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CHAP.
LII.

Aug.

On the sixth of August, from Albany, he advised that Tryon, whose secret designs he had penetrated, 1775. should be conducted out of the way of mischief to Hartford. He reasoned justly on the expediency of taking possession of Canada, as the means of guarding against Indian hostilities, and displaying to the world the strength of the confederated colonies; it was enlarging the sphere of operations, but a failure would not impair the means of keeping the command of Lake Champlain. Summoned by Schuyler to Ticonderoga, he was attended as far as Saratoga by his wife, whose fears he soothed by cheerfulness and good humor, and his last words to her at parting were: "You will never have cause to blush for

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On the seventeenth of August his arrival at Ticonderoga was the signal for Schuyler to depart for Saratoga, promising to return on the twentieth. That day came, and other days followed, and still Schuyler remained away. On the twenty fifth Montgomery wrote to him entreatingly to join the army with all expedition, as the way to give the men confidence in his spirit and activity. On the evening of the twenty sixth he received an express from Washington, who urged the acquisition of Canada and explained the plan for an auxiliary enterprise by way of the Kennebec. "I am sure," wrote the chief, "you will not let any difficulties, not insuperable, damp your ardor; perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages. You will therefore, by the return of this messenger, inform me of your ultimate resolution; not a moment's time is to be lost." In obedience to this letter, Schuyler

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LII.

left the negotiation with Indians to the other com- CHAP. missioners at Albany, and set off for his army.

1775.

Sept.

Montgomery, wherever he came, looked to see Aug. what could be done, and to devise the means of doing it; he had informed Schuyler that he should probably reach St. John's on the first day of September. Schuyler sent back no reply. "Moving without your orders," rejoined Montgomery, "I do not like; but the prevention of the enemy is of the utmost consequence; for if he gets his vessels into the lake, it is over with us for the present summer;" and he went forward with a thousand or twelve hundred men. Retarded by violent head winds and rain, it was the third of September when he arrived at Isle La Motte. On the fourth he was joined by Schuyler, and they proceeded to Isle aux Noix. The next day a declaration of friendship was dispersed amongst the inhabitants. On the sixth Schuyler, whose forces did not exceed a thousand, embarked for St. John's. They landed without obstruction, a mile and a half from the fortress, towards which they marched in good order over marshy and wooded ground. In crossing a creek, the left of their advanced line was attacked by a party of Indians; but being promptly supported by Montgomery, it beat off the assailants, yet with a loss of nine subalterns and privates. Schuyler's health had declined as he approached the army. In the night a person came to his tent with false information, which he laid before a council of war; their opinion being consonant with his own, he immediately ordered a retreat, and without carefully reconnoitring the fortress, he led back the troops unmolested to the Isle aux Noix. From that station 16

VOL. VIII.

LII.

CHAP. he wrote to congress: "I have not enjoyed a moment's health since I left Fort George; and 1775. as not to be able to hold the pen. Sept. be able to do any thing decisively in

am now so low Should we not Canada, I shall judge it best to move from this place, which is a very wet and unhealthy part of the country, unless I receive your orders to the contrary."

This letter was the occasion of "a large controversy" "in congress; his proposal to abandon Isle aux Noix was severely disapproved; it was resolved to spare neither men nor money for his army, and if the Canadians would remain neuter, no doubt was entertained of the acquisition of Canada. He himself was encouraged to attend to his own health, and this advice implied a consent that the command of the invading forces should rest with Montgomery.

Meantime Schuyler, though confined to his bed, sent out on the tenth a party of five hundred ; they returned on the eleventh, disgraced by "unbecoming behavior." Upon this Montgomery, having discerned in the men a rising spirit more consonant with his own, entreated permission to retrieve the late disasters; and Schuyler, who was put into a covered boat for Ticonderoga, turned his back on the scene with regret, but not with envy, and relinquished to the gallant Irishman the conduct, the danger, and the glory of the campaign.

The day after Schuyler left Isle aux Noix, Montgomery began the investment of St. John's. The Indians kept at peace, and the zealous efforts of the governor, the clergy, and the French nobility, had hardly added a hundred men to the garrison. Carleton thought himself abandoned by all the earth, and

LII.

wrote to the commander in chief at Boston: "I had CHAP. hopes of holding out for this year, had the savages remained firm; but now we are on the eve of being 1775. overrun and subdued."

On the morning after Montgomery's arrival near

St. John's, he marched five hundred men to its north side. A party which sallied from the fort was beaten off, and the detachment was stationed at the junction of the roads to Chambly and Montreal. Additions to his force and supplies of food were continually arriving, through the indefatigable attention of Schuyler; and though the siege flagged for the want of powder, the investment was soon made so close that the retreat of the garrison was impossible.

The want of subordination delayed success. Ethan Allen had been sent to Chambly to raise a corps of Canadians. They gathered round him with spirit, and his officers advised him to lead them without delay to the army; but dazzled by vanity and rash ambition, he attempted to surprise Montreal. Dressed as was his custom when on a recruiting tour, in "a short fawn skin, double breasted jacket, a vest and breeches of woollen serge, and a red worsted cap," he passed over from Longeuil to Long Point, in the night preceding the twenty fifth of September, with about eighty Canadians and thirty Americans, though he had so few canoes, that but a third of his party could embark at once. On the next day he discovered that Brown, whom he had hoped to find with two hundred men on the south side of the town, had not crossed the river. Retreat from the island was impossible; about two hours after sunrise he was attacked by a motley party of regulars, English residents of Mon

Sept.

Sept.

CHAP. treal, Canadians, and Indians, in all about five hunLII. dred men, and after a defence of an hour and three 1775. quarters, he, with thirty eight men, was obliged to surrender; the rest fled to the woods. At the barrack yard in Montreal, Prescott, a British brigadier, asked the prisoner: "Are you that Allen who took Ticonderoga?" "I am the very man," quoth Allen. Then Prescott, in a great rage, called him a rebel and other hard names, and raised his cane. At this Allen shook his fist, telling him: "This is the beetle of mortality for you, if you offer to strike." "You shall grace a halter at Tyburn," cried Prescott, with an oath.

Oct.

The wounded, seven in number, entered the hospital; the rest were shackled together in pairs, and distributed among different transports in the river. But Allen, as the chief offender, was chained with leg irons weighing about thirty pounds; their heavy substantial bar was eight feet long; the shackles, which encompassed his ancles, were so very tight and close that he could not lie down exeept on his back; and in this plight, thrust into the lowest part of a vessel, the captor of Ticonderoga was dragged to England, where imprisonment in Pendennis Castle could not abate his courage or his hope.

The issue of this rash adventure daunted the Canadians for a moment, but difficulties only brought out the resources of Montgomery. He was obliged to act entirely from his own mind; for there was no one about him competent to give advice. Of the field officers, he esteemed Brown alone for his ability; though McPherson, his aide-de-camp, a very young man, universally beloved, of good sense, and rare endowments, gave promise of high capacity for war.

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