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The troops which had given Montgomery so much annoyance, and refused to continue with him in Canada, soon began to arrive at Ticonderoga. Schuyler, in a letter to Congress, gives a half querulous, half humorous account of their conduct. "About three hundred of the troops raised in Connecticut, passed here within a few days. An unhappy home-sickness prevails. These all came down as invalids, not one willing to re-engage for the winter's service; and, unable to get any work done by them, I discharged them en groupe. Of all the specifics ever invented for any, there is none so efficacious as a discharge for this prevailing disorder. No sooner was it administered, but it perfected the cure of nine out of ten; who, refusing to wait for boats to go by the way of Lake George, slung their heavy packs, crossed the lake at this place, and undertook a march of two hundred miles with the greatest goodwill and alacrity."

This home-sickness in rustic soldiers after a rough campaign was natural enough, and seems only to have provoked the testy and subacid humor of Schuyler; but other instances of conduct roused his indignation.

A schooner and tow galley arrived at Crown Point, with upwards of a hundred persons. They were destitute of provisions; none were to be had at the Point, and the ice prevented them from penetrating to Ticonderoga. In starving condition they sent an express to General Schuyler, imploring relief. He immediately ordered three captains of General Wooster's regiment, with a considerable body of men in bateaux, to "attempt a relief for the unhappy sufferers." To his surprise and disgust, they manifested the utmost unwillingness to comply, and made a variety of excuses, which he spurned at as frivolous, and as evincing the greatest want of humanity. He expressed himself to that effect the next day, in a general order, adding the following stinging words: "The general, therefore, not daring to trust a matter of so much importance to men of so little feeling, has ordered Lieutenant Riker, of Col. Holmes's regiment, to make the attempt. He received the order with the alacrity becoming a gentleman, an officer, and a Christian."

This high-minded rebuke, given in so public

conduct had merited it, and insured to Schuyler that persevering hostility with which mean minds revenge the exposure of their meanness.

CHAPTER IX.

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WE have endeavored to compress into a succinct account various events of the invasion of Canada, funished to Washington by letters from Schuyler and Arnold. The tidings of the capture of Montreal had given him the liveliest satisfaction. He now looked forward to equal success in the expedition against Quebec. In a letter to Schuyler he passed a high eulogium on Arnold. The merit of this gentleman is certainly great," writes he, "and I heartily wish that fortune may distinguish him as one of her favorites. I am convinced that he will do every thing that prudence and valor shall suggest to add to the success of our arms, and for reducing Quebec to our possession. Should he not be able to accomplish so desirable a work with the forces he has, I flatter myself that it will be effected when General Montgomery joins him, and our conquest of Canada will be complete."

Certain passages of Schuyler's letters, however, gave him deep concern, wherein that general complained of the embarrassments and annoyances he had experienced from the insubordination of the army. "Habituated to order," said he, "I cannot without pain see that disregard of discipline, confusion, and inattention, which reign so generally in this quarter, and I am determined to retire. Of this resolution I have advised Congress."

He had indeed done so. In communicating to the President of Congress the complaints of General Montgomery, and his intention to retire, "my sentiments," said he, "exactly coincide with his. I shall, with him, do every thing in my power to put a finishing stroke to the campaign, and make the best arrangement in my power, in order to insure success to the next. This done, I must beg leave to retire."

Congress, however, was too well aware of his value, readily to dispense with his services. His letter produced a prompt resolution expressive of their high sense of his attention and perseverance, "which merited the thanks of the United Colonies." He had alleged his impaired health-they regretted the injuries it

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had sustained in the service, but begged he would not insist on a measure "which would deprive America of the benefits of his zeal and abilities, and rob him of the honor of completing the work he had so happily begun."

What, however, produced a greater effect upon Schuyler than any encomium or entreaty on the part of Crongress, were the expostulations of Washington, inspired by strong friendship and kindred sympathies. "I am exceedingly sorry," writes the latter, "to find you so much embarrassed by the disregard of discipline, confusion, and want of order among the troops, as to have occasioned you to mention to Congress an inclination to retire. I know that your complaints are too well founded, but would willingly hope that nothing will induce you to quit the service. I have met with difficulties of the same sort, and such as I never expected; but they must be borne with. The cause we are engaged in is so just and righteous, that we must try to rise superior to every obstacle in its support; and, therefore, I beg that you will not think of resigning, unless you have carried your application to Congress too far to recede."

* * * *

And in another letter he makes a still stronger appeal to his patriotism. "I am sorry that you, and General Montgomery, incline to quit the service. Let me ask you, sir, when is the time for brave men to exert themselves in the cause of liberty and their country, if this is not? Should any difficulties that they may have to encounter at this important crisis deter them? God knows there is not a difficulty that you both very justly complain of, that I have not in an eminent degree experienced, that I am not every day experiencing; but we must bear up against them, and make the best of mankind, as they are, since we cannot have them as we wish. Let me, therefore, conjure you, and Mr. Montgomery, to lay aside such thoughts-as thoughts injurious to yourselves, and extremely so to your country, which calls aloud for gentlemen of your ability."

This noble appeal went straight to the heart of Schuyler, and brought out a magnanimous reply. "I do not hesitate," writes he, "to answer my dear general's question in the affirmative, by declaring that now or never is the time for every virtuous American to exert himself in the cause of liberty and his country; and that it is become a duty cheerfully to sacrifice the sweets of domestic felicity to attain the honest and glorious end America has in view."

[1775

In the same letter he reveals in confidence the true cause of his wish to retire from an official station; it was the annoyance he had suffered throughout the campaign from sectional prejudice and jealousy. "I could point out particular persons of rank in the army," writes he, "who have frequently declared that the general commanding in this quarter, ought to be of the colony from whence the majority of the troops came. But it is not from opinions or principles of individuals that I have drawn the following conclusion: that troops from the colony of Connecticut will not bear with a general from another colony; it is from the daily and common conversation of all ranks of people from that colony, both in and out of the army; and I assure you that I sincerely lament that people of so much public virtue should be actuated by such an unbecoming jealousy, founded on such a narrow principle." Having made this declaration, he adds, “although I frankly own that I feel a resentment, yet I shall continue to sacrifice it to a nobler object, the weal of that country in which I have drawn the breath of life, resolved ever to seek, with unwearied assiduity, for opportunities to fulfil my duty to it."

It is with pride we have quoted so frequently the correspondence of these two champions of our Revolution, as it lays open their hearts, and shows the lofty patriotism by which they were animated.

A letter from John Adams to General Thomas, alleges as one cause of Schuyler's unpopularity with the eastern troops, the "politeness" shown by him to Canadian and British prisoners; which "enabled them and their ministerial friends to impose upon him.”*

The "politeness" in fact, was that noble courtesy which a high-minded soldier extends towards a captive foe. If his courtesy was imposed upon, it only proved that, incapable of double-dealing himself, he suspected it not in others. All generous natures are liable to imposition; their warm impulses being too quick for selfish caution. It is the cold, the calculating, and the mean, whose distrustful wariness is never taken in.

CHAPTER X.

THE forming even of the skeleton of an army under the new regulations, had been a work

*Letter-Book of Gen. Thomas. MS.

ET. 43.]

of infinite difficulty; to fill it up was still more difficult. The first burst of revolutionary zeal had passed away; enthusiasm had been chilled by the inaction and monotony of a long encampment; an encampment, moreover, destitute of those comforts which, in experienced warfare, are provided by a well-regulated commissariat. The troops had suffered privations of every kind, want of fuel, clothing, provisions. They looked forward with dismay to the rigors of winter, and longed for their rustic homes and their family firesides.

Apprehending that some of them would incline to go home when the time of their enlistment expired, Washington summoned the general officers at head-quarters, and invited a delegation of the General Court to be present, to adopt measures for the defence and support of the lines. The result of their deliberations was an order that three thousand of the minute men and militia of Massachusetts, and two thousand from New Hampshire, should be at Cambridge by the 10th of December, to relieve the Connecticut regiments, and supply the deficiency that would be caused by their departure, and by the absence of others on furlough. With this arrangement the Connecticut troops were made acquainted, and as the time of most of them would not be out before the 10th, they were ordered to remain in camp until relieved. Their officers assured Washington that he need apprehend no defection on the part of their men; they would not leave the lines. The of ficers themselves were probably mistaken in their opinion of their men, for on the 1st of December, many of the latter, some of whom belonged to Putnam's regiment, resolved to go home immediately. Efforts were made to prevent them, but in vain; several carried off with them their arms and ammunition. Washington sent a list of their names to Governor Trumbull. "I submit it to your judgment," writes he, "whether an example should not be made of these men who have deserted the cause of their country at this critical juncture, when the enemy are receiving reinforcements?"

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of our common cause, and safety of our rights and privileges, for which they freely engaged.” We will here add, that the homeward-bound warriors seem to have run the gauntlet along the road; for their conduct on quitting the army drew upon them such indignation, that they could hardly get any thing to eat on their journey, and when they arrived at home, they met with such a reception (to the credit of the Connecticut women be it recorded), that many were soon disposed to return again to camp.*

On the very day after the departure homeward of these troops, and while it was feared their example would be contagious, a long, lumbering train of waggons, laden with ordnance and military stores, and decorated with flags, came wheeling into the camp, escorted by continental troops and country militia. They were part of the cargo of a large brigantine laden with munitions of war, captured and sent in to Cape Ann by the schooner Lee, Captain Manly, one of the cruisers sent out by Washington. "Such universal joy ran through the whole camp," writes an officer," as if each one grasped a victory in his own hands."

Beside the ordnance captured, there were two thousand stand of arms, one hundred thousand flints, thirty thousand round shot, and thirty-two tons of musket balls.

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Surely nothing," writes Washington, "ever came more apropos."

It was indeed a cheering incident, and was eagerly turned to account. Among the ordnance was a huge brass mortar of a new construction, weighing near three thousand pounds. It was considered a glorious trophy, and there was a resolve to christen it. Mifflin, Washington's secretary, suggested the name. The mortar was fixed in a bed; old Putnam mounted it, dashed on it a bottle of rum, and gave it the name of Congress. The shouts which rent the air were heard in Boston. When the meaning of them was explained to the British, they observed, that "should their expected reinforcements arrive in time, the rebels would pay dear in the spring for all their petty triumphs."

With Washington, this transient gleam of nautical success was soon overshadowed by the conduct of the cruisers he had sent to the St. Lawrence. Failing to intercept the brigantines, the objects of their cruise, they landed on the island of St. Johns, plundered the house of the governor and several private dwellings, and

See Letter of Gen. Greene to Samuel Ward. Am.

ET. 43.]

fined on board of the Gaspee, "with a bar of iron fixed to one of his legs, and iron to his hands." Levi was bent upon effecting his deliverance, and the mode proposed was in unison with the bold but wild schemes of the colonel. We quote his crude, but characteristic letter.

"Have some thoughts of going to England incognito, after my brother; but am not positively certain he is sent there, though believe he is. Beg your Excellency will favor me with a line, and acquaint me of any intelligence concerning him, and if your Excellency please, your opinion of the expediency of going after him, and whether your Excellency would think proper to advance any money for that purpose, as my brother was a man blessed with more fortitude than fortune. Your Excellency may think, at first thought, I can do nothing by going to England; I feel as if I could do a great deal, by raising a mob in London, bribing the jailer, or by getting into some servile employment with the jailer, and over-faithfulness make myself master of the key, or at least be able to lay my hand on it some night. I beg your Excellency will countenance my going; can muster more than one hundred pounds, my own property; shall regard spending that no more than one copper. Your Excellency must know Allen was not only a brother, but a real friend that sticketh closer than a brother."

In a postscript he adds, "cannot live without going to England, if my brother is sent there." In reply, Washington intimated a belief that the colonel had been sent to England, but discountenanced Levi's wild project of following him thither; as there was no probability of its success, and he would be running himself into danger without a prospect of rendering service to his brother.

The measure of retaliation mentioned in Washington's letter to Howe, was actually meted out by Congress on the arrival of General Prescott in Philadelphia. He was ordered into close confinement in the jail; though not put in irons. He was subsequently released from confinement, on account of ill health, and was treated by some Philadelphia families with unmerited hospitality.*

Thomas Walker, a merchant of Montreal, who, accused of traitorous dealings with the Americans, had been thrown into prison during Prescott's sway, and his country-house burnt down, undertook a journey to Philadelphia in the depth of winter, when he understood the general was a captive there, trusting to obtain satisfaction for his ill-treatment. To his great surprise, he found Mr. Prescott lodged in the best tavern of the place, walking or

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At the time of the foregoing correspondence with Howe, Washington was earnestly occupied preparing works for the bombardment of Boston, should that measure be resolved upon by Congress. General Putnam, in the preceding month, had taken possession in the night of Cobble Hill without molestation from the enemy, though a commanding eminence; and in two days had constructed a work, which, from its strength, was named Putnam's impregnable fortress.

He was now engaged on another work on Lechmere Point, to be connected with the works at Cobble Hill, by a bridge thrown across Willis's Creek, and a covered way. Lechmere Point is immediately opposite the north part of Boston; and the Scarborough ship-of-war was anchored near it. Putnam availed himself of a dark and foggy day (Dec. 17), to commence operations, and broke ground with four hundred men, at ten o'clock in the morning, on a hill at the Point. "The mist," says a contemporary account, was so great as to prevent the enemy from discovering what he was about until near twelve o'clock, when it cleared up, and opened to their view our whole party at the Point, and another at the causeway throwing a bridge over the creek. The Scarborough, anchored off the Point, poured in a broadside. The enemy from Boston threw shells. The garrison at Cobble Hill returned fire. Our men were obliged to decamp from the Point, but the work was resumed by the brave old general at night."

On the next morning, a cannonade from Cobble Hill obliged the Scarborough to weigh anchor, and drop down below the ferry; and General Heath was detached with a party of men to carry on the work which Putnam had commenced. The enemy resumed their fire. Sentinels were placed to give notice of a shot or shell; the men would crouch down or dodge it, and continue on with their work. The fire ceased in the afternoon, and Washington visited the hill, accompanied by several officers, and inspected the progress of the work. It was to consist of two redoubts, on one of which was to be a mortar battery. There was, as yet, a deficiency of ordnance; but the prize mortar

riding at large through Philadelphia and Bucks counties, feasting with gentlemen of the first rank in the province, and keeping a levée for the reception of the grandees. In consequence of which unaccountable phenomena, and the little prospect of his obtaining any adequate redress in the present unsettled state of public affairs, Mr. Walker has returned to Montreal.-Am. Archives, 4th Series, vol. iv. 1178.