Part 10 (2/2)
This was a very strong fort, with much artillery. The fort was on the left sh.o.r.e, and a very strong blockhouse was on the right bank. The Rangers' camp was on an island in the Hudson. Their barracks were made of logs, with bark roofs, and their camp was not in bad condition.
[Sidenote: HATRED OF INDIANS]
The Rangers were mostly frontiersmen from New Hamps.h.i.+re, who had lived in the woods all their lives, and had fought against wild beasts and Indians. The life they were now leading was simply their old life on a larger scale. Most of them were dressed in deerskin. They were rough, stern men, who had been so much exposed to danger, and were so used to it, that they seemed to have no fear. They looked upon the French and Indians as a dire plague, to be wiped off the earth by any means. They had heard the war-whoop at their own homes, and had seen their close relatives scalped by Indians. No wonder they cla.s.sed the redskins with wolves and snakes, as a plague to be wiped off the earth. Living in the woods so much, they seemed to have acquired the keen senses that wild animals have. They were ever on the alert. Their eyes and ears noticed all the signs and sounds of nature. They had fought savages for years, and their own ways were savage. Many of them took scalps.
I do not believe that a bolder or more adventurous set of men than these Rangers ever existed.
As I looked them over and saw what a lot of keen, fearless, and self-reliant men I was among, I was very proud to think that I was one of this chosen corps.
McKinstry said: ”They're a tough set, Ben. But when you get in your first fight, you'll be glad you're with a tough set. Not much school learning among them; but they know all about the woods and Injun fighting, and that's what we want here.”
Every evening at roll-call we formed on parade, equipped with a firelock, sixty rounds of powder and ball, and a hatchet, and were inspected, that we might be ready at a minute's warning. The guards were arranged and the scouts for the next day appointed.
After we had been at the camp a couple of days Rogers came out of his hut and said to me:--
”Come, Comee, I'm going over to the fort and may want some one to bring back a few things.”
[Sidenote: THE BLACK WATCH]
We crossed the ice to the sh.o.r.e and went up to the fort. It was a great sight for me to see the regulars in their bright scarlet coats, the Scotch Highlanders with their kilts and tartans, and our own provincial troops in blue, though there were not many of them, as they had mostly gone home for the winter.
Rogers walked up to the headquarters of Colonel Haviland, the commander.
”I shall be busy here some time. Come back in an hour and wait for me.”
I went over to the Scotch regiment, the Black Watch it was called, and listened to them talking their curious language.
One of the men turned to me and asked if I was looking for any one.
”Well, I'm of Scotch descent, and I thought I'd see if there were any McComees or Munros among you.”
He looked over to another group and shouted: ”Hector! Hector Munro!
Here's one of your kinsmen.” A strong, active fellow of some twenty-eight or thirty years came over.
”How's that? I didn't know that any of our kin were over here.”
”My grandmother was a Munro, and her father was taken prisoner while fighting for King Charles the First, and was sent to America.”
”Hear that now! My brother Donald and myself were out with Charlie in forty-five, and we had a hard time of it afterward, hunted about till they made up their minds to form some Highland regiments and give pardon to those who enlisted, and here we are fighting for King George.”
He led me to his brother and made me acquainted with him. We went to their quarters, and I learned more about the clan in a short time than I ever heard before or since. It seemed as if most of the great generals in almost every army were Munros, and they traced their ancestry back to the time of Noah.
At last I said that I must go to headquarters to meet Captain Rogers.
[Sidenote: ROGERS a.s.sUMES ENGLAND'S DEBT]
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