DIESKAU.
Expedition against Crown Point ? William Johnson ? Vaudreuil ? Dieskau ? Johnson and the Indians ? The Provincial1 Army ? Doubts and Delays ? March to Lake George ? Sunday in Camp ? Advance of Dieskau ? He changes Plan ? Marches against Johnson ? Ambush2 ? Rout3 of Provincials4 ? Battle of Lake George ? Rout of the French ? Rage of the Mohawks ? Peril5 of Dieskau ? Inaction of Johnson ? The Homeward March ? Laurels6 of Victory.
The next stroke of the campaign was to be the capture of Crown Point, that dangerous neighbor which, for a quarter of a century, had threatened the northern colonies. Shirley, in January, had proposed an attack on it to the Ministry7; and in February, without waiting their reply, he laid the plan before his Assembly. They accepted it, and voted money for the pay and maintenance of twelve hundred men, provided the adjacent colonies would contribute in due proportion. [290] Massachusetts showed a military activity worthy8 of the reputation she had won. Forty-five hundred of 286
V1 her men, or one in eight of her adult males, volunteered to fight the French, and enlisted9 for the various expeditions, some in the pay of the province, and some in that of the King. [291] It remained to name a commander for the Crown Point enterprise. Nobody had power to do so, for Braddock was not yet come; but that time might not be lost, Shirley, at the request of his Assembly, took the responsibility on himself. If he had named a Massachusetts officer, it would have roused the jealousy10 of the other New England colonies; and he therefore appointed William Johnson of New York, thus gratifying that important province and pleasing the Five Nations, who at this time looked on Johnson with even more than usual favor. Hereupon, in reply to his request, Connecticut voted twelve hundred men, New Hampshire five hundred, and Rhode Island four hundred, all at their own charge; while New York, a little later, promised eight hundred more. When, in April, Braddock and the Council at Alexandria approved the plan and the commander, Shirley gave Johnson the commission of major-general of the levies11 of Massachusetts; and the governors of the other provinces contributing to the expedition gave him similar commissions for their respective contingents12. Never did general take the field with authority so heterogeneous13.
[290] Governor Shirley's Message to his Assembly, 13 Feb. 1755. Resolutions of the Assembly of Massachusetts, 18 Feb. 1755. Shirley's original idea was to build a fort on a rising ground near Crown Point, in order to command it. This was soon abandoned for the more honest and more practical plan of direct attack.
[291] Correspondence of Shirley, Feb. 1755. The number was much increased later in the season.
He had never seen service, and knew nothing of war. By birth he was Irish, of good family, 287
V1 being nephew of Admiral Sir Peter Warren, who, owning extensive wild lands on the Mohawk, had placed the young man in charge of them nearly twenty years before. Johnson was born to prosper16. He had ambition, energy, an active mind, a tall, strong person, a rough, jovial17 temper, and a quick adaptation to his surroundings. He could drink flip18 with Dutch boors19, or Madeira with royal governors. He liked the society of the great, would intrigue20 and flatter when he had an end to gain, and foil a rival without looking too closely at the means; but compared with the Indian traders who infested21 the border, he was a model of uprightness. He lived by the Mohawk in a fortified22 house which was a stronghold against foes23 and a scene of hospitality to friends, both white and red. Here—for his tastes were not fastidious—presided for many years a Dutch or German wench whom he finally married; and after her death a young Mohawk squaw took her place. Over his neighbors, the Indians of the Five Nations, and all others of their race with whom he had to deal, he acquired a remarkable24 influence. He liked them, adopted their ways, and treated them kindly25 or sternly as the case required, but always with a justice and honesty in strong contrast with the rascalities of the commission of Albany traders who had lately managed their affairs, and whom they so detested28 that one of their chiefs called them "not men, but devils." Hence, when Johnson was made Indian superintendent29 there was joy through all the Iroquois 288
V1 confederacy. When, in addition, he was made a general, he assembled the warriors31 in council to engage them to aid the expedition.
This meeting took place at his own house, known as Fort Johnson; and as more than eleven hundred Indians appeared at his call, his larder32 was sorely taxed to entertain them. The speeches were interminable. Johnson, as master of Indian rhetoric33, knew his audience too well not to contest with them the palm of insufferable prolixity34. The climax35 was reached on the fourth day, and he threw down the war-belt. An Oneida chief took it up; Stevens, the interpreter, began the war-dance, and the assembled warriors howled in chorus. Then a tub of punch was brought in, and they all drank the King's health. [292] They showed less alacrity36, however, to fight his battles, and scarcely three hundred of them would take the war-path. Too many of their friends and relatives were enlisted for the French.
[292] Report of Conference between Major-General Johnson and the Indians, June, 1755.
While the British colonists37 were preparing to attack Crown Point, the French of Canada were preparing to defend it. Duquesne, recalled from his post, had resigned the government to the Marquis de Vaudreuil, who had at his disposal the battalions38 of regulars that had sailed in the spring from Brest under Baron39 Dieskau. His first thought was to use them for the capture of Oswego; but the letters of Braddock, found on the battle-field, warned him of the design against 289
V1 Crown Point; while a reconnoitring party which had gone as far as the Hudson brought back news that Johnson's forces were already in the field. Therefore the plan was changed, and Dieskau was ordered to lead the main body of his troops, not to Lake Ontario, but to Lake Champlain. He passed up the Richelieu, and embarked40 in boats and canoes for Crown Point. The veteran knew that the foes with whom he had to deal were but a mob of countrymen. He doubted not of putting them to rout, and meant never to hold his hand till he had chased them back to Albany. [293] "Make all haste," Vaudreuil wrote to him; "for when you return we shall send you to Oswego to execute our first design." [294]
[293] Bigot au Ministre, 27 Ao?t, 1755. Ibid., 5 Sept. 1755.
[294] Mémoire pour servir d'Instruction à M. le Baron de Dieskau, Maréchal des Camps et Armées du Roy, 15 Ao?t, 1755.
Johnson on his part was preparing to advance. In July about three thousand provincials were encamped near Albany, some on the "Flats" above the town, and some on the meadows below. Hither, too, came a swarm41 of Johnson's Mohawks,—warriors, squaws, and children. They adorned42 the General's face with war-paint, and he danced the war-dance; then with his sword he cut the first slice from the ox that had been roasted whole for their entertainment. "I shall be glad," wrote the surgeon of a New England regiment43, "if they fight as eagerly as they ate their ox and drank their wine."
Above all things the expedition needed promptness; yet everything moved slowly. Five popular 290
V1 legislatures controlled the troops and the supplies. Connecticut had refused to send her men till Shirley promised that her commanding officer should rank next to Johnson. The whole movement was for some time at a deadlock44 because the five governments could not agree about their contributions of artillery45 and stores. [295] The New Hampshire regiment had taken a short cut for Crown Point across the wilderness46 of Vermont; but had been recalled in time to save them from probable destruction. They were now with the rest in the camp at Albany, in such distress47 for provisions that a private subscription48 was proposed for their relief. [296]
[296] Blanchard to Wentworth, 28 Aug. 1755, in Provincial Papers of New Hampshire, VI. 429.
Johnson's army, crude as it was, had in it good material. Here was Phineas Lyman, of Connecticut, second in command, once a tutor at Yale College, and more recently a lawyer,—a raw soldier, but a vigorous and brave one; Colonel Moses Titcomb, of Massachusetts, who had fought with credit at Louisbourg; and Ephraim Williams, also colonel of a Massachusetts regiment, a tall and portly man, who had been a captain in the last war, member of the General Court, and deputy-sheriff. He made his will in the camp at Albany, and left a legacy50 to found the school which has since become Williams College. His relative, Stephen Williams, was chaplain of his regiment, and his brother Thomas was its surgeon. Seth Pomeroy, gunsmith at Northampton, 291
V1 who, like Titcomb, had seen service at Louisbourg, was its lieutenant51-colonel. He had left a wife at home, an excellent matron, to whom he was continually writing affectionate letters, mingling52 household cares with news of the camp, and charging her to see that their eldest53 boy, Seth, then in college at New Haven54, did not run off to the army. Pomeroy had with him his brother Daniel; and this he thought was enough. Here, too, was a man whose name is still a household word in New England,—the sturdy Israel Putnam, private in a Connecticut regiment; and another as bold as he, John Stark55, lieutenant in the New Hampshire levies, and the future victor of Bennington.
The soldiers were no soldiers, but farmers and farmers' sons who had volunteered for the summer campaign. One of the corps56 had a blue uniform faced with red. The rest wore their daily clothing. Blankets had been served out to them by the several provinces, but the greater part brought their own guns; some under the penalty of a fine if they came without them, and some under the inducement of a reward. [297] They had no bayonets, but carried hatchets57 in their belts as a sort of substitute. [298] At their sides were slung58 powder-horns, on which, in the leisure of the camp, they carved quaint59 devices with the points of their jack-knives. They came chiefly from plain New England homesteads,—rustic abodes61, unpainted and dingy62, with 292
V1 long well-sweeps, capacious barns, rough fields of pumpkins63 and corn, and vast kitchen chimneys, above which in winter hung squashes to keep them from frost, and guns to keep them from rust60.
[297] Proclamation of Governor Shirley, 1755.
[298] Second Letter to a Friend on the Battle of Lake George.
As to the manners and morals of the army there is conflict of evidence. In some respects nothing could be more exemplary. "Not a chicken has been stolen," says William Smith, of New York; while, on the other hand, Colonel Ephraim Williams writes to Colonel Israel Williams, then commanding on the Massachusetts frontier: "We are a wicked, profane64 army, especially the New York and Rhode Island troops. Nothing to be heard among a great part of them but the language of Hell. If Crown Point is taken, it will not be for our sakes, but for those good people left behind." [299] There was edifying65 regularity66 in respect to form. Sermons twice a week, daily prayers, and frequent psalm-singing alternated with the much-needed military drill. [300] "Prayers among us night and morning," writes Private Jonathan Caswell, of Massachusetts, to his father. "Here we lie, knowing not when we shall march for Crown Point; but I hope not long to tarry. Desiring your prayers to God for me as I am going to war, I am Your Ever Dutiful son." [301]
[299] Papers of Colonel Israel Williams.
[300] Massachusetts Archives.
[301] Jonathan Caswell to John Caswell, 6 July, 1755.
To Pomeroy and some of his brothers in arms it seemed that they were engaged in a kind of crusade against the myrmidons of Rome. "As you have at heart the Protestant cause," he wrote 293
V1 to his friend Israel Williams, "so I ask an interest in your prayers that the Lord of Hosts would go forth67 with us and give us victory over our unreasonable68, encroaching, barbarous, murdering enemies."
Both Williams the surgeon and Williams the colonel chafed69 at the incessant70 delays. "The expedition goes on very much as a snail71 runs," writes the former to his wife; "it seems we may possibly see Crown Point this time twelve months." The Colonel was vexed72 because everything was out of joint73 in the department of transportation: wagoners mutinous74 for want of pay; ordnance75 stores, camp-kettles, and provisions left behind. "As to rum," he complains, "it won't hold out nine weeks. Things appear most melancholy76 to me." Even as he was writing, a report came of the defeat of Braddock; and, shocked at the blow, his pen traced the words: "The Lord have mercy on poor New England!"
Johnson had sent four Mohawk scouts78 to Canada. They returned on the twenty-first of August with the report that the French were all astir with preparation, and that eight thousand men were coming to defend Crown Point. On this a council of war was called; and it was resolved to send to the several colonies for reinforcements. [302] Meanwhile the main body had moved up the river to the spot called the Great Carrying Place, where Lyman had begun a fortified 294
V1 storehouse, which his men called Fort Lyman, but which was afterwards named Fort Edward. Two Indian trails led from this point to the waters of Lake Champlain, one by way of Lake George, and the other by way of Wood Creek79. There was doubt which course the army should take. A road was begun to Wood Creek; then it was countermanded80, and a party was sent to explore the path to Lake George. "With submission81 to the general officers," Surgeon Williams again writes, "I think it a very grand mistake that the business of reconnoitring was not done months agone." It was resolved at last to march for Lake George; gangs of axemen were sent to hew15 out the way; and on the twenty-sixth two thousand men were ordered to the lake, while Colonel Blanchard, of New Hampshire, remained with five hundred to finish and defend Fort Lyman.
[302] Minutes of Council of War, 22 Aug. 1755. Ephraim Williams to Benjamin Dwight, 22 Aug. 1755.
The train of Dutch wagons82, guarded by the homely83 soldiery, jolted84 slowly over the stumps85 and roots of the newly made road, and the regiments86 followed at their leisure. The hardships of the way were not without their consolations88. The jovial Irishman who held the chief command made himself very agreeable to the New England officers. "We went on about four or five miles," says Pomeroy in his Journal, "then stopped, ate pieces of broken bread and cheese, and drank some fresh lemon-punch and the best of wine with General Johnson and some of the field-officers." It was the same on the next day. "Stopped about noon and dined with General Johnson by 295
V1 a small brook89 under a tree; ate a good dinner of cold boiled and roast venison; drank good fresh lemon-punch and wine."
That afternoon they reached their destination, fourteen miles from Fort Lyman. The most beautiful lake in America lay before them; then more beautiful than now, in the wild charm of untrodden mountains and virgin90 forests. "I have given it the name of Lake George," wrote Johnson to the Lords of Trade, "not only in honor of His Majesty91, but to ascertain92 his undoubted dominion93 here." His men made their camp on a piece of rough ground by the edge of the water, pitching their tents among the stumps of the newly felled trees. In their front was a forest of pitch-pine; on their right, a marsh94, choked with alders95 and swamp-maples; on their left, the low hill where Fort George was afterwards built; and at their rear, the lake. Little was done to clear the forest in front, though it would give excellent cover to an enemy. Nor did Johnson take much pains to learn the movements of the French in the direction of Crown Point, though he sent scouts towards South Bay and Wood Creek. Every day stores and bateaux, or flat boats, came on wagons from Fort Lyman; and preparation moved on with the leisure that had marked it from the first. About three hundred Mohawks came to the camp, and were regarded by the New England men as nuisances. On Sunday the gray-haired Stephen Williams preached to these savage96 allies a long Calvinistic sermon, which must have 296
V1 sorely perplexed97 the interpreter whose business it was to turn it into Mohawk; and in the afternoon young Chaplain Newell, of Rhode Island, expounded98 to the New England men the somewhat untimely text, "Love your enemies." On the next Sunday, September seventh, Williams preached again, this time to the whites from a text in Isaiah. It was a peaceful day, fair and warm, with a few light showers; yet not wholly a day of rest, for two hundred wagons came up from Fort Lyman, loaded with bateaux. After the sermon there was an alarm. An Indian scout77 came in about sunset, and reported that he had found the trail of a body of men moving from South Bay towards Fort Lyman. Johnson called for a volunteer to carry a letter of warning to Colonel Blanchard, the commander. A wagoner named Adams offered himself for the perilous99 service, mounted, and galloped100 along the road with the letter. Sentries101 were posted, and the camp fell asleep.
While Johnson lay at Lake George, Dieskau prepared a surprise for him. The German Baron had reached Crown Point at the head of three thousand five hundred and seventy-three men, regulars, Canadians, and Indians. [303] He had no thought of waiting there to be attacked. The troops were told to hold themselves ready to move at a moment's notice. Officers—so ran the order—will take nothing with them but one spare shirt, one spare pair of shoes, a blanket, a bearskin, and 297
V1 provisions for twelve days; Indians are not to amuse themselves by taking scalps till the enemy is entirely103 defeated, since they can kill ten men in the time required to scalp one. [304] Then Dieskau moved on, with nearly all his force, to Carillon, or Ticonderoga, a promontory104 commanding both the routes by which alone Johnson could advance, that of Wood Creek and that of Lake George.
[303] Vaudreuil au Ministre, 25 Sept. 1755.
[304] Livre d'Ordres, Ao?t, Sept. 1755.
The Indians allies were commanded by Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, the officer who had received Washington on his embassy to Fort Le B?uf. These unmanageable warriors were a constant annoyance105 to Dieskau, being a species of humanity quite new to him. "They drive us crazy," he says, "from morning till night. There is no end to their demands. They have already eaten five oxen and as many hogs106, without counting the kegs of brandy they have drunk. In short, one needs the patience of an angel to get on with these devils; and yet one must always force himself to seem pleased with them." [305]
[305] Dieskau à Vaudreuil, 1 Sept. 1755.
They would scarcely even go out as scouts. At last, however, on the fourth of September, a reconnoitring party came in with a scalp and an English prisoner caught near Fort Lyman. He was questioned under the threat of being given to the Indians for torture if he did not tell the truth; but, nothing daunted108, he invented a patriotic109 falsehood; and thinking to lure110 his captors into a trap, told them that the English army had fallen back to 298
V1 Albany, leaving five hundred men at Fort Lyman, which he represented as indefensible. Dieskau resolved on a rapid movement to seize the place. At noon of the same day, leaving a part of his force at Ticonderoga, he embarked the rest in canoes and advanced along the narrow prolongation of Lake Champlain that stretched southward through the wilderness to where the town of Whitehall now stands. He soon came to a point where the lake dwindled111 to a mere112 canal, while two mighty113 rocks, capped with stunted114 forests, faced each other from the opposing banks. Here he left an officer named Roquemaure with a detachment of troops, and again advanced along a belt of quiet water traced through the midst of a deep marsh, green at that season with sedge and water-weeds, and known to the English as the Drowned Lands. Beyond, on either hand, crags feathered with birch and fir, or hills mantled115 with woods, looked down on the long procession of canoes. [306] As they neared the site of Whitehall, a passage opened on the right, the entrance to a sheet of lonely water slumbering116 in the shadow of woody mountains, and forming the lake then, as now, called South Bay. They advanced to its head, landed where a small stream enters it, left the canoes under a guard, and began their march through the forest. They counted in all two hundred and sixteen regulars of the battalions of Languedoc and La Reine, six hundred 299
V1 and eighty-four Canadians, and above six hundred Indians. [307] Every officer and man carried provisions for eight days in his knapsack. They encamped at night by a brook, and in the morning, after hearing Mass, marched again. The evening of the next day brought them near the road that led to Lake George. Fort Lyman was but three miles distant. A man on horseback galloped by; it was Adams, Johnson's unfortunate messenger. The Indians shot him, and found the letter in his pocket. Soon after, ten or twelve wagons appeared in charge of mutinous drivers, who had left the English camp without orders. Several of them were shot, two were taken, and the rest ran off. The two captives declared that, contrary to the assertion of the prisoner at Ticonderoga, a large force lay encamped at the lake. The Indians now held a council, and presently gave out that they would not attack the fort, which they thought well supplied with cannon117, but that they were willing to attack the camp at Lake George. Remonstrance118 was lost upon them. Dieskau was not young, but he was daring to rashness, and inflamed119 to emulation120 by the victory over Braddock. The enemy were reported greatly to outnumber him; but his Canadian advisers121 had assured him that the English colony militia122 were the worst troops on the face of the earth. "The more there are," he said to the Canadians and Indians, "the more we shall kill;" and in the morning the order was given to march for the lake.
[306] I passed this way three weeks ago. There are some points where the scene is not much changed since Dieskau saw it.
[307] Mémoire sur l'Affaire du 8 Septembre.
300
V1 They moved rapidly on through the waste of pines, and soon entered the rugged123 valley that led to Johnson's camp. On their right was a gorge124 where, shadowed in bushes, gurgled a gloomy brook; and beyond rose the cliffs that buttressed125 the rocky heights of French Mountain, seen by glimpses between the boughs126. On their left rose gradually the lower slopes of West Mountain. All was rock, thicket127, and forest; there was no open space but the road along which the regulars marched, while the Canadians and Indians pushed their way through the woods in such order as the broken ground would permit.
They were three miles from the lake, when their scouts brought in a prisoner who told them that a column of English troops was approaching. Dieskau's preparations were quickly made. While the regulars halted on the road, the Canadians and Indians moved to the front, where most of them hid in the forest along the slopes of West Mountain, and the rest lay close among the thickets128 on the other side. Thus, when the English advanced to attack the regulars in front, they would find themselves caught in a double ambush. No sight or sound betrayed the snare129; but behind every bush crouched130 a Canadian or a savage, with gun cocked and ears intent, listening for the tramp of the approaching column.
The wagoners who escaped the evening before had reached the camp about midnight, and reported that there was a war-party on the road near Fort Lyman. Johnson had at this time 301
V1 twenty-two hundred effective men, besides his three hundred Indians. [308] He called a council of war in the morning, and a resolution was taken which can only be explained by a complete misconception as to the force of the French. It was determined131 to send out two detachments of five hundred men each, one towards Fort Lyman, and the other towards South Bay, the object being, according to Johnson, "to catch the enemy in their retreat." [309] Hendrick, chief of the Mohawks, a brave and sagacious warrior30, expressed his dissent132 after a fashion of his own. He picked up a stick and broke it; then he picked up several sticks, and showed that together they could not be broken. The hint was taken, and the two detachments were joined in one. Still the old savage shook his head. "If they are to be killed," he said, "they are too many; if they are to fight, they are too few." Nevertheless, he resolved to share their fortunes; and mounting on a gun-carriage, he harangued133 his warriors with a voice so animated134 and gestures so expressive136, that the New England officers listened in admiration137, though they understood not a word. One difficulty remained. He was too old and fat to go afoot; but Johnson lent him a horse, which he bestrode, and trotted138 to the head of the column, 302
V1 followed by two hundred of his warriors as fast as they could grease, paint, and befeather themselves.
[308] Wraxall to Lieutenant-Governor Delancey, 10 Sept. 1755. Wraxall was Johnson's aide-de-camp and secretary. The Second Letter to a Friend says twenty-one hundred whites and two hundred or three hundred Indians. Blodget, who was also on the spot, sets the whites at two thousand.
[309] Letter to the Governors of the several Colonies, 9 Sept. 1755.
Captain Elisha Hawley was in his tent, finishing a letter which he had just written to his brother Joseph; and these were the last words: "I am this minute agoing out in company with five hundred men to see if we can intercept139 'em in their retreat, or find their canoes in the Drowned Lands; and therefore must conclude this letter." He closed and directed it; and in an hour received his death-wound.
It was soon after eight o'clock when Ephraim Williams left the camp with his regiment, marched a little distance, and then waited for the rest of the detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Whiting. Thus Dieskau had full time to lay his ambush. When Whiting came up, the whole moved on together, so little conscious of danger that no scouts were thrown out in front or flank; and, in full security, they entered the fatal snare. Before they were completely involved in it, the sharp eye of old Hendrick detected some sign of an enemy. At that instant, whether by accident or design, a gun was fired from the bushes. It is said that Dieskau's Iroquois, seeing Mohawks, their relatives, in the van, wished to warn them of danger. If so, the warning came too late. The thickets on the left blazed out a deadly fire, and the men fell by scores. In the words of Dieskau, the head of the column "was doubled up like a pack of cards." Hendrick's horse was 303
V1 shot down, and the chief was killed with a bayonet as he tried to rise. Williams, seeing a rising ground on his right, made for it, calling on his men to follow; but as he climbed the slope, guns flashed from the bushes, and a shot through the brain laid him dead. The men in the rear pressed forward to support their comrades, when a hot fire was suddenly opened on them from the forest along their right flank. Then there was a panic; some fled outright140, and the whole column recoiled141. The van now became the rear, and all the force of the enemy rushed upon it, shouting and screeching142. There was a moment of total confusion; but a part of Williams's regiment rallied under command of Whiting, and covered the retreat, fighting behind trees like Indians, and firing and falling back by turns, bravely aided by some of the Mohawks and by a detachment which Johnson sent to their aid. "And a very handsome retreat they made," writes Pomeroy; "and so continued till they came within about three quarters of a mile of our camp. This was the last fire our men gave our enemies, which killed great numbers of them; they were seen to drop as pigeons." So ended the fray143 long known in New England fireside story as the "bloody144 morning scout." Dieskau now ordered a halt, and sounded his trumpets145 to collect his scattered146 men. His Indians, however, were sullen147 and unmanageable, and the Canadians also showed signs of wavering. The veteran who commanded them all, Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, had been killed. At length they 304
V1 were persuaded to move again, the regulars leading the way.
About an hour after Williams and his men had begun their march, a distant rattle148 of musketry was heard at the camp; and as it grew nearer and louder, the listeners knew that their comrades were on the retreat. Then, at the eleventh hour, preparations were begun for defence. A sort of barricade149 was made along the front of the camp, partly of wagons, and partly of inverted150 bateaux, but chiefly of the trunks of trees hastily hewn down in the neighboring forest and laid end to end in a single row. The line extended from the southern slopes of the hill on the left across a tract151 of rough ground to the marshes152 on the right. The forest, choked with bushes and clumps153 of rank ferns, was within a few yards of the barricade, and there was scarcely time to hack154 away the intervening thickets. Three cannon were planted to sweep the road that descended155 through the pines, and another was dragged up to the ridge156 of the hill. The defeated party began to come in; first, scared fugitives157 both white and red; then, gangs of men bringing the wounded; and at last, an hour and a half after the first fire was heard, the main detachment was seen marching in compact bodies down the road.
Five hundred men were detailed158 to guard the flanks of the camp. The rest stood behind the wagons or lay flat behind the logs and inverted bateaux, the Massachusetts men on the right, and the Connecticut men on the left. Besides 305
V1 Indians, this actual fighting force was between sixteen and seventeen hundred rustics159, very few of whom had been under fire before that morning. They were hardly at their posts when they saw ranks of white-coated soldiers moving down the road, and bayonets that to them seemed innumerable glittering between the boughs. At the same time a terrific burst of war-whoops rose along the front; and, in the words of Pomeroy, "the Canadians and Indians, helter-skelter, the woods full of them, came running with undaunted courage right down the hill upon us, expecting to make us flee." [310] Some of the men grew uneasy; while the chief officers, sword in hand, threatened instant death to any who should stir from their posts. [311] If Dieskau had made an assault at that instant, there could be little doubt of the result.
[310] Seth Pomeroy to his Wife, 10 Sept. 1755.
[311] Dr. Perez Marsh to William Williams, 25 Sept. 1755.
This he well knew; but he was powerless. He had his small force of regulars well in hand; but the rest, red and white, were beyond control, scattering160 through the woods and swamps, shouting, yelling, and firing from behind trees. The regulars advanced with intrepidity161 towards the camp where the trees were thin, deployed162, and fired by platoons, till Captain Eyre, who commanded the artillery, opened on them with grape, broke their ranks, and compelled them to take to cover. The fusillade was now general on both sides, and soon grew furious. "Perhaps," Seth Pomeroy wrote to his wife, two days after, "the 306
V1 hailstones from heaven were never much thicker than their bullets came; but, blessed be God! that did not in the least daunt107 or disturb us." Johnson received a flesh-wound in the thigh163, and spent the rest of the day in his tent. Lyman took command; and it is a marvel164 that he escaped alive, for he was four hours in the heat of the fire, directing and animating165 the men. "It was the most awful day my eyes ever beheld," wrote Surgeon Williams to his wife; "there seemed to be nothing but thunder and lightning and perpetual pillars of smoke." To him, his colleague Doctor Pynchon, one assistant, and a young student called "Billy," fell the charge of the wounded of his regiment. "The bullets flew about our ears all the time of dressing166 them; so we thought best to leave our tent and retire a few rods behind the shelter of a log-house." On the adjacent hill stood one Blodget, who seems to have been a sutler, watching, as well as bushes, trees, and smoke would let him, the progress of the fight, of which he soon after made and published a curious bird's-eye view. As the wounded men were carried to the rear, the wagoners about the camp took their guns and powder-horns, and joined in the fray. A Mohawk, seeing one of these men still unarmed, leaped over the barricade, tomahawked the nearest Canadian, snatched his gun, and darted167 back unhurt. The brave savage found no imitators among his tribesmen, most of whom did nothing but utter a few war-whoops, saying that they had come to see their 307
V1 English brothers fight. Some of the French Indians opened a distant flank fire from the high ground beyond the swamp on the right, but were driven off by a few shells dropped among them.
Dieskau had directed his first attack against the left and centre of Johnson's position. Making no impression here, he tried to force the right, where lay the regiments of Titcomb, Ruggles, and Williams. The fire was hot for about an hour. Titcomb was shot dead, a rod in front of the barricade, firing from behind a tree like a common soldier. At length Dieskau, exposing himself within short range of the English line, was hit in the leg. His adjutant, Montreuil, himself wounded, came to his aid, and was washing the injured limb with brandy, when the unfortunate commander was again hit in the knee and thigh. He seated himself behind a tree, while the Adjutant called two Canadians to carry him to the rear. One of them was instantly shot down. Montreuil took his place; but Dieskau refused to be moved, bitterly denounced the Canadians and Indians, and ordered the Adjutant to leave him and lead the regulars in a last effort against the camp.
It was too late. Johnson's men, singly or in small squads168, already crossing their row of logs; and in a few moments the whole dashed forward with a shout, falling upon the enemy with hatchets and the butts169 of their guns. The French and their allies fled. The wounded General still sat helpless by the tree, when he saw a 308
V1 soldier aiming at him. He signed to the man not to fire; but he pulled trigger, shot him across the hips87, leaped upon him, and ordered him in French to surrender. "I said," writes Dieskau, "'You rascal26, why did you fire? You see a man lying in his blood on the ground, and you shoot him!' He answered: 'How did I know that you had not got a pistol? I had rather kill the devil than have the devil kill me.' 'You are a Frenchman?' I asked. 'Yes,' he replied; 'it is more than ten years since I left Canada;' whereupon several others fell on me and stripped me. I told them to carry me to their general, which they did. On learning who I was, he sent for surgeons, and, though wounded himself, refused all assistance till my wounds were dressed." [312]
[312] Dialogue entre le Maréchal de Saxe et le Baron de Dieskau aux Champs élysées. This paper is in the Archives de la Guerre, and was evidently written or inspired by Dieskau himself. In spite of its fanciful form, it is a sober statement of the events of the campaign. There is a translation of it in N. Y. Col. Docs., X. 340.
It was near five o'clock when the final rout took place. Some time before, several hundred of the Canadians and Indians had left the field and returned to the scene of the morning fight, to plunder170 and scalp the dead. They were resting themselves near a pool in the forest, close beside the road, when their repose171 was interrupted by a volley of bullets. It was fired by a scouting172 party from Fort Lyman, chiefly backwoodsmen, under Captains Folsom and McGinnis. The assailants were greatly outnumbered; but after a hard fight the Canadians and Indians 309
V1 broke and fled. McGinnis was mortally wounded. He continued to give orders till the firing was over; then fainted, and was carried, dying, to the camp. The bodies of the slain173, according to tradition, were thrown into the pool, which bears to this day the name of Bloody Pond.
The various bands of fugitives rejoined each other towards night, and encamped in the forest; then made their way round the southern shoulder of French Mountain, till, in the next evening, they reached their canoes. Their plight174 was deplorable; for they had left their knapsacks behind, and were spent with fatigue175 and famine.
Meanwhile their captive general was not yet out of danger. The Mohawks were furious at their losses in the ambush of the morning, and above all at the death of Hendrick. Scarcely were Dieskau's wounds dressed, when several of them came into the tent. There was a long and angry dispute in their own language between them and Johnson, after which they went out very sullenly176. Dieskau asked what they wanted. "What do they want?" returned Johnson. "To burn you, by God, eat you, and smoke you in their pipes, in revenge for three or four of their chiefs that were killed. But never fear; you shall be safe with me, or else they shall kill us both." [313] The Mohawks soon came back, and another talk ensued, excited at first, and then more calm; till at length 310
V1 the visitors, seemingly appeased177, smiled, gave Dieskau their hands in sign of friendship, and quietly went out again. Johnson warned him that he was not yet safe; and when the prisoner, fearing that his presence might incommode his host, asked to be removed to another tent, a captain and fifty men were ordered to guard him. In the morning an Indian, alone and apparently178 unarmed, loitered about the entrance, and the stupid sentinel let him pass in. He immediately drew a sword from under a sort of cloak which he wore, and tried to stab Dieskau; but was prevented by the Colonel to whom the tent belonged, who seized upon him, took away his sword, and pushed him out. As soon as his wounds would permit, Dieskau was carried on a litter, strongly escorted, to Fort Lyman, whence he was sent to Albany, and afterwards to New York. He is profuse179 in expressions of gratitude180 for the kindness shown him by the colonial officers, and especially by Johnson. Of the provincial soldiers he remarked soon after the battle that in the morning they fought like good boys, about noon like men, and in the afternoon like devils. [314] In the spring of 1757 he sailed for England, and was for a time at Falmouth; whence Colonel Matthew Sewell, fearing that he might see and learn too much, wrote to the Earl of Holdernesse: "The Baron has great penetration181 and quickness of apprehension182. His long service under Marshal Saxe renders him a man of real consequence, to be 311
V1 cautiously observed. His circumstances deserve compassion183, for indeed they are very melancholy, and I much doubt of his being ever perfectly184 cured." He was afterwards a long time at Bath, for the benefit of the waters. In 1760 the famous Diderot met him at Paris, cheerful and full of anecdote185, though wretchedly shattered by his wounds. He died a few years later.
[313] See the story as told by Dieskau to the celebrated186 Diderot, at Paris, in 1760. Mémoires de Diderot, I. 402 (1830). Compare N. Y. Col. Docs., X. 343.
[314] Dr. Perez Marsh to William Williams, 25 Sept. 1755.
On the night after the battle the yeomen warriors felt the truth of the saying that, next to defeat, the saddest thing is victory. Comrades and friends by scores lay scattered through the forest. As soon as he could snatch a moment's leisure, the overworked surgeon sent the dismal187 tidings to his wife: "My dear brother Ephraim was killed by a ball through his head; poor brother Josiah's wound I fear will prove mortal; poor Captain Hawley is yet alive, though I did not think he would live two hours after bringing him in." Daniel Pomeroy was shot dead; and his brother Seth wrote the news to his wife Rachel, who was just delivered of a child: "Dear Sister, this brings heavy tidings; but let not your heart sink at the news, though it be your loss of a dear husband. Monday the eighth instant was a memorable188 day; and truly you may say, had not the Lord been on our side, we must all have been swallowed up. My brother, being one that went out in the first engagement, received a fatal shot through the middle of the head." Seth Pomeroy found a moment to write also to his own wife, whom he tells that another attack is expected; 312
V1 adding, in quaintly189 pious190 phrase: "But as God hath begun to show mercy, I hope he will go on to be gracious." Pomeroy was employed during the next few days with four hundred men in what he calls "the melancholy piece of business" of burying the dead. A letter-writer of the time does not approve what was done on this occasion. "Our people," he says, "not only buried the French dead, but buried as many of them as might be without the knowledge of our Indians, to prevent their being scalped. This I call an excess of civility;" his reason being that Braddock's dead soldiers had been left to the wolves.
The English loss in killed, wounded, and missing was two hundred and sixty-two; [315] and that of the French by their own account, two hundred and twenty-eight, [316]—a somewhat modest result of five hours' fighting. The English loss was chiefly in the ambush of the morning, where the killed greatly outnumbered the wounded, because those who fell and could not be carried away were tomahawked by Dieskau's Indians. In the fight at the camp, both Indians and Canadians kept themselves so well under cover that it was very difficult for the New England men to pick them off, while they on their part lay close behind their row of logs. On the French side, the regular officers and troops bore the brunt of the battle 313
V1 and suffered the chief loss, nearly all of the former and nearly half of the latter being killed or wounded.
[315] Return of Killed, Wounded, and Missing at the Battle of Lake George.
[316] Doreil au Ministre, 20 Oct. 1755. Surgeon Williams gives the English loss as two hundred and sixteen killed, and ninety-six wounded. Pomeroy thinks that the French lost four or five hundred. Johnson places their loss at four hundred.
Johnson did not follow up his success. He says that his men were tired. Yet five hundred of them had stood still all day, and boats enough for their transportation were lying on the beach. Ten miles down the lake, a path led over a gorge of the mountains to South Bay, where Dieskau had left his canoes and provisions. It needed but a few hours to reach and destroy them; but no such attempt was made. Nor, till a week after, did Johnson send out scouts to learn the strength of the enemy at Ticonderoga. Lyman strongly urged him to make an effort to seize that important pass; but Johnson thought only of holding his own position. "I think," he wrote, "we may expect very shortly a more formidable attack." He made a solid breastwork to defend his camp; and as reinforcements arrived, set them at building a fort on a rising ground by the lake. It is true that just after the battle he was deficient191 in stores, and had not bateaux enough to move his whole force. It is true, also, that he was wounded, and that he was too jealous of Lyman to delegate the command to him; and so the days passed till, within a fortnight, his nimble enemy were entrenched192 at Ticonderoga in force enough to defy him.
The Crown Point expedition was a failure disguised under an incidental success. The northern provinces, especially Massachusetts and Connecticut, 314
V1 did what they could to forward it, and after the battle sent a herd193 of raw recruits to the scene of action. Shirley wrote to Johnson from Oswego; declared that his reasons for not advancing were insufficient194, and urged him to push for Ticonderoga at once. Johnson replied that he had not wagons enough, and that his troops were ill-clothed, ill-fed, discontented, insubordinate, and sickly. He complained that discipline was out of the question, because the officers were chosen by popular election; that many of them were no better than the men, unfit for command, and like so many "heads of a mob." [317] The reinforcements began to come in, till, in October, there were thirty-six hundred men in the camp; and as most of them wore summer clothing and had but one thin domestic blanket, they were half frozen in the chill autumn nights.
[317] Shirley to Johnson, 19 Sept. 1755. Ibid., 24 Sept. 1755. Johnson to Shirley, 22 Sept. 1755. Johnson to Phipps, 10 Oct. 1755 (Massachusetts Archives).
Johnson called a council of war; and as he was suffering from inflamed eyes, and was still kept in his tent by his wound, he asked Lyman to preside,—not unwilling195, perhaps, to shift the responsibility upon him. After several sessions and much debate, the assembled officers decided196 that it was inexpedient to proceed. [318] Yet the army lay more than a month longer at the lake, while the disgust of the men increased daily under the rains, frosts, and snows of a dreary197 November. On the twenty-second, Chandler, chaplain of one of the 315
V1 Massachusetts regiments, wrote in the interleaved almanac that served him as a diary: "The men just ready to mutiny. Some clubbed their firelocks and marched, but returned back. Very rainy night. Miry water standing198 the tents. Very distressing199 time among the sick." The men grew more and more unruly, and went off in squads without asking leave. A difficult question arose: Who should stay for the winter to garrison200 the new forts, and who should command them? It was settled at last that a certain number of soldiers from each province should be assigned to this ungrateful service, and that Massachusetts should have the first officer, Connecticut the second, and New York the third. Then the camp broke up. "Thursday the 27th," wrote the chaplain in his almanac, "we set out about ten of the clock, marched in a body, about three thousand, the wagons and baggage in the centre, our colonel much insulted by the way." The soldiers dispersed201 to their villages and farms, where in blustering202 winter nights, by the blazing logs of New England hearthstones, they told their friends and neighbors the story of the campaign.
[318] Reports of Council of War, 11-21 Oct. 1755.
The profit of it fell to Johnson. If he did not gather the fruits of victory, at least he reaped its laurels. He was a courtier in his rough way. He had changed the name of Lac St. Sacrement to Lake George, in compliment to the King. He now changed that of Fort Lyman to Fort Edward, in compliment to one of the King's grandsons; and, in compliment to another, called his new fort at the lake, 316
V1 William Henry. Of General Lyman he made no mention in his report of the battle, and his partisans203 wrote letters traducing204 that brave officer; though Johnson is said to have confessed in private that he owed him the victory. He himself found no lack of eulogists; and, to quote the words of an able but somewhat caustic205 and prejudiced opponent, "to the panegyrical206 pen of his secretary, Mr. Wraxall, and the sic volo sic jubeo of Lieutenant-Governor Delancey, is to be ascribed that mighty renown207 which echoed through the colonies, reverberated208 to Europe, and elevated a raw, inexperienced youth into a kind of second Marlborough." [319] Parliament gave him five thousand pounds, and the King made him a baronet.
[319] Review of Military Operations in North America, in a Letter to a Nobleman (ascribed to William Livingston).
On the Battle of Lake George a mass of papers will be found in the N. Y. Col. Docs., Vols. VI. and X. Those in Vol. VI., taken chiefly from the archives of New York, consist of official and private letters, reports, etc., on the English side. Those in Vol. X. are drawn209 chiefly from the archives of the French War Department, and include the correspondence of Dieskau and his adjutant Montreuil. I have examined most of them in the original. Besides these I have obtained from the Archives de la Marine210 and other sources a number of important additional papers, which have never been printed, including Vaudreuil's reports to the Minister of War, and his strictures on Dieskau, whom he accuses of disobeying orders by dividing his force; also the translation of an English journal of the campaign found in the pocket of a captured officer, and a long account of the battle sent by Bigot to the Minister of Marine, 4 Oct. 1755.
I owe to the kindness of Theodore Pomeroy, Esq., a copy of the Journal of Lieutenant-Colonel Seth Pomeroy, whose letters are full of interest; as are those of Surgeon Williams, from the collection of William L. Stone, Esq. The papers of Colonel Israel Williams, in the Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, contain many other curious letters relating to the campaign, extracts from some of which are given in the text. One of the most curious records of the battle is A Prospective-Plan of the Battle near Lake George, with an Explanation 317
V1 thereof, containing a full, though short, History of that important Affair, by Samuel Blodget, occasionally at the Camp when the Battle was fought. It is an engraving211, printed at Boston soon after the fight, of which it gives a clear idea. Four years after, Blodget opened a shop in Boston, where, as appears by his advertisements in the newspapers, he sold "English Goods, also English Hatts, etc." The engraving is reproduced in the Documentary History of New York, IV., and elsewhere. The Explanation thereof is only to be found complete in the original. This, as well as the anonymous212 Second Letter to a Friend, also printed at Boston in 1755, is excellent for the information it gives as to the condition of the ground where the conflict took place, and the position of the combatants. The unpublished Archives of Massachusetts; the correspondence of Sir William Johnson; the Review of Military Operations in North America; Dwight, Travels in New England and New York, III.; and Hoyt, Antiquarian Researches on Indian Wars,—should also be mentioned. Dwight and Hoyt drew their information from aged27 survivors213 of the battle. I have repeatedly examined the localities.
In the odd effusion of the colonial muse102 called Tilden's Poems, chiefly to Animate135 and Rouse the Soldiers, printed 1756, is a piece styled The Christian214 Hero, or New England's Triumphs, beginning with the invocation,—
"O Heaven, indulge my feeble Muse,
Teach her what numbers for to choose!"
and containing the following stanza:—
"Their Dieskau we from them detain,
While Canada aloud complains
And counts the numbers of their slain
While images receive their nods,
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1
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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provincials
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| n.首都以外的人，地区居民( provincial的名词复数 ) | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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laurels
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| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
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ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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levies
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| （部队）征兵( levy的名词复数 )； 募捐； 被征募的军队 | |
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contingents
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| （志趣相投、尤指来自同一地方的）一组与会者( contingent的名词复数 )； 代表团； （军队的）分遣队； 小分队 | |
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heterogeneous
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| adj.庞杂的；异类的 | |
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dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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hew
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| v.砍；伐；削 | |
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prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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jovial
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| adj.快乐的，好交际的 | |
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flip
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| vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的 | |
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boors
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| n.农民( boor的名词复数 )；乡下佬；没礼貌的人；粗野的人 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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infested
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| adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于 | |
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fortified
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foes
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remarkable
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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rascal
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aged
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detested
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superintendent
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warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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larder
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| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
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rhetoric
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prolixity
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climax
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alacrity
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colonists
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| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
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battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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deadlock
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| n.僵局，僵持 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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wilderness
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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subscription
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| n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方） | |
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briefly
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legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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hatchets
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| n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 )；恶毒攻击；诽谤；休战 | |
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slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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rust
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| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
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abodes
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| 住所( abode的名词复数 )； 公寓； （在某地的）暂住； 逗留 | |
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62
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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63
pumpkins
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| n.南瓜( pumpkin的名词复数 )；南瓜的果肉，南瓜囊 | |
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64
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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65
edifying
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| adj.有教训意味的，教训性的，有益的v.开导，启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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66
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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67
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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68
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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69
chafed
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| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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70
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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71
snail
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| n.蜗牛 | |
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72
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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73
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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74
mutinous
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| adj.叛变的，反抗的；adv.反抗地，叛变地；n.反抗，叛变 | |
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75
ordnance
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| n.大炮，军械 | |
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76
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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77
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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78
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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79
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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80
countermanded
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| v.取消（命令），撤回( countermand的过去分词 ) | |
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81
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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82
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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83
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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84
jolted
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| （使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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85
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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86
regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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87
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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88
consolations
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| n.安慰，慰问( consolation的名词复数 )；起安慰作用的人（或事物） | |
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89
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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90
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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91
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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92
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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93
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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94
marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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95
alders
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| n.桤木( alder的名词复数 ) | |
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96
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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97
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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98
expounded
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| 论述，详细讲解( expound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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99
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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100
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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101
sentries
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| 哨兵，步兵( sentry的名词复数 ) | |
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102
muse
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| n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感 | |
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103
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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104
promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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105
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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106
hogs
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| n.（尤指喂肥供食用的）猪( hog的名词复数 )；（供食用的）阉公猪；彻底地做某事；自私的或贪婪的人 | |
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107
daunt
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| vt.使胆怯，使气馁 | |
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108
daunted
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| 使（某人）气馁，威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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109
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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110
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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111
dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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112
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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113
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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114
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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115
mantled
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| 披着斗篷的，覆盖着的 | |
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116
slumbering
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
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117
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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118
remonstrance
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| n抗议，抱怨 | |
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119
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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120
emulation
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| n.竞争；仿效 | |
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121
advisers
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| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
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122
militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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123
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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124
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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125
buttressed
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| v.用扶壁支撑，加固( buttress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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126
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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127
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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128
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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129
snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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130
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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131
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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132
dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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133
harangued
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| v.高谈阔论( harangue的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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134
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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135
animate
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| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
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136
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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137
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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138
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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139
intercept
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| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
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140
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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141
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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142
screeching
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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143
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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144
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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145
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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146
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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147
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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148
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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149
barricade
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| n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住 | |
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150
inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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151
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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152
marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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153
clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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154
hack
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| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
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155
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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156
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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157
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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158
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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159
rustics
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| n.有农村或村民特色的( rustic的名词复数 )；粗野的；不雅的；用粗糙的木材或树枝制作的 | |
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160
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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161
intrepidity
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| n.大胆，刚勇；大胆的行为 | |
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162
deployed
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| （尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用 | |
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163
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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164
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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165
animating
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| v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 )；驱动；使栩栩如生地动作；赋予…以生命 | |
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166
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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167
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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168
squads
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| n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍 | |
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169
butts
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| 笑柄( butt的名词复数 )； （武器或工具的）粗大的一端； 屁股； 烟蒂 | |
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170
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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171
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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172
scouting
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| 守候活动，童子军的活动 | |
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173
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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174
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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175
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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176
sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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177
appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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178
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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179
profuse
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| adj.很多的，大量的，极其丰富的 | |
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180
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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181
penetration
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| n.穿透，穿人，渗透 | |
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182
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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183
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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184
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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185
anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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186
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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187
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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188
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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189
quaintly
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| adv.古怪离奇地 | |
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190
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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191
deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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192
entrenched
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| adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯) | |
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193
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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194
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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195
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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196
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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197
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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199
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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200
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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201
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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202
blustering
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| adj.狂风大作的，狂暴的v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的现在分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
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203
partisans
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| 游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙 | |
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204
traducing
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| v.诋毁( traduce的现在分词 )；诽谤；违反；背叛 | |
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205
caustic
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| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
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206
panegyrical
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| adj.颂词的 | |
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207
renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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208
reverberated
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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209
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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210
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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211
engraving
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| n.版画；雕刻（作品）；雕刻艺术；镌版术v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的现在分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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212
anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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213
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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215
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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216
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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217
invoking
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| v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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