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Title: Of the Capture of Ticonderoga
His Captivity and Treatment by the British
Author: Ethan Allen
Release Date: March 15, 2013 [EBook #42341]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OF THE CAPTURE OF TICONDEROGA ***
Produced by David Widger
OF THE CAPTURE OF TICONDEROGA
His Captivity and Treatment by the British
By Col. Ethan Allen
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
FIFTH EDITION, WITH NOTES
BURLINGTON:
1849.
No apology need be offered for presenting a new Edition of the following
Narrative, of one of the most remarkable men of the age in which he lived.
It is given in the plain language of its self-educated author, without any
alteration. The Senior publisher has been intimately acquainted with his
widow, who died about ten years since, and has been assured by her that
this narrative is printed as he wrote it without alteration; and, that it
shows more of his true character, than all else ever written of him.
Little is known of the life of Col. Allen, but what is found in
Biographical Dictionaries, Spark's American Biography, and his Memoirs
written by Mr. Moore, from whose introduction the following just tribute
to his memory is copied:
"Perhaps no individual, of equal advantages, and the station he occupied
in life, contributed more towards establishing the independence of our
country, than Ethan Allen, the subject of this memoir. The mass of the
people among whom he resided, were rude and uncultivated; yet bold in
spirit and zealous in action. It consequently followed, that no one, save
a man of strong natural endowments—of much decision, energy and
bravery, could control their prejudices and inclinations. Habit had
rendered them familiar with danger, and impatient of restraint; hence, it
followed, that no policy, unless proceeding from a source in which they
had confidence, ever gained their approbation. Upon Allen, whose courage
was undoubted, and whose zealous devotion to their interests was
universally acknowledged, they implicitly relied. They had known him in
adversity and prosperity—they had weighed him, and found nothing
lacking. To friend or foe, he was ever the same unyielding advocate of the
rights of man, and universal liberty. The policy, therefore he upheld, as
beneficial to the common cause of American liberty, ever found strong and
efficient supporters in the friends with whom he associated, and by whom
he was known.
"From the commencement of our Revolutionary struggle, until its final
close, Ethan Allen proved a zealous and strenuous supporter of the cause.
Whether in the field or the council—whether at home, a freeman among
the mountains of Vermont, or loaded with the manacles of despotism, in a
foreign country, his spirit never quailed beneath the sneer of the tory,
or the harsh threats of insolent authority. A stranger to fear, his
opinions were ever given without disguise or hesitation: and, an enemy to
oppression, he sought every opportunity to redress the wrongs of the
oppressed. It is not to be supposed, however, that he was faultless. Like
other men, he had his errors—like other men, his foibles. Yet he was
not wilfully stubborn in either. When convinced of an erroneous position,
he was ever willing to yield a victory; but, in theory, as in practice, he
contested every inch of ground; and only yielded when he had no weapons
left to meet his antagonist. This trait in his character serves, at least,
to prove, that he was honest in his conclusions, however erroneous the
premises from which they were deduced.
"Much error of opinion prevails among all classes of individuals, at the
present period, in relation to the character of Col. Allen. He is
generally viewed as a coarse, ignorant man, void of all the social
feelings, and arrogant in all his pretensions. Even Mr. Dwight, in his
"Travels in New England," reports him in this light; and deems him only
worthy a brief and unjust notice in his work. In what manner Mr. Dwight
came in possession of the facts upon which he predicated his conclusions,
is beyond the knowledge of the author of this Memoir: but, certain it is,
he has materially misrepresented the moral principles, and in fact, the
general character of Col. Allen. It is presumed, however, that Mr. Dwight,
like many other travelers, drew his inferences from the gossip of the
people among whom he associated, without being at the trouble of extending
his inquiries to a source from whence he might have derived every material
fact in relation to the subject. In making this suggestion, the author
would not be understood as attaching any particular blame to Mr. Dwight;
but merely as correcting an error of opinion which is quite too
prevalent in our country."
Burlington, Vt. Aug. 1st, 1848
PUBLISHED IN 1807.
In announcing the publication of this little, simple, true, and
unvarnished narrative, the publishers have complied with the wishes
of a number of persons, who had a desire to keep in remembrance the hero
of Ticonderoga, and the exploits he performed. It is believed that there
is not a copy for sale in any bookstore in the United States; and the
style of printing, at the time of its first appearance, which is now near
thirty years since, was in so unimproved a condition, that it has never
been seen but in the shabby dress of a large and ragged pamphlet. The
events of those "troublous times" in which Col. Allen took a conspicuous
part, are rendered doubly interesting from the lively, unadorned manner of
his own narration. The high compliments which he pays to the prowess,
uniform perseverance and resolution, manifested by the﹃Green Mountain
Boys﹄of his native State, will no doubt be an inducement to them, and to
his countrymen generally, to read and preserve this monument of him, and,
as they con the pages of this "little book" which he has "left them," to
imitate the coolness and courage of the deceased veteran.
The sufferings and cruelties borne by him and his fellow soldiers,
frequently draw from him in the course of his narrative, a language
the most severe, with respect to a country from whom we originated, with
whom we are now at peace, and with whom it is our policy to continue on a
friendly footing; but the candid and the feeling mind should make great
allowance for the unparalleled situation of our affairs, for the
sufferings of his handful of little "Spartans," for whom he felt a
father's and a brother's affection. These circumstances must have given a
deep coloring to the pencil which was portraying his own and his country's
wrongs. On the whole, we think this little tract may be re-perused, with
advantage and pleasure, by the aged, and read with much edification and
entertainment by the young. As it is deemed that the very words, in every
respect made use of by the Colonel, would be more acceptable to the
reader, than any artificial decoration of style we shall invariably adhere
to the original.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.
NARRATIVE.
INTRODUCTION.
Induced by a sense of duty to my country, and by the application of many
of my worthy friends, some of whom are of the first characters, I have
concluded to publish the following narrative of the extraordinary scenes
of my captivity, and the discoveries which I made in the course of the
same, of the cruel and relentless disposition and the behaviour of the
enemy, towards the prisoners in their power; from which the state
politician, and every gradation of character among the people, to the
worthy tiller of the soil, may deduce such inferences as they shall think
proper to carry into practice. Some men are appointed into office, in
these States, who read the history of the cruelties of this war, with the
same careless indifference, as they do the pages of the Roman history;
nay, some are preferred to places of trust and profit by the tory
influence. The instances are (I hope) but rare, and it stands all freemen
in hand to prevent their further influence, which, of all other things,
would be the most baneful to the liberties and happiness of this country;
and, so far as such influence takes place, robs us of the victory we have
obtained at the expense of so much blood and treasure.
I should have exhibited to the public a history of the facts herein
contained, soon after my exchange, had not the urgency of my private
affairs, together with more urgent public business, demanded my attention,
till a few weeks before the date hereof. The reader will readily discern,
that a Narrative of this sort could not have been written when I was a
prisoner. My trunk and writings were often searched under various
pretences; so that I never wrote a syllable, or made even a rough minute
whereon I might predicate this narration, but trusted solely to my memory
for the whole. I have, however, taken the greatest care and pains to
recollect the facts and arrange them; but as they touch a variety of
characters and opposite interests, I am sensible that all will not be
pleased with the relation of them. Be this as it will, I have made truth
my invariable guide, and stake my honor on the truth of the facts. I have
been very generous with the British in giving them full and ample credit
for all their good usage, of any considerable consequence, which I met
with among them, during my captivity; which was easily done, as I met with
but little, in comparison of the bad, which, by reason of the great
plurality of it, could not be contained in so concise a narrative; so that
I am certain that I have more fully enumerated the favors which I
received, than the abuses I suffered. The critic will be pleased to excuse
any inaccuracies in the performance itself, as the author has
unfortunately missed of a liberal education.
Bennington, March 25, 1779.
ETHAN ALLEN.
NARRATIVE.
Ever since I arrived at the state of manhood, and acquainted myself with
the general history of mankind, I have felt a sincere passion for liberty.
The history of nations, doomed to perpetual slavery, in consequence of
yielding up to tyrants their natural-born liberties, I read with a sort of
philosophical horror; so that the first systematical and bloody attempt at
Lexington, to enslave America, thoroughly electrified my mind, and fully
determined me to take part with my country. And, while I was wishing for
an opportunity to signalize myself in its behalf, directions were
privately sent to me from the then colony, (now state) of Connecticut, to
raise the Green Mountain Boys, and, if possible, to surprise and take the
fortress of Ticonderoga. This enterprise I cheerfully undertook; and,
after first guarding all the several passes that led thither, to cut off
all intelligence between the garrison and the country, made a forced march
from Bennington, and arrived at the lake opposite to Ticonderoga, on the
evening of the ninth day of May, 1775, with two hundred and thirty valiant
Green Mountain Boys; and it was with the utmost difficulty that I procured
boats to cross the lake. However, I landed eighty-three men near the
garrison, and sent their boats back for the rear guard, commanded by Col.
Seth Warner, but the day began to dawn, and I found myself under a
necessity to attack the fort, before the 'Ticonderoga Fort' is thus
described in the American Encyclopedia:—Ticonderoga; a post-town of
Essex county, New York, on the west side of the south end of Lake
Champlain, and at the north end of lake George; twelve miles south of
Crown Point, ninety-five north of Albany; population in 1820, 1493. There
is a valuable iron mine in this township.—Ticonderoga Fort, famous
in the history of the American wars, is situated on an eminence, on the
west side of lake Champlain, just north of the entrance of the outlet from
lake George into lake Champlain, fifteen miles south of Crown Point,
twenty-four north of Whitehall; lon. 73 deg. 27! W.; lat. 43. deg. 30!. N.
It is now in ruins. Considerable remains of the fortifications are still
to be seen. The stone walls of the fort, which are now standing, are in
some places, thirty feet high. Mount Defiance lies about a mile south of
the fort, and Mount Independence is about half a mile distant, on the
opposite side of the lake, in Orwell, Vermont.
It was built by the French, in the year 1756, and had all the advantages
that art and nature could give it; being defended on three sides by water,
surrounded by rocks, and where that fails, the French erected a breastwork
nine feet high. The English and Colonial troops, under General Abercrombie
were defeated here in the year 1758, but it was taken in the year
following by General Amherst. It was surprised by Colonels Allen and
Arnold, May 10, 1775. Was retaken by General Burgoyne in July, 1777, and
was evacuated after his surrender, the garrison returning to St. Johns.
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 Assembly 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 pass 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 lustre; 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 "damned 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 anchored at the same island; he became alarmed
least he should be detained by the American Allies, and
passed the fleet concealed on a raft of lumber. He died in
Gloucester place, London, June 14, 1801. He married
Margaret, the daughter of Edward Shippen 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 gratitude, 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 passion. 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 shifted, 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 assisted in laying a line of
circumvallation 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 assist 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 passed 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 associates,
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 pass and repass 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
pass or repass 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'Assomption, a French
settlement, to Mr. Walker, who was in our interest, requesting their
speedy assistance, 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 friendship could be further confirmed;
for I was jealous they were spies, as they proved to be afterwards. One of
the principal 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 assistance, 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 assurance, 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 multitude, chiefly Canadians, with a number of English who lived in
town, and some Indians; in all to the number of near five hundred.
The reader will notice that most of my party were Canadians; indeed it was
a motley parcel which composed both parties. However, the enemy began the
attack from wood-piles, ditches, buildings, and such like places, at a
considerable distance, and I returned the fire from a situation more than
equally advantageous. The attack began between two and three o'clock in
the afternoon, just before which I ordered a volunteer by the name of
Richard Young, with a detachment of nine men as a flank guard, which,
under the cover of the bank of the river, could not only annoy the enemy,
but at the same time, serve as a flank guard to the left of the main body.
The fire continued for some time on both sides; and I was confident that
such a remote method of attack could not carry the ground, provided it
should be continued till night; but near half the body of the enemy began
to flank round to my right; upon which I ordered a volunteer, by the name
of John Dugan, who had lived many years in Canada, and understood the
French language, to detach about fifty of the Canadians, and post himself
at an advantageous ditch, which was on my right, to prevent my being
surrounded: He advanced with the detachment, but instead of occupying the
post, made his escape, as did likewise Mr. Young upon the left, with their
detachments. I soon perceived that the enemy was in the possession of the
ground, which Dugan should have occupied. At this time I had but about
forty-five men with me; some of whom were wounded; the enemy kept closing
round me, nor was it in my power to prevent it; by which means, my
situation, which was advantageous in the first part of the attack, ceased
to be so in the last; and being almost entirely surrounded with such vast
unequal numbers, I ordered a retreat, but found that those of the enemy,
who were of the country, and their Indians, could run as fast as my men,
though the regulars could not. Thus I retreated near a mile, and some of
the enemy, with the savages, kept flanking me, and others crowded hard in
the rear. In fine, I expected, in a very short time to try the world of
spirits; for I was apprehensive that no quarter would be given me, and
therefore had determined to sell my life as dear as I could. One of the
enemy's officers, boldly pressing in the rear, discharged his fusee at me;
the ball whistled near me, as did many others that day. I returned the
salute, and missed him, as running had put us both out of breath: for I
conclude we were not frightened: I then saluted him with my tongue in a
harsh manner, and told him that, inasmuch as his numbers were far superior
to mine, I would surrender provided I could be treated with honor, and be
assured of good quarters for myself and the men who were with me; and he
answered I should; another officer, coming up directly after, confirmed
the treaty; upon which I agreed to surrender with my party, which then
consisted of thirty-one effective men, and seven wounded.
I ordered them to ground their arms, which they did.
The officer I capitulated with, then directed me and my party to advance
towards him, which was done; I handed him my sword, and in halt a minute
after, a savage, part of whose head was shaved, being almost naked and
painted, with feathers intermixed with the hair of the other side of his
head, came running to me with an incredible swiftness; he seemed to
advance with more than mortal speed; as he approached near me, his hellish
visage was beyond all description; snake's eyes appear innocent in
comparison of his; his features extorted;* malice, death, murder, and the
wrath of devils and damned spirits are the emblems of his countenance; and
in less than twelve feet of me, presenting his firelock; at the instant of
his present, I twitched the officer, to whom I gave my sword, between me
and the savage; but he flew round with great fury, trying to single me out
to shoot me without killing the officer; but by this time I was nearly as
nimble as he, keeping the officer in such a position that his danger was
my defence; but in less than half a minute, I was attacked by just such
another imp of hell: Then I made the officer fly around with incredible
velocity, for a few seconds of time, when I perceived a Canadian, who had
lost one eye, as appeared afterwards, taking my part against the savages;
and in an instant an Irishman came to my assistance, and drove away the
fiends, swearing by Jasus he would kill them. This tragic scene composed
my mind. The escaping from so awful a death, made even imprisonment happy;
the more so as my conquerers on the field treated me with great civility
and politeness.
*Probably meant to be distorted; though, from the
description it would appear that his visage had been
extorted from some "Gorgon or chimera dire."
The regular officers said that they were very happy to see Col. Allen: I
answered them, that I should rather chose to have seen them at General
Montgomery's camp. The gentlemen replied, that they gave full credit to
what I said, and as I walked to the town, which was, as I should guess,
more than two miles, a British officer walking at my right hand, and one
of the French noblesse at my left; the latter of which, in the action, had
his eyebrow carried away by a glancing shot, but was nevertheless very
merry and facetious, and no abuse was offered me till I came to the
barrack yard at Montreal, where I met general Prescott, who asked me my
name, which I told him: He then asked me, whether I was that Col. Allen,
who took Ticonderoga. I told him I was the very man: Then he shook his
cane over my head, calling many hard names, among which he frequently used
the word rebel, and put himself in a great rage. I told him he would do
well not to cane me, for I was not accustomed to it, and shook my fist at
him, telling him that was the beetle of mortality for him, if he offered
to strike; upon which Capt. M'Cloud of the British, pulled him by the
skirt, and whispered to him, as he afterwards told me, to this import;
that it was inconsistent with his honor to strike a prisoner. He then
ordered a sergeant's command with fixed bayonets to come forward, and kill
thirteen Canadians, which were included in the treaty aforesaid.
It cut me to the heart to see the Canadians in so hard a case, in
consequence of their having been true to me; they were wringing their
hands, saying their prayers, as I concluded, and expected immediate death.
I therefore stepped between the executioners and the Canadians, opened my
clothes, and told Gen. Prescott to thrust his bayonets into my breast, for
I was the sole cause of the Canadians taking up arms.
The guard, in the mean time, rolling their eye-balls from the General to
me, as though impatiently waiting his dread commands to sheath their
bayonets in my heart; I could, however, plainly discern, that he was in
suspense and quandary about the matter: This gave me additional hope of
succeeding; for my design was not to die, but to save the Canadians by a
finesse. The general stood a minute, when he made me the following reply;
"I will not execute you now; but you shall grace a halter at Tyburn, God
damn you."
I remember I disdained his mentioning such a place; I was,
notwithstanding, a little pleased with the expression, as it significantly
conveyed to me the idea of postponing the present appearance of death;
besides his sentence was by no means final, as to "gracing a halter,"
although I had anxiety about it, after I landed in England, as the reader
will find in the course of this history. Gen. Prescott then ordered one of
his officers to take me on board the Gaspee schooner of war, and confine
me, hands and feet, in irons, which was done the same afternoon I was
taken.
The action continued an hour and three quarters, by the watch, and I know
not to this day how many of my men were killed, though I am certain there
were but few. If I remember right, 7 were wounded; one of them, Wm.
Stewart, by name, was wounded by a savage with a tomahawk, after he was
taken prisoner and disarmed, but was rescued by some of the generous
enemy; and so far recovered of his wounds, that he afterwards went with
the other prisoners to England.
Of the enemy, were killed a major Carden, who had been wounded in eleven
different battles, and an eminent merchant, Patterson, of Montreal, and
some others, but I never knew their whole loss, as their accounts were
different. I am apprehensive that it is rare, that so much ammunition was
expended, and so little execution done by it; though such of my party as
stood their ground, behaved with great fortitude, much exceeding that of
the enemy, but were not the best of marksmen, and, I am apprehensive, were
all killed or taken; the wounded were all put into the hospital at
Montreal, and those that were not, were put on board of different vessels
in the river, and shackled together by pairs, viz, two men fastened
together by one hand-cuff, being closely fixed to one wrist of each of
them, and treated with the greatest severity, nay as criminals.
I now come to the description of the irons, which were put on me: The
hand-cuff was of the common size and form, but my leg irons, I should
imagine would weigh thirty pounds; the bar was eight feet long, and very
substantial; the shackles, which encompassed my ancles, were very tight. I
was told by the officer, who put them on, that it was the king's plate,
and I heard other of their officers say, that it would weigh forty weight.
The irons were so close upon my ancles, that I could not lay down in any
other manner than on my back. I was put into the lowest and most wretched
part of the vessel, where I got the favor of a chest to sit on; the same
answered for my bed at night; and having procured some little blocks of
the guard, who day and night, with fixed bayonets, watched over me, to
lie, under each end of the large bar of my leg irons, to preserve my
ancles from galling, while I sat on the chest, or lay back on the same,
though most of the time, night and day, I sat on it; but at length, having
a desire to lie down on my side, which the closeness of my irons forbid, I
desired the captain to loosen them for that purpose; but was denied the
favor. The Captain's name was Royal, who did not seem to be an ill-natured
man; but oftentimes said, that his express orders were to treat me with
such severity, which was disagreeable to his own feelings; nor did he ever
insult me, though many others, who come on board did. One of the officers,
by the name of Bradley, was very generous to me; he would often send me
victuals from his own table; nor did a day fail, but he sent me a good
drink of grog.
The reader is now invited back to the time I was put in irons. I requested
the privilege to write to General Prescott, which was granted. I reminded
him of the kind and generous manner of my treatment of the prisoners I
took at Ticonderoga; the injustice and ungentleman-like usage I had met
with from him, and demanded better usage, but received no answer from him.
I soon after wrote to Gen. Carleton, which met the same success. In the
mean while, many of those who were permitted to see me, were very
insulting.
I was confined in the manner I have related, on board the Gaspee schooner,
about six weeks; during which time I was obliged to throw out plenty of
extravagant language, which answered certain purposes, at that time,
better than to grace a history.
To give an instance; upon being insulted, in a fit of anger, I twisted off
a nail with my teeth, which I took to be a ten-penny nail; it went through
the mortise of the bar of my hand-cuff, and at the same time I swaggered
over those who abused me; particularly a Doctor Dace, who told me that I
was outlawed by New York, and deserved death for several years past; was
at last fully ripened for the halter, and in a fair way to obtain it. When
I challenged him, he excused himself, in consequence, as he said, of my
being a criminal; but I flung such a flood of language at him that it
shocked him and the spectators, for my anger was very great. I heard one
say, damn him, can he eat iron? After that, a small padlock was fixed to
the hand-cuff, instead of the nail; and as they were mean-spirited in
their treatment to me so it appeared to me, that they were equally
timorous and cowardly.
I was after sent, with the prisoners taken with me, to an armed vessel in
the river, which lay off against Quebec, under the command of Capt.
M'Cloud, of the British, who treated me in a very generous and obliging
manner, and according to my rank; in about twenty-four hours I bid him
farewell with regret; but my good fortune still continued. The name of the
Captain of the vessel I was put on board, was Littlejohn; who, with his
officers, behaved in a polite, generous, and friendly manner. I lived with
them in the cabin, and fared on the best, my irons being taken off,
contrary to the order he had received from the commanding officer; but
Capt Littlejohn swore, that a brave man should not be used as a rascal, on
board his ship.
Thus I found myself in possession of happiness once more, and the evils I
had lately suffered, gave me an uncommon relish for it.
Capt. Littlejohn used to go to Quebec almost every day, in order to pay
his respects to certain gentlemen and ladies; being there on a certain
day, he happened to meet with some disagreeable treatment, as he imagined,
from a Lieut, of a man-of-war, and one word brought on another, until the
Lieut, challenged him to a duel on the plains of Abraham. Capt. Littlejohn
was a gentleman, who entertained a high sense of honor, and could do no
less than accept the challenge.
At nine o'clock the next morning they were to fight. The Captain returned
in the evening, and acquainted his Lieutenant and me with the affair. His
Lieutenant was a high blooded Scotchman, as well as himself, who replied
to his Captain that he should not want for a second. With this I
interrupted him and gave the Captain to understand, that since an
opportunity had presented, I would be glad to testify my gratitude to him,
by acting the part of a faithful second; on which he gave me his hand, and
said that he wanted no better man. Says he, I am a King's officer, and you
a prisoner under my care; you must, therefore, go with me, to the place
appointed in disguise, and added further; 'You must engage me, upon the
honor of a gentleman, that whether I die or live, or whatever happens,
provided you live, that you will return to my Lieutenant on board this
ship.' All this I solemnly engaged him. The combatants were to discharge
each a pocket pistol, and then to fall on with their iron hilted muckle
whangers; and one of that sort was allotted for me; but some British
officers, who interposed early in the morning, settled the controversy
without fighting.
Now having enjoyed eight or nine days' happiness, from the polite and
generous treatment of Captain Littlejohn and his officers, I was obliged
to bid them farewell, parting with them in as friendly a manner as we had
lived together, which, to the best of my memory, was the eleventh of
November: when a detachment of General Arnold's little army appeared on
point Levi,* opposite Quebec, who had performed an extraordinary march
through a wilderness country, with design to have surprised the capital of
Canada; I was then taken on board a vessel called the Adamant, together
with the prisoners taken with me, and put under the power of an English
Merchant from London, whose name was Brook Watson; a man of malicious and
cruel disposition, and who was probably excited, in the exercise of his
malevolence, by a junto of tories, who sailed with him to England; among
whom were Col. Guy Johnson, Col. Closs, and their attendants and
associates, to the number of about thirty.
*Levi, a point of land in the river St. Lawrence, opposite
to the city of Quebec.
All the ship's crew, Col. Closs, in his personal behavior excepted,
behaved towards the prisoners with that spirit of bitterness, which is the
peculiar characteristic of tories, when they have the friends of America
in their power, measuring their loyalty to the English King by the
barbarity, fraud and deceit which they exercise towards the whigs.
A small place in the vessel, enclosed with white oak plank, was assigned
for the prisoners, and for me among the rest. I should imagine that it was
not more than twenty feet one way, and twenty-two the other. Into this
place we were all, to the number of thirty-four, thrust and hand-cuffed,
two prisoners more being added to our number, and were provided with two
excrement tubs; in this circumference we were obliged to eat and perform
the offices of evacuation, during the voyage to England; and were insulted
by every black-guard sailor and tory on board, in the crudest manner; but
what is the most surprising is, that not one of us died in the passage.
When t was first ordered to go into the filthy inclosure, through a small
sort of door, I positively refused, and endeavored to reason the before
named Brook Watson out of a conduct so derogatory to every sentiment of
honor and humanity, but all to no purpose, my men being forced in the den
already; and the rascal who had the charge of the prisoners commanded me
to go immediately in among the rest. He further added that the place was
good enough for a rebel; that it was impertinent for a capital offender to
talk of honor or humanity; that any thing short of a halter was to good
for me; and that that would be my portion soon after I landed in England;
for which purpose only I was sent thither. About the same time a
lieutenant among the tories, insulted me in a grievous manner, saying that
I ought to have been executed for my rebellion against New York, and spit
in my face; upon which, though I was hand-cuffed, I sprang at him with
both hands, and knocked him partly down, but he scrambled along into the
cabin, and I after him; there he got under the protection of some men with
fixed bayonets, who were ordered to make ready to drive me into the place
aforementioned. I challenged him to fight, notwithstanding the impediments
that were on my hands, and had the exalted pleasure to see the rascal
tremble for fear; his name I have forgot, but Watson ordered his guard to
get me into the place with the other prisoners, dead or alive; and I had
almost as lieve die as do it, standing it out until they environed me
round with bayonets; and brutish, prejudiced, abandoned wretches they
were, from whom I could expect nothing but death or wounds; however I told
them, that they were good honest fellows; that I could not blame them;
that I was only in dispute with a calico merchant, who knew not how to
behave towards a gentleman of the military establishment. This was spoken
rather to appease them for my own preservation, as well as to treat Watson
with contempt; but still I found they were determined to force me into the
wretched circumstances, which their prejudiced and depraved minds had
prepared for me; therefore, rather than die, I submitted to their
indignities, being drove with bayonets into the filthy dungeon with the
other prisoners, where we were denied fresh water, except a small
allowance, which was very inadequate to our wants; and in consequence of
the stench of the place, each of us was soon followed with a diarrhoea and
fever, which occasioned an intolerable thirst. When we asked for water, we
were, most commonly, instead of obtaining it, insulted and derided; and to
add to all the horrors of the place, it was so dark that we could not see
each other, and were overspread with body lice. We had, notwithstanding
these severities, full allowance of salt provisions, and a gill of rum per
day; the latter of which was of the utmost service to us, and, probably,
was the means of saving several of our lives. About forty days we existed
in this manner, when the land's end of England was discovered from the
mast head; soon after which, the prisoners were taken from their gloomy
abode, being permitted to see the light of the sun, and breathe fresh air,
which to us was very refreshing. The day following we landed at Falmouth.
A few days before I was taken prisoner, I shifted my clothes, by which I
happened to be taken in a Canadian dress, viz, a short fawn-skin jacket,
double-breasted, an undervest and breeches of sagathy, worsted stockings,
a decent pair of shoes, two plain shirts, and a red worsted cap; this was
all the clothing I had, in which I made my appearance in England.
When the prisoners were landed, multitudes of the citizens of Falmouth,
excited by curiosity, crowded to see us, which was equally gratifying to
us. I saw numbers on the tops of houses, and the rising adjacent grounds
were covered with them, of both sexes. The throng was so great, that the
king's officers were obliged to draw their swords, and force a passage to
Pendennis castle, which was near a mile from the town, where we were
closely confined, in consequence of orders from General Carleton, who then
commanded in Canada.
The rascally Brook Watson then set out for London in great haste,
expecting the reward of his zeal; but the ministry received him, as I have
been since informed, rather coolly; for the the minority in parliament
took advantage, arguing that the opposition of America to Great Britain,
was not a rebellion: If it is, say they, why do you not execute Col. Allen
according to law? But the majority argued that I ought to be executed, and
that the opposition was really a rebellion, but that policy obliged them
not to do it, inasmuch as the Congress had then most prisoners in their
power; so that my being sent to England, for the purpose of being
executed, and necessity restraining them, was rather a foil on their laws
and authority, and they consequently disapproved of my being sent thither.
But I had never heard the least hint of those debates, in parliament, or
of the working of their policy, until sometime after I left England.
Consequently the reader will readily conceive I was anxious about my
preservation, knowing that I was in the power of a haughty and cruel
nation, considered as such. Therefore, the first proposition which I
determined in my own mind was, that humanity and moral suasion would not
be consulted in the determining of my fate; and those that daily came in
great numbers out of curiosity, to see me, both gentle and simple, united
in this, that I would be hanged. A gentleman from America, by the name of
Temple, and who was friendly to me, just whispered me in the ear, and told
me that bets were laid in London, that I would be executed; he likewise
privately gave me a guinea, but durst say but little to me.
However, agreeably to my first negative proposition, that moral virtue
would not influence my destiny, I had recourse to stratagem, which I was
in hopes would move in the circle of their policy. I requested of the
commander of the castle the privilege of writing to Congress, who, after
consulting with an officer that lived in town, of a superior rank,
permitted me to write. I wrote, in the fore part of the letter, a short
narrative of my ill-treatment; but withal let them know that, though I was
treated as a criminal in England, and continued in irons, together with
those taken with me, yet it was in consequence of the orders which the
commander of the castle received from General Carleton; and therefore
desired Congress to desist from matters of retaliation, until they should
know the result of the government in England, respecting their treatment
towards me, and the prisoners with me, and govern themselves accordingly,
with a particular request, that if retaliation should be found necessary,
it might be exercised not according to the smallness of my character in
America, but in proportion to the importance of the cause for which I
suffered. This is, according to my present recollection, the substance of
the letter, inscribed,—"To the illustrious Continental Congress."
This letter was written with a view that it should be sent to the ministry
at London, rather than to Congress, with a design to intimidate the
haughty English government, and screen my neck from the halter.
The next day the officer, from whom I obtained license to write, came to
see me and frowned on me on account of the impudence of the letter, as he
phrased it, and further added, 'Do you think that we are fools in England,
and would send your letter to Congress, with instructions to retaliate on
our own people? I have sent your letter to Lord North.' This gave me
inward satisfaction, though I carefully concealed it with a pretended
resentment, for I found I had come Yankee him, and that the letter had
gone to the identical person I designed it for. Nor do I know, to this
day, but that it had the desired effect, though I have not heard any thing
of the letter since.
My personal treatment by Lieutenant Hamilton, who commanded the castle,
was very generous. He sent me every day a fine breakfast and dinner from
his own table, and a bottle of good wine. Another aged gentleman, whose
name I cannot recollect, sent me a good supper. But there was no
distinction in public support between me and the privates; we all lodged
on a sort of Dutch bunks, in one common apartment, and were allowed straw.
The privates were well supplied with fresh provisions, and with me took
effectual measures to rid ourselves of lice.
I could not but feel, inwardly extremely anxious for my fate. This, I
however, concealed from the prisoners, as well as from the enemy, who were
perpetually shaking the halter at me. I nevertheless treated them with
scorn and contempt; and having sent my letter to the ministry, could
conceive of nothing more in my power but to keep up my spirits, behave in
a daring, soldier-like manner, that I might exhibit a good sample of
American fortitude.* Such a conduct, I judged would have a more probable
tendency to my preservation than concession and timidity. This therefore,
was my deportment; and I had lastly determined, in my mind, that if a
cruel death must inevitably be my portion, I would face it undaunted; and,
though I greatly rejoice that I returned to my country and friends, and to
see the power and pride of Great Britain humbled; yet I am confident I
could then have died without the least appearance of dismay.
* The British must doubtless have had a high idea of the
personal prowess of Mr. Allen; and however superior their
regular discipline might have appeared in their own eyes,
yet they could not but respect his courage. To this intrepid
spirit, and the esteem it must have excited, the Colonel
probably owes his complimentary meals and his daily bottle
of wine.
I now clearly recollect that my mind was so resolved, that I would not
have trembled or shewn the least fear, as I was sensible it could not
alter my fate, nor do more than reproach my memory, make my last act
despicable to my enemies, and eclipse the other actions of my life. For I
reasoned thus, that nothing was more common than for men to die with their
friends around them, weeping and lamenting over them, but not able to help
them, which was in reality not different in the consequence of it from
such a death as I was apprehensive of; and, as death was the natural
consequence of animal life to which the laws of nature subject mankind, to
be timorous and uneasy as to the event and manner of it, was inconsistent
with the character of a philosopher and soldier. The cause I was engaged
in, I ever viewed worthy hazarding my life for, nor was I, in the most
critical moments of trouble, sorry that I engaged in it; and, as to the
world of spirits, though I knew nothing of the mode or manner of it, I
expected nevertheless, when I should arrive at such a world, that I should
be as well treated as other gentlemen of my merit.
Among the great numbers of people, who came to the castle to see the
prisoners, some gentlemen told me that they had come fifty miles on
purpose to see me, and desired to ask me a number of questions, and to
make free with me in conversation. I gave for answer that I chose freedom
in every sense of the word. Then one of them asked me what my occupation
in life had been? I answered him, that in my younger days I had studied
divinity, but I was a conjuror by profession. He replied, that I conjured
wrong at the time I was taken; and I was obliged to own, that I mistook a
figure at that time, but that I had conjured them out of Ticonderoga. This
was a place of great notoriety in England, so that the joke seemed to go
in my favor.
It was a common thing for me to be taken out of close confinement, into a
spacious green in the castle, or rather parade, where numbers of gentlemen
and ladies were ready to see and hear me. I often entertained such
audiences with harangues on the impracticability of Great Britain's
conquering the then colonies of America. At one of these times I asked a
gentleman for a bowl of punch, and he ordered his servant to bring it,
which he did, and offered it to me, but I refused to take it from the hand
of his servant; he then gave it to me with his own hand, refusing to drink
with me in consequence of my being a state criminal: However, I took the
punch and drank it all down at one draught, and handed the gentleman the
bowl: this made the spectators as well as myself merry.
I expatiated on American freedom. This gained the resentment of a young,
beardless gentleman of the company, who gave himself very great airs, and
replied that he 'knew the Americans very well, and was certain that they
could not bear the smell of powder.' I replied, that I accepted it as a
challenge, and was ready to convince him on the spot, that an American
could bear the smell of powder; at which he answered that he should not
put himself on a par with me. I then demanded of him to treat the
character of the Americans with due respect. He answered that I was an
Irishman; but I assured him that I was a full blooded Yankee, and in fine
bantered him so much, that he left me in possession of the ground, and the
laugh went against him. Two clergymen came to see me, and, inasmuch as
they behaved with civility, I returned them the same. We discoursed on
several parts of moral philosophy and Christianity; and they seemed to be
surprised that I should be acquainted with such topics, or that I should
understand a syllogism, or regular mode of argumentation. I am
apprehensive my Canadian dress contributed not a little to the surprise,
and excitement of curiosity; to see a gentleman in England regularly
dressed and well behaved would be no sight at all; but such a rebel as
they were pleased to call me, it is probable, was never before seen in
England.
The prisoners were landed at Falmouth a few days before Christmas, and
ordered on board of the Solebay frigate, Capt. Symonds, on the eighth day
of January, 1776, when our hand irons were taken off. This remove was in
consequence, as I have been since informed, of a writ of habeas corpus,
which had been procured by some gentlemen in England, in order to obtain
me my liberty.
The Solebay, with sundry other men-of-war, and about forty transports,
rendezvoused at the cove of Cork in Ireland, to take in provisions and
water.
When we were first brought on board, captain Symonds ordered all the
prisoners, and most of the hands on board to go on the deck, and caused to
be read in their hearing, a certain code of laws or rules, for the
regulation and ordering of their behavior; and then in a sovereign |
manner, ordered the prisoners me in particular, off the deck, and never to
come on it again; for, said he, this is a place for gentlemen to walk.
So I went off, an officer following me, who told me that he would show me
the place allotted for me, and took me down to the cable tier, saying to
me this is your place.
Prior to this I had taken cold, by which I was in an ill state of health,
and did not say much to the officer; but stayed there that night,
consulted my policy, and I found I was in an evil case; that a captain of
a man-of-war was more arbitrary than a king, as he could view his
territory with a look of his eye, and a movement of his finger commanded
obedience. I felt myself more desponding than I had done at any time
before; for I concluded it to be a government scheme, to do that
clandestinely which policy forbid to be done under sanction of any public
justice and law.
However, two days after, I shaved and cleansed myself as well as I could,
and went on deck. The captain spoke to me in a great rage, and said: 'did
I not order you not to come on deck?' I answered him, that at the same
time he said, 'that it was the place for gentlemen to walk; that I was
Colonel Allen, but had not been properly introduced to him.' He replied, G—d
damn you, sir, be careful not to walk the same side of the deck that I do.
This gave me encouragement, and ever after that I walked in the manner he
had directed, except when he, at certain times afterwards, had ordered me
off in a passion, and I then would directly afterwards go on again,
telling him to command his slaves; that I was a gentleman and had a right
to walk the deck; yet when he expressly ordered me off, I obeyed, not out
of obedience to him, but to set an example to the ship's crew, who ought
to obey him.
To walk to the windward side of the deck is, according to custom, the
prerogative of the captain of the man-of-war, though he, sometimes, nay
commonly, walks with his lieutenants, when no strangers are by. When a
captain from some other man-of-war, comes on board, the captains walk to
the windward side, and the other gentleman to the leeward.
It was but a few nights I lodged in the cable tier, before I gained an
acquaintance with the master of arms, his name was Gillegan, an Irishman,
who was a generous, and well disposed man, and in a friendly manner made
me an offer, of living with him in a little birth, which was allotted him
between decks, and enclosed with canvass; his preferment on board was
about equal to that of a sergeant in a regiment. I was comparatively happy
in the acceptance of his clemency, and lived with him in friendship till
the frigate anchored in the harbor of Cape Fear, North Carolina, in
America.
Nothing of material consequence happened till the fleet rendezvoused at
the cove of Cork, except a violent storm which brought old hardy sailors
to their prayers. It was soon rumored in Cork that I was on board the
Solebay, with a number of prisoners from America; upon which Messrs. Clark
& Hays, merchants in company, and a number of other benevolently
disposed gentlemen, contributed largely to the relief and support of the
prisoners, who were thirty-four in number, and in very needy
circumstances. A suit of clothes from head to foot, including an overcoat
or surtout, and two shirts were bestowed upon each of them. My suit I
received in superfine broadcloths, sufficient for two jackets and two pair
of breeches, overplus of a suit throughout, eight fine Holland shirts and
stocks ready made, with a number of pairs of silk and worsted hose, two
pair of shoes, two beaver hats, one of which was sent me richly laced with
gold, by James Bonwell. The Irish gentlemen furthermore made a large
gratuity of wines of the best sort, spirits, gin, loaf and brown sugar,
tea and chocolate, with a large round of pickled beef, and a number of fat
turkies, with many other articles, for my sea stores, too tedious to
mention here. To the privates they bestowed on each man two pounds of tea,
and six pounds of brown sugar. These articles were received on board at a
time when the captain and first lieutenant were gone on shore, by the
permission of the second lieutenant, a handsome young gentleman, who was
then under twenty years of age; his name was Douglass, son of the admiral
Douglass, as I was informed.
As this munificence was so unexpected and plentiful, I may add needful, it
impressed on my mind the highest sense of gratitude towards my
benefactors; for I was not only supplied with the necessaries and
conveniences of life, but with the grandeurs and superfluities of it. Mr
Hays, one of the donators before-mentioned, came on board, and behaved in
the most obliging manner, telling me he hoped my troubles were past; for
that the gentlemen of Cork determined to make my sea stores equal to those
of the captain of the Solebay; he made an offer of live stock and
wherewith to support them; but I knew this would be denied. And to crown
all, did send me by another person, fifty guineas, but I could not
reconcile receiving the whole to my own feelings, as it might have the
appearance of avarice; and therefore received but seven guineas only, and
am confident, not only from the exercise of the present well timed
generosity, but from a large acquaintance with gentleman of this nation,
that as a people they excel in liberality and bravery.
Two days after the receipt of the aforesaid donations, captain Symonds
came on board, full of envy towards the prisoners, and swore by all that
is good, that the damned American rebels should not be feasted at this
rate, by the damned rebels of Ireland; he therefore took away all my
liquors before-mentioned, except some of the wine which was secreted, and
a two gallon jug of old spirits which was reserved for me per favor of
lieutenant Douglass. The taking of my liquors was abominable in his sight;
he therefore spoke in my behalf, till the captain was angry with him; and
in consequence, proceeded and took away all the tea and sugar, which had
been given to the prisoners, and confiscated it to the use of the ship's
crew. Our clothing was not taken away, but the privates were forced to do
duty on board. Soon after this there came a boat to the side of the ship,
and captain Symonds asked a gentleman in it, in my hearing, what his
business was? who answered that he was sent to deliver some sea stores to
Col. Allen, which if I remember right, he said were sent from Dublin; but
the captain damned him heartily, ordering him away from the ship, and
would not suffer him to deliver the stores. I was furthermore informed
that the gentlemen in Cork, requested of Captain Symonds, that I might be
allowed to come into the city, and that they would be responsible I should
return to the frigate at a given time, which was denied them.
We sailed from England the 8th day of January, and from the cove of Cork
the 12th day of Feb'y. Just before we sailed, the prisoners with me were
divided, and put on board three different ships of war. This gave me some
uneasiness, for they were to a man zealous in the cause of liberty, and
behaved with a becoming fortitude in the various scenes of their
captivity; but those, who were distributed on board other ships of war
were much better used than those who tarried with me, as appeared
afterwards. When the fleet, consisting of about forty-five sail, including
five men of war, sailed, from the cove with a fresh breeze, the appearance
was beautiful, abstracted from the unjust and bloody designs they had in
view. We had not sailed many days, before a mighty storm arose, which
lasted near twenty-four hours without intermission. The wind blew with
relentless fury, and no man could remain on deck, except he was lashed
fast, for the waves rolled over the deck by turns, with a forcible
rapidity and every soul on board was anxious for the preservation of the
ship, alias, their lives. In this storm the Thunder-bomb man of war,
sprang a leak, and was afterwards floated to some part to the coast of
England, and the crew saved. We were then said to be in the Bay of Biscay.
After the storm abated, I could plainly discern the prisoners were better
used for some considerable time.
Nothing of consequence happened after this, till we had sailed to the
island of Maderia, except a certain favor I had received of captain
Symonds, in consequence of an application I made to him for the privilege
of his tailor to make me a suit of clothes of the cloth bestowed on me in
Ireland, which he generously granted. I could then walk the deck with a
seeming better grace. When we had reached Maderia, and anchored, sundry
gentlemen with the captain went on shore, who I conclude, gave the rumor
that I was in the frigate; upon which I soon after found that Irish
generosity was again excited; for a gentleman of that nation sent his
clerk on board, to know of me if I would accept a sea store from him,
particularly wine. This matter I made known to the generous lieutenant
Douglass, who readily granted me the favor, provided the articles could be
brought on board, during the time of his command; adding that it would be
a pleasure to him to serve me, notwithstanding the opposition he met with
before. So I directed the gentleman's clerk to inform him that I was
greatly in need of so signal a charity and desired the young gentleman to
make the utmost despatch, which he did; but in the meantime, captain
Symonds and his officers came on board, and immediately made ready for
sailing; the wind at the same time being fair, set sail when the young
gentleman was in fair sight with the aforesaid store.
The reader will doubtless recollect the seven guineas I received at the
cove of Cork. These enabled me to purchase of the purser what I wanted,
had not the Captain strictly forbidden it, though I made sundry
applications to him for that purpose; but his answer to me, when I was
sick, was, that it was no matter how soon I was dead, and that he was no
ways anxious to preserve the lives of rebels, but wished them all dead;
and indeed that was the language of most of the ship's crew. I
expostulated not only with the captain, but with other gentlemen on board,
on the unreasonableness of such usage; inferring that, inasmuch as the
government in England did not proceed against me as a capital offender,
they should not; for that they were by no means empowered by any
authority, either civil or military, to do so; for the English government
had acquitted me by sending me back a prisoner of war to America, and that
they should treat me as such. I further drew an inference of impolicy on
them, provided they should by hard usage, destroy my life; inasmuch as I
might, if living, redeem one of their officers; but the captain replied,
that he needed no directions of mine how to treat a rebel; that the
British would conquer the American rebels, hang the Congress, and such as
promoted the rebellion, me in particular, and retake their own prisoners;
so that my life was of no consequence in the scale of their policy. I gave
him for answer that if they stayed till they conquered America, before
they hanged me, I should die of old age, and desired that till such
an event took place, he would at least allow me to purchase of the purser,
from my own money, such articles as I greatly needed; but he would not
permit it, and when I reminded him of the generous and civil usage that
their prisoners in captivity in America met with, he said that it was not
owing to their goodness but their timidity; for, said he, they expect to
be conquered, and therefore dare not misuse our prisoners; and in fact
this was the language of the British officers, till Burgoyne was taken;* a
happy event! and not only of the officers but the whole British army.
* It was the plan of the British generals, to push a body of
troops from New York, to join General Burgoyne at Albany,
and by establishing a line of British posts on the Hudson,
to intercept the intercourse between the New England and
Southern States. While General Burgoyne was attempting to
advance towards Albany, General Clinton with a force of
three thousand men took possession of Fort Montgomery, after
severe loss. General Vaughan, with a body of troops, on
board of armed ships, sailed up the Hudson, as far as
Livingston's manor, where he landed a party, burnt a large
house belonging to one of the family; then sent a party to
the opposite shore and laid in ashes the town of Kingston.
But General Burgoyne, despairing of the junction between his
army and the division from New York, surrounded by a
superior army, and unable to retreat, consented to
capitulate, and the 17th of October, surrendered to the
American General. The detachment under General Vaughan
returned to New York and the plan of the British commanders
was totally frustrated.
I appeal to all my brother prisoners, who have been with the British in
the southern Department, for a confirmation of what I have advanced on
this subject. The surgeon of the Solebay, whose name was North, was a very
humane, obliging man, and took the best care of the prisoners who were
sick.
The third day of May we cast anchor in the harbor of Cape Fear, in North
Carolina, as did Sir Peter Parker's ship, of 50 guns, a little back of the
bar; for there was not depth of water for him to come into the harbor.
These two men of war, and fourteen sail of transports and others, came
after, so that most of the fleet rendezvoused at Cape Fear, for three
weeks. The soldiers on board the transports were sickly, in consequence of
so long a passage; add to this the small-pox carried off many of them.
They landed on the main, and formed a camp; but the riflemen annoyed them,
and caused them to move to an island in the harbor; but such cursing of
riflemen I never heard.
A detachment of regulars was sent up Brunswick river; as they landed, they
were fired on by those marksmen, and they came back next day damning the
rebels for their unmanly way of fighting, and swearing that they would
give no quarter, for they took sight at them, and were behind timber
skulking about. One of the detachments said they lost one man; but a negro
man who was with them, and heard what was said, soon after told me that he
helped to bury thirty-one of them; this did me some good to find my
countrymen giving them battle; for I never heard such swaggering as among
Gen. Clinton's little army who commanded at that time; and I am apt to
think there were four thousand men, though not two thirds of them fit for
duty. I heard numbers of them say, that the trees in America should hang
well with fruit that campaign for they would give no quarter. This was in
the mouths of most who I heard speak on the subject, officer as well as
soldier. I wished at that time my countrymen knew, as well as I did, what
a murdering and cruel enemy they had to deal with; but experience has
since taught this country, what they are to expect at the hands of Britons
when in their power.
The prisoners, who had been sent on board different men of war at the cove
of Cork, were collected together, and the whole of them put on board the
Mercury frigate, Capt. James Montague, except one of the Canadians, who
died on the passage from Ireland, and Peter Noble, who made his escape
from the Sphynx man-of-war in this harbour, and, by extraordinary
swimming, got safe home to New England, and gave intelligence of the usage
of his brother prisoners. The Mercury set sail from this port for Halifax,
about the 20th of May, and Sir Peter Parker was about to sail with the
land forces, under the command of Gen. Clinton, for the reduction of
Charleston, the capitol of South Carolina, and when I heard of his defeat
in Halifax, it gave me inexpressible satisfaction.
I now found myself under a worse captain than Symonds! for Montague was
loaded with prejudices against every body, and every thing that was not
stamped with royalty; and being by nature underwitted, his wrath was
heavier than the others, or at least his mind was in no instance liable to
be diverted by good sense, humor or bravery, of which Symonds was by turns
susceptible. A Capt. Francis Proctor was added to our number of prisoners
when we were first put on board this ship. This gentleman had formerly
belonged to the English service. The Captain, and in fine, all the
gentlemen of the ship, were very much incensed, against him, and put him
in irons without the least provocation, and he was continued in this
miserable situation about three months. In this passage the prisoners were
infected with the scurvy, some more and some less, but most of them
severely. The ship's crew was to a great degree troubled with it, and I
concluded that it was catching. Several of the crew died with it on their
passage. I was weak and feeble in consequence of so long and cruel
captivity, yet had but little of the scurvy.
The purser was again expressly forbid by the captain to let me have any
thing out of his store; upon which I went upon deck, and in the handsomest
manner requested the favor of purchasing a few necessaries of the purser,
which was denied me; he further told me, that I should be hanged as soon
as I arrived at Halifax. I tried to reason the matter with him, but found
him proof against reason; I also held up his honor to view, and his
behavior to me and the prisoners in general, as being derogatory to it,
but found his honor impenetrable. I then endeavored to touch his humanity,
but found he had none; for his prepossession of bigotry to his own party,
had confirmed him in an opinion, that no humanity was due to unroyalists,
but seemed to think that heaven and earth were made merely to gratify the
King and his creatures; he uttered considerable unintelligible and
grovelling ideas, a little tinctured with monarchy, but stood well to his
text of hanging me. He afterwards forbade his surgeon to administer any
help to the sick prisoners. I was every night shut down in the cable tier,
with the rest of the prisoners, and we all lived miserable while under his
power. But I received some generosity from several of the midshipmen, who
in a degree alleviated my misery; one of their names was Putrass, the
names of the others I do not recollect; but they were obliged to be
private in the bestowment of their favor, which was sometimes good wine
bitters, and at others a generous drink of grog.
Sometime in the first week of June, we came to anchor at the Hook off New
York, where we remained but three days; in which time governor Tryon, Mr.
Kemp, the old attorney general of New York, and several other perfidious
and over grown tories and land-jobbers, came on board. Tryon viewed me
with a stern countenance, as I was walking on the leeward side the deck
with the midshipmen; and he and his companions were walking with the
captain and lieutenant, on the windward side of the same, but never spoke
to me though it is altogether probable that he thought of the old quarrel
between him, the old government of New York, and the Green Mountain Boys.
Then they went with the captain into the cabin, and the same afternoon
returned on board a vessel, where at that time they took sanctuary from
the resentment of their injured country. What passed between the officers
of the ship and these visitors I know not; but this I know that my
treatment from the officers was more severe afterwards.
We arrived at Halifax not far from the middle of June, where the ship's
crew, which was infested with the scurvy, were taken on shore, and shallow
trenches dug, into which they were put, and partly covered with earth.
Indeed every proper measure was taken for their relief. The prisoners were
not permitted any sort of medicine, but were put on board a sloop which
lay in the harbor, near the town of Halifax, surrounded with several men
of war and their tenders, and a guard constantly set over them, night and
day. The sloop we had wholly to ourselves except the guard who occupied
the forecastle; here we were cruelly pinched with hunger; it seemed to me
that we had not more than one third of the common allowance. We were all
seized with violent hunger and faintness; we divided our scanty allowance
as exact as possible. I shared the same fate with the rest, and though
they offered me more than an even share, I refused to accept it, as it was
a time of substantial distress, which in my opinion I ought to partake
equally with the rest, and set an example of virtue and fortitude to our
little commonwealth.
I sent letter after letter to captain Montague, who still had the care of
us, and also to his lieutenant, whose name I cannot call to mind, but
could obtain no answer, much less a redress of grievances; and to add to
the calamity, near a dozen of the prisoners were dangerously ill of the
scurvy. I wrote private letters to the doctors, to procure, if possible,
some remedy for the sick, but in vain. The chief physician came by in a
boat, so close that the oars touched the sloop that we were in, and I
uttered my complaint in the genteelest manner to him, but he never so much
as turned his head, or made me any answer, though I continued speaking
till he got out of hearing. Our cause then became deplorable. Still I kept
writing to the captain, till he ordered the guards, as they told me, not
to bring any more letters from me to him. In the meantime an event
happened worth relating. One of the men almost dead with the scurvy, lay
by the side of the sloop, and a canoe of Indians coming by, he purchased
two quarts of strawberries, and ate them at once, and it almost cured him.
The money he gave for them was all the money he had in the world. After
that we tried every way to procure more of that fruit, reasoning from
analogy that they might have the same effect on others infested with the
same disease, but could obtain none.
Meanwhile the doctor's mate of the Mercury came privately on board the
prison sloop and presented me with a large vial of smart drops, which
proved to be good for the scurvy, though vegetables and some other
ingredients were requisite for a cure; but the drops gave at least a check
to the disease. This was a well-timed exertion of humanity, but the
doctor's name has slipped my mind, and in my opinion, it was the means of
saving the lives of several men.
The guard, which was set over us, was by this time touched with the
feelings of compassion; and I finally trusted one of them with a letter of
complaint to governor Arbuthnot, of Halifax, which he found means to
communicate, and which had the desired effect; for the governor sent an
officer and surgeon on board the prison sloop, to know the truth of the
complaint. The officer's name was Russell who held the rank of lieutenant,
and treated me in a friendly and polite manner, and was really angry at
the cruel and unmanly usage the prisoners met with; and with the surgeon
made a true report of matters to governor Arbuthnot, who, either by his
order or influence, took us next day from the prison sloop to Halifax
jail, where I first became acquainted with the now Hon. James Lovel, one
of the members of Congress for the state of Massachusetts. The sick were
taken to the hospital, and the Canadians, who were effective, were
employed in the King's works; and when their countrymen were recovered
from the scurvy and joined them, they all deserted the king's employ, and
were not heard of at Halifax, as long as the remainder of the prisoners
continued there, which was till near the middle of October. We were on
board the prison sloop about six weeks, and were landed at Halifax near
the middle of August. Several of our English-American prisoners, who were
cured of the scurvy at the hospital, made their escape from thence, and
after a long time reached their old habitations.
I had now but thirteen with me, of those who were taken in Canada, and
remained in jail with me in Halifax, who, in addition to those that were
imprisoned before, made our number about thirty-four, who were all locked
up in one common large room, without regard to rank, education or any
other accomplishment, where we continued from the setting to the rising
sun, and, as sundry of them were infected with the jail and other
distempers, the furniture of this spacious room consisted principally of
excrement tubs. We petitioned for a removal of the sick into the
hospitals, but were denied. We remonstrated against the ungenerous usage
of being confined with the privates, as being contrary to the laws and
customs of nations, and particularly ungrateful in them in consequence of
the gentleman-like usage which the British imprisoned officers met with in
America; and thus we wearied ourselves, petitioning and remonstrating, but
to no purpose at all; for general Massey, who commanded at Halifax, was as
inflexible as the devil himself, a fine preparative this for Mr. Lovel,
member of the Continental Congress.
Lieutenant Russell, whom I have mentioned before, came to visit me in
prison, and assured me that he had done his utmost to procure my parole
for enlargement; at which a British captain, who was then town-major,
expressed compassion for the gentlemen confined in the filthy place, and
assured me that he had used his influence to procure their enlargement;
his name was near like Ramsey. Among the prisoners there were five in
number, who had a legal claim to a parole, viz. James Lovel, Esq., captain
Francis Proctor, a Mr. Howland, master of a continental armed vessel, a
Mr. Taylor, his mate, and myself.
As to the article of provision, we were well served, much better than in
any part of my captivity; and since it was Mr. Lovel's misfortunes and
mine to be prisoners, and in so wretched circumstances, I was happy that
we were together as a mutual support to each other, and to the unfortunate
prisoners with us. Our first attention was the preservation of ourselves
and injured little republic; the rest of our time we devoted
interchangeably to politics and philosophy, as patience was a needful
exercise in so evil a situation, but contentment mean and impracticable.
I had not been in this jail many days, before a worthy and charitable
woman, by the name of Mrs. Blacden, supplied me with a good dinner of
fresh meats every day, with garden fruit, and sometimes with a bottle of
wine: notwithstanding which I had not been more than three weeks in this
place before I lost all appetite to the most delicious food, by the jail
distemper, as also did sundry of the prisoners, particularly a sergeant
Moore, a man of courage and fidelity. I have several times seen him hold
the boatswain of the Solebay frigate, when he attempted to strike him, and
laughed him out of conceit of using him as a slave.
A doctor visited the sick, and did the best, as I suppose, he could for
them, to no apparent purpose. I grew weaker and weaker, as did the rest.
Several of them could not help themselves. At last I reasoned in my own
mind, that raw onion would be good. I made use of it, and found immediate
relief by it, as did the sick in general, particularly sergeant Moore,
whom it recovered almost from the shades; though I had met with a little
revival, still I found the malignant hand of Britain had greatly reduced
my constitution with stroke upon stroke. Esquire Lovel and myself used
every argument and entreaty that could be well conceived of in order to
obtain gentleman-like usage, to no purpose. I then wrote Gen. Massey as
severe a letter as I possibly could with my friend Lovel's assistance. The
contents of it was to give the British, as a nation, and him as an
individual, their true character. This roused the rascal, for he could not
bear to see his and the nation's deformity in that transparent letter,
which I sent him; he therefore put himself in a great rage about it, and
showed, the letter to a number of British officers, particularly to
captain Smith of the Lark frigate, who, instead of joining with him in
disapprobation, commended the spirit of it; upon which general Massey said
to him do you take the part of a rebel against me? Captain Smith answered
that he rather spoke his sentiments, and there was a dissention in opinion
between them. Some officers took the part of the general, and others of
the captain. This I was informed of by a gentleman who had it from captain
Smith.
In a few days after this, the prisoners were ordered to go on board of a
man of war, which was bound for New York; but two of them were not able to
go on board, and were left at Halifax; one died; and the other recovered.
This was about the 12th of October, and soon after we had got on board,
the captain sent for me in particular to come on the quarter deck. I went,
not knowing that it was captain Smith, or his ship, at that time, and
expected to meet the same rigorous usage I had commonly met with, and
prepared my mind accordingly; but when I came on deck, the captain met me
with his hand, welcomed me to his ship, invited me to dine with him that
day, and assured me that I should be treated as a gentleman, and that he
had given orders, that I should be treated with respect by the ship's
crew. This was so unexpected and sudden a transition, that it drew tears
from my eyes, which all the ill usage I had before met with, was not able
to produce nor could I at first hardly speak, but soon recovered myself
and expressed my gratitude for so unexpected a favor; and let him know
that I felt anxiety of mind in reflecting that his situation and mine was
such, that it was not probable that it would ever be in my power to return
the favor. Captain Smith replied, that he had no reward in view, but only
treated me as a gentleman ought to be treated; he said this is a mutable
world, and one gentleman never knows but it may be in his power to help
another. Soon after I found this to be the same captain Smith who took my
part against general Massey; but he never mentioned anything of it to me,
and I thought it impolite in me to interrogate him as to any disputes
which might have arisen between him and the general on my account, as I
was a prisoner, and that it was at his option to make free with me on that
subject, if he pleased; and if he did not, I might take it for granted
that it would be unpleasing for me to query about it, though I had a
strong propensity to converse with him on that subject.
I dined with the captain agreeable to his invitation, and oftentimes with
the lieutenant, in the gun-room, but in general ate and drank with my
friend Lovel and the other gentlemen who were prisoners with me, where I
also slept.
We had a little berth enclosed with canvass, between decks, where we
enjoyed ourselves very well, in hopes of an exchange; besides, our friends
at Halifax had a little notice of our departure, and supplied us with
spirituous liquor, and many articles of provision for the cost. Captain
Burk, having been taken prisoner, was added to our company, (he had
commanded an American armed vessel) and was generously treated by the
captain and all the offices of the ship, as well as myself. We now had in
all near thirty prisoners on board, and as we were sailing along the
coast, if I recollect right, off Rhode Island, captain Burk, with an under
officer of the ship, whose name I do not recollect, came to our little
berth, proposed to kill captain Smith and the principal officers of the
frigate and take it; adding that there were thirty-five thousand pounds
sterling in the same. Captain Burk likewise averred that a strong party
out of the ship's crew was in the conspiracy, and urged me, and the
gentleman that was with me, to use our influence with the private
prisoners, to execute the design, and take the ship with the cash into one
of our own ports.
Upon which I replied, that we had been too well used on board to murder
the officers; that I could by no means reconcile it to my conscience, and
that, in fact, it should not be done; and while I was yet speaking, my
friend Lovel confirmed what I had said, and farther pointed out the
ungratefulness of such an act; that it did not fall short of murder, and
in fine all the gentlemen in the berth opposed captain Burk and his
colleague.
But they strenuously urged that the conspiracy would be found out, and
that it would cost them their lives, provided they did not execute their
design. I then interposed spiritedly, and put an end to further argument
on the subject, and told them that they might depend upon it, upon my
honor, that I would faithfully guard captain Smith's life. If they should
attempt the assault, I would assist him, for they desired me to remain
neuter, and that the same honor that guarded captain Smith's life, would
also guard theirs and it was agreed by those present not to reveal the
conspiracy, to the intent that no man should be put to death, in
consequence of what had been projected; and captain Burk and his colleague
went to stifle the matter among their associates. I could not help calling
to mind what captain Smith said to me, when I first came on board;﹃This
is a mutable world, and one gentleman never knows but that it may be in
his power to help another.﹄Captain Smith and his officers still behaved
with their usual courtesy, and I never heard any more of the conspiracy.
We arrived before New York, and cast anchor the latter part of October,
where we remained several days, and where captain Smith informed me, that
he had recommended me to admiral Howe and general Sir Wm. Howe, as a
gentleman of honor and veracity, and desired that I might be treated as
such. Captain Burk was then ordered on board a prison-ship in the harbor.
I took my leave of captain Smith, and with the other prisoners, was sent
on board a transport ship, which lay in the harbor, commanded by captain
Craige who took me into the cabin with him and his lieutenant. I fared as
they did, and was in every respect well treated, in consequence of
directions from captain Smith. In a few weeks after this I had the
happiness to part with my friend Lovel, for his sake, whom the enemy
affected to treat as a private; he was a gentleman of merit, and liberally
educated, but had no commission; they maligned him on account of his
unshaken attachment to the cause of his country. He was exchanged for a
governor Phillip Skene of the British. I was continued in this ship till
the latter part of November, where I contracted an acquaintance with the
captain of the British; his name has slipped my memory. He was what we may
call a genteel, hearty fellow. I remember an expression of his over a
bottle of wine, to this import: "That there is a greatness of soul for
personal friendship to subsist between you and me, as we are upon opposite
sides, and may at another day be obliged to face each other in the field."
I am confident that he was as faithful as any officer in the British army.
At another sitting he offered to bet a dozen of wine, that fort Washington
would be in the hands of the British in three days. I stood the bet, and
would, had I known, that that would have been the case; and the third day
afterwards we heard a heavy cannonade, and that day the fort was taken
sure enough. Some months after, when I was on parole, he called upon me
with his usual humor, and mentioned the bet. I acknowledged I had lost it,
but he said he did not mean to take it then, as I was a prisoner; that he
would another day call on me, when their army came to Bennington. I
replied, that he was quite too generous, as I had fairly lost it; besides,
the Green-Mountain-Boys would not suffer them to come to Bennington. This
was all in good humor. I should have been glad to have seen him after the
defeat at Bennington, but did not. It was customary for a guard to attend
the prisoners, which was often changed. One was composed of tories from
Connecticut, in the vicinity of Fairfield and Green Farms. The sergeant's
name was Holt. They were very full of their invectives against the
country, swaggered of their loyalty to the king, and exclaimed bitterly
against the "cow'ardly yankees," as they were pleased to term them, but
finally contented themselves with saying, that when the country was
overcome, they should be well rewarded for their loyalty out of the
estates of the whigs, which would be confiscated.
This I found to be the general language of the tories, after I arrived
from England on the American coast. I heard sundry of them relate that the
British generals had engaged them an ample reward for their losses,
disappointments and expenditures, out of the forfeited rebels' estates.
This language early taught me what to do with tories' estates, as far as
my influence can go. For it is really a game of hazard between whig and
tory. The whigs must inevitably have lost all, in consequence of the
abilities of the tories, and their good friends the British; and it is no
more than right the tories should run the same risk, in consequence of the
abilities of the whigs. But of this more will be observed in the sequel of
this narrative.
Some of the last days of November, the prisoners were landed at New York,
and I was admitted to parole with the other officers, viz: Proctor,
Howland and Taylor. The privates were put into filthy churches in New
York, with the distressed prisoners that were taken at Fort Washington;
and the second night, sergeant Roger Moore, who was bold and enterprising,
found means to make his escape with every of the remaining prisoners that
were taken with me, except three, who were soon after exchanged. So that
out of thirty-one prisoners, who went with me, the round exhibited in
these sheets, two only died with the enemy, and three only were exchanged;
one of whom died after he came within our lines; all the rest, at
different times, made their escape from the enemy.
I now found myself on parole, and restricted to the limits of the city of
New York, where I soon projected means to live in some measure agreeably
to my rank, though I was destitute of cash. My constitution was almost
worn out by such a long and barbarous captivity. The enemy gave out that I
was crazy, and wholly unmanned, but my vitals held sound, nor was I
delirious any more than I had been from youth up; but my extreme
circumstances, at certain times, rendered it politic to act in some
measure the madman; and in consequence of a regular diet and exercise, my
blood recruited, and my nerves in a great measure recovered their former
tone, strength and usefulness, in the course of six months.
I next invite the reader to a retrospective sight and consideration of the
doleful scene of inhumanity, exercised by general Sir William Howe, and
the army under his command, towards the prisoners taken on Long Island, on
the 27th day of Aug. 1776; sundry of whom were, in an inhuman and
barbarous manner, murdered after they had surrendered their arms;
particularly a general Odel, or Woodhull, of the militia; who was hacked
to pieces with cutlasses, when alive, by the light horsemen, and a captain
Fellows, of the continental army, who was thrust through with a bayonet,
of which wound he died instantly. Sundry others were hanged up by the neck
till they were dead; five on the limb of a white oak tree, and without any
reason assigned, except that they were fighting in defence of the only
blessing worth preserving. And indeed those who had the misfortune to fall
into their hands at Fort Washington, in the month of November following,
met with but very little better usage, except that they were reserved from
immediate death to famish and die with hunger; in fine the word rebel,
applied to any vanquished persons, without regard to rank, who were in the
continental service, on the 27th of August aforesaid, was thought, by the
enemy, sufficient to sanctify whatever cruelties they were pleased to
inflict, death itself not excepted; but to pass over particulars which
would swell my narrative far beyond my design.
The private soldiers, who were brought to New-York, were crowded into
churches, and environed with slavish Hessian guards, a people of a strange
language, who were sent to America for no other design but cruelty and
desolation; and at others, by merciless Britons whose mode of
communicating ideas being intelligible in this country, served only to
tantalize and insult the helpless and perishing; but above all, the
hellish delight and triumph of the tories over them, as they were dying by
hundreds. This was too much for me to bear as a spectator; for I saw the
tories exulting over the dead bodies of their murdered countrymen. I have
gone into the churches, and seen sundry of the prisoners in the agonies of
death, in consequence of very hunger, and others speechless, and very near
death, biting pieces of chips; others pleading for God's sake, for
something to eat, and at the same time, shivering with the cold. Hollow
groans saluted my ears, and despair seemed to be imprinted on every of
their countenances. The filth in these churches, in consequence of the
fluxes, was almost beyond description. The floors were covered with
excrements. I have carefully sought to direct my steps so as to avoid' it,
but could not. They would beg for God's sake for one copper, or morsel of
bread. I have seen in one of these churches seven dead, at the same time,
lying among the excrements of their bodies.
It was a common practice with the enemy, to convey the dead from these
filthy places, in carts, to be slightly buried, and I have seen whole
gangs of tories making derision, and exulting over the dead, saying, there
goes another load of damned rebels. I have observed the British, soldiers
to be full of their black-guard jokes, and vaunting on those occasions,
but they appeared to me less malignant than tories.
The provision dealt out to the prisoners was by no means sufficient for
the support of life. It was deficient in quantity, and much more so in
quality. The prisoners often presented me with a sample of their bread,
which I certify was damaged to that degree, that it was loathsome and
unfit to be eaten, and I am bold to aver it, as my opinion, that it had
been condemned, and of the very worst sort. I have seen and been fed upon
damaged bread, in the course of my captivity, and observed the quality of
such bread as has been condemned by the enemy, among which was very little
so effectually spoiled as what was dealt out to these prisoners. Their
allowance of meat (as they told me) was quite trifling, and was of the
basest sort. I never saw any of it, but was informed, that bad as it was,
it was swallowed almost as quick as they got hold of it. I saw some of
them sucking bones after they were speechless; others, who could yet
speak, and had the use of their reason, urged me, in the strongest and
most pathetic manner, to use my interest in their behalf; for you plainly
see, said they, that we are devoted to death and destruction; and after I
had examined more particularly into their truly deplorable condition, and
had become more fully apprized of the essential facts, I was persuaded
that it was a premeditated and systematical plan of the British council,
to destroy the youths of our land, with a view thereby to deter the
country, and make it submit to their despotism; but that I could not do
them any material service, and that, by any public attempt for that
purpose, I might endanger myself by frequenting places the most nauseous
and contagious that could be conceived of. I refrained going into
churches, but frequently conversed with such of the prisoners as were
admitted to come out into the yard, and found that the systematical usage
still continued. The guard would often drive me away with their fixed
bayonets. A Hessian one day followed me five or six rods, but by making
use of my legs, I got rid of the lubber. Some times I could obtain a
little conversation, notwithstanding their severities.
I was in one of the church yards, and it was rumored among those in the
church, and sundry of the prisoners came with their usual complaints to
me, and among the rest a large boned, tall young man, as he told me, from
Pennsylvania, who was reduced to a mere skeleton; he said he was glad to
see me before he died, which he expected to have done last night, but was
a little revived; he furthermore informed me, that he and his brother had
been urged to enlist into the British, but both had resolved to die first;
that his brother had died last night, in consequence of that resolution,
and that he expected shortly to follow him; but I made the other prisoners
stand a little off, and told him with a low voice to enlist; he then
asked, whether it was right in the sight of God! I assured him that it
was, and that duty to himself obliged him to deceive the British by
enlisting and deserting the first opportunity; upon which he answered with
transport that he would enlist. I charged him not to mention my name as
his adviser, lest it should get air, and I should be closely confined, in
consequence of it. The integrity of the suffering prisoners is hardly
credibly. Many hundreds, I am confident, submitted to death, rather than
to enlist in the British service, which, I am informed, they most
generally were pressed to do. I was astonished at the resolution of the
two brothers particularly; it seems that they could not be stimulated to
such exertions of heroism from ambition, as they were but obscure
soldiers; strong indeed must the internal principle of virtue be, which
supported them to brave death, and one of them went through the operation,
as did many hundred others. I readily grant that instances of public
virtue are no excitement to the sordid and vicious, nor, on the other
hand, with all the barbarity of Britain and Heshland awaken them to a
sense of their duty to the public; but these things will have their proper
effect on the generous and brave. The officers on parole were most of them
zealous, if possible, to afford the miserable soldiery relief, and often
consulted with one and another on the subject, but to no effect, being
destitute of the means of subsistence, which they needed; nor could the
officers project any measure, which they thought would alter their fate,
or so much as be a means, of getting them out of those filthy places to
the privilege of fresh air. Some projected that all the officers should go
in procession to general Howe, and plead the cause of the perishing
soldiers; but this proposal was negatived for the following reasons, viz:
because that general Howe, must needs be well acquainted, and have a
thorough knowledge of the state and condition of the prisoners in every of
their wretched apartments, and that much more particular and exact than
any officer on parole could be supposed to have, as the general had a
return of the circumstances of the prisoners, by his own officers, every
morning, of the number which were alive, as also the number which died
every twenty-four hours; and consequently the bill of mortality, as
collected from the daily returns, lay before him with all the material
situations and circumstances of the prisoners; and provided the officers
should go in procession to general Howe, according to the projection, it
would give him the greatest affront, and that he would either retort upon
them, that it was no part of their parole to instruct him in his conduct
to prisoners; that they were mutining against his authority, and by
affronting him, had forfeited their parole; or that, more probably,
instead of saying one word to them, would order them all into as wretched
confinement as the soldiers whom they sought to relieve; for, at that
time, the British, from the general to the private sentinel, were in full
confidence, nor did they so much as hesitate, but that they should conquer
the country. Thus the consultation of the officers was confounded and
broken to pieces, in consequence of the dread, which at that time lay on
their minds, of offending Gen. Howe; for they conceived so murderous a
tyrant would not be too good to destroy even the officers, on the least
pretence of an affront, as they were equally in his power with the
soldiers; and, as Gen. Howe perfectly understood the condition of the
private soldiers, it was argued that it was exactly such as he and his
council had devised, and as he meant to destroy them it would be to no
purpose for them to try to dissuade him from it, as they were helpless and
liable to the same fate, on giving the least affront; indeed anxious
apprehensions disturbed them in their then circumstances.
Mean time mortality raged to such an intolerable degree among the
prisoners, that the very school boys in the streets knew the mental design
of it in some measure; at least, they knew that they were starved to
death. Some poor women contributed to their necessity, till their children
were almost starved, and all persons of common understanding knew that
they were devoted to the cruelest and worst of deaths. It was also
proposed by some to make a written representation of the condition of the
soldiery, and the officers to sign it, and that it should be couched in
such terms, as though they were apprehensive that the General was imposed
upon by his officers, in their daily returns to him of the state and
condition of the prisoners; and that therefore the officers, moved with
compassion, were constrained to communicate to him the facts relative to
them, nothing doubting but that they would meet with a speedy redress; but
this proposal was most generally negatived also, and for much the same
reason offered in the other case; for it was conjectured that Gen. Howe's
indignation would be moved against such officers as should attempt to whip
him over his officers' backs; that he would discern that himself was
really struck at, and not the officers who made the daily returns; and
therefore self-preservation deterred the officers from either petitioning
or remonstrating to Gen. Howe, either verbally or in writing; as also the
consideration that no valuable purpose to the distressed would be
obtained.
I made several rough drafts on the subject, one of which I exhibited to
the colonels Magaw, Miles and Atlee, and they said that they would
consider the matter; soon after I called on them, and some of the
gentlemen informed me that they had written to the general on the subject,
and I concluded that the gentleman thought it best that they should write
without me, as there was such spirited aversion subsisting between the
British and me.
In the mean time a colonel Hussecker, of the continental army, as he then
reported, was taken prisoner, and brought to New-York, who gave out that
the country was almost universally submitting to the English king's
authority, and that there would be little or no more opposition to
Great-Britain. This at first gave the officers a little shock, but in a
few days they recovered themselves; for this colonel Hussecker, being a
German, was feasting with general De Heister, his countryman, and from his
conduct they were apprehensive that he was a knave; at least he was
esteemed so by most of the officers; it was nevertheless a day of trouble.
The enemy blasphemed. Our little army was retreating in New-Jersey, and
our young men murdered by hundreds in New-York. The army of Britain and
Heshland prevailed for a little season, as though it was ordered by Heaven
to shew, to the latest posterity, what the British would have done if they
could, and what the general calamity must have been, in consequence of
their conquering the country, and to excite every honest man to stand
forth in the defence of liberty, and to establish the independency of the
United States of America forever. But this scene of adverse fortune did
not discourage a Washington. The illustrious American hero remained
immoveable. In liberty's cause he took up his sword. This reflection was
his support and consolation in the day of his humiliation, when he
retreated before the enemy, through New-Jersey into Pennsylvania. Their
triumph only roused his indignation; and the important cause of his
country, which lay near his heart, moved him to cross the Delaware again,
and take ample satisfaction on his pursuers. No sooner had he
circumvallated his haughty foes, and appeared in terrible array, but the
host of Heshland fell. This taught America the intrinsic worth of
perseverance, and the generous sons of freedom flew to the standard of
their common safeguard and defence; from which time the arm of American
liberty hath prevailed.*
* The American army being greatly reduced by the loss of men
taken prisoners, and by the departure of men whose
inlistments had expired, General Washington was obliged to
retreat towards Philadelphia; General Howe, exulting in his
successes, pursued him, notwithstanding the weather was
severely cold. To add to the disasters of the Americans,
General Lee was surprised and taken prisoner at Baskenridge.
In this gloomy state of affairs, many persons joined the
British cause and took protection. But a small band of
heroes checked the tide of British success. A divisions of
Hessians had advanced to Trenton, where they reposed in
security. General Washington was on the opposite side of the
Delaware, with about three thousand men, many of whom were
without shoes or convenient clothing; and the river was
covered with floating ice. But the general knew the
importance of striking some successful blow, to animate the
expiring hopes of the country; and on the night of December
25th, crossed the river, and fell upon the enemy by
surprise, and took the whole body consisting of about nine
hundred men. A few were killed, among whom was colonel Rahl
the commander.
This surprise and capture of the Hessians enraged the enemy, who were
still vastly more numerous than the continental troops. They therefore
collected, and marched from Princeton, to attack general Washington, who
was then at Trenton, having previously left a detachment from their main
body at Princeton, for the support of that place. This was a trying time,
for our worthy general, though in possession of a late most astonishing
victory, was by no means able to withstand the collective force of the
enemy; but his sagacity soon suggested a stratagem to effect that which,
by force, to him was at that time impracticable. He therefore amused the
enemy with a number of fires, and in the night made a forced march,
undiscovered by them, and next morning fell in with their rear-guard at
Princeton, and killed and took most of them prisoners. The main body too
late perceived their rear was attacked, hurried back with all speed, but
to their mortification, found that they were out-generalled and baffled by
general Washington, who was retired with his little army towards
Morristown, and was out of their power.* These repeated successes, one on
the back of the other, chagrined the enemy prodigiously, and had an
amazing operation in the scale of American politics, and undoubtedly was
one of the corner stones, on which their fair structure of Independency
has been fabricated, for the country at no one time has ever been so much
dispirited, as just before the morning of this glorious success, which in
part dispelled the gloomy clouds of oppression and slavery, which lay
pending over America, big with the ruin of this and future generations,
and enlightened and spirited her sons to redouble their blows on a
merciless, and haughty, and I may add perfidious enemy.
* On the 2d of January, 1777, Lord Cornwallis appeared near
Trenton, with a strong body of troops. Skirmishing took
place, and impeded the march of the British army, until the
Americans had secured their artillery and baggage; when they
retired to the southward of the creek, and repulsed the
enemy in their attempt to pass the bridge. As General
Washington's force was not sufficient to meet the enemy, and
his situation was critical, he determined, with the advice
of a council of war, to attempt a stratagem. He gave orders
for the troops to light fires in their camp, (which were
intended to deceive the enemy,) and be prepared to march.
Accordingly at twelve o'clock at night the troops left the
ground, and by a circuitous march, eluded the vigilance of
the enemy, and early in the morning appeared at Princeton. A
small action ensued, but the British troops gave way. A
party took refuge in the college, a building with strong
stone walls, but were forced to surrender. The enemy lost in
killed, wounded and prisoners, about five hundred men. The
Americans lost but few men; but among them was a most
valuable officer, general Mercer.
Farthermore, this success had a mighty effect on General Howe and his
council, and roused them to a sense of their own weakness, and convinced
them that they were neither omniscient nor omnipotent. Their obduracy and
death-designing malevolence, in some measure, abated or was suspended. The
prisoners, who were condemned to the most wretched and crudest of deaths,
and who survived to this period, though most of them died before, were
immediately ordered to be sent within Gen. Washington's lines for an
exchange, and, in consequence of it, were taken out of their filthy and
poisonous places of confinement, and sent from New-York to their friends
in haste; several of them fell dead in the streets of New-York, as they
attempted to walk to the vessels in the harbor, for their intended
embarkation. What numbers lived to reach the lines I cannot ascertain,
but, from concurrent representations which I have since received from
numbers of people who lived in and adjacent to such parts of the country,
where they were received from the enemy, I apprehend that most of them
died in consequence of the vile usage of the enemy. Some who were eye
witnesses of that scene of mortality, more especially in that part which
continued after the exchange took place, are of opinion, that it was
partly in consequence of a slow poison; but this I refer to the doctors
that attended them, who are certainly the best judges.
Upon the best calculation I have been able to make from personal
knowledge, and the many evidences I have collected in support of the
facts, I learn that, of the prisoners taken on Long-Island, Fort
Washington, and some few others, at different times and places, about two
thousand perished with hunger, cold and sickness, occasioned by the filth
of their prisons, at New-York, and a number more on their passage to the
continental lines. Most of the residue, who reached their friends, having
received their death wound, could not be restored by the assistance of
physicians and friends; but like their brother prisoners, fell a sacrifice
to the relentless and scientific barbarity of Britain. I took as much
pains as my circumstances would admit of, to inform myself not only of
matters of fact, but likewise of the very design and aims of General Howe
and his council. The latter of which I predicated on the former, and
submit it to the candid public.
And lastly, the aforesaid success of the American arms had a happy effect
on the continental officers who were on parole at New-York. A number of us
assembled, but not in a public manner, and with full bowls and glasses,
drank Gen. Washington's health, and were not unmindful of Congress and our
worthy friends on the continent, and almost forgot that we were prisoners.
A few days after this recreation, a British officer of rank and importance
in their army, whose name I shall not mention in this narrative, for
certain reasons, though I have mentioned it to some of my close friends
and confidants, sent for me to his lodgings, and told me,﹃That
faithfulness, though in a wrong cause, had nevertheless recommended me to
Gen. Sir William Howe, who was minded to make me a colonel of a regiment
of new levies, alias tories, in the British service; and proposed that I
should go with him, and some' other officers, to England, who would embark
for that purpose in a few days, and there be introduced to Lord G.
Germaine, and probably to the King; and that previously I should be
clothed equal, to such an introduction, and, instead of paper rags, be
paid in hard guineas; after this, should embark with Gen. Burgoyne, and
assist in the reduction of the country, which infallibly would be
conquered, and, when that should be done, I should have a large tract of
land, either in the New-Hampshire grants, or in Connecticut, it would make
no odds, as the country would be forfeited to the crown.﹄I then replied,
﹃That, if by faithfulness I had recommended myself to Gen. Howe, I should
be loth, by unfaithfulness, to lose the General's good opinion; besides,
that I viewed the offer of land to be similar to that which the devil
offered Jesus Christ, To give him all the kingdoms of the world, if he
would fall down and worship him; when at the same time, the damned soul
had not one foot of land upon earth.﹄This closed the conversation, and
the gentleman turned from me with an air of dislike, saying, that I was a
bigot; upon which I retired to my lodgings.*
Near the last of November, I was admitted to parole in New-York, with many
other American officers, and on the 22d of January, 1777, was with them
directed by the British commissary of prisoners to be quartered on the
westerly part of Long-Island, and our parol continued. During my
imprisonment there, no occurrences worth observation happened. I obtained
the means of living as well as I desired, which in a great measure
repaired my constitution, which had been greatly injured by the severities
of an inhuman captivity. I now began to feel myself composed, expecting
either an exchange, or continuance in good and honorable treatment; but
alas! my visionary expectations soon vanished. The news of the conquest of
Ticonderoga by general Burgoyne,** and the advance of his army into the
country, made the haughty Britons again feel their importance, and with
that, their insatiable thirst for cruelty.
The private prisoners at New-York, and some of the officers on parole,
felt the severity of it. Burgoyne was to them a demi-god. To him they paid
adoration: in him the tories placed their confidence,﹃and forgot the Lord
their God,﹄and served Howe, Burgoyne and Knyphausen,*** "and became vile
in their own imagination, and their foolish hearts were darkened,"
professing to be great politicians and relying on foreign and merciless
invaders, and with them seeking the ruin, bloodshed and destruction of
their country; "became fools," expecting with them to share a dividend in
the confiscated estates of their neighbors and countrymen who fought for
the whole country, and the religion and liberties thereof. "Therefore, God
gave them over to strong delusions, to believe a lie, that they all might
be damned."
* This conduct of Colonel Allen, though springing from duty,
ought not to be passed over without tributary praise. The
refusal of such an offer and in such circumstances, was
highly meritorious. Though the man of strict honor, and
rigid integrity, deems the plaudit of his own conscience an
ample reward for his best actions, it is a pleasing
employment, to those who witness such actions, to record
them. It is an incentive to others to 'go and do likewise.'
** In June, 1777, the British army, amounting to several
thousand men, besides Indians and Canadians, commanded by
general Burgoyne, crossed the lake and laid siege to
Ticonderoga. In a short time, the enemy gained possession of
Sugar Hill, which commanded the American lines, and general
St. Clair, with the advice of a council of war, ordered the
post to be abandoned. The retreat of the Americans was
conducted under every possible disadvantage—part of their
force embarked in batteaux and landed at Skenesborough—a
part marched by the way of Castleton; but they were obliged
to leave their heavy cannon, and on their march, lost great
part of their baggage and stores, while their rear was
harassed by the British troops. An action took place between
colonel Warner, with a body of Americans, and general
Frazer, in which the Americans were defeated, after a brave
resistance, with the loss of a valuable officer, colonel
Francis.
*** Knyphausen, a Hessian general.
The 25th day of August, I was was apprehended, and, under pretext of
artful, mean and pitiful pretences, that I had infringed on my parole,
taken from a tavern, where there were more than a dozen officers present
and, in the very place where those officers and myself were directed to be
quartered, put under a strong guard and taken to New-York, where I
expected to make my defence before the commanding officer; but, contrary
to my expectations, and without the least solid pretence of justice or a
trial, was again encircled with a strong guard with fixed bayonets, and
conducted to the provost-goal in a lonely apartment, next above the
dungeon, and was denied all manner of subsistence either by purchase or
allowance. The second day I offered a guinea for a meal of victuals, but
was denied it, and the third day I offered eight Spanish milled dollars
for a like favor, but was denied, and all I could get out of the
sergeant's mouth, was that by God he would obey his orders. I now
perceived myself to be again in substantial trouble. In this condition I
formed an oblique acquaintance with a Capt. Travis, of Virginia, who was
in the dungeon below me, through a little hole which was cut with a
pen-knife, through the floor of my apartment which communicated with the
dungeon; it was a small crevice, through which I could discern but a very
small part of his face at once, when he applied it to the hole; but from
the discovery of him in the situation which we were both then in, I could
not have known him, which I found to be true by an after acquaintance. I
could nevertheless hold a conversation with him, and soon perceived him to
be a gentleman of high spirits, who had a high sense of honor, and felt as
big, as though he had been in a palace, and had treasures of wrath in
store against the British. In fine I was charmed with the spirit of the
man; he had been near or quite four months in that dungeon, with
murderers, thieves, and every species of criminals, and all for the sole
crime of unshaken fidelity to his country; but his spirits were above
dejection, and his mind unconquerable. I engaged to do him every service
in my power, and in a few weeks afterwards, with the united petitions of
the officers, in the provost, procured his dismission from the dark
mansion of fiends to the apartments of his petitioners.
And it came to pass on the 3d day, at the going down of the sun, that I
was presented with a piece of boiled pork, and some biscuit, which the
sergeant gave me to understand, was my allowance, and I fed sweetly on the
same; but I indulged my appetite by degrees, and in a few days more, was
taken from that apartment, and conducted to the next loft or story, where
there were above twenty continental, and some militia officers, who had
been taken, and imprisoned there, besides some private gentlemen, who had
been dragged from their own homes to that filthy place by tories. Several
of every denomination mentioned, died there, some before, and others after
I was put there.
The history of the proceedings relative to, the provost only, were
particular, would swell a volume larger than this, whole narrative. I
shall therefore only notice such of the occurrences which are mostly
extraordinary.
Capt. Vandyke bore, with an uncommon fortitude, near twenty months'
confinement in this place, and in the mean time was very serviceable to
others who were confined with him. The allegation against him, as the
cause of his confinement, was very extraordinary. He was accused of
setting fire to the city of New-York, at the time the west part of it was
consumed, when it was a known fact, that he had been in the provost a week
before the fire broke out; and in like manner, frivolous were the
ostensible accusations against most of those who were there confined; the
case of two militia officers excepted, who were taken in their attempting
to escape from their parole; and probably there may be some other
instances which might justify such a confinement.
Mr. William Miller, a committee man, from West Chester county, and state
of New York, was taken from his bed in the dead of the night by his tory
neighbors, and was starved for three days and nights in an apartment of
the same gaol; add to this the denial of fire, and that in a cold season
of the year, in which time he walked day and night, to defend himself
against the frost, and when he complained of such a reprehensible conduct,
the word rebel or committee man was deemed by the enemy a sufficient
atonement for any inhumanity that they could invent or inflict. He was a
man of good natural understanding, a close and sincere friend to the
liberties of America, and endured fourteen months' cruel imprisonment with
that magnanimity of soul, which reflects honor on himself and country.
Major Levi Wells, and Capt.. Ozias Bissel, were apprehended and taken
under guard from their parole on Long-Island, to the provost, on as
fallacious pretences as the former, and were there continued till their
exchange took place which was near five months. Their fidelity and zealous
attachment to their country's cause, which was more than commonly
conspicuous was undoubtedly the real cause of their confinement.
Major Brinton Payne, Capt. Flahaven, and Capt. Randolph, who had at
different times distinguished themselves by their bravery, especially at
the several actions, in which they were taken, were all the provocation
they gave, for which they suffered about a year's confinement, each in the
same filthy gaol.
A few weeks after my confinement, on the like fallacious and wicked
pretences, was brought to the same place, from his parole on Long-Island,
Major Otho Holland Williams now a full Col. in the continental army. In
his character are united the gentleman, officer, soldier, and friend; he
walked through the prison with an air of great disdain; said he,﹃Is this
the treatment which gentlemen of the continental army are to expect from
the rascally British, when in their power? Heavens forbid it!﹄He was
continued there about five months, and then exchanged for a British Major.
Johny Fell, Esq. now a member of Congress for the state of New-Jersey, was
taken from his own house by a gang of infamous tories, and by order of a
British General was sent to the provost, where he was continued near one
year. The stench of the gaol, which was very loathsome and unhealthy,
occasioned a hoarseness of the lungs, which proved fatal to many who were
there confined, and reduced this gentleman near to the point of death; he
was indeed given over by his friends who were about him, and himself
concluded he must die. I could not endure the thought that so worthy a
friend to America should have his life stolen from him in such a mean,
base, and scandalous manner, and that his family and friends should be
bereaved of so great and desirable a blessing, as his further care,
usefulness and example, might prove to them. I therefore wrote a letter to
George Robertson, who commanded in town, and being touched with the most
sensible feelings of humanity, which dictated my pen to paint dying
distress in such lively colors that it wrought conviction even on the
obduracy of a British General, and produced his order to remove the now
honorable John Fell, Esq. out of a gaol, to private lodgings in town; in
consequence of which he slowly recovered his health. There is so
extraordinary a circumstance which intervened concerning this letter, that
it is worth noticing.
Previous to sending it, I exhibited the same to the gentleman on whose
behalf it was written, for his approbation, and he forbid me to send it in
the most positive and explicit terms; his reason was,﹃That the enemy
knew, by every morning's report, the condition of all the prisoners, mine
in particular, as I have been gradually coming to my end for a
considerable time, and they very well knew it, and likewise determined it
should be accomplished, as they had served many others; that, to ask a
favor, would give the merciless enemy occasion to triumph over me in my
last moments, and therefore I will ask no favors from them, but resign
myself to my supposed fate.﹄But the letter I sent without his knowledge,
and I confess I had but little expectations from it, yet could not be easy
till I had sent it. I may be worth a remark, that this gentleman was an
Englishman born, and from the beginning of the revolution has invariably
asserted and maintained the cause of liberty.
The British have made so extensive an improvement of the provost during
the present revolution till of late, that a very short definition will be
sufficient for the dullest apprehensions. It may be with propriety called
the British inquisition, and calculated to support their oppressive
measures and designs, by suppressing the spirit of liberty; as also a
place to confine the criminals, and most infamous wretches of their own
army, where many gentlemen of the American army, and citizens thereof,
were promiscuously confined, with every species of criminals; but they
divided into different apartments, and kept at as great a remove as
circumstances permitted; but it was nevertheless at the option of a
villainous sergeant, who had the charge of the provost, to take any
gentleman from their room, and put them into the dungeon, which was often
the case. At two different times I was taken down stairs for that purpose,
by a file of soldiers with fixed bayonets, and the sergeant brandishing
his sword at the same time, and having been brought, to the door of the
dungeon, I there flattered the vanity of the sergeant, whose name was
Keef, by which means I procured the surprising favor to return to my
companions; but some of the high mettled young gentlemen could not bear
his insolence, and determined to keep at a distance, and neither please
nor displease the villain, but none could keep clear of his abuse;
however, mild measures were the best; he did not hesitate to call us
damned rebels, and use us with the coarsest language. The Capts. Flahaven,
Randolph and Mercer, were the objects of his most flagrant and repeated
abuses, who were many times taken to the dungeon, and there continued at
his pleasure. Capt. Flahaven took cold in the dungeon, and was in a
declining state of health, but an exchange delivered him, and in all
probability saved his life. It was very mortifying to bear with the
insolence of such a vicious and ill-bred, imperious rascal. Remonstrances
against him were preferred to the commander of the town, but no relief
could be obtained, for his superiors were undoubtedly well pleased with
his abusive conduct to the gentlemen, under the severities of his power;
and remonstrating against his infernal conduct, only served to confirm him
in authority; and for this reason I never made any remonstrances on the
subject, but only stroked him, for I knew that he was but a cat's paw in
the hands of the British officers, and that, if he should use us well, he
would immediately be put out of that trust, and a worse man appointed to
succeed him; but there was no need of making any new appointment; for
Cunningham, their provost marshall, and Keef, his deputy, were as great
rascals as their army could boast of, except one Joshua Loring, an
infamous tory, who was commissionary of prisoners; nor can any of these be
supposed to be equally criminal with Gen. Sir William Howe and his
associates, who prescribed and directed the murders and cruelties, which
were by them perpetrated. This Loring is a monster!—There is not his
like in human shape. He exhibits a smiling countenance, seems to wear a
phiz of humanity, but has been instrumentally capable of the most
consummate acts of wickedness, which were first projected by an abandoned
British council clothed with the authority of a Howe, murdering
premeditatedly, in cold blood, near or quite two thousand helpless
prisoners, and that in the most clandestine, mean and shameful manner, at
New-York. He is the most mean spirited, cowardly, deceitful, and
destructive animal in God's creation below, and legions of infernal
devils, with all their tremendous horrors, are impatiently ready to
receive Howe and him, with all their detestable accomplices, into the most
exquisite agonies of the hottest regions of hell fire.*
* The publishers would suppress sortie of the language and
expressions Col. Allen occasionally makes use of, but
presuming the reader to make all reasonable allowance, both
for the style and the matter, it was thought most eligible
to give the narrative in the very dress furnished by the
author.
The 6th day of July, 1777, Gen. St. Clair, and the army under his command,
evacuated Ticonderoga, and retreated with the main body through Hubbardton
into Castleton, which was but six miles distant, when his rear-guard,
commanded by Col. Seth Warner, was attacked at Hubbarton by a body of the
enemy of about two thousand, commanded by General Fraser. Warner's command
consisted of his own and two other regiments, viz. Francis's and Hale's,
and some scattering and enfeebled soldiers. His whole number, according to
information, was near or quite one thousand; part of which were Green
Mountain Boys, about seven hundred out of the whole he brought into
action. The enemy advanced boldly, and the two bodies formed within about
sixty yards of each other. Col. Warner having formed his own regiment, and
that of Col. Francis's did not wait for the enemy, but gave them a heavy
fire from his whole line, and they returned it with great bravery. It was
by this time dangerous for those of both parties, who were not prepared
for the world to come; but Colonel Hale being apprised of the danger,
never brought his regiment to the charge, but left Warner and Francis to
stand the blowing of it, and fled, but luckily fell in with an
inconsiderable number of the enemy, and to his eternal shame, surrendered
himself a prisoner.
The conflict was very bloody. Col. Francis fell in the same, but Col.
Warner, and the officers under his command, as also the soldiery, behaved
with great resolution. The enemy broke, and gave way on the right and
left, but formed again, and renewed the attack; in the mean time the
British grenadiers, in the center of the enemy's line, maintained the
ground, and finally carried it with the point of the bayonet, and Warner
retreated with reluctance. Our loss was about thirty men killed, and that
of the enemy amounting to three hundred killed, including a Major Grant.
The enemy's loss I learnt from the confession of their own officers, when
a prisoner with them. I heard them likewise complain, that the Green
Mountain Boys took sight. The next movement of the enemy, of any material
consequence, was their investing Bennington,* with a design to demolish
it, and subject its Mountaineers, to which they had a great aversion, with
one hundred and fifty chosen men, including tories, with the highest
expectation of success, and having chosen an eminence of strong ground,
fortified it with slight breast works, and two pieces of cannon; but the
government of the young state of Vermont, being previously jealous of such
an attempt of the enemy, and in due time had procured a number of brave
militia from the government of the state of New-Hampshire, who, together
with the militia of the north part of Berkshire county, and state of
Massachusetts, and the Green Mountain Boys, constituted a body of
desperadoes, under the command of the intrepid general Stark, who in
number were about equal to the enemy. Colonel Herrick, who commanded the
Green Mountain Rangers, and who was second in command, being thoroughly
acquainted with the ground where the enemy had fortified, proposed to
attack them in their works upon all parts, at the same time. This plan
being adopted by the general and his council of war, the little militia
brigade of undisciplined heroes, with their long brown firelocks, the the
best security of a free people, without either cannon or bayonets, was, on
the 16th day of August, led on to the attack by their bold commanders, in
the face of the enemy's dreadful fire, and to the astonishment of the
world, and burlesque of discipline, carried every part of their lines in
less than one quarter of an hour after the attack became general, took
their cannon, killed and captivated more than two-thirds of their number,
which immortalized general Stark, and made Bennington famous to posterity.
* The Americans had collected a quantity of stores at
Bennington; to destroy which as well as to animate the
royalists and intimidate the patriots, general Burgoyne
detached colonel Baum, with five hundred men and one hundred
Indians. Colonel Breytnan was sent to reinforce him, but did
not arrive in time. On the 16th of August, general Stark,
with about eight hundred brave militia men attacked colonel
Baum, in his entrenched camp about six miles from
Bennington, and killed or took prisoners nearly the whole
detachment. The next day colonel Breyman was attacked and
defeated. In these actions, the Americans took about seven
hundred prisoners, and these successes served to revive the
spirits of the people. This success however was in part
counterbalanced by the advantages gained on the Mohawk by
colonel St. Leger; but this officer, attacking fort Stanwix,
was repelled, and obliged to abandon the attempt.
Among the enemy's slain was found colonel Baum, their commander, a colonel
Pfester, who headed an infamous gang of tories, and a large part of his
command; and among the prisoners was major Meibome, their second in
command, a number of British and Hessian officers, surgeons, &c. and
more than one hundred of the aforementioned Pfester's command. The
prisoners being collected together, were sent to the meeting-house in the
town, by a strong guard, and Gen. Stark not imagining any present danger,
the militia scattered from him to rest and refresh themselves; in this
situation he was on a sudden attacked by a reinforcement of one thousand
and one hundred of the enemy, commanded by a governer Skene, with two
field pieces. They advanced in regular order, and kept up an incessant
fire, especially from their field pieces, and the remaining militia
retreating slowly before them, disputed the ground inch by inch. The enemy
were heard to halloo to them, saying, stop Yankees! In the meantime, Col.
Warner, with about one hundred and thirty men of his regiment, who were
not in the first action, arrived and attacked the enemy with great fury,
being determined to have ample on account of the quarrel at Hubbardton,
which brought them to a stand, and soon after general Stark and colonel
Herrick, brought on more of the scattered militia, and the action became
general; in a few minutes the enemy were forced from their cannon, gave
way on all parts and fled, and the shouts of victory were a second time
proclaimed in favor of the militia. The enemy's loss in killed and
prisoners, in these two actions, amounted to more than one thousand and
two hundred men, and our loss did not exceed fifty men. This was a bitter
stroke to the enemy, but their pride would not permit them to hesitate but
that they could vanish the country, and as a specimen of their arrogancy,
I shall insert general Burgoyne's proclamation:—
By John Burgoyne, Esq. Lieutenant-General of his Majesty's armies in
America, Colonel of the Queen's regiment of light dragoons, Governor of
Fort William in North-Britain, one of the Representatives of the Commons
of Great Britain, in Parliament, and commanding an army and fleet employed
on an expedition from Canada, &c. &c. &c.
The forces entrusted to my command are designed to act in concert and upon
a common principle, with the numerous armies and fleets which already
display in every quarter of America, the power, the justice, and, when
properly sought, the mercy of the King.
"The cause, in which the British arms are thus exerted, applies to the
most affecting interests of the human heart; and the military servants of
the crown, at first called forth for the sole purpose of restoring the
rights of the constitution, now combine with love of their country, and
duty to their sovereign, the other extensive incitements which spring from
a due sense of the general privileges of mankind. To the eyes and ears of
the temperate part of the public, and to the breasts of suffering
thousands in the provinces, be the melancholy appeal, whether the present
unnatural rebellion has not been made a foundation for the completest
system of tyranny that ever God, in his displeasure, suffered for a time
to be exercised over a froward and stubborn generation.
"Arbitrary Imprisonment, confiscation of property, persecution and
torture, unprecedented in the inquisitions of the Romish Church, are among
the palpable enormities that verify the affirmative. These are inflicted
by assemblies and committees, who dare to profess themselves friends to
liberty, upon the most quiet subjects, without distinction of age or sex,
for the sole crime, often for the sole suspicion, of having adhered in
principle to the government under which they were born, and to which, by
every tie, divine and human, they owe allegiance. To consummate these
shocking proceedings, the profanation of religion is added to the most
profligate prostitution of common reason; the consciences of men are set
at nought; and multitudes are compelled not only to bear arms, but also to
swear subjection to an usurpation they abhor.
"Animated by these considerations, at the head of troops in the full
powers of health, discipline, and valor; determined to strike where
necessary, and anxious to spare where possible, I by these presents invite
and exhort all persons, in all places where the progress of this army may
point; and by the blessing of God I will extend it far to maintain such a
conduct as may justify me in protecting their lands, habitations and
families. The intention of this address is to hold forth security, not
depredation to the country. To those whom spirit and principle may induce
to partake of the glorious task of redeeming their countrymen from
dungeons, and re-establishing the blessings of legal government, I offer
encouragement and employment; and upon the first intelligence of their
associations, I will find means to assist their undertakings. The
domestic, the industrious, the infirm, and even the timid inhabitants I am
desirous to protect, provided they remain quietly at their houses; that
they do not suffer their cattle to be removed, nor their corn or forage
to-be secreted or destroyed; that they do not break up their bridges or
roads: nor by any other act, directly or indirectly, endeavour to obstruct
the operations of the king's troops, or supply or assist those of the
enemy. Every species of provision brought to my camp, will be paid for at
an equitable rate, and in solid coin.
"In consciousness of Christianity, my royal master's clemency, and the
honor of soldiership, I have dwelt upon this invitation, and wished for
more persuasive terms to give it impression. And let not people be led to
disregard it by considering their distance from the immediate situation of
my camp.—I have but to give stretch to the Indian forces under my
direction, and they amount to thousands, to overtake the hardened enemies
of Great Britain and America: I consider them the same wherever they may
lurk.
"If, notwithstanding these endeavours, and sincere inclinations to effect
them, the phrensy of hostility should remain, I trust I shall stand
acquitted in the eyes of God and man, in denouncing and executing the
vengeance of the state against the wilful outcasts. The messengers of
justice and of wrath await them in the field; and devastation, famine, and
every concomitant horror that a reluctant but indispensible prosecution of
military duty must occasion, will bear the way to their return."
"J. BURGOYNE.
"By order of his Excellency the Lieut. General,
"Robert Kingstoni Sec.
"Camp near Ticonderoga, 4th July, 1777."
Gen. Burgoyne was still the toast, and the severities towards the
prisoners were in great measure increased or diminished, in proportion to
the expectation of conquest. His very ostentatious Proclamation was in the
hand and mouth of most of the soldiery, especially the tories, and from
it, their faith was raised to assurance. I wish my countrymen in general
could but have an idea of the assuming tyranny, and haughty, malevolent,
and insolent behavior of the enemy at that time; and from thence discern
the intolerable calamities which this country have extricated themselves
from by their public spiritedness and bravery. The downfall of Gen.
Burgoyne,* and surrender of his whole army, dashed the aspiring hopes and
expectations of the enemy, and brought low the imperious spirit of an
opulent, puissant and haughty nation, and made the tories bite the ground
with anguish, exalting the valor of the freeborn sons of America, and
raised their fame and that of their brave commanders to the clouds, and
immortalized Gen. Gates with laurels of eternal duration. No sooner had
the knowledge of this interesting and mighty event reached His Most
Christian Majesty, who in Europe shines with a superior lustre in
goodness, policy and arms, but the illustrious potentate, auspiciously
influenced by Heaven to promote the reciprocal interest and happiness of
the ancient kingdom of France, and the new and rising states of America,
passed the great and decisive decree, that the United States of America,
should be free and independent. Vaunt no more, Old England! consider you
are but an island! and that your power has been continued longer than the
exercise of your humanity. Order your broken and vanquished battalions to
retire from America, the scene of your cruelties. Go home and repent in
dust and sackcloth for your aggravated primes. The cries of bereaved
parents, widows and orphans, reach the heavens, and you are abominated by
every friend to America. Take your friends the tories with you, and be
gone, and drink deep of cup of humiliation. Make peace with the princes of
the house of Bourbon, for you are in no condition to wage war with them.
Your veteran soldiers are fallen in America, and your glory is departed.
Be quiet and pay your debts, especially for the hire of the Hessians.
There is no other way for you to get into credit again, but by reformation
and plain honesty, which you have despised; for your power is by no means
sufficient to support your vanity. I have had opportunity to see a great
deal of' it, and felt its severe effects, and learned lessons of wisdom
and policy, when I wore your heavy irons, and bore your bitter revilings
and reproaches. I have something of a smattering of philosophy, and
understand human nature in all its stages tolerably well; am thoroughly
acquainted with your national crimes, and assure you that they not only
cry aloud for Heaven's vengeance, but excite mankind to rise up against
you. Virtue, wisdom and policy are in a national sense, always connected
with power, or in other words, power is their offspring, and such power as
is not directed by virtue, wisdom and policy never fails finally to
destroy itself as yours has done.—It is so in the nature of things,
and unfit that it would be otherwise; for if it was not so, vanity,
injustice, and oppression, might reign triumphant forever.
* General Burgoyne, after collecting his forces and stores,
crossed the Hudson with a view to penetrate to Albany. But
the American army being reinforced daily, held him in check
at Saratoga. General Gates now took the command, and was
aided by the generals Lincoln and Arnold. On the 19th of
September, the Americans attacked the British army, and with
such bravery, that the enemy could boast of no advantage,
and night put an end to the action. The loss of the enemy
was about five hundred. General Burgoyne was confined in a
narrow pass—having the Hudson on one side and impassable
woods on the other—a body of Americans was in his rear—the
boats he had ordered to be burnt, and he could not retreat—
while an army of thirteen thousand men opposed him in front.
On the 7th of October, the armies came to a second action,
in which the British lost General Frazer, with a great
number of officers and men, and were driven within their
lines. On the part of the Americans the loss was not great,
but generals Lincoln and Arnold were wounded.
I know you have individuals, who still retain their virtue, and
consequently their honor and humanity. Those I really pity, as they must
more or less suffer in the calamity, in which the nation is plunged
headlong; but as a nation I hate and despise you.
My affections are Frenchified. I glory in Louis the sixteenth, the
generous and powerful ally of these states I am fond of a connection with
so enterprising, learned, polite, courteous and commercial a nation, and
am sure that I express the sentiments and feelings of all the friends to
the present revolution. I begin to learn the French tongue, and recommend
it to my countrymen, before Hebrew, Greek or Latin, (provided but one of
them only are to be attended to) for the trade and commerce of these
states in future must inevitably shift its channel from England to France,
Spain and Portugal; and therefore the statesman, politician and merchant,
need be acquainted with their several languages, particularly the French,
which is much in vogue in most parts of Europe. Nothing could have served
so effectually to illuminate, polish and enrich these states as the
present revolution, as well as preserve their liberty. Mankind are
naturally too national, even to a degree of bigotry, and commercial
intercourse with foreign nations, has a great and necessary tendency to
improve mankind, and erase the superstition of the mind by acquainting
them that human nature, policy and interest, are the same in all nations,
and at the same time they are bartering commodities for the conveniences
and happiness of each nation, they may reciprocally exchange such part of
their customs and manners as may be beneficial, and learn to extend
charity and good will the whole world of mankind.
I was confined in the provost-goal at New-York, the 26th day of August,
and continued there to the 3d day of May, 1778, when I was taken out under
guard, and conducted to a sloop in the harbor at New-York, in which I was
guarded to Staten-Island, to general Campbell's quarters, where I was
admitted to eat and drink with the general and several other of the
British field officers, and treated for two days in a polite manner. As I
was drinking wine with them one evening, I made an observation on my
transition from the provost criminals to the company of gentlemen, adding
that I was the same man still, and should give the British credit, by him
(speaking to the general) for two days good usage.
The next day colonel Archibald Campbell, who was exchanged for me, came to
this place, conducted by Mr. Boudinot, the then American commissary of
prisoners, and saluted me in a handsome manner, saying that he never was
more glad to see any gentleman in his life, and I gave him to understand
that I was equally glad to see him, and was apprehensive that it was from
the same motive. The gentlemen present, laughed at the fancy, and
conjectured that sweet liberty was the foundation of our gladness: so we
took a glass of wine together, and then I was accompanied by general
Campbell, colonel Campbell, Mr. Boudinot and a number of British officers,
to the boat which was ready to sail to Elizabeth-town-point. Meanwhile I
entertained them with a rehearsal of the cruelties exercised towards our
prisoners; and assured them that I should use my influence, that their
prisoners should be treated, in future, in the same manner, as they should
in future treat ours; that I thought it was right in such extreme cases,
that their example should be applied to their own prisoners; then
exchanged the decent ceremonies of compliment, and parted. I sailed to the
point aforesaid, and, in a transport of joy, landed on liberty ground, and
as I advanced into the county, received the acclamations of a grateful
people.
I soon fell into company with colonel Sheldon, of the light horse, who in
a polite and obliging manner accompanied me to head quarters, Valley
Forge, where I was courteously received by Gen. Washington, with peculiar
marks of his approbation and esteem, and was introduced to most of the
generals, and many of the principal officers of the army, who treated me
with respect, and after having offered general Washington my further
service in behalf of my country, as soon as my health, which was very much
impaired, would admit, and obtain his license to return home, I took my
leave of his excellency, and set out from Valley Forge with General Gates
and his suit for Fishkill, where we arrived the latter end of May. In this
tour the general was pleased to treat me with the familiarity of a
companion, and generosity of a lord, and to him I made known some striking
circumstances which occurred in the course of my captivity. I then bid
farewell to my noble general and the gentlemen of his retinue, and set out
for Bennington, the capital of the Green Mountain Boys, where I arrived
the evening of the last day of May to their great surprise; for I was
thought to be dead, and now both their joy and mine was complete. Three
cannon were fired that evening, and next morning colonel Herrick gave
orders, and fourteen more were discharged, welcoming me to Bennington, my
usual place of abode; thirteen for the United States, and one for Young
Vermont.
After this ceremony was ended we moved the flowing bowl, and rural
felicity, sweetened with friendship, glowed in each countenance, and with
loyal healths to the rising States of America, concluded that evening,
and, with the same loyal spirit, I now conclude my narrative.
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