Part 1 (2/2)

The rear could cross the lake; and, as it was viewed hazardous, I harrangued the officers and soldiers in the manner following:

”Friends and fellow soldiers, You have, for a number of years past been a scourge and terror to arbitrary power. Your valor has been famed abroad, and acknowledged, as appears by the advice and orders to me, from the General a.s.sembly of Connecticut, to surprise and take the garrision 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, marched them immediately 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 bombproof. My party, who followed me into the fort, I formed on the parade in such a manner as to face the two barracks 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 pa.s.s 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 him the place where the commanding officer kept; he shewed me a pair of stairs in the front of a barrack, on the west part of the garrison, which led up a second story in said barrack, to which I immediately repaired, and ordered the commander, Capt. De La Place, to come forth instantly, or I would sacrifice the whole garrison at which the Capt. came immediately to the door with 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 little 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 commander, a Lieut. Feltham, a conductor of artillery, a gunner, two sergeants, 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 in the grey of the morning of the tenth day of May, 1775. The sun seemed to rise that morning with a superior l.u.s.tre; and Ticonderoga and its dependencies smiled on its conquerors, who tossed about the flowing bowl, and wished success to Congress, and the liberty and freedom of America. Happy it was for me, at that time, that the then future pages of the book of fate, which afterwards unfolded a miserable scene of two years and eight months imprisonment, were hid from my view.

* If the Colonel has expressed a little of his usual severity in this place, he might have remarked also, that neither of the authorities he mentioned were much known in a British camp.

But to return to my narration: Col. Warner, with the rear guard, crossed the lake, and joined me early in the morning, whom I sent off, without loss of time, with about one hundred men, to take possession of Crown Point, which was garrisoned with a sergeant and twelve men 5 which he took possession of the same day, as also upwards of one hundred pieces of cannon. But one thing now remained to be done, to make ourselves complete masters of lake Champlain; this was 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 general) Arnold* should command her, and that I should command 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 batteaux, 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 sergeant and twelve men, who were garrisoned at that place.

* This name, which now calls to mind the idea of treason, at every mention of it, is ”d.a.m.ned to everlasting fame.” His early history, with his conduct during the revolution, is probably familiar to every school hoy. His subsequent life is thus described by Dr. Allen, in his American Biographical Dictionary.

”From the conclusion of the war to his death, Gen. Arnold resided chiefly in England. In 1786 he was at St. Johns, New Brunswick, engaged in trade and navigation, and again in 1790. For some cause he became very unpopular; in 1792 or 1793, was hung in effigy, and the mayor found it necessary to read the riot act, and a company of troops was called out to quell the mob. Repairing to the West Indies in 1794, a French fleet anch.o.r.ed at the same island; he became alarmed least he should be detained by the American Allies, and pa.s.sed the fleet concealed on a raft of lumber. He died in Gloucester place, London, June 14, 1801. He married Margaret, the daughter of Edward s.h.i.+ppen of Philadelphia, chief justice, and a loyalist. General Greene, it is said, was his rival. She combined fascinating manners with strength of mind. She died at London, August 24, 1804, aged 43. His sons were men of property in Canada in 1829.--His character presents little to be commended. His daring courage may indeed excite admiration; but it was a courage without reflection and without principle. He fought bravely for his country and he bled in her cause; but his country owed him no returns of grat.i.tude, for his subsequent conduct proved, that he had no honest regard to her interests, but was governed by selfish considerations. His progress from self-indulgence to treason was easy and rapid. He was vain and luxurious, and to gratify his giddy desires he must resort to meanness, dishonesty, and extortion. These vices brought with them disgrace; and the contempt, into which he fell, awakened a spirit of revenge, and left him to the unrestrained influence of his cupidity and pa.s.sion. Thus from the high fame, to which his bravery had elevated him, he descended into infamy. Thus too he furnished new evidence of the infatuation of the human mind in attaching such value to the reputation of a soldier, which may be obtained, while the heart is unsound and every moral sentiment is entirely depraved.”

It is worthy of remark that as soon as General Arnold had secured the prisoners on board, and had made preparations 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 s.h.i.+fted, and came fresh from the north; and in about one hour's time, 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 importance to the American cause, and it is marvellous to me that we ever lost the command of it. Nothing but taking a Burgoyne with a whole British army, could, in my opinion, atone for it; and notwithstanding such an extraordinary victory, we must be obliged to regain the command of that lake again, be the cost what it will; by doing this Canada will easily be brought into union and confederacy with the United States of America.

Such an event would put it out of the power of the western tribes of Indians to carry on a war with us, and be a solid and durable bar against any further inhuman barbarities committed on our frontier inhabitants, by cruel and bloodthirsty savages; for it is impossible for them to carry on a war, except they are supported by the trade and commerce of some civilized nation; which to them would be impracticable, did Canada compose a part of the American empire.

Early in the fall of the year, the little army under the command of Generals Schuyler and Montgomery, were ordered to advance into Canada. I was at Ticonderoga when this order arrived; and the Generals, with most of the field officers, requested me to 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 commission; and should, as occasion might require, command certain detachments of the army. This I considered as an honorable offer, and did not hesitate to comply with it, and advanced with the army to 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 Gen. Schuyler returned to Albany; and in consequence the command devolved upon Gen. Montgomery, whom I a.s.sisted in laying a line of circ.u.mvallation 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 the country. This reconnoiter I undertook reluctantly, choosing rather to a.s.sist at the siege 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.

I pa.s.sed 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 from thence across the Sorel to the St. Lawrence, and up the river through the parishes to Longueil, 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 of the 24th day of September I set out with my guard of about eighty men, from Longueil, to go to Laprairie**** from whence I determined to go to General Montgomery'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 importance to communicate 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 a.s.sociates, where Col. Brown proposed that, ”provided I would return to Longueil, and procure some canoes, so as to cross the river St. Lawrence a little north of Montreal, he would cross it a little to the south 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 me and those in council; and in consequence of which I returned to Longueil, collected a few canoes, and added about thirty English-Americans to my party, and crossed the river in the night of the 24th, agreeably to the proposed plan.

* A small island containing about 85 acres, ten miles north of the boundary lines of the States of New York and Vermont.

It is strongly fortified, and completely commands the water communication from lake Champlain. Here the British had a small garrison.

** St. Johns is a thriving village, in the County of Chambly, situated at the north end of lake Champlain, on the west bank of the Sorel river, twenty-eight miles southward of Montreal. It is the port of entry and clearance, between the United States and Canada. It is now connected with the St. Lawrence river by a rail-road.

*** Sorel or Richelieu River, the outlet of lake Champlain, which after a course of about 69 miles north, empties into the St. Lawrence, in north lat. 46 deg. 10 min., and long.

72 deg. 25 min. west. Sorel fort, built by the French, is at the western joint of the mouth of this river.

**** Laprairie, a populous little village, on the river St.

Lawrence, in Canada, eighteen miles north of St. Johns, and nine south-west af Montreal.

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 pa.s.s and repa.s.s three times, to carry my party across. Soon after day-break, I set a guard between me and the town, with special orders to let no person whatever pa.s.s or repa.s.s them, another guard on the other end of the road, with like directions; in the meantime, I reconnoitered the best ground to make a defence, expecting Col. Brown's party was landed on the other side of the town, he having, the day before, agreed to give three loud huzzas with his men early in the morning, 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 conclude myself to be in premunire, and would have crossed the river back again, but I knew the enemy would have discovered such an attempt; and as there could not more than one-third part of my troops cross at one 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 despatched two messengers, one to Laprairie, to Col. Brown, and the other to l'a.s.somption, a French settlement, to Mr. Walker, who was in our interest, requesting their speedy a.s.sistance, 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 friends.h.i.+p could be further confirmed; for I was jealous they were spies, as they proved to be afterwards. One of the princ.i.p.al 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 my desire, exerted himself, and had raised a considerable number of men for my a.s.sistance, which brought him 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 I was afterwards 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 had there collected, out against me. I had previously chosen my ground, but when I saw the number of the enemy as they sallied out of the town, I perceived that it 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 Gen. Montgomery's camp. I encouraged my soldiery 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 seeming a.s.surance, 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 mult.i.tude, chiefly Canadians, with a number of English who lived in town, and some Indians; in all to the number of near five hundred.

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