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After breakfast, on the morning of our arrival at Whitehall, I rode to Fort AnneAugust 3, 1848Village, eleven miles south, accompanied by the editor of the "Democrat,"' whose inland attentions and free communications of valuable knowledge concerning historical localities in the vicinity contributed much to the pleasure and instruction of the journey thither.
It is a pleasant little village, situated upon a gently undulating plain near the junction of Wood Creek and East Creek, and exhibited a charming picture of quiet and prosperity There I found a venerable kinsman, nearly eighty years of age, who, in the vigor of manhood, fifty years ago, purchased an extensive tract of land in this then almost unbroken wilderness.
His dwelling, store-house, and barns occupy the site of Fort Anne, the only traces of which are the stumps of the strong pine pickets with which it was stockaded. It was built by the English, under General Nicholson, in 1757, two years after the construction of Fort Edward. It was a small fortress, and was never the scene of any fierce hostility. Although ninety years had elapsed since its pickets were set in the ground, what remained of them
* D. S. Murray, Esq.
** William A. Moore, Esq., president of the Whitehall Bank.
*** This view is from the bridge which crosses Wood Creek, looking south. The distant building on the right is the dwelling of Mr. Moore. Nearer is his store-house, and on the left are his out-houses. The stumps of the pickets may be traced in a circular line from his dwelling along the road to the crook in the fence, and so on to the barns and in their yards.
Putnam and Rogers near Fort Anne.—Ambush of French and Indians. —Desperate Battle.—Perilous Situation of Putnam.
exhibited but slight tokens of decay, and the odor of turpentine was almost as strong and fresh when one was split as if it had been planted but a year ago.
August, 1778About a mile northwest of Fort Anne is the place where a severe battle was fought between a corps of five hundred Rangers, English and provincials, under Putnam and Rogers, and about the same number of French and Indians, under the famous partisan Molang. Putnam and Rogers were sent by Abercrombie to watch the enemy in the neighborhood of Ticonderoga. When they arrived at South Bay, an expansion of Lake Champlain near Whitehall, the two leaders separated, taking with them their respective divisions, but, being discovered by the watchful Molang, they deemed it expedient to reunite and return immediately to Fort Edward. Their troops were marched in three divisions, the right commanded by Rogers, the left by Putnam, and the center by Captain Dalyell (sometimes written D'Ell).
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They halted at evening on the border of Clear River, a fork of Wood Creek before its junction with East Creek, and within a mile of Fort Anne. Early in the morning, while the lines were forming, Major Rogers, regardless of the teachings of the Ranger's great virtue, precaution, amused himself by firing at a target with a British officer. The sound reached the vigilant ears of Molang and his Indian allies, who, unknown to the Americans, were then encamped within a mile of them. He had been searching for the Rangers to intercept them, and the firing was a sure guide. His men were posted in ambush along the paths which he knew they must take, and as the Americans, just at sunrise, emerged from a dense thicket into the open woods, Molang and his followers fell upon them with great fury. Rogers seemed to be appalled by the fierce onslaught and fell back, but Putnam and Dalyell sustained their position and returned the fire. The conflict became desperate. At length Putnam's fusee missed fire when the muzzle was within a few inches of the breast of a giant savage, who thrust it aside and fell upon the major with the fierceness of a panther, made him prisoner, bound him firmly to a tree, and then returned to the battle. Captain Dalyell now assumed the command. The provincials fell back a little, but, rallying, the fight continued with great vigor. The tree to which Putnam was bound was about midway between the combatants, and he stood in the center of the hottest fire of both, utterly unable to move body or limb, so firmly had the savage secured him. His garments were riddled by bullets, but not one touched his person. For an hour he remained in this horrible position, until the enemy were obliged to retreat, when he was unbound and carried off by his savage captors. * Wounded, exhausted, and dispirited, Putnam was forced to make a weary march over a rough country, led on by
* At one time, when the provincials fell back, and the Indians were near him, a young warrior amused himself by trying his skill in throwing his tomahawk as near Putnam's head as possible without hitting him. When he was tired of his amusement, a French subaltern, more savage than the Indian, leveled his musket at Putnam's breast, but it missed fire. The major claimed the consideration due to a prisoner of war, but the barbarous Frenchman was unmoved, and, after striking him a violent blow upon his cheek with the butt end of his musket, left him to die, as he thought.
Humanity of Putnam's Captor.—Preparation for Torture.— Interposition of Moling.—Battle-ground near Fort Anne.
the savages, who had tied cords so tightly around his wrists that his hands were swollen and dreadfully tortured. He begged for release either from the pain or from life. A French officer interposed and unbound the cords; and just then his captor came up, and, with a sort of savage humanity, supplied him with moccasins, and expressed great indignation because of the harsh treatment his prisoner had endured. I saysavage humanity, for it was present kindness, exercised while a dark and atrocious intention for the future made the Indian complaisant—the prisoner was reserved for the stake, and all those exquisite tortures with which savage cruelty imbitters the death of its victims. Deep in the forest he was stripped naked, and with green withes was bound fast to a sapling. The wood was piled high around him, and the wild death-songs of the savages, mingled with fierce yells, were chanted. The torch was applied, and the crackling flame began to curl around the fagots, when a black cloud, that for an hour had been rising in the west, poured down such a volume of water that the flames were nearly extinguished. But they burst forth again in fiercer intensity, and Putnam lost all hope of escape, when a French officer dashed through the crowd of savages, scattered the burning wood, and cut the cords of the victim. It was Molang himself. Some relenting savage had told him of the horrid orgies in the forest, and he flew to the rescue of Putnam, just in time to save him. After enduring much suffering, he was delivered to Montcalm at Ticonderoga, and by him sent to Montreal, where he experienced great kindness from Colonel Peter Schuyler, a fellow-prisoner, through whose influence he was exchanged for a prisoner taken by Colonel Bradstreet at Fort Frontenac. *
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About three fourths of a mile north of Fort Anne is a narrow, rocky defile, through which Wood Creek and the Champlain Canal flow and the rail-road is laid. Art has widened the defile by excavation, and cultivation has swept away much of the primitive forest. Here in this rocky gorge, then just wide enough for the stream and a narrow pathway, a severe engagement occurred between the ninth British regiment, under Lieutenant-colonel Hill, and a detachment of Americans, under Colonel Long. This officer, with about fiveJuly 8, 1777hundred republicans, principally of the invalids and convalescents of the army, was posted at Fort Anne by General Schuyler, with directions to defend it. Warned of the approach of the enemy, Colonel Long prepared not only for defense, but to go out and meet him. The Americans fit for duty were mustered, and early in the morning they marched up to the southern edge of the defile. "At half past ten in the morning," said Major
* See Humphrey's and Peabody's Biographies of Putnam.
** This sketch was taken from the rail-road, looking north. The forest upon the left is the "thick wood" of the Revolution, but on the right cultivated fields have taken the place of the forest to a considerable extent. On the right is seen the Champlain Canal, here occupying the bed of Wood Creek. The fence on the left indicates the place of the publie road between Fort Anne and Whitehall When this sketch was made (1848) the rail-road was unfinished.
Battle near Fort Anno.—Return to Whitehall.—Visit to "Putnam's Rock."—View of the Scene
Forbes in his testimony on the trial of Burgoyne, "they attacked us in front with a heavy and well-directed fire; a large body of them passed the creek on the left, and fired from a thick wood across the creek on the left flank of the regiment; they then began to recross the creek and attack us in the rear; we then found it necessary to change our ground, to prevent the regiment being surrounded; we took post on a high hill to our right. As soon as we had taken post, the enemy made a very vigorous attack, which continued upward of two hours; and they certainly would have forced us, had it not been for some Indians that arrived and gave the Indian hoop, which we answered with three cheers; the rebels soon after that gave way." * The major's facts are correct, but his inferences are wide of the mark. The Americans were not frightened by the Indian war-hoop, for it was a sound very familiar to their ears, but they "gave way" because their ammunition gave, out, Had Colonel Long been well supplied with powder and ball, the British troops would have been destroyed or made prisoners. Captain Montgomery, of Hill's regiment, was severely wounded and captured by the Americans, who, when they gave way, set fire to Fort Anne and retreated to the headquarters of General Schuyler at Fort Edward.
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We returned to Whitehall toward evening. The ride was delightful through a country ever-changing and picturesque, particularly when approaching the lake. On the left rise the lofty summits of the hills on Lake George; on the east those of Vermont and Massachusetts; and down the lake, northward, Mount Defiance may be plainly seen. After an early evening meal, I procured a water-man and his boat, and, accompanied by my traveling companion and Mr. M., proceeded to "Put's Bock," near "the Elbow," a mile from the landing, and near the entrance of South Bay. ** The lake is here very narrow, and the shores on either side are abrupt, rocky, and wooded. It was about sunset when we arrived at the scene of Putnam's exploit, and the deep shadows that gathered upon the western shore, where the famous ledge is situated, heightened the picturesque character of the scenery and the force of the historical associations which lionize the spot. Upon the rough ledge of rocks seen on the right of the picture Major Putnam and fifty men boldly opened a musket battery upon about five hundred French and Indian warriors under the famous Molang, who were in canoes upon the water.3 This event occurred a few days previous to the unfortunate battle
* Burgoyne's State of the Expedition, &c., p. 81.
** Here I will correct a serious geographical error which I find in Peabody's Life of Putnam. He says. "Abercrombie ordered Major Putnam to proceed with fifty men to South Bay, in Lake George." Again. "The detachment marched to Wood Creek, near the point where it flows into South Bay." South Bay is in Lake Champlain, and Wood Creek does not flow into it at all. See note respecting Wood Creek, ante, page 137.
*** The view is taken front the Vermont shore, where rafts of timber and piles of lumber (as seen on the left) betoken the chief article of commerce here. The ledge of rocks, which rises about fourteen feet in height, is on the New York side. From the perpendicular point, rugged and broken, there is a gentle slope thickly covered with timber and shrubbery, and affording an excellent place for an ambuscade. The small trees in the distance mark the point at the Elbow, and the hill beyond is a portion of Skene's Mountain which overlooks the harbor at Whitehall.
Putnam and Rogers on Lake Champlain.—Attack of the former on the French and Indians.—The Saratoga and Confiance
near Fort Anne, where Putnam was taken prisoner. Major Rogers, who was also sent by Abercrombie to watch the movements of the enemy, had taken a station twelve miles distant, and Putnam and his fifty rangers composed the whole force at this point. Near the front of the ledge he constructed a parapet of stone, and placed young pine trees before it in such a natural manner that they seemed to have grown there, and completely hid the defense from observers on the water below. Fifteen of his men, disabled by sickness, were sent back to the camp at Fort Edward, and with his thirty-five he resolved to attack what ever force might appear upon the lake. Four days he anxiously awaited the appearance of the enemy, when early one evening he was gratified by the intelligence that a large fleet of canoes, filled with warriors, was leisurely approaching from South Bay. It was the time of full moon, the sky was unclouded, and from his hiding-place every movement of the In dians could be distinctly seen. Putnam called in all his sentinels, and in silence every man was stationed where his fire might be most effective. Not a musket was to be moved until orders were given by the commander. The advanced canoes had passed the parapet, when one of the soldiers hit his firelock against a stone. The sound was caught by the watchful ears of Molang and his followers. The canoes in the van halted, and the whole fleet was crowded in confusion and alarm directly beneath the ledge. A brief consultation ensued, and then they turned their prows back toward South Bay. As they wheeled the voice of Putnam shouted "Fire," and with sure aim each bullet reached a victim. The enemy returned the fire, but without effect, and for a time the carnage produced by the Rangers was dreadful in that dense mass upon the waters. Molang soon perceived by the firing that his assailants were few, and detached a portion of his men to land below and attack the provincials in the rear. Putnam had perceived this movement, and sent a party of twelve men, under Lieutenant Durkee, who easily repulsed them when they attempted to land. About daybreak he learned that the enemy had actually debarked at a point below, and was marching to surround him. This fact, and the failure of his ammunition, warned him to retreat. Nearly half the number of the enemy perished on that fatal night, while Putnam lost but two men, who were wounded. * While retreating through the thick forest, an unexpected enemy fired upon them, but wounded only one man. Putnam instantly ordered his men to charge, when his voice was recognized by the other leader, who cried out, "Hold, we are friends!" "Friends or foes," shouted Putnam, "you deserve to perish for doing so little execution with so fair a shot." The party proved to be a detachment sent to cover their retreat.
It was late in the evening twilight before I finished my sketch, but our obliging waterman would not consent to row us back until we should go to his house near by and see his "pullet and chickens"—his wife and children. His dwelling was at the foot of the steep Vermont shore, completely hemmed in by rocks and water, but embowered in shrubbery. His children brought us fruit, and we were refreshed by draughts of water from a mountain spring close by, of icy coldness. The moon was shining brightly when we passed the Elbow on our return, and by its pale light we could see the ribs and other decaying timber of the British ship of warConfianceand the American shipSaratoga. The former was sunk there in 1814, and the latter, which was afterward used as a store-ship, was scuttled by some miscreants while her officers and crew were at the village participating in a Fourth of July celebration. It was about nine in the evening when we reached the hotel. There I met that distinguished and venerable divine, Rev. Mr. Pierce, of Brookline, Massachusetts, and was charmed and edified by his conversation for more than an hour. ** His memory was
* These men, one a provincial, the other an Indian, were placed under an escort of two others, and sent toward the camp. They were pursued and overtaken by the Indians. The wounded men told the escort to leave them to their fate, which they did. When the savages came up, the provincial, knowing that he would be put to death, fired and killed three. He was instantly tomahawked. The Indian was kept a prisoner, and from him Putnam learned the above facts when they met some time afterward in Canada.
** Mr. Pierce was seventy-five years old. He distinctly remembered Washington's visit to Boston in 1789. The cavalcade halted near the entrance to the city, and Washington was obliged to sit on horseback two hours, while the state authorities and the selectmen decided a point of etiquette—whose province it was to receive him. The selectmen carried the day. He explained to me the nature of the apparent error in the registration of the birth and christening of Dr. Franklin. The entries of both events are upon the same day, Sunday, 17th of January, 1706. An old man, who remembered the circumstance well, for it caused some gossip at the time, told him that Dr. Franklin's mother went to church and received the communion in the morning, gave birth to her son at noon, and in the afternoon the child was christened.
Departure from Whitehall. Sholes's Landing. Ride to the Battle-ground of Hubbardton. Picturesque Scenery.
richly stored with historic learning, and our intercourse was to me a pleasant and profitable appendix to the events and studies of the day.
Early the next morning we left Whitehall on the steamerSaranac, and landed at Chip-man's Point, or Sholes's Landing, the port of Orwell, and the most eligible point whence to reach the battle-ground of Hubbardton. The morning was delightful, and the ride in a light wagon, accompanied by the intelligent son of Mr. Sholes, proved to be one of peculiar pleasure. Our route was through the pleasant little village of Orwell, five miles southeast of the landing. There we turned southward, and followed the margin of the broad ravine or valley through which the retreating Americans and pursuing British passed when St. Clair evacuated Ticonderoga. The road was made very tortuous to avoid the high ridges and deep valleys which intersect in all directions, while at the same time it gradually ascends for several miles. I never passed through a more picturesque country. The slopes and valleys were smiling with cultivation, and in every direction small lakes were sparkling in the noonday sun. Within about six miles of the battle-ground we descended into a romantic valley imbosomed in a spur of the Green Mountains-. We passed several small lakes, lying one below another, over which arose rough and lofty precipices, their summits crowned with cedar, hemlock, pine, and spruce. The tall trunks of the pines, black and branchless, scathed by lightning and the tempest, arose above the surrounding forests like mighty sentinels, and added much to the wild grandeur of the scene. From the rough and narrow valley we ascended to a high, rolling table-land, well cultivated; and upon the highest part ofJuly 7, 1777this tract, surrounded on the south and east by loftier hills, the battle of Hubbardton occurred.
General Fraser, whom I have already mentioned as having started after the AmericansJuly 6.from Ticonderoga, continued his pursuit of St. Clair and his army through the day, and, learning from some Tory scouts that they were not far in advance, he ordered his men to lie that night upon their arms, to be ready to push forward at daybreak. About three in the morning his troops were put in motion, and about five o'clock his advanced scouts discovered the American sentries, who discharged their pieces and retreated to the main body of the detachment, which was left behind by St. Clair, under the command of Colonels Warner and Francis. Their place of encampment was in the southeast part of Hubbardton, Rutland county, near the Pittsford line, upon the farm of John Selleck, * not far from the place where the Baptist meeting-house now stands. The land is now owned by a son of Captain Barber, who was in the engagement. He kindly accompanied me to the spot, and pointed out the localities, according to the instructions of his patriotic father. The engraving on the opposite page represents the general view of the place of encampment and the battle-ground. When the British advanced guard discovered the Americans, they were breakfasting near a dwelling which stood close by the Baptist meeting-house, the two-story building seen in the center of the picture. The dark spot near the fence, seen between the larger trees in the foreground ("I" in the map of the battle), marks the remains of the cellar of the old house. The road on the right is that leading toward Ticonderoga; and the roofs of the houses, seen over the orchard on the right, mark the direction of the road lead-
* The first settlement in this town was in the spring of 1774, and consisted of only two families. In 1775 seven other families joined them, among whom was Mr. Selleck, and these nine constituted the whole population of the town when the battle occurred. On the day previous a party of Indians and Tories, under Captain Sherwood, came upon the inhabitants and made prisoners of two farmers named Hickock, and their families, and two young men named Keeler and Kellogg. They captured two or three others, and carried them all off to Ticonderoga, leaving their families to shift for themselves. The sorrowing wives and children made a toilsome journey over the mountains to Connecticut, whence they had emigrated. The men remained prisoners at Ticonderoga (except two who escaped) until after the surrender of Bur-goyne in October, when that fortress was retaken by the Americans.—See Thompson's Gazetteer of Vermont.
View of the Battle-ground.—The Battle.—Retreat and Surrender of Colonel Hale.—His reasonable Excuse.
ing down to the valley toward Castleton.
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The large "boulder in front is famed by local tradition as the observatory of the first man of the British van who discovered the Americans; and it is related that he was shot by a sentinel before he could leap down. The range of hills in the distance are the Pitts-ford Mountains, over which a portion of the Americans fled toward Rutland. A small branch of a tributary of Castleton Creek runs through the intervale between the meeting-house and the hills beyond. The hottest of the fight occurred upon the slope between the large tree and the meeting-house. It was covered with ripe grain when I visited it, andAugust, 1848the achievements of the tiller gathering his sheaves seemed more truly great than all the honors and renown which wholesale slaughter ever procured for a warrior chieftain.
It was an excessively hot morning in July when the battle of HubbardtonJuly 7, 1777commenced. The American force consisted of the three regiments of Warner, Francis, and Hale, and such stragglers from the main army then at Castleton (six miles in advance) as had been picked up on the way. The Americans were about thirteen hundred strong, and the British, under Fraser, about eight hundred. Reidesel and his Germans were still in the rear, but, expecting his arrival every moment, Fraser began the attack at seven in the morning, fearing that the Americans might escape if he delayed. The charge of the enemy was well received, and the battle raged furiously. Had Warner been well sustained by the militia regiment under Colonel Hale, he might have secured a victory; but that officer, with his troops, fled toward Castleton, hoping to join the main army there under St Clair, leaving the commander with only seven hundred men to oppose the enemy. On the way, Hale and his men fell in with an inconsiderable party of British soldiers, to whom they surrendered, without offering any resistance, although the numbers were about equal. * They
* Colonel Hale has been severely censured for this act of apparent cowardice, but when every circumstance is taken into account, there is much to induce a mitigation of blame. Himself and a large portion of his men were in feeble health, and quite unfit for active service, and his movement was one of precaution rather than of cowardly alarm. Rivals, soon after he surrendered, circulated reports unfavorable to his reputation. On hearing of them, he wrote to General Washington, asking him to obtain his exchange, that he might vindicate his character by a court-martial; but before this could be accomplished he died, while a prisoner on Long Island, in September, 1780.
Battle of Hubbardton.—Defeat of the Americans.—Death of Colonel Francis.
were well stationed upon the brow of the hill, but so sudden and unexpected was the attack, that no other breast-works could be thrown up than such as a few trees afforded.
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For a long time the conflict was severe, for Reidesel still did not make his appearance. The British grenadiers occupied the Castleton road, and prevented the Americans from retreating in that direction; but the republicans poured in such a galling fire upon them, that they gave way and victory was almost within the grasp of the patriots. At that moment Riodesel with his companions appeared, his drums beating and banners flying. The firing reaching his ears, he had pressed on as rapidly as the rough forest road would allow. His Chasseurs, under Major Barner, were immediately brought into action in support of Fraser's left flank. At that moment the whole British line made a bayonet charge upon the Americans with terrible effect. The latter, supposing that the Germans in full force were coming upon them, broke and fled with great precipitation, some over the Pittsford Mountains toward Rutland, and others down the valley toward Castleton. * The Americans lost three hundred and twenty-four in killed, wounded, and The brave Colonel Francis was slain while gallantly fighting at the head of his regiment, and twelve officers were made prisoners. The British loss was one hundred and eighty-three, among whom were Major Pratt and about twenty inferior officers. ** The British also captured about two hundred stand of arms.
When General St. Clair heard the firing at Hubbardton, he attempted to send a force to the relief of Warner, but the militia absolutely refused to go, and the regulars and others were too far on their way to Fort Edward to be recalled. St. Clair had just learned, too, that Burgoyne was at Skenesborough, and he hastened forward to join General Schuyler, which he did on the 12th, with his troops worn down by fatigue and lack of provisions. The loss to the Americans by the evacuation of these posts on the lake was one hundred and twenty-eight pieces of cannon and a considerable quantity of ammu-
July, 1777.
* Explanation of the Map.—A, advanced corps of General Fraser, attacked at B; C, position of the corps while it was forming; D, Earl of Balcarras detached to cover the right wing; E, the van-guard and Brunswick company of Chasseurs coming up with General Reidesel; F, position of the Americans after Riedesel arrived. The lines extending downward show the course of the retreat of the Americans over the Pittsford Mountains. H, position of the British after the action; I, house where the wounded were carried, mentioned in the description of the picture on page 144; 0, position of the Americans previous to the action. This map is a reduced copy of one drawn by P. Gerlach, Burgoyne's deputy quartermaster general.
* Many of the Americans, in their precipitate retreat, threw away their muskets to rid themselves of the encumbrance. Some have been found, within a few years, in the woods on the line of the retreat. One of them, of American manufacture, is in my possession, and dated 1774. The bayonet is fixed, the flint is in the lock, and the powder and ball are still in the barrel.
** The statements concerning the loss in this battle are various and contradictory. Some accounts say that nearly six hundred, who were wounded, crawled off into the woods and died; and others, again, put the American loss down at less than three hundred. There is a preponderance of testimony in favor of the number I have given, and it is, doubtless, near the truth.
General Schuyler's Forces at Fort Edward.—Return to Lake Champlain.—An old Soldier.—Mount Independence.
nition and stores. In every respect the event was disastrous, and, as we have seen, produced much discontent in the army and disappointment throughout the country.
General Schuyler summoned the fragments of the broken armies to his camp at Fort Edward. All united, numbered only four thousand four hundred men, and this was the whole effective force opposed to the southward progress of Burgoyne. Nearly one half of these deserted, not to the enemy, but to their homes, before the end of the month. Yet the general neither despaired nor remained idle. He kept his men busily engaged in destroying bridges, felling trees, digging deep trenches, and making other obstructions in the forest paths from Fort Anne to Fort Edward, to delay the progress of the enemy; and this labor resulted in greatly impeding Burgoyne's march, and in delaying his arrival upon the Hudson. The subsequent events connected with these two armies, excepting the battle of Bennington and the expedition of St. Leger, have already been noticed in detail. The latter will be considered in their proper order.
I lingered upon the battle-ground in Hubbardton as long as time would allow, for the view from that lofty table-land is both beautiful and grand, particularly in the direction of Castleton, on the southwest. A broad valley, bounded on either side by ranges of high hills, cultivated to their summits, and diversified by rich intervales covered with ripe harvests and dark green corn, spread out below us, a lovely picture of peace and prosperity. The view at its further extremity is bounded by the high hills near the Hudson, and on the left some of the higher summits were dark with spruce and cedar trees. We returned to Sholes's by the way of Hyde's, in Sudbury, where we dined. As usual, every delicacy of the season was upon his table. Indeed, "a table equal to Hyde's" has become a proverbial expression of praise among tourists, for it is his justifiable boast that he spreads the choicest repasts that are given between Montreal and New Orleans. His beautifully embowered mansion is near the base of the Green Mountains, by the margin of a charming lake, on the borders of a rich valley, about twelve miles east of Lake Champlain, and a more delightful summer retreat can not well be imagined. Our route thither was over a rough mountain road. Among the rugged hills we met a venerable, white-haired man leaning upon two canes, and greatly bowed by the weight of years. I accosted him with reverence, and, in answer to my inquiry whether he was a soldier of the Revolution, he informed me that he was with General Sullivan on Rhode Island, and was on duty in the fort on Butt's Hill at the time of the engagement there on the 29th of August, 1778, known as the battle of Quaker Hill.
We arrived at Sholes's between five and six o'clock in the evening. Our excellent host and his neighbor and friend, living at the foot of Mount Independence, anticipating my wishes, had a skiff in readiness to convey us across the bay to visit that memorable spot. Although I had ridden forty miles during the day, and storm-clouds had been gathering thick and fast for two hours, and now threatened a speedy down-pouring, I was too anxious for the visit to allow fatigue or rain to thwart my purpose. Accompanied by my companion and another young lady, the daughter of Mr. S., we pushed across the bay—five of us in a light skiff, and the wind rising—to the foot of Mount Independence, on its steep southern side.
We ascended by the old road constructed in 1776. The top of the summit is flat tableland, and afforded a very eligible site for strong military works. It was first occupied by the Americans early in 1776, when they commenced the erection of batteries, barracks, and houses, with the view of making it a place of general rendezvous, and a recruiting station for the army of the north. * It was heavily timbered when they took possession of it, but almost all the trees were felled for building purposes and for fuel. A second growth of tim-
* Mount Independence is situated in the southwest corner of Orwell, in Vermont, one mile north of Sholes's Landing, and contains about two hundred and fifty acres of land, some of whieh is arable. The troops stationed there in 1776 received the news of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, by the Continental Congress, with the most extravagant demonstrations of joy. It was just after the reveille, on the morning of the 18th of July, that a courier arrived with the glad tidings; and, by a general order, a gala day for the soldiers ensued. At sunset they fired a salute of thirteen guns, in honor of the confederation, and named the place on which they were encamped Mount Independence, in commemoration of the event.
Present Appearance of Mount Independence.—Graves of Soldiers.— Vandalism.—Money-digging.
ber now covers it, except where the parades were. The trees are chiefly maple, some of them twenty inches in diameter. There are about two hundred of them on the mount, large enough for the extraction of sap for sugar. The young shoots never sprang up where the old parades were, and they present bald spots, bearing only stinted vegetation.
During the summer and autumn of 1776 the Americans were diligent in fortifying this spot. They erected a picketed fort and several batteries, dug many wells, and constructed nearly three hundred houses for the use of the soldiers. The remains of these are scattered in all directions upon the mount; and the foundation walls of the hospital, just commenced when the evacuation in 1777 took place, are now nearly as perfect as when first laid. Narrow ditches, indicating the line of pickets on the north part of the mount, and running in various directions and at every angle, are distinctly seen; and the remains of the "horseshoe battery," on the extreme north end, are very prominent. Near this battery is a flint quarry, which seems to have been well known and used by the Indians, for arrow-heads in every stage of manufacture, from the almost unshapen flint to the perfect weapon, are found there, I was told, in abundance. Toward the close of 1776 a fatal epidemic prevailed in the garrison there, called the "camp distemper," and the graves of the victims are thickly strewn among the trees.
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At one time the deaths were so numerous that it was found impossible to dig a grave for each, and the spot was shown to me where fourteen bodies were deposited in a single broad grave, about daylight one morning. Among the hundreds of these mounds of the dead, scattered over the mount, there was only one individualized by an inscribed stone. The rude monument is a rough limestone, and the inscription, "M. Richardson Stoddard," appeared as if carved with the point of a bayonet. The tenant was probably an officer of militia from a town formerly named Stoddard, in Vermont. Already some Vandal visitor had broken off a "relic" from its diminutive bulk, and ere this some patriotic antiquary has doubtless slipped the whole stone into his pocket, and secured a legacy of rare value for his wondering children! A propensity to appropriate to private use a fragment of public monuments, and a pitiful ambition, allied in kind to that of the Ephesian incendiary, to associate one's name by pencil or penknife inscription with places of public resort, have already greatly marred and disfigured a large proportion of our few monuments, and can not be too severely condemned. Charity, that "covereth the multitude of sins," has not a mantle broad enough to hide this iniquity, for none but heartless knaves or brainless fools would thus deface even the meanest grave-stone in a church-yard. Wolfe's monument on the Plains of Abraham, and the monuments at Red Bank and Paoli, bear mournful testimony of this barbarism which is abroad.
At various times Mount Independence, as well as Crown Point and other localities in the neighborhood of Lake Champlain, has been scarred by money-diggers. In 1815 a company came hither from Northern Vermont, to search for military treasures which wise seers and the divining rod declared were buried there. The chief of the party, entertaining misgivings on his arrival as to the success of money-digging, purchased land in the neighborhood, and while his more credulous companions were digging deep into the mount, he was plowing deep into his land. He raised grain and esculent roots—they raised gravel and worthless clay. When their patience and money were exhausted, they shouldered their picks and departed for Western New York. He remained, became a thrifty farmer, and, by the unerring divining rod of industry, found the treasure. Credulous people still dig at these localities, and several pits were pointed out to me which had been recently excavated. *
* Three or four years ago the white wife of a negro dreamed three times—the cabalistic number—that at a certain place on Mount Independence immense treasures were buried when the Americans evacuated that post. They were, doubtless, the identical silver balls which calumny asserted Burgoyne fired into St. Clair's camp as the price of treason. The negro procured aid, and a pure white dog to watch them while digging. A moonlight night was the chosen time. The secret leaked into the ears of some boys, and set their mischievous wits at work. A large pumpkin was emptied of its seeds, and staring eyes, wide nostrils and grinning teeth were cut out of the rind, and a lighted candle was placed within the sphere. This hideous head, with its fiery eyes and nostrils, was placed on the caput of a bold boy, who marched up to the pit where the money-diggers were at work. The dog first discovered the grinning specter, and with a loud yell, leaped from the cavity and ran for life. The men followed, leaving pick, spade, hat, and coat behind, quite sure that the "gentleman in black" was close upon their heels -, and they have ever since believed that he guards the treasures, and sometimes takes an evening stroll on Mount Independence.
Return to Sholes's.—Darkness on the Lake.—View from Sholes's Landing.
Darkness came on, and the rain pattered upon the leaves before we descended to the shore; and by the time we were fairly out upon the lake our destined haven was invisible.
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The wind was fresh and the waters rough. One of the ladies guided the helm, but her bright eyes could not discern the distant shore, and her nautical skill was unavailing. The son of Mr. S., anticipating such a dilemma, discharged a small swivel at the landing, and by its beacon flash we were safely guided until we came within the rays of the candles at the house. Wet and weary, we supped and retired early, to resume our journey in the morning. *
* This is a view from Chipman's Point, or Sholes's Landing, looking north. The high ridge on the right, in the distance, is Mount Independence. The higher and more distant hill on the left, over the cedar, is Mount Defiance, and the elevation beyond is Mount Hope. Fort Ticonderoga is on the other side of Mount Independence, in a line with the highest part.
Chimney Point.—First Settlement by the French.—Fort St. Frederic.—Distant View of Crown Point
"The green earth sends its incense up from every mountain shrine,
From every flower and dewy cup that greeted the sunshine.
The mists are lifted from the rills like the white wing of prayer
They lean above the ancient hills, as doing homage there.
The forest-tops are lowly cast o'er breezy hill and glen,
As if a prayerful spirit pass'd on nature as on men."
Whittier.