CHAPTER X
LORD HOWE AND HIS DEATH--THE LOYALTY OF JOHN STARK
Early in the spring, Lord Loudon was recalled, and General Abercrombiewas appointed in his stead, with young Lord Howe as second in command.
Abercrombie was the kind of English general to which we wereaccustomed,--a dull, heavy man, who owed his position to influence atcourt. We put little faith in him. But Lord Howe gained our hearts andconfidence at once.
It was well understood in the army that Lord Howe was sent over tofurnish the brains and ability in this campaign, and was to direct thefighting, and that General Abercrombie was to reap the benefit.
Lord Howe spent much of his time among the Rangers, and went out with uson scouting-parties. He showed none of the arrogance and conceit socommon to British officers, and appeared to be an apt, quick scholar.
[Sidenote: LORD HOWE]
Rogers and Stark were delighted with his military instincts and the keenintelligence with which he made himself master of what was to him a newmethod of fighting.
When he lived with us, he was as one of us. He washed his own linen atthe brook, and ate our coarse fare with his jack-knife. He cut off theskirts of his coat, and had his men do the same, that they might not beimpeded by them in the woods. He made them wear leggings and brown thebarrels of their guns, that they should not glitter in the sun, and toprevent them from rusting. He had his men cut their hair short, and eachof them carried thirty pounds of meal in his knapsack, so that theycould go on a long expedition without a wagon-train.
He had great talents as a soldier. Any one who talked with him felt itat once. And with it all he was simple in his habits and manners,living like one of us, and making his officers lead the same plain life.
The days he spent with the Rangers were days of pride and pleasure tous, for we not only saw his greatness as a soldier, but the bearing ofthe man was so modest, so genial and lovable, that every one was greatlyattached to him. He liked best of all to talk with John Stark, and toget him to tell of Indians and their habits and ways of fighting. Andhere he showed his keen insight. For Captain Stark was the best man inthe Rangers. Rogers got the credit for what the Rangers did. But much oftheir success was due to Stark. He was a man whose judgment was sure,who did not make mistakes.
After our defeat in March, Rogers went to Albany to see about gettingrecruits. While there he was given his commission as Major of the Corpsof Rangers.
On the way from Concord to Fort Edward he became well acquainted withEdmund, whose business-like ways and attention to details pleased Rogersso much that when he was made major he appointed Edmund adjutant of theRangers--a very responsible position for so young a man. It was his dutyto record the paroles and countersigns, the various orders for the nextday, and to see that they were attended to.
[Sidenote: THE PROVINCIAL LEVIES]
In May the new provincial troops began to come in. We had been longenough in the army to become disciplined, though not in the manner thatthe regulars were, and had grown accustomed to seeing regiments dressedin uniforms; so that when the new levies came in, we felt some of theamusement of the regulars at their green and awkward ways. Gatheredtogether from country villages, they came in the clothes they wore athome, and put me in mind of Falstaff's soldiers. Some wore long coats,some short coats, and some no coats at all. All the colours of therainbow were there. Some wore their hair cropped close. Others had theirhair done up in cues, and every man in authority wore a wig. All kindsof wigs could be seen,--little brown wigs and great, full-bottomed wigshanging down over their shoulders.
But they were a sturdy set. When you looked at each of them, you saw aman used to hard work from boyhood, more or less accustomed to thewoods, and almost without exception a fair shot. Handsome is as handsomedoes. As the war went on, the regulars found that the rabble were asbrave as themselves, more expert in wood-fighting, and far better shots.
But the ridicule that was heaped upon them at first caused a bitterfeeling which lasted and prepared the way for the Revolution.
Toward the end of May, it was evident that the army would soon make anadvance on the enemy; for every one was called in, and no furloughs weregranted.
We had by this time a great army of nine thousand provincial troops, sixthousand regulars, and six hundred Rangers. Many of the regulars wereold veterans from European battlefields; and we had not the least doubtbut that, when we started, we should go straight through to Canada.Montcalm's little army of thirty-five hundred men at Ticonderoga couldoffer but slight resistance.
[Sidenote: SCOUTING-PARTIES]
Several scouting-parties from the Rangers were sent out to inspectTiconderoga, and capture prisoners in order to get information fromthem.
Stark went through the woods to the west of Ticonderoga and brought backsix prisoners. Captain Jacobs, with some of his Indians, went down theeast side of Lake Champlain. He had a fight with some of the French, andreturned with ten prisoners and seven scalps. Rogers, with our party,went through the woods till we were opposite Crown Point, where we had alittle fight and killed one Frenchman, and captured three, whom webrought back.
At the end of May, Lord Howe sent fifty of us under Rogers to inspectthe landing-place at the lower end of Lake George, and to make a map ofit. We were also to report upon the paths to Ticonderoga, and to findout the number of the French army.
We went down the lake in boats, and while some of the officers weremaking plans, the rest of us proceeded toward Ticonderoga. We marched,as usual, in single file, along the path we had taken in our trip inMarch.
Amos said, "I have no p-pleasant recollection of this place, and feel asif we should have some more b-bad luck."
Rogers halted us and went forward with three men, to take a look at thefort. As he was returning, a large party of the enemy set upon us, andwe had a lively fight.
Captain Jacob ran off with his Indians, crying out to us: "Come on!Follow me! No good stay here. Heap French! Heap Injun!"
"That's Injun all over," said Martin. "If he gets the upper hand, he'llfight like fury. But if the odds are against him, he'll run like adeer."
We got behind trees and logs, and kept the enemy back. Rogers came roundthrough the woods; and as the attention of the enemy was given entirelyto us, he and his party made a rush and joined us.
The enemy had us pretty well surrounded, but we broke through them,losing eight men. We rallied at our boats, and returned home.
[Sidenote: THE ARMY EMBARKS FOR TICONDEROGA]
By the 28th of June the whole army under General Abercrombie had arrivedat Lake George. A great deal of time seemed to be wasted. But on the 5thof July the whole army of nearly sixteen thousand men embarked in boatsand batteaux for Ticonderoga. The advanced guard was up and out on thelake before daylight,--the light infantry on the right, our Rangers onthe left, and Colonel Bradstreet's batteaux men in the centre.
Then came the main body of the army,--the provincials, dressed in bluewith red facings, on the right and left wings. In the centre were theregulars, in scarlet with white facings, and the 42d Regiment, the BlackWatch, in kilts and tartans. Behind them came the rear guard ofprovincials.
The whole army was on the lake as the sun rose, breaking up the mist onthe hillsides. The lake was calm and without a ripple.
It was a sight I shall never forget,--the beautiful lake covered by overa thousand boats, the various coloured uniforms, the gun-barrelsglittering in the sun, the flags of the different regiments, thebagpipes and bands playing, the pretty islands, the green hills andmountains, the mist rising and floating away.
The army rowed till twilight, when we reached Sabbath Day Point, wherewe rested and ate some food; at ten we started again, and at daybreakthe Rangers reached the lower part of the lake. We landed, and receivedorders from Captain Abercrombie, one of the general's aides-de-camp, togain the top of a mountain a mile from the landing, and from there tomarch east to the river that flows into the falls, and get possession ofsome rising ground there. When we h
ad done this, we were to wait for thearmy to come up. In an hour's time we got to the rising ground, andfound quite a large body of French in front of us. We waited for furtherorders.
At noon some provincial troops under Colonels Fitch and Lyman came up.And while Rogers was talking to them we heard a sharp firing in the rearof these troops.
Rogers led us round to the left, and we met a force of the enemy whowere fighting our men, and had thrown them into confusion. We engagedwith them, and killed many. Lord Howe, with Major Israel Putnam and hismen, came up on the other side of the French, who were thus surrounded,and almost all of them were killed or captured.
[Sidenote: LORD HOWE'S DEATH]
It was a party of some four hundred Canadians, who had been sent out towatch us, and though they were good woodsmen, they had lost their way inthe dense forest, and had wandered into the middle of our army.
There seemed to be a great commotion among Lord Howe's men. I ran overto them with Captain Stark; and there we saw Lord Howe stretched out onthe ground--dead.
John Stark is not a man easily stirred. I remember at the battle ofBunker's Hill, when a man rushed up to him, and told him that his sonwas killed,--which was a mistake, for he is alive at this day,--Johnturned to the man and said: "Back to your post. This is no time to thinkof our private affairs."
But when he saw that brilliant soldier, that man whose virtues,accomplishments, and genial, lovable nature showed us what a man mightbe, lying there, dead, he knelt down beside him, and the tears ran downhis cheeks. All of us were overcome with grief, we loved the man somuch.
Stark took his hand, bent over, and kissed his forehead.
"Good-by, my dear friend. God bless you and have mercy on us." He rose,and I walked away with him.
"Comee, the life is departed out of Israel. I have no further faith inthis expedition. Our sun is set."
We mourned his loss a long time, and our Province raised the money for agreat monument, which was erected to him in Westminster Abbey, in memoryof "the affection her officers and soldiers bore to his command."
After Lord Howe was killed, everything fell into disorder. The armybecame all mixed up in the thick woods, and was sent back to thelanding-place.