarae
day, as also of upwards of one hundred pieces of can
non. But one thing now remained to be done, to mako
ourselves complete masters of lake Champlain ; this
¦tvas to possess ourselves of a sloop of war, which was
then lying at St. Johns ; to effect which, it was agreed
in a council of war, to arm and man out a certain
schooner, which lay at South Bay, and that Capt. (now
10

216 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOBS.
general) Arnold should command her, and that I should
comraand the batteaux. The necessary preparations
being made, we set sail from Ticonderoga^ in quest of
the sloop, which was much larger, and carried more
guns and heavier metal than the schooner. General
Arnold, with the schooner, sailing faster than the bat
teaux, arrived at St. Johns ; and by surprise, possessed
himself of the sloop, before I could arrive with the
batteaux : He also made prisoners of a Serjeant and
twelve men, who were garrisoned at that place. It is
worthy of remark that as soon as General Arnold had
secured the prisoners on board, and had made prepara
tion for sailing, the wind, which but a few hours before
was fresh in the south, and well served to carry us to
St. Johns, now shifted, and carae fresh frora the north ;
and in about one hour's tirae. General Arnold sailed
with the prize and schooner for Ticonderoga. When
I met him with my party, within a few miles of St.
Johns, he saluted me with a discharge of cannon, which
I returned with a volley of small arms. This being
repeated three times, I went on board the sloop with
my party, where several loyal Congress healths were
drank. We were now masters of lake Champlain, and the
garrison depending thereon. This success I viewed
of consequence in the scale of American politics ; for,
if a settlement between the then colonies and Great
Britain,- had soon taken place, it would have been easy
to have restored these acquisitions ; but viewing the
then future consequences of a cruel war, as it has really
proved to be, and the command of that lake, garrisons,
artillery, &c., it must be viewed to be of signal import
ance to the American cause, and it is marvellous to me
that we ever lost the command of it. Nothing but
taking a BurgSyne with a whole British army, could,
in my opinion, atone for it ; and notwithstanding such
an extraordinary victory, we must h€ obliged to regain
the command of that lake again, be the cost what it
will ; by doing this Canada will easUy be brought into
union and confederacy with the United States of
America. Such an event would put it out of the

NAEEATIVE OP allen's OAPTIVrrT. 217
power of the western tribes of Indians to carry on a
war with us, and be a solid and durable bar against
any further inhuman barbarities coraraitted on our
frontier inhabitants, by cruel and blood-thirsty sav
ages ; for it is impossible to carry on a war, except
they are supported, by the trade and comraerce of sorae
civilized nation ; which to them would be impracticable,
did Canada compose a part of the American empire.
Early in the fall of the year, the little army under
the comraand of the Generals Schuyler and Montgora
ery, were ordered to advance into Canada. I was at
Ticonderoga, when this order arrived ; and the Gen
erals, with raost of the field officers, requested me to
attend them in the expedition ; and, though at that
time I had no commission from Congress, yet they
engaged me, that I should be considered as an officer,
the same as though I had a comraission ; and should,
as occasion might require, command certain detach
ments of the array. This I considered as an honorable
ofi"er, and did not hesitate to comply with it, and
advanced with the army to the Isle-aux-Noix ; from
whence I was ordered by the General, to go in company
with Major Brown, and certain interpreters, through
the woods into Canada, with letters to the Canadians,
and to let them know that the design of the army was
only against the English garrisons, and not the country,
their liberties, or religion ; and having, through much
danger, negotiated this business, I returned to the Isle-
aux-Noix in the fore part of September, when General
Schuyler returned to Albany ; and in consequence the
command devolved upon General Montgomery, whom
I assisted in laying a line of circuravallation round the
fortress of St. Johns. After which I was ordered, by
the General, to make a second tour into Canada, upon
nearly the same design as before ; and withal to
observe the disposition, designs and movements of the
inhabitants of tbe country. This reconnoiter I under
took reluctantly, choosing rather to assist at the seige
of St. Johns, which was then closely invested ; but my
esteem for the general's person, and opinion of him as
a politician and brave officer, induced me to proceed.

218 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
I passed through all the parishes on the river Sorel,
to a parish at the mouth of the same, which is called
by the same name, preaching politics ; and went fi'om
thence across the Sorel to the river St. Lawrence, and
up the river through the parishes to Longueuil, and so
far met with good success as an itinerant. In this
round my guard were Canadians, my interpreter, and
some few attendants excepted. On the morning ofthe
24th day of September, I set out with my guard of
about eighty men, from Longueuil, to go to Laprairie ;
from whence I determined to go to General Montgom
ery's camp ; but had not advanced two miles before I
met with Major Brown, who has since been advanced
to the rank of a Colonel, who desired me to halt, saying
that he had something of iraportance to coraraunicate
to me and my confidants ; upon which I halted the
party, and went into a house, and took a private room
with him and several of my associates, where Col.
Brown proposed that, "provided I would return to
Longueuil, and procure some canoes, so as to cross the
the river St. Lawrence a little north of Montreal, he
would cross it a little to the soutli of the town, with
near two hundred men, as he had boats sufficient ; and
that we could make ourselves masters of Montreal."
This plan was readily approved by rae and those in
council ; and in consequence of which I returned to
Longueuil, collected a few canoes, and added about
thirty English-Araericans to my party, and crossed
the river in the night of the 24th, agreeably to the'
before proposed plan.
My whole party at this time, consisted of about
one hundred and ten men, near eighty of whom were
Canadians. We were most of the night crossing the
river, as we had so few canoes that they had to pass
and repass three times, to cary my party across. Soon
after day-break, I set a guard between me and the
town, with special orders to let no person pass or repass
them, another guard on the other end of the road, with
like directions ; in the mean time, I reconnoitered the
best ground to make a defence, expecting Col. Brown's
party was landed on the other side of the town, he

NAEEATIVE OF ALLKN's CAPTI"VnT. 219
having, the day before, agreed to give three huzzas
with his raen early in the raorning, which signal I was
to return, that we might each know that both parties
were landed ; but the sun, by this time, being nearly
two hours high, and the sign failing, I began to con
clude myself to be in a preraunire, and would have
crossed the river back again, but I knew the eneray
would have discovered such an atterapt; and as there
could not more than one third part of my troops cross
at a time, the other two-thirds would of course fall into
their hands. This I could not reconcile to my own
feelings as a man, much less as an officer : I therefore
concluded to maintain the ground, if possible, and all
to fare alike. In consequence of this resolution, I des
patched two messenger^, one to Laprairie, to Col. Brown,
and the other to I'Assomption, a French settleraent, to
Mr. Walker, who was in our interest, requesting their
speedy assistance, giving them, at the same time to
understand my critical situation. In the mean time
sundry persons came to my guards, pretending to be
friends, but were by them taken prisoners and brought
to me. These I ordered to confinement, until their
friendship could be further confirmed ; for I was jealous
they were spies, as they proved to be afterwards. One
of the principal of them making his escape, exposed
the weakness of my party, which was the final cause
of my misfortune ; for I have been since informed that
Mr. Walker, agreeably to mj desire, exerted himself,
.and had raised a considerable number of raen for ray
assistance, which brought hira into difficulty afterwards,
but upon hearing of my misfortune, he disbanded them
again. The town of Montreal was in a great tumult. General
Carleton and the royal party, made every preparation
to go on board their vessels of force, as 1 was after
wards informed, but the spy escaped from my guard to
the town, occasioned an alteration in their policy, and
emboldened Gen. Carleton to send the force which he
liad there collected, out against me. I had previously
chosen ray ground, but when I saw the nuraber of the
enemy as they sallied out of the town, I jperceived it

220 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
would be a day of trouble, if not of rebuke; but I had
no chance-to flee, as Montreal was situated on an island,
and the St. Lawrence cut off my communication to
General Montgomery's camp. I encouraged my sol
diery to bravely defend themselves, that we should
soon have help, and that we should be able to keep the
ground, if no more. This, and much more, I affirmed
with the greatest seeraing assurance, and which in
reality I thought to be in some degree probable.
The enemy consisted of not more than forty regular
troops, together with a mixed multitude, chiefly Cana
dians, with a number of English who lived in town,
and some Indians ; in all to the nuraber of five hundred.
The reader will notice that most of my party were
Canadians ; indeed it was a motely parcel of soldiery
which com'Jiosed both parties. However, the enemy
began to attack from wood-piles, ditches, buildings,
and such like places, at a considerable distance, and 1
returned the fire from a situation more than equally
advantageous. The attack began between two and three
o'clock in the afternoon, just before which I ordered a
volunteer by the narae of Eichard Young, with a de
tachment oi nine raen as a fiank guard, which, under
the cover of the bank of the river, could not only annoy
the eneray, but at the same time, serve as a fiank guard
to the left of the main body.
The fire continued for soraetirae on both sides ; and
I was confident that such a remote method of attack
could not carry the ground, provided it should be con
tinued till night : but near half the body of the enemy
began to fiank round to my right ; upon which I ordered
a volunteer by the name of John Dugan, 'who had
lived many years in Canada, and understood the
French language, to detach about fifty Canadians, and
post himself at an advantageous ditch, which was on my
right, to prevent my being surrounded : He advanced
with the detachment, but instead of occupying the post,
made his escape, as did likewise Mr. Young upon the
left, with their detachments. I soon perceived that the
enemy was in possession of the ground, which Dugan
should have occupied. At this time I had but about

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 221
forty five raen with me ; some of whom were wounded ;
the enemy kept closing round rae, nor was it in my
power to prevent it ; by which means, my situation,
which was advantageous in the first part of the attack,
ceased to be so in the last ; and being entirely sur
rounded with such vast, unequal nurabers, I ordered
a retreat, but found that those of the eneray, who were
of the country, .and their Indians, could run as fast
as ray men, though the regulars could not. Thus I
retreated near a mile, and some of the enemy, with the
savages, kept flanking me, and others crowded hard
in the rear. In fine, I expected, in a very short time,
to try the world of spirits ; for I was apprehensive that
no quarter would be given to me, and therefore had
dbtermined to sell my life as dear as I could. One
of the enemy's officers, boldly pressing in the rear,
discharged his fusee at me ; the ball whistled near me,
as did many others that day. I returned the salute,
and missed hira, as running had put us both out of
breath ; for I conclude we were not frightened : I then
saluted hira with my tongue in a harsh manner, and
told hira that, inasmuch as his numbers were so far
superior to mine, I would surrender provided Icould
be treated with honor, and be assured of good quarter
for myself and the men who were with rae; and he
answered I should ; another officer, coming up directly
after, confirraed the treaty ; upon which 1 agreed to
surrender with my party, which then consisted of
thirty-one efiective raen, and seven wounded. I ordered
them to ground their arms, which they did.
The officer I capitulated with, then directed me and
my party to advance towards him, which was done ; I
handed him my sword, and in half a minute after, a
savage, part of whose head was shaved, being almost
naked and painted, with feathers intermixed with the
bair of the other side of his head, came running to
me with an incredible swiftness ; he seeraed to advance
with more than mortal speed ; as he approached near
me, his heUish visage was beyond all description ;
snake's eyes appear innocent in comparison to his ; his
features extorted ; malice, death, murder, and the wrath

222 ;ethan allen and geeen-mountain heeoes.
of devUs and damned spirits are the emblems of his
countenance ; and in less than twelve feet of me, pre
sented his flrelock; at the instant of his present, I
twitched the officer, to whom I gave my sword, between
me and tho savage ; but he flew round with great fury,
trying to single me out to shoot me without killing the
officer ; but by this time I was nearly as nimble as he,
keeping the officer in such a position that his danger
was my defence ; but, in less than half a minute, I was
attacked by just such another imp of hell : Then I
made the officer fly around with incredible velocity,
for a few seconds of tirae, when I perceived a Canadian,
who had lost one eye, as appeared afterwards, taking
my part against the savages ; and in an instant an
Irishraan carae to my" assistance with a fixed bayonet,
and drove away the fiends, swearing by  he would
kill them. This tragic scene composed my mind. The
escaping frora so awful a death, made even imprison
ment happy ; the more so as my conquerors on the
field treated rae with great civility and politeness.
The regular officers said that they were very happy
to see Colonel Allen : I answered thera, that I should
rather choose to have seen thera at General Montgom
ery's camp. The gentlemen replied, that they gave
full credit to what I said, and as I walked to the town,
which was, as I should guess, more than two miles, a
British officer walking at my right hand, -and one of
the French noblesse at my left ; the latter of which, in
the action, had his eyebrow carried away by a glancing
shot, but was nevertheless very merry and facetious,
and no abuse was offered rae till I carae to the barrack
yard at Montreal, where I met general Prescott, who
asked me my name, which I told hira : He then asked
rae whether I was that Col. AUen, who took Ticonde
roga. I told him that I was the very man : Then he
shook his cane over my head, caUing many hard naraes,
araong which he frequently used the word rebel, and
put himself in a great rage. I told hira he would do
wel] not to cane rae, for I was not accustomed to it,
and shook my fist at him, teUing him that was the
beetle of mortality for him if he offered to strike;

F

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 223
upon which Capt. M'Cloud of the British, pulled him
by the skirt, and whispered to him, as he afterwards
told me, to this import ; that it was inconsistent With
his honor to strike a prisoner. He then ordered a
Serjeant's command with fixed bayonets, to, corae for
ward, and kill thirteen Canadians who were included
in the treaty aforesaid.
It cut rae to the heart to see the Canadians in so
.hard a case, in consequence of their having been true
to me ; they were wringing their hands, saying their
rayers, asl concluded, and expected iraraediate death.
therefore stepped between the executioners and the
Canadians, opened my clothes, and told Gen. Brescott
to thrust his bayonet into my breast, for I was the sole
cause of the Canadians taking up arms.
Tbe guard, in the raean tirae, roUing their eyeballs
from the General to me, as though impatiently waiting
his dread command- to sheath their bayonets in my
heart ; I could, however, plainly discern, that he was
in a suspense and quandary about the matter : This
gave me additional hopes of succeeding ; for my de
sign was not to die, but to save the Canadians by a
finesse. The general stood a minute, when he raade
me the following reply ; " I will not execute you now ;
but you shall grace a halter at Tyburn, 
you." I remember I disdained his mentioning such a place;
I was,- notwithstanding, a little pleased with the ex
pression, as it significantly conveyed to me the idea of
postponing the present appearance of death ; besides
his sentence was by no raeans final, as to " gracing a
halter," although I had anxiety about it, after I landed
in England, as the reader will find in the course of this
history. Gen. Prescott then ordered one of his officers
to take rae on board the Gaspee schooner of war, and
confine rae, hands and feet, in irons, which was done
the sarae afternoon I was taken.
The action continued an hour and three quarters, by
the watcli, and I know not to this day how many of
my men were killed, though I am certain there were
Ijiit few. If I remember right, 7 were wounded ; one
10*

224 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
of thera, Wm. Stewart, by narae, was wounded by a
savage with a toraahawk, after he was taken prisoner
and disarraed, but was rescued by some of the gener
ous eneray ; and so far recovered of his wounds, that
he afterwards went with the other prisoners to England.
Of the eneray, were killed a raajor Garden, who had
been wounded in eleven different battles, and an em
inent merchant, Patterson, of Montreal, and some
others, but I never knew their whole loss, as their ac
counts were different. I am apprehensive that it is
rare, that so much araraunition was expended, and so
little execution done by it ; though such of my party
as stood the ground, behaved with great fortitude,
much exceeding that of the enemy, but were not the
best of marksmen, and, I ara apprehensive, were all
killed or taken ; the wounded were all put into the
hospital at Montreal, and those that were not, were
put on board of different vessels in the river, and
shackled together by pairs, viz. two raen fastened to
gether by one hand-cuff, being closely fixed to one
wrist of each of thera, and treated with the greatest
severity, nay as criminals.
I now come to the description of the irons, which
were put on me : The hand-cuff was of common size
and form, but ray leg irons, I should imagine would
weigh thirty pounds ; the bar was eight feet long, and
very substantial ; the shackles, which encompassed ray
ancles, were, very tight. I was told by the officer, who
put thera on, that it was the king's plate, and I heard
other of their officers say, that it would weigh, forty
weight. The irons were so close upon ray ancles, that
I could not lay down in any other manner than on my
back. I was put into the lowest and most wretched
part of the vessel, where I got the favor of a chest to
sit on ; the sarae answered for ray bed at night ; and
having procured sorae little blocks of the guard, who
day and night, with fixed bayonets, watched over rae,
to lie under each end of the large bar of my leg irons,
to preserve my ancles from galling, while I sat on the
chest, or lay back on the same, though raost of the time,
night and day, I sat on it ; but at length, having a

NAEEATIVE OE ALLEN 's CAPTIVITT. 225
desire to lie down on my side, which the closeness of my
irons forbid, I desired the captain to loosen them for
that purpose ; but was denied the favor. The cap
tain's name was Eoyal, who did not seem to be an ilb
natured man ; but oftentimes said, that his express
orders were to treat me with such severity, which was
disagreeable to his own feelings ; nor did he ever in
sult me, though many others, who came on board did.
One of the officers, by the name of Bradley, was very
generous to me ; he would often send me victuals frora
his own table ; nor did a day fail, but he sent me a
good drink of grog.
The reader is now invited back to the tirae I was
put into irons. I requested the privilege to write to
General Brescott, which was granted. I reminded him
of the kind and generous manner of my treatment of
the prisoners I took at Ticonderoga ; the injustice and
ungentleman-like usage I had met with from him, and
demanded better usage, but received no answer from
him. I soon after wrote to Gen. Carlton, which met
the same success. In the mean while, many of those
who were permitted to see me, were very insulting.
I was confined in the manner I have related, on
board the Gaspee schooner, about six weeks ; during
which time I was obliged to throw out plenty of ex
travagant language, which answered certain purposes,
at that time, better than to grace a history.
To give an instance ; upon being insulted, in a fit
of anger, I twisted off a nail with my teeth, which I
took to be a ten-penny nail ; it went through the mor
tise of the bar of my hand-cuff, and at the same time.
I swaggered over those who abused me ; particularly
a Doctor Dace, who told rae that I w^as outlawed by
New- York, and deserved death for several years past ;
was at last fully ripened for the halter, and in a fair
way to obtain it. When I challenged hira, he excused
himself, in consequence, as he said, of my being a
criminal ; but I flung such a flood of language at him
that it shocked him and the spectators, for my anger
was very great. I heard one say,  him, can he
eat iron"? After that, a small padlock was flxed to the

226 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
hand-cuff, instead of the nail ; and as they were mean-
spirited in their treatment to me, so it appeared to me,
that they were equally timorous and cowardly.
I was after sent, with the prisoners taken with me,
to an armed vessel in the river, which lay off against
Quebec, under the command of Capt. M'Cloud, of the
British, who treated me in a very generous and obliging
manner, and according to my rank ; in about twenty-
four hours I bid him farewell with regret ; but my
good fortune still continued. The name of the Cap
tain of the vessel I was put on board, was Littlejohn ;
who, with his officers, behaved in a polite, generous,
and friendly manner. I lived with them in the cabin,
and fared on the best, my irons being taken off, con
trary to the order he had received from the command
ing officer ; but Capt. Littlejohn swore, that a brave
man should not be used as a rascal, on board his ship.
That I found myself in possession of happiness once
more, and the evils I had lately suffered, gave me an
uncommon relish for it.
Capt. Littlejohn used to go to Quebec almost every
day, in order to pay his respects to certain gentlemen
and ladies ; being there on a certain day, he happened
to meet with some disagreeable treatment, as he im
agined, from a Lieutenant of a man of war, and one
word brought on another, until the Lieutenant chal
lenged him to a duel on the plains of Abraham. Capt.
Littlejohn was a gentleman, who entertained a high
sense of honor, and could do no less than accept the
challenge. At nine o'clock the next morning they were to fight.
The Captain returned in the evening, and acquainted
his Lieutenant and me with the affair. His Lieiltenant
was a high blooded Scotchman, as well as himself, who
replied to his Captain that he should not want for a
second. With this I interrupted him and gave the
Captain to understand, that since an opportunity had
presented, I would be glad to testify my gratitude to
him, by acting the part of a faithful second ; on which
he gave me his hand, and said that he wanted no bet
ter man. Says he, I am a King's officer, a,nd you a

NAEEATIVE OE ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 227
prisoner under my care ; you must, therefore, go with
me, to the place appointed in disguise, and added fur
ther ; ' you must engage me, upon the honor of a gen
tleraan, that whether 1 die or live, or whatever happens,
provided you live, that you will return to ray Lieuten
ant on board this ship.' All this I solemnly engaged
him. The corabatants were to discharge each a pocket
pistol, and then to fall on with their iron-hilted muckle
whangers ; and one of that sort was allotted for me ;
but some British officers, who interposed early in the
morning, settled the controversy without fighting.
Now having enjoyed eight or nine days' happiness,
from the polite and generous treatment of Captain
Littlejohn and his officers, I was obliged to bid them
farewell, parting with them in as friendly a manner as
we had lived together, which, to the best of my mem
ory, was the eleventh of November : when a detach
ment of General Arnold's little array appeared on
Point Levi, opposite Quebec, who had performed an
extraordinary march through a wilderness country,
with design to have surprised the capital of Canada ;
I was then taken on board a vessel called the Ada
mant, together with the prisoners taken with me, and
put under th'e power of an English Merchant frora
London, whose narae was Brook Watson : a man of
malicious and cruel disposition, and who was probably
excited, in the exercise of his malevolence, by a junto
of tories, who sailed with him to England ; among
whom were Col. Guy Johnson, Col. Closs, and their
attendants and associates, to the number of about 30.
All the ship's crew. Col. Closs, in his personal be
havior excepted, behaved towards the prisoners with
that spirit of bitterness, which is the peculiar charac
teristic of tories, when they have the friends of Amer
ica in their power, measuring their loyalty to the
English King by the barbarity, fraud and deceit which
they exercise towards the whigs.
A' small place in the vessel, enclosed with white oak
plank, was assigned for the prisoners, and for me
among the rest. I should imagine that it was not more
than twenty feet one way, and twenty-two the other.

228 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
Into this place we were all, to the number of thirty-four,
thrust and hand-cuffed, two prisoners more being added
to our number, and were provided with two excrement
tubs ; in this circumference we were obliged to eat and
perform the offices of evacuation, during the voyage
to England ; and were insulted by every black-guard
sailor and tory on board, in the cruelest manner ; but
what is the most surprising thing is, that not one of us
died in the passage. When I was first ordered to go
into the filthy inclosure, through a small sort of door,
I positively refused, and endeavored to reason the
before naraed Brook Watson out of a conduct so de
rogatory to every sentiraent of honor and huraanity,
but all to no purpose, my men being forced in the den
already;' and the rascal who had the charge of the
prisoners commanded rae to go iraraediately in araong
the rest. He further added that the place was good
enough for a rebel ; that it was irapertinent for a capi
tal offender to talk of honor or humanity ; that any
thing short of a halter was too good for me ; and that
that would be ray portion soon after I landed in Eng
land ; for which purpose only I was sent thither. About
the sarae time a lieutenant araong the tories, insulted
me in a grievous manner, saying I ought to have been
executed for my rebeUion against New- York, and spit
in my face ; upon which, though I was hand-cuffed, I
sprang at hira with both hands, and knocked him partly
down, but he scrambled along into' the cabin, and I
after him ; there he got under the protection of some
men with fixed bayonets, who were ordered to make
ready to drive me into the place aforementioned. I
challenged him to fight, notwithstanding the impedi
ments that were on my hands, and had the exalted
pleasure to see the rascal tremble for fear ; his name I
have forgot, but Watson ordered his guard to get me
into the place with the other prisoners, dead or alive ;
and I had almost as lieve die as to do it, standing ik
out till they environed me round with bayonets ; and
brutish, prejudiced, abandoned wretches they were,
from whom I could expect nothing but death or wounds ;
however, I told them, that they were good honest

NAEEATIVE OF, ALLE.\'s CAPTIVITT. 229
fellows ; that I could not blame thera ; that I was only
in dispute with a calico raerchant, who knew not how
to behave towards a gentleraan of the military estab
lishment. This was spoken rather to appease them
for my own preservation, as well as to treat Watson
with contempt ; but still I found they were determined
to force me into the wretched circurastances, which
their prejudiced and depraved rainds had prepared
for rae ; therefore, rather than die, I submitted to their
indignities, being drove ¦with bayonets into the filthy
dungeon with the other prisoners, where we were de
nied fresh water, except a sraall allowance, which was
very inadequate to our wants : and in consequence of
the stench of the place, each of us was soon followed
with a diarrhoea and fever, which occasioned intolera
ble thirst. When we asked for water, we were, most
comraonly, instead of obtaining it, insulted and de
rided ; and to add to all the horrors of the place, it
was so dark that we could not see each other, and were
overspread with body lice. We had, notwithstanding
these severities, full allowance of salt provisions, and
a gill of rura per day ; the latter of which was of the
utmost service to us, and, probably, was the means of
saving several of our lives. About forty days we ex
isted in this manner, when the land's end of England
was discovered from the mast head ; soon after ¦which,
the prisoners were taken from their gloomy abode,
being permitted to see the light of the sun, and breathe
fresh air, which to us was very refreshing. The day
following we landed at Falmouth.
A few days before I was taken prisoner, I shifted
my clothes, by which I happened to be taken in a
Canadian dress, viz : a short fawn-skin jacket, double-
breasted, an undervest and breeches of sagathy, worsted
stockings, a decent pair of shoes, two plain shirts, and
a red worsted cap ; this was all the clothing I had, in
which I made my appearance in England.
When the prisoners were landed, multitudes of the
citizens of Falmouth, excited by curiosity, crowded to
see us, which was equally gratifying to us. I saw num
bers on the tops of houses, and the rising adjacent

230 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTATN HEEOES.
grounds were covered with them, of both sexes. The
throng was so great, that the king's officers were
obliged to draw their swords, and force a passage to
Pendennis castle, which was near a mile from the town,
where we were closely confined, in consequence of
orders from General Carleton, who then commanded
in Canada.
The rascally Brook Watson then set out for London
in great haste, expecting the reward of his zeal ; but the
ministry received him, as I have been since informed,
? rather coolly ; for the minority in parliament took ad
vantage, arguing that the opposition of Araerica to
Great Britain, was not a rebellion : If it is, say they,
why do you not execute Col. Allen according to law ?
But the majority argued that I ought to be executed,
and that the opposition was really a rebellion, but that
policy obliged them not to do it, inasmuch as the Con
gress had then most prisoners in their power ; so that
my being sent to England, for the purpose of being
executed, and necessity restraining them, was rather a
foil on their laws and authority, and they consequently
disapproved of my being sent thither. But I had
never heard the least hint of those debates, in parlia
ment, or of the working of their policy, until sometime
after I left England.
Consequently the reader will readily conceive I was
' anxious about my preservation, knowing that I was in
the power of a haughty and cruel nation, considered
as such. Therefore, the first proposition which I deter
mined in my own mind was, that humanity and moral
suasion would not be consulted in the determining of
my fate ; and those that daily came in great numbers
out of curiosity to see rae, both gentle and simple,
united in this, that I would be hanged. A gentleman
frora Araerica, by the name of Temple, and who was
friendly to me, just whispered me in the ear, and told
me that bets were laid in London, that I would be ex
ecuted ; he likewise privately gave me a guinea, but
durst say but little to me.
However, agreeably to my first negative proposition,
that moral virtue would not influence my destiny, I

NAEEATFVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 231
had recourse to stratagem, which I was in hopes would
move in the circle of their policy. I requested of the
commander of the castle, the privilege of writing to
Congress, who, after consulting with an officer that
lived in town, of a superior rank, permitted me to
write. I wrote, in the fore part of the letter, a short
" narrative of my ill-treatment ; but withal let them know
that, though I was treated as a criminal in England,
and continued in irons, together with those taken with
me, yet it was in consequence of the orders which the
coraraander of the castle received from Gen. Carleton,
and therefore desired Congress to desist from matters
of retaliation, until they should know the result of the
government in England, respecting their ¦ treatment
towards me, and the prisoners with me, and govern
themselves accordingly, with a^ particular request, that
if retaliation should be found necessary, it might be
exercised not according to the sraallness of my charac
ter in America, but in proportion to the importance
of the cause for which I suffered. This is, according
to my present recollection, the substance of the letter
inscribed, — " To the illustrious Continental CongressP
This letter was written with the view that it should be
sent to the ministry at London, rather than to Congress,
with a design to intimidate the haughty English gov
ernment, and screen my neck from the halter.
The next day the officer, from whom I obtained
license to write, came to see me, and frowned on rae
on account of the irapudence of the letter, as he phrased
it, and further added, 'Do you think that we are fools
in England, and would send your letter to Congress,
with instructions to retaliate on our own people? I
have sent your letter to Lord North.' This gave me
inward satisfaction, though I carefully concealed it
with a pretended resentment, for I found that I had
come Yankee over hira, and that the letter had gone
to the identical person I designed it for. Nor do I
know to this day, but that it had the desired effect,
though I have not heard any thing of the letter since.
My personal treatraent by Lieutenant Hamilton, who
commanded the castle, was very generous. He sent

232 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
me every day a fine breakfast-and dinner from his own
table, and a bottle of good wine. Another aged gen
tleman, whose name I cannot recollect, sent me a good
supper. But there was no distinction between me and
the privates ; we all lodged on a sort of Dutch bunks,
in one common apartment, and were allowed straw.
The privates were well supplied with provisions, and
with me, took eft'ectual measures to rid ourselves of lice.
I could not but feel, inwardly, extremely anxious for
my fate. This, I however, concealed from the pris
oners, as well as from the enemy, who were perpetually
shaking the halter at me. I nevertheless treated them
with scorn and contempt ; and haying sent my letter
to the ministry, could conceive of nothing more in my
power but to keep up ray spirits, behave in a daring,
soldier-like manner, that I might exhibit a good samplo
of American fortitude. Such a conduct, I judged
would have a raore probable tendency to my preserva
tion than concession and timidity. This therefore, was
my deportment ; and I had lastly determined in my
mind, that if a cruel death must inevitably be my por
tion, 1 would face it undaunted ; and, though I greatly
rejoice that I returned to my country and friends, and
to see the power and pride of Great Britain humbled ;
yet I am confident I could then have died without the
least appearance of dismay.
I now clearly recollect that my mind was so re
solved, that I would not have trembled or shewn the
least fear, as I was sensible that it could not alter my
fate, nor do more than reproach my memoiy, raake my
last act despicable to ray eneraies, and eclipse the
other actions of my life'. For I reasoned thus, that
nothing was more common than for men to die with
their friends around them, weeping and lamenting
over them, but not able to help them, which was in re
ality not different in the consequence of it from such a
death as I was apprehensive of; and, as death was
the natural consequence of animal life to which the
laws of nature subject mankind, to be timorous and
uneasy as to the event and manner of it, was inconsis
tent with the character of a philosopher and soldier.

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEN'S CAPTIVITT. 233
The cause I was engaged in, I evei' viewed worthy
hazarding my life for, nor was I, in the raost critical
moments of trouble, sorry that I engaged in it ; and,
as to the world of spirits, though I knew nothing of
the mode or raanner of it, I expected nevertheless,
when I should arrive at such a world, that I should be
as well treated as other gentleraen of my merit.
Among the great numbers of people, who came to
the castle to see the prisoners, some gentlemen told
me that they had come fifty railes on purpose to see
rae, and desired to ask rae a nuraber of questions, and
to make free with me in conversation. I gave for an
swer that I chose freedom in every sense of the word.
Then one of them asked rae what my occupation in
life had been ? I answered him, that in my younger
days I had studied divinity, but was a conjuror by
profession. He replied that I conjured wrong at the
time I was taken ; and I was obliged to own, that I
mistook a figure at that time, but that I had conjured
them out of Ticonderoga. This was a place of great
notoriety in England, so that the joke seemed to go iu
my favor.
It was a common thing for me to be taken out of
close confinement, into a spacious green in the castle,
or rather parade, where numbers of gentlemen and
ladies were ready to see and hear rae. I often enter
tained such audiences with harangues on the irapracti-
cability of Great Britain's conquering the then colo
nies of America. At one of these tiraes I asked a
gentleraan for a bowl of punch, and he ordered his
servant to bring it, which he did, and offered it to me,
but I refused to take it from the hand of his servant ;
he then gave it to me with his own hand, refusing to
drink with me in consequence of my being a state
criminal : However, I took the punch and drank it all
down at one draught, and handed the gentleraan the
bowl ; this made the spectators as well as rayself raerry.
I expatiated on American freedom. This gained
the resentment of a young beardless gentleman of the
company, who gave himself very great airs, and re
plied that hp, ' knew the Americans very well, and was

234 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEBEN-MwUNTAIN HEEOES.
certain they could not bear the smell of powder.' I
replied, that I accepted it as a challenge, and was ready
to convince him on the spot, that an Araerican could
bear the smell of powder ; at which he answered that
he should not put himself on a par with me. I then
deraanded him to treat the character of the Americans
with due respect. He answered that I was an Irish
man ; but 1 assured him that I was a full blooded
Yankee, and in fine bantered him so much, that he left
me in possession of the ground, and the laugh went
against him. Two clergymen carae to see me, and,
inasrauch as they behaved with civility, I returned
them the same. We discoursed on several parts of
moral philosophy and Christianity ; and they seemed
to be surprised that I should be acquainted with such
topics, or that I should understand a syllogism, or reg
ular mode of argumentation. I am apprehensive my
Canadian dress contributed not a little to the surprise,
and excitement of curiosity: to see a gentleman in
England regularly dressed and well behaved would be
no sight at all ; but such a rebel as they were pleased
to call me, it is probable, was never before seen in
England. The prisoners were landed at Falmouth a few days
before Christmas, and ordered on board of the Solebay
frigate, Capt. Syraonds, on the eighth day of January,
1776, when our hand irons were taken off. This
remove was in consequence, as I have been since
informed, of a writ of habeas corpus, which had been
procured by some gentlemen in England, in order to
obtain rae ray liberty.
The Solebay, with sundry other men-of-war, and
about forty transports, rendezvoused at the cove of
Cork, in Ireland, to take in provisions and water.
When we were first brought on board, captain
Symonds ordered all the prisoners, and most of the
hands on board to go on the deck, and caused to be
read in their hearing, a certain code of laws or rules,
for the regulation and ordering of their behavior ; and
then in a sovereign maimer, ordered the prisoners, me
in particular, off the deck, and never to come on it

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEN 's CAPTI^VITl. 235
again: for, said he, this is a place for gentl'emen lo walk.
So I went off, an officer following me, who told me he
would shew me the place allotted to me, and took
me down to the cable tier, saying to me this is your
place. Prior to this I had taken cold, by which I was in an
ill state of health, and did not say rauch to the officer ;
but stayed there that night, consulted ray policy, and
I found I was in an evil case ; that a captain of a
man-of-war was raore arbitrary than a king, as he
could view his territory with a look of his eye, and a
raoveraent of his finger commanded obedience. I felt
myself more desponding than I had done at any time
before, ; for I concluded it to be a government scheme,
to do that clandestinely which policy forbid to be done
under sanction of any public justice and law.
However, two days after, I shaved and cleansed
myself as well as I could, and went on deck. The
captain spoke to me in a great rage, and said : 'did I
not order you not to come on deck ?' I answered him,
that at the same time he said, 'that it was the place
for gentlemen to walk ; that I was Colonel Allen, but
had not been properly introduced to him.' He replied,
 you, sir, be careful not to walk the same
side of the deck that I do. This gave me encourage
ment, and ever after that I walked in the manner he
had directed, except when he, at certain times after
wards, had ordered rae off" in a passion, and I then
would directly afterwards go on again, telling him to
command his slaves ; that I was a gentleman and had
a right to walk the deck ; yet when he expressly
ordered me off, I obeyed, not out of obedience to him,
but to set an example to the ship's crew, who ought to
obey him.
To walk to the windward side of the deck is, ac
cording to custora, the prerogative of the captain of
a man-of-war, though he, sometiraes, nay coramonly,
walks with his lieutenants, when no strangers are by.
When a captain frora sorae other man-of-war comes on
board, the captains walk to the windward side, and the
other gentlemen to the leeward.

236 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
It was but a few nights I lodged in the cable tier,
before I gained an acquaintance with the master of
arms, his name was Gillegan, an Irishman, who was a
generous and well disposed man, and in a friendly
manner made me an oft'er of living with him in a little
birth, which was allotted him between decks, and en
closed in canvass ; his preferment on board was about
equal to that of a sergeant in a regiment. I was com
paratively happy in the acceptance of his clemency,
and lived with him in friendship till the frigate an
chored in the harbor of Cape Fear, North Carolina, in
America. , Nothing of material consequence happened till the
fleet rendezvoused at the cove df Cork, except a vio
lent storm which brought old hardy sailors to their
prayers. It was soon rumored in Cork that I was on
board the Solebay, with a number of prisoners frora
Araerica ; upon which Messrs. Clark & Hays, mev-
chants in company, and a number of other benevo
lently disposed gentlemen, contributed largely to the
relief and support of the prisoners, who were thirty-
four in nuraber, and in very needy circumstances. A
suit of clothes from head to foot, including an overcoat
or surtout, and two shirts were bestowed -upon each of
them. My suit I received in superfine broadcloths,
sufficient for two jackets and two pair of breeches,
overplus of a suit throughout, eight fine Holland shirts
and socks ready raade, with a number of pairs of silk
and worsted hose, two pair of shoes, two beaver hats,
one of which was sent me richly laced with gold, by
James Bonwell. The Irish gentlemen furthermore
made a large gratuity of wines of the best sort, spirits,
gin, loaf and brown sugar, tea and chocolate, with a
large round of pickled beef, and a number of fat tur-
kies, with many other articles, for my sea stores, toe?
tedious to mention here. To the privates they bestowed
on each raan two pounds of tea, and six pounds ot
brown sugar. These articles were received on board
at a time when the captain and first lieutenant svere
gone on shore, by the permission of the second lieu
tenant, a handsome young gentleman, who was thea

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVETT. 237
under twenty-one years of age ; his narae was Douglass,
son of adrairal Douglass, as I was inforraed.
As this munificence was so unexpected and plentiful,
I may add needful, it impressed on my mind the high
est sense of gratitude towards my benefactors ; for I
was not only suj^plied with the necessaries and conven
iences of life, but with the grandeurs and superfiuities
of it. Mr. Hays, one of the donators before-mentioned,
came on board, and behaved in the most obliging man
ner, telling me that he hoped my troubles were past ;
for that the gentlemen of Cork deterrained to make my
sea stores equal to that of the captain of the Solebay ;
he made an oft"er of live stock and wherewith to sup
port thera ; but I knew this would be denied. And to
crown all, did send me by another person, fifty guineas,
out I could not reconcile receiving the whole to my
-:)wn feelings, as it might have the appearance of ava-
nce ; and therefore received but seven guineas only,
and ara confident, not only frora the exercise of the
present well-timed generosity, but from a large ac
quaintance with gentlemen of this nation, ihat as a
people they excel in liberality and bravery.
Two days after the receipt of the aforesaid donations,
captain Symonds came on board full of envy towards
the prisoners, and swore by all that is good, that the
damned American rebels should not be feasted at this
rate, by the damned rebels of Ireland ; he therefore
took away all my liquors before-mentioned, except
some of the wine which was secreted, and a two gallon
jug of old spirits which was reserved for mo per favor
of lieutenant Douglass. The taking of my liquors was
abominable in his sight ; he therefore spoke in my
behalf, till the captain was angry with hira ; and in
consequence, proceeded and took away all the tea and
sugar, which had been given to the prisoners, and
confiscated it to the use of the ship's crew. Our
clothing was not taken away, but the privates were
forced to do duty on board. Soon after this there came
a boat to the side of the ship, and captain Symonds
asked a gentleraan in it, in ray hearing, what his busi
ness was ? who answered that he was sent to deliver

238 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MoUNTAIN IIEKOES.
some sea stores to Col. Allen, which if I reraeraber
right, he said were sent from Dublin ; but the captain
damned him heartily, ordering him away from the
ship, and would not suffer him to deliver the stores. I
was furthermore informed that the gentlemen in Cork,
requested of captain Symonds, that! might be allowed
to come into the city, and that they would be responsi
ble I should return to the frigate at a given time, which
was denied them.
We saUcd from England on the 8th day of January,
and from the cove of Cork on the 12th day of February.
Just before we sailed, the prisoners with me ¦were di
vided, and put on board three different ships of war.
This gave me some uneasiness, for they were to a man
zealous in the cause of liberty, and behaved with a
becoming fortitude in the various scenes of their
captivity; but those, who were distributed on board
other ships of war were much better used than those
who tarried with me, as appeared afterwards. When
the fieet, consisting of about forty-five sail, including
five men of war, sailed from the cove with a fresh
breeze, the appearance was beautiful, abstracted from
the unjust and bloody designs they had in view. We
had not sailed many days, before a raighty storm arose,
which lasted near twenty-four hours without intermis
sion. The wind blew -with relentless fury, and no man
could remain on deck, except he was lashed fast, for
the waves rolled over the deck by turps, with a forcible
rapidity, and every soul on board was anxious for the
preservation of the ship, alias, their lives. In this storm
the Thunder-bomb man of war sprang a leak, and was
afterwards floated to some part to the coast of England,
and th© crew saved. We were then said to be in the
Bay of Biscay. After the storm abated, I could plainly
discern the prisoners were better used for some consid
erable time.
Nothing of consequence happened after this, till we
sailed to the island of Madeira, except a certain favor
1 had received of captain Symonds, in consequence
of an application I made to him for the privilege of
his tailor to make me a suit of clothes of the cloth

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 239
bestowed on me in Ireland, which he generously
granted. I could then walk the deck with a seeming
better grace. When we had reached Madeira, and
anchored, sundry gentleraen with the captain went on
shore, who I conclude, gave the rumor that I was in
the frigate ; upon which I soon found that Irish gener
osity ¦was again excited ; for a gentleman of that nation
sent his clerk on board, to know of rae if I would ac
cept a sea store frora hira, particularly wine. This raat
ter I raade known to the generous Ueutenant 'Douglass,
who readily granted rae the favor, provided the articles
could be brought on board, during the time of his
command ; adding that it would be a pleasure to him
to serve me, notwithstanding the opposition he met
with before. So I directed the gentleman's clerk to
inforra hira that I was greatly in need of sO signal a
charity, and desired the young gentleraan to make the
utraost d'esjDatch, which he did ; but in the meantime,
captain Symonds and his officers came on board, and
immediately made ready for sailing ; the wind at the
same time being fair, set sail when the young gentle
man was in fair sight with the aforesaid store.
The reader will doubtless recollect the seven guineas
I received at the cove of Cork. These enabled me to
purchase of the purser ¦n'hat I wanted, had not the
captain strictly forbidden it, though I made sundry
applications to him for that purpose ; but his answer
to me, when I was sick, was, that it was no raatter how
soon I was dead, and that he was no ways anxious to
preserve the lives of rebels, but wished them all dead ;
and indeed that was the language of most of the ship's
crew. I expostulated not only with the captain, but
with other gentlemen on board, on the unreasonableness
of such usage ; inferring that, inasmuch as the gov
ernment in England did not proceed against me as a
capital offender, they should not ; for that they were
by no means empowered by any authority, either civil
or railitary, to do so ; for the English government had
acquitted me by sending me back a prisoner of war to
America, and that they should treat me as such. I fur
ther drew an inference of impolicy on them, provided

240 EteAir ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
they should by hard usage destroy my life ; inasmuch
as I might, if living, redeem one of their officers ; but
the captain replied, that he needed no directions of
mine how to treat a rebel ; that the British would con
quer the American rebels, hang the Congress, ahd
such as promoted the rebeUion, me in particular, and
retake their own prisoners ; so that my life ¦was of no
consequence in the scale of their policy. I gave him
for answer that if they stayed till they conquered
America, before they hanged me, I should die of old
age, and desired that till such an event took place, he
would at least allow me to purchase of the purser, for
my own money, such articles as I greatly needed ; but
he would not permit it, and when I reminded hira of
the generous and civil usage that their prisoners in
captivity in Araerica met with, he said that it was not
owing to their goodness, but to their timidity ; for,
said he, they expect to be conquered, and therefore
dare not misuse our prisoners ; and in fact this was
the language of the British officers, till Burgoyne was
taken; happy event! and not only of the officers but
the whole British army. I appeal to all my brother
prisoners, who have been with the British in the south
ern department, for a confirmation of what I have
advanced on this subject. The surgeon ofthe Solebay,
whose name was North, was a very humane, obliging
man, and took the best care of the prisoners who were
sick. The third day of May we cast anchor in the harbor
of Cape Fear, in North Carolina, as did Sir Peter
Parker's ship, of 50 guns, a little back of the bar; for
there was not depth of water for him to come into the
harbor. These two men of war, and fourteen sail of
transports and others, came after, so that most of tho
fieet rendezvoused at Cape Fear, for three weeks. The
soldiers on board the transports were sickly, in conse
quence of so long a passage; add to this the small
pox carried oft" many of thera. They landed on the
main, and formed a camp ; but the lifiemen annoyed
them, and caused them to move to an island in the.
harbor ; but such eursing of rifiemen I never heard.

NAEEATfVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 241
A detachment of regulars was sent up Brunswick
river; as they landed they were fired on by those
marksmen, and they came back next day damning the
rebels for their unmanly way of fighting, and swearing
they would give no quarter, for they took sight at them,
and were behind timber skulking about. One of the
detachments said they lost one man ; but a negro man
who was with thera, and heard what was said, soon
after told rae that he helped to bury thirty -one of thera ;
this did me sorae good to find my countrymen giving
them battle ; for I never heard such swaggering as
araong Gen. Clinton's little array who commanded at
that time ; and I am apt to think there were four thou
sand men, though not two thirds of them fit for duty.
I heard nurabers of them say, that the trees in America
should hang well with fruit that carapaign for they
would give Jio quarter. This was in the mouths of
most who I heard speak on the subject, officer as well
as soldier. I wished at that tirae my countrymen
knew, as well as I did, what a murdering and cruel
eneray they had to deal with ; but experience has since
taught this country what they are to expect at the hands
of Britons ¦when in their power.
The prisoners, who had been sent on board different
men of war at the cove of Cork, were collected together,
and the whole of them put on board the Mercury frig
ate, capt. Jaraes Montague, except one of the Cana
dians, who died on the passage frora Ireland, and Peter
Noble, who made his escape from the Sphynx man-of-
war in this harbour, and, by extraordinary swimming,
got safe home to New-England, and gave intelligence
of the usage of his brother prisoners. The Mercury set
sail from this port for Halifax, about the 20th of May,
and Sir Peter Parker was about to sail with the land
forces, under the command of Gen. Clinton, for the
reduction of Charleston, the capitol of South-Carolina,
and when I heard of his defeat in Halifax, it gave me
inexpressible satisfaction.
I now found myself under a worse captain than
Syraonds ; for Montague was loaded with prejudices
against every body and every thing that was not

242 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
staraped with royalty; and being by nature under-
witted, his wrath was heavier than the others, or at least
his mind was in no instance liable to be diverted by
good sense, humour or bravery, of which Symonds was
by turns susceptible. A Capt. Francis Proctor was
added to our number of prisoners when we were first
put on board this ship. This gentleraan had forraerly
belonged to the English service. The captain, and in
fine, all the gentlemen of the ship were very much
incensed against him, and put him in irons without
the least provocation, and he was continued in this
miserable situation about three months. In this pas
sage the prisoners were infected with the scurvy, some
more and some less, but most of thera severely. The
ship's crew was to a great degree troubled with it, and
I concluded it was catching. Several ofthe crew died
with it on their passage. I was .weak and feeble in
consequence of so long and cruel a captivity, yet had
but little of the scurvy.
The purser was again pxpressly forbid by the cap
tain to let me have any thing out of his store ; upon
which I went upon deck, and in the handsomest man
ner requested the favor of purchasing a tew necessaries
of the -purser, which was denied me ; he further told
me, that I should be hanged as soon as I arrived at
Halifax. I tried to reason the matter -with him, but
found him proof against reason ; I also held up his
honor to view, and his behavior to me and the prison
ers in general, as being derogatory to it, but found his
honor impenetrable. I then endeavored to touch his
humanity, but found he had none ; for his preposses
sion of bigotry to his own party, had confirmed him
in an opinion, that no huraanity was due to unroyal-
ists, but seeraed to think that heaven and earth were
made merely to gratify the King and his creatures ;
he uttered considerable unintelligible and groveUing
ideas, a little tinctured with monarchy, but stood ¦well
to his text of hanging me. He afterwards forbade his
surgeon to administer any help to the sick prisoners.
I was every night shut down in the cable tier, with the
rest of the prisoners, and we all lived miserably while

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEn's OAPTIVITT. 243
t
under- his power. But I received sorae generosity
from several of the midshipmen, who in degree alle
viated my misery ; one of their names was Putrass,
the names of the others I do not recollect ; but they
were obliged to be private in the bestowment of their
favor, which was sometimes good wine bitters, and at
others a generous drink of grog.
Sometime in the first week of June, we carae to
anchor at the Hook oft' New York, where we reraained
but three days ; in which time Governor Tryon, Mr.
Kemp, the old attorney general of New York, and
several other perfidious and over grown tories and
land-jobbers, came on board. Tryon viewed me with
a stern countenance, as I was walking on the lee
ward side of the deck with the midshipraen ; and he
and his companions were walking with the captain and
lieutenant, on the windward side of the same, but never
spoke to me, though it is altogether probable that he
thought of the old quarrel between hira, the old gov
ernment of New York, and the Green-Mountain Boys.
Then they went with the captain into the cabin, and
the sarae afternoon returned on board a vessel, where
at that time they took sanctuary frora the resentment
of their injured country. What passed between the
officers of the ship and these visitors I know not ; but"
this I know that my treatment from the officers was
more severe afterwards.
We arrived at Halifax not far from the middle of
June, where the ship's crew, which was infested with
tlie scurvy, were taken on shore and shallow trenches
dug, into which they were put, and partly covered
with earth. Indeed every proper measure was taken
for their relief The prisoners were not permitted any ,
sort of medicine, but were put on board a sloop which
lay in the harbor, near the town of Halifax, surrounded
by several men-of-war and their tenders, and a guard
constantly set over them, night and day. The sloop
we had wholly to ourselves except the guard who oc
cupied the forecastle : here we were cruelly pinched
with hunger ; it seemed to me that we had not more
than one third of the coramon allowance. We were

244 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
all seized with violent hunger and faintness ; we divi
ded our scanty aUowance as exact as possible. I shared
the sarae fate with the rest, and though they offered
me more than an even share, I refused to accept it, as
if was a time of substantial distress, which in my
opinion I ought to partake equally with the rest, and
set an exaraple of virtue and fortitude to our little
commonwealth.. I sent letter after letter to captain Montague, who
still had the care of us, and also to his lieutenant,
whose name I cannot call to raind, but could obtain no
answer, much less a redress of grievances ; and to add
to the calamity, nearly a dozen of the prisoners were
dangerously ill of the scurvy. I wrote private letters
to the doctors, to procure, if possible, some remedy for
the sick, but in vain. The chief physician carae by in
a boat, so close that the oars touched the sloop that we
were in, and I uttered my complaint in the genteelest
manner to him, but he never so much as turned his
head, or made me any answc, though I continued
speaking tUl he got out of hearing. Our cause then
became deplorable. Still I kept writing to the cap
tain, till he ordered the guards, as they told me, not
to bring any more letters from me to him. In the
mean tirae an event happened worth relating. One of
the men almost dead with the scurvy, lay by the side
of the sloop, and a canoe of Indians coming by, he
purchased two quarts of strawberries, and ate them at
Once, and it almost cured him. The money he gave
for them, was all the money he had in the world.
After that we tried every way to procure raore of that
fruit, reasoning frora analogy that they might have the
same effect on others infested with the same disease,
'but could obtain none.
Meanwhile the doctor's mate of the Mercury came
privately on board the prison sloop and presented me
with a large vial of smart drops, which proved to be
good for the scurvy, though vegetables and some other
ingredients were requisite for a cure ; but the drops
gave at least a check to the disease. This was a well-
timed exertion of humanity, but the doctor's name hai;

NAEEATIVE OP ALLEN's CAPTIVITT. 245
ellpped my mind, and in my opinion, it was the means
of saving the lives of several men.
The guard, which was set over us, was by this tirae
touched ¦with feelings of compassion ; and I finally
trusted one of thera with a letter of complaint to gov
ernor Arbuthnot, of Halifax, which he found means to
Communicate, and which had the desired eff"ect ; for
the governor sent an officer and surgeon on lioard the
prison sloop, to know the truth of the compla'int. The
officer's narae was Eussell, who held the rank of- lieu
tenant, and treated me in a friendly and polite manner,
and was really angry at the cruel and unmanly usage
the prisoners met with ; and with the surgeon made a
true report of matters to governor Arbuthnot, who,
either by his order or influence, took us next day from
the prison sloop to Halifax jail, where I first became
acquainted with tho now Hon. James Lovel, one of the
members of Congress for the state of Massachusetts.
The sick were taken to the hospital, and the Can
adians, who were effective, were employed in the
King's works ; and when their countrymen were re
covered from the scurvy and joined them, they all
deserted the king's eraploy, and were not heard of at
Halifax, as long as the reraainder of the prisoners con
tinued there, which was till near the middle of October.
We were on board the prison sloop about six weeks,
and were landed at Halifax near the middle of August.
Several of our English-American prisoners, who were
cured of the scurvy at the hospital, made their escape
from thence, and after a long time reached their old
habitations. I had now but thirteen with me, of those who were
taken in Canada, and remained in jail with me at Hal
ifax, who, in addition to those that were imprisoned
before, made our nuraber about thirty-four, who were
all locked up in one comraon large roora, without re
gard to rank, education or any other accomplishraent,
where we continued from the setting to the rising sun :
and, as sundry of them were infected with the jail
and other distempers, the furniture of this spacious
room consisted principaiUy of excrement tubs. Wo

246 ETHAN AI.LEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
petitioned for a removal of the sick into the hospitals,
but were denied. We remonstrated against the un
generous usage of being confined with the privates,
as being contrary to the laws and customs of nations.
and particularly ungrateful in them in consequence of
the gentleman-like usage which the British imprisoned
officers met with in America ; and thus we wearied
ourselves, petitioning and remonstrating, but to no pur-
eise at all ; for general Massey, who commanded at
alifax, was as infiexible as the devil hiraself, a fine
preparative this for Mr. Lovel, member of the Con
tinental Congress.
Lieutenant Eussell, whom I have mentioned before,
came to visit me in prison, and assured me that he had
done his utraost to procure ray parole for enlargement ;
at which a British captain, who was then to-wn-major,
expressed compassion for the gentlemen confined in
the filthy place, and assured me that he had used his
infiuence to procure their enlargement ; his narae was
near like Eamsey. Among the prisoners there were
five in nuraber, who had a legal claira to a pai'ole, a
Mr. Ilowland, master of a continental armed vessel, a
Mr. Taylor, his mate, and rayself.
As to the 'article of provision, we were well served,
rauch better than in any part of my captivity ; and
since it was Mr. Level's misfortunes and mine to be
prisoners, and in so wretched circumstances, I was
happy that we were together as a mutual support to
each other, and to the unfortunate prisoners with us.
Our first attention was the preservation of ourselves
and injured little republic ; the rest of our time we
devotecl interchangeably to politics and philosophy, as
patience was a needful exercise in so evil a situation,
hut contentment mean and impracticable.
I had not been in this jail many days, before a
worthy' and charitable woman, by the name of Mrs.
Blacden, supplied me with a good dinner of fresh
meats every day, with garden fruit, and sometimes
with a bottle of wine : notwithstanding which I had
not been more than three weeks in this place before I
lost my appetite to the most delicious food, by the jail

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEls's CAPTIVTiV. 247
distemper, as also did sundry of the prisoners, partic
ularly a sergeant Moore, a man of courage and fidelity
I have several tiraes seen him hold the boatswain of
the Solebay frigate, when he attempted to strike him,
and laughed him out of conceit of using hira as a
slave. A doctor visited the sick, and did the best, as I sup
pose, he could for thera, to no apparent purpose. I
grew weaker and weaker, as did the rest. Several of
them could not help themselves. At last I reasoned
in my own mind, that raw onion would be good. I
made use of it, and found iraraediate relief by it, as
did the sick in general, particularly sergeant Moore,
whora it recovered alraost frora the shades ; though I
had met with a little revival, still I found the malig
nant hand of Britain had greatly reduced my constitu
tion with stroke upon stroke. Esquire Lovel and
myself used every argument and entreaty that could
be well conceived of in order to obtain gentleman-like
usage, to no purpose. I then wrote Gen. Massey as
severe a letter as I possibly- could with my friend
Level's assistance. The contents of it was to give the
British, as a nation, and hira as an individual, their
true character. This roused the rascal," for he could
not bear to see his and the nation's deformity in that
transparent letter, which I sent hira ; he therefore put
himself in a great rage about it, and showed the letter
to a number of British officers, particularly to captain
Sraith of the Lark frigate, who, instead of joining with
hira in disapprobation, coraraended the spirit of it ;
upon which general Massey said to hira do you take the
part of a rebel against me? Captain Smith answered
that he rather spoke his sentiments and, there was a
dissention in opinion between thera. Sorae officers
took the part of the general, and others of the captain.
This I was informed of by a gentleraan who had it
from captain Sraith.
In a few days after this, the prisoners were ordered^
to go on board of a raan-of-war, which was bound for
ts ew York ; but two of them were not able to go on
board, and were left at Halifax ; one died ; and the
11*

248 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
other recovered. This was about the 12th of October,
and soon after we had got on board, the captain sent
for me in particular to come on the quarter deck. _I-
went, not knowing that it was captain Smith, or his
ship, at that time, and expected to meet the same rig
orous usage I had commonly met with, and prepa'red
my mind accordingly ; but when I came on deck, the
captain met me with his hand, welcomed me to his
shif), invited me to dine with him that day, and as
sured me that I should be treated as a gentleman, and
that he had given orders, that I should be treated witli
respect by the ship's crew. This was so unexpected
and sudden a transition, that it drew tears from my
eyes, which all the ill usage I had before met with,
was not able to produce, nor could I at first hardly
speak, but soon recovered myself and expressed ray
gratitude for so unexpected a favor ; and let him know
that I felt anxiety of" mind in refiecting that his sit
uation and mine was such, that it was not probable
that it would ever be in my power to return the favor.
Captain Smith replied, that he had no reward in view,
but only treated rae as a gentleman ought to be
treated ; he said this is a mutable world, aud one gen
tleraan never knows but it raay be in his power to help
another. Soon after I found this to be the sarae cap
tain Sraith who took my part against general Massey ;
out he never mentioned any thing of it to rae, and I
thought it irapolite in rae to interrogate hira, as to any
disputes which raight have arisen between hira and the
general on my account, as I was a prisoner, and that it
was at his option to make free with rae on that subject,
if he pleased ; and if he did not, I raight take it for
granted that it would be unpleasing for me to query
about it, though I had a strong propensity to converse
with him on that subject.
I dined with the captain agreeable to his invitation,
and oftentimes with the lieutenant, in the gun-room,
but in general ate and drank with my friend Lovel
and the other gentlemen who were prisoners with me,
where 1 also slept.
We had a little birth enclosed with canvas, between

NAEEATlVS -CF ALLLN's CAPTIVITT. 249
decks, where we enjoyed ourselves very well, in hopes
of an exchange ; besides, our friends at Halifax had a
little notice of our departure, and supplied us with
spirituous liquor, and many articles of provisions for
the cost. Captain Burk, having been taken prisoner,
was added to our company, (he had commanded an
American armed vessel,) and was generously treated
by the captain and all the officers of the ship, as well
as myselfl We now had in all near thirty prisoners on
board, and as we were sailing along the coast, if I re
collect right, off Ehode-Island, captain Burk, with an
imder officer of the ship, whose narae I do not recol
lect, carae to our little berth, proposed to kiU captain
Sraith and the principal officers of the frigate and take
it ; adding that there were thirty-five thousand pounds
sterling in the sarae. Captain Burk likewise averred
that a strong party out of the ship's crew was in the
conspiracy, and urged rae, and the gentleraan that was
with rae, to use our influence with the private prison
ers, to execute the design, and take the ship with the
cash into one of our own ports.
Upon which I replied, that we had been too well
used on board to murder the officers ; that I could by
no means reconcile it to my conscience, and that, in
fact, it should not be done ; and while I was yet speak
ing, my friend Lovel confirmed what I had said, and
farther pointed out the ungratefulness of such an act ;
that it did not fall short of murder, and in fine all the
^.^entleraen in the berth opposed captain Burk and his
colleague. But they strenuously urged that the con
spiracy would be found out, and that it would cost
them their lives, provided they did not execute their
design. I then interposed spiritodlj', and put an end
to further argument on the subject, and told them that
they might depend upon it, upon my honor, that I
would faithfully guard captain Smith's life. If they
should atterapt the assault, I would assist him, for thoy
desired me to remain neuter, and that the sarae
honor that guarded captain Smith's life, would also
guard theirs ; and it was agreed by those present not
to reveal the conspiracy, to the intent that no man

250 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
should be put to death, in consequence of what had
been projected ; and captain- Burk and his colleague
went to stifle the' matter among their associates. _ I
could not help calling to mind what captain Smith
said to me, when I first came on board : "This is a
mutable world, and one gentleman never knows but
that it may be in his power to help another." Captain
Smith and his officers still behaved with their usual
courtesy, and I never heard any raore of the conspiracy.
We arrived before New- York, and cast anchor the,
latter part of October, where we remained several
days, and where captain Smith informed me, that he
had recomraended me to adrairal Howe and general
Sir Wm. Howe, as a gentleman of honor and veracity,
and desired that I raight be treated as such. Captain
Burk was then ordered on board a prison-ship in the
harbor. I took my leave of captain Smith, and with
the other prisoners, was sent on board a transport
ship, which lay in the harbor, commanded by captain
Craige, who took me into the cabin with him and his
lieutenant. I fared as they did, and was in every
respect ¦well treated, in consequence of directions frora
captain Smith. In a few weeks after this I had the
happiness to part with ray friend Lovel, for his sake,
whom the eneray affected to treat as a private-; he was
a gentleraan of raerit, and liberally educated, but had
no coraraission ; they maligned him on account of his
unshaken attachment to the cause of his country. He
was exchanged for a governor Philip Skene "of the
British. I was continued in this ship till the latter part
of November, where I contracted an acquaintance with
the captain of the British ; his name has sUpped my
memory. He was what we may call a genteel, hearty
fellow. I reraeraber an expression of his over a bottle
of wine, to this import: "That there is a greatness
of soul'for personal friendship to subsist between you
and me, as we are upon opposite sides, and raay at
another day be obliged to face each other in the field."
I am confident that he was as faithful as any officer in
the British army. At anotlier sitting he offered to bet
a dozen of wine, that fort Washington would be in tha

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEN 'S OAPTIVITT. 251
hands of the British in three days. I stood the bet,
and would, had I known that that would have been the
case ; and the third day afterwards we heard a heavy
cannonade, and that day the fort was taken sure enough.
Some months after, when I was on parole, he called upon
ms with his usual humor, and raentioned the bet. I
acknowledged I had lost it, but he said he did not mean
to take it then, as I was a prisoner ; that he would
another day call on me, when their army came to Ben
nington. I replied that he was quite too generous, as
I had fairly lost it ; besides, the Green-Mountain-Boys
would not suffer them to come to Bennington. This
¦was all in good humor. I should have been glad to
have seen hira after the defeat at Bennington, but did
not. It was customary for a guard to attend the pris
oners, which was often changed. One was composed
of tories frora Connecticut, in the vicinity of Fairfield
and Green Farms. The sergeant's name was Hoit.
They were very full of their invectives against the
country, swaggered of their loyalty to their king, and
exclaimed bitterly against the "cowardly yankees," as
they were pleased to term them, but finally contented
theraselves with saying, that when the country was
overcome, they should be well rewarded for their loy-
altj' out of the estates of the whigs, which would be
confiscated. This I found to be the general language
of the tories, after I arrived from England on the
American coast. I heard sundry of them relate, that
the British generals had engaged thera an araple reward
for their losses, disappointraents and expenditures, out
of the forfeited rebels' estates. This language early
taught rae what to do with tories' estates, as far as my
influence can go. For it is really a game of hazard
between whig and tory. The whigs must inevitably
have lost all, in consequence of the abilities of the
tories, and their good friends the British ; and it is
no more than right the tories should run the same
risk, in consequence of the abilities of the whigs. But
of this more will be observed. in the sequel of this
narrative. S')me of the last days of November, the prisonara

252 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
were landed at New-York, and I was admitted to parole
with the other officers, viz: Proctor, Howland, and
Taylor. The privates were put into filthy churches in
New- York, with the distressed prisoners that were taken
at Fort Washington ; and the second night, sergeant
Eoger Moore, who was bold and enterprising, found
means to make his escape with every of the remaining
prisoners that were taken with me, except three, who
were soon after exchanged. So that out of thirty-one
prisoners, who went with rae the round exhibited in
these sheets, two only died with the eneray, and three
only were exchanged ; one of whom died after he came
within our lines ; all the rest, at different times, made
their escape frora the enemy.
I now, found myself on parole, and restricted to the
limits of the city of New- York, where I soon projected
means to live in some measure agreeably to my rank,
though I was destitute of cash. My constitution was
almost worn out by such a long and barbarous captivity.
The enemy gave out that I was crazy, and wholly un
manned, but my vitals held sound, nor was I delirious
any more than I had been from youth up ; but ray
extreme circumstances, at certain times, rendered it
politic to aet in some measure tli£ madman ; and in
consequence of a regular diet and exercise, my blood
recruited, and my nerves in a great raeasure recovered
their former tone, strength and usefidness, in the course
of six months.
I next invite the reader to a retrospective sight and
consideration of the doleful scene of inhumanity ex
ercised by general Sir William Howe, and the army
under his comraand, towards the prisoners taken on
Long-Island, on the 27th of August, 1776; sundry Of
whora were, in an inhuman and barbarous manner,
murdered after they had surrendered their arms ; par
ticularly a general Odd, or Woodhull, of the niUitia,
who was hacked to pieces with cutlasses, when alive,
by the light horsemen, and a captain Fellows, of tho
continental army, who was thrust through with a bay
onet, of which wound he died instantly. Sundry others
were hanged up by the neck till they were dead ; five

.NAEEATIVE OF ALLENS CAPTIVITT. ¦ 253
on the limb of a white oak tree, and without any rea
son assigned, except that they were fighting in defence
of the only blessing worth preserving. And indeed
those who had the misfortune to fall into their hands
at Fort Washington, in the month of November foi
lowing, met with very little better usage, except that
they were reserved frora hnraediate death to faraish
and die with hunger ; in fine, the word rebel, applied
to any vanquished persons, without regard to rank,
who were in the continental service, on the 27th of
August aforesaid, was thought, by the enemy, sufficient
to sanctify whatever cruelties they were pleased to
inflict, death itself not excepted ; but to pass over
particulars which would swell my narrative far beyond
my design.
The private soldiers, who were brought to New
York, were crowded into churches, and environed
with slavish Hessian guards, a people of a strange
language, who were .sent to America for no other design
but cruelty and desolation ; and at others, by merci
less Britons whose mode of communicating ideas being
-intelligible in this country, served only to tantalize
and insult the helpless and perishing ; but above all,
the hellish delight and triundph of the tories over
them, as they were dying by hundreds. This was' too
much for me to bear as a spectator ; for I saw the
tories exulting over the dead bodies of their murdered
countryraen. 1 have gone into the churches, and
seen sundry of the prisoners in the. agonies of death,
in consequence of very hunger, and others speechless,
and very near death, biting pieces of chips ; others
pleading for God's sake, for s®raething to eat, and at
the same time, shivering with the cold. Hollow
groans saluted my ears, and despair seemed to he,
imprinted on every of their countenances. The filth
in these churches, in consequence of the fiuxes, was
almost beyond description. The floors were covered
with excrements. I have carefully sought to direct
my steps so as to avoid it, but could not. They would
beg for God's sake for one copper, or morsel of
bread. I have seen in one of these churches seven

254 ETHAN ALT.EN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
dead, at the same time, lying among the excrements
of their bodies.
It was a common practice with the enemy, to con
vey the dead from these filthy places, in carts, to be
slightly buried, and I have seen whole gangs of tories
making derision, and exulting over the dead, saying,
there goes another load of damned rebels. I have
observed the British soldiers to be full of their black
guard jokes, and vaunting on those occasions, but
they appeared to me less malignant than tories.
The provision dealt out to the prisoners was by no
means sufficient for the support of life. It was defi
cient in quantity, and much more so in quality. The
prisoners often presented me with a sample of their
bread, which I certify was daraaged to that degree,
that it was loathsome and unfit to be eaten, and I am
bold to aver it, as my opinion, that it had been con
demned, and was of the very worst sort. I have
seen and been fed upon damaged bread, in the course
of my captivity, and observed the quality of such
bread as has been condemned by the enemy, amoui,-
which was very little so effectuaUy spoiled as what
was dealt out to these prisoners. Their allowance of
meat (as they told me) was quite trifling, and of the
basest sort. I never saw any of it, but was informed,
that bad as it was, it was swallowed almost as quick
as they got hold of it. I saw sorae of them sucking
bones after they were speechless ; others, who could
yet speak, and had the use of their reason, urged me
in the strongest and most pathetic manner, to use my
interest in their behalf ; for you plainly see, said they,
that we are devoted to death and destruction ; and
after I had examined more particularly into their truly
deplorable condition, and had becorae raore fully
apprized of the essential facts, I was persuaded that
it was a preraeditated and systematical plan of the
British council, to destroy the youths of our land, with
a view thereby to deter the country, and make it
submit to their despotism ; but that I could not do
them any material service, and that, by any public
attempt for that purpose, I might endanger myself by

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 255
frequenting places the most nauseous and contagious
that could be conceived of I refrained going into
111 1 O O
churches, but frequently conversed with such of the
prisoners as were admitted to come out into the yard,
and found that the systematical usage still continued.
The guard would often drive me away with their fixed
bayonets. A Hessian one day followed me five or six
rods, but by making use of my legs, I got rid of the
lubber. Sometimes I could obtain a little conversa
tion, notwithstanding their severities.
I was in one of the church yards, and it was
rumored among those in the church, and sundry of
the prisoners came ¦«'ith their usual complaints to me,
and among the rest a large boned, tall young man, as
he told rae, frora Pennsylvania, ¦who was reduced to a
mere skeleton ; he said he was glad to see me before
he died, which he expected to have done last night,
but was a little revived ; he furthermore informed
me, that he and his brother had been urged to enlist
into the British Army, but both had resolved to die
first ; that his brother had died last night, in conse
quence of that resolution, and that he expected shortly
to follow hira ; but I raade the other prisoners stand
a little off, and told him with a low voice to enlist ;
he then asked, whether it was right in the sight of
God ! I assured him that it was, and that duty to hira
self obliged him to deceive the British by enlisting
and deserting the first opportunity; upon which he
answered with transport that he would enlist. I
charged him not to mention ray name as his adviser,
lest it should get air, and I should be closely confined,
in consequence of it. The integrity of these suffering
prisoners is hardly credible. Many hundreds, I am
confident, submitted to death, rather than to enlist in
the rSritish service, which, I am informed, they most
generally were pressed to do. I was astonished at
the resolution of the two brothers particularly; it seems
that they could not be stiraulated to such exertions of
heroism from ambition, as they were but obscure sol
diers ; strong indeed must the internal principle of
virtue be, which supported them to brave death, "and

256 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEM-MOD^TAIN HEEOES.
one of thera went through the operation, as did many
hundred others. I readily grant that instances of
public virtue are no excitement to the sordid aiid
vicious, nor, on the other hand, will all the barbarity
of Britain and Heshland awaken thera to a sense of
their duty to the public ; bnt these things will have
their proper eff'ect on the generous and brave. The
officers on parole were raost of them zealous, if possi
ble, to afford the miserable soldiery relief, and often
consulted with one another on the subject, but to no
effect, being destitute of the means of subsistence,
which they needed ; nor could the officers project any
measure, which they thought would alter their fate,
or so much as be a means of getting thera out of those
filthy places to the privUege of fresh air. Some prci-
jected that all the officers should go in procession to
General Howe, . and plead the cause of the perishing
soldiers ; but this proposal was negatived for the fol
lowing reasons, viz : because that general Howe raust
needs be well acquainted, and have a thorough know
ledge of the state and condition of the prisoners in
every of their wretched apartraents, and that much
more particular and exact than any officer on parole
could be supposed to have, as the general had a return
of the circumstances of the prisoners, by his own
officers, every raorning, of the nuraber which were
alive, as also the number which died every twenty-
four hours ; and consequently the bill of mortality, as
collected from the daily returns, lay before him with
all the material situations and circumstances of the
prisoners ; and provided the officers should go in pro
cession to general Howe, according to the projection,
it would give him the greatest aftront, and that he
would either retort upon them, that it was no part of
their parole tO instruct hira in his conduct to prison
ers ; that they were rautining against his authority,
and by affronting him, had forfeited their parole ; or
tbat, more probalily, instead of saying one word to
them, would order thera all into as wretched confine
ment as the soldiers whom they sought to relieve;
for, at that time, the British, from the general to the

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEN S CAPTIVITT. 257
private sentinel, were in full confidence, nor did they
so much as hesitate, but that they should conquer the
country. Thus the consultation of the officers was
confounded and broken to pieces, in consequence of
the dread, which at that time lay on their minds, of
offending Gen. Howe ; for they conceived so murder
ous a tyrant would not be too good to destroy even
the officers.^ on the least pretence of an affront, as
they were equally in his power with the soldiers ;
and, as Gen. How'e perfectly understood the condi
tion of the private soldiers, it was argued that it was
exactly such as he and his council had devised, and
as he meant to destroy thera, it would be to no pur
pose for thera to try' to dissuade hira from it, as they
were helpless and liable to the same fate, on giving
the least affront ; indeed anxious apprehensions dis
turbed thera in their then circumstances.
Mean time mortality raged to such an intolerable
degree among the prisoners, that the very school boys
in the streets knew the raental design of it in some
measure ; at least, they knew that they were starved
to death. Some poor women contributed to their
necessity, till their children were alraost starved, and
all persons of coramon understanding knew that they
were devoted to the cruelest and worst of deaths. It
was also proposed by sorae -to make a written repre
sentation of the condition of the soldiery, and the
officers to sign it, and that it should be couched in
such terms, as though they were apprehensive that
the General was imposed upon by his officers, in their
daily returns to him of the state and condition of the
prisoners ; and that therefore the officers, moved with
compassion, were constrained to communicate to him
the facts relative to thera, nothing doubting but that'
they would raeet with a speedy redress ; but this pro
posal was raost generally negatived also, and for much
the same reason offered in the other case; for it was
conjectured that Gen. Howe's indignation would be
moved against such officers as should atterapt to whip
bim" over his officers' backs ; that he would discern
that himself was really struck at, and not the officers

258 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
who made the daily returns ; and therefore self-preser
vation deterred the officers from either petitioning or
remonstrating to Gen. Howe, either verbally or in
writing ; as also the consideration that no valuable
purpose to the distressed would be obtained.
I made several rough drafts on the subject, one of
which I exhibited to the colonels Magaw, Miles and
Atlee, and they said that the-°^ would consider the
matter ; soon after I called on tnem, and sorae of the
gentleraen inforraed me that they had written to the
general on the subject, and I concluded that the gen
tlemen thought it best that they should write without
me, as there was such spirited aversion subsisting
between the British and rae.
In the raean time a colonel Hussecker, of the conti
nental array, as he then reported, was- taken prisoner,
and brought to New- York, who gave out that the
country was alraost universally subraitting to the
English king's authority, and that there would be little
or no raore opposition to Great-Britain. This at first
gave the officers a little shock, but in a few daj's they
recovered theraselves; for this colonel Hussecker,
being a German,' was feasting with general De Heister,
his countryman, and from his conduct they were
apprehensive that he was a knave ; at least he was
esteemed so by most of the officers ; it was neverthe
less a day of trouble. The enemy -blasphemed. Our
little array was retreating in New-Jersey, and our
young raen raurdered by hundreds in New- York. The
army of Britain and Heshland prevailed for a little
season, as though it was ordered by Heaven to shew,
to the latest posterity, what the British would have
done if they could, and what the general calamity
must have been, in consequence of their conquering
the country, and to excite every honest man to stand
forth in the defence of liberty, and to establish the
independency of the United States of Araerica for
ever. But this scene of adverse fortune did not dis
courage a Washington. The illustrious Araerican
hero remained imraoveable. In liberty's cause he'took
up his sword. Thi? refiection was his support and

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 259
consolation in the day of his humiliation, when he
retreated before the enemy, through New-Jersey into
Pennsylvania. Their triumph only roused his indig
nation ; and the important cause of his country, which
lay near his heart, moved him to cross the Delaware
again, and take araple satisfaction on his pursuers.
No sooner had he circumvallated his haughty foes, and
appeared in terrible array, but the host of Heshland
fell. This taught America the intrinsic worth of per
severance, and the generous sons of freedom fiew to
the standard of their coramon safeguard and defence ;
from which time the arm of Araerican liberty hath
prevaUed. This surprise and capture of the Hessians enraged
the eneray, who were still vastly more numerous than
the continental troops.. They therefore collected, and
marched from Princetown to attack general Washing
ton, who was then at Trenton, having previously left a
detachment from their main body at Princeton, for the
support of that place. This was a trying time, for our
worthy general, though in possession of a late most
astonishing victory, was by no raeans able to withstand
the collective forces of the enemy ; but his sagacity
soon suggested a stratagera to effect that which, by
force, to hira was at that tirae irapracticable. 'He
therefore amused the enemy with anumber.of fires, and
in the night made a forced march, undiscovered by
them, and next morning fell in with their rear-guard
at Princetown, and killed and took most of thera prison
ers. The main body too late perceived their rear was
attacked, hurried back with all speed, but to their mor
tification, found that tbey were out-generalled and baf
fled by general Washington, who was retired with his
little army towards Morristown, and was out of their
power. These repeated successes, one on the back of
the other, chagrined the enemy prodigiously, and had
an- amazing operation in the scale of American pol
itics, and undoubtedly was one of the corner stones, on
which their fair structure of Independency has been
fabricated, for the country at no other time has ever
been so much dispirited as just before the morning of

260 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
this glorious success, which in part dispelled tho
glooray clouds of oppression and slavery, which lay
pending over Araerica, big with tbe ruin of this and
future generations, and enlightened -and spirited her
sons to redouble their blows on a merciless, and
haughty, and I may add perfidious eneray.
Farthermore, this success had a mighty effect on
general Howe and his council, and roused them to a
sense of their own weakness, and convinced them that
they were neither omniscient nor omnipotent. Their
obduracy and death-designing malevolence, in some
measure, abated, or was suspended. The prisoners,
who were condemned to the most wretched and cru
elest of deaths, and who survived to this period, though
most of them died before, were immediately ordered
to be sent within general Washington's lines for an
exchange, and, -in consequence of it, were taken out of
their filthy and poisonous places of confineraent, and
sent from New- York to their friends in haste ; several
of thera fell dead in the streets of New- York, as they
atterapted to walk to the vessels in the harbor, for their
intended embarkation. What numbers lived to reach
the lines I cannot ascertain, but, from concurrent rep
resentations which I have since received frora nurabers
of people who lived in and adjacent to such parts of
the country, where they were received frora the enemy,
I apprehend that most of them died in consequence of
the vile usage of the enemy. Some who were eye
witnesses of that scene of mortality, more especially in
that part which continued after the exchange took
place, are of opinion, that it was partly in consequence
of a slow poison ; but this I refer to the doctors who
attended them, who are certainly the best judges.
Upon tbe best calculation I have been able to make
from personal knowledge, and the many evidences I
have collected in support of the facts, I learn that, of
the prisoners taken on Long-Island, Fort Washington,
and some few others, at different tiraes and places,
about two thousand perished with hunger, cold and
sickness, occasioned by the filth of their prisons, at
New- York, and a number more on tlieir passage to the

NAEEATIVE 01 ALLEn's OAPTIVITT. 26]
continental lines. Most if the residue, who reached
their friends, having received their death -wound, could
not be restored by the assistance of physicians and
friends ; but like their br'tther prisoners, fell a sacrifice
to the relentless and scift'Ptific barbarity of Britain. I
took as much pains as 'vy circumstances would admit
of, to inform myself v^t only of matters of fact, but
likewise of the very tiH'="'gn and aims of general flowe
and his council. The litter of which I predicated on
the former, and submit it to the candid public.
And lastly, the afo^-esaid success of the Araerican
arms had a happy e^ffsct on the continental officers,
¦who were on parole p.t New- York. A nuraber of us
assembled, but not in a public manner, and with full
bowls and glasses, rirank general Washington's health,
and were not unmindful of Congress and our worthy
friends on the co/itinent, and almost forgot that we
were prisone.TS.
A few days after this recreation, a British officer of
rank and imporLance in tbeir army, whose name I shall
not mention in this narrative, for certain reasons,
though I have mentioned it to some of my close friends
and confidants, «ent for me to his lodgings, and told rae
"That faithfulness, though in a wrong cause, had nev
ertheless recommended rae to general Sir WiUiara
Howe, \pbo was minded to make me a colonel of a reg
iment of new levies, alias tories, in the British service ;
and proposed that I should go with him, and some
other officers, to England, who wonld embark for that
purpose in a few days, and there be introduced to Lord
G. Gerraaine, and probably to the King ; and that
previously I should be clothed equal to such an intro
duction, and, instead of paper rags, be paid in hard
guineas ; after this, should embark with general Bur
goyne, and assist in the reduction ofthe country, which
infa'Ubly would be conquered, and, when that should
be done, I should have a large tract of land, either in
the New-Harapshire grants, or in Connecticut, it would
make no odds, as the country would be forfeited to the
crown." I then replied, "That, if by faithfulness 1
had recommended myself to general Howe, I should

262 ETHAN ALLEN AND JIEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
be loth, by unfaithfulness, to lose the general's goqd
opinion ; besides, that I viewed the offer of land to be
simUar to that which the devil offered Jesus Christ,
' To give him all the kingdoms of the world, if he
would fall do-wn and worship him ; when at the same
time, the damned soul had not one foot of land upon
earth.' " This closed the conversation, and the gentle
man turned from me ¦with an air of dislike, saying, that
I was a bigot ; upon which I retired to my lodgings.'*
• An anecdote of a different character is told of AUen's sojourn in
New York. Rivington, the "king's printer," a forcible and venomous
writer, had incurred Allen's enmity by his caustic allusions to bim, and
the hero of Ticonderoga swore " he would lick Rivington tbe very first
opportunity he had !" How the printer escaped the threatened castiga
tion shall be nairated in his own words : I was sitting, [says Riving-
ton,3 after a good dinner, alone, with my bottle of Madeira before me,
when I heard an unu,sual noise in the sti-eet, and a huzza from the boys.
I was in the second story, and, stepping to the window, saw a tall figure
iu tarnished regimentals, with a large cocked hat and an enormous long
sword, followed by a crowd of boys, who occasionally cheered him with
huzzas, of which he seemed insensible. He came up to my door and
stopped. I could see no more. My heart told me it was Ethan Allen.
I shut my window and retired behind my table and my bottle. I was
certain the hour of reckoning had come. Thero was no retreat Mr.
Staples, my clerk, came in paler than ever, and, clasping his hands, said,
" Master, he has come 1 " "I know it" " He entered the store and
, asked ' if James Rivington hved there ? ' I answered, 'Yes, sir.' 'Is
he at home 5 ' ' I will go and see, sir,' I said ; and now, master, what
is to be done ? There he is in the store, and the boys peeping at him
from the street" I had made up my mind. I looked at the Madeira —
possibly took a glass. " Show him up," said I ; " and if such Madeira
can not mollify him, he must be harder than adamant" There was a
fearful moment of suspense. I heard him on the staii-s, his long sword
clanking at every step. In he stalked. " Is your name James Riving-
tou ? " "It is, sir, and no man could he more happy than I am to see
Colonel Ethan AUen." " Sir, I have come  " " Not another word,
my dear colonel, until you have taken a seat and a glass of old Ma
deira." " But, SU-, I do n't thiakit proper  " " Not another word,
colonel Taste this wine. I have had it in glass for ton years. Old

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEN's CAPTIVITT. 263
Near the last of November, I was admitted -to pa
role in New--York, with many other American officers,
and on the 22d day of January, 1777, wa.s with them
directed by the British commissary of prisoners to bo
quartered on the westerly part of Long-Island, and our
parole continued. During my iraprisonraent there, no
occurrence worth observation happened. I obtained
the means of living as well as I desired, which in a
treat measure repaired my constitution, which had
een greatly injured by the severities of an inhuman
captivity. I now began to feel rayself composed, ex
pecting either an exchange, or continuance in good and
honorable treatraent ; but alas ! ray visionary expec
tations soon vanished. The news of the conquest of
Ticonderoga by general Burgoyne, and the advance of
his army into the country, made the haughty Britons
again feel their importance, and with that, their insa
tiable thirst for cruelty.
The private prisoners at New- York, and some of the
officers on parole, felt the severity of it. Burgoyne
was to them a demi-god. To him they paid adoration ;
in him the tories placed their confidence, " and forgot
the Lord their God," and served Howe, Burgoyne and
Knyphausen, " and became vile in their Own imagina
tion, and their foolish hearts were darkened," profess
ing to be great politicians, and relying on foreign and
merciless invaders, and with them seeking the ruin,
bloodshed and destruction of their country ; " became
fools," expecting with them to share a dividend in the
confiscated estates of their neighbors and countrymen
who fought for the whole country, and the religion and
liberty thereof "Therefore, God gave them over to
strong delusion, to believe a lie, that they all might be
damned." wine, you know, unless it is originally sound, never improves by age."
He took the glass, swaUowed the wine, smacked his lips, and shook his
Dead approvingly. "Sir, I come  " " Not another word until you have
¦aken another glass, and then, my dear colonel, wo wiU talk of old
offairs, and I have .some queer events to detail." In shoit, we finished
two bottles of Madeira, and parted as good friends as if we had never
Dad cause to be otherwise. 12

264 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
The 25th day of August, I was apprehended, and
under pretext of artful, mean and pitiful pretences, that
I had infringed on my parole, taken from a tavern.
where there were more than a dozen officers present,
and, in the very place where those offieera and myself
were directed to be quartered, put under a strong
guard and taken to New-York, where I expected to
make my defence before the commanding officer ; but,
contrary to my expectations, and without the least
solid pretence of justice or trial, was again encircled
with a strong guard with fixed bayonets, and conducted
to the provost-gaol in a lonely apartment, next above
the dungeon, and was denied all manner of subsistence
either by purchase or aUowance. The second day 1
offered a guinea for a meal of victuals, but was denied
it, and the third day I offered eight Spanish milled
dollars for a like favor, but was denied, and all I could
get out of the sergeant's raouth, was that by  he
would obey his orders. I now perceived myself to be
again in substantial trouble. In this condition I formed
an oblique acquaintance with a Capt. Travis, of Yir-
ginia, who was in the dungeon, below me, through a
little hole which was cut with a pen-knife, through the
floor of ray apartraent which communicated with the
dungeon ; it was a small crevice, through which I
could discern but a very small part of his face at once,
when he applied it to the hole ; but from the discovery
of him in the situation which we were both then in,'l
could not have known him, which I found to be true
by an after acquaintance. 1 could nevertheless hold a
conversation with him, and soon perceived him to be a
gentleman of high spirits, who had a high sense of
honor, and felt as big, as though he had been in a pal
ace, and had treasures of wrath in store against the
British. In flne I was charmed with the spirit of the
man ; he had been near or quite four months in that
dungeon, with murderers, thieves, and every species of
criminals, and all for the sole crime of unshaken fidelity
to his country ; but his spirits were above dejection,
and his mind unconquerable. I engaged to do him
every service ia mj power, and in a few weeks after-

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 265
wards, with the united petitions of the officers in the
provost, procured his dismission from the dark mansion
of fiends to the apartments of his petitioners.
And it came to pass on the 3d day, at the going
down of the sun, that I was presented with a piece of
boiled pork, aad some biscuit, which the sergeant gave
me to understand, was my allowance, and I fed sweetly
on the same ; but I indulged ray appetite by degrees,
and in a few days was taken from that apartment, and
conducted to the next loft or story, where there were
above twenty continental, and some militia officers, who
had been taken, and imprisoned there, besides sorae
private gentlemen, who had been dragged from their
own homes to that filthy place by tories. Several of
every denomination mentioned, died there, some before,
and others after I was put there.
The history of the proceedings relative to the provost
only, were I particular, would swell a volume larger
than this whole narrative. I shall therefore only notice
such of the occurrences which are mostly extraordinary.
Capt. Yandyke bore, with an uncoraraon fortitude,
near twenty months' confinement in this place, and in
the mean time was very serviceable to others who were
confined with him. The allegation against him, as the
cause of his confineraent, was very extraordinary. He
was accused of setting fire to the city of New- York, at
the tirae the west part of it was consumed, when it was
a known fact, that he had been in the provost a week
before the fire broke out ; and in like manner, frivolous
were the ostensible accusations against most of those
who were there confined ; the case of two militia officers
excepted, who were taken in their attempting to escape
from their parole ; and probably there may be some
other instances which might justify such a confinement.
Mr. William Miller, a committee man, from West
Chester county, and state of New- York, was taken from
his bed in the dead of the night by his tory neighbors,
and was starved for three days and nights in an apart
ment of the sarae gaol ; add to this the denial of fire,
and that in a cold season of the year, in which tirae he
walked day and night, to defend himself against tho

266 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOHNTAIN HEEOES
frost, and when he complained of such a reprehensible
conduct, the word rebel or committee man was deemed
by the eneray a sufficient atonement for any inhumanity
that they could invent or inflict. He was a man of
good natural understanding, a close and sincere friend
to the liberties of Araerica, and endured fourteen
months' cruel imprisonment with that magnanimity of
soul, which reflects honor on himself and country.
Major Levi Wells, and Capt. Ozias Bissel were ap
prehended and taken under guard from their parole
on Long-Island, to the provost, on as fallacious pretences
as the former, and were there continued till their ex
change took place which was near five months. Their
fidelity and zealous attachraent to their country's cause,
which was more than commonly conspicuous was
undoubtedly the real cause of their confinement.
Major Brinton Payne, Capt. Flahaven, and Capt.
Eandolph, who had at diff"erent times distinguished
themselves by their bravery, especially at the several
actions, in which they were taken, were all the provo
cation they gave, for which they suffered about a year's
confinement, each in the same filthy gaol.
A few weeks after my confinement, on the like fal
lacious and wicked pretences, was brought to the same
Elace, from his parole on I/ong-Island, Major Otho
[oUand Williams now a full Col. in the continental
army. In his character are united the gentleman, offi
cer, soldier, and friend ; he walked through the prison
with an air of great disdain; said he, "Is this the
treatment which gentlemen of the continental army
are to expect frora the rascally British, when in their
power? Heavens forbid it!" He was continued thera
about five months, and then exchanged for a British
Maior. tfobn Fell, Esq. now a member of Congress for the
state of New-Jersey, was taken from his own house by
a gang of infamous tories, and by order of a British
General, was sent to the provost, where he was con
tinued near one year. The stench of the gaol, which
was very loathsome and unhealthy, occasioned a
hoarseness of the lungs, which pr»ved fatal to raany

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 267
who were there confined, and reduced this gentleman
near to the point of death ; he was indeed given over
by his friends who were about him, and himself con
cluded that he must die. I could not endure the
thought that so worthy a friend to Araerica should
have his life stolen from him in such a mean, base, and
scandalous manner, and that his faraily and friends
should be bereaved of so great and desirable a blessing,
as his further care, usefulness and exaraple, might prove
to them. I therefore wrote a letter to George Eobertson,
who coraraanded in town, and being 'touched with the
most sensible feelings of huraanity, which dictated ray
pen to paint dying distress in such lively colors that it
wrought conviction even on the obduracy of a British
General, and produced his order to reraove the now
honorable John Fell, Esq. out of a gaol, to private
lodgings in town ; in consequence of which he slowly
recovered his health. There is so extraordinary a cir
curastance which intervened concerning this letter, that
it is worth noticing.
Brevious to sending it, I exhibited the same to the
gentleman in whose behalf it was written, for his ap
probation, and he forbid rae to send it in the raost
positive and explicit terms ; his reason was, "That the
eneray knew, by every raorning's report, the condition
of all the prisoners, raine in particular, as I have been
gradually coming to my end for a considerable time,
and they very well knew it, and likewise determined
it should be accomplished, as they had served raany
others ; that, to ask a favor, would give the raerciless
eneray occasion to triumph over me in my last moments,
and therefore I will ask no favors from thera, but resign
myself to my, supposed fate." But the letter I sent
without his knowledge, and I confess I had but little
expectations from it, yet could not be easy till I had
sent it. It raay be worth a remark, that this gentleman
was an Englishman born, and from the beginning of
the revolution has invariably asserted and raaintained
the cause of liberty. ^
The British have raade so extensive an iraproveraent
of the provost during the present revolution till of late,

268 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
that a very short definition will be sufficient for the
dullest apprehensions. It may be with propriety called
the British inquisition, and calculated to support their
oppressive measures and designs, by suppressing the
spirit of liberty ; as also a place to confine the crim
inals, and most infamous wretches of their own army,
where many gentlemen of the American army, and
citizens thereof, were promiscuously confined, with
every species of criminals ; but they divided into dif
ferent apartments, and kept at as great a remove as
circumstances perraitted ; but it was nevertheless at
the option of a villainous sergeant, who had the charge
of the provost, to take any gentleraan frora their room,
and put them into the dungeon, which was often the
case. At two different times I was taken down stairs
for that purpose, by a file of soldiers with fixed bay
onets, and the sergeant brandishing his sword at the
same tirae, and having been brought to the door of the
dungeon, I there flattered the vanity of the sergeant,
whose narae was Keef, by which raeans I procured the
surprizing favor to return to my companions ; but some
of the high mettled young gentlemen could not bear
his insolence, and determined to keep at a distance,
and neither please nor displease the villain, but none
could keep clear of his abuse ; however, mild measures
were the best ; he did not hesitate to call us damned
rebels, and use us with the coarsest language. The
Capts. Flahaven, Eandolph and Mercer, were the ob
jects of his most flagrant and repeated abuses, who
were many times taken to the dungeon, and there
continued at his pleasure. Capt. Flahaven took cold
in the dungeon, and was in a declining state of health,
but an exchange delivered hira, and in all probability
saved his life. It was very raortifying to bear with the
insolence of such a vicious and ill-bred, iraperious ras
cal. Eeraonstrances were preferred to the coraraander
of the town, but no relief could be obtained, for his
superiors were undoubtedly well pleased with his
abnisive conduct to the gentlemen, under the severities
of his 4)ower ; and remonstrating against his infernal
conduct, only served to confirm hira in authority ; and

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 269
for this reason I never made any remonstrances on the
subject, but only stroked him, for I kn^w that he was
but a cat's paw in the hands of the British officers, and
that, if he should use us well, he would immediately
be put out of that trust, and a worse man appointed to
succeed him ; but there was no need of making any
new appointment ; for Cunningham, their provost mar-
shall, and Keef, his deputy, were as great rascals as
their army could boast of, except one Joshua Loring,
an infamous tory, who was commissary of prisoners ;
nor can any of these be supposed to be equally criminal
with Gen. Sir William Howe and his associates, who
prescribed and directed the murders and cruelties,
which were by thera perpetrated. This Loring is a
monster! — There is not his like in human shape. He
exhibits a smiling countenance, seems to wear a phiz
of huraanity, but has been instruraentally capable of the
most consumate acts of wickedness, which were first
projected by an abandoned British council clothed with
the authority of a Howe, murdering premeditatedly, in
cold blood, near or quite two thousand helpless jjris-
oners and that in tbe most clandestine, mean and
shameful manner, at New-York. He is the most mean
spirited, cowardly, deceitful, and destructive animal in
God's creation below, and legions of infernal devils,
with all their tremendous horrors, are impatiently ready
to receive Howe and him, ¦with all their detestable
accomplices, into the most exquisite agonies of the
hottest region of hell fire.
The 6th day of July, 1777, Gen. St. Clair, and the
army under his command, evacuated Ticonderoga, and
retreated with the main body through Hubbarton into
Castleton, which was -but six miles distant, when his
rear guard, commanded by Col. Seth Warner, was at
tacked at Hubbarton hy a body of the enemy of about
two thousand, commanded by General Fraser. War
ner's comraand consisted of -his own and other two
regiraents, viz. Francis's and Hale's, and some scatter
ing and enfeebled soldiers. His whole number, accord
ing to information, was near or quite one thousand ;
part of which were Green Mountain Boys, about seven

270 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
hundred of the. whole he brought into action. The
enemy advanced boldly, and the two bodies formed
within about sixty yards of each other. Col. Warner
having formed his own regiment, a.nd that of Col.
Francis's did not wait for the enemy, but gave tbem a
heavy fire from his whole line, and they returnea it
with great bravery. It was by this time, dangerous
for those of both parties, who were not prepared for
the world to come ; but Colonel Hale being apprised
of the danger, never brought his regiraent to the charge,
but left Warner and Francis to stand the blowing of it,
and fied, but luckily fell in with an inconsiderable
number of the enemy, and to his eternal shame, sur
rendered himself a prisoner.
The confiict was very bloody. Col. Francis fell in
the same, but Col. Warner, and the officers under his
command, as also the soldiery, behaved with great
resolution. The enemy broke, and gave way. on the
right and left, but forraed again, arid renewed the at
tack ; in the mean tirae the British granadiers, in the
center of the eneray's line maintained the ground, and
finally carried it with the point of the bayonet, and
Warner retreated with reluctance. Our loss was about
thirty men killed, acd that of the enemy araounting to
three hundred killed, including a Major Grant. The
eneray's loss I learnt from the confession of their own
officers, when a prisoner with them. I heard them
likewise complain, that the Green Mountain Boys took
sight. The next movement of the eneray, of any ma
terial consequence, was their investing Bennington,
with a design to demolish it, and subject its Mountain
eers, to ¦which they had a great aversion, with one
hundred and fifty chosen men,* including tories, with
the highest expectation of success, and having chosen
an eminence of strong ground, fortified it with slight
breast works, and two pieces of cannon ; but the gov
ernment of the young state of Yermont, being previ
ously jealous of such an attempt of the enemy, and in
due time had procured a number of brave mUitia from
the governraent of the state of New-Harapshire, wha
together with the militia of the north part of Berkshire

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEN's CAPTIVITT. 271
county, and state of Massachusetts, and tho Green
Mountain Boys, constituted a body of desperadoes,
under the comraand of the intrepid general Stark, who
in number were about equal to the enemy. Colonel
Herrick, who cotnmanded the Green Mountain Eangers,
and who was second iu coraraand, being thoroughly ac
quainted with the ground where the enemy had forti
fied, jiroposed to attack them in their works upon all
parts, at the same time. This plan being adopted by
the general and his council of war, the little militia
brigade of undisciplined heroes, with their long brown
firelocks, the best security of a free people, without
either cannon or bayonets, was, on the 16th day of
August, led on to the attack by their bold coraraanders,
in the face of the enemy's dreadful fire, and to the
. astonishment of the world, and burlesque of discipline,
carried every part of their lines in less than one quar
ter of an hour after the attack becarae general, took
their cannon, killed and captivated more than two-
thirds of their number, which immortalized general
Stark, and made Bennington faraous to posterity.
Araong the eneray's slain was found colonel Baum,
their commander, a colonel Pfester, who headed an
infamous gang of tories, and a large part of his com
mand ; and among the prisoners was major Meiborae,
their second in command, a number of British and
Hessian officers, surgeons, &c., and more than one
hundred of the aforementioned Pfester's comraand.
The prisoners being collected together, were sent to the
raeeting-house in the town, by a . strong guard, and
Gen. Stark not iraagining any present danger, the rail
itia scattered frora him to rest and refresh themselves ;
in this situation he was on a sudden attacked by a
reinforcement of one thousand and one hundred of tho
enemy, commanded by a governor Skene, with two
field pieces. They advanced in regular order, and kept
up an incessant fire, especially from their field pieces,
and the remaining militia retreating slowly before
them, disputed the ground inch by inch. The enemy
were heard to halloo to them, saying, stop Yankees!
In the meantime. Col. Warner, with aboiit one hundred
12*

272 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
and thirty raen of his regiment, who were not in
the firgt action, arrived and attacked the enemy with
great fury, being detennined to have ample revenge
on account of the quarrel at Hubbardton, which
brought them to a stand, and soon after general Stark
and colonel Herrick, brought on more of the scattered
militia, and the action became general ; in a few min
utes the enemy were forced frora their cannon, gave
way on all parts and fled, and the shouts of victory
¦were a second time proclaimed in favor of the ndilitia.
The enemy's loss in killed and prisoners, in these two
actions, amounted to more than one thousand and two
hundred men, and our loss did not exceed flfty men.
This was a bitter stroke to the enemy, but their pride
would not permit them to hesitate but that they could
vanquish the country, and as a specimen of their arro-
gancy, I shall insert general Burgoyne's proclamation :
" By John Burgoyne, Esq., Lieutenant-General of his Maje.sty's
armies in America, Colonel of the Queen's regiment' of light
dragoons, Governor of Fort 'William in North-Britain, one of
the Representatives of the Commons of Great Britain, in Par
liament, and commanding an army and fleet employed on an
expedition from Canada, &c. &c. <fec.
" The forces entrusted to my command are designed to act in
concert and upon a common principle, with the numerous armies
aud fleets which already display in every quarter of America,
the powei-, the justice, and, when properly sought, the mercy of
the King.
" The cause, in which the British arms are thus exerted,
applies to the most affecting interests of the human heart; and
the military servants of the crown, at first called forth for the
sole purpose of restoring the rights of the constitution, now
combine with love of their country, and duty to their sovereign,
the other extensive excitements which spring from a due sense
of the general privileges of mankind. To the eyes and eare of
the temperate part of the public, and to the breasts of suffering
thousands in the provinces, be tbe melancholy appeal, whether
the present unnatural rebellion has not been made a foundation
for the completest system of tyranny that ever God, in his dis'
pleasure, suff'ered for a time to be exercised over a froward and
stubborn generation.
" Ai'bitrary imprisonment, confiscation of property, persecution

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEN's CAPTIVITT. 273
and toi-ture, unprecedented in the inquisitions of the Romish
Church, are among the palpable enormities that verify the affirm
ative. These are inflicted by assemblies and committees, who
dai'e to profess themselves friends to liberty, upon the most quiet
subjects, without distinction of age or sex, for the sole cj-ime,
often for the sole suspicion, of having adhered in principle to
tho government under wliich they were born, and to which, by
every tie, divine -and human, they owe allegiance. To consum
mate these shocking proceedings, the profanation of religion is
added to the most profligate prostitution of common reason;
the consciences of men ai-e .set at nought; and multitudes are
compelled not only to bear arms, but also to swear subjection to
an usurpation they abhor.
" Animaied by these considerations, at the, head of troops in
the full powei-s of health, discipline and valor ; determined to
strike where necessary, and anxious to spare where possible, I
by these presents invite and exhort all persons, in all places
where the progress of this array may point; and by the blessing
of God I will extend it far to maintain such a conduct as raay
justify me iu protecting their lands, habitations and families.
The intention of this address is to hold forth security, not depre
dation to the country. To those -whom spirit and principle may
induce to partake of the glorious task of redeeming their coun
trymen from dungeons, and re-establishing the blessings of legal
government, I offer encouragement and employment; and upon
the first intelligence of their asssociatiohs, I will find means to
a.ssist their undertakings. The domestic, the industrious, the
infirm, and even the timid inhabitants I am desirous to protect,
provided they remain quietly at their houses ; that they do not
suffer tbeir cattle to be removed, nor their corn or forage to be
secreted or destroyed ; that they do not break up their bridges
or roads : nor by any other act^ directly or indirectly, endeavour
to obstruct the operations of the king's troops, or supply or assist
those of the enemy. Every species of provision brought to my
camp, will be paid for at an equitable rate, and iu solid coin.
" ]n consciousness of Christianity, my royal master's clemancy,
and the honor of soldiership, I have dwelt upon this invitation,
and wished for more persuasive terms to give it impression. And
let not people be led to disregard it by considering their distance
from the immediate situation of my camp. I have but to give
stretch to the Indian forces under my direction, and they amount
to thousand.^, to overtake the hardened enemies of Great Britain
and America : I consider them the same wherever they may
lurk.

274 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
" If, notwithstanding these endeavours, and sincere inclinations
to effect them, the phr.ensy of hostility should remain, I trust I
shall stand acquitted in the eyes of God and man, in denouncing
and executing the vengeance of the state against the wilful out
casts. The messengers of justice and of wratli await them in
the field; and devastation, famine, and every concomitant horror
tbat a reluctant 'but indi'Spensible pr<«eciition of military duty
must occasion, will bear the way to their return.
J. BURGOYNE.'
" By order of his Excellency the Lieut. Genei-al,
Robert Kingston, Sec.
" Camp near Ticonderoga, 4th July, 1777."
Gen. Burgoyne was stUl the toast, and the.severities
towards the'prisoners were in great raeasure increased
or diminished, in proportion to the expectation of con
quest. His very ostentatious Proclamation was in the
hand and mouth of most of the soldiery, especiaUy
the tories, and frora it, their faith was raised to assur-
rance. I wish ray countrymen in general could have
an idea of the assuming tyranny, and haughty, malevr
olent, and insolent behavior of the eneray at that time ;
and frora thence discern the intolerable calamities
which this country have extricated themselves from
by their public spiritedness and bravery. The down
fall of Gen. Burgoyne, and surrender of his whole
array, dashed the aspiring hopes and expectations of
the eneray, and brought low the iraperious spirit of an
opulent, puissant ana haughty nation, and raade the
tories bite the ground with anguish, exalting the valor
ofthe free-born sons of America, and raised their fame
and that of their brave commanders to the clouds,
and immortalized Gen. Gates with laurels of eternal
duration.'* No sooner had the knowledge of this inter-
• The defeat of Burgoyne gave E^han Allen a welcome opportunity to
return the ridicule -with -which the British officers had been accustoraed
to spealc of the continental troops, and he was not the man to shut his
teeth against the many biting sarcasms which pressed to his raouth for
utterance. Nor was he the man to speak depreciatinglj; of his own
merits ; and on one occasion, while boasting of tha success of the revo
lutionary army, he spok* of himwlf and his brothers; and said there vraa

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEn's CAPTIVITT. 275
esting and raighty event reached His most Christian
Majesty, who in Europe shines with a superior lustre
in goodness, policy and arms, but the illustrious
potentate, auspiciously influenced by Heaven to pro
mote the reciprocal interest and happiness of the
ancient kingdom of France, and the new and rising
states of America, passed the great and decisive decree
that the United States of America, should be free and
independent. Yaunt no more. Old England ! con
sider you are but an island ! and that your power has
been continued longer than the exercise of your hu
manity. Order your broken vanquished battalions
to retire from America, the scene of your cruelties.
Go home and repent in dust and sackcloth for your'
aggravated criraes. The cries of bereaved parents,
widows and orphans, reach the heavens, and you are
abominated by every friend to America. Take your
friends the tories with you, and be gone, and drink
deep of the cup of humiliation. Make peace with the
princes of the house of Bourbon, for you are in no
condition to wage war with them. Your veteran sol
diers are fallen in America, aud your glory is departed.
Be quiet and pay your debts, especially for the hire
of the Hessians. There is no other way for you to
get into credit again, but by reformation and plain
honesty, which you have despised ; for your power is
by no means sufficient to support yonr vanity. I have
had opi^ortunity to see a great deal of it, and felt its
severe eft'ects, and learned lessons of wisdom and
policy, when I wore your heavy irons, and bore your
bitter rovilings and reproaches. I have something of
a sraattering of philosophy, and understand human
nature in all its stages tolerably well ; ara thoroughly
acquainted with your national crimes, and assure you
that they not only cry aloud for Heaven's vengeahce,
but excite mankind to rise up against you. Virtue,
wisdora and policy are in a national sense, always
never a woman who had seven sons that could equal those of his mother,
A British officer tartly insisted that Allen ought to except Mary Magda
len, who also was delivered of seven devila

276 ETHAN A1:LEN and GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
•connected with power, or in other words, power is their
offspring, and such power as is not directed by virtue,
wisdom and policy never fails finaUy to destroy itself
as yours has done. It is so in the nature of things,
and unfit that it would be otherwise ; for if it was
not so, vanity, injustice, and oppression, might reigu
triuinphant forever. I know you have individuals, who
still retain their virtue, and consequently their honor
and humanity. Those I really pity, as they must
more or less suff'er in the calamity, in which the na
tion is plunged headlong ; but as a nation I hate and
despise you.
My affections are Frenchified. I glory in Louis
the sixteenth, the generous and powerful ally of these
states ; am fond of a connection with so enterprising,
learned, polite, courteous and comraercial a nation, and
ara sure that I express the sentiraents and feelings of
all the friends to the present revolution. I begin to
, learn the French tongue, and recoraraend it to my
countryraen, before Hebrew, Gfeek or Latin, (provided
that one of them only are to be attended to) for the
trade and commerce of these states in future must in
evitably shift its channel from England to France,
Spain and Portugal ; and therefore the statesman, pol
itician and merchant, need be acquainted with their
several languages, particularly the French, whigh is
much in vogue in most parts of Europe. Nothing
could have served so effectually to Uluminate, polish
and enrich these states as the present revolution, as
well as preserve their liberty. Mankind are naturally
too national, even to a degree of bigotry, and commer
cial intercourse with foreign nations, has a great and
necessary tendency to iraprove mankind, and erase the
superstition of the mind by acquainting them that
huraan nature, policy and instinct, are the same in all
nations, and at the same time they are bartering com
modities for the conveniences and happiness of each
nation," they may reciprocally exchange such part of
their customs and manners as may be beneficial, and
learn to extend charity and good will to the whole
world of mankind. I was confined in the provost-gaol

NAEEATIVE OF ALLEN's OAPTIVITT. 277
at New-York, the 26th day of August, and continued
there to the 3d day of May, 1778, when I was taken
out under guard, and conducted to a sloop in the har
bor of New- York, in which I was guarded to Staien-
Island, to general Campbell's quarters, where I was
permitted to eat and drink with the general and sev
eral other of the British field officers, and treated for
two days in a polite manner. As I was drinking wine
with thera one evening, I made an observation on my
transition from the provost criminals to the corapany
of gentlemen, adding that I was the same man still,
and should give the British credit, by hira (speaking
to the general) for two days good usage.
The next day colonel Archibald Carapbell, who was
exchanged for me, came to this place, conducted by
Mr. Boudinot, the then Araerican coraraissary of pris
oners, and saluted rae in a handsorae raanner, saying
that he never was raore glad to see a gentleraan in his
life, and I gave hira to understand that I was equally
glad to see hira, and was apprehensive that it was frora
the sarae motive. The gentlemen present laughed at
the fancy, and conjectured that sweet liberty was the
foundation of our gladness : so we took a glass of
wine together, and then I was accorapanied by general
Carapbell, colonel Carapbell, Mr. Boudinot, and a
nuraber of British officers, to the boat which was ready
to sail to Elizabethtown-point. Meanwhile I enter
tained thera with a rehearsal of the cruelties exercised
towards our prisoners ; and assured them that I should
use my infiuence, that their prisoners should be treated,
in future, in the sarae manner, as they should in future
treat ours ; that I thought it was right in such extreme
cases, that their example should be applied to their
own prisoners ; then exchanged the decent cereraonies
of compliraent, and parted. I sailed to the point
aforesaid, and, in a transport of joy, landed on liberty
ground, and as I advanced into the country, received
the acclaraations of a grateful people.
I soon fell into corapany with colonel Sheldon, ofthe
light horse, who in a polite and obliging manner ac
corapanied rae to head quarters, Yalley Forge, where I

278 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEROES.
was courteously received by Gen. AVashington, with
peculiar marks of his approbation and esteem, and
was introduced to most of the generals, and many of
the principal officers of the army, who treated me
with respect, and after having offered Gen. "Washing
ton my further services in behalf of my country, as
soon as my health, which was very much impaired,
would admit, and obtain his license to return home,
I took my leave of his excellency, and set out from
Yalley Forge with general Gates and his suit for
Fishldll, where we arrived the latter end of May. In
this tour the general was pleased to treat me with the
familiarity of a companion, and generosity of a lord,
and to hira I made known some striking circumstances
which occurred in the course of my captivity. I then
bid farewell to my noble general and the gentlemen of
his retinue, and set out for Bennington, the capital of
the Green Mountain Boys, where I arrived the evening
of the last day of May, to their great surprise; for i
was thought to be dead, and now both their joy and
mine was complete. Three cannon were fired that
evening, and next morning colonel Herrick gave orders
and fourteen raore were discharged, welcoming me to
Bennington, my usual place of abode ; thirteen for the
United States, and one for Young Yermont.
After this cereraony was ended we raoved the flow
ing bowl, and rural felicity, sweetened with friendship,
glowed in each countenance, and with loyal healths to
the rising States of America, concluded that evening,
and, with the sarae loyal spirit, I now conclude my
narrative.

CHABTER lY.
TEE GREEN-MOUNTAIN HEROES.
" Oh, few and weak their numbers were,
A handful of brave men ;
But to theii- God they gave their prayer.
And rushed to battle then.
They left the plowshare in the mold,
Their flocks and herds without a fold,
¦ The sickle in the unshorn grain.
The corn half-garnered on tho plain.
And mustered in their simple dress,
For wrongs to seek a stern redress —
To right those wrongs, come weal, come woe.
To perish or o'eioome their foe." M'Lellan.
In communities established after the manner of the
United States, history does not begin with obscure or
fabulous legends. The origin of the nation, and the
rise and progress of all its institutions, may be dis
tinctly known. The people may obtain accurate and
familiar acquaintance with the character of their ear
liest national ancestors, and of every succeeding gen
eration through which the inheritance of the national
name and fortune has devolved upon themselves. When
this interesting knowledge is blended with the infor
mation that their existence as a people originated in
the noblest efforts of wisdom, fortitude, and magna
nimity, and that every successive acquisition by which
their liberty and happiness have been extended and

280 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
secured, has arisen from the exercise of the same qual
ities, and evinced their faithful preservation and unim-
V paired efficacy, — respect for former times becomes the
motive and pledge of virtue ; the whole nation feels
itself ennobled by ancestors whose renown will con
tinue till the end of time the honor or reproach of theii
successors ; and the love of virtue is so interwoven
with patriotism and national glory, as to prevent the
one from becoming a selfish principle, and the othei
a splendid or mischievous illusion. If an inspired
apostle might with complacency proclaira himself a
citizen of no mean city, an American may feel grateful
exultation in avowing himself the native of no ignoble
land, — but of a land that has yielded as great an in
crease of glory to God and of happiness to man, as any
other portion of the world, since "the first syllable of
recorded tirae," has ever had the honor of producing.
A nobler raodel of huraan character could hardly be
proposed to the inhabitants of New England, Bennsyl-
vania, and others of the United States, than that which
their own histoiy supplies. It is at once their interest
and their glory to preserve with sacred care a model so
rich.y fraught with the instructions of wisdom and the
incitements of duty. The memory of those whom they
claira as their natural or national ancestors, will bless
all those who account it blessed ; and the ashes of their
fathers will give forth a nobler influence than the bones
of the prophet of Israel, in reviving piety and invig
orating virtue. So rauch, at the same time, of human
weakness and imperfection is discernible in the con
duct, or is attested by the avowals of these erainent
men, and so steady and explicit was their refei'enee to

OHAEACTEE OF OUE ANCEST0E8. 281
heavenly aid, of all the good they were capable to
perform or attain, that the admiration they so strongly
deserve, enforces the scriptural testimony to the riches
of divine grace, and the reflected luster of huraan
virtue. The history of raan never exhibited an effort of
more vigorous and enterprising virtue, than the orig
inal migration of the colonists of this then distant and
desolate region ; and the annals of colonization do not
supply a single instance of the foundation of a com
monwealth, and its advancement through a period of
weakness and danger to strength and security, in which
the principal actors have left behind them a reputation
at once so illustrious and unsullied, with fewer merao
rials calculated to pervert the moral 'Sense, or awaken
the regret ot mankind. The relation of their achieve
ments has a powerful tendency to excite hope, and
animate perseverance- — to impart courage to the
good, and to fortify the virtues of the brave. The
Buritans couldjiot, indeed, boast, like the founders of
Pennsylvania, that by a resolute profession of non-re
sistance of injuries, and as faithful adherence to that
profession, they had so realized the divine protection by
an exclusive reliance on it, as to disarm the ferocity of
savages, and conduct the establishment of their com
monwealth without violence and bloodshed. But if
they were involved in numerous wars, it was the sin
gular and honorable characteristic of them all, that
they were invariably the offspring of selfdefense
against the unprovoked malignity of their adversaries,
and that not one of them was undertaken from motives
of conquest or plunder. Though they considered these

282 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
wars as necessary and justifiable, they deeply deplored
them ; and, more than once, the most.distressing doubts
were expressed, at the close of their hostilities, if it
were lawful for Christiana to carry even the rights of
self-defense to such fatal extremity. They behaved to
the Indian tribes with as much good-faith and justice
as tbey could have shown to a poweri'ul and civUized ,
people,'* and were incited by their inferiority to no
other acts than a series of the most magnanimous and
laudable endeavors to instruct their ignorance, and
elevate their condition.f If they fell short of the col
onists of Pennsylvania in the exhibition of Christian
meekness, they unquestionably excelled them in the
extent and activity of Christian labor. If the Quakers
succeeded in disarming the Indians, the Puritans
labored to convert them.
* Not only were all the lands occupied by the colonists fairly pur
chased from their Indian owners, but in some parts of the country, the
lands were subject to quit-rents to the Indians, " which," says Belknap,
in 1784, " are annually paid to their posterity." From the many deeds
and other documents still in existence, especially in the New-England
states and New York, it is certain that regular purchases were invaria
bly made of the Indians. The consideration given was usually small ;
but there is no reason to suppose thatit was not all the lands were -worth
at the tima A curious example of the opinions prevalent in early
times, and the change which has since occurred, is afforded by the man
ner i n which their payments, were made, a portion of the consideration
usually being spirituous liquors. Two townships in the western part of
Massachusetts, for instance, were purchased, according to a deed which is
still preserved, for " £460, <Aree barrels of cider, and thirty ipuirts (ff
rum." t The accounts of the first conversations which the missionaries had
with these heathen, abound with curious questions and observations that
proceeded from tlie Indians in relation to the tidings that were brought
to their eai-s. The account which Elliott, the " Apostle of the Indiuns,"

OEIGIN OF THE EEPUBLIO. 288
The history of the colonization of this continent,
clearly indicates the destiny for which it was ultimately
designed. This great republic is but the natural de
velopment of the little comraunity that first landed on
Plymouth rock. The American Eevolution was no
sudden outburst of popular fury. It had its origin in
the first landing of the pilgriras. Tyranny had become
so strong in the eastern world, that there seemed no
possibility that the people would ever succeed in the
attainment of their just rights. The fires of freedom
were quenched by the blood of the scaffold, or, if a
tyrant was overthrown by an indignant people, anarchy
in its most appalling form succeeded, frora which there
was no escape, but submission to the yoke of another
oppressor. But Columbus, ignorant of the boon he was
gave of one interview with the savages, will illustrate this. One Indian
asked. Whether Englishmen were ever as ignorant of Jesus Christ as
the Indians ? A second. Whether Jesus Christ could understand prayers
in the Indian language ? A third. How there could be an image of
God, since it was forbidden in the second commandment ? On another
occa.«ion, an old Indian, with tears in his eyes, asked; Whether it was
not too late for such an old man as he, who was near death, to repent
and seek after God ? A second asked, How the English came to diffei
so much from the Indian in their knowledge of Jesus Christ, since they
had all at fii-st but one father ? Seveial inquired. How Judas coula
deserve blame for facilitating the end which it was the purpose of God
to effect 1 One woman asked, Whether she was entitled to consider her
self as having prayed, when she merely joined in her mind with her
husband, who prayed by her side ? Another, If her husband's prayer
signified any thing while he continued to beat his wife ? Many of tho
con-i'erts continued to believe that the gods whom they had formerly
served, had in reality great power, but were spirits subordinate to the
tme and only God. One sachem sent for an Indian convert, and de
sired to know how many Gods the English had ? When he heard they
had but one, he replied scornfully : " Is that all ? I have iAirlj-serew/
Do they suppose I would exchange so many for one ? "

28i ETHAN ALLEX AND GREEN-MOUNTAtN HEE0E8.
conferring on mankind, discovered a new world. The
seeds of freedom, which were not permitted to germi
nate in the old world, were brought in the Mayflower
to the new. Wise and good men, disheartened by their
warfare against wrong, fled to it for an asylum. Neg
lected by the government under whose control they
nominally remained, they were compelled to govern
themselves — to make and administer their own laws.
They were a smaU community — all mutually known, —
all mutually loved, — all intelligent, conscientious, and
animated by an ardent piety. It was not difficult for
them to do justice to each other, and in doing this,
they were unconsciously evolving the great principles
upon which all just government must be founded. Had
they known the importance of the work in which they
were engaged, it is doubtful whether they would have
done it so well. They gradually grew in strength.
Other colonies were at intervals established along the
Atlantic coast. All were greatly influenced by the
example of New England and Pennsylvania. For a
century they increased in power, their condition being
but little known and little cared for in Europe, and
their future greainess in no degree anticipated hy
theraselves. In their wars with the Indians and tho
French colony of Canada, they were thrown almost
entirely upon their own resources, for the parent coun
try gave thera but a feeble and reluctant support.
They were compelled to unite for their coramon de
fense, and in 1754, delegates from the several colonies
met at Albany, and with the illustrious Franklin at
their head,- devised a "plan of union," which, although
it was not adopted then, aided powerfully in creating

CONTINENTAL CONGEESS. 283
a unity of feeling among the colonies, and prepared
them for corabined resistance to the tyranny of the
British king, and for a lasting confederation. And
thus a spirit of freedom had been nurtured on this
continent ; republican institutions had become firmly
rooted, and when the EngUsh government was at last
conscious of the iraportance of the colonies, the day had
passed in which it had the power to tyrannize over
them. A series of oppressive measures was rapidly
prepared by the rainions of George HI., but they were
resisted promptly, perseveringly, and, after a bloody
struggle of seven years, effectually.
The war had already commenced, when the congress
which ultimately announced the final separation of the
colonies from the parent country, assembled at Phila
delphia. The most erainent raen of the various colo
nies had met together. The meeting was awfully
soleran. The object which ha I brought them there
was of incalculable magnitudt The liberties of no
less than three millions of peo] e, with that of all their
posterity, were staked oh the wisdom and energy of
their councils. No wonder, tl m, at the long and deep
silence which is said to have followed upon their or
ganization ; at the anxiety w th which the members
looked round upon each other ; and the reluctance
which every individual felt to open a business so fear
fully momentous. The embarrassing silence was bro
ken by the eloquent Patrick Henry, in a speech of
wonderful power. An ardent love of liberty per
vaded every breast, and this speed produced a unanim
ity as advantageous to the cause they had determined
to maintain, as it was appalling to their adversaries.

286 ETHAN AU.EN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
The proceedings of this celebrated congress, the tone
and temper of their various resolutions, the style of
their addresses, the composition of the several papers
that were dra-vvn up by them, were in every particular
calculated to excite the admiration of the world. That
an assembly of fifty-two raen, nearly all educated in the
wilds of a new world, unpracticed in the arts of polity
and diplomacy, most of them inexperienced in the
arduous duties of legislation, coming from distant and
distinct governments, differing in religion, manners,
customs, and habits, as they did in their views with
regard to the nature of their connection with Great
Britain — that such an asserably, so constituted, should
display so rauch wisdora, sagacity, foresight and know
ledge of the world, such skill in arguraent, such force
of reasoning, such firmness and soundness of judgment,
so .profound an acquaintance with the rights of man,
such elevation of sentiment, such genuine patriotism,
and,, above all, such unexampled unity of opinion
upon the measures brought before them, was indeed a
political phenomenon, to which history has yet fur
nished no parallel. Nor is it less wonderful, that the
whole people of the colonies represented, should have
regarded the simple recoraraendations of this congress
with the reverence and obedience due to the strongest
ties of law. Even in those colonies where law and au
thority had been set at defiance, the injunctions of the
congress were scrupulously obeyed. The whole country
was in that awful calm of expectation, which preced-es
the bursting storm. They were yet willing to be re
conciled with the British governraent, but ready to
enforce their rights at the risk of life.

OHAEACTEE OF THE CONGEESS. 287
¦Who can consider, without deep and affecting sym
pathy, that little body of raen, who, in the narae of
a young and unskilled people, then set at defiance
the power of a mighty empire — not rashly and igno
rantly, but advisedly and calraly, — -having weighed-
their own weakness, as well as their adversaries'
strength, — feeling the heavy responsibility that rested
on their decision, — calculating the consequences of
atterapt and failure, and then, with a full conviction
of all the mighty odds against thera, "having counted
the cost of the contest, and finding nothing so dread
ful as voluntary slavery," soleranly " appealing to the
suprerae Judge of the world for the rectitude of their
intentions," and pledging to each other their lives,
their fortunes, and their sacred honor ; ranging them
selves and their infant nation under the banners of
liberty, denouncing their oppressors " enemies in war,
in peace, friends." There is not, in the whole page
of human history, any thing more truly grand and
morally sublime than the conduct of the American
congress throughout the unequaled contest that fol
lowed, upon which hung not the liberties of our peo
ple only, but those of mankind. How admirable was
the moderation which marked their earlier deliberation;
the calmness with which they raet ministerial haugh
tiness; the firmness which they opposed to parUament-
ary obstinacy, tempering vigor with prudence, and
inflexible principle with forbearance ! How majestic
their dignity when called upon flnally to decide between
unconditional submissioii. and resistance by force!
With what undaunted courage they made the noble
choice, and, having made it, with what unshrinkine
13

288 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOIS.
fortitude they met all the vicissitudes of fortune; the
ebb and flow of the tide of war ; the discontent of the
factious ; the fears of the timid ; the despondency of
the high-minded ; — never cast down by repeated
" misfortunes, nor too much elated by momentary suc
cess. When the houseless people were scattered before
their invaders ; when the army, unpaid, unclothed,
vainly sought assistance from the commander, and he
vainly sought it in the exhausted treasury; when the
sword fell frora their fainting hands, and the blank of
despair seeraed falling on their hearts ; still did these
patriots struggle on — still did they find confidence in
their just cause, and, with their eyes upon the pole-
star of liberty, did they steady the helra of the reeling
vessel of the infant , state, ride out triumphantly the
storm pf war and revolution, and gain the glorious
haven from which their thoughts had never swerved.
The annals of every nation can supply us with some
briUiant characters, who stand superior to the sordid
passions which sway the minds of ordinary men and
but too often dictate the feelings of national commu
nities. But rarely, if ever, has there been an entire
assembly of men, uniting all the qualities of sages
and heroes, — cautious in their deliberations, firm and
united in their measures, pure in their motives, and
beyond suspicion in their conduct. To the unbending
spirit and perfect rectitude of the continental con
gress was mainly owing the preservation of the Amer
ican people, not only from foreign conquest, but from
intestine broils. To their little senate-room, amid all
the changes of war, did the eyes of the people ever
turn in hope and confidence. Were their little armies

PUEITT OF THE CONGEESS. 289
defeated ; were their heroic generals fighting in retreat;
were their cities taken ; were their houses in fiames ;
was their comraerce destroyed ; were their fields
devastated ; were their gold and their credit gone;
they still looked to that high-rainded assembly, whose
counsels, they were satisfied, were ever patriotic and
wise, and whose energies were ever employed to relieve
the sufferings they could not prevent. It is interest
ing to imagine what must have been the earnest
thoughts of this noble body of men throughout that
trying contest; what their anxieties; and, finally, what
the flood of joy that must have poured on their hearts
when the tidings reached them that the last great
victory was achieved. The old door-keeper of the
congress, when the news suddenly reached him of the
surrender of CornwaUis, dropped instantly dead ! The
feelings of the veteran, too intense for his feeble age,
seem to image well those of the members of that
asserably upon which he had been so faithful an
attendant. In the history of the Araerican Eevolution, the integ
rity of the congress and the confldence of the people
in their integrity equaUy challenge admiration. The
first was so pure, that throughout that distracted period,
which might so well have furnished temptation to' the
selfish or the ambitious,* we do not find one member
• " Tell the king of England," said one of them, when a heavy
bribe was offered him to desert the cause of his country, " I am not worth
buying ; but that such as I am, he is not rich enough to do it I " And
another, while a prisoner in England, was threatened with death unless
he would pei-suade his son to abandon the cause of freedom. "My son
is of age," said the heroic father of a heroic son, " and has a -will of his
own. I know him to be a man of honor. He loves me dearly, and

290 ETHAN ALIJEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTALN HEEOES.
of that magnanimous body even suspected of pecula
tion, or of a desire for personal aggrandizement ; and
the latter was so entire, that, during the worst days
of that stormy period, the public suft'ering was never
charged to any willful mismanagement on the part of
the government — not even when its faith was vio
lated, by the gradual depreciation and final extinction
of a paper currency, which had been issued without
funds, and which ceased to circulate, with scarce the
shadow of a prospect being held out for its future
redemption. The people saw the necessity of the
measure, and being well convinced that the good of
their country had been promoted, quietly submitted to
measures which, under other circumstances, would
scarcely have been expiated by the lives and fortunes
of their authors.
That a governraent framed in all the distraction of
revolution — with a powerful enemy in the very heart
of the country, the Indians on one side as their aUies,
and the ocean on the other, possessed by their fleets, —
that, at such a time, a governraent so hastily organ
ized, with arraies untrained, unfed, unclothed, and
without a treasury to meet the demands that assailed
them on every side, should have preserved the public
confldence, argues a degree of moderation on the part
of congress, and of good sense and devoted feeling
on that of the people, which, perhaps, in the history of
ancient or modern times was never equaled, and cer
tainly has never been surpassed.
would lay down his life to save mine, but I am sure that he would not
sacrifice his honor to save my life, and I appla-id hira." This prisoner,
not long afterward, had the gratification of assisting in negotiating »
peace between Great Britain aud the free Republic of the United States

PATEIOTISM OF THE PEOPLE. ¦ 291
In rae history of the dispute which involved the
liberty of the colonies, the congress was equally distin
guished for its prudence, and its intrepidity. Like a
cautious general, they advanced slowly, but never
yielding an inch of the ground they had once assumed.
At first called together by the voice of their fellow-cit
izens, without the consent, or rather in very despite
of existing authorities, the legality of whose title re
mained unquestioned, they calmly took in review the co
lonial grievances, and petitioned for redress upon those
constitutional grounds, acknowledged by the distant
monarchy which claimed their allegiance. Without
assuraing the power to enact laws, they passed resolu
tions, to the sacred observance of which, until the re
dress of their enuraerated grievances should be ob
tained, they bound theraselves by the ties of honor,
and of patriotism. That these simple ties should
have proved sufficient to hold together the people of
distant provinces, who had heretofore often been di
vided by jealousies and clashing interests, and to give
an effect to the recommendations of private individu
als, as absolute as could have followed upon the fiat of
an established despot, affards a beautiful evidence of
the readiness with which national obedience is yielded,
when the hearts of the people are with their rulers.
These recoraraendations were sufficient at once to su
persede the authority of existing law, and to triuraph
over the strongest passions of humanity. From what
ever cause it proceeded, it is certain that a disposition
to do, to suffer, and to accommodate, spread from
breast to breast, and from colony to colony, beyond the
expectations of human opinions. It seeraed as though

fi92 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
one mind inspired the whole. The merchants ''fjut far
behind them the gains of trade, and cheerfully submit
ted to a total suspension of business, in obedience to
the recommendations of men claiming no legislative
authority. The cultivators of the soil, with unanimity
asseoted to the determination that the hard-earned pro
duce of their farms should remain unshipped, although,
in case of a free exportation, many would have been
eager to purchase it from them at advanced prices.
The sons and daughters of ease renounced imported
conveniences, and voluntarily engaged to eat, drink,
and wear only such articles as their country produced.
These sacrifices were made, not from the pressure of
present distress, but on the generous principle of sym
pathy with an invaded sister colony : and the prudent
policy of guarding against a precedent which might,
on a future day, operate against their liberties.
This season of universal distress exhibited a striking
proof how practicable it -is for mankind to sacrifice
ease, pleasure, and interest, when the mind is strongly
excited by its passions. In the midst of their sufi'er-
ings, cheerfulness appeared in the face of the people.
They counted every thing cheap in comparison with
liberty, and readily gave up whatever tended to en
danger it. A noble strain of generosity and mutual
support was generally excited. The animation of the
times raised the actors in these scenes above them
selves, and incited them to deeds of ^elf-denial, which
the interested prudence of calm reason can scarcely
credit. But, though empowered by their feUow citizens to
think and act for them, at a time, too, when the public

DEOLAEATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 293
feeling was wrought to . the highest pitch of enthusi
asm, the delegates in congress never exceeded the ne-
cessitj' of the occasion. They kept in view the interest
and honor of the community, but held their passions
in check. So long as the most distant prospect re
mained to them of obtaining the acknowledgment of
their country's rights, they preserved the language and
character of British subjects. When all hope of re
conciliation had expired, the Declaration of Independ
ence followed. The wishes of the people had preceded
the act of their representatives, and the style of that
act yet affixed a new seal of confirmation to their
wishes. The simple exposition of moral and political
truths with which it opens, elevated still higher the
already sublime character of the public sentiment ;
the energetic enumeration of the national wrongs, op
posed as in contrast to these great laws of nature, kin
dled anew the national indignation ; the solemn appeal
to the Creator, and the sacred pledge of life, fortune
and honor, with which it closes, roused all the devotion
of huraan hearts and manly minds — and, assuredly,
never was it aroused in a better or nobler cause. It
was not the cause of the Americans only ; it was the
cause of the very people whose injustice they opposed ;
it was the cause of every people on earth. Well might
that high-minded patriot and statesman, the Earl of
Chatham, exclaim in the British parliament, in the
face of the British minister, "I rejoice that America
haa resisted ! " Well might he observe, that " three
mUlions of fellow-creatures, so lost to every sense of
virtue as tamely to give up their liberties, would be fit
instruments to make slaves of the rest." Had America

2-94: ETHAN ALLEN JLND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HKEOES.
basely submitted to the encroachments of ministerial
parliaments, soon would that same parliament have
tried encroachments upon the liberties of England ; or
had the infant America been overwhelmed by the ar
mies poured upon her shores, with the buried liberties
of the people, her victors would have buried forever'
their own national virtue, and honor, and character.
Then, indeed, upon England's faded brow would. have
been stamped the moral, that
" Nations, like men, who others' rights invade,
Shall doubly rue the havoc thoy have made ;
And, in a brother's liberty o'erthrown,
Shall weep to find that they have wrecked their own."
Hostilities had been continued between the parent
country and the colonies for upward of a year before
the Declaration of Independence was promulgated.
The affair of Lexington had, of course, been the signal
for war, throughout the colonies. The forts, magazines,
and arsenals were everywhere seized. Troops were
raised, and money for their support ; and it was not
many weeks before an army of thirty thousand men
appeared in the environs of Boston, under the com
mand of General Putnara, a veteran of the French war,
in whom the people had great confidence. AUen had
succeeded in the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown
Point. The next act in the grand drama then unfolding
was the battle of Bunker HiU. Toward the close of May,
1775, reinforcements of British troops had arrived at
Boston, with Generals Howe, Burgoyne and CUnton,
all of whom were officers, of reputation. The provin
cial congress of Massachusetts had, eariy in that month,
renounced General Gage, as governor of the colony,

BATTLE OF EUNKEE HILL. 295
declared hira an enemy of the country, and forbidden
obedience to his orders. On the other hand, Gage had
issued his proclamation, promising a gracious pardon
to all who would lay down their arras and return to
the duties of peaceable subjects, excepting only Samuel
Adams and John Hancock, whose offenses were de
clared of " too fiagitious a nature to admit of any
other consideration than that of condign punishraent."
By the sarae instrument, Massachusetts was declared to
be under martial law. General Gage was also prepar
ing, in other respects, for more energetic action ; but
every raeasure he took, and every raoment that passed,
served only to unite and embolden the patriots, and,
increase the audacity with which they now, by their
conduct as well as by their words, contemned the royal
authority. The provincial troops had assembled in
force around Boston, and were throwing up defenses,
when the battle of Bunker HiU at once and forever
severed the tie that bound the colonies to Great Britain.
The fighting on this occasion was of such a determined
character, as to show the eneray that it was no pastime
upon which they had entered. One of the British
officers, in writing home to a friend, declared that
" the rebels fought more like devils than men." The
loss of the British in killed and wounded was upward
of a thousand, while that of the provincials fell short
of half that number. The great calaraity of the day
was the fall of the brave and accoraplished Warren,
who was shot through the head early in the action.
The inhabitants of the New-Harapshire Grants, with
but few exceptions, partook largely of the feelings which
T^ervaded the country during the progress of the events
13*

296 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
which led to the Eevolution. Having been successfully
engaged in subduing a forest, and in laying a
foundation for the happiness of themselves and fam
ilies, and in defending their homes against the en
croachments of a neighboring government, they had
acquired a high sense of their personal rights, and a
fixed determination to maintain them. They had be
come inured to privation and hardship, and were
familiar with enterprise and adventure. Although
their isolated position had shielded them from the ac
tual effects of the oppressive raeasures of the British
ministry, and they were engaged in the protection of
their property from determined aggression, they sym
pathized cordially with the sufferings of their brethren
along the Atlantic coast, and at once concurred in the
earliest measures for securing a redress of their griev
ances. The first bloodshed at Lexington, was the
signal for them to act, and under their heroic leaders
they achieved the first important conquest of the Revo
lution. The battle of Lexington was a defensive one
on the part of the colonies — the taking of Ticonde
roga was a carefuUy planned, aggressive measure. It
was truly the commencement of the war on the part of
the colonies. And the military stores there acquired
were taken to Boston by the Green-Mountain Boys,
many of whom participated in the battle of Bunker
HiU. The capture of Ticonderoga prepared the way for the
invasion of Canada, which closed the first campaign.
This measure had been earnestly recomraended to
congress by Ethan Allen and Seth Warner. The
British ministry had sent, as governor of this province,

SIE GUT CARLETON. 297
Sir Guy Carleton, a man of resolute character, vast
genius, and a brilliant reputation for military achieve
ments. He was invested with extraordinary powers.
It was known that he exerted all his efforts to arouse
the Canadians and Indians, and stimulate them to
arras against the colonies. Though, at the commence
ment, he had found great repugnance araong the former,
it was to be feared that, by employing address and au
thority, he might succeed, at length, in drawing them
to his standard. The character of the people of Can
ada was not unknown : they were ever French at
heart, and were considered fickle. It was known, also,
that they cherished a sullen discontent on account of
the " Quebec act," which, though favorable to their
religion, was unsatisfactory in its provisions regarding
their civil rights. It was therefore essential to take
advantage of their discontent, before Carleton should
win their favor. It was hoped that when the Amer
icans should have penetrated into Canada, the inhab
itants would not hesitate to espouse their cause, excited
on the one. hand by their hatred to their rulers, and
reassured on the other by the moderation which the
colonists had generally manifested in matters touching
religion. The province of Canada was unsupplied
with troops of the regular army, these having been
called to Boston. In addition to these considerations,
congress had been informed that in the following
spring, the government was to make a grand effort in
Canada ; that nuraerous forces, arms, and munitions
would be poured into it, in order to attack the colo
nies by way of Lake Champlain, an operation which,
if not seasonably prevented, irfght lead to fiatal

298 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.'
consequences. The colonists, assailed at the same time
in front and rear, could not have expected to resist.
Lake Champlain was in possession of the Ameri
cans, which opened to them the most eligible route to
Canada. A more propitious occasion could never oc
cur. The British troops, shut up in Boston, and occu
pied with their own defense, were not in a condition to
carry succors into a part so remote from . the position
they then occupied. But it was to be feared that
longer delays would afford time for the British ministry
to make the necessary preparations to overpower the
colonies by a single effort, and reduce them to their
former dependence. Prudent men, however, could not
shut their eyes upon the nuraerous difficulties it pre
sented. But a resolution having been carried in favor
of the expedition, congress was not tardy in taking aU
the measures proper to secure its success. Three thou
sand soldiers, partly of New England, and partly
of New York, were selected for the enterprise. One
regiment, under the coraraand of Seth Warner, who
had been elected their colonel, was composed of
Green-Mountain Boys. It was determined to in
vade Canada by two routes — one portion of the army
being destined to proceed by the way of Lake Cham
plain, against Forts Chambly and St. John, near the
mouth of the lake, and then, after reducing Montreal,
to march against Quebec : the other branch of the
army was to be detached frora the environs of Boston,
and, going by the way of the Kennebec river, move
directly toward Quebec, with design of reaching that
fortress cotemporaneously with the other. Major-gen-
eral Schuyler was appointed commander-iurchief of tha

GENEEAL MONTQOMEET. 299
expedition, while Brigadier-general Montgomery* was
assigned to the command of the first division of the
army, and Colonel Benedict Arnold to the other.
* Richard Montgomery was born in the north of Ireland, December 2d,
1736. Little is known of his early life. When quite young, he was
placed in Dublin coUege, where he obtained a good education. At the
age of twenty he joined the army. He was sent with the army against
louisbourg, afterward served under Amherst, at Ticonderoga, and was
with Wolfe at the siege of Quebec. He thus became specially qualified,
in the seiTice of the King of England, to lead the continental troops
against that monarch. At the close of the French war, Montgomery was
permitted' to return to Eui-ope, where he remained until 1772. Toward
the close of that year, he resigned tho service, sailed for America, and
arrived in New Toik in the following Januaiy. He purchased a farm
in the neighborhood of that city, but soon afterward removed to Dutchess
county, where for a long time he devoted himself to the pursuit of agri
culture. While at the former place, he married the eldest daughter of R.
R. Livingston, one of the judges of the supreme court of the province,
and subsequently member of the continental congress. As the dispute
between England and her colonies had now become serious, it was im
possible for an individual circumstanced like Montgomery to remain neu
tral. Accordingly, he took a decided part for the cause of freedom, and
iu April, 1775, h" was elected to represent Dutchess county in the dele
gation to the first New- York provincial convention. The labors of tha
convention seem to have beeu rather tedious and unsatisfactory, and
finally resulted in little good to the cause to espouse which they had con
vened. Soon after the meeting of this body, Montgomery received a
moi-e highly important office than any that had hitherto fallen to his lot,
and one, too, of which he had little expectation. In June, the conti
nental congress appointed four major, and eight brigadier generals,
naming, among the latter, Montgomery. His surprise at the news of this
flattering distinction was equaled by his modest though heartfelt ac
knowledgment of it ; and, with the acceptance of that coramission. com
menced his brief but glorious cai-eer in the cause of freedom. In a
letter to a friend he says : " The Congress having done me the honor of
electing me a brigadier-general in their service, is au event which must
put an end for a while, perhaps forever, to the quiet scherae of life I
tad prescribed for myself ; for, though entirely unexpected and undesired

300 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTATN HEEOES.
General Montgomery repaired to Ticonderoga on
the 17th of August. He here learned that Sir Guy
Carleton, the mUitary governor of Canada, was pre
paring a naval force destined to the defense of Lake
Champlain. As immediate action was now of vital
importance, Montgomery determined to take posses
sion of the Isle Aux Noix in the lake, and -wfrote to
General Schuyler, signifying his intention" to that effect,
and entreating his iraraediate presence. Without
awaiting the arrival of this coraraander, he selected
abont one thousand men, and two pieces of cannon,
and embarked on the lake, August 26th. The weather
was so boisterous that he was not able to reach the
island before the 5th of September, on which day he
was joined by Major-general Schuyler, who determined
upon a nearer approach to the eneray, both with a
view of reconnoitering their position, and of enlisting
the esteera and confidence of the population. This
maneuver was signally successful, the army landing
¦within about a mUe and a half of St. John's without
encountering opposition. The troops were soon formed
and marched toward the fort. In this movement,
while fording a creek, they met with a party bf In
dians, who fired upon their left, and threw it into dis-
ord'er. But Montgomery hastened forward with the
by me, the will of an oppressed people, compelled to choose between
liberty and slavery, must be obeyed." Under these noble and self sac
rificing views and feelings, Montgomery accepted the commission ten
dered to him ; and from that hour to the moment of his death, the whole
force of his mind and body was devoted to the honor and interest of his
adopted country. The glory and fate of Wolfe, his former commander,
wore present to his thoughts ; and to his young wife his parting words
wore, " You shall never blush for yom- Montgomeiy."

CAPTAIN EEMEMBEE BAKEE. 301
other troops, and speedily repulsed the assailants with
sorae loss.
In this enterprise, Captain Eemember Baker lost his
life. He had been sent forward by Montgomery to
reconnoiter the eneray's position. When within a few
miles of St. John's, he secreted his boat, with the inten
tion of marching through the woods. He had scarcely
left the boat when a party of Indians took possession
of it. He called to them to return it, and on their
refusal to do so, attempted to fire at them, but as he
drew up his gun, he received a shot through the head.
His companions then fled, and made their way back
to the army with the sad intelligence. Captain Baker
fell at the early age of thirty-five. His life had been
one of peculiar usefulness. At the age of eighteen he
had served in an expedition against Canada. He be
came a resident of the New-Harapshire Grants in 1764,
where he at once became one of the most influential
and useful of the leaders of the Green-Mountain Boys.
As an officer and soldier he was cool and temperate in
council, but resolute and determined in the execution
of his plans. As a neighbor he was distinguished for
his Idndness, and his raeraory was held dear by raany
faraUies whose distresses he had generously relieved.
At Isle Aux Noix Schuyler's increasing ill health ren
dered hira unflt for service, and he retired to Ticon
deroga, leaving the command of the expedition with
General Montgomery. In his report to congress ne
speaks thus of the latter officer : " I Qannot estimate
the obligations I lie under to General Montgoraery for
the many important services he has done and daily
does, and in which he has had little assistance from

302 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOTJNTAIN HEEOES.
rae, as I have not enjoyed a moment's health since I
left Fort George, and am now so low as not to be able
to hold the pen. Should we not be able to do any thing
decisively in Canada, I shall judge it best to move from
' this place, which is a very wet and unhealthy part of
the country ; unless I receive your orders to the
contrg,ry. "
Colonel Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga, had a com
mand under Montgoraery. Having been dispatched, '
with Major Brown, into the interior of Canada, he was,
on his return, persuaded by the latter to undertake the
rash project of attacking Montreal. He divided his
detachraent, consisting of less than three hundred men,
into two parties, intending to assail the city at opposite
points. Major Brown was prevented from executing
his part of the enterprise. Colonel Allen and his
small party, opposed by the whole force of the enemy
under Governor Carleton, fought with desperate valor.
Many were killed ; the survivors, overpowered by
nurabers, were corapelled to surrender. The governor,
viewing Allen, not as, the intrepid soldier, but as a fac
tious rebel, loaded hira with irons and sent him to
England for trial. Carleton afterward admitted that
if Brown had not failed to join Allen, Montreal would
have fallen into their hands.
Montgomery remained at Isle Aux Noix only long
enough to receive a reinforcement of men and a few
pieces of artillery. He then re-embarked, again landed
at St. John's, and comraenced operations for its invest
ment. On the 18th of September, he marched with a
party of five hundred men to the north of the fort,
where he met a considerable portion of the garrison

DISSATISFACTION AMONG THE TK00P8. 303
returning frora the repulse of the party under Ethan
Allen. A skirmish ensued, which in a few minutes
terrainated in the repulse of the eneray, who fied in
disorder. But for a tiraidity araong the Araericans,
the whole party might have been captured. In speak
ing of his men. General Montgomery says, "As soon
as we saw the enemy, the old story of treachery spread
among the raen ; and the cry was, we are trepanned
and drawn under the guns of the fort. The woodsraen
were less expert in forming than I had expected, and
too many of them hung back. Had we kept more
silence, we should have taken a field-piece or two. "
Montgomery now deterrained to push the siege of St.
John's with all possible vigor. In order to cut off sup
plies, he established a carap at the junction of the two
roads leading to Charably and Montreal, and defended
it with a ditch, and a garrison of three hundred raen.
But he was surrounded with difficulties. His artil
lery was so light as to make little impression upon the
walls, and the artillerists were raw and unskillful.
Besides, his araraunition was almost exhausted, and
the engineer was as ignorant of duty as were the artil
lerists. To all these was added another difficulty far
greater than the rest, — his men, through constant ex
posure to a damp soil and unhealthy cliraate, and un
used to the rules of war, had becorae insubordinate,
and even mutinous ; and the circumstances in which
the coraraander was placed, eft'ectually prevented him
frora enforcing discipline. This feeling was openly
exhibited in an attempt of the general to reraove the
seat of his active operations to the north side of the
town; and so palp ible were its demonstrations, that he

804: ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
was forced to compromise with professional dignity,
and submit his opinion to that of a board of officers,
They refused to accede to his plan, and it was for a
time abandoned. Subsequently, however, their consent
was obtained, and a position taken to the north-west
of the fort.
Meanwhile an event took place, as fortunate as it
was unexpected, the success of which, decided the fate
of the garrison. A gentleman frora New York named
Jaraes Livingston, had resided for a considerable time
in Canada, and by a proper course of conduct had
won the esteera of a large nuraber of the inhabitants
As he was known to be favorable to the cause of liberty
Montgomery determined to employ his popularity in
service to himself Accordingly, at the instigation of
the general, he organized a nuraber of the inhabitants
into an arraed corps, promising the protection of con
gress to all their raoveraents. In corapany with Major
Brown, he. speedily raade hiraself master of Fort
Chambly, including all the garrison, one hundred and
twenty-six barrels of gunpowder, and a large amount
of military and other stores.
Colonel Seth Warner and his regiraent were with
Montgoraery at the siege of St. John's, although it is
evident that both Warren and the officers of his reg
iment were without commissions, for we find by Mont
gomery's orderly book, that on the 16th of September
he issued an order appointing Seth Warner colonel of
a regiment of Green-Mountain Eangers, requiring that
he should be obeyed as such. Brobably the provincial
congress of New York withheld the commissions on
tho same grounds on which, in the following year, tWi

COLONEL WARNEe's EEGIMENT. 305
urged the continental congress to recall the comraissions
which they had given to Warner, and the officers of his
regiraent. But the regiment fought as bravely, and
perforraed as iraportant services, as any other regiraent
during the campaign, as will appear by the following
brief account of it. Montgomery, having obtained a
supply of ammunition and military stores, by the cap
ture of Chambly, made his advances upon the fort at
St. John's, with increased vigor. The garrison consisted
of six or seven hundred men, who, in hopes of being
soon relieved by General Carleton, made a resolute
defense. Carleton exerted himself for this purpose,
but such was the disaffection of the Canadians to the
British cause, that he could not rauster more than one
thousand men, including the regulars, militia of Mon
treal, Canadians and Indians. With this force he
proposed to cross the St. Lawrence, and join Colonel
McLean, who had collected a few hundred Scotch em
igrants, and taken post at the raouth of the Eichelieu,
hoping, with their united forces, to be able to raise the
siege of St. John's, and relieve the garrison. In pur
suance of this design, Carleton embarked his troops at
Montreal, with the view of crossing the St. Lawrence,
and landing at Longueil. Their embarkation was dis
covered by Colonel Warner frora the opposite shore,
who, with about three hundred Green-Mountain Boys,
watched their motions, and prepared for their approach.
Just before they reached the south shore, Warner
opened upon them a well-directed fire of musketry and
grape-shot, from a four-pounder, by which unexpected
assault, the eneray were thrown into the utraost confu
sion, and retreated with precipitation and disorder.

806 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
When the news of Carleton's defeat reached McLean,
he abandoned his position at the mouth of the Eiche
lieu, and hastened to Quebec. By these events, tho
garrison at St. John's was left without the hope of rehef,
and Major Preston, the commander, was consequently
obliged to surrender. The garrison laid down their
arms on tbe 3d of November, and became prisoners of
war, to the number of five hundred regulars, and more
than one hundred Canadian volunteers. In the fort
were found a number of cannon and a large quantity
of military stores. Colonel Warner having repulsed
General Carleton, and caused McLean to retire to
Quebec, the Americans proceeded to erect a battery at
the raouth of the Eichelieu, to coraraand the passage
of the St. Lawrence, and blockade General Carleton in
Montreal. In this situation of things, Montgomery ar
rived frora St. John's, and took possession of Montreal
without opposition. General Carleton having abandoned
it to its fate, and escaped down the river in the night,
in a small canoe with muffled oars. A large number
of arraed vessels, loaded with provisions and miUtary
stores, and General Prescott, with one hundred officers
and privates, also attempted to pass down the river,
but they were all captured at the mouth of the Eiche
lieu, without the loss of a man. Warner's regiment
having served as volunteers, and the men being too
miserably clothed to endure a winter campaign in that
severe climate, on the 20th of November Montgomery
discharged them, with peculiar marks of respect, and
his thanks for their meritorious services.
While Montgoraery was engaged in the reduction
of Charably, St. John's, and Montreal, the army

AENOLD EEFOEE QUEBEC. 807
d.stined to raeethim before Quebec was passing through
the dreary wilderness lying between the province of
Maine and the the St. Lawrence. This extraordinary
and most arduous' enterprise had been committed to
Colonel Arnold, who, with one thousand one hundred
men, consisting of New-England infantry, sorae vol
unteers, a company of artillery, and three companies
of rifiemen, commenced his march on the 13th Sep
tember. It is almost impossible to conceive the labor,
hardships, and difficulties which this detachment
had to encounter in their progress up the rapid stream
of the Kennebec, frequently interrupted by falls, where
they were obliged to land and carry the boats upon
their shoulders, until they surmounted them, through a
country wholly uninhabited, with a scanty supply of
provisions, the season cold and rainy, and the men
daily droppfng down with fatigue, sickness and hunger.
Arnold was indefatigable in his endeavors to alleviate
the distress of his men, but to procure provisions for
them was out of his power. They were at one tiirie
reduced to so great an extremity of hunger, that the
dogs belonging to the array were killed and eaten, and
many of the soldiers devoured their leather cartouch-
boxes ! Arnold and his party at length arrived at
Point Levi, opposite the town of Quebec ; but in con
sequence of information the British had received, by
the treachery of the Indian to whom Arnold intrusted
a letter to General Schuyler, the boats which he ex
pected to find there to transport his troops across the
river had been removed, and the eneray were no longer
in a state to be surprised. Arnold, however, was not
to be deterred from attempting something against the-

308 ETHAN ALLEN AND QEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
town — he calculated strongly upon the defection ol
the inhabitants ; and having suppUed himself with
canoes, he crossed the river in the night, and gained
possession of the heights of Abraham. Here, though
he had no artillery, and scarcely half the number of
men that composed the garrison of the town, he made
a bold experiment to try the loyalty of the enemy's
troops, by sending a flag to sumraon them to surren
der. But no message would be admitted, and Arnold
found himself compeUed to retire to more comfortable
quarters, where he awaited the arrival of General
Montgomery. General Carleton, who, it has already been stated, ar
rived at Quebec, had taken the best raeasures for its
defense, and was prepared to receive him. In a few
days, the American general opened a six-gun battery
within about seven hundred yards of the walls ; but
his artillery was too light to raake a breach, and he
could do nothing more than to amuse the enemy, and
conceal his real purpose. After continuing the siege
nearly a month, he resolved on a desperate attempt to
carry the place by escalade. To distract the garrison,
two feigned attacks were made on the upper town by
two divisions of the army under Majors Brown and
Livingston, while two real attacks on opposite sides of
the lower town were made by two other divisions under
Montgomery and Arnold. Early in the morning of
the last day in the year, the signal was given, and the
several divisions moved to the assault in the midst of
a heavy fall of snow, which covered the assailants
from the sight of the enemy. Montgomery, at the
head of the New- York troops, advanced along the St.

DEATH OF M0l!rT00MEET. 309"
Lawrence, by Aunce de Mere, under Cape Diamond.
The first barrier to be surmounted on that side was de
fended by a battery, in which were raounted a fe'w
pieces of artillery, in front of which were a block-house
and picket. The guard at the block-house, after giving
a randora fire, threw away their arras and fled to the
barrier, and for a time the battery itself was deserted.
Enormous piles of ice impeded the progress of the
Americans, who, pressing forward in a narrow defile,
reached at length the block-house and picket. Mont
gomery, who was in front, assisted in cutting down or
pulling up the pickets, and advanced boldly and rap
idly at the head of about two hundred men, to force
the barrier. At this time one or two persons had ven
tured to return to the battery, and, seizing a slow
match, discharged one of the guns. Casual as this fire
appeared, it was fatal to General Montgomery and to
two valuable young officers near his person, who, to
gether with his orderly sergeant and a private, were
killed on the spot. Colonel Campbell, on whom the
comraand devolved, precipitately retired with the re
mainder of the division. Thus fell one of the bravest
and most accomplished generals that ever led an army
to the field. But he was not more illustrious for his
skill and courage as an officer, than he was estimable
for his private virtues. All enmity to him, on the part
of the British, ceased with his life, and respect for his
private character prevailed over all other considera
tions. When the corpse of Montgomery was shown to
Carleton, the heart of that noble officer melted. They
had. served in the same regiment under Wolfe, and tho
most friendly relation existed between them, throughout

310 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
the whole French war. The Lieutenant-governor
of Quebec, Mr. Cramche, ordered him a coffin, and
friends and enemies united in expressions of sorrow, as
hfs remains were conducted to their final resting-place.
At his death, General Montgomery was in the first
month of his thirty-ninth year. He was a man of
great military talents, whose measures were taken
with judgment and executed with vigor. He shared
all the hardships of his troops, and though they had
been unused to discipline, and many of them were
jealous of their commander, he prevented their com
plaints by timely measures, and inspired them with
his own enthusiasm. His industry could not be wea
ried, his vigilance imposed upon, nor his courage intim
idated. Above the pride of opinion, when a measure
was adopted by the majority, he gave it his full sup
port, even though contrary to his own judgment.
Few men have ever fallen in battle so much regret
ted on both sides as General Montgomery. His many
amiable qualities had procured him an uncommon
share of private affection, and his great abilities an
equal proportion of public esteem. Being a sincere
iover of liberty, he had engaged in the American cause
from principle, and quitted the enjoyment of an easy
fortune, and the highest domestic felicity, to take an
active share in the fatigues and dangers of a war in
stituted for the defense of the community of which he
was an adopted member.- His weU-known character
was almost equally esteemed by the friends and. foes
of the side which he had espoused. In America he was
celebrated as a martyr to the liberties of mankind ; in
Great Britain, as a misguided man, sacrificing himself

OHAEACTEE OF MONTQOMEET. 311
to what he supposed to be the rights of his country.
His name was mentioned in parliament with singular
respect. Some of the raost powerful speakers in that
assembly displayed their eloquence in sounding his
praise and lamenting his fate. Those in particular
who had been his fellow-soldiers in the previous war,
expatiated on his raany virtues. The minister himself
acknowledged his worth, while he reprobated the cause
for which he fell. He concluded an involuntary pan
egyric by saying, " Curse on his virtues, they have un
done his country."
"In this brief story of a short and useful life," says
Mr. Armstrong, in his meraoir of Montgoraery, "we
find all the eleraents which enter into the composition
of a great man, and distinguished soldier ; ' a happy
physical organization, combining strength and activity,
and enabling its possessor to encounter laborious days
and sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, all changes of
weather, and every variation of climate.' To these
corporeal advantages was added a mind,. cool, discrim
inating, energetic and fearless ; thoroughly acquainted
with mankind, not uninstructed in the literature and
sciences of the day, and habitually directed by a high
and unchangeable moral sense. That a man so consti
tuted should have won ' the golden opinions ' of frienda
and foes, is not extraordinary.* The most eloquent men
of the British senate became his panegyrists ; and the
* As soon as the news of Montgomery's death reached congress, they
adopted resolutions of condolence with his family for their bereavement,
and directed a monument to be erected to his memory, with an inscriptiou
expressive of their veneration for his character, and of their deep sense
of his "many signal and important services; and to transmit, to. future
14

312 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES-
Araerican congress hastened to testify for him ' their
grateful remerabrance, profound respect, and high
veneration.'" On the fall of Montgomery, Colonel Campbell, the
second in command, ordered a retreat, although, if he
had pushed bravely forward, the city would have in
evitably fallen into his hands. In the mean time,
ages, as an example woi-thy of imitation, his patiiotism, conduct, bold
ness of enterprise, insuperable perseverance, and contempt of danger and
death." A monument of white mai-ble, with appropriate emblematic
devices, was accordingly erected to his memory, in front of St Paul's
chnrch in New York, with the following inscription :
THIS
monument is erected by order of Congress
25th Januaiy, 1776,
to transmit to posterity a grateful remem
brance of the patriotic conduct, enterprise and pei-severance
of Major-general Richard Montgomery,
who, after a scries of success amid the most discour
aging difficulties, FeU in the attack on
Quebec, 31st December, 1775, aged 37 yeara.
The widow of Montgomery survived him more than half a century,
maintaining the dignified position of a wife who caixies with her to
the tomb a name illustrious and venerated by an entire nation. Left a
widow when still young, she wore for upward of forty years her mourn
ing for her soldier, — (it was thus she always named him) — and threw
off that attire of gloom only on the eve of the day on which, from the
same abode from which she had last beheld him at his parting from her,
full of life and hope, she saw passing before her on the Hudson, a steamer
which bore on its deck, overshadowed by twenty star-spangled banners,
the mortal remains of her husband. In 1818, De Witt Clinton, then
governor of Ifew Tork, believed that the raoment had an-ived to accom
plish a great act of national gratitude. The British government sympa
thized generously with the noble idea. The remains of the glorious
Montgomeiy, found undisturbed in the tomb where they had been laid
forty-two yeara before by the English soldiers, were delivered over by
the governor of Canada to the American veterans commissioned to re
ceive them. Transported with a religious porap to New York, they '
were deposited in the cenotaph that had been erected in St Paul's
ohui-ch-yai-d to the warrior's memory.

FINAL EEPULSE AT QUEBEC. 313
tblonel Arnold, at the head- of about three hundred
and fifty raen, made a desperate attack on the oppo
site side- Advancing with the utmost intrepidity
through a narrow path, exposed to an incessant fire
of grape-shot and musketry, as he approached the first
barrier, he received a musket-ball in the leg, which
shattered the bone, and he was carried off to the carap.
Captain Morgan, who coraraanded a corapany of Yir-
ginia rifleraen, rushed forward to the batteries at their
head, and received a discharge of grape-shot, which
killed one man only. A few rifles were iraraediately
fired into the erabrasures, and the barricade was
mounted ; the battery was instantly deserted, but the
captain of the guard, with the greater part of his men,
fell into the hands of the Araericans. Morgan forraed
his raen, but frora the darkness of the night and total
ignorance of the situation of the town, it was judged
unadvisable to proceed. H6 was soon joined by Lieu
tenant-colonel Green and Majors Bigelow and Meigs,
with several fragraents of corapanies, amounting col
lectively to about two hundred men. At daylight this
gallapt party was again forraed, and a raost bloody
and dangerous engagement ensued. Many of the
eneray were killed, but raore Araericans, who were ex
posed to a destructive fire of musketry frora the win
dows of the houses. Some of the most daring mounted
the wall, but, seeing, on the other side, two ranks of
soldiers, with their muskets on the ground, presenting
hedges of bayonets to receive them should they leap
forward, they recoiled and descended. Weary with
exertion, and benumbed with cold ; exposed to a deadly
fire from every quarter ; their arms rendered useless

314: ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAEJ HEEOES.
by the snow which continued to fall, the soldiers sought
refuge in the houses. Berceiving that all further at
tempts would be vain, Morgan gave the signal to re
treat. Some of the men fied, but most were unwilling
to encounter another tempest of shot. They refused,
however, to yield, until assured of the fate of Mont
goraery; when, losing all hope of success and escape,
they surrendered theraselves prisoners of war.
Some of the Araericans, on their escape frora Que
bec, retreated precipitately to Montreal. Arnold, with
difficulty, detained four hundred, who, breaking up
their gamp, retired three miles frora the city. Here
this heroic band, though much inferior in number to the
garrison, kept it in continual awe, and, by preventing
all comraunication with the country, reduced it to great
distress for the want of provisions. Congress, on re
ceiving inforraation of the disaster of the 31st of De
cember, directed reinforcements to be sent to Canada ;
and after the beginning of March, Arnold's party was
alraost daily augmented by the arrival of small bodies
of troops. But its strength did not increase with its
numbers. The small-pox still continued its ravages ;
fatigue, without hope, depressed the spirits of the
soldiers ; the difficulty of obtaining provisions became
every day greater; and the harsh measures adopted by
Arnold to pr.ocure them, exasperated the inhabitants
around him.
On the first of May, General Thomas, who had been
appointed to succeed Montgomery, arrived from the
camp at Boxbury. On reviewing his array, he found
it to consist of less than two thousand men, of whom
ijftlf were not fit for duty. A council of war was held.

COLONEL SETH WAENEE. 315
who resolved that it was expedient to take a more de
fensible position higher up the St. Lawrence. To this
decision they were led by the knowledge that the ice
was leaving the river, and by the expectation that
reinforcements from England would immediately corae
up. The next raorning, in fact, while the Araericans
were engaged in reraoving the sick, several ships ap
peared in sight, and entered the harbor. A multitude
of troops were iraraediately poured into the city. At
one o'clock, Carleton made a sortie at the head of a
thousand men. Against these General Thomas, at that
moment, could oppose but three hundred. All the
stores, and many of the sick, fell into the power of the
eneray. The latter were treated, by the governor,
with great tenderness ; and when restored to health,
were assisted to return to their horaes. The Americans
retreated to the mouth of the Sorel, where they were
joined by several regiments, and where their worthy
commander died of the small-pox, wliich yet prevailed
in the carap.
After the capture of Montreal, Colonel Seth Warner
had returned with his regiraent to the New-Harapshire
Grants; but instead of enjoying a respite from the
fatigues and hardships of a campaign during the
winter, he was called on to return to Canada. Al
though he was not iu coramission, and had no troops
under his comraand, yet. General Wooster, who knew
him well, did not scruple to write, requesting him to
raise a body of men, and march into Canada, in the
middle of winter. The letter is dated at Montreal,
January 6th, 1776. After giving a general account of
the defeat at Quebec, General Wooster says : " I have

316 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
sent an express to General Schuyler, to Washington^
and to congress, but you know how very long it will
be before we can have relief from them. You, sir, and
your valiant Green-Mountain Boys, are in our neigh
borhood ; you all have arms, and I am confident ever
stand ready to lend a helping hand to your brethren
in distress; therefore, let me beg of you to raise as many
men as you can, and have them in Canada, with the
least possible delay, to remain tUl we can have relief
from the Colonies. You will see that proper officers
are appointed under .you, and the officers and privates
will have the same pay as the continental troops. It
will be for your men to start as soon as they can be
collected. No matter whether they all march together,
but let them come on by tens, twenties, thirties, for
ties, or fifties, as fast as they can be prepared to march.
It will have a good effect upon the minds of the Cana
dians, to see succor coraing in. You will be good
enough to send copies of this letter, or such parts of
it as you shall judge proper, to the people below you.
I can but hope the people will make a push to get
into this country, and I am confident I shaU see you
here, with your men, in a very short time. " And Gen
eral Wooster was not disappointed. He did see War
ner in Canada, with his men, in a -s^ery -short time.
Probably no revolutionary patriot, during the war,
performed a service evincing more energy, resolution,
and perseverance, or a more noble patriotism, than
the raising of a regiment in eleven days, and
marching to Quebec in the face of a Canadian winter.
Warner had advantages in the performance of this
service which no other man possessed. The Green-

COLONEL SETH WAENEE. 317
Mountain Boys had long been arraed in their own
defense against the government of New York, and he
had been their chosen leader. They had become habit
uated to turn out at his call, an How his lead. And
as they had been successful in every enterprise, they
had the raost unlimited confidence in his judgment,
his vigilance, his prudence and his unflinching courage.
Besides, they loved hira for his raoral and social quali
ties. He syrapathized with all classes, which rendered
hira affable and familiar with them, and as this did not
arise from any mean or selflsh motive, but from the
interest which he felt in the welfare of his fellow-men,
he ever maintained a self-respect and a dignified de
portment. Add to this, that the Green-Mountain Boys
were zealous and active whigs, and it is no longer
incredible that they turned out with such alacrity at
the call of Warner, in defense of their country. This
' winter campaign in Canada proved extremely distress
ing. The troops were in want of comfortable clothing,
barracks, and provisions. The American array, in
their distressed situation, were corapelled to raake a
hasty retreat. Warner took a position exposed to the
greatest danger, and requiring the utraost care and
vigilance. He was always' in the rear, picking up the
wounded and diseased, assisting and encouraging those
least able to take care of theraselves, and generally
kept but a few railes in advance of the British, who
closely pm-sued the Americans from post to post. By
calraly and steadily pursuing this course, with his
habitual vigilance and care, Warner brought off most
of the invalids, and with this corps of the diseased and
infirm, arrived at Ticonderoga a few days after the

318 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
main arnay had reached that fortress.* Thus termi
nated the expedition against Canada. In its concep
tion it was singularly bold and romantic. In its
progress were displayed fortitude and bravery seldom
equaled in military annals. Its failure was a painful
disappointraent to the patriots of the day. It is now
consoling to refiect, that successes would probably have
proved injurious to the cause of independence. To
protect the province, the military force of the confed
eracy must have been too rauch extended, and colonies
more iraportant have been left defenseless.
In June, 1776, General Gatesf was appointed to the
command of the army at Crown Point. He entered
upon the service with great energy. In addition to
the labor and expense of putting Ticonderoga into a
proper situation for defense, another object of great
importance engaged their attention at the same time :
it was equally necessary to preserve the comraand of
* See Life of Warner, by Hon. Daniel Chipman.
t Horatio Gates was born in England, in 1728. He early embraced
the career of arras, and rose to the rank of major by the force of merit
alone. He was an officer under the unfortunate Braddock, in the expe
dition against Fort Du Quesne, in the year 1755, and was, with the
illustrious Washington, among the few officers who escaped with life on
the memorable occasion. In consequence of a severe wound which he
received in the battle, he was for some time debarred from actual semce ;
and at the conclusion of the peace, he retired to his native country.
He soon, however, returned, and purchased an estate in Virginia, on
which he resided until the commencement of the revolutionary war,
when lie was appointed adjutant-general, by congress, with the rank of
brigadier. In July 1775, he accompanied Washington to Massachusetts,
where he continued until he received the chief command of tho arm.
which had just returned from Cauada.

NAVAL PEEPAEATIONS. 319
Lake Champlain, by the construction of a considerable
naval force. In the prosecution of this business, the
Americans labored with uncoraraon diligence and per
severance, but under complicated and iraraense diffi
culties. Their tiraber was to be cut down in the woods,
and dragged by men to the lake ; much of their ar
tillery, their araraunition, stores, and most of their
materials for a naval equipment, were to be brought
from great distances, and then must be transported by
land-carriage, over roads almost irapassable. Carpen
ters and ship-builders were fully eraployed in the sea
ports, in fitting out privateers. The distance and diffi
culty of the communication rendered the transportation
of bulky articles very expensive and tedious ; and sev
eral of the articles which were wanted were not to be
procured, and the supply of others was greatly deficient
in quantity and quality. But amidst all their difficulties,
such was the resolution, industry and perseverance of
the men, that by the middle of August, they had
equipped a very considerable naval force. This arma
raent was manned with three hundred and ninety-five
men, and was completely fitted for action. Consider
ing the state of the country at that tirae, the difficulties
and disadvantages under which this naval force had
been constructed, it is surprising how so rauch could
have been effected.
Such, however, was the iraportance to the designs
Df the English of obtaining an absolute control of the
lakes, that General Carleton set hiraself with all dili
gence to the equipraent of a fieet. His plan was, ac
cording to the instructions of the rainistry, to penetrate
by way of the lake to the Hudson river, and thus to
14*

320 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
effect a junction with the army pf New York, at Al
bany. By the execution of this plan, the provinces of
New England would have found themselves separated
from the others by a powerful and victorious army,
and the cause of freedom would have been exposed to
the most irarainent perils. Long deUberated upon in the
councils of the British ministers, it was their favorite
scheme. And, in effect, the very nature of the places
between Canada and New York, appeared to favor
this enterprise. With the exception of the heights
which are found between the upper extremity of Lake
George and the left bank of the Hudson, and which
only occupy a space of sixteen miles, the entire passage
from one of these provinces to.the other, could easily be
made by water, first by ascending from the St. Law
rence into the Sorel, and then traversing the Lakes
Champlain and George, or Wood creek, to the lands
which separate it frora the Hudson. The English hav
ing an immense superiority at sea, Canada being en
tirely in their power, and as the principal seat of resist
ance was found in the provinces of New England,
while the coasts of New- York were peculiarly acces
sible to maritime attacks, it cannot be denied that this
plan of the campaign presented great advantages. But
the difficulty of the enterprise was equal to its impor- •
tance. It was requisite to construct, or at least to
equip a fleet of thirty vessels of different dimensions,
and to arra thera with artillery ; the want of raaterials
rendered either of these objects difficult to accomplish.
The transportation afterward in certain places by land
and drawing up the rapids of Chambly, of thirty
large long-boats, a number of flat-bottomed boats of

BETIISH NAVAL FOECE. 321
considerable burthen, with above four hundred bateaux,
was an operation which offered not only great obstacles,
but even an appearance of impossibility. But the
English seamen, from their skUl and patience, were
not intiraidated by it. The soldiers seconded thera,
and the Canadians, taken from their rustic labors, were
corapelled to share the toil. The generals urged for
ward this laborious undertaking on account of the
latenessi of the season. They felt all the importance
of the enterprise, and persuaded theraselves that if
they could reach Albany before winter, their ultimate
success would be secured. They labored, therefore,
with incredible activity ; but notwithstanding all their
efforts, the preparations could not be completed, nor
the armament equipped, till the middle of the month
of October. The fleet would have raade no contempti
ble figure even upon the European seas. The admiral's
ship carried eighteen twelve pounders, and was followed
by two stout schooners, the one mounting fourteen, the
other, twelve six-pounders, with a large flat-bottomed
boat having six twenty-four and six twelve-pounders.
Twenty vessels of less size carried each a brass piece of
ordnance, from nine to twenty -four pounders, or howit
zers. Several long-boats were equipped in the same raan
ner. Besides these, there was a great number of boats
and tenders of various sizes, to serve as transports for the
troops, baggage, warlike stores, provisions, and arms
of every sort.
The whole fleet was coraraanded by Captain Pringle,
a sea-officer of great experience ; it was raanned by a
select body of^ seamen, animated with an extreme de-,
sire of victory. The land-troops, encamped in the

322 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
environs, prepared, as soon as the navigation of thelake
should be secured, to fall upon the eneray. Three
thousand raen occupied Isle Aux Noix, and as many
were stationed at St. John's : the reraainder were dis"
tributed either in the vessels or in the neighboring
garrisons. The Americans united aU their forces to resist such
formidable preparations. General Gates was at their
head, and Arnold showed himself everywhere, inspii-
ing the soldiers with that ardent courage for which he
was himself distinguished. As the event of the cam
paign upon this frontier de])ended wholly upon naval
operations, the Araericans had exerted themselves to
the utmost of their power to arm and equip a fleet
capable of opposing that of the enemy. But, notwith
standing the activity and perseverance of the American
generals, their squadron amounted to no more than flf-
teen vessels of different sizes, two brigs, one corvette, one
sloop, three galleys, and eight flat-boats. Their largest
vessel mounted only twelve six and four-pounders. But
that this armament might not want a chief whose in
trepidity equaled the danger of the enterprise, the
command of it was given to General Arnold. It was
expected of him to maintain, upon this new element,
the reputation he had acquired on land. The American
army, notwithstanding all the obstacles it had encoun
tered, and the ravages of the small-pox, still amounted
to eight or nine thousand men.
All the dispositions being made on both sides,
General Carleton, impatient to conquer, ordered all his
naval forces to advance toward Crown Point, intending
to attack Arnold there. He had already reached th*

Arnold's naval engagement. 333
middle ofthe lake without having been able to discover
him, and was proceeding without any distrust, when
all at once the English perceived the American squad
ron, which was drawn up with great skill, behind the
island of Yalconr, and occupied the passage between
the island and the western shore of the lake. This
unexpected interview caused a violent agitation on
both sides. A fierce engagement iraraediately ensued.
But the windvbeing unfavorable to the English, they
could not display their whole line; the Infiexible, and
their other vessels of the largest class, took no part in
the action. The brig Carleton, accorapanied by several
gun-boats, assailed Arnold's fieet with singular courage
and ability. The Araericans supported the corabat
with equal bravery ; it lasted above four hours. The
wind continuing to be contrary for the English, Captain
Bringle perceived that he could not hope to obtain ad
vantages with a part of his forces against all those of
the enemy, and accordingly gave the signal for retreat ;
ordering the fleet to be anchored in a line, in presence
of the American squadron.
The Araericans had lost in the action their largest
brig, which took flre and wa-s consuraed, as also a flat-
boat which went to the bottora. They considered it
extreraely dangerous to await a second engagement
in the anchorage they occupied, and consequently de
terrained to retire under the walls of Crown Point,
hoping that the artillery of the fortress wonld counter
balance the superiority of the enemy's force. Fortune
seemed inclined to favor this design of General Arnold ;
and already his vessels, having lost sight of those of
the English, sailed rapidly toward their new station;

324 ETHA^ ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
when suddenly the wind became favorable to the
enemy, who pursued and came up with them before
their arrival at Crown Point. The battle was immedi
ately renewed with greater fury than at first ; it con
tinued upward of two hours. 'Those vessels, in the
mean while, which were most ahead, crowded sail, and,
passing Crown Point, ran for Ticonderoga. Only two
galleys and five flat-boats, remained with General
Arnold. With these he made a desperate defense ; but
his second in coraraand, Brigadier-general Waterburgh,
being taken with his vessel, and the others raaking but
a faint resistance, he determined, in order to prevent
his people and shipping from falling into the power
of the enemy, to run these on shore and set them on
fire. He executed his intention with great address.
He remained on board the vessel he coraraanded, and
kept her colors flying, till she was on fire. Though he
had been unsuccessful on this occasion, the disparity
of strength duly considered, he lost no reputation, but
rose, on the contrary, in the estiraation of his country
men. He had, in their opinion, acquitted himself with
no less ability in this naval encounter, than he had
before done on land. The Americans, having destroyed
whatever could not be carried off, evacuated Crown
Point and withdrew to Ticonderoga. General Carleton
occupied the former immediately, and the rest of the
army came soon after to join him there.
Completely masters of Lake Charaplain, the EngUsh
had no other obstacle to surmount besides the fortress
of Ticonderoga, in order to penetrate into Lake George.
If Carleton, rapidly avaUing hiraself of his advantage,
had pushed forward against the Americans thrown into

GENEEAL CAELETON. 325
confusion by defeat, perhaps he might, have seized this
important place. But he was prevented from doing it
by a south wind, which prevailed for several days.
The Araericans raade the best use of this tirae in pre
paring and increasing their raeans of defense. They
mounted their cannon, constructed new works, and
repaired the old, surrounding them with moats and
palisades. The garrison was reinforced with extreme
expedition ; and conforraably to the orders of Wash
ington, the oxen and horses were reraoved into distant
places, that the English raight not seize thera for pro
vision or draught. Meanwhile, General Carleton had
not neglected to detach scouting parties upon the two
banks of the lake ; and, when the wind permitted, some
light vessels were also sent toward Ticonderoga, to re
connoiter the force of the enemy and the state of the
fortress. All the reports agreed that the fortifications
were forraidable, and the garrison full of ardor. He
reflected, therefore, that the siege raust be long, difficult,
and sanguinary, and concluded, accordingly, that the
possession of this fortress would not indemnify him for
all it raight cost. The winter approached ; the want
of provisions, the difficulty of direct communication
with Canada, and the little hope of success from an
expedition in the cold and desert regions which sepa
rate the Hudson river frora Lake George, rendered the
wintering upon this lake extreraely perilous. In con-
sequeno'^ of these considerations, the English general
deemed, the reduction of Ticonderoga of little utility
in his present circumstances, whereas the command of
the lakes secured hira a clear passage to return in the
spring to the attack of this fortress, without exposing

326 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
his troops to the hardships of a siege, undertaken in
the raidst of the rigors of the winter. After having
taken the advice of a council of war, he renounced the
project of an attack, and early in November conducted
his array back toward Montreal, leaving his advanced
posts in Isle Aux Noix. But prior to his retreat, with
the singular courtesy and humanity of his character,
he sent to their homes the American officers who had
fallen into his power, administering generously to all
their wants. He exercised the sarae liberaUty toward
the coraraon soldiers. The greater part were almost
naked ; he caused them to be completely clothed, and
set them at liberty, after having 'taken their oath that
they would not serve against the armies of the king.
General Carleton was blamed for having taken winter-
quarters ; this resolution was considered as a mark of
weakness, and as highly prejudicial to the success of
ulterior operations; since, if he had immediately made
himself master of Ticonderoga, his troops, after having
passed the winter in its vicinity, would have been able
to enter the fleld early the following spring. It is
probable, in effect, that the war would, in that case,
have had a very different result from what it actually
had. But the conquest of a place so strong by nature
and by art as Ticonderoga, depended on the resistance
the Araericans would have raade ; and certainly their
number, the valor they had displayed in the naval ac
tions, and the extreme confldence they had in their
chiefs, all announced that their defense would have
been long and obstinate. Nor should the considerations
be omitted of the difficulty of subsistence, and of the
communications with Canada. Be this as it may, the

THE GEEEN-MOUNTAIN BOTS. 327
retreat of the English general, and his inaction during
the winter, had the raost happy results for the Araericans.
The services of the regiment of Green-Mountain
Boys, and the aid furnished to the array at Ticonde
roga by the inhabitants of the New-Hampshire Grants,
have not been sufficiently commemorated by historians.
Warner, with his brave regiraent, was at Ticonderoga
during the whole carapaign of 1776, and by his ac
tivity and energy, did rauch toward protecting that
important post. The patriotic heroes of the Green
Mountains, were ever ready at the call of freedom and
their country. Few in number, and without recog
nition as a separate province, they were without
representatives in the congress, but they had ever been
zealous charapions of liberty. Six months before the
commencement of the Eevolution, when the rumor
reached Bennington that the British had slain six raen
in Boston and seized a depot of powder, it was at
once resolved that two thousand arraed Green-Mountain
Boys should raarch to the aid of the Bostonians when
ever hostilities should coraraence. And four weeks
before the battle of Lexington, they sent assurances to
New Hampshire and Massachusetts that they would
"always be ready for aid and assistance to those
states, if, by the dispensations of Providence, they
should be called thereto." But the Massachusetts
comraittee of safety anticipated a long and arduous
struggle, and one week after the massacre at Lexing
ton, they thus wrote to the leading raen at Benning
ton : "For heaven's sake, pay the closest attention to
sowing and planting ; do as rauch of it as is possible,
not for your own faraUies merely. Do not think of

828 ^ ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
coming down country to fight." That committee little
anticipated how soon a small band of Green-Mountain
Boys, arraed only with muskets, and without a single
bayonet araong them, would attack the fortress of Ti
conderoga. On the 22d of May, 1775, at a public
meeting of the inhabitants of Marlborough, (near old
Fort Dummer,) the following pledges were unanimously
made : " We will, each of us, at the expense of our
lives and fortunes, to the last extremity, unite and
oppose the late cruel, unjust and arbitrary acts of the
British parliament. We will be contented and subject
to the honorable continental congress in all things
which they shall resolve for the peace, safety and wel
fare of the American colonies."
In 1776, while Carleton, with superior forces, was
atterapting to drive the Araericans from Lake Cham
plain, the inhabitants of the New-Hampshire Grants
gave the most important assistance to the army at Ti
conderoga. While the troops in that fortress were ex
pecting to be immediately blockaded, they had pro
visions for only sixteen days, and there was no hope
of receiving timely succors from Albany. A call was
made upon the committee at Bennington for assist
ance, and within an hour they purchased a thou
sand bushels of wheat, and returned word that they
would send on the fiour as fast as it could be manufac
tured. The committee, in their reply to General Gates,
also said : " It is difficult to transport what we have al
ready on hand ; for our militia, even before we received
your letter, asking assistance, left us, alraost to a man,
niarched, and have doubtless joined you before this."
And thus the Green-Mountain Boys hurried to tbe

EVACUATION OF BOSTON. 329
defense of their country. Scattered through a moun
tainous country, it raight have been thought difficult to
collect the scanty population ; but the cry of invasion
echoed frora hill to hill, from viUage to village, and,
leaving their herds and their fields, and hastily ex
changing a parting blessing with their wives and their
mothers, the hardy mountaineers rushed to the battle.
" From the gray sire, whose trembling hand
Could hardly buckle on his brand.
To the raw boy, whose shaft and bow
Were yet scarce terror to the crow.
Each valley, each sequestered glen.
Mustered its little horde of men.
That met, as torrents from the height,
In highland dais their streams unite ;
Still gathering, as they poui- along,
A voice more loud, a tide more strong."
A hasty glance at the transactions - in other parts of
the country will appropriately close the history of the
campaign of 1776. In March, General Washington
executed a plan for driving the British from Boston,
by seizing and fortifying Dorchester Heights, and thus
getting command of the harbor and British shipping.
On the 17th, the British forces evacuated the town
and sailed for Halifax. In June, General Clinton and
Sir Beter Parker made an attack on Fort Moultrie,
near Charleston, South Carolina ; but were ' repulsed
with considerable loss. Congress, raeanwhile, contin
ued in session, and on the 4th of July, adopted the
meraorable Declaration of Independence. It was receiv
ed with demonstrations of joyous enthusiasra through
out the colonies. The royal authority had been every
where entirely subverted the year before : the Revolu
tion was now in a political sense corapleted ; but the
war for its establishment was yet to be waged.

330 ETHAN ALLEN AND QEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOEB.
Shortly after the evacuation of Boston by the Brit
ish. General Washington removed to New York, mak- •
ing that city his head-quarters. The Araerican forces '
in and around the city were about seventeen thousand,
a part of whom were on Long Island, under command
of Sullivan. In June following. General Howe, with
the forces frora Halifax, arrived near New York, and
was shortly after joined by his brother. Admiral Lord
Howe, with a reinforcement of troops, a strong naval
force, and abundant military stores. The array under
Howe now amounted to twenty-four thousand. He
attacked and defeated the American array on Long
Island. General Washington witnessed the defeat of
his best troops with indescribable anguish. With
drawing frora New York, he gradually retreated before
the British, adopting the policy of wearing out the
eneray by keeping thera in perpetual pursuit". Avoid
ing any general engageraent, sraall parties were in
volved in skirmishes whenever it could be done with
decided advantage. Pursued by the enemy, Wash
ington retreated slowly through New Jersey and across
the Delaware into Pennsylvania. So hot was the pur
suit, that the rear of the American array was often in
sight of the van of the eneray. Washington's forces
were reduced to three thousand raen, and they were
destitute of tents, blankets, and even utensils for cook
ing their provisions. This retreat through New Jersey
was the darkest hour of the revolutionary struggle.
On the same day that Washington was driven across
the Delaware, the British took possession of Ehode Isl
and. They already held New York and New Jersey.
The army of Washington was continually diminishing

CAP'rUEE OF THE HESSIANS. 831
by the discharge of the militia, whose terra of service
had expired. A general gloom and despondency hung
over the whole country. But nothing could shake the
constancy of Washington. Feeling the absolute ne
cessity of doing something to rouse the array and the
country from the depression that was weighing down
all rainds, Washington recrossed the Delaware with a
detachment of his array, surprised and took prisoners
one thousand Hessians, with the loss of but nine men
among his own troops. Soon after, evading by night
the British, who were encamped at Trenton in the con
fident expectation of forcing hira into a general en
gageraent the next day, he raarched upon Princeton,
where a part of the British force had' been left, routed
and put to fiight two regiraents which he met on his
way, and captured nearly tbe whole of another. These
brilliant actions turned the tide. The British iraraedi
ately evacuated Trenton, and retreated to New Bruns
wick ; the inhabitants, eager to revenge the brutalities
they had suff'ered, took courage, and the eneray were
driven frora every post in New Jersey, except Araboy
and New Brunswick ; and Washington went into se
cure winter quarters at Morristown.
During the darkest period of this campaign, the
American congress showed no sign of dismay. They
adopted articles of confederation for a perpetual union
of the states ; took measures for raising a new army,
with a longer term of enlistment ; and solemnly pro
clairaed that they would listen to no terms of peace
short of independence. They sent coraraissioners to
France to treat for their acknowledgment of their in
dependence, and for aid in their struggle. Tbe cause

332 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
of America was popular at the French court ; counte
nance and assistance was at once, in various ways,
secretly given. Many French officers became desirous
of enlisting in the struggle, among whom was the
young Marquis de Lafayette, who arrived in season to
take part in the next campaign.
The principal object of the British, in the campaign
of 1777, was to open a free communication between
Canada and New York. The British ministry were
sanguine in their hopes, that, the New-England states,
which they considered as the soul of the confederacy,
might be severed from the neighboring states, and
corapelled to submission. In prosecution of this design,
an army of British and German troops, araounting to
upward of seven thousand men, exclusive of artillery,
was put under coraraand of Lieutenant-general Bur
goyne,* an enterprising and able officer. The plan of
operations consisted of two parts. General Burgoyne
with the main body, was to advance by way of Lake
Champlain, and force his way to Albany, or, at least,
so far as to effect a junction with the royal army from
New York ; and Lieutenant-colonel St. Leger, with
about two hundred British, a regiraent of New-York
loyalists, raised and commanded by Sir John Johnson,
*John Burgoyne was an illegitimate son of Lord Bingley. He en
tered the army at an early age, and his early education, and the influence
of his father, placed him in the line of promotion. He fii-sl served in Por
tugal and Spain. After his return to England, he became a privy coun
selor, and was elected to parliament.^ He came over to America in 1775,
and was at Boston at the battle of Bunker Hill. He was sent to Can
ada the same year, but early in 1776 returned to England, and through
the partiality of the king, was appointed to the command of the British
army iu Canada.

GENEEAL BtTEGOTNE. 333
a>. i a large body of Indians, was to ascend the St.
Lawrence to Lake Ontario, and frora that quarter to
penetrate toward Albany, by the way of the Mohawk
river. The main army, under General Burgoyne, embarked
at St. John's, and proceeded up Lake Champlain
without any interruption ; and soon arrived and en
camped at the river Boquet, on the west side of the
lake, and a little to the northward of Crown Point,
at the place now called Willsborough. There the
Indians had also assembled, and General Burgoyne,
in conformity to their customs, gave them a war-feast.
He raade a speech, addressed to their chiefs and war
riors, designed to excite their savage ardor in the
British cause, and to give a direction to their cruelty
and barbarity. He urged them to impetuosity in bat
tle, but enjoined them not to kill any but those who
were opposed to thera in arms ; that old raen, woraen,
children and prisoners, should be spared frora the
knife and hatchet, even in the midst of action ; and
they should only scalp those who were killed by their
fire in fair opposition ; but that, under no pretense
whatever, should they scalp the wounded, or even dy
ing, and much less kUl any in that condition. A hand
some compensation was proraised, for all prisoners
they should bring in ; but if, instead of this, they
brought in their scalps, they were to be called to ac
count. The British general could not be so unac
quainted with the established customs and habits of
the Indians, as to expect that an elegant speech would
have any considerable effect upon them ; still, it might
be useful to the British, as it bore the appearance of

834 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
humanity, and might tend to abate the reproaches
with which their conduct was loaded in every part of
Europe, for calling forth the savage barbarities at all
into the contest.
The commxand of the Americans in the northern de
partment, had been assigned to Major-general Schuy
ler.* It was foreseen that the contest would be carried
on in the northern and western parts of the state of
New York ; and it was supposed that he was the only
man who would have infiuence enough to keep the
inhabitants, in those parts of the state, united against
the eneray. Four days before Burgoyne made his
speech to the Indiajis, Schuyler arrived at Ticonde
roga, but did not find either the garrison or the works
in so respectable a condition as he expected. Most of
the recruits which had been ordered to the place, had
Jiot arrived ; but little had been done to repair or
strengthen the fortifications ; and General St. Clair,f
who had commanded, had not, and did not dare to
* Philip Schuyler was born at Albany, in 1731. He seiTed as an offi
cer in the French war. When quite youn^he became a member of the
New-York legislature, and was eminent for his intelligence and influ
ence. To him and to Governor Clinton it was chiefly owing that the
province made an early and decided resistance to those measures which
terminated in the independence of the colonies. In 1775 he was ap-
poiuted a major-general, and was directed to proceed immediately from
Ifew York to Ticonderoga, to secure the lakes and to make preparations
for entering Canada. Being taken sick, the command devolved on Mont
gomery. On his recovery, he devoted himself zealously to the manage
ment of the affairs of the northern depaitment
•¦ Arthur St Clair was a soldier from his youth. At an early age, while
tho independent states were yet British colonies, he entered the royal
American army, and was commissioned as an ensign. He was actively
engaged, during the Frendi war, in the army of general Wolfe, and waa

bubqotne's peoclamation. 335-
caU in large numbers of the militia, for fear his pro
visions should fail before the arrival of a supply.
Having inspected the works, Schuyler left the command
with St. Clair, and returned to Fort Edward, as a
more central situation.
On the 4th of July, Burgoyne issued a proclaraation,
designed to spread terror araong the Americans, and
affi-ight those who were active in the support of their
cause. The number, power, and cruelty of the Indi
ans, was represented as extreraely forraidable and
threatening; and their eagerness to be let loose on
their prey, was described with uncoraraon energy.
The accuraulation of British power, which was now
displayed by land and by sea, was declared to be
ready to erabrace or to crush every part of America.
The rebellion in the colonies, and the conduct of
their present rulers, were painted in the most dis
gusting and awful colors ; and their leaders were
charged with repeated acts of the most unparalleled
carrying a pair of coloi-s, in the battle in which that celebrated com
mander was slain, on the Plains of Abraham. He was highly esteemed
by the distinguished commanders under whom he served, as a young
officer of merit, eapable of obtaining a high grade of military reputation.
After the peace of '63, he sold out and entered into trade, for which the
generosity of his nature utterly disqualified him ; he, of course, soon
became disgusted with a profitless pursuit, and having married, after sev
eral vicissitudes of fortune, he located himself in Ligonier valley, west
of the Alleghany mountains, and near the old route from Philadel
phia In this situation the American Revolution found hira, surrounded
by a rising family, in the enjoyraent of ease and independence, with the
fairest prospects of affluent fortune, the foundation of which had been
already established by his intelligence, industry and enterprise. From
this peaceful abode, these sweet domestic enjoyments, and the flattering
prospects which accompanied them, he was drawn by the claims of a
traubled osuntry. 15

336 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
injustice, persecution and tyranny! Encouragement
and eraployraent were offered to those who should*
assist the British king in redeeming the colonies from
the oppressions of congress, and restoring them to the
blessings of British liberty and government ! Protec
tion and security, but not very explicitly expressed,
were held out to the peaceable and industrious, who
should remain in their habitations. And all the ca
lamities and horrors of war were denounced to those
who should any longer dare to persevere in their hos
tility to the British king and army. Nothing had ever
appeared in America, in a style so pompous, tumid
and bombastic. Instead of producing the desired
effect, and frightening the people into submission, the
proclamation was everywhere the subject of derision
and ridicule ; and treated as the production of osten
tatious vanity, insolence and folly, not at all calculated
to operate on the hopes or the fears of the people of
the United States.
Having finished his speeches and proclamations, the
British general employed himself in moi-e formidaWe
operations. After a short stay at Crown Point, Bur
goyne moved on with his army to Ticonderoga. The
state of the American fort and garrison at that place
did not proraise a very long or vigorous defense. Tho
old French lines had indeed been strengthened with
additional works and a block-house. On tho east
ern shore of the lake, and opposite to Ticonderoga,
the Araericans had taken still raore pains in fortifying
a high circular hUl, to which they had given the name
of Mount Independence. On the summit of this hill
they hfl,d erected a star fort, enclosing a large square

AEMY AT TICONDEEOGA. 337
of barracks, well fortified and surrounded with artillery.
"These two posts were joined by a bridge thrown across
the lake. This bridge was supported by twenty-two
piers of very large tiraber, placed at equal distances ;
the spaces between these were filled with separate
floats, each about flfty feet long, and twelve wide,
strongly fastened together with chains and rivets. The
north side of the bridge was defended by a boora of
very large pieces of tiraber, fastened together by riv
eted bolts and double chains, raade of iron an inch and
a half square.
But notwithstanding the apparent strength of Ticon
deroga, it was effectually overlooked and coraraanded
by a neighboring eminence called Sugar Hill, or Mount
Defiance. This mountain, by its height and proximity,
had such an entire comraand both of Ticonderoga
and Mount Independence, that an enemy might from
thence have counted the number^, and enfiladed every
pait of the works, in either of those places. This cir
curastance was well known to the American officers,
and they had a consultation about fortifying the moun
tain ; but it was declined, because their works were
already so extensive, that, with the addition of what
would be-proper on Sugar Hill, they would require ten
or twelve thousand men for their defense — a greater
number than could be spared for that purpose. In
stead of a full compleraent of troops to raan the
extensive Unes and defend the nuraerous works,
the whole force which St. Clair had, consisted only
of two thousand five hundred continental troops,
aided by nine hundred raUitia, badly equipped, worse
armed, and most of them without bayonets. St.

838 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
Clair was in hopes that Burgoyne's impetuosity
would have led him to make a sudden assault upon
the place, which he expected to repel with' success ;
but as soon as he was informed of the numbers
in his array, and that a regular siege was intended,
he was convinced that an effectual defense could
not be made by his troops.
The royal army advanced with great celerity, but
with much caution and order, on both sides of the
lake, the naval force keeping its station in the center.
On the near approach of the right wing of the British
army on the Ticonderoga side, on the 2d of July, the
Americans abandoned and set fire to their works, block-
bouses and saw mills, toward Lake George ; and with
out making any opposition, perraitted General Bhillips
to take possession of Mount Hope. This post cora^
manded the American lines in a great degree, and cut
off their communication with Lake George. The Amer
icans, on this occasion, were charged with supineness
and want of vigor. Their inactivity arose not from
want of courage, but from lack of raen enough to make
an effectual opposition to the powerful force with
which they were surrounded.
In the mean tirae the royal army proceeded with
such expedition in the construction of their works, the
bringing up of artillery, stores, and provisions, and
the establishment of posts and communications, that
by the fifth, matters were so far advanced as to require
but one or two days more to corapletely invest the
posts on both sides of the lake. Sugar Hill had also
been examined, and the advantages which it presented
were so important that it had been resolved to

EVACUATION OF TICONDEEOGA. 339
take possession, and erect a battery there. This
work, though attended with extreme labor and diffi
culty, had been carried on by General Phillij)s, with
rauch expedition and success. A road had been
made through a very rough ground, to the top of
the mountain ; and the British were at work in con
structing a level for a battery, and transporting theii
artillery. As soon as this battery should be ready to
play, the American works would have been completely
invested on every side.
In these circumstances a council of war was caUed
by St. Clair. He was convinced that it was absolutely
necessary to evacuate the place. The council were in
forraed that their whole effective number was not suffi
cient to man one half of the works ; that as the whole
must be constantly upon duty, it would be impossible
for them to support the fatigue for any considerable
length of time ; that General Schuyler, who was at
Fort Edward, had not sufficient force to relieve the
garrison ; and that as the enemy's batteries were
nearly ready to open, and the place would be com
pletely invested in twenty-four hours, nothing could
save the troops but an iraraediate evacuation of the
posts. The general's representation was adraitted to
be correct, and it was unaniraously agreed by the coun
cil to abandon the fortress that night. It was proposed
tbat the baggage of the array, with such artillery,
stores and provisions as the necessity of the occasion
would adrait, should be erabarked with a strong de
tachraent, on board two hundred bateaux, and dis
patched under convoy of five armed galleys, up the
south river to Skenesborough; and that the main body

S40 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
of the army should proceed by land, taking its rout6
on the road to Castleton, which was about thirty mUes
to the south of Ticonderoga, and join the boats and .
galleys at Skenesborough falls. It was thought neces
sary to keep the matter a secret, tiU the time should
arrive when it was to be executed. The English had
no suspicion of what was passing, and the march com
menced under the most favorable auspices. But all at
once a house which took fire on Mount Independence,
roused by its glare of Ught the attention ofthe English,
who immediately perceived aU that had taken place.
The Americans finding themselves discovered, marched
hastily, and in some disorder, as far as Hubbardton,
where they halted to refresh themselves and rally
the dispersed. But the English were not idle. Gen
eral Frazer, at the head of a strong detachment of gren
adiers and light troops, coramenced an eager pursuit
by laud, upon the right bank of Wood Creek. Gen
eral Eeidesel, behind him, rapidly advanced with his
Brunswickers, either to support the English, or to act
separately," as occasion might require. General Bur
goyne determined to pursue the Americans by water.
But it was first necessary to destroy the boom and
bridge which had been constructed in front of Ticon
deroga. The British seamen and artificers iraraediately
engaged in the operation, and in a short tirae, those
works, which had cost so much labor and so vast an
outlay, were cut through and demolished. The pas
sage thus cleared, the ships of Burgoyne iraraediately
proceeded with extreme rapidity in search of the
Americans ; all was in movement at once upon land
and water. By three in the afternoon, the van

RETREAT OF THE AMEEICANS. 341
of the British squadron, coraposed of gun-boats, carae
up with and attacked the Araerican galleys, near
Skenesborough. In the raean time, three regiments,
which had been landed at South Bay, ascended and
passed a mountain with great expedition, in order to
cut off a retreat to Fort Anne. But the Americans elu
ded this stroke by the rapidity of their flight. The Brit
ish frigates having joined the van, the galleys, already
hard pressed by the gun-boats, were completely over
powered. Two of thera surrendered; three were blown
up. The Araericans now despaired ; having set fire
to their works, mills, and bateaux, and otherwise de
stroyed what they were unable to burn, they escaped as
well as they could, without halting till they reached
Fort Anne. Their loss was considerable, for the ba
teaux they burnt were loaded with baggage, provisions
and munitions, as necessary to their sustenance as to
military operations. The corps which had set out by
land were in no better situation. The vanguard, con
ducted by St. Clair, had arrived at Castleton ; the
rear, commanded by Colonels Francis and Warner,
had rested the night of the sixth, at Hubbardton, six
miles below Castleton.
At Hubbardton, the advanced corps of the British
army overtook the rear of the American troops, on
the morning of the 7th of July. The American army,
all but part of three regiments, were gone forward ;
these were part of Hale's, Francis' and Warner's reo-i-
ments. The enemy attacked thera with superior nura
bers, and the highest prospect of success. Francis and
Warner opposed thera with great spirit and vigor ;
and no officers or troops could have discovered more

342 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOKS.
courage and firmness than they displayed through the
whole action. Large reinforcements of the enemy ar
riving, it became impossible to make any effectual
opposition. Francis fell in a most honorable discharge
of his duty. Hale surrendered with his regiment.
Surrounded on every side by the enemy, but calm and
undaunted. Colonel Warner fought' his way through
all opposition, brought off the troops that refused to
capitulate with Hale, checked the enemy in their pur
suit, and contrary to all expectations, arrived safe with
his troops at Manchester. To the northward of that
town the whole country was deserted. The colonel
deterrained to make a stand at that place ; encouraged
by his example and firmness, a body of the militia
soon joined him ; and he was once more in a situation
to protect the inhabitants, harass the enemy, and
break up their advanced parties.
The loss of the royal troops in dead and wounded
amounted to about one hundred and eighty. General
St. Clair, upon intelligence of this discomfiture, and
that of the disaster at Skenesborough, which was
brought him at the sarae tirae by an officer of one of
the galleys, apprehending that he should be inter
rupted if he proceeded toward Fort Anne, struck into
the woods on the left, uncertain whether he should
repair to Massachusetts, or endeavor to reach the
army at Fort Edward. But being joined two days
after, at Manchester, by the remains of the corps
of Colonel Warner, and having collected the fugitives,
he proceeded to Fort Edward, in order to unite with
General Schuyler.
While these events were passing on the left, the

BATTLE AT FOET ANNE. 843
English generals resolved to drive the Americans from
Fort Anne, situated higher up toward the sources of
Wood Creek. Colonel HiU was detached for this pur
pose from Skenesborough; and to facUitate his opera
tions, the greatest exertions were made in carrying
bateaux over the falls at that place, which enabled
him to attack the fort by water. Upon intelligence
that the Americans had a numerous garrison there.
Brigadier Powell was sent with two regiments to
the succor of Colonel Hill. The American Colonel
Long, who, with a great jjart of his corps, had escaped
the destruction of the boats at the falls, coraraanded
the garrison of Fort Anne. Having heard that the
enemy was approaching, he gallantly sallied out to re
ceive hira. The English defended themselves with
courage, but the Americans had already nearly sur
rounded them. Colonel Hill, finding himself too hard
pressed, endeavored to take a stronger position. This
movement was executed with as much order as intre
pidity, amidst the reiterated and furious charge of the
Americans. The combat had lasted for more than two
hours, and victory was still doubtful, when all at once
the Americans heard the horrible yells of the sav
ages, who approached, and being informed at the
same instant that the corps of Powell was about to
fall upon them, they retired to Fort Anne. Not think
ing theraselves in safety even there, they set it on fire,
and withdrew to Fort Edward, on the river Hudson.
General Schuyler was already in this place, and
St. Clair arrived there on the tweUth,with the reraains
of the garrison of I'iconderoga. It would be difficult
to describe the hardships and misery which these troopa
15*

544 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES,
had suff'ered, from the badness of the weather and the
want of covering and provisions, in their circuitous
march through the woods, from Castleton to Fort Ed
ward. After the arrival of these troops, and of the
fugitives, who came in by companies, all the American
troops amounted to little over four thousand men, in
cluding the militia. They were in want of all neces
saries, and even of courage, from the effect of their re
cent reverses. The Araericans lost, in these different
actions, no less than one hundred and twenty-eight
pieces of artillery, with a prodigious quantity of war
like stores, baggage and provisions, particularly of
flour, which they left in Ticonderoga and Mount In
dependence. To increase the calaraity, the whole of
the neighboring country was struck with terror by this
torrent of disasters.
During the reverses of the American army, and the
triumphant progress of Burgoyne, the consternation of
the people in northern New York and on the New-
Hampshire Grants, was greatly increased by the nu
merous murders and cruelties of Burgoyne's Indian
allies — for the efforts of that general to dissuade them
frora the perpetration of their cruel enormities were
ineffectual. Eestrain them he could not ; and it was
admitted by the British writers of that day, that the
friends of the royal cause, as well as its eneraies, were
.equally victiras to their indiscriminate rage. It was
even ascertained that the British officers were deceived
by their treacherous aUies into the purchase of the
scalps of their own comrades. . Araong other instances
of cruelty, the well-known murder of Miss Jane
M'Crea, which happened in the early part of the

JENNY m'cbea. 345
campaign, filled the public mind with horror. Every cir
cumstance of this unnatural and bloody transaction,
around which there lingers a raelancholy interest to
this day, served to heighten alike its interest and its
enormity.* Many have been the versions of this bloody
tale. General Gates, who had been most unjustly di
rected to supersede General Schuyler in the northern
department, assailed General Burgoyne with great
* The tragic fate of Miss M'Crea forms a prominent feature in the
brilliant tale, entitled, " The Eangers," by the novelist of the Green
Mountains, Hon. Daniel P. Thompson. The facts iu regai-d to her mur
der, stripped of their romance, are these : — She belonged to a family of
tories, and had engaged herself in marriage to a young refugee, naraed
Jones, a lieutenant in the British service, who was advancing -with Bur
goyne, When the people fled before the victorious Briton, she remained
behind with some friends, in the expectation of Oieeting her lover. A
party of Indians in advance of the army, seeking for plunder, took her
a prisoner and retired toward tbe British carap. When they reached
the ai-my. Miss M'Crea was not with them, but they bore a scalp which
was recognized to be hers. Whether they quarreled about the division
of the reward they were accustomed to receive for their prisoner, or
whether, as they aven-ed, she was shot by a party of Americans in pur
suit of them, cannot now be known. Her rautilated corpse was after
ward found under a pine trefe near a spring, and the tree and spring
were afterward known by Ler name. It was known in the carap, that
Lieuten,ant Jones was betrothed to Jenny, and the story got abroad that
he had sent the Indians for her ; that they had quaneled with another
party, which they met on their return, respecting the reward he had
offered, and raurdered her to settle the dispute. Receiving high touches
of coloring, as it went frora one narrator to another, the sad stoiy pro
duced a deep and wide-spread indignation. Jones, chilled with horror
and broken in spirit by the event, tendered a resignation of his commis
sion, but it was refused. He purchased the scalp of his Jenny; and wiHi
this cherished memento, deserted and retired to Canada. There he
Jived to be an old man, and died only a few years ago. The death of
Jenny was a heavy blow, and he never recovered from it. In youth he
was exceedingly gay and gaiTulous ; but after that melancholy event, ha

346 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
violence npon the subject of these outrages — charging
him with encouraging the murder of prisoners, and the
massacre of women and children, by paying the In
dians a stipulated price for scalps. Burgoyne indig
nantly denied the charge of encouraging the Indians
although he could not but admit the horrible extent of
their barbarities among unarmed ^nd inoffensive in
habitants. " I would not," he said in reply to General
Gates, "be conscious of the acts you presume to im
pute to me, for the whole continent of America, though
the wealth of worlds was in its bowels, and a paradise
upon its surface."
The retreat of the American army from Ticonderoga,
on the approach of Burgoyne, whUe it filled the public
mind with dismay, as the surrender of a position on
which the safety of the north depended, was regarded
with gloomy apprehension, as the prelude to further
reverses. The mind of Washington, however, by a
happy forecast, perceived a gleam of hope, even in this
hour of despondency ; and with a sort of prophetic
skill, seems to have foretold, with extraordinary pre
cision, the auspicious change of affairs which was in
store. In reply to a letter of General Schuyler, of the
17th of July, communicating the unfavorable state and
prospects of the army, he says : " Though our affairs
have, for some days past, worn a gloomy aspect, yet I
look forward to a happy change. I trust General
was sad and taciturn. He never raai-ried, and shunned society as much
as business would permit Toward the close of July in every year,
when the anniversary of the tragedy approached, he would shut himself
in his room, and refuse to speak with any one. His friends avoided any
reference to tke RevolHtion in his presenee. [See page 428]

847
Burgoyne's array will meet, sooner or later, an effectual
check ; and, as I suggested before, that the success he
has had wUi precipitate his ruin. From your accounts,
he appears to be pursuing that line of conduct, which,
of all others, is most favorable to us, I mean acting in
detachment. This conduct will certainly give room for
enterprise on our part, and expose his parties to great
hazard. Could we be so happy as to cut one of them
off, though it should not exceed four, five, or six hund
red men, it would inspire the people and do away much
of their present anxiety. In such an event they would
lose sight of past misfortune, and, urged at the same
time by a regard for their own security, they would fly
to arms and afford every aid in their power."
It must be confessed that it required no ordinary
share of fortitude to flnd topics of consolation in the
present state of affairs. The British were advancing
with a well-appointed army into the heart of the coun
try, under the conduct, as it was supposed, of the most
skillful officers, confident of success, and selected to
finish the war. The army consisted in part of Gerraan
troops, veterans of the Seven Years' War, under the
coraraand of a general of experience, conduct, and
valor. Nothing could have been more araple than tho
military supplies, the artillery, munitions, and stores,
with which the army was provided. A considerable
force of Canadians and American loyalists furnished
the requisite spies, scouts, and, rangers ; and a numer
ous force of savages in their war-dresses, with their
peculiar weapons and native ferocity, increased the
tci'rors of its approach.
On the evacuation of Ticonderoga, and the furthei

348 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MoUNTAIS HEEOES.
advance of such an array, the New-England states, and
particularly New Hampshire and Massachusetts, were
filled with alarm. It was felt that their frontier was
uncovered, and that strenuous and extraordinary effbrts
for the protection of the country were required. The
committee of safety of what was then called the New-
Hampshire Grants, (the present state of Yermont,)
wrote in the most pressing terras to the New-Hamp
shire comraittee of safety at Exeter, apprising them,
that, if assistance should not be sent to them, they
should be forced to abandon the country, and take ref
uge east of the Connecticut river. When these tidings
reached Exeter, the asserably had finished their spring
session and had gone home. A summons from the
committee brought them together again, and in three
days they took the most effectual and decisive steps for
the defense of the country. Among the patriotic mera
bers of the asserably, who signalized theraselves on
this occasion, none was more conspicuous than John
Langdon. The members of that body were greatly
inclined to despond ; thepublic credit was exhausted ;
and there were no means of supporting troops, if they
could be raised. Meantime the defenses of the frontier
had fallen, and the enemy, with overwhelming forces,
was penetrating into the country. At this gloomy
juncture, John Langdon, a merchant of Portsraouth,
and speaker of the assembly, thus addressed its mem
bers : — " I have three thousand doUars in hard money ;
I will pledge ihy plate for three thousand more ; I have
seventy hogsheads of Tobago rum, which shall be sold
for the most it will bring. These are at the service of
the state. If we succeed in defending our fire-sides

GENEEAL STAEK. 349
and horaes, I raay be reraunerated ; if we do not, the
property will be of no value to rae. Our. old friend
Stark, who so nobly maintained the honor of our state
at Bunker HiU, may be safely intrusted with the con
duct of the. enterprise, and we will check the progress
of Burgoyne."
This proposal infused life into the measures of the
asserably. They forraed the whole railitia of the state
into tw9 brigades. Of the first they gave the coraraand
to William Whipple, of the second to John Stark.*
* The exploits of Stark in the vicinity of Lake Champlain, in the last
French war, have already been mentioned in these pages. At the close
of the peace of 1763, he had returned to his farm in New Hampshire,
where he resided until the opening of the Revolution. When the report
of the battle of Lexington reached him, he was engaged at work in his
saw-raill : fired with indignation and a martial spirit, he immediately
seized his musket, and with a band of heroes proceeded to Cambridge.
The morning after his arrival, he received a colonel's commission, and
availing himself of his own popularity and the enthusiasm of the day,
in two hours he enlisted eight hundred men. On the memorable 17th
of June, at Breed's hill, Colonel Stark, at the head of his backwoodsmen
of New Hampshire, poured on the enemy that deadly fire from a sure
aim, which effected such remarkable destruction in their ranks, and com
pelled them twice to retreat. During the whole of this dreadful conflict.
Colonel Stark evinced that consummate bravery and intrepid zeal, which
entitle his name to perpetual remembrance. After the British evacuated
Boston, Stai-k joined our northern army while retreating from Canada,
and in 1776, he had command of the troops employed in fortifying the
hill on the east side of Lake Champlain, opposite Ticonderoga. On the
8th of July, the Declaration of Independence was received and proclaimed
to the aimy, who hailed it with shouts of applause. The hill upon which
the regiment of Stark was stationed, was named Mount Independence
in honor of the event which had just been proclaimed. Soon after. Stark
joined' General Washington, and was with him during that dark period
when he fled before a haughty array through New Jersey. In the spring
of 1777, he returned to Ifew Hampshire on a recruiting expedition,

350 EtUAK ALLEN AKD GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
They ordered one fourth part of Stark's brigade and one
fourth of three regiments of Whipple's to march imme
diately under the comraand of Stark, "to stop the
progress of the eneray on our western frontiers."
Agreeably to his orders, Stark proceeded to Charles
ton ; his men very readily followed ; and as fast as
they arrived, he sent them forward to join the troops
under Colonel Warner, at Manchester. At that place
he joined Warner with about eight hundred men.
Schuyler repeatedly urged Stark to join the troops
under his command ; but he declined complying. He
was led to this conduct not only by the reasons which
have been mentioned, but by a difference of opinion
as to the best raethod of opposing Burgoyne. Schuyler
wished to collect all the American troops in the front,
to prevent Burgoyne from marching on to Albany.
Stark was of opinion that the surest way to check
Burgoyne was to have a body of men on his rear,
ready to fall upon hira in that quarter, whenever a
favorable opportunity should be presented. The New-
England militia had not formed a high opinion of
Having filled his regiment, and while waiting ordera, he learned that
several junitir officers had been promoted by congress, while he was left
out of the list Feeling gveatSy aggrieved, he resigned his commission
and left the army, not, however, to desert his country in the hour of peril,
for, like General Schuyler, he was active- for good while diverted of mil
itary authority. He was very popular, and the a.ssembly of New Hamp
shire regarded him as a pillar of strength in upholding the confidence
and courage of the mUitia of the state. When that body offered him the
comraand of the new recruits, laying aside his private griefs, he once
mere hastened to the field, stipulating, however, that he should not be
obliged to join the main army, but hang upon tho wing of the enemy,
strike when opportunity should offer, according to his own discretion,
aud be accountable to no one but the assembly of New Hampshira-

ADVANCE OP BUESOVNE. 351
Schuyler as a general ; and Stark meant to keep him
self in a situation in which he might embrace any
favorable opportunity for action, either in conjunction
with him, or otherwise ; Stark assured Schuyler that
he would yield to any measure necessary to proraote
the public good, but wished to avoid a course that was
not consistent with his own honor ; and if it was
thought necessary, he would raarch to his carap. He
wrote particularly, that he would lay aside all private
resentraent, when it appeared in opposition to the
public good. But in the raidst of these protestations,
he was watching for an opportunity to evince his
courage and patriotism, by falling upon some part of
Burgoyne's army.
While the American army was thus assuraing a more
respectable appearance. General Burgoyne was making
very slow advances toward Albany. From the 28th
of July, to the 16th of August, the British army was
continually employed in bringing forward bateaux,
provisions, and ammunition from Fort George to the
nearest navigable part of Hudson river ; a distance of
not more than eighteen miles. The labor was excessive;
the Europeans were but little acquainted with the
methods of perforraing it to advantage, and the effect
was in no degree equivalent to the expense of labor and
time. With all the efforts that Burgoyne could make,
encumbered with bis artillery and baggage, his labors
were inadequate to the purpose of supplying the army
with provisions for its daily consumption, and the es
tablishment of the necessary magazines. And after
his utmost exertions for fifteen days, there were not
above four days'' provisions in store, nor above ten

352 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
bateaux in the Hudson river. More effective measures
to replenish his stores seemed necessary. Informed
that the Americans had a large quantity of these, and
of cattle and horses at Bennington and in the vicinity,
he resolved to send a detachment of his array thither
to capture them. Both Philips and Eeidesel, the most
experienced of his generals, were opposed to the meas
ure ; but Burgoyne, actuated by an overweening con
fidence in his strength, and deceived as to the extent
of the royalist party in the colonies, dispatched
Lieutenant-colonel Baum thither with five hundred
Hessians, Canadians and tories, and one hundred
Indians. Burgoyne's instructions to the coraraander
of the expedition, dated August 9th, 1777, declared
the objects to be to try the affections of the country,
to disconcert the councils of the eneray, to m.ount
Eeidesel's dragoons, td coraplete Peters' corps [of loy
alists,] and to obtain large supplies of cattle, horsed and
carriages. Baura was directed " to scour the country
frora Bockinghara to Otter creek," to go down Con
necticut river as far as Brattleborough, and to return .
by the great road to Albany, there to meet General
Burgoyne, and to endeavor to make the country believe
his corps was the advanced body of the general's army,
who was to cross Connecticut river, and proceed to
Boston. He ordered " that all officers, civil and mili
tary, acting under the congress, should be made pris
oners." Baum was also instructed " to tax the towns
where they halted with such articles as they wanted,
and take hostages for the performance, &c. ; to bring
all horses fit to mount the dragoons to serve as battalion
horses for the troops, with as many saddles and bridles

SKIEMISHINQ. 353
as could be found." Burgoyne stipulated the number
of horses to be brought at thirteen hundred at least,
and raore if they could be obtained, and directed them
to be "tied in strings of ten each, in order that one
man might lead ten horses."
On the 13th of August, information reached General
Stark, that a party of Indians attached to Baum's force
had been perceived at Cambridge, about twelve miles
north-west from Bennington. He immediately de
tached Lieutenant-colonel Gregg with two hundred
men, to stop their march. In the course of the night,
he was advised by express, that a large body of tlie
enemy, with a train of artillery, was in the rear of the
Indians, in full march for Bennington. He immedi
ately rallied his brigade, with all the militia which had
collected at , Bennington. Orders were at the same
time dispatched to the officer in command of Colonel
Warner's regiment at Manchester, to raarch that body
of raen down to Bennington, and an aniraated call
was made upon all the neighboring militia. These
various dispositions were carried promptly into effect.
On the raorning of the 14th, Stark raoved forward
to the support of Colonel Gregg with the entire force
under his coraraand. At the distance of four or five
miles, he raet the colonel in full retreat, and the enemy
within a mile of hira. Stark instantly halted, and
drew up his raen in order of battle. The enemy, per
ceiving that he had taken a stand, iraraediately carae
to a halt on very advantageous ground, and there in
trenched themselves. Unable to draw them frora their
position, he fell back for a mile, leaving only a small
party to skirmish with the enemy. This was done

654 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
with considerable effect. Thirty of their force, with
two Indian chiefs, were killed or wounded, without
any loss on the Araerican side.
The following day, the loth, was rainy, and nothing ,
was attempted beyond skirmishing with the enemy.
This was done with spirit, and the Indians began to
desert the array of Colonel Baum, " because," as they
said, " the woods were fiUed with Yankees." This res
pite enabled the enemy to coraplete their breastworks,
to apprise General Burgoyne of their situation, and to
ask for reinforceraents. Colonel Breyman, with an
additional body of Gerraan troops, was iraraediately
detached to the assistance of Baum.
During the night. Colonel Symonds, with a body o
Berkshire militia, arrived. Among thera was the Eev.
Mr. Allen, of Bittsfield, whose bellicose ardor was of
the most glowing kind. Before daylight, and while
the rain was yet falling, the impatient shepherd, who
had many of his fiock with him, went to Stark, and
said, "General, the people of Berkshire have often
been summoned to the field without being allowed to
fight, and, if you do not now give them a chance, they
have resolved never to come out again." " Well," said
Stark, "do you wish to march now, while it is dark
and raining?" "No, not just this raoraent," replied
the rainister of peace. " Then," said the general, " if
the Lord shall once more give us sunshine, and I do
not give you fighting enough, I'll never ask you to
come out again." Sunshine did indeed come with the
morrow, for at the opening of the dawn, the clouds
broke away, and soon aU nature lay smiling in the
sunlight of a clear August raorning; and "fighting

THE WAELIKE PAESON. 355
enough" was also given to the parson and hia men, for
it was a day of fierce conflict. Mr. Allen was not the
man to shrink from that bloody affray. He had ar
dently espoused the cause of freedom, and when, in
anticipation of a battle at Bennington, the neighboring
country was roused to arras, he used his influence to
increase the band of patriots, and urged his congrega
tion to hasten fo the service of their country. But
the company which was raised in his parish were, frora
some cause, retarded in their progress. Hearing of
the delay, he proceeded iraraediately to join thera, and
accorapanied thera to Bennington. On the morning
of the battle, his men would not prepare for the en
gageraent until he had prayed to the God of armies
"to teach their hands to war 'and their flngers to flght."
When the opposing forces were about advancing
toward each other, Mr. Allen, insensible to fear, pro
ceeded so near to the 'British troops, that he could be
distinctly seen and heard, and then called upon the
eneray to prevent the eft'usion of blood by laying down
their arras ! He was answered by a discharge of raus
ketry, and the log upon which he stood was pierced
with bullets. Turning calraly to a fPiend who had fol
lowed himr under cover of the breastwork forraed by
the log, he said, "Now give rae a gun ! " and he delib
erately flred the first gun from the Araerican ranks on
that raeraorable occasion.
On the morning of the 16th, Stark made prepara
tions for an attack. The German mercenaries, with
their battery, were advantageously posted upon a rising
ground at a bend in the Walloomscoick (a branch of the
Hoosac) on its north bank. The ground fell off to the

856 KTHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES-
north and west, a circumstance of which Stark skillfully-
took advantage. Peters' corps of tories were in^-
trenched on the other side of the stream, in lower
ground, and nearly in front of the Gerraan battery.
The little river that meanders through the scene of the
action, is fordable in all places. Stark was ©ncamped
upon the same side of it as the Gerraans, but, owing
to its serpentine course, it crossed his line of march
twice on his way to their position. Their post was
carefuUy reconnoitered at a mile's distance,* and the
plan of attack was arranged in the following raanner :
Colonel Nichols, with two hundred raen, was detached
to attack the rear of the eneray's left, and Colonel Her
rick, with three hundred raen, to fall upon the rear of
their right, with orders .to form a junction before they
made the assaidt. - Colonels Hubbard and Stickney
were also ordered to advance with two hundred raen
on their right and one hundred in front, to divert their
attention from the real point of attack. The action
coraraenced at three o'clock in the afternoon on the rear
of the enemy's left, when Colonel Nichols, with great
precision, carried into effect the dispositions of the
commander. His example was followed by every other
portion of the little army. General Stark himself
moved forward slowly in front, till he. heard the sound
of the guns frora Colonel Nichols' party, when he
* Before the commencement of the battle. Stark rode forward with
Wai-ner, to reconnoiter the enemy, and was fired at by a cannon. Stark
exclaimed: "Those rascals know I am an officer; don't you see thoy
honor me with a big gun as a salute ?" His well known speech to his men
was characteristic : " Boys, those are your enemies, the red-coats and to
ries I We must conquer thom, or to-night Molly Stark wUl be a widowl"

BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. 357
rushed upon the tories, and in a few raoments the
action became general. " It lasted," says Stark, in his
official report, " two hours, and was the hottest I ever
saw. It was like one continued clap of thunder."*
"A soldier who was in the battle gave the following interesting
account of it to the Rev. James Davie Butler : " We were raarched round
and round a circular hill till we were tired. Stark said it was to arause
the Germans. All the while a cannonade was kept up upon us from their
breastwork. It hurt nobody, and it lessened our fear of the great guns.
After a while I was sent, with twelve others, to lie in ambush on a knoll
a little north, and watch for tories on their way to join Baum. Presently
we saw six coming toward us, who, mistaking us for tories, came too
near us to escape. We disarraed them and sent them, under a guard of
three, to Stark. While I sat on the hillock, I espied oue Indian whom
I thought I could kill, and more than once cocked my gun, but the
orders were not to fire. He was cooking his dinner, and now and then
shot at some of our people.
"Between two and three o'clock the battle began. The Gerraans fired
by platoons, and were soon hidden by smoke. Our men fired each on
his own hook, aiming wherever they saw a flash. Few on our side had .
either bayonets or cartridges. At last I stole away from my post, and
ran down to the battle. The first time I fired I put three balls into my
gun. Before I had time to fire many rounds, our men rushed over the
hrea.stwork, but land many others chased straggling Hessians in the
woods. We pursued till we met Breyman with eight hundred fresh
troops and larger cannon, which opened a fire of grape-shot Some of
the grape-shot riddled a Virginia fence near me : one struck a small white
oak tree behind which I stood. Though it hit higher than my head, I
fled from the tree, thinking it might be aimed at again. We .skirmishers
ran back till we met a large body of Stark's men, then faced about. I
soon started for a brook I saw a few rods behind, for I had drank nothing
all day, and should have died with thirst had I not chewed a bullet all
the time. I had not gone a rod when I was stopped by an officei-, sword
in hand, and ready to cut me down as a runaway. On my complaining
.of thirst, he handed me his canteen, which was fuU of rum. I drank
and forgot my thirst.
" But the enemy outflanked us, and I said to a comrade : ' We must run
or they will have us.' He said : ' I will have one more fire first.' At

358 ETHAN AIXEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
The Indians, alarmed at the prospect of being inefosed
between the parties of Nichols and Herrick, fied at
the commencement of the action, their main principle
of battle array being to contrive or to escape an am-
that momefnt a major on a black horse rode along behind us, shouting :
' Fight on, boys ; reinforcements cloee by.' While he was yet speaking,
a grape-shot went through his hoi-se's head and knocked out two teeth.
It bled a good deal, but the major kept his seat and spuixed on to en
courage others. In five minutes we saw Warner's men hurrying to help
us. They opened right and left of us, and half of them attacked each fiank
of the enemy, and beat back those who were just closing around ns.
Stark's men now took heart and stood their ground. My gun-barrel was
by this time too hot to hold, so I seized the musket of a dead Hessian,
in which my bullets went down easier than in my own. Right in front
were the cannon, and seeing an officer on horseback waving his sword to
the artillerymen, I fired at him twice. His horse felL He cut the traces
of an art\llei-y horse, mounted him and rode offi I afterward heard
that that ofiicer was ilajor Skena
" Soon the Germans ran and we followed. Many of them threw down
their guns on the ground, or offered them to us, or kneeled, some in pud
dles of water. One said to rae: wir sind ein, bruder I I pushed hiir
behind me and mshed on. All those near me did so. The enemy beat
a parley, minded to give up, but our men did not understand it I came
to one wounded man, flat on the ground, crying ieater or quarter. I
snatched his sword out of his scabbard, and, while I ran on and fired,
carried it in my mouth, thinking I might need it The Germans fled by
the road and in a wood each side of it Many of their scabbards cauglifc
in the brush and held the fugitives till we seized them. We chased
thera till dark. Colonel Johnston, of Haverhill, wanted to chase them
all night Had we done so, we might have mastered them all, for they
stopped within three miles of the battle-field. But Stark, saying ha
would rnn no risk of spoiling a good day's work, ordered a halt and
retui-n to quarters.
"I was coming back, when ordered by Stark himself, who knew
me, as I had been one of his body-guard in Canada, to help draw off a
field-piece. I told him I was worn out His answer was: ' Do n't seem
to disobey; take hold, and if you can't hold out, slip away in the dark.'
Before we had dragged the gun far, Wai-ner rode near us. Some one.

BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. 359
bush or an attack in the rear. The tories were soon
driven over the river, and were thus thrown in con
fusion on the Gerraans, who were forced frora their
breastwork. Baum made a bold and resolute defense.
The Gerraan dragoons, with the discipline of veterans,
preserved their ranks unbroken, and, after their ara
raunition was expended, were led to the charge by their
colonel with the sword ; but they were overpowered
and obliged to give way, leaving their artillery and
baggage on the field.
They were well inclosed in two breastworks, which,
owing to the rain on the 15th, they had constructed at
leisure. But, notwithstanding this protection, with the
advantage of two pieces of cannon, arms and ammu-
pointing to a dead man by the wayside, said to him : ' Tour brother is
killed.' ' Is it Jesse ? ' asked Warner ; aud when the answer was, yes,
he jumped off his horse, stooped and gazed in the dead man's face, and
then rode away without saying a^word. On my way back I got the belt
of the Hes^an, whose sword I had taken in the pursuit. I also found a
barber's pack, but was obliged to give up all my findings till the booty
was divided. To the best of my remembrance, my share was four dol
lars and some odd cents. One tory with his left eye shot out, was led
by me mounted on a horse who had also lost his left eye. It seems cruei
now — it did not then.
" My company lay down and slept in a cornfield near where we had
fought ; each man having a hill of corn for a piUow. When I waked
next morning I was so beaten out that I could not get up till I had rolled
about a good whila Aftor breakfast I went to see them bury the dead.
I saw thirteen tories, mostly shot through the head, buried in one hole.
ITot more than a rod from where I fought, we found Captain McClary
dead, and stripped naked. We scraped a hole with sticks and just covered
him with earth. We saw many of the wounded who had lain out all
night Afterward we went to Bennington and saw the prisonera pa
raded. They were drawn up in one long line, the British foremost, the*
the Germans, next the Indians, and hindmost the tories."
16

360 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEK -MOUNTAIN HEEOllS.
nition in perfect order, and an auxiliary force of In
dians, they were driven from their intrenchraents by a
band of railitia just brought to the field, poorly armed,
with few bayonets, without field-pieces, and with little
discipline. The superiority of numbers, on the part
of the Americans, will, when these things are consid
ered, hardly be thought to abate any thing frora the
praise due to the conduct of the coraraander, or the
spirit and courage of his men.
The eneray being driven from the field, the militia
dispersed to collect the plunder. Scarcely had they
done so, before intelligence was brought, that a large
reinforcement from the British army was on the raarch,
and within two railes' distance. This was the corps of
Colonel Breyraan, already raentioned, which had been
dispatched by General Burgoyne, on receiving from
Baum intelligence of his position. The rain of the
preceding day and the badness of the roads had de
layed his arrival ; a circumstance which exercised an
iraportant influence on the fate of the battle. On the
approach of Breyraan 's reinforcements, the flying party
of Baura raade a rally, and the fortune of the day was
for a moment in suspense. Stark made an effort to
rally the militia ; but happily at this juncture Colonel
Warner's regiment came up fresh and not yet engaged,
and fell with vigor upon the enemy.
This regiment, since the battle fought at Hubbard
ton, had been stationed at Manchester. It had been
reduced, by the loss sustained in that action, to less
than two hundred raen. Warner, their colonel, as we
have seen, was at Bennington, and was with General
Stark on the 14th. The regiment at Manchester waa

waenee's eegiment. 361
under the command of Major Samuel Safford. In con
sequence of the absence of a large number of the men
on a scouting party, and other causes, it was not pos
sible to put the regiment in raotion on the 14th ; on
the 15th they marched for Bennington. Owing to the
heavy rain of that day, it was near midnight when the
troops arrived within a mile of Bennington. Fatigued
with the march of th6 preceding day, their arms and
equipments injured by the rain, and their ammunition
scanty, a considerable portion of the ensuing day was
exhausted, before the men could prepare themselves
for battle. The first assault had been made in the
raanner described, and the enemy driven from the
field, before this regiment came into action. At the
raost critical moraent of the day, when the arrival of
Breyman's reinforceraent threatened a reverse of its
good fortune, Warner's troops appeared in the field.
Stark, with what raen he had been able to rally, pushed
forward to his assistance, and the battle was contested
with great obstinacy on both sides till sunset, when the
eneray were obliged to give way. General Stark pur
sued their flying forces till dark, and was obliged to
draw off his men, to prevent them frora flring upon
each other under cover of night. "With one hour
more of daylight," as he observes in his official report,
" he would have captured the whole body." The fruits
of the victory were four pieces of brass cannon, sev
eral hundred stand of arms, eight lirass drums, a quan
tity of German broad-swords, and about seven hundred
prisoners. Two hundred and seven were killed upon
the spot ; the number of the wounded was not ascer
tained. Colonel Baum was wounded and made a

S62 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN UEEOES.
prisoner, but shortly after died of his wounds. The
loss of the Americans was thirty killed and forty
wounded. The general's horse was killed in the
action. Too much praise cannot be bestowed on the conduct
of those who gained the battle of Bennington, officers
and men. It is perhaps the most conspicuous exaraple
of the perforraance by railitia of all that is expected
of regular, veteran troops. The fortitude and resolu
tion with which the lines at Bunker HiU were main
tained, by recent recruits, against the assault of a
powerful army of experienced soldiers, have always
been regarded with adrairation. But at Bennington,
the hardy yeomen of New Harapshire, Yerraont and
Massachusetts, raany of them fresh from the plough
and unused to the carap, " advanced," as General
Stark expressed it in his official letter, " through flre
and sraoke, and raounted breastworks that were well
fortified, and defended with cannon."
Fortunately for the success of the battle. Stark was
ably seconded by the officers under hira ; every pre
vious disposition of his little force was raost faithfully
executed. He expresses his particular obligation to
Colonels Warner and Herrick, " whose superior skill
was of great service to hira." Indeed, the battle was
planned and fought with a degree of military talent
and science which would have done no discredit to any
service in Europe. A higher degree of discipline might
have enabled the general to check the eagerness of his
men to possess theraselves of the spoUs of victory ; but
his abUity, even in that raoment of dispersion, and un
der the flush of success, to meet and conquer a hostile

GENEEAL STAEK. 363
reinforcement, evinces a judgment and resource not
often equaled in partisan warfare.
In fact, it would be the height of injustice not to
recognize, in this battle, the raarks of the raaster raind
of the leader, which makes good officers and good sol
diers out of any materials, and infuses its own spirit
into aU that surround it. This briUiant exploit was the
work of Stark, frora its inception to its achieveraent.
His popiUar narae called the railitia together. His
resolute will obtained hira a separate coramission, — at
the expense, it is true, of a wise political principle, —
but on the present occasion, with the happiest effect.
His flrmness prevented hira from being overruled by
the influence of General Lincoln, which would have
led him, with his troops, across the Hudson. How few
are the men who, in such a crisis, would not merely not
have sought, but actually have repudiated, a junction
with the main army ! How few, who would not only
have desired, but actually insisted on taking the respon
sibility of separate action ! Having chosen the burden
of acting alone, he acquitted hiraself in the discharge
of his duty, with the spirit and vigor of a man con
scious of ability proportioned to the crisis. He ad
vanced against the enemy with proraptitude ; sent
forward a small force to reconnoiter and measure his
strength ; chose his ground deliberately and with skill ;
planned and fought the battle with gallantry and suc
cess. The consequences of this battle were of great import
ance. It not only cost the array of Burgoyne raore
than one thousand of his best troops, but it wholly
deranged the plan of his carapaign, and materiaUy

30i ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
contributed to the loss of his army. By advancing be
yond Ticonderoga, his comraunication with the country
in his rear was interrupted. He relied on these lateral
excursions to keep the population in alarm, and to
prevent their flocking to Gates. He also depended on
procuring his supplies by such inroads into the coun
try. The catastrophe of Baum's expedition, by which
he hoped to furnish himself with an araple store of pro
visions collected at Bennington, disappointed that ex
pectation, and corapelled hira to halt till he could
procure them in detail from other quarters, and thus
retarded his advance toward Albany for a month,
during all which time the railitia poured to the stand
ard of General Gates, and placed hira in a condition
to compel the surrender of the British army.*
Five days after the battle of Bennington, congress
being still ignorant of the transaction, a resolution was
introduced to censure Stark for not submitting to the
regulations of the continental army, and refusing obe
dience to its commander. Thereupon, a member from
New Hampshire rose aud expressed the belief that the
first battle they should hear of at the north would be
fought by Stark and the troops under his coraraand,
and that he was not afraid to stake his life or his honor
on a wager that Stark's raen would do as much as any
equal nuraber of troops in defense of their country.
In a letter home, that gentleraan said : "Judge of my
feelings when the very next day I had a confirmation
of all I had asserted, by an express from Schuyler,
detailing the defeat of Baum and Breyman." The
resolution of censure was immediately changed to one
* See Life, of Stark by Edward Everett

BUKGOYNES DEFEAT. 365
of thanks, accompanied with the appoiniraent of Stark
to be a brigadier-general in the array of the United
States. If Burgoyne was astonished when an antagonist ho
had never heard of thus unexpectedly defeated a body
of his best troops, what would he have thought had he
known that antagonist's history? — for, twenty-five
years before. Stark had been a captive in Canada, and
was ransoraed for an Indian pony worth one hundred
dollars! "The repulse on the banks of the Walloom
scoik," says an eloquent Yermonter,* " plucked out the
crowning keystone frora that well-nigh finished arch,
so that the whole structure cracked, crurabled by
pieceraeal, tottered and fell, a wreck of ruin, never to
rise again." The result of the action was in exact ac
cordance with the prophetic wish expressed by Wash
ington in his letter to Schuyler, written only a few
days previous. Washington, on hearing the joyful
tidings of Stark's victory, said, " one raore such stroke,
and we shall have no great cause for anxiety as to the
future designs of Britain."
The revolution wrought by this event, in Burgoyne's
feelings, is betrayed by the contrast between his letters
just before and just after the expedition. In the former
he writes to the leader of the corps sent against Yer
mont : " Mount your dragoons, send me thirteen hund
red horses, seize Bennington, cross the raountains to
Bockinghara and Brattleborough, try the affections
of the country, take hostages, and meet me a fortnight
hence in Albany." Four days after the battle he
* James Davie Butler, from whose Address on the Battle of Benning
ton many of the facts in this nan-ative ai-e derived.
16*

366 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
writes to England : " The Hampshire Grants in partic
ular, a country unpeopled and alraost unknown in tho
last war, now abounds in the most active and rebel
lious race on the continent, and hangs like a gathering
storra upon my left." * Burgoyne was far from over
rating the influence of Stark's success. Within three
days thereafter, Schuyler wrote to Stark : " The signal
victory you have gained, and the severe loss the enemy
have received, cannot fail of producing the raost salu
tary result." Within a week, a hand-bill was issued
at Boston, containing an exaggerated account of Stark's
triumph ; the news was there proclaimed by criers, and
rung out from all the beUs. Clinton wrote : "Since
the affair at Bennington, not an Indian has been heard
of ; the scalping has ceased ; indeed, I do not appre
hend any great danger frora the future operations of
Mr. Burgoyne." Washington, writing to Butnam, was
high in hope that New England, following the great
stroke struck by Stark, would entirely crush Burgoyne ;
and a rumor that Burgoyne was crushed, raised the
siege of Fort Stanwix, and broke his right wing. All
this was within one week after Baum and Breyraan
* An oiEcer in Burgoyne's army, in allusion to the event, in a series
of letters written to his friends in England, and afterward published,
said : " The courage and obstinacy with which the Americans fought,
were the astonishment of every one, and we now became fully con
vinced, they are not that contemptible enemy we had hitherto imagined
them, incapable of standing a regular engagement, and that they would
only fight behind strong and powerful works. If the other provinces
enter as heartily into the cause of rebellion, I am afraid we shall find it
a very difficult task to subdue them ; for, exclusive of all the various
modes of furnishing men and supplies, it is in these provinces, in some
measure, become a religious cause, in which the people being enthusi
asts, their clergy artfully increase a warlike spirit among their flocks "

SPOILS AT BENNINGTON. 367
were discomfited. In one day more a rumor was
rife in New Hampshire that Burgoyne had been taken
at Stillwater : 'As the sun.

Ere he be risen. Sometimes paints his image
In the atmosphere, the shadows of great events
Precede the events, and iu to-daj already walks to-morrow."
The spoils taken by Stark, after his victory at Ben
nington, were equally distributed araong his soldiers,
and the prize-raoney given to each soldier was five
dollars. Before thus dividing the spoils. Stark selected
certain articles to be presented as trophies to the states
of Yerraont, New Harapshire, and Massachusetts,
naraely: for each state, one Hessian gun and bayonet,
one broad-sword, one brass-barreled drura, and one
grenadier's cap. These presents called forth from each
of the states, a letter of thanks. The gift to Massa
chusetts is still suspended in the senate-chamber at
Boston. Only a portion of Stark's present to his own
state is preserved, while that given to Yermont, to
coraraeraorate his victory, has been lost. The cap of
Colonel Baum was for raany years worn to the legisla
ture by the representative from Pownal, and his sword
still hangs in the bar-room of a Bennington tavern.
Baum's maps were long used by Stark as curtains in
his log -cabin. The whole expense of Stark's brigade,
in the achieveraent of a victory which secured the de
struction of Burgoyne's array, was sixty-six thousand
doUars; but, owing to the depreciation of continental
money, only two thousand dollars were actually paid by
congress. The four pieces of cannon taken by Stark at Ben
nington were of Dutch manufacture. They were

368 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEUOES.
alternately in the hands of the British and Americans
during the battle. Their history is soraewhat singular.
After the war, the following inscription was placed
upon thera : " Taken frora the Germans at Benning
ton, August 16th, 1777." Thirty-five years afterward
they were in the park of artillery which Hull surren
dered with his army to the British at Detroit. The
British fired their evening salute with thera, and it was
deterrained, and preparations were raade, to have their
history continued, by engraving upon them the inscrip
tion, "Betaken from the Araericans, August 16th,
1812." But before this plan was executed, the cannon
were again taken frora the British at the capture of
Fort George, and afterward removed to the arsenal at
Washington, where they remained raany years un
claimed and forgotten by the Yerraonters, to whora
they belonged. They were finally discovered by the
Hon. Henry Stevens, the indefatigable Yerraont an
tiquary, while at Washington in pursuit of docu
ments connected with the early history of his native
state, and upon his recomraendatioh were clairaed by
Yermont, and cheerfuUy restored by congress. They
now grace the principal hall of the Yerraont state-
house, at Montpelier — a memento of the heroic pa
triotisra of the Green-Mountain Boys of '76.
The German and British prisoners were conducted
to Bennington, after the battle, and shut up in the
meeting-house. As soon as the necessary arrange
raents could be raade, they were reraoved to a place of
greater security in Massachusetts. The tories being
held in special abhorrence, were treated with consider
able severity. They were bound two and two, like

A LOED IN LIMBO. 369
slaves in a coffle, and led by persons on horseback.
The women of Bennington very cheerfully .furnished
all their bed-ropes to tie the prisoners with. The people
gathered in crowds to see them as they passed. One
pf the British officers roughly addressed a very old
lady, who was looking aj; thera, " So, you old fool, .you
must come to see the lions." " Lions ! lions ! " replied
the old lady, good-humoredly, " I declare, now, I think
you look raore like larabs."
The prisoners taken at Bennington were soon after
joined by the whole of Burgoyne's array, who had
fallen into the hands of Gates. They were taken to
Carabridge, near Boston. A British: officer, who was
among the prisoners, tells the following anecdote of
their journey thither. The spiteful manner in which
he alludes to the New-England people, may be excused
in consideration of his unfortunate position araong
thera. " The lower class of the New-Englanders," says
he, " are irapertinently curious and inquisitive ; at a
house where Lord Napier was quartered, with other
officers, a nuraber of the inhabitants flocked to see a
lord, iraagining he raust be soraething more than man;
they were continually looking in at the window, and
peeping at the room door, saying, ' I wonder which is
the lord ! ' At last four woraen, intiraate friends of the
landlord, got into the room, when one of thera, with a
twang, peculiar to the New-Englanders, said : ' I hear
you have got a lord among you; pray, now, which may
he be?' His lordship, who, by the by, was all
over mire, and scarcely dry frora the heavy rain that
had fallen during the day's march, whispered to
an officer named Kemrais, whose turn for wit and

370 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOtTNTAIN HEEOES.
jocularity was well known to the army. Kemmis accor
dingly got up, and pointing to his lordship, in a voice
and manner as if he was herald-at-arms, informed them
that ' that was the Eight Honorable Francis Lord Na
pier, &c., &c., &c.,' going through all his lordship's
titles, with a whole catalogue of additions ; after he
had flnished, the woraen looked very attentively at his
lordship, and while he and the other officers were
laughing at the adroitness of Keramis, the women got
up, and one of them lifting up her hands and eyes to
heaven, with great astonishment, exclairaed, ' WeU, for
my part, if that be a lord, I never desire to see any
other lord but the Lord Jehovah,' and instantly left
the room."
The sarae officer also relates the following affecting
circurastance : " A few days since, walking out with
sorae officers, we stopped at a house to purchase vege
tables ; while the other officers were bargaining with
the woman of the house, I observed an elderly woman
sitting by the flre, who was continually eyeing us, and
every now and then shedding a tear. Just as we were
leaving the house she got up, and bursting into tears,
said, ' Gentlemen, will you let a poor, distracted wo
man speak a word to you before you go ? ' We, as you
might naturally imagine, were all astonished, and upon
inquiring what she wanted, with the most poignant
grief and sobbing, as if her heart was on the point of
breaking, asked if any of us knew her son. Colonel
Francis, who was killed at the battle of Hubbardton ?
Several of us informed her, that we had seen hnn after
he was dead. She then inquired about his pocket-book,
and if any of his papers were safe, as some related to

THE SOLDIEES MOTHEE. 371
his estates, and if any ofthe soldiers had got his watch;
if she could but obtain that in reraerabrance of her
dear, dear son, she should be happy. Captain Fergu
son, of our regiraent, who was of the party, told her as
to the colonel's papers and pocket-book, he was fearful
they were either lost or destroyed ; but, pulling a
watch frora his fob, said, " There, good woraan, if that
can make you happy, take it, and God bless you."
We were all" much surprised, not knowing that he
had made a purchase of it from a drum-boy. On see
ing it, it is impossible to describe the joy and grief that
was depicted in her countenance ; I never, in all my
life, beheld such a strength of passion ; she kissed it,
looked unutterable gratitude at Captain Ferguson, then
kissed it again ; her feelings were inexpressible ; she
knew not how to express or shew them ; she would re
pay his kindness by kindness, but could only sob her
thanks ; onr feelings were lifted up to an inexpressible
height ; we promised to search after the papers, and I
believe, at that moment, could have hazarded life itself
to have procured them."
The severe measures of General Burgoyne had
roused the resentment and indignation of the New-
England states; the prospect of success after the battle
of Bennington, had increased their courage and anima
tion ; and the people were everywhere in motion.
Finding that reinforcements were, and probably would
be constantly arriving. General Lincoln deterrained to
make a diversion in the rear of the eneray. He raarched
himself with the mUitia that had joined hira, from
Manchester to Pawlet. Frora thence, on Septeraber
the thirteenth, he sent off Colonel Brown with five

372 ETHAN ALI^N AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
hundred men to the landing at Lake George, to destroy
the British stores, and to release the Araerican prison
ers that had been collected at that place. Colonel
Johnson was dispatched with the same humber of men
to Mount Independence. Johnson was to amuse and
alarm the enemy at the north end of Lake George,
while Brown was executing the business at the south
end. If circurastances and opportunity favored, they
were to join their troops, and the one was to attack
Ticonderoga, and the other Mount Independence ; but
they were not to risk the loss of many raen in these
atterapts. The same number of men were also sent on
under Colonel Woodbridge, to Skenesborough; thence
to Fort Anne, and so on to Fort Edward. The design
was to alarra and divide the British forces and atten
tion, by assaulting all their outposts and stations at
the sarae tirae. With so much secrecy and address
were these operations conducted, that by September
the eighteenth. Brown had effectually surprised all the
outposts between the landing-place at the north end
of Lake George, and the body of the fortress at Ticon
deroga. Mount Defiance, Mount Hope, the " French
lines," and a block-house, with two hundred bateaux, an
armed sloop, and several gun-boats, were almost in
stantly taken. Four conipanies of foot, with nearly an
equal nuraber of Canadians, and many of the officers
and crews of the vessels, amounting in the whole to
two hundred and ninety-three, were made prisoners ;
and at the same tirae they set at liberty one hundred
Araericans, who had been made prisoners, and were
confined in some of those works. Encouraged by this
success, they summoned General Bowel, the British

MOVEMENTS OF BUEGOTNE. 373
commander at Ticonderoga, to surrender that fortres§ ;
but after maneuvering "four days, they found they were
wholly unable to atterapt the works either at Ticonde
roga or Mount Independence ; abandoning the design,
they returned in safety to Lincoln's camp. By this
weU-conducted enterprise, the Americ-ans had alarmed
the enemy on the lakes, captured a considerable num
ber of their men and vessels, recovered the continental
standard which they had left when they abandoned
Ticonderoga, and returned to their camp with scarcely
any loss to themselves.
Meanwhile, General Burgoyne, having collected
about thirty days' provisions, and thrown a bridge of
boats over the Hudson, crossed that river on the 13th
and 14th of Septeraber, and encaraped on the heights
and plains of Saratoga. General Gates, who had re
cently taken the chief comraand of the northern de
partment of the American army, advanced toward the
British, and encamped three mUes above StUlwater.
On the night of the 17th, Burgoyne encamped within
four railes of the Araerican array ; and about noon on
the 19th advanced in fuU force against it. The right
wing was commanded by General Burgoyne, and cov
ered by General Fraser and Colonel Breyman with the
grenadiers and light infantry, who were posted along
sorae high grounds on the right. The front and flanks
were covered by Indians, provincials, and Canadians.
The left wing and artillery were coraraanded by Major-
generals PhiUips and Eeidesel, who proceeded along
the great road. Colonel Morgan, who was detached
toobserve their motions, ^nd to harass them as they
advanced, soon feU in with their pickets in front of

374: ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
their right wing, attacked them sharply, and drove
them in. A strong corps was brought up to support
them, and, after a severe encounter, Morgan was com
peUed to give way; but a regiment was ordered to as
sist hira, and the action becarae raore general. The
coraraanders on both sides supported and reinforced
their respective parties; and about four o'clock, Arnold,
with nine continental regiraents and Morgan's corps,
was completely engaged with the whole right wing of
the British army. The engageraent began at three
o'clock in the afternoon, and continued till after sun
set, when the Americans thought proper to retire, and
leave the British masters of the field of battle. The
loss on each side was nearly equal, six hundred being
'killed and wounded on the part of the British, and the
sarae number on the side of the Americans. No ad
vantages resulted to the British troops from this en
counter ; while the conduct of the Americans fully
convinced every one that they were able to sustain an
attack in open plains with the intrepidity, the spirit,
and the coolness of veterans. For four hours they
maintained a contest hand to hand ; and when they
retired, it was not because they were conquered, but
because the approach of night raade a retreat to their
carap absolutely necessary.* Both arraies lay sorae
• In a history of Burgoyne's campaign, written by an oflScer of his
army, the following examples of the heroism and devoted patriotism of
tho Americans are given. A soldier who had been badly wounded was
taken prisoner by tho Indian.?, and carried before General Fraser, who
made inquiries of him in regard to the condition of the American army.
" But he would give no answer to any question," says the British ofiicer,
"and behaved in the mast undauntermannev. The general, imagining
that by shewing him attention he might gain some information from

THE SPIETI OP '76. 375
time in sight of each other, each fortifying its carap in
the -strongest manner possible. MeanwhUe, the diffi
culties of the British general were daily increasing ;
his auxiUary Indians deserted hira soon after the battle
of Stillwater ; and his array, reduced to little raore
than five thousand raeUj was limited to half the usual
allowance of provisions ; the stock of forage was also
entirely exhausted, and his horses were perishing in
him, ordered him some refreshment, and when the surgeon had examined
his wound, told him he must immediately undergo an amputation, which
being performed, he was requested to keep himself still and quiet, or a
lock-jaw would inevitably ensue ; to this he replied with great firmness,
' then I shall have the pleasure of dying in a good cause, that of gaining
independence to the American colonies.' I mention this circumstance,
to show how cheerfully some of them will sacrifice their lives in pursuit
of this favorite idol. Such was the man's restless disposition, that he
actually died the next morning."
Another prisoner was interrogated by General Fraser. The soldier
would give no other answer than that the American array was com
manded by General Gates. Fraser, exceedingly provoked because he
could gain no intelligence, told him if he did not immediately inform
hira as to the exact situation of the American army, he would hang him
up directly; the soldier, with the most undaunted firmness, replied,
" Then you must hang rae, for I will not betray my country." Fraser's
threat was not executed.
While the British camp was on the north side of the Fish Creek, a
number of the officers' horses were let loose in the meadows to feed. An
expert swimmer among the Americans who swarmed upon the hills east
of the Hudson, obtained permission to go across and capture one of the
horses. He swam the river, seized and mounted a fine bay gelding, and
in a few moments was recrossing the stream unharmed, amid a volley of
bullets from a party of British soldiers. Shouts greeted hira as he re
turned ; and, when rested, he asked perraission to go for another, telling
the captain that he ought to have a hoi-.se to ride as well as a private.
Again the adventurous soldier was among the herd, and, unscathed, re
turned with an exceedingly good match for the first, and presented it to
his commander.

376 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
great numbers ; the American army had become so
augmented as to render him diffident of making good
his retreat ; and, to aggravate his distress, no intelli
gence had yet been received of the approach of Gen
eral Clinton, or of any diversion in his favor from
New York. In this exigency. General Burgoyne re
solved to examine the possibility of dislodging the
Americans from their posts on the left, by which means
he would be enabled to retreat to the lakes. For this
purpose -he drew out fifteen hundred men, whom he
headed himself, attended by Generals PhUlips, Eeide
sel and Fraser. This detachment had scarcely formed,
within less than half a mile of the American intrench
ments, when they made a furious attack, which, though
bravely resisted, was decidedly to the advantage ofthe
assailants. General Burgoyne now became convinced
that it was impossible to conduct any further offensive
operations, and endeavored to make good his retreat
to Fort George. Artificers were accordingly dis
patched, under a strong escort, to repair the bridges,
and open the roads, but they were compelled to make
a precipitate retreat. The situation of his array be
coming every hour more hazardous, he resolved to
attempt a retreat by night to Fort Edward ; but
even this retrograde moveraent was rendered iraprao-
ticable. While the army was preparing to raarch, in
telligence was received that the Americans had already
possessed theraselves of the fort, and that they were
well provided with artillery. No avenue to escape
now appeared. Incessant toil and continual engage
ments had worn down the British army; its provisions
were nearly exhausted, and there were no means of

SUEEENDEE OE BUEGOTNE. 377
procuring a supply; while the American army, which
was daily increasing, was already much greater than
the British in point of numbers, and almost encircled
them. In this extreraity, the British general called a
council of war; and it was unanimously resolved to
enter into a convention with General Gates. Brelimi-
naries were sosn settled, and the royal army, to the
number of five thousand seven hundred and fifty, sur
rendered prisoners of war.
The capture of an entire army was justly viewed
as an event that must essentially affect the contest be
tween Great Britain and Araerica ; and while it ex
cited the highest joy among the Americans, it could
not but have a most auspicious influence on their affairs
In the cabinet and in the fleld. The thanks of congress
were voted to General Gates, and his army; and a
medal of gold, in comraemoration of this splendid
achieveraent, was ordered to be struck, to be presented
to him by the president, in the name of the United
States. - After the surrender of Burgoyne, the garrison left
by him at Ticonderoga retreated into Canada. They
were pursued by flfty Green-Mountain Eangers, who
captured forty-nine of their number, together with
horses, cattle, and boats in great numbers. Previous
to the retreat of the British from Ticonderoga, a Yer
monter, named Eichard Wallace, swam across the lake,
through a hostile fleet, for the purpose of learning the
strength of the forces there, as an attack was contem
plated by Warner and Herrick. This act of daring was
equal to a story of another Green-Mountain hero one
Johnson, who, at the battle of Bennington, met a file

378 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
of German soldiers in the woods, and, having no other
weapon than a club, wrenched the flle-leader's sword
from his grasp, and compelled the whole party to sur
render theraselves prisoners of war. A grandson* of
that hero still keej)s the Hessian blade thus bravely won.
The brave and hardy inhabitants of the Green Moun
tains, who thus nobly stood forth in defense of their
countr^, had other difficulties than those inseparable
frora the war with the raother country to encounter.
Not having been recognized as an independent state,
they were deprived of a regular governraent, under
which they could act with system and effect. They
had, at flrst, no rallying point, and no bond of union,
save a common interest to resist the clairas of New
York, as they had subsequently no other tie than that
of a coraraon determination to resist the invasion of the
British forces. However, the necessity which drove
them to resistance, gave the effect of law to the recom
mendations of their conventions and committees ; whilo
a few bold and daring spirits, as if formed for the oc
casion, gave energy and systera to their movements.
But a better organization was obviously needed, to
sustain a protracted conflict. The change produced by
the Declaration of Independence in the relations be
tween Great Britain and her colonies, rendered the
importance of this course stUl raore iraperative. The
people had, as we have seen, originally purchased their
lands under royal grants frora the governor of New
Hampshire. But New York clairaed the jurisdiction
and right of soil, and insisted that the occupants of the
lands should repurchase them, and at exorbitant rates.
" Rev. Charles Johnson, of Locke, Cayuga county, New Tort

INDEPENDEXCE OF VEr.ilDST. 370
Tlie settlers had petitioned the crown for redress, aud
while they were encouraged with indications favorable
to their rights, the connection between the crown and
contending parties was suddenly dissolved. There no
longer reraained, therefore, any earthly power, recog
nized by the parties as a superior, possessing the right
of settling the controversy. This state of things could
not fail to suggest to the settlers the expediency of de
claring themselves independent. Having never sub
mitted to the authority of New York, and finding no
safety for their dearest rights in doing so, they consid
ered the tirae had arrived, as they no longer acknowl
edged allegiance to the British crown, when a regard
for their own safety required, and justice sanctioned,
their formal assumption of the powers of self-govern
ment. Accordingly, toward the close of the year 1775,
a number of individuals repaired to Philadelphia,
where the continental congress was then in session,
desiring the advice of that body as to the course they
should pursue. No formal action was taken by con
gress, although several of its prominent members rec
omraended a separate state organization. A convention
of delegates frora thirty-five towns accordingly assem
bled at Dorset, July 24:th, 1776 ; but for the purpose of'
more thoroughly obtaining the views of the people,
adjourned to the 25th of the following September. By
the adjourned meeting, it was unaniraously resolved
" to take suitable measures, as soon as raay be, to
declare the New-Harapshire Grants a free and separate
district." In January, 1777, another convention was held at
Westminster, which finally adopted the following

380 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
DECLARATION OF IFDEPE ND E NCE.
" In convention of the Eepresentatives from the several coun
ties and towns of the New Hampshire Grants, holden at West
minster, January 15, 1111, by adjournment.
Whereas, the Honorable the Continental Congress did, on the
4th day of July last, declare the United Colonies in America to
be free and independent of the crown of Great Britain ; which
declaration we most cordially acquiesce in. And whereas hy the
said declaration, the arbitrary acts of the cro-wn are null and void,
in America. Consequently, the jurisdiction by said crown granted
to New York government over the people of the New Hampshire
Grants is totally dissolved.
We therefore, the inhabitants, on said tract of land, are at
present without law or government, and ma,y be truly said to be
in a state of nature; consequently a right remains to the people
on said Grants, to form a Government best suited to secure their
property well being and happiness. We the delegates from the
several counties and towns on said tract of land, bounded as fol
lows : South on the north line of Massachusetts Bay ; East on
Connecticut River ; North oil Canada line ; West as far as the
New Hampshire Grants extend : After several adjournments for
the purpose of forming ourselves into a distinct separate State,
being asserabled at Westminster, do make and publish the fol
lowing Declaration, viz :
" That we will at all times hereafter, consider ourselves as a
free and independent State, capable of regulating our internal
police, in all and every respect whatsoever. And that the people
of said Grants have the sole and exclusive, and inherent right of
ruling and governing themselves, in such manner and form as in
their own wisdom shall think proper, not inconsistent to any
resolve of the Honorable Continental Congress.
Fv/rthermore, we declare by all the ties which are held sacred
among men, that we vrill firmly stand by and support one
another in this our declaration of a State, and endeavoring as
much as in us hes to suppress unlawful routs and disturb
ances whatever. Also we will endeavor to secure to eveiy
individual his hfe, peace and property, against all invadei-s of
the same.
Lastly, we hereby declare, tbat we are at all times ready, in
conjunction with our brethren in the United States of America,
to do our full proportion in maintaining and supporting tbe just
war, against the tyi-annical invasions of the ministerial fleets and
armies, as well as any other foreign enemies, sent with express

VEEMONT CONSTITUTION. 381
purpose to murder our fellow brethren, and with fire and sword
to ravage our defenceless country.
The said State hereafter to be called by the name of New
Connecticut" _
At .another convention, held in June, 1777, the narae
of New Connecticut was changed to Yeemont. In
forraation of this iraportant step was transmitted to
congress, with the assurance that the people of Yerraont
" were at all times ready, in conjunction with their
brethren in the United States, to contribute their full
proportion towards maintaining the present just war,
against the fleets and armies of Great Britain." They
also sent a deputation to Philadelphia to solicit con
gress to recognize their existence as au independent
state, and admit their delegates to seats in the national
legislature. New Harapshire readUy consented to the
separate independence of Yermont ; Connecticut and
Massachusetts gave it their approval; but New York re
monstrated against the measure, and even insisted that
congress should recall the commission granted to the
noble Warner, who was denounced as an outlaw and
insurgent. This remonstrance had its effect upon con
gress, and the application for the recognition of the in
dependence of Yermont, was peremptorily disraissed.
While this subject was before congress, the people of
Yerraont were engaged in forraing a constitution. A
convention, chosen for this purpose, raet at Windsor
the second of July. The draft of a constitution was
prepared, and the convention were deliberating upon its
provisions when the intelligence of the evacuation of
Ticonderoga was received. " The frontiers," says Ira
Allen in his History of Yerraont, "were exposed to the
inroads of the enemy. The family of the president of
17

382 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
the convention, as well as those of many other mem
bers, were exposed to the foe. In this awful crisis,
sorae were for leaving precipitately ; but a severe thun
der-storm carae on, and during the rain, they had time
to reflect ; while other members, less alarmed at the
news, called the attention of the whole to finish the
constitution, which was then reading for the last time.
The constitution was read through ; the convention
proceeded to appoint a council of safety to conduct
the business of the state, and adjourned without day. '
"The members ofthe council of safety, appointed as
aforesaid, agreed to meet and form at Manchester,
where they repaired without loss of time. Colonel
Thomas Chittenden was elected president, and Mr. Ira
Allen (then twenty-seven years old) secretary to said
convention. The 'council of safety had no public mo
ney, nor had they any authority to lay taxes, or credit,
as a public body, to make or borrow money to answer
the necessities of government. The governraent was
in its infancy, and all expenses were supported at pii-
vate expense. The council were generally men of small
property, yet in this situation, it became necessary to
raise men for the defense of the frontiers, with bounties
and wages. Ways and means were to be found out ;
and the day was spent in debating on the subject. Na
than Clark, Esq., not convinced of the practicability of
raising a regiraent, raoved in council, that Mr. Ira Al
len, (the youngest member of the council, who ins'isted
on raising a regiraent, while a large raajority of the
council were for only two companies of sixty men each)
might be appointed a committee, to discover ways and
means to raise, arra and support a regiment, and to

lEA ALLEN S EXPEDIENT. 383
make his report at sunrise, on the morrow. The coun- -
cil acquiesced,' and Mr. Allen took the matter into con
sideration, and spent the night alone in concerting
plans ; and he reported the ways and means, viz : that
the council should appoint commissioners of sequestra
tion, with authority to seize the goods and chattels of
all persons who had, or should join the comraon en
emy ; that all raovable property so seized should be
sold at public vendue, and the proceeds paid to a treas
urer, to be appointed by the council, for the purpose
of paying a bounty often dollars, and one month's pay
in advance."
This is said to have been the first instance ofthe seiz
ure of the property of the tories for the defense of the
country, although the practice was afterward adopted
by all the states. This energetic measure enabled the
council of safety to bring a regiraent of hardy raoun-
taineers into the field. They appealed to New Hamp
shire for aid. Stark was promptly sent to their assist
ance — the battle of Bennington was fought — Bur
goyne's expected supplies were thereby cut off, and the
fturrendet of his army to Gates becarae inevitable.
Previous to the-adjournraent of the convention which
framed the state constitution, the first election of offi
cers was directed to be held in December, 1777; but
the military movements in that vicinity rendered its
postpdnement necessary. In March, 1778, Thomas
Chittenden was elected governor, and Ira Allen
sesaretary. Thomas Chittenden was born January 6, 1730, at
GuUford, Conn. His father being a farmer, in moder
ate circumstances, tbe subject bf this memoir received

384: ETHAN ALTJ;N and GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
no other education than that afforded by the common
school in Guilford. UntU the eighteenth year of his
age he was employed on his father's farm ; but being
of an active and adventurous teraperaraent, he engaged
in a raercantile enterprise, and made a voyage to the
West Indies. But England being then at war with
France, the vessel in which he had embarked was cap
tured by a cruiser of the latter country, and he was
landed on a West-India island, without friends or re
sources. He finally reached home, after undergoing
much suffering and fatigue. At the age of twenty he
married EUzabeth Meigs, reraoved to Salisbury, and
by his industry and energy, soon acquired a consider
able fortune. He was then appointed a justice of the
peace, a colonel of the railitia, and represented the
town of Salisbury in the Connecticut legislature from
1765 to 1772. Having purchased a large tract of land
on the Winooski river, he removed to the New-Harap
shire Grants in the spring of 1774, and in a short pe
riod was surrounded with all the coraforts that wealth
could bestow. At this tirae the war of the Eevolution
coraraenced, and Mr. Chittenden, with several other
persons, repaired to Philadelphia to learn the views of
the merabers of the continental congress, in regard to
the moraentous crisis then impending, and to receive
advice as to the manner in which the people occupy
ing the New-Hampshire Grants, could, in their pe
culiar position, most effectually serve the cause of
freedom. Upon the retreat of the Araerican array frora Can
ada, in the spring of 1776, the frontier settleraents
were exposed to the enemy, and Mr. Chittenden found

GOV. CHITTENDEN. 385
it necessary to abandon his pleasant home, and re
move his family to Massachusetts. After doing this,
he entered with much zeal into the measures adopted
to irapede the progress of the eneray, and was ap
pointed the first president of the coraraittee of safety
at Bennington. Entering with deep interest into the
controversy with New York respecting the titles of
the lands in the New-Harapshire Grants, and being
raore acquainted with public business than any of the
settlers, in consequence of the offices which he had
held in his native state, he was universally regarded
as the raan most suitable to be placed at the head of
their operations. Mr. Chittenden perceived that the
general struggle for independence, in which the col
onies were now engaged, presented a favorable oppor
tunity for terminating the controversy with New York,
by erecting the disputed territory into a new state,
and establishing a separate governraent ; and having
adopted this decisive plan of sound policy, he steadily
pursued it, till he saw the independence of Yermont
acknowledged by the neighboring states and by the
general government.
He was a member of the first convention of dele
gates from the several townships, which met at Dorset,
September 25, 1776, for the purpose of taking into
consideration the expediency of declaring Yerraont an
independent state ; and at the subsequent raeeting of
the convention at Westrainster, January 25, 1777, he
was one of the coraraittee who draughted the declara
tion of independence, which was there adopted; and
also a raeraber of another coramittee, which, at that time,
petitioned congress, praying that body to acknowledge

386 ETHAN ALLEN AND OEEEN-MODNTAIN HEEOilS.
Yermont a free and independent state. He assisted in
forming the first constitution of Yermont, which was
adopted by the convention, July 2d, 1777, and in 1778
he was elected the first governor of Yermont, which
office he held, with the exception of one year, till his
death.* Governor Chittenden possessed in an eminent degree,
precisely those qualifications which fitted him for the
sphere in which he was called upon to act. He had not,
indeed, enjoyed raany of the advantages of education,
but his want of education was amply compensated by
the possession of a strong and active mind, which, at
the time he emigrated to Yermont, was matured by
age, practiced in business, and enriched by a careful
observance of men aud things. His knowledge was
practical rather than theoretic. He was regular in his
habits — plain and siraple in his manners — averse to
ostentation in equipage or dress, and he cared little for
the luxuries, the blandishments or the etiquette of
refined society. In short, though he was destitute of
many of the qualifications now deemed essential in a
statesman, he possessed all that were necessary, and
none that were superfiuous, in the times in which he
lived, and was probably far better fitted to be the
leader and governor of the independent, dauntless and
hardy, but uncultivated settlers of Vermont, than would
have been a man of raore theoretic knowledge, or polite
accoraplishments. Iea Ali.en, who was chosen the first secretiary of
state, had also been the secretary of the committee of
* History of Vermont, by Rev. Zadock Thompson — a most able and
dabo'-ate work

IEA ALLEN. 387
safety, and , as such, perforraed services of incalculable
benefit to the country. Many of the inhabitants of the
Green Mountains 8anc!ioned the policy of the British
crown, in opposition w tbe interests of the colonies, and
on the approach of Burgoyne "undreds of thera fled
to his camp. The whole country was .:: the utmost
consternation. Successful resistance to the triumpnan';
march of the haughty Briton was scarcely hoped for_
The coraraittee of safety at Bennington were aljout to
give up in despair. The committee were destitute of
means, and yet Allen insisted that they should enlist a
regiment to aid the artay of freedom. But how were
the raen to be paid ? how arraed ? Ira Allen shrunk
not from the question. " We must use the means of
those who have gone over to the enemy, to defend
ourselves against thera," said he. The measure was
adopted, the regiment was raised, arms and aramunition
were procured, and at Bennington, "that cluster of
poor cottages," as Burgoyne denominated it, was fought
the battle which rendered the ultimate surrender of
the British array inevitable. "Let us turn," says a
distinguished Yermont author,* in describing the
merabers of the committee of safety, " Let us turn to
the youthful secretary of the council, Ira AUen. So
much the junior of his colleagues was he, that a
spectator might well wonder why he was selected as
one of such a sage body. But those who procured his
appointment knew full well why they had done so ;
and his history thenceforward was destined to prove a
continued justification of their opinion. Both in forra
* Daniel P. Thompson, Esq., in lis popular historical novel, entitled
" The Rangers."

388 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
and feature, he was one of the handsoraest men of his
day ; while a mind, at once versatile, clear and
penetrating, with perceptions as quick as light, was
stamped on his Grecian brow, or found a livelier
expression in his fiasbing black eyes, and other linea
ments of his intellectual countenance. Such, as he
appeared for the first time on the stage of public action,
was the afterward noted Ira Allen, whose true history,
when written, will show him to have been either
secretly or openly the originator or successful prosecutor
of more important political measures, affecting the
interests and independence of the state, and the issue
of the war in the northern department, than any other
individual in Yermont ; making him, with the many
peculiar traits lie possessed, one of the raost remarkable
men of the times in which he so conspicuously figured."
Many difficulties attended the establishraent ofthe new
government. Congress had disapproved of the Yer
mont declaration of independence, and New York
vigorously resisted the movement. The Yerraonters,
in the expectation of increasing their strength, incau
tiously admitted another occasion of embarrassment to
the adjustment of the serious controversy in which they
were involved. The original charter under which New
Hampshire was settled, was limited to a margin of sixty
miles in width along the sea-coast. But the jurisdiction
of the colony was afterward extended westward to the
Connecticut river, and Governor Wentworth even
claimed jurisdiction to Lake Champlain. Sixteen
townships, situated on the east side of the Connecticut,
but within the liraits of the original charter, applied
to the "V ermont legislature for admission into their new

Allen's eetuen. 389
state. The application was made in March, 1778. The
people on the east sid'e of the Green Mountains were
ardently in favor of the measure, and as it was repre
sented to the legislature that the persons inhabiting tho
sixteen townships almost unaniraously approved of
the proposed union, the subject was referred to the
people. In June the legislature again met,, and as a
majority of the towns composing the state of Yermont
had declared in favor ofthe union, the legislature gave
its formal consent to the measure. New Harapshire at
once protested against the disraeraberraent of its terri
tory, and appealed to congress for protection.
In the mean time, Ethan Allen had beeu exchanged
for an officer taken at the capture of Burgoyne, and,
after having visited Washington at Yalley Forge, had
returned to his beloved Green-Mountain companions,
and was welcoraed horae araid universal rejoicings.
Congress, not unraindful of his services, granted hira a
brevet coraraission of colonel in the continental army,
" in reward of his fortitude, firmness and zeal in the
cause of his country, manifested in the course of his
long and cruel captivity, as well as on former occa
sions." Allen, on his return to Yermont, was appointed
general and coni'mander-in-chicf of the militia of the
state. The people of Yerraont having seen their error
dn becoining a party to the dismemberraent of New
Harapshire, General Allen was appointed a special
agent to visit Philadelphia and counteract the unfavor
able feeling in congress respecting the independence
of Yerraont, occasioned by its course toward a sister
state. The delicate duties of this raission Allen per
formed with consnmraate tact, and on his return to his

890 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOHNTAlN HEEOES.
constituents, urged them to recede from the union with
a portion of New Hampshire, expressing the assur
ance that should they do so, congress would recognize
their independence. The legislature met at Windsor,
in October, and in compliance with AUen's recomraend-
ation, receded frora the union with the towns east of
the Connecticut, river. The members from these towns
withdrew from the legislature, and were followed by a
number of others representing the east side of the
Green Mountains, and these afterward occasioned the
administration rauch trouble.
During the occurrence of these events. Governor
Clinton, of New York, issued a proclaraation claiming
jurisdiction over Yerraont, but confirraing the title of
the settlers to the lands which had been granted by the
governor of New Harapshire. Many persons were
eager to acquiesce in the jurisdiction of New York
upon these conditions. But AUen prepared an answer
to the proclaraation of Clinton, stating the grounds of
the clairas of Yerraont to the right of self-government,
and exhorting the people not to relax for a moment
their efforts to attain the end for which they had
struggled so long and so hard. This address had a
powerful effect upon the Yerraonters, and doubtless
prevented the dissolution of the state government.
It should be said to the praise of Allen, considering
the scenes he had passed through, that on no occasion
did he encourage or countenance laxness in govern
ment, or disobedience to the laws and magistrates, re-
tiognized as such by the people themselves. "Any one,"
he remarks, "who is acquainted with mankind and
things, must know, that it is impossible to manage the

ALLEN FOE LAW AND OEDEE. 391
political matters of this country without the assistance
of civil government. A large body of people destitute
of it, is like a ship at sea, without a helm or mariner,
tossed by the impetuous waves. We could not enjoy
domestic peace and security, set aside the consequences
of a British war and the New- York strife, without civil
regulations. The two last considerations do, in the
most striking manner, excite us to strengthen and con
firm the government already set up by the authority
of the people, which is the fountain of all temporal
power, and frora which the subjects of the state of
Yermont have already received such signal advan
tages." These sentiments he avowed repeatedly, and
even when he was stirring up and leading out the mobs
of Bennington, he always declared it was in self-defense,
the result of a necessity forced upon them by their en
emies ; and he never ceased to recommend order, good
fiiith, and submission to the laws, as essential to, the
prosperity and happiness of the community.
This*desire on the part of Allen to maintain good
order in society by adherence to the law, is happily
illustrated by an occurrence which took place soon after
his return from captivity. One David Bedding had been
accused of supplying the eneray on the lakes with pro
visions, and was charged with several other acts un
friendly to the country. He was at first tried by a jury
of six persons and convicted, and was sentenced to be
executed on the sixth day of June, 1778. In the mean
time, John Burnam, an attorney at law, who had re
cently arrived from Connecticut, with Blackstone's
Commentaries in his saddle-bags, appeared before the
councU of safety and showed them that Bedding's

392 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
conviction had been irregular, inasrauch as no man
could be legally convicted of a capital crime, but
by the verdict of twelve jurymen. The council, per
ceiving their error, granted a new trial. But^the curi
osity which, not much to the honor of huraan nature,
has ever been manifested on such Occasions, was on
this, greatly heightened by the fact that no execution
had ever taken place in Yermont. To this curiosity
was added the strong feeling of indignation which
such a crime as that of Bedding was calculated to ex
cite at that period. The intelligence that a new trial
had been granted was received at the moment when
the excited throng were collecting to witness the
execution. With such a multitude and on such an
occasion, it was useless to talk of law. They had pro
nounced the culprit guilty, and were not in a mood to
refiect upon the mptive for setting aside the verdict of
the whole community with so little cereraony. The ex
cited populace were preparing to seize the prisonei^
Tegardless of the reprieve which had been granted, and
uncereraoniously hang hira. Upon this, Ethan Allen
pressed through the crowd, mounted a stump, and
waving his hat, exclaimed in thundering tones, " At
tention the whole!" Silence was at once restored, for
all were eager to hear what he would say. He then
proceeded to announce the reasons which had produced
the reprieve — advised the raultitude to depart peace
ably to their habitations, and return on the day fixed
for the execution by the council of safety, adding with
a tremendous oath, "You shall see somebody hung,
at all events; for if Eeddirg is not then hung, I will be
hung myself." The crowd quietly dispersed, and after

ANECDOTES OF ETHAN ALLEN. 393
having been a second time convicted, Bedding was
finally executed.*
Levi, one of Ethan Allen's brothers, joined the tories
and fled with thera to Canada. This greatly incensed
Ethan, and he applied to the proper authorities for the
confiscation of his brother's property for the benefit of
the state.f Levi heard of this, and challenged his
brother to fight a duel ! This Ethan refused to do, on
the ground that it would "be disgraceful to fight a tory ! "
Levi afterward abandoned the royal cause, and be
carae a staunch patriot.
* Another anecdote, illusti-ative of Allen's character, may be appropri
ately narrated here, and, like the above, is undoubtedly authentic. Allen
was for a short time a resident of Tinmouth, Vt. On one occasion while
at the house of the village physician, a lady entered to have a tooth ex
tracted; but as often as the physician attempted to apply his instrument
to the offending tooth, the lady's courage failed. Allen, who was an un
easy spectator, at length said to the physician, " Here, Doctor, take out
one of my teeth." " But your teeth are aU soutid," said the physician,
after carefully examining his molars and incisors. " Never mind — do as
I direct you," said Allen; and there was suddenly a gap in his array of
ivoiy. " Now take courage, madam, from the example I have given you,"
said Allen to the trembling lady. Pride overcame her fears, and she
was soon relieved of her apprehensions of pain, andvOf her tooth also.
t The following is a literal copy of Ethan Allen's complaint concern
ing his brother :
Bennington Codntt, ss. — Arlington, 9th of January, 1779.
To the Honorable the Court of Confiscation, comes Col. Ethan Alien,
in the name of the freemen of this State, and complaint makes that Levi
Allen, late of Salisbury, in ' Connecticut, is of tory principles, and holds
in fee, sundry tracts and parcels of land in this State. The said Levi has
been detected in endeavoring to supply the enemy on Long Island, and
in attempting to circulate counterfeit continental currency, and is guilty
of holding treasonable con-espondence with the enemy, under cover of
doing favours to me, when a prisoner at New-York, and Long Island ;
and in talking, and useing influence in favour of the enemy, associating

394: ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
After the surrender of Burgoyne, the southern states
becarae the theater of the important operations of the
British, leaving no opportunity for the American troops
to distinguish themselves in the north. Warner, with
the Green-Mountain Eegiment, was in constant service
on the Hudson river and elsewhere, as the exigencies of
the country required, and always met the expectations
of the great Washington. The indefatigable exertions
of Warner in the cause of freedom, and the constant
exposure and fatigue to which he was subjected,
undermined his constitution, and he returned to his
family at Bennington, toward the close of the war, a
dying man. Disease in ai»aggravated form had struck
its fangs into his system. But he bore the distressing
maladies of his last days with unbounded fortitude.
His agonies were solaced by the reflection that he had
discharged his duty to his country, and had successfully
struggled to obtain her freedom. He was saddened,
however, by the reflection that his wife and three
children would be left in destitute circumstances. Th©
lands which he once owned, had, while he was engaged
in active service at the head of his regiment, been
with inimical persons to this country, and -with them monopolizing the
necessaries of life, in endeavoring to lessen the credit of the continental
cul-rency, and in particulai-, hath exerted himself in the most falacious
manner, to injure the property and character of some of the most zealous
friends to the independency of the United States, and of this State like
wise ; aU which inimical conduct is against the peace and dignity of the
freemen of this State : I therefore pray the Honorable Court to take the
matter under their consideration, and make confiscation of the estate of
said Levi before mentioned, according to the laws and customs of this
State in such case made and provided.
ETHAN-ALLEN.

DEATH OF COLONEL WAENEE. 395
sold for taxes. So rauch had he been engrossed by his
duties as a patriot, that he thought not of saving hia
own property whUe the freedora of his beloved country
was endangered. He was not perraitted to die in his
senses. Prior to his decease, he was the victira of a
raging deUriura ; and, in his wild iraaginings, fancied
hiraself at the head of his regiraent of Eangers, and,
on his dying couch, restrained by a constant guard ot
able-bodied raen, he would fight his battles over again.
The preternatural strength with which he was endowed,
decreased, at last, with the progress of his insidious
raalady; and the skillful botanist, .whose prescriptions
had prolonged the lives of others, could not restore his
own reason or save his own life. The practiced
huntsman, the sinews of whose gigantic frame were
hardened in the hunting-grounds of Yerraont, and who
had never feared the face of any man, paled and
trembled before the grim visage of that huntsman
whose name is Death. — His earthly doom was finally
sealed ! His earthly sands had run out ! He obeyed
the mandate to join the majority — abiit ad plures —
and was gathered to his fathers in the prime of life —
" ere his eye was dira or his natural force abated."
The gold was refined and the crucible was broken !
The toil-worn body was laid in the "narrow house
appointed for all living," that the soul raight escape
into life. A short time before his death, he had
removed to Eoxbury, Conn., and there his ashes were
consigned to the earth, with all the honors of war, in a
grave remote frora tbe hiUs he loved so well, and for
whose sake he had yielded up his life in the bloora of
manhood. On a white marble memorial stone in

396 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
Eoxbury, over which the raoss has been suffered to
grow, raay now be deciphered with much pains-taking,
the following inscription :
In memory of
COL. SETH WARNER, ESQ.,
Who departed this life, December 26, A. D. 1784,
In the 42d year of his age.
Triumphant leader at our armies' head.
Whose martial glory struck a panic dread.
Thy warlike deeds engraven on this stone.
Tell future ages what a hero 's dona
Full sixteen battles he did fight.
For to procure his oountry^s right
Oh 1 this brave hero, he did fall
By death, who ever conquers all.
When this you see, remember me.
The proprietors of several townships had given hina
tracts of land, of considerable value, as a reward for
his services in defense of the New-Hampshire Grants;
but the greater part, if not all of thera, were sold for
taxes, and his heirs never received any considerable
benefit from them. In 1777, the legislature of Yer
mont generously granted to his heirs 2,000 acres of
land, in the north-west part of the county of Essex. It
was then supposed that this land would become val
uable by a settleraent of that part of the county; but
when that section of the state was explored, this tract
of land was found to be of little or no value, and it
yet reraains unsettled.*
* In 1786, Mrs. Wai-ner petitioned congress for remuneration for the
services of her husband, but the amount of relief afiorded her was small
The following are the closing sentences of her memorial : " The cir
cumstances of your disconsolate petitioner as to hev interest and circum
stances in life, wUl appear by certificate of Daniel Shurman, judge of
probate, herewith transmitted, by which your honors will see that your
unhappy petitioner hath nothing to support herself and three children,
only her own industry — having two sons and a daughter, two of whieh

' COLONEL waenee's WIDOW. 397
A.lthough the current of the war swept southward
after the capture of Burgoyne, the people of Yermont,
while agitated by their political contest with the
neighboring states, were frequently harassed by par
ties of Indians in the interest of the British crown,
led on by tories even more fiendish than the Indians
themselves. Nevertheless, the greater portion of the
inhabitants who had fled from their horaes on the
approach of Burgoyne, returned again after the storm
are unable to earn anything by their labor. Tour petitioner would fur
ther represent to your honors, that the colonel was so taken up in the
defense of the country in the late war, that he wholly neglected his own
interest, by means of which he lost much of his estate, as it lay chiefly
in lands of the state of Vermont, for want of taking seasonable care
thereof, and although your petitioner had a hard task in looking after the
colonel in his last sickness, as the colonel lay long confined, unable to
help himself, and your petitioner had the unhappiness to see her dear
companion, as it were, die by inches, (as a mortification began in his feet
and by a slow progress proceeded up to his body, which continued for
months before it put an end to his valuable life.) Notwithstanding your
petitioner had the chief cai-e of looking after her dear companion, it
yielded her some consolation that she had the opportunity of looking
after the colonel in his last sickness. Had it been the colonel's fate to
have fallen in battle, as many did that were engaged with him, your pe
titioner is infoi-med that she should be entitled to receive some gratuity
from your honors. Tom- petitioner, therefore, can but hope inasmuch as
the death of her dear husband was in consequence of the wounds and
hardship he received in his country's semce in the late war, your honors
will be gi-aciously pleased to take her distrassed circumstances into your
wise consideration and grant her such a bounty as that she may be able
to support herself and children, and give them such education as that
thej might not be contemptible among the human race. The which
yonr petitioner is the more embolden to ask your honors, as she hath
been informed your honors have, in sorae instances, been liberal to the
posterity of those who have distinguished themselves in their country's
service in the late war — for which, as in duty bound, your unhajipy
petitioner shall ever pray."

398 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
had passed. Those on the frontiers were in constant
peril, and many were the midnight assaults upon their
feeble settlements, and many were the occasions upon
which their fortitude and heroism -were called into
action. The memory of raost of these has been lost
ii; the lapse of yeara. Among the most remarkable
of these early settlers, who are yet remembered, wa,"*
Mrs. Storey, of Salisbury. Her husband had emi
grated to the Grants at an early day, but. was killed
by the fall of a tree, leaving Mrs. Storey with half a
score of children. Thus left a widow, she endured
almost every hardship, laboring in the field, chopping
down timber and clearing and cultivating the soil.
She retreated several times to Bittsford during the
Eevolution, on account of the danger apprehended from
the eneray, but at length she and a Mr. Stevens pre
pared theraselves a safe retreat. This was effected by
digging a hole horizontally into the bank, just above
the water of Otter creek, barely sufficient to adrait one
person at a time. This passage led to a spacious
lodging-room, the bottom of which was covered with
straw, and upo3 this their beds were laid for the ac
commodation of the families. The entrance was con
cealed by bushes which hung over it from the bank
above. They usually retired to their lodgings in the
dusk of evening, and left them before light in the
morning, and this was effected by means of a canoe,
so that no path or footsteps were to be seen leading to
their subterraneous abode.* This afforded her perfect
security during the continuance of the war.
*Mi-s. Storey and her underground room occupy a prominent place in tho
thrilling novel of " The Green-Mountain Boys," by D.P.Thompson, Esq

ATTACK ON EOYALTON. 399
The most disastrous incursion of the Indians against
the people of Yermont, resulted in the destruction of
the town of Eoyalton. In the beginning of October,
1780, an expedition was planned agains-t Newbury, on
Connecticut river, the principal object of which was
to capture a Lieutenant Whitcomb, who, the Cana
dians asserted, had mortally wounded and robbed a
British General Gordon, during Montgomery's disas
trous campaign several years before. Against this man
the British and Indians had conceived a violent aver
sion, and planned the present expedition in order to
get him .in their power. The expedition consisted of
two hundred and ten men, nearly all of whom were
Indians, under the coraraand of a British officer naraed
Horton. In proceeding up Winooski river, they fell
in with two hunters, who inforraed them that the peo
ple of Newbury were expecting an attack, and had
prepared theraselves for it ; and thej' therefore de
cided to direct their course toward Eoyalton. They
found the inhabitants wholly unprepared for an attack,
and an easy prey to their rapacity. After destroying
twenty houses at Eoyalton and several in the neigh
boring towns, killing sorae persons who atterapted to.
escape, and taking many prisoners and much plunder,
they commenced a hasty retreat. The news quickly
spread, and a party of the resolute inhabitants of neigh
boring towns soon assembled, chose a leader and cora
menced pursuit. So great was their dispatch that
they soon carae up with the trail of the savages, in the
night, who, having posted their sentries, and partaking
excessively of the intoxicating portion of their spoUs,
had lain down to rest, not dreaming of an attack.

4:00 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MUUNTAIN HEEOES.
Great was their consternation on finding that their
sentries were fired upon ; but with savage cunning
they sent word to their pursuers that if attacked, they
would put all the prisoners to death ; and while the
subject raatter of this threat was debating araong their
eneraies. they picked up their prisoners and carap-
equipage, and raade a hasty retreat under the cover
of the darkness. In the morning it. was thought use
less to pursue them, and the party returned. Most of
the prisoners eventually returned from captivity.
Several authentic anecdotes are related of this
expedition, which go to show the Indian character in
a less ferocious light than it has generally been held,
under sirailar circumstances. They did not evince
any desire to molest the woraen or feraale children.
In sorae of the cases, where the woraen who had left
their burning houses stood raotionless and stupefied,
not knowing what to do, the Indians brought them
their clothes, with the assurance that " Indian would'nt
hurt 'em." One woman had firmness enough to re
proach them for their conduct in burning down houses,
and taunted them for not daring to cross the river and
attack the men at the fort. They bore her gibes with
the utraost patience, and only replied that "squaw
should'nt talk too rauch." Another woman, named
Hannah Handy, whose young son they were carrying
off, followed thera with another child in her arms, and
besought them to return her little boy. They com
plied ; and following up her success, she prevailed
upon them to give up ten or fifteen of the children
of her neighbors. One of the Indians offered to carry
her on his back across the stream ; she accepted his

ANECDOTES OF THE INDIANS. 401
politeness, and though the water was up to his waist,
he conveyed her over in safety, and she returned with
her little band of boys, to the surprise and joy of their
parents. As the Indians usually sought only for plunder, and
seldom molested woraen or children, it was custoraary
for the men, when their settlements were attacked by a
superior force, to flee into the woods till the Indians had
performed their work of plunder. At one tirae a party
of thera entered the house of Mr. Stone, of Bridgeport,
giving hira but just time to escape, and after stripping
it of every thing of value to them, the principal, San-
hoop, put on the flnest shirt it afforded, and swaggering
away to the hogsty, selected the best hog, and officiated
as chief butcher, flourishing his fine bloody sleeves,
while his comrades, whooping and dancing, carried it
away to their canoes. At another time, a party of In
dians, coming up the bank, were discovered by Mrs.
Stone in season to throw some things out of a back
window into the weeds, put a few in her bosom, and
sit down to her carding. The Indians, after taking
what they could find elsewhere, carae around Mrs.
Stone and the children. One of them seeraing to sus
pect that she had sorae valuable articles concealed about
her person, atterapted to pull them from her bosora;
whereupon she struck hira on the face with her card so
violently that he withdrew his band, while a tall young
savage was flourishing his tomahawk over her head.
Upon this an old Indian cried out, "-Qood squaw, good
squaw,'' and burst into a laugh of derision at his com
panions for being beaten. On another occasion, pre
vious to the evacuation of Ticonderoga by the British,

402 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
a party of Americans plundered the house of a tory,
by the narae of Brindle, who was a neighbor to Mr.
Stone. Brindle, not owning the house, set it on fiie,
and, retreating on board a British arraed vessel ori the
lake, implicated Mr. Stone in the robbery and burn
ing. He, anticipating mischief, kept in the bushes near
the bank to observe their movements, where the British
discovered him, and let off a volley of grape-shot, which
struck araong the trees above hira, and also fired upon
his house, sorae of the shot enteri.ng the roora where the
family was. They then sent a boat on shore, took
Mr. Stone and carried him a prisoner to Ticonderoga,
where he remained three weeks. Mrs. Stone expecting
he would 'be sent to Quebec, went to hira in a canoe, a
distance of twelve railes, with no other corapany than
her brother, a lad only ten years old, to carry him
clothes, leaving her two children, the oldest but four
years old, alone at home. She had to tarry all night
before she could gain adraittance. On her return she
found her children safe, the oldest having understood
enough of her directions to feed and take care of the
younger.* In 1777, the town of Brandon was visited by a party
of Indians, who killed two men, George and Aaron
Eobins,iriade prisoners of raost of the other inhabit
ants, and set fire to their dwelling's and to a saw-mill
which they had erected. Joseph Barker, his wife, and
a child eighteen months old, were araong the prisoners.
Mrs. Barker, not being in a condition to traverse the
* See Thompson's Gazetteer of Vermont — one of the most complete
and interesting works of the kind, which should be in the hands of
every one proud of the name of Vermonter

ADVEE8E CLAIMS ON VEEMONT. 403
wilderness, was set at liberty with her child. The next
night, with no other shelter than the trees of the forest
and the canopy of heaven, and with no other coraj any
than the infant above naraed, she had another child.
She was found the following day and reraoved with hes
children to Bittsford. Mr. Barker was carried to Mid-
dlebury, where, feigning to be sick, he succeeded in
the night in making his escape, and arrived safely at
Pittsford. The rival clairas of New York and New Hampshire
to the territory of Yerraont, carae near proving fatal
to the separate identity of the infant state. A propo
sition was raade that they should authorize congress to
arbitrate between them, in which court the matter
would doubtless have been comproraised by giving
New York the west and New Harapshire the east slope
of the Green Mountains. To such a division of Yer
mont, both states were willing to accede. But in this
emergency Massachusetts interfered, and brought for
ward a third claim to the territory in dispute, founded
on the fact that the original grant to Mason, of the
colony of New Hampshire, extended, only sixty raUes
from the ocean, and that all west of Mason's line be
longed to Massachusetts — that its right had not only
been conceded by New Harapshire, but by the crown,
because, while the forraer' had distinctly declined to
support Fort Duraraer on the ground that it was be
yond its jurisdiction, the crown had decided thatit
belonged to Massachusetts to raaintain that important
frontier post, which was done at a great expense. This
claim Vas certainly more plausible than eUher ofthe
others, because Massachusetts had been the first actual

404 ETHAN ALIEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
occupant of the territory, and had defended it against
the comraon eneray. The original charters from the'
crown were ambiguous and even contradictory, and
were quite as favorable to the claims of Massachusetts
as to those of either of the other states. That Massa
chusetts really wished to enforce this claim is not sup
posed, for the statesmen from that glorious colony were
favorable to the independence of Yerraont, and their
movement had the effeitt, which was undoubtedly its
object, of saving Yermont frora disraeraberraent by
congress. Massachusetts declining to submit its claims
to the arbitrament of congress, relieved the young
state frora the impending peril. The question was one
of great delicacy for congress. Every exertion was
required to defend the country against the British arms,
and the imminent danger that would occur from arous
ing the enmity of either New York or New Hampshire
must be its apology for pursuing a vacillating and in
decisive course in regard to the difficult question urged
upon it by the conflicting parties. Under the pressure
of these circurastances, congress, in 1780, passed a res
olution declaring the course of Yerraont to be " subver
sive of the peace and welfare of the United States."
Although its representatives had been excluded frora
any participation in the councils of the nation, tho
fidelity of Yerraont to the cause of freedora and the
country was unquestioned, for its heroes had given the
raost signal and important proofs of this. It is not
surprising, however, that when the above-named reso
lution was adopted by congress. Governor Chittenden
should have replied, that if Yermont was not included
in the United States,, it was at liberty to offer or accept

INDEPENDENCE OF VEEMONTEES. 405
terras foi the cessation of hostilities with Great Britain.
But, he added, the people of Yerraont were so strongly
attached to liberty that they would again ask to be ad
mitted to the colonial union. Ira Allen and Stephen
E. Bradley were deputed as agents to renew this pro
position to congress. The consideration of the repre
sentations of these agents was indefinitely postponed,
and the question was left undetermined.
Yermont was fortunate in having statesmen who pos
sessed the courage and the ability requisite to the de
fense of its just rights. Despite the arms of New York
and New Hampshire, and the frowns of congress, they
found the means to successfully raaintain the independ
ence of the little coraraunity for which they acted. They
now resorted to a course of policy which placed them
in a more powerful attitude, and determined to enforce
a compliance with their demands. The towns in New
Hampshire, which had once been accepted as a portion
of Yermont and afterward excluded by a resolution
of the legislature, again solicited to have its juris
diction extended over them. This was done. The
government of Yermont then turned westward with
a view to a further extension of its limits.* After
consultation with the people in that portion of New
• The following spirited lines, the author of which ia unknown, very hap
pily express the sentiments of the Vermonters during that trying period :
Ho — all to the borders ! Vermonters, come down.
With your breeches of doer skin, and jackets of brown ;
With your red woolen caps, ajid your moccasins, come
To Uie gathering summons of trumpet and drum I
Come down with your rifles !— let gray wolf and fox
Howl on in the shads of their primitive rocks ;
18-

406 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
York, Yerraont boldly claimed that its boundary line
extended frora. the point where the Massachusetts line
would tou-ch the Hudson, thence up that river to its
let the bear feed securely from pig-pen and stall ;
Here 's a two-legged game for your powder and ball 1
On our south come the Dutchmen, enveloped in grease ;
And, arming for battle, while canting of peace ;
On our east, crafty Meshech has gathered his band.
To hang up our leaders, and eat out our land.
Ho — all to the rescue ! For Satan shall work
Wo gain for his legions of Hampshire and Tork 1
They claim our possessions — the pitiful knaves —
The tribute we pay, shall be prisons and giavea I
Let Clinton and Ten Broek, with bribes in their hands.
Still seek to divide us, and parcel our lands ; —
We 've coats for our traitors, whoever they ai'e ;
The warp is of feathers — the filling of tar I
Does the " Old Bay State " threaten ? Does Congress complain
Swarms Hampshire in arms on our borders again ?
Bark the war-dogs of Britain aloud on the la:ke ?
Let'em come 1 — what they can, they are welcome to taka
What seek they among us ? The pride of our wealth
Is comfort, contentment, and labor and health ;
And lands which, as Freemen, we only have ti-od.
Independent of all, save the mercies of God.
Tet we owe no allegiance ; we bow to no throne ;
Our ruler is law, and the law is our own ;
Our leadei-s themselves are our own fellow-men.
Who can handle the sword, or the sythe, or the pen.
Our wives are all true, and our daughters are fair,
With their blue eyes of smiles, and their light flowing hair
All brisk at their wheels till the dark even-fall.
Then blithe at tho sleigh-ride, the husking, and ball I

A POETIO APPEAL.

407

source, and from its source due north to the Canada
line, comprising all the land east of the Hudson, and
for thirty miles west of Lake Charaplain,'thu8 doubling
We 've sheep on the hill-sides : we 've cows on the plain ;
And gay-tasseled corn-fields, and rank-growing grain ;
There are deer on the mountains ; and wood-pigeons fly
From the crack of our muskets, like clouds in the sky.
And there 's fish iu our streamlets and rivers, which take
Their course from the hills to our broad-bosomed lake ;
Through rock-arched Winooski the salmon leaps free.
And the portly shad follows all fresh from the sea. '
Like a sunbeam the pickerel glides through his pool •
And the spotted trout sleeps where the water is cool.
Or darts from his shelter of rock and of root
At the beaver's quick plunge, or the angler's pursuit
And ours are the mountains, which awfully rise
Till they rest their green heads on the blue of the skies ;
And ours are the forests, unwasted, unshorn.
Save where the wild path of the tempest is torn.
And though savage and wild be this climate of ours,
Aud brief be our season of fruits and of flowers,
Far dearer the blast round our mountains which raves.
Than the sweet summer zephyr, which breathes over slaves.
Hun-a for Vermont ! for the land which we till
Must have sons to defend her from valley and hill ;
Leave the harvest to rot on the field where it gi'OWE^
And the reaping of wheat for the reaping of foes.
Far from Michisooni's valley, to where
Poosoomsuck steals down from his wood-circled lair.
From' Shocticook river to Lutterlock town, —
Ho — all to the rescue 1 Vermonters, come down I *
Come Tork or come Hampshire, — come traitors and kn.ives ;
If ye rule o'er our land, ye shall rule o'£r our graves;
Our vow is recorded — our banner unfurled ;
In the name of Vermont we defy aU the wmldl

408 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOEg.
the former liraits of the state. Notwithstanding tho
difficulties which surrounded the people of Yerraont,
the New-Hampshire towns on its east border, and the
-New-York towns on- its western limits, which were
thus sumraarily annexed, were eager for their union.
What arguments could have been urged to induce them
to join their fortunes with those of Yermont, it is not
easy to imagine. The fact gives, at all events, a strik
ing proof of the skill of the trusted leaders of the
Green-Mountain Boys.
The British, ready to avaU themselves of every ad
vantage which the Yermont difficulties might yield
them, were gradually increasing their force in Canada,
and another campaign against the northern frontier
was unquestionably determined on. The indications
of this were alarming. Knowing " the effect that tho
apprehension of this would have upon the people,
the British generals entertained the hope that they
might detach Yerraont from the United States and
make it a British possession. In the expectation of ac
complishing this. Colonel Beverly Johnson wrote a let
ter to Ethan Allen, dated March 30, 1780. He began
his letter by expressing a wish that his proposals raight
be received with the same good intention with which
they were made. He then proceeds: — -"I have often
been inforraed that you and raost of the inhabitants
of Yermont, are opposed to the wild and chimerical
scheme of the Americans in atterapting to separate
frora Great Britain and establish an independent gov
ernraent of their own ; and that you would willingly
assist in uniting America to Great Britain, and in
restoring that happy constitution so wantonly and

BEITISH OVEETUEES TO ALLEN. 409
tinadvisedlydestroyed. If Ihave been rightly informed,
and these should be your sentiments and inclination, I
beg that you will communicate to me without reserve,
whatever proposals you would wish to raake to the
coraraand e'r-in-chief; and I hereby promise that I will
faithfully lay them before him according to your direc
tions, and fiatter myself I can do it with as good effect
as any person whatever. I can make no proposals to
you until I know your sentiments ; but think, upon
your taking an active part, and embodying the inhab
itants of Yermont under the crown of England, you
may obtain a separate government under the king. If
you should think proper to send a friend here with
proposals to the general, he shall be .protected, and
allowed to return whenever he pleases."
Allen coraraunicated the contents of this letter to
Governor Chittenden, and it was decided that no
answer should be returned. In February, 1781,
Johnson again wrote to Allen, renewing his former
proposal. Allen communicated these letters to con
gress, with a powerful letter vindicating the policy of
Yermont. He closed it with the following striking
sentences: "I am confident that congress will not
dispute my sincere attachment to the cause of my
coimtry, though I do not hesitate to say, I am fully
grounded in opinion, that Yermont has an indubitable
right to agree on terras of a cessation of hostilities
with Great Britain, provided the United States persist
in rejecting her application for a union with them.
For Yerriiont would be, of all people, most miserable,
were she obliged to defend the independence of the
United claiming States, and they be, at the same time,

410 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEKOES.
at fuU liberty to overturn and ruin the independence of
Yerraont. When congress consider the circumstances
of this state, they wiU, I am persuaded, be more sur
prised that I have transmitted them the inclosed letters,
than that I have kept them in custody so long ; for I
am as resolutely determined to defend the independ
ence of Yerraont, as congress is that of the United
States ; and rather than fail, I will retire with the
hardy Green-Mountain Boys into the desolate caverns
of the mountains, and wage war with human nature
at large."
Soon after, the British, under the command of Gen
eral Haldimand, appeared in great force at the north
end of Lake Charaplain. Governor Chittenden sent a
flag of truce, proposing an exchange of prisoners.
General Haldiraand returned a favorable reply, and
Colonel Ira Allen and Major Joseph Fay were ap
pointed coraraissioners on the part of Yerraont, to
negotiate the exchange. During the interview with
the British agents, the latter renewed the proposal for
Yerraont to place itself under the royal authority.
Allen and Fay, without coraraitting theraselves, left
the irapression upon the minds of the British generals
that the proposed arrangement might be perfected.
This was done because Yermont had no other way of
protecting itself against an army of ten thousand
royal troops, which had been poured into Canada.
Accordingly, a formal attempt at negotiation was
made — Allen and Fay being secretly appointed com
missioners by Governor Chittenden, and General
Haldimand acting for the British. Their negotiations
were continued for a long period, and tbeir existence

VEEMONT LEADEES VINDICATED. 411
has been adduced by historians as evidence of a dis
position on the part of the Yermont leaders to join
the enemy. The full history of these events, when
properly written, will show that the odium thus cast
upon the names of these men is grossly unjust ; that
they were not only inspired by the purest devotion to
the cause of liberty, but that their policy actually kept
at bay a large hostile army, which otherwise would
have been able to march through the northern portion
ofthe union, (Washington being eraployed at the south.)
and to crush the hopes of freedora. The following
papers, never before published, which have been
politely furnished for these pages by the Hon. Henry
Stevens, the distinguished and indefatigable Yerraont
antiquary, frora his very large and rich collection of
docuraents in reference to the early history of Yermont,
will not only prove this assertion, but serve to show,
when the history of Chittenden, the Aliens, and other
Vermont leaders of that day is properly viewed, that
chey perforraed services in behalf of__ their country,
which entitle thera to the lasting adrairation and
gratitude of those who enjoy the blessings of the
freedora which their services so greatly aided in
estabUshing. Numbers I. and II. are the commis
sions furnished to Allen and Fay; nuraber III. is
General Haldiraand's comraission to the British agent ;
and nuraber lY. is the report of interviews with Allen
and Fay, as given to General Haldimand by his agent.
I.
State of Yermont, June, 1781.
Whereas Col. Ira Allen has been with a Flag to the
Province of Quebeck for the Purpose of settUng a

412 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
Cartel or Exchange o Prisoners and has used his best
Policy by Feigning or Endeavouring to make them
believe that the State of Yermont had a Desire to Ne-
gociate a Treaty of Peace with Brittain -— thereby to
Prevent their Iraraediate Invasion or Incursion upon
the Frontiers of this State as appears by the Letter he
sent to General Haldiraand Dated May 8th, 1781 In
closing a copy of Col. Beverly Eobinson's Letter to
Gen'l Allen and General Allen's Letter to Congress aa
also a Letter of Col. Allen sent to Congress and the
resolutions of the Asserably of Yermont approbating
the same, as also the circular Letter to the several
States Delivered to Dundas according to his Yerbal
Eeport made us this Day — we are of the opinion that
the critical circumstances this State is in being out of
union with the United States and thereby unable to
make that Yigorous Defence we could wish for — think
it to be a Necessary Political manoeuver to save the
Frontiers of this State.
Jonas Fat Tho's CmTTENOEN
Sam'l Saefoed Moses Eobinson
Sam'l Eobinson Tim't Beownson
Joseph Fay John Fasset.
II.
State of Vermont, 10 July, 1781. "
Whereas this State is not in union with the United
States altho' often Eequested &c.
This the British Power are acquainted with and aro
endeavouring to take the advantage of these disputes
Thereby to court a connection with this State on the
Principle of Establishing it a British Province — from
various accounts we are well assured that the British
have a force in Canada larger than this State can at
present raise and support in the field and -this State
having no assurance of any assistance from any or
either of the United States however hard the British
forces may crowd on this State fromthe Province of
Quebeck by the advantage of the waters of Lake
Charaplain, &c. Altho' several Expresses have been
sent by the Gov'r of this . State to several of tha

THE BEITISH TEEAT EOE VEEMONT. 413
respective Gov'ts of the United States with the most ur
gent requests to know whether any assistance would be
afforded in such case and no official answer has been
made by either of them.
Wherefore we the subscribers do fully approbate
Col. Ira Allen sending a Letter dated Sunderland July
10th 1781 and directed to General Haldimand and
another Letter to Captain Justice Sherwood, Purport
ing an Intention of this State's becoming a British
Province &c. This we consider as a Political proceed-
ure to prevent the British forces invading this State
and being a necessary step to Preserve this State from
Euin when we have too much reason to apprehend
that this has been the wishes of some of our assuming
neighbours in the mean time to strengthen the State
against any Insult until this State receive better treat
ment from the United States or obtain a seat in
Congress. Teo's Chittenden J. Fay
John Fasset Sam'l Eobinson
Tim'y Beownson Joseph Fay.
III.
" Haviiig given you full power in my narae to nego
tiate in conjunction with M  with the people of
Yermont for the exchange of prisoners by my Letter
of the 29th October. I now instruct you in what you
may assure and promise to them as the means of ac
commodation, and their return to their allegiance.
Sensible of the Injustice which Individuals in the New
York Governraent attempted against them in soliciting
and obtaining Grants of Lands which had in conse
quence of Grants from New Hampshire been culti
vated by the labour and industry of the Inhabitants of
tbe Green Mountains, I always regretted the measures
which were taken by the Governraent of New York
and felt compassion for the unhappy people who were
the objects of them — Ihave always been of opinion
that a people who during the last war were so ready
on every occasion to oppose the Enemies of Great Brit
ain and never have been prevaUed upon to seperatai
18*

414 ETHAN ALLEN AND QEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
theraselves frora a Country with which they were inti
mately connected by religion laws and language had
their properties been secured to them. It is therefore
with great cheerfulness that I authorise you to give
these people the raost positive assurances that their
country will be erected into a seperate province, inde-
pendant and unconnected with every Governraent in
Araerica, and will be entitled to every prerogative and
Iraraunity which is promised to other Provinces in your
Proclamation of the King's Coraraissioners. This I
hope will be sufficient to reraove every jealousy of
Great Britain wishing to deprive thera of their Liber
ties or of ray ever becoraing an Instrument to oppress
thera. I sincerely wish to bring back to their allegi
ance brave and unhappy people, so that they may en
joy the Blessings of peace Liberty and an honest
Industry. From the report you made me, I consider
these people as sincere and candid in their proposi
tions. I will therefore act towards them with the sin
cerity of a Soldier unpractised in deceits and chicane,
and you raay assure thera that I would be sorry to en
gage thera in any enterprise which might prove ruin
ous to thera. I am sensible that their situation is
delicate that the utmost caution is necessary not only
with regard to the powerful Enemies which surround
them, but with regard to their own people, whose pre
judices are great and many, and who cannot at first
view, see the advantages which will accrue to America
in general as well as to themselves in particular from
a reconcUiation with the raother Country. I ara so
much convinced of the present infatuation of these peo
ple, and so far removed from expecting that the people
with whom you negotiate will betray any trust reposed
in thera that I agree that this negotiation should cease
and any step that leads to if be forgotten, provided the
Congress shaU grant the State of Yermont a Seat in
their Asserably, and acknowledge its independency. I
trust that time, and other methods, will bring about a
reconciliation, and a return to their aUegiances, and
hope, and expect, they will act towards me with the
same frankness and sincerity, and apprise me by your

IEA ALLEN'S NEGOTIATION. 415
means of their intentions, prospects and measures, so
that I may be more able to assist them.
" In order to entitle the Inhabitants of the State of
Yermont to the provisions of Half Pay which His Ma
jesty has been pleased to make to the officers of Pro
vincial Corps who take arms in support of his Govern
ment, I propose to raise two Battallions consisting of
Ten Companies each to be commanded by Messrs Al
len and Chittenden or any other whom the Governor
and Council of Yermont shall appoint with the rank
and pay of Lieutenant Colonels Commandants of which
I shall myself be Colonel, but to which the Lieutenant
Colonels Comraandants shall, subject to my approba
tion, have the Appointment of the Officers and if the
defence of the state should require it more will here
after be raised on the sarae footing.
" For the further encourageraent of the persons who
shall exert theraselves in proraoting the happy re-union
I proraise besides the above appointments, that they
shall have Gratuities suitable to their merits.
F. Haldimand.
Quebec, 20th December, 1780."
lY.
Substance of what passed in Conference with Col. Ira
Allen, between the 8th and 25th of May, 1781.*
" 8tb. Colonel Allen says, he is not authorised to
treat of a Union, but is verbally instructed by Gov
ernor Chittenden and General Allen to lay their pres
ent situation before General Haldimand, and to inform
him that raatters are not yet ripe for any perraanent
proposals, that they with some part of the Council, are
anxious to bring about a neutrality, being fuUy con
vinced that Congress never intended to admit theraas
a State, but they dare not make any agreement with
.Britain until the populace are better modelled for the
purpose ; wish, however, to settle a Cartel for the Ex
change of Prisoners, and thereby keep open a door for
* Want of roora compels the omission of a portion of this document ;
the most important portion, and the spirit of the whole are given.

4:16 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
further negociation. * * 10th. Walked and discoursed
fully with Colonel Allen. He is' veiy cautious and in
tricate. I urged him to raake some proposals, telling
hira it is now in the power of Yermont to become a
Glorious Government under Great Britain — to be the
Seat of peace and plenty, with every degree of Liberty,
that a free people can wish to enjoy. , That he must
see General Haldiraand had in his instructions to rae,
conceded every thing he could in reason ask or expect.
He replied General Haldiraand did not allow thera to
choose their own Governor, a privilege they never could
relinquish with propriety: tliat when they were ripe for
proposals they could not go farther than NeufT-ality
during the War, at the end of which they raust as a sep
erate Government be subject to the then ruling power
if that power would give thera a free Charter in every
sense of the word ; but if not, they would return to
the Mountains, turn Savages, and fight the Devil, Hell
and Huraan Nature at large. I told him Yermont
could not accomplish those extravagant flights : * *
I did not pretend to know how far these Chimeras
might intimidate Congress, but I could assure him
General Haldimand had too much experience and good
sense to take any further notice of them than by that
Conterapt they raeritted. Colonel Allen now began to
reason with raore coolness, and raade up a long chain
of arguments advanced by General Allen to me at
Castletown. I told him those arguraents had already
been exhibited to General Haldimand, and were then
satisfactory to hira, but I was certain the General would
now expect sorae further advances ; would therefore
advise hira, if he could not make any propositions in
behalf of Yermont to give bis Excellency some reasons
why he did not. The conversation again became warm
and spirited.
" 11th. Colonel Allen observed he did not think the
parliament had passed any Act in favor of Yermont. I
answered I did not think the Parliaraent of Great Britain
has yet considered Yerraont of consequence enough
to engross the attention of that Assembly. He replied

INTEEVIEW WITH ENGLISH AGENT. 417
in his opinion Yermont must be considered of conse
quence enough to engross the attention of Barliament
before any permanent Union can take place between
Great Britain and that people. 12th. This day had a
long and very friendly conference with Colonel Allen.
He seems anxious to convince me that a respectable
num.ber ofthe leading-Men of Yermont are endeavour
ing to bring about a Union by way of Neutrality.
-He appears less reserved, and again repeated the Ar
guments advanced by General Alien respecting the
impossibility of an Union with Great Britain until
Yermont had fortified herself against the neighbour
ing States by a firra internal Union and observed they
must firraly unite the extra Territories lately taken in
and forra the population into a proper systera for such
a revolution. * * * AUen thinks when the Western
Union is coraplete they can raise Ten Thousand fighting
Men. He says this great and sudden revolution has
been brought about upon the principles of an Union
with Great Britain, or at least of Yermont being a neu
tral power during the War. Allen does not aggree
with Mr. Johnson that the Majority wish to comproraise
with Britain, but says their prejudices are yet so great
that it would not be safe to propose it but to a few of
the population and they have not yet dared to raention
it to half of" the ruling Men.
13th. Colonel Allen still appears desirous to con
vince rae that the principal Men in Yermont are striv
ing to prepare the people for a change in favour of
Government. He wishes rae to represent every thing
in the raost favourable raanner to the General and
hopes he will not be impatient. He says it is as requi
site the people should be prepossessed against the pro
ceedings of Congress before they are invited to a
Union with Britain as it is for a Christian New'light
to be perfectly willing to be  before he can be
come a true Convert. This Evening Mr. Allen ob
served the —  bustles araong the powers of Europe
W3uld, within six Months change the face of American
Affairs but did not know nor care, whether for the
better or worse. I replied he must have a predom-

418 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES,
inant Mdsh as Neutrality was, in principle, in my opin
ion inadraissable. He said he should not deny but
principle inclined hira and Yerraont in general for the
success of America but interest and self-preservation
if Congress continued to oppress thera, raore strongly
inclined thera to wish for the success of Great Britain,
and fight like DevUs against their oppressors, be they
who they raight.
* * -X- * -;;- *-»-»-»
" 15th. Colonel Allen seeras exceedingly anxious to
return and often says his presence will be very neces
sary at the next Asserably, as tbey will not know how
to proceed until they hear what he has to report from
General Haldimand.
" 18th. I endeavoured to persuade Colonel Alien to
make some overtures to General Haldiraand but he
still says he is not authorised and cannot do any thing
of the kind. He thinks the General wiU be convinced,
hy the reason he has given in writing that the leaders
in Yerraont are doing all that is possible to effect an
Union or Neutrality, and that General Allen was
obliged for his own safety, to send Colonel Eobinson's
Letters, to Congress, as it was previously known in
public that such Letters had been sent to him. * * *
"23rd. Colonel Allen expatiates on the dangers and
difficulties attending the bringing about a Ee-union as
a number of the Council, and the major part of the
Legislature have'not as yet the least idea of anything
farther than neutrality, and raany of them are ignorant
of that. He expresses fears that it will not be accora
plished though he sincerely wishes it raay. He still
thinks the principles on which Araerica first took arras
were just, but he sees, with regret, that Congress has
^earned to play the Tyrant, and is convinced that it is
for the interest and safety of Yerraont to accept of
General Haldimand's terras. I told hira he talked well,
but I wished he had said as much when he first arrived,
for however convinced I may be of his candour the
change gave some roora for suspicion that he now acts
from design. He replied that General Haldiraand's
candour demands the same from him, and that he has

INTEEVIEW WITH ENGLISH AGENT. 419
not altered his sentiraents, but only throws thera out
more freely than he at first intended tiU he had farther
instructions from his Emj^loyers, but the candid open
manner in which the General had written forbid his
acting with any disguise.
_ "24th. Colonel Alien much the same in conversa
tion as yesterday, but observes that he knows the Gen
eral will very soon hear what reports he raakes, and
how he conducts himself after he gets horae, he wishes
me clearly to inforra the General with the method he
must take to comply with his deraand of undeceiving
the other States respecting the Truce, &c. He says he
must, as far as he dares possess the minds of the peo
ple with the idea of a re-union. He shall therefore tell
their own Officers Commanding at Castletown that he
cannot tell what may take place, but they must keep
themselves in readiness for all events. But to the other
States he shall positively declare that no Truce nor
probability of one subsists between General Haldi
mand and Yermont, and this he should have done for
their own safety. But in compliance with the OJ-en-
eral 's desire he shall be very particular in this declara
tion. '25th. I communicated C't. Matthews' letter to Col
onel Allen respecting News. He says the News gives
him no further anxiety than to excite in hira a desire
to know how this war will terrainate for under the pre
sent uncertainty of Yerraont, he does not know whether
this News is favorable or otherwise. But he well
knows that he and his FaraUy have large Fortunes
which they do not intend to lose, if there is a possibiUty
of saving thera. At all risks he is determined that
Congress shall not have the parcelling of his Lands to
their avaricious Minions. I then shewed him C't. Mat
thews' Letter of the General's sentiments. He appeared
very much pleased with it, and engaged his honor that
the General should hear from their Assembly by the
20th of next July and as much sooner as possible, but
did not think he should be able to send any certain ac
count of the result until that tirae, as they are not to
assemble tiU about the middle of. June and must sit

420 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
soraetirae before the Business could be fairly opened to
the whole House, after which it would necessarily oc
casion long and warm Debates let it turn out as it might
in the end. Mr. Allen and myself have agreed on a
signal for his Messenger, which, we put in writing and
both signed. Should General Haldiraand find it abso
lutely necessary to send a private Express to Yerraont,
Colonel Allen desires it may be by a raan of trust who
raay be directed to raake hiraself known, either to
Governor Chittenden Colonel Allen or General Allen
or one of the following Gentleraen Colonel Brownson
Dr. Fay Judge Faut or C't. Lyon. The Contents of the
message should be a secret to the Messenger written on
a small piece of paper, which he should be directed to
swallow, or otherwise destroy if in danger of being
taken by a scout frora New York and he should be very
careful to shun the Yerraont Scouts. On these condi-
tibns Col. Allen engaged that the Messenger shall be
immediately sent back. Colonel Allen after express
ing much satisfaction with the polite treatraent he had
received erabarked about 12 o'clock.
These negotiations were maintained until the close
of the war; Ira Allen,* the principal agent in the
affair, always finding a plausible reason for postponing
final and decisive action. But while he, and a few
others, were thus successful in preventing any hostile
moveraent against the northern frontier of the United
* Ira AUen was born in 1752. He went to Vermont at a very eai-ly
age. After the establishment of the governmeut, he was the first secre
tary of state. Subsequently he was treasurer, membei- of the council and
sorveyor-general. He rose to the rank of major-general of militia, and
in 1795 went to Europe to purchase arms for the supply of his state.
Returning with several thousand muskets, and some cannon, he was cap
tured by an English vessel and carried to England, where he was accused
of supplying the Irish, then in open rebellion, with arms. A litigation
of eight years, in the court of admiralty, was the consequence ; but a
final decision was made in his favor. He died at Philadelphia, January
,7, 18U, aged 62 years.

IEA ALLEN. 421
States, the people at large were in entire ignorance
concerning the negotiations which were carried on, al
though agents were, during the whole progress of the
affair, passing and repassing the borders.
Yermont, after completing its eastern and western
armies, sent delegates to congress to again undertake
to have the state admitted into the union. In 1781
congress appointed a committee to confer with them,
but adopted a resolution, declaring that the negotia
tion of the independence of Yerraont could not take
place, unless the state should recede to its former Umits,
and relinquish its claim to the territory which it had
acquired from New Hampshire on the east, and New
York on the west. Yermont at first refused to do so,
but at this juncture. General Washington opened a
correspondence with Governor Chittenden on the sub
ject, and the candor, good sense, and conciliatory style
of the Father of his Country, effected what congress
could not have done, and Yermont finally consented to
comply with the requirement in regard to its bounda
ries. But after this had been done, congress^ found
occasion to defer its final action in regard to the admis
sion of Yermont into the union.
Notwithstanding the unsettled and embarrassing
state of her relations to congress and the neighboring
states, the internal tranquillity of Yermont had been,
for some time, but little disturbed. Her political insti
tutions had been gradually maturing, and the organi
zation of her government had assuraed a regularity and
efficiency which commanded the obedience and respect
of the great body of the citizens. New York had not
relinpuished her claim to jurisdiction over the territory,

422 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
but she had not, of late, made any serious effort
to exercise it ; and had contented herself with opposing
the adraission of Yerraont into the union, and by en
deavoring, in the raanner we have just related, to bring
over the people to her own interest. But while a vast
majority of the people of Yermont yielded a willing
obedience to her authority, and were ready to make
•alraost any sacrifice to sustain her independence and
governraent, there were sorae araong her citizens whose
subraission was reluctant, and who were ready to
erabrace any favorable opportunity to renounce their
allegiance and support the clairas of New York.
This opposition was principally confined to the town
of Guilford — at that period the most populous village
in the state. The two parties in this town, (the friends
of Yerraont and those of New York,) had each an
organization of their town ; and, in sorae cases, there
were two sets of town-officers. Between these, skirra-
ishes often occurred, which not unfrequently ended in
bloodshed. The enmity of these parties was carried to
an alarming extent during the years 1783 and 1784.
Social order was entirely at an end ; and even physi
cians were not allowed to pursue their avocations, with
out procuring a pass from the several committees. In
this unpleasant state of affairs. General Ethan Allen
was directed to call out the militia, for the purpose of
enforcing the laws, and of suppressing the symptoras
of civil war exhibited araong the people of Windham
county. In accordance with these directions,^ he
marched from Bennington with a force of about one
hundred Green-Mountain Boys ; and, upon his arrival at
Guilford, he issued the following unique proclamation ¦

ETHAN ALLEN AN AUTHOE. 423
"1, Ethan AUen, declare, that unless the people of
Guilford peaceably submit to the authority of Yer
mont, I will make the . town as desolate as were the
cities of Sodom and- Gomorrah ! " After sorae resist
ance, from the adherents of New York, Allen was
enabled to enforce their subjection to the laws of
Yermont. Afiairs continued in this condition until 1789, when
liberal councUs prevailed in New York, and the legis
lature consented to the independence of Yermont
There was no further obstacle to the admission of Yer
mont into the union, and on the 4th of March, 1791,
the auspicious end to all the difficulties which had'
attended the organization bf the new state, was
formally announced.
Previous to the admission of Yermont into the un
ion, Ethan Allen was actively engaged in the main
tenance of the rights of the people he loved so well,
and of the state which his exertions had been so
greatly instrumental in founding. After that event, he
retired to private life, and in the intervals of relaxa
tion from business, wrote a work entitled, "Eeason the
only Oracle of Man," the aim of which, we regret to
say, was to controvert the truths of revealed religion.
He gave great attention to its coraposition, and was
very proud of it. He had been for raany years in
the habit of making raeraoranda of his thoughts on
the subject, and evidently believed his work would
subvert Christianity. Its style was the same which
characterized his political pamphlets — bold, artful,
egotistical and unpolished, but evincing remarkably
strong mental powers. Only one edition was ever

424 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
published, and the greater portion of that was destroyed
by the burning of the office in which it was printed.
It is now rarely to be met with, and the existence
of the work upon which Ethan Allen confidently
relied for enduring farae, is scarcely known to one
in a thousand of those who reraeraber with patriotic
pride, the sturdy Hero of Ticonderoga.
A very affecting story has long been current in con
nection with Ethan Allen's peculiar views concerning
religion. It is that one of his daughters who had been
instructed in the principles of Christianity by a pious
mother, when about to die, expressed a desird to see
her father. When he appeared at her bedside, she
said to him, "I am about to die — shall I go to my
grave with the principles you have taught me, or shall
I believe what my mother has taught rae ? " His re
ply, it is said, was, "Believe what your raother has
taught you!" The anecdote, although often quoted,
as a striking illustration of the inefficiency of infidelity
on the death-bed, and the consolation that is afforded
by a strong religious faith at such a time, has not, it is
asserted by AUen's family, any foundation in truth.
Notwithstanding his views on religion, Allen was a
thoroughly honest man, and detested any thing like
falsehood or meanness. On one occasion, an individ
ual to whom he was indebted had commenced a suit
against him. AUen being unable to pay the debt,
employed a lawyer to have the execution of legal
process against him postponed for a short period. As
an easy measure to effect this, and throw the case over
to the next session of the court, the lawyer denied the
genuineness of the signature ; AUen, who was present,

Allen's second couETsmp. 425
stepped angrily forward, and exclaimed to his aston
ished counsel, "Sir, I did not employ you to come
here and lie ; I wish you to teU the truth. The note
is a good one — the signature is mine ; all I want is
for the court to grant me sufficient time to raake the
payment!" It is almost needless to add that the
plaintiff" acceded to his wish. 
General Allen, who had at various times resided at
Bennington, Arlington and Tinmouth, at last took up
his residence on the Winooski. His first wife had
never removed from Connecticut, but died there dur
ing the war. His courtship of his second wife was
characteristic. During a session of the court at West
minster, Allen appeared with a magnificent pair of
horses and a black driver. Chief Justice Eobinson
and Stephen E. Bradley, au erainent lawyer, were
there, and as tbeir breakfast was on the table, they
asked Allen to join them. He replied that he had
breakfasted, and while they were at the table, he would
go in and see Mrs. Buchanan, a handsorae widow who
was at the house. He entered the sitting-roora, and at
once said to Mrs. Buchanan, " Well, Fanny, if we are
to be married, let us be about it." "Yery weU,"she
proraptly replied, "give rae tirae to fix up." In a few
minutes she was ready, and Judge Eobinson was at
once called upon by thera to perform the custoraary cer
emony. Said AUen, " Judge, Mrs. Buchanan and I
have concluded to be married ; I don't care much about
the ceremony, and as near as I can find out, Fanny
cares as little for it as I do ; but as a decent respect for
the customs of society require it of us, we are wiUing
to have the ceremony performed." The gentlemen

426 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
present were much surprised, and Judge Eobinson re
pUed, "General AUen, this is an -important matter;
have you thought seriously of it ? " " Yes, yes," ex
clairaed Allen, looking at Mrs. Buchanan, "but it
don't require much thought." Judge Eobinson then-
rose from his seat and said, " Join your hands together.
Ethan Allen, you take this woman to be your lawful
and wedded wife : you promise to love and protect her
according to the law of God and  " "Stop,
stop. Judge. The -law of God," said Allen, looking
forth upon the fields, "all nature is full of it. Yes, go
on. My team is at the door." As soon as the cere
mony was ended. General Allen and his bride entered
his carriage and drove off.*
Allen conversed much on the subject of religion, and
expressed his skeptical views on all convenient occa
sions. At one time, while he was in Westminster,
Judge Sessions and Stephen E. Bradley, who were
zealous Christians, were discussing the affairs of the
church. Allen, who entered the room at the time,
interrupted them by an argument against the divine
origin of the Bible. Judge Sessions, not liking to hear
his reasons, said, " Mr. Bradley, I think we had better
retire, and not hear this raan talk." Allen exclaimed,
" Deacon Sessions, you belong to the church militant — •
I belong to the church military ; and without that," he
continued with an oath, " you can never belong to the
church triumphant ! "
General Allen's kindness of heart was proverbial,
" This anecdote is given on the authority of Hon. William C. Bradley
(son of Stephen R. Bradley,) formerly a member of congress from
Vermont, who was present with his father on the occasiDD..

ALLENS KINDNESS AND lATEIOTISM. 427
and he was always ready to afford relief to the suffer
ing. At one tirae, two little girls, daughters of one of
the pioneers of Yermont, wandered into the woods
The distressed parents, with a few neighbors, com
menced a search, which was continued through the
night without success. The next day a large number
of persons from the neighboring towns joined them,
and the search was continued till the afternoon of the
third day, when it was relinquished, and the people
who had been out were about to return to their homes
Araong thera, however, was one who thought the search
should not be abandoned ; and this was Ethan Allen.
He raounted a sturap, and soon all eyes were fixed upon
hira. In his laconic manner, he pointed to the father
and mother of the lost children — now petrified with
grief and despair — bade each individual present, and
especially those who were parents, make the case of
these parents his own, and then say whether they could
go contentedly to their homes without one further effort
to save those dear little ones, who were, probably, now
alive, but perishing with hunger, and spending their
last strength in crying to father and mother to give
them soraething to eat. As he spoke, his giant frame
was agitated — the tears roUed down his cheeks, and
in the assembly of several hundred men, but few eyes
were dry. "I'U go! I'U go!" — was at length heard
from every part of the crowd. They betook themselves
to the woods, and before night the lost children were
restored in safety to the arras of the distracted parents.
In aU the trying scenes of AUen's life — in all the
vicissitudes of a protracted and cruel captivity — be
was never forgetful of the rights of his feUow-men, or

428 ETHAN ALLEN AND GEEEN-MOUNTAIN HEEOES.
of the cause of his country's liberty. He nobly spurned,
as unworthy of the principles which governed hira, the
hpnors which were offered him to join the royal stand
ard. He stood firmly by his country, even while it
frowned. upon the course of his adopted state — and his
memory will ever be cherished by a free and grateful
people. He died at Burlington,. Yt., Feb. 12th, 1789;
of apoplexy, while yet in the full vigor and maturity of
manhood, and his remains rest in a beautiful valley
near the Winooskie, where his grave is surrounded by
those of raany of his kindred. A plain raarble tablet
marks the spot, upon which is the foUowing inscription :
The
Corporeal Part
of
Gen. Ethan Allen,
rests betieath this stone
he died
the 12th day of February, 1789,
aged 50 years.
His spirit tried the mercies of his God,
In whom he believed and strongly trusted.
(Note Eefeeeed to on Page 346.)
When Sparks was writing his biographies, he visited the spot,
and found in the vicinity an old soldier, who was an eye-witness to
the tragedy, and says: "Miss M'Crea was shot, tomahawked, and
scalped by an Indian." Gen. Morgan Lewis, who was at the investi
gation of the afi'air, had, at the tirae, and who was also consulted by
Mr. Sparks, fully confirmed the old soldier's story. The best evi-
<!('nce, therefore," is in favor of the old version of this tragic event.

II^.