Chapter 2: Robert Rogers.
They met for the first time, face to face, amid a world of ice andsnow, upon the frozen surface of Lake George.
Stark and his little band had been through strange experiences, andhad met with many adventures as they pursued their course towardsthe spot where they heard that the French and English were lyingencamped and intrenched, awaiting the arrival of spring beforecommencing the campaign afresh; and they now began to have aclearer notion of the situation between the two nations than theyhad hitherto had.
They had spent a week in the quaint Dutch town of Albany, and therethey had heard many things with regard to the state of parties andthe affairs between the two nations.
England and France were nominally at peace, or had been, evenwhilst these murderous onslaughts had been going on in the west.But it was evident to all that war must be shortly declared betweenthe countries, if it had not already been proclaimed. The scent ofbattle seemed in the very air. Nothing was talked of but the greatstruggle for supremacy in the west, which must shortly be foughtout to the bitter end.
The aim of France was to connect Canada with Louisiana by a chainof forts, and keep the English penned up in their eastern provinceswithout room to expand. The northern links of this chain were FortTiconderoga, just where the waters of Lake George join those ofChamplain; Fort Niagara, which commanded the lakes; and FortDuquesne, at the head of the Ohio, the key to the greatMississippi.
It was a gigantic scheme, and one full of ambition; there was oneimmense drawback. The French emigrants of the western worldnumbered only about one hundred and eighty thousand souls, whilstthe English colonies had their two millions of inhabitants. TheFrench could only accomplish their ends if the Indians would becomeand remain their allies. The English, though equally anxious tokeep on good terms with the dusky denizens of the woods, who couldbe such dangerous foes, had less need to use them in fight, as, ifthey chose to combine and act in concert, they could throw an armyinto the field which must overpower any the French could mass.
But the weakness of the provinces hitherto had been this lack ofharmony. They would not act in concert. They were foreverdisputing, one province with another, and each at home with itsgovernor. The home ministry sent out men unfit for the work ofcommand. Military disasters followed one after the other.Washington and Braddock had both been overthrown in successiveattempts upon Fort Duquesne; and now the English Fort of Oswego,their outpost at Lake Ontario, was lost through mismanagement andbad generalship.
Canada owned a centralized government. She could send out her menby the various routes to the points of vantage where the strugglelay. England had an enormous border to protect, and no one centreof operations to work from. She was hampered at every turn byinternal jealousies, and by incompetent commanders. Braddock hadbeen a good soldier, but he could not understand forest fighting,and had raged against the Virginian men, who were doing excellentwork firing at the Indians from behind trees, and meeting theirtactics by like ones. Braddock had driven them into rank by beatingthem with the flat of his sword, only to see them shot down likesheep. Blunders such as this had marked the whole course of thewar; and misfortune after misfortune had attended the English armsupon the mainland, although in Acadia they had been moresuccessful.
These things Stark and his little band heard from the Dutch ofAlbany; they also heard that the English were encamped at thesouthern end of Lake George, at Forts Edward and William Henry,their commander being John Winslow, whose name was becoming knownand respected as that of a brave and humane soldier, who hadcarried through a difficult piece of business in Acadia with asmuch consideration and kindliness as possible.
Now he was in command of the English force watching the movementsof the French at Ticonderoga; here also were Rogers and his Rangersto be found. They had marched into Winslow's camp, it was said,some few months earlier, proffering their services; and there theyhad since remained, scouting up and down the lake upon skates orsnowshoes, snatching away prisoners from the Indian allies, or fromthe very walls of the fort itself, and intercepting provisions sentdown Lake Champlain for the use of the French.
Details of these escapades on the part of the Rangers were notknown in Albany; but rumours of Rogers' intrepidity reached themfrom time to time, and Stark and his band were fired anew by thedesire to join themselves to this bold leader, and to assist him inhis task of harassing the enemy, and bringing assistance of allsorts into the English camp.
Bidding adieu to the Dutch, who had received them kindly, and nowsent them away with a sufficiency of provisions to last themseveral days, they skimmed away still to the northward on theirsnowshoes. They had taken directions as to what route to pursue inorder to reach Fort Edward, and thence to pass on to Fort WilliamHenry; but the heavy snowfall obliterated landmarks, and theypresently came to the conclusion that they had missed the way, andhad travelled too far north already.
"Then we must keep in a westerly direction," quoth Stark, as theysat in council together over their fire at night; "we cannot failthus to strike the lake at last, and that, if frozen hard, can beour highway. At the southern end is the fort William Henry; at thenorthern outlet is the French fort with the name of Ticonderoga."
This deflection in direction being agreed to, the party lay down tosleep--Charles Angell offering to act as sentry, as he frequentlydid.
Since the tragedy which had wrecked his life, Charles had seldombeen able to sleep quietly at night. He was haunted by horribledreams, and the thought of sleep was repugnant to him. He wouldoften drop asleep at odd hours over the campfire whilst hiscomrades were discussing and planning, and they would let him sleepin peace at such times; but at night he was alert and wide awake,and they were glad enough to give him his request, and let him keepwatch whilst they rested and slumbered.
The silence of the snow-girt forest was profound; yet Charles wasrestless tonight, and kept pausing to listen with an odd intensityof expression. His faculties, both of sight and hearing, had becomepreternaturally acute of late. More than once this gift of his hadsaved the party from falling amongst a nest of hostile Indians;tonight it was to prove of service in another way.
In the dead of night the Rangers were awakened by a trumpet-likecall.
"To arms, friends, to arms! The Indians are abroad; they areattacking our brothers! I hear the shouts of battle. We must totheir rescue! Let us not delay! To arms, and follow me; I will leadyou thither!"
In a second the camp was astir. The men lay down in their clothes,wrapping a buffalo robe about them for warmth. In a few seconds allwere aroused, strapping their blankets upon their shoulders andseizing their weapons.
"What have you heard, Charles, and where?" asked Stark and Fritz ina breath as they ran up.
"Yonder, yonder!" cried Charles, pointing in a northwesterlydirection; "it is a fight on the ice. It is not far away. TheIndians are attacking white men--English men. I hear their criesand their shoutings. Hark--there is shooting, too! Come, follow me,and I will take you there. There is work for the Rangers tonight!"
Yes, it was true. They could all hear the sound of shots. What hadgone before had only reached the ears of Charles; but the report offirearms carried far. In three minutes the bold little company hadstarted at a brisk run through the snow-covered forest, gettingquickly into the long swing of their snowshoes, and skimming overthe ground at an inconceivably rapid pace, considering the natureof the ground traversed.
All at once the forest opened before them. They came out upon itsfarthest fringe; and below them lay, white and bare, and sparklingin the moonlight, the frozen, snow-laden plateau of the lake.
It was a weirdly beautiful scene which lay spread like a panoramabefore them in the winter moonlight; but they had no time to thinkof that now. All eyes were fixed upon the stirring scene enacted inthe middle of the lake, or at least well out upon its frozensurface, where a band of resolute men, sheltering themselves behinda few sledges, which made them a sort of rampart, were firingsteadily, volley after volley,
at a band of leaping, yellingIndians who had partially surrounded them, and who were slowly butsteadily advancing, despite their heavy loss, returning the fire ofthe defendants, though by no means so steadily and regularly, andwhooping and yelling with a fearful ferocity.
It was easy to see, even by the moonlight alone, that the menbehind the sledges were white men. A sudden enthusiasm andexcitement possessed our little band of Rangers as this sight burstupon them, and Stark gave the instant word:
"Steady, men, but lose not a moment. Form two lines, and rush themfrom behind. Reserve your fire till I give the word. Then let themhave it hot, and close upon them from behind. When they findthemselves between two fires, they will think themselves trapped.They will scatter like hunted hares. See, they have no notion ofany foe save the one in front. Keep beneath the shadow of theforest till the last moment, and then rush them and fire!"
The men nodded, and unslung their guns. They made no noise glidingdown the steep snow bank upon their long shoes, and then out uponthe ice of the lake.
"Fire!" exclaimed Stark at the right moment; and as one man theRangers halted, and each picked his man.
Crack-crack-crack!
Literally each bullet told. Twelve dusky savages bounded into theair, and fell dead upon the blood-stained snow.
Crack-crack-crack!
The affrighted Indians had faced round only to meet another volleyfrom the intrepid little band behind.
That was enough. The prowess of the Rangers was well known from oneend of the lake to the other. To be hemmed in between two companieswas more than Indian bravery or Indian stoicism could stand. Withyells of terror they dropped their arms and fled to the forest,followed by a fierce firing from both parties, which made greathavoc in their ranks. The rout was complete and instantaneous. Hadit not been for panic, they might have paused to note how few werethose new foes in number, and how small even the united body was ascompared with their own numbers; but they fled, as Stark hadforetold, like hunted hares, and the white men were left upon thelake face to face, with dead and dying Indians around them.
An enormously tall man leaped up from behind the rampart ofsledges, and came forward with outstretched hand. He was a man ofmagnificent physique, with a mass of wild, tangled hair and beard,and black eyes which seemed to burn like live coals. His featureswere rugged and rather handsome, and his nose was of very largeproportions.
Stark took a step forward and shook the outstretched hand. He knewthis man, from descriptions received of him during their months ofwandering.
"You are Captain Rogers?"
"Robert Rogers, of the Rangers, at your service," replied theother, in a deep, sonorous voice, which seemed to match his size;"and this is my brother Richard," as another fine-looking manapproached and held out his hand to their deliverers. "And rightglad are we to welcome such bold spirits amongst us, though who youare and whence you come we know not. You have saved us from perilof death tonight, and Rogers never forgets a service like that."
"We have come from far to seek you," answered Stark; "we ourselvesare Rangers of the forest. We fear neither heat nor cold, peril,hardship, nor foe. We long to fight our country's battle againstthe Indian savages and against the encroaching French. It has beentold us again and again that Rogers is the captain for us, and toRogers we have come."
"And right welcome are all such bold spirits in Rogers' camp!" wasthe quick reply. "That is the spirit of the true Ranger. Nor shallyou be disappointed in your desire after peril and adventure. Youcan see by tonight's experience the sort of adventure into which weare constantly running. We scouts of the lake have to watchourselves against whole hordes of wily, savage Indian scouts andspies. Some of our number are killed and cut off with eachencounter; and yet we live and thrive and prosper. And if you askhonest John Winslow who are those who help him most during thisseason of weary waiting, I trow he will tell you it is Rogers andhis bold Rangers."
By this time the whole band of Rangers had gathered round Stark'slittle company, and the men were all talking together. In thosewild lands ceremony is unknown; friendships are quickly made, ifquickly sundered by the chances and changes of a life of adventureand change; and soon the band felt as if one common spirit inspiredthem.
There were three wounded men in Rogers' company; they were put upona sledge and well covered up. Then the party moved along to aposition at some distance from that where they had met the attack.
"The Indians will come back to find and remove their dead,"explained Rogers. "It is better to be gone. We will encamp andbivouac a little farther away. Then we will hold a council as toour next move. They will not be in haste to molest us again."
The plan was carried out. The hardy Rangers hollowed out asheltered nook in the snow, threw up a wall of protection againstthe wind, lighted a fire, and sat round it discussing the events ofthe night, and exchanging amenities with their new comrades.
The two Rogerses, together with Stark, Fritz, and the silent,watchful Charles, gathered in a knot a little apart, and Rogerslaid before them, in a few brief speeches, the situation of affairsupon the lake.
Lake Champlain, the more northern and the larger of the twin lakes,was altogether guarded by the French. St. John stood at its head,and Crown Point guarded it lower down--being a great fortifiedpromontory, where the lake narrowed to a very small passage,widening out again below, till it reached the other strong fort andcolony of Ticonderoga, where Lake George formed a junction with it,though the lake itself still ran an independent course to thesouth, parallel with Lake George, being fed by the waters of WoodCreek, a narrow, river-like inlet, which was a second waterway intothe larger lake.
The position of Ticonderoga was, therefore, very important, as itcommanded both these waterways; and even if the English couldsucceed in avoiding the guns of that fort, there was still CrownPoint, further to the north, to keep them from advancing.
In addition to these advantages, the French had won the localIndians to their side; and though they did much towardsembarrassing their white allies, and were a perfect nuisance bothto officers and men, they were too useful to risk offending or tobe dispensed with, as they were always ready for a dash upon anyEnglish scouting parties, and formed a sort of balance to thetactics of the English Rangers.
"They are villainous foes!" said Rogers, with a dark scowl. "It istheir great joy to take prisoners; and when the French haveextracted from them all the information they can as to the strengthand prospects of the English, the Indians will claim them again, toscalp and burn, and the French scarcely raise a protest. It is saidthat they speak with disgust of the barbarities of these savageallies, but they do little or nothing to check them. That is why mywrath often rises higher against the French than against theIndians themselves. They know no better; but for white man todeliver white man into their hands--that is what makes my bloodboil!"
The fire leaped up in Charles's eyes, and he had his tale to tell,at hearing of which the Rogerses set their teeth and mutteredcurses not loud but deep.
"Now will I tell you what we started forth to do," said the leaderof the band. "We have been busy all winter. Last month we skateddown the lake when it was clear of snow, passed Ticonderoga allunseen, intercepted some sledges of provisions, and carried themand their drivers to our fort. Now we are bent upon a longerjourney. We want to reach Crown Point, and make a plan of the worksfor our brave Commander Winslow. We were a part of the way on ourroute, when we fell in with Indians conveying provisions to theFrench on these sledges. We took them from them and dispersed thecrew; but they must have scattered and got help, and they set uponus, as you have seen. Now that we have three wounded and twosomewhat bruised and shaken, I am thinking it would be better tosend them back, with a few sound men as escort--for the provisionswill be welcome at the fort, which is not too well victualled--whilstthe rest of us push on, and see if we can accomplish our errand. Nowthat we are thus reinforced, we shall be strong enough to do this."
The eyes of Stark and Fritz sparkled at the prospect.<
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"We will go with you," they cried. "We long for such work as this;it is what we have come for from our homes and friends."
And then Stark added modestly:
"And if I am but little trained to arms, I can draw. I have beenused to that work in my old life, which was too tame for me. Iunderstand how to make plans and elevations. If I could but get agood view of the fortifications, I will undertake to make a gooddrawing of them for your general."
Rogers slapped him heartily upon the back.
"A draughtsman is the very fellow we want," he cried; "and adraughtsman who can wield weapons as you can, John Stark, is thevery man for us. You and your band will be right welcome. You canall use snowshoes, I see, and doubtless skates also?"
Stark nodded. By that time all were proficient in these arts, evenFritz, to whom they had been new at the commencement of the winter.Charles fingered the knife at his belt, and his cavern-like eyesglowed in their sockets.
"Let me fight the French-the French!" he muttered. "I have avengedmyself upon the Indian foe. Now let me know the joy of meeting thewhite foe face to face!"
"Is that poor fellow mad?" asked Rogers of Fritz, when nextmorning, all preparations being speedily made, the party haddivided, and the larger contingent was sweeping down the laketowards the distant junction, which was guarded by the guns ofTiconderoga.
"I think his brain is touched. He has been like that ever since Ihave known him; but his brother and friends say that once he wasthe most gentle and peaceful of men, and never desired to raisehand against his fellow. It is the horror of one awful memory thathas made him what he is. I thought perhaps that when he wreaked hisvengeance upon the Indian chieftain who had slain his wife andchildren, he would have been satisfied; but the fire in his heartseems unquenched and unquenchable. Sometimes I have a fancy thatwhen his wrath is satisfied the spring of life will cease withinhim. He grows more gaunt and thin each week; but he is borne alongby the strong spirit within, and in battle his strength is as thestrength of ten."
"As is ofttimes the way with men whose minds are unhinged," saidRogers. "Truly we have small reason to love our white brothers theFrench, since at their door lies the sin of these ravages upon thehapless border settlers. We will requite them even as they deserve!We will smite them hip and thigh! though we must not, and will not,become like the savage Indians. We will not suffer outrage; itshall be enough of shame and humiliation for them to see the flagof England flaunting proudly where their banners have been wont tofly."
A few days of rather laborious travel--for the snow was soft--andCrown Point lay before them. They had left the lake some timebefore, skirting round Roger's Rock, and thus making a cut acrosscountry, and missing the perils of passing Ticonderoga.
"We will take that in returning," said Rogers; "but we will notrisk being seen on our way down, else they might be upon the alertfor our return. We will arrange a pleasant surprise for them."
The way was laborious now, for they had to climb hills which gavethem a good view over the fortifications of Crown Point; but thiselevation once safely attained, without any further molestationfrom Indians, they were able to make a complete survey of thefortifications; and Stark made some excellent plans and drawings,which gave a fine idea of the place.
So far all had been peaceful; but the Rangers were not wont to comeand go and leave no trace. There were outlying farms around thefortifications, and comings and goings between the French soldiersand peasants.
"We will stop these supplies," said Rogers, with a sardonic smile;"the French shall learn to be as careful of their flour as we haveto be!"
And carefully laying an ambush in the early grey of a winter'smorning, he sprang suddenly out upon a train of wagons wendingtheir way to the fortifications.
The drivers, scared and terrified, jumped from their places, andran screaming into the defences, whence soldiers came rushing out,sword in hand, but only to find the wagons in flames, the horsesdriven off to the forest, and the barns and farmsteads behindburning.
It was a savage sort of warfare, but it was the work of the Rangersto repay ferocity in kind, and to leave behind them dread tokens ofthe visits they paid.
Whilst the terrified inhabitants and the angry soldiers werestriving to extinguish the flames, and vituperating Rogers and hiscompany, these bold Rangers themselves were fleeing down the lakeas fast as snowshoes could take them, full of satisfaction at thehavoc they had wrought, and intent upon leaving their mark atTiconderoga before they passed on to Fort William Henry.
Guarded as it was by fortifications and surrounded by Indian spies,Rogers and his men approached it cautiously, yet without fear; forthey knew every inch of the ground, and they were so expert in allwoodcraft and strategic arts that they could lie hidden inbrushwood within speaking distance of the foe, yet not betray theirpresence by so much as the crackle of a twig.
It was night when they neared the silent fort. A dying moon gavefaint light. The advancing party glided like ghosts along theopposite bank. A sentry here and there tramped steadily. TheRangers could hear the exchange of salute and the rattle of agrounded musket. But no sign did they make of their presence. Theykept close in the black shadow, and halted in a cavern-like spotwell known to them from intimate acquaintance.
Richard Rogers had been sent scouting by his brother, and came inwith news.
"There will be marching on the morrow. Some soldiers will leave thefort for the nearest camp; I could not gather how many, but therewill be some marching through the forest. If we post ourselves nearto the road by which they will pass, we may do some havoc ere theyknow our whereabouts."
This was work entirely to the liking of the Rangers. Before dawnthey were posted in their ambush, and allowed themselves a fewhours of repose, but lighted no fire. They must not draw attentionto themselves.
They were awake and astir with the first light of the tardy dawn,eagerly listening whilst they looked to the priming of their arms,and exchanged whispered prognostications.
Then came the expected sound--the tramp, tramp, tramp of a numberof men on the march.
"Hist!" whispered Rogers, "lie low, and reserve your fire. Thesesound too many for us."
The men kept watch, and saw the soldiers file by. There were closeupon two hundred. It would have been madness to attack them, andthe Rangers looked at one another in disappointment.
"Cheer up! there may be more to come," suggested Rogers; and beforeanother hour had passed, their listening ears were rewarded by thesound of a bugle call, and in a few minutes more the trampling offeet was heard once again, and this time the sound was less andmore irregular.
"Some stragglers kept behind for something, seeking to catch up themain body," spoke Rogers in a whisper. "Be ready, men; mark eachhis foe, and then out upon them, and take prisoners if you can."
The taking of prisoners was most important. It was from them thateach side learned what was being done by the various commanders. Aprisoner was valuable booty to return with to the fort. Rogersseldom went forth upon any important expedition without returningwith one or more.
The men swung by carelessly, laughing and talking. They had suchfaith in their Indian scouts that they never thought of an ambushedfoe.
The ping of the rifles in their rear caused a strange panic amongstthem. They faced round to see the redoubtable Rogers spring out atthe head of a compact body of men.
But the strangest thing in that strange attack was a wild,unearthly yell which suddenly broke from one of the Rangers.
It was like nothing human; it was like the fierce roar of someterrible wild beast. Even Rogers himself was startled for themoment, and looked back to see from whence it had come.
At that moment Charles Angell dashed forward in a frantic manner.He had flung his gun from him; his eyeballs were fixed and staring;there was foam upon his lips; his hair was streaming in the wind.He bore an aspect so strange and fearful that the French utteredyells of terror, and fled helter-skelter from the onslaught.
But if any h
ad had eyes to note it, there was one Frenchman whoseface became ashy white as he met the rolling gaze of thoseterrible, bloodshot eyes. He too flung away his gun, and uttered afrantic yell of terror, plunging headlong into the wood without athought save flight.
"It is he! it is he! it is he!"
This was the shout which rang from the lips of Charles as he dashedafter the retreating figure. All was confusion now amid French andRangers alike; that awful yell, and something in the appearance ofCharles, had startled friend and foe alike.
There were several of the French soldiers left dead in the wood,and one was captured and made prisoner; but the rest had fled likemen demented, and the Rangers could not come up with them. As forCharles and his quarry, they had disappeared, and it was longbefore any trace could be found of them.
Stark and Fritz, however, would not give up the search, and at lastthey came upon the prostrate form of Charles. He lay face downwardson the frozen ground, which was deeply stained with blood. Hiswrist was fearfully gashed by some knife; yet in his fingers heheld still a piece of cloth from the coat of the French fugitive.It had been literally torn out of his grasp before the man couldget free, and he had nearly hacked off the left hand of the haplessCharles.
Yet the man had made good his escape, leaving Charles well nighdead from loss of blood. But they carried him tenderly back totheir cave, and making a rough sledge for him; then brought himsafely with their prisoner into the camp at Fort William Henry.
French and English: A Story of the Struggle in America Page 6