TICONDEROGA.
Activity of the Provinces ? Sacrifices of Massachusetts ? The Army at Lake George ? Proposed Incursion of Lévis ? Perplexities of Montcalm ? His Plan of Defence ? Camp of Abercromby ? His Character ? Lord Howe ? His Popularity ? Embarkation1 of Abercromby ? Advance down Lake George ? Landing ? Forest Skirmish ? Death of Howe ? Its Effects ? Position of the French ? The Lines of Ticonderoga ? Blunders of Abercromby ? The Assault ? A Frightful3 Scene ? Incidents of the Battle ? British Repulse4 ? Panic ? Retreat ? Triumph of Montcalm.
In the last year London called on the colonists5 for four thousand men. This year Pitt asked them for twenty thousand, and promised that the King would supply arms, ammunition6, tents, and provisions, leaving to the provinces only the raising, clothing, and pay of their soldiers; and he added the assurance that Parliament would be asked to make some compensation even for these. [598] Thus encouraged, cheered by the removal of Loudon, and animated8 by the unwonted vigor9 of British military preparation, the several provincial10 assemblies voted men in abundance, though the usual vexatious delays took place in raising, equipping, and sending them to the field.
[598] Pitt to the Colonial Governors, 30 Dec. 1757.
84
V2 In this connection, an able English writer has brought against the colonies, and especially against Massachusetts, charges which deserve attention. Viscount Bury says: "Of all the colonies, Massachusetts was the first which discovered the designs of the French and remonstrated11 against their aggressions; of all the colonies she most zealously13 promoted measures of union for the common defence, and made the greatest exertions15 in furtherance of her views." But he adds that there is a reverse to the picture, and that "this colony, so high-spirited, so warlike, and apparently17 so loyal, would never move hand or foot in her own defence till certain of repayment18 by the mother country." [599] The groundlessness of this charge is shown by abundant proofs, one of which will be enough. The Englishman Pownall, who had succeeded Shirley as royal governor of the province, made this year a report of its condition to Pitt. Massachusetts, he says, "has been the frontier and advanced guard of all the colonies against the enemy in Canada," and has always taken the lead in military affairs. In the three past years she has spent on the expeditions of Johnson, Winslow, and Loudon ￡242,356, besides about ￡45,000 a year to support the provincial government, at the same time maintaining a number of forts and garrisons19, keeping up scouting-parties, and building, equipping, and manning a ship of twenty guns for the service of the King. In the first two months of the present year, 1758, she made 85
V2 a further military outlay21 of ￡172,239. Of all these sums she has received from Parliament a reimbursement22 of only ￡70,117, and hence she is deep in debt; yet, in addition, she has this year raised, paid, maintained, and clothed seven thousand soldiers placed under the command of General Abercromby, besides above twenty-five hundred more serving the King by land or sea; amounting in all to about one in four of her able-bodied men.
Massachusetts was extremely poor by the standards of the present day, living by fishing, farming, and a trade sorely hampered24 by the British navigation laws. Her contributions of money and men were not ordained25 by an absolute king, but made by the voluntary act of a free people. Pownall goes on to say that her present war-debt, due within three years, is 366,698 pounds sterling26, and that to meet it she has imposed on herself taxes amounting, in the town of Boston, to thirteen shillings and twopence to every pound of income from real and personal estate; that her people are in distress28, that she is anxious to continue her efforts in the public cause, but that without some further reimbursement she is exhausted29 and helpless. [600] Yet in the next year she incurred30 a new and heavy debt. In 1760 Parliament repaid her ￡59,575. [601] Far from being fully31 reimbursed32, the 86
V2 end of the war found her on the brink33 of bankruptcy34. Connecticut made equal sacrifices in the common cause,—highly to her honor, for she was little exposed to danger, being covered by the neighboring provinces; while impoverished35 New Hampshire put one in three of her able-bodied men into the field. [602]
[600] Pownall to Pitt, 30 Sept. 1758 (Public Record Office, America and West Indies, LXXI.). "The province of Massachusetts Bay has exerted itself with great zeal14 and at vast expense for the public service." Registers of Privy36 Council, 26 July, 1757.
[601] Bollan, Agent of Massachusetts, to Speaker of Assembly, 20 March, 1760. It was her share of ￡200,000 granted to all the colonies in the proportion of their respective efforts.
[602] Address to His Majesty37 from the Governor, Council, and Assembly of New Hampshire, Jan. 1759.
In June the combined British and provincial force which Abercromby was to lead against Ticonderoga was gathered at the head of Lake George; while Montcalm lay at its outlet38 around the walls of the French stronghold, with an army not one fourth so numerous. Vaudreuil had devised a plan for saving Ticonderoga by a diversion into the valley of the Mohawk under Lévis, Rigaud, and Longueuil, with sixteen hundred men, who were to be joined by as many Indians. The English forts of that region were to be attacked, Schenectady threatened, and the Five Nations compelled to declare for France. [603] Thus, as the Governor gave out, the English would be forced to cease from aggression12, leave Montcalm in peace, and think only of defending themselves. [604] "This," writes Bougainville on the fifteenth of June, "is what M. de Vaudreuil thinks will happen, because he never doubts anything. Ticonderoga, which is the point really threatened, is abandoned without support to the troops of the line and their general. 87
V2 It would even be wished that they might meet a reverse, if the consequences to the colony would not be too disastrous39."
[603] Lévis au Ministre, 17 Juin, 1758. Doreil au Ministre, 16 Juin, 1758. Montcalm à sa Femme, 18 Avril, 1758.
[604] Correspondance de Vaudreuil, 1758. Livre d'Ordres, Juin, 1758.
The proposed movement promised, no doubt, great advantages; but it was not destined40 to take effect. Some rangers41 taken on Lake George by a partisan43 officer named Langy declared with pardonable exaggeration that twenty-five or thirty thousand men would attack Ticonderoga in less than a fortnight. Vaudreuil saw himself forced to abandon his Mohawk expedition, and to order Lévis and his followers44, who had not yet left Montreal, to reinforce Montcalm. [605] Why they did not go at once is not clear. The Governor declares that there were not boats enough. From whatever cause, there was a long delay, and Montcalm was left to defend himself as he could.
[605] Bigot au Ministre, 21 Juillet, 1758.
He hesitated whether he should not fall back to Crown Point. The engineer, Lotbinière, opposed the plan, as did also Le Mercier. [606] It was but a choice of difficulties, and he stayed at Ticonderoga. His troops were disposed as they had been in the summer before; one battalion45, that of Berry, being left near the fort, while the main body, under Montcalm himself, was encamped by the saw-mill at the Falls, and the rest, under Bourlamaque, occupied the head of the portage, with a small advanced force at the landing-place 88
V2 on Lake George. It remained to determine at which of these points he should concentrate them and make his stand against the English. Ruin threatened him in any case; each position had its fatal weakness or its peculiar46 danger, and his best hope was in the ignorance or blundering of his enemy. He seems to have been several days in a state of indecision.
[606] N.Y. Col. Docs., X. 893. Lotbinière's relative, Vaudreuil, confirms the statement. Montcalm had not, as has been said, begun already to fall back.
In the afternoon of the fifth of July the partisan Langy, who had again gone out to reconnoitre towards the head of Lake George, came back in haste with the report that the English were embarked47 in great force. Montcalm sent a canoe down Lake Champlain to hasten Lévis to his aid, and ordered the battalion of Berry to begin a breastwork and abattis on the high ground in front of the fort. That they were not begun before shows that he was in doubt as to his plan of defence; and that his whole army was not now set to work at them shows that his doubt was still unsolved.
It was nearly a month since Abercromby had begun his camp at the head of Lake George. Here, on the ground where Johnson had beaten Dieskau, where Montcalm had planted his batteries, and Monro vainly defended the wooden ramparts of Fort William Henry, were now assembled more than fifteen thousand men; and the shores, the foot of the mountains, and the broken plains between them were studded thick with tents. Of regulars there were six thousand three hundred and sixty-seven, officers and soldiers, 89
V2 and of provincials49 nine thousand and thirty-four. [607] To the New England levies50, or at least to their chaplains, the expedition seemed a crusade against the abomination of Babylon; and they discoursed51 in their sermons of Moses sending forth52 Joshua against Amalek. Abercromby, raised to his place by political influence, was little but the nominal53 commander. "A heavy man," said Wolfe in a letter to his father; "an aged7 gentleman, infirm in body and mind," wrote William Parkman, a boy of seventeen, who carried a musket54 in a Massachusetts regiment55, and kept in his knapsack a dingy56 little note-book, in which he jotted57 down what passed each day. [608] The age of the aged gentleman was fifty-two.
[607] Abercromby to Pitt, 12 July, 1758.
[608] Great-uncle of the writer, and son of the Rev16. Ebenezer Parkman, a graduate of Harvard, and minister of Westborough, Mass.
Pitt meant that the actual command of the army should be in the hands of Brigadier Lord Howe, [609] and he was in fact its real chief; "the noblest Englishman that has appeared in my time, and the best soldier in the British army," says Wolfe. [610] And he elsewhere speaks of him as "that great man." Abercromby testifies to the universal respect and love with which officers and men regarded him, and Pitt calls him "a character of ancient times; a complete model of military virtue58." [611] High as this praise is, it seems to have been deserved. The young nobleman, who was 90
V2 then in his thirty-fourth year, had the qualities of a leader of men. The army felt him, from general to drummer-boy. He was its soul; and while breathing into it his own energy and ardor59, and bracing60 it by stringent61 discipline, he broke through the traditions of the service and gave it new shapes to suit the time and place. During the past year he had studied the art of forest warfare62, and joined Rogers and his rangers in their scouting-parties, sharing all their hardships and making himself one of them. Perhaps the reforms that he introduced were fruits of this rough self-imposed schooling63. He made officers and men throw off all useless incumbrances, cut their hair close, wear leggings to protect them from briers, brown the barrels of their muskets64, and carry in their knapsacks thirty pounds of meal, which they cooked for themselves; so that, according to an admiring Frenchman, they could live a month without their supply-trains. [612] "You would laugh to see the droll65 figure we all make," writes an officer. "Regulars as well as provincials have cut their coats so as scarcely to reach their waists. No officer or private is allowed to carry more than one blanket and a bearskin. A small portmanteau is allowed each officer. No women follow the camp to wash our linen66. Lord Howe has already shown an example by going to the brook67 and washing his own." [613]
[609] Chesterfield, Letters, IV. 260 (ed. Mahon).
[610] Wolfe to his Father, 7 Aug. 1758, in Wright, 450.
[611] Pitt to Grenville, 22 Aug. 1758, in Grenville Papers, I. 262.
[612] Pouchot, Dernière Guerre de l'Amérique, I. 140.
[613] Letter from Camp, 12 June, 1758, in Boston Evening Post. Another, in Boston News Letter, contains similar statements.
Here, as in all things, he shared the lot of the soldier, and required his officers to share it. A 91
V2 story is told of him that before the army embarked he invited some of them to dinner in his tent, where they found no seats but logs, and no carpet but bearskins. A servant presently placed on the ground a large dish of pork and peas, on which his lordship took from his pocket a sheath containing a knife and fork and began to cut the meat. The guests looked on in some embarrassment68; upon which he said: "Is it possible, gentlemen, that you have come on this campaign without providing yourselves with what is necessary?" And he gave each of them a sheath, with a knife and fork, like his own.
Yet this Lycurgus of the camp, as a contemporary calls him, is described as a man of social accomplishments69 rare even in his rank. He made himself greatly beloved by the provincial officers, with many of whom he was on terms of intimacy70, and he did what he could to break down the barriers between the colonial soldiers and the British regulars. When he was at Albany, sharing with other high officers the kindly71 hospitalities of Mrs. Schuyler, he so won the heart of that excellent matron that she loved him like a son; and, though not given to such effusion, embraced him with tears on the morning when he left her to lead his division to the lake. [614] In Westminster Abbey may be seen the tablet on which Massachusetts pays grateful tribute to his virtues73, and commemorates74 "the affection her officers and soldiers bore to his command."
92
V2 On the evening of the fourth of July, baggage, stores, and ammunition were all on board the boats, and the whole army embarked on the morning of the fifth. The arrangements were perfect. Each corps77 marched without confusion to its appointed station on the beach, and the sun was scarcely above the ridge79 of French Mountain when all were afloat. A spectator watching them from the shore says that when the fleet was three miles on its way, the surface of the lake at that distance was completely hidden from sight. [615] There were nine hundred bateaux, a hundred and thirty-five whaleboats, and a large number of heavy flatboats carrying the artillery80. The whole advanced in three divisions, the regulars in the centre, and the provincials on the flanks. Each corps had its flags and its music. The day was fair and men and officers were in the highest spirits.
[615] Letter from Lake George, in Boston News Letter.
Before ten o'clock they began to enter the Narrows; and the boats of the three divisions extended themselves into long files as the mountains closed on either hand upon the contracted lake. From front to rear the line was six miles long. The spectacle was superb: the brightness of the summer day; the romantic beauty of the scenery; the sheen and sparkle of those crystal waters; the countless81 islets, tufted with pine, birch, and fir; the bordering mountains, with their green summits and sunny crags; the flash of oars82 and glitter of weapons; the banners, the varied83 uniforms, 93
V2 and the notes of bugle84, trumpet85, bagpipe86, and drum, answered and prolonged by a hundred woodland echoes. "I never beheld87 so delightful88 a prospect," wrote a wounded officer at Albany a fortnight after.
Rogers with the rangers, and Gage76 with the light infantry89, led the way in whaleboats, followed by Bradstreet with his corps of boatmen, armed and drilled as soldiers. Then came the main body. The central column of regulars was commanded by Lord Howe, his own regiment, the fifty-fifth, in the van, followed by the Royal Americans, the twenty-seventh, forty-fourth, forty-sixth, and eightieth infantry, and the Highlanders of the forty-second, with their major, Duncan Campbell of Inverawe, silent and gloomy amid the general cheer, for his soul was dark with foreshadowings of death. [616] With this central column came what are described as two floating castles, which were no doubt batteries to cover the landing of the troops. On the right hand and the left were the provincials, uniformed in blue, regiment after regiment, from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey90, and Rhode Island. Behind them all came the bateaux, loaded with stores and baggage, and the heavy flatboats that carried the artillery, while a rear-guard of provincials and regulars closed the long procession. [617]
[616] See Appendix G.
[617] Letter from Lake George, in Boston News Letter. Even Rogers, the ranger42, speaks of the beauty of the scene.
At five in the afternoon they reached Sabbath-Day Point, twenty-five miles down the lake, where 94
V2 they stopped till late in the evening, waiting for the baggage and artillery, which had lagged behind; and here Lord Howe, lying on a bearskin by the side of the ranger, John Stark91, questioned him as to the position of Ticonderoga and its best points of approach. At about eleven o'clock they set out again, and at daybreak entered what was then called the Second Narrows; that is to say, the contraction92 of the lake where it approaches its outlet. Close on their left, ruddy in the warm sunrise, rose the vast bare face of Rogers Rock, whence a French advanced party, under Langy and an officer named Trepezec, was watching their movements. Lord Howe, with Rogers and Bradstreet, went in whaleboats to reconnoitre the landing. At the place which the French called the Burnt Camp, where Montcalm had embarked the summer before, they saw a detachment of the enemy too weak to oppose them. Their men landed and drove them off. At noon the whole army was on shore. Rogers, with a party of rangers, was ordered forward to reconnoitre, and the troops were formed for the march.
From this part of the shore [618] a plain covered with forest stretched northwestward half a mile or more to the mountains behind which lay the valley of Trout94 Brook. On this plain the army began its march in four columns, with the intention of passing round the western bank of the river of the outlet, since the bridge over it had been destroyed. Rogers, with the provincial regiments95 of Fitch 95
V2 and Lyman, led the way, at some distance before the rest. The forest was extremely dense96 and heavy, and so obstructed97 with undergrowth that it was impossible to see more than a few yards in any direction, while the ground was encumbered98 with fallen trees in every stage of decay. The ranks were broken, and the men struggled on as they could in dampness and shade, under a canopy99 of boughs100 that the sun could scarcely pierce. The difficulty increased when, after advancing about a mile, they came upon undulating and broken ground. They were now not far from the upper rapids of the outlet. The guides became bewildered in the maze101 of trunks and boughs; the marching columns were confused, and fell in one upon the other. They were in the strange situation of an army lost in the woods.
[618] Between the old and new steamboat-landings, and parts adjacent.
The advanced party of French under Langy and Trepezec, about three hundred and fifty in all, regulars and Canadians, had tried to retreat; but before they could do so, the whole English army had passed them, landed, and placed itself between them and their countrymen. They had no resource but to take to the woods. They seem to have climbed the steep gorge102 at the side of Rogers Rock and followed the Indian path that led to the valley of Trout Brook, thinking to descend103 it, and, by circling along the outskirts104 of the valley of Ticonderoga, reach Montcalm's camp at the saw-mill. Langy was used to bushranging; but he too became perplexed105 in the blind intricacies of the forest. Towards the close of the day he 96
V2 and his men had come out from the valley of Trout Brook, and were near the junction106 of that stream with the river of the outlet, in a state of some anxiety, for they could see nothing but brown trunks and green boughs. Could any of them have climbed one of the great pines that here and there reared their shaggy spires107 high above the surrounding forest, they would have discovered where they were, but would have gained not the faintest knowledge of the enemy. Out of the woods on the right they would have seen a smoke rising from the burning huts of the French camp at the head of the portage, which Bourlamaque had set on fire and abandoned. At a mile or more in front, the saw-mill at the Falls might perhaps have been descried108, and, by glimpses between the trees, the tents of the neighboring camp where Montcalm still lay with his main force. All the rest seemed lonely as the grave; mountain and valley lay wrapped in primeval woods, and none could have dreamed that, not far distant, an army was groping its way, buried in foliage109; no rumbling110 of wagons111 and artillery trains, for none were there; all silent but the cawing of some crow flapping his black wings over the sea of tree-tops.
Lord Howe, with Major Israel Putnam and two hundred rangers, was at the head of the principal column, which was a little in advance of the three others. Suddenly the challenge, Qui vive! rang sharply from the thickets112 in front. Fran?ais! was the reply. Langy's men were not deceived; they fired out of the bushes. The shots were 97
V2 returned; a hot skirmish followed; and Lord Howe dropped dead, shot through the breast. All was confusion. The dull, vicious reports of musketry in thick woods, at first few and scattering113, then in fierce and rapid volleys, reached the troops behind. They could hear, but see nothing. Already harassed114 and perplexed, they became perturbed115. For all they knew, Montcalm's whole army was upon them. Nothing prevented a panic but the steadiness of the rangers, who maintained the fight alone till the rest came back to their senses. Rogers, with his reconnoitring party, and the regiments of Fitch and Lyman, were at no great distance in front. They all turned on hearing the musketry, and thus the French were caught between two fires. They fought with desperation. About fifty of them at length escaped; a hundred and forty-eight were captured, and the rest killed or drowned in trying to cross the rapids. The loss of the English was small in numbers, but immeasurable in the death of Howe. "The fall of this noble and brave officer," says Rogers, "seemed to produce an almost general languor116 and consternation117 through the whole army." "In Lord Howe," writes another contemporary, Major Thomas Mante, "the soul of General Abercromby's army seemed to expire. From the unhappy moment the General was deprived of his advice, neither order nor discipline was observed, and a strange kind of infatuation usurped118 the place of resolution." The death of one man was the ruin of fifteen thousand.
98
V2 The evil news was despatched to Albany, and in two or three days the messenger who bore it passed the house of Mrs. Schuyler on the meadows above the town. "In the afternoon," says her biographer, "a man was seen coming from the north galloping119 violently without his hat. Pedrom, as he was familiarly called, Colonel Schuyler's only surviving brother, was with her, and ran instantly to inquire, well knowing that he rode express. The man galloped120 on, crying out that Lord Howe was killed. The mind of our good aunt had been so engrossed121 by her anxiety and fears for the event impending122, and so impressed with the merit and magnanimity of her favorite hero, that her wonted firmness sank under the stroke, and she broke out into bitter lamentations. This had such an effect on her friends and domestics that shrieks123 and sobs124 of anguish125 echoed through every part of the house."
The effect of the loss was seen at once. The army was needlessly kept under arms all night in the forest, and in the morning was ordered back to the landing whence it came. [619] Towards noon, however, Bradstreet was sent with a detachment of regulars and provincials to take possession of the saw-mill at the Falls, which Montcalm had abandoned the evening before. Bradstreet rebuilt the bridges destroyed by the retiring enemy, and sent word to his commander that the way was open; on which Abercromby again put his army in motion, reached the Falls late in the afternoon, 99
[619] Abercromby to Pitt, 12 July, 1758.
Montcalm with his main force had held this position at the Falls through most of the preceding day, doubtful, it seems, to the last whether he should not make his final stand there. Bourlamaque was for doing so; but two old officers, Bernès and Montguy, pointed78 out the danger that the English would occupy the neighboring heights; [620] whereupon Montcalm at length resolved to fall back. The camp was broken up at five o'clock. Some of the troops embarked in bateaux, while others marched a mile and a half along the forest road, passed the place where the battalion of Berry was still at work on the breastwork begun in the morning, and made their bivouac a little farther on, upon the cleared ground that surrounded the fort.
[620] Pouchot, I. 145.
The peninsula of Ticonderoga consists of a rocky plateau, with low grounds on each side, bordering Lake Champlain on the one hand, and the outlet of Lake George on the other. The fort stood near the end of the peninsula, which points towards the southeast. Thence, as one goes westward93, the ground declines a little, and then slowly rises, till, about half a mile from the fort, it reaches its greatest elevation127, and begins still more gradually to decline again. Thus a ridge is formed across the plateau between the steep declivities that sink to the low grounds on right and left. Some weeks before, a French officer named Hugues had suggested 100
V2 the defence of this ridge by means of an abattis. [621] Montcalm approved his plan; and now, at the eleventh hour, he resolved to make his stand here. The two engineers, Pontleroy and Desandrouin, had already traced the outline of the works, and the soldiers of the battalion of Berry had made some progress in constructing them. At dawn of the seventh, while Abercromby, fortunately for his enemy, was drawing his troops back to the landing-place, the whole French army fell to their task. The regimental colors were planted along the line, and the officers, stripped to the shirt, took axe27 in hand and labored128 with their men. The trees that covered the ground were hewn down by thousands, the tops lopped off, and the trunks piled one upon another to form a massive breastwork. The line followed the top of the ridge, along which it zig-zagged in such a manner that the whole front could be swept by flank-fires of musketry and grape. Abercromby describes the wall of logs as between eight and nine feet high; [622] in which case there must have been a rude banquette, or platform to fire from, on the inner side. It was certainly so high that nothing could be seen over it but the crowns of the soldiers' hats. The upper tier was formed of single logs, in which notches129 were cut to serve as loopholes; and in some places sods and bags of sand were piled along the top, with narrow spaces to fire through. [623] From the central part of 101
V2 the line the ground sloped away like a natural glacis; while at the sides, and especially on the left, it was undulating and broken. Over this whole space, to the distance of a musket-shot from the works, the forest was cut down, and the trees left lying where they fell among the stumps130, with tops turned outwards131, forming one vast abattis, which, as a Massachusetts officer says, looked like a forest laid flat by a hurricane. [624] But the most formidable obstruction132 was immediately along the front of the breastwork, where the ground was covered with heavy boughs, overlapping133 and interlaced, with sharpened points bristling134 into the face of the assailant like the quills135 of a porcupine136. As these works were all of wood, no vestige137 of them remains138. The earthworks now shown to tourists as the lines of Montcalm are of later construction; and though on the same ground, are not on the same plan. [625]
[621] N. Y. Col. Docs., X. 708.
[622] Abercromby to Barrington, 12 July, 1758. "At least eight feet high." Rogers, Journals, 116.
[623] A Swiss officer of the Royal Americans, writing on the 14th, says that there were two, and in some parts three, rows of loopholes. See the letter in Pennsylvania Archives, III. 472.
[624] Colonel Oliver Partridge to his Wife, 12 July, 1758.
[625] A new line of works was begun four days after the battle, to replace the log breastwork. Malartic, Journal. Travaux faits à Carillon, 1758.
Here, then, was a position which, if attacked in front with musketry alone, might be called impregnable. But would Abercromby so attack it? He had several alternatives. He might attempt the flank and rear of his enemy by way of the low grounds on the right and left of the plateau, a movement which the precautions of Montcalm had made difficult, but not impossible. Or, instead of leaving his artillery idle on the strand139 102
V2 of Lake George, he might bring it to the front and batter48 the breastwork, which, though impervious140 to musketry, was worthless against heavy cannon141. Or he might do what Burgoyne did with success a score of years later, and plant a battery on the heights of Rattlesnake Hill, now called Mount Defiance142, which commanded the position of the French, and whence the inside of their breastwork could be scoured143 with round-shot from end to end. Or, while threatening the French front with a part of his army, he could march the rest a short distance through the woods on his left to the road which led from Ticonderoga to Crown Point, and which would soon have brought him to the place called Five-Mile Point, where Lake Champlain narrows to the width of an easy rifle-shot, and where a battery of field-pieces would have cut off all Montcalm's supplies and closed his only way of retreat. As the French were provisioned for but eight days, their position would thus have been desperate. They plainly saw the danger; and Doreil declares that had the movement been made, their whole army must have surrendered. [626] Montcalm had done what he could; but the danger of his position was inevitable144 and extreme. His hope lay in Abercromby; and it was a hope well founded. The action of the English general answered the utmost wishes of his enemy.
[626] Doreil au Ministre, 28 Juillet, 1758. The Chevalier Johnstone thought that Montcalm was saved by Abercromby's ignorance of the ground. A Dialogue in Hades (Quebec Historical Society).
103
V2 Abercromby had been told by his prisoners that Montcalm had six thousand men, and that three thousand more were expected every hour. Therefore he was in haste to attack before these succors145 could arrive. As was the general, so was the army. "I believe," writes an officer, "we were one and all infatuated by a notion of carrying every obstacle by a mere146 coup147 de mousqueterie." [627] Leadership perished with Lord Howe, and nothing was left but blind, headlong valor148.
[627] See the letter in Knox, I. 148.
Clerk, chief engineer, was sent to reconnoitre the French works from Mount Defiance; and came back with the report that, to judge from what he could see, they might be carried by assault. Then, without waiting to bring up his cannon, Abercromby prepared to storm the lines.
The French finished their breastwork and abattis on the evening of the seventh, encamped behind them, slung149 their kettles, and rested after their heavy toil150. Lévis had not yet appeared; but at twilight151 one of his officers, Captain Pouchot, arrived with three hundred regulars, and announced that his commander would come before morning with a hundred more. The reinforcement, though small, was welcome, and Lévis was a host in himself. Pouchot was told that the army was half a mile off. Thither152 he repaired, made his report to Montcalm, and looked with amazement153 at the prodigious154 amount of work accomplished155 in one day. [628] Lévis himself arrived in the course of the night, and approved the arrangement of the troops. They 104
V2 lay behind their lines till daybreak; then the drums beat, and they formed in order of battle. [629] The battalions156 of La Sarre and Languedoc were posted on the left, under Bourlamaque, the first battalion of Berry with that of Royal Roussillon in the centre, under Montcalm, and those of La Reine, Béarn, and Guienne on the right, under Lévis. A detachment of volunteers occupied the low grounds between the breastwork and the outlet of Lake George; while, at the foot of the declivity157 on the side towards Lake Champlain, were stationed four hundred and fifty colony regulars and Canadians, behind an abattis which they had made for themselves; and as they were covered by the cannon of the fort, there was some hope that they would check any flank movement which the English might attempt on that side. Their posts being thus assigned, the men fell to work again to strengthen their defences. Including those who came with Lévis, the total force of effective soldiers was now thirty-six hundred. [630]
[628] Pouchot, I. 137.
[629] Livre d'Ordres, Disposition158 de Défense des Retranchements, 8 Juillet, 1758.
[630] Montcalm, Relation de la Victoire remportée à Carillon, 8 Juillet, 1758. Vaudreuil puts the number at 4,760, besides officers, which includes the garrison20 and laborers159 at the fort. Vaudreuil au Ministre, 28 Juillet, 1758.
Soon after nine o'clock a distant and harmless fire of small-arms began on the slopes of Mount Defiance. It came from a party of Indians who had just arrived with Sir William Johnson, and who, after amusing themselves in this manner for a time, remained for the rest of the day safe spectators of the fight. The soldiers worked 105
V2 undisturbed till noon, when volleys of musketry were heard from the forest in front. It was the English light troops driving in the French pickets160. A cannon was fired as a signal to drop tools and form for battle. The white uniforms lined the breastwork in a triple row, with the grenadiers behind them as a reserve, and the second battalion of Berry watching the flanks and rear.
Meanwhile the English army had moved forward from its camp by the saw-mill. First came the rangers, the light infantry, and Bradstreet's armed boatmen, who, emerging into the open space, began a spattering fire. Some of the provincial troops followed, extending from left to right, and opening fire in turn; then the regulars, who had formed in columns of attack under cover of the forest, advanced their solid red masses into the sunlight, and passing through the intervals161 between the provincial regiments, pushed forward to the assault. Across the rough ground, with its maze of fallen trees whose leaves hung withering162 in the July sun, they could see the top of the breastwork, but not the men behind it; when, in an instant, all the line was obscured by a gush163 of smoke, a crash of exploding firearms tore the air, and grapeshot and musket-balls swept the whole space like a tempest; "a damnable fire," says an officer who heard them screaming about his ears. The English had been ordered to carry the works with the bayonet; but their ranks were broken by the obstructions164 through which they 106
V2 struggled in vain to force their way, and they soon began to fire in turn. The storm raged in full fury for an hour. The assailants pushed close to the breastwork; but there they were stopped by the bristling mass of sharpened branches, which they could not pass under the murderous cross-fires that swept them from front and flank. At length they fell back, exclaiming that the works were impregnable. Abercromby, who was at the saw-mill, a mile and a half in the rear, sent order to attack again, and again they came on as before.
The scene was frightful: masses of infuriated men who could not go forward and would not go back; straining for an enemy they could not reach, and firing on an enemy they could not see; caught in the entanglement165 of fallen trees; tripped by briers, stumbling over logs, tearing through boughs; shouting, yelling, cursing, and pelted166 all the while with bullets that killed them by scores, stretched them on the ground, or hung them on jagged branches in strange attitudes of death. The provincials supported the regulars with spirit, and some of them forced their way to the foot of the wooden wall.
The French fought with the intrepid167 gayety of their nation, and shouts of Vive le Roi! and Vive notre Général! mingled168 with the din2 of musketry. Montcalm, with his coat off, for the day was hot, directed the defence of the centre, and repaired to any part of the line where the danger for the time seemed greatest. He is warm in praise of 107
V2 his enemy, and declares that between one and seven o'clock they attacked him six successive times. Early in the action Abercromby tried to turn the French left by sending twenty bateaux, filled with troops, down the outlet of Lake George. They were met by the fire of the volunteers stationed to defend the low grounds on that side, and, still advancing, came within range of the cannon of the fort, which sank two of them and drove back the rest.
A curious incident happened during one of the attacks. De Bassignac, a captain in the battalion of Royal Roussillon, tied his handkerchief to the end of a musket and waved it over the breastwork in defiance. The English mistook it for a sign of surrender, and came forward with all possible speed, holding their muskets crossed over their heads in both hands, and crying Quarter. The French made the same mistake; and thinking that their enemies were giving themselves up as prisoners, ceased firing, and mounted on the top of the breastwork to receive them. Captain Pouchot, astonished, as he says, to see them perched there, looked out to learn the cause, and saw that the enemy meant anything but surrender. Whereupon he shouted with all his might: "Tirez! Tirez! Ne voyez-vous pas que ces gens-là vont vous enlever?" The soldiers, still standing169 on the breastwork, instantly gave the English a volley, which killed some of them, and sent back the rest discomfited170. [631]
[631] Pouchot, I. 153. Both Niles and Entick mention the incident.
108
V2 This was set to the account of Gallic treachery. "Another deceit the enemy put upon us," says a military letter-writer: "they raised their hats above the breastwork, which our people fired at; they, having loopholes to fire through, and being covered by the sods, we did them little damage, except shooting their hats to pieces." [632] In one of the last assaults a soldier of the Rhode Island regiment, William Smith, managed to get through all obstructions and ensconce himself close under the breastwork, where in the confusion he remained for a time unnoticed, improving his advantages meanwhile by shooting several Frenchmen. Being at length observed, a soldier fired vertically171 down upon him and wounded him severely172, but not enough to prevent his springing up, striking at one of his enemies over the top of the wall, and braining him with his hatchet173. A British officer who saw the feat174, and was struck by the reckless daring of the man, ordered two regulars to bring him off; which, covered by a brisk fire of musketry, they succeeded in doing. A letter from the camp two or three weeks later reports him as in a fair way to recover, being, says the writer, much braced72 and invigorated by his anger against the French, on whom he was swearing to have his revenge. [633]
[632] Letter from Saratoga, 12 July, 1758, in New Hampshire Gazette. Compare Pennsylvania Archives, III. 474.
[633] Letter from Lake George, 26 July, 1758, in Boston Gazette. The story is given, without much variation, in several other letters.
Toward five o'clock two English columns joined in a most determined175 assault on the extreme 109
V2 right of the French, defended by the battalions of Guienne and Béarn. The danger for a time was imminent176. Montcalm hastened to the spot with the reserves. The assailants hewed177 their way to the foot of the breastwork; and though again and again repulsed178, they again and again renewed the attack. The Highlanders fought with stubborn and unconquerable fury. "Even those who were mortally wounded," writes one of their lieutenants180, "cried to their companions not to lose a thought upon them, but to follow their officers and mind the honor of their country. Their ardor was such that it was difficult to bring them off." [634] Their major, Campbell of Inverawe, found his foreboding true. He received a mortal shot, and his clansmen bore him from the field. Twenty-five of their officers were killed or wounded, and half the men fell under the deadly fire that poured from the loopholes. Captain John Campbell and a few followers tore their way through the abattis, climbed the breastwork, leaped down among the French, and were bayoneted there. [635]
[634] Letter of Lieutenant179 William Grant, in Maclachlan's Highlands, II. 340 (ed. 1875).
[635] Ibid., II. 339.
As the colony troops and Canadians on the low ground were left undisturbed, Lévis sent them an order to make a sortie and attack the left flank of the charging columns. They accordingly posted themselves among the trees along the declivity, and fired upwards181 at the enemy, who presently shifted their position to the right, out of the line of shot. The assault still continued, but 110
V2 in vain; and at six there was another effort, equally fruitless. From this time till half-past seven a lingering fight was kept up by the rangers and other provincials, firing from the edge of the woods and from behind the stumps, bushes, and fallen trees in front of the lines. Its only objects were to cover their comrades, who were collecting and bringing off the wounded, and to protect the retreat of the regulars, who fell back in disorder182 to the Falls. As twilight came on, the last combatant withdrew, and none were left but the dead. Abercromby had lost in killed, wounded, and missing, nineteen hundred and forty-four officers and men. [636] The loss of the French, not counting that of Langy's detachment, was three hundred and seventy-seven. Bourlamaque was dangerously wounded; Bougainville slightly; and the hat of Lévis was twice shot through. [637]
[636] See Appendix G.
[637] Lévis au Ministre, 13 Juillet, 1758
Montcalm, with a mighty183 load lifted from his soul, passed along the lines, and gave the tired soldiers the thanks they nobly deserved. Beer, wine, and food were served out to them, and they bivouacked for the night on the level ground between the breastwork and the fort. The enemy had met a terrible rebuff; yet the danger was not over. Abercromby still had more than thirteen thousand men, and he might renew the attack with cannon. But, on the morning of the ninth, a band of volunteers who had gone out to watch him brought back the report that he was in full 111
V2 retreat. The saw-mill at the Falls was on fire, and the last English soldier was gone. On the morning of the tenth, Lévis, with a strong detachment, followed the road to the landing-place, and found signs that a panic had overtaken the defeated troops. They had left behind several hundred barrels of provisions and a large quantity of baggage; while in a marshy184 place that they had crossed was found a considerable number of their shoes, which had stuck in the mud, and which they had not stopped to recover. They had embarked on the morning after the battle, and retreated to the head of the lake in a disorder and dejection wofully contrasted with the pomp of their advance. A gallant185 army was sacrificed by the blunders of its chief.
Montcalm announced his victory to his wife in a strain of exaggeration that marks the exaltation of his mind. "Without Indians, almost without Canadians or colony troops,—I had only four hundred,—alone with Lévis and Bourlamaque and the troops of the line, thirty-one hundred fighting men, I have beaten an army of twenty-five thousand. They repassed the lake precipitately186, with a loss of at least five thousand. This glorious day does infinite honor to the valor of our battalions. I have no time to write more. I am well, my dearest, and I embrace you." And he wrote to his friend Doreil: "The army, the too-small army of the King, has beaten the enemy. What a day for France! If I had had two hundred Indians to send out at the head of a thousand 112
V2 picked men under the Chevalier de Lévis, not many would have escaped. Ah, my dear Doreil, what soldiers are ours! I never saw the like. Why were they not at Louisbourg?"
On the morrow of his victory he caused a great cross to be planted on the battle-field, inscribed187 with these lines, composed by the soldier-scholar himself,—
En Signum! en victor! Deus h?c, Deus ipse triumphat."
[638] Along with the above paraphrase192 I may give that of Montcalm himself, which was also inscribed on the cross:—
Ces arbres renversés, ces héros, leurs exploits,
Qui des Anglais confus ont brisé l'espérance;
C'est le bras de ton Dieu, vainqueur sur cette croix."
In the same letter in which Montcalm sent these lines to his mother he says: "Je vous envoie, pour vous amuser, deux chansons sur le combat du 8 Juillet, dont l'une est en style des poissardes de Paris." One of these songs, which were written by soldiers after the battle, begins,—
"Je chante des Fran?ois
La valeur et la gloire,
Qui toujours sur l'Anglois
Remportent la victoire.
Ce sont des héros,
Tous nos généraux,
Et Montcalm et Lévis,
Et Bourlamaque aussi.
"Mars, qui les engendra
Pour l'honneur de la France,
D'abord les anima
De sa haute vaillance,
Et les transporta
Dans le Canada,
Où l'on voit les Fran?ois
Culbuter les Anglois."
113
V2 The other effusion of the military muse194 is in a different strain, "en style des poissardes de Paris." The following is a specimen195, given literatim:—
"L'aum?nier fit l'exhortation,
Puis il donnit l'absolution;
Aisément cela se peut croire.
Enfants, dit-il, animez-vous!
S—é! j'sommes catholiques. Les Anglois sont des hérétiques.
"Ce sont des chiens; à coups197 d'pieds, a coups d'poings faut leur casser la gueule et la machoire."
"Soldats, officiers, généraux,
Chacun en ce jour fut héros.
Aisément cela se peut croire.
Montcalm, comme défunt Annibal,
S'montroit soldat et général.
S—é! sil y avoit quelqu'un qui ne l'aimit point!"
"Je veux être un chien; à coups d'pieds, a coups d'poings, j'lui cass'rai la gueule et la machoire."
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1
embarkation
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| n. 乘船, 搭机, 开船 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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4
repulse
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| n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝 | |
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5
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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ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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12
aggression
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| n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害 | |
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13
zealously
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| adv.热心地；热情地；积极地；狂热地 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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15
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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16
rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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repayment
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| n.偿还，偿还款；报酬 | |
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garrisons
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| 守备部队，卫戍部队( garrison的名词复数 ) | |
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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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21
outlay
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| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
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reimbursement
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| n.偿还，退还 | |
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exodus
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| v.大批离去，成群外出 | |
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hampered
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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27
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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28
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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reimbursed
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| v.偿还，付还( reimburse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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34
bankruptcy
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| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
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35
impoverished
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| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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41
rangers
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| 护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员 | |
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ranger
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| n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员 | |
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partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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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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batter
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| v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员 | |
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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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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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discoursed
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| 演说（discourse的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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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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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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57
jotted
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| v.匆忙记下( jot的过去式和过去分词 )；草草记下，匆匆记下 | |
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58
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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stringent
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| adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的 | |
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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schooling
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| n.教育；正规学校教育 | |
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64
muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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65
droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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66
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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67
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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68
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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accomplishments
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| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
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70
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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71
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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72
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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73
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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74
commemorates
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| n.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的名词复数 )v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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75
memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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76
gage
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| n.标准尺寸，规格；量规，量表 [=gauge] | |
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77
corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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78
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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79
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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80
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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81
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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82
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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83
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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84
bugle
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| n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集 | |
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85
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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86
bagpipe
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| n.风笛 | |
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87
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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88
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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89
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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90
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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91
stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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92
contraction
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| n.缩略词，缩写式，害病 | |
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93
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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94
trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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95
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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96
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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97
obstructed
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| 阻塞( obstruct的过去式和过去分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止 | |
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98
encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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99
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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100
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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101
maze
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| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
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102
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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103
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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104
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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105
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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106
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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107
spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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108
descried
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| adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的 | |
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109
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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110
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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111
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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112
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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113
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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114
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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115
perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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116
languor
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| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
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117
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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118
usurped
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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119
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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120
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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121
engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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122
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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123
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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124
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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125
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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126
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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127
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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128
labored
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| adj.吃力的，谨慎的v.努力争取(for)( labor的过去式和过去分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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129
notches
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| n.（边缘或表面上的）V型痕迹( notch的名词复数 )；刻痕；水平；等级 | |
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130
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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131
outwards
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| adj.外面的，公开的，向外的；adv.向外；n.外形 | |
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132
obstruction
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| n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物 | |
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133
overlapping
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| adj./n.交迭（的） | |
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134
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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135
quills
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| n.（刺猬或豪猪的）刺( quill的名词复数 )；羽毛管；翮；纡管 | |
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136
porcupine
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| n.豪猪， 箭猪 | |
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137
vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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138
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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139
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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140
impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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141
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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142
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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143
scoured
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| 走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮 | |
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144
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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145
succors
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| n.救助，帮助（尤指需要时）( succor的名词复数 )v.给予帮助( succor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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146
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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147
coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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148
valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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149
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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150
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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151
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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152
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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153
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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154
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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155
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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156
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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157
declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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158
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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159
laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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160
pickets
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| 罢工纠察员( picket的名词复数 ) | |
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161
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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162
withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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163
gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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164
obstructions
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| n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 )；阻碍物；阻碍；阻挠 | |
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165
entanglement
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| n.纠缠，牵累 | |
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166
pelted
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| （连续地）投掷( pelt的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续抨击； 攻击； 剥去…的皮 | |
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167
intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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168
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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169
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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170
discomfited
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| v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词)；使狼狈；使挫折；挫败 | |
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171
vertically
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| adv.垂直地 | |
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172
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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173
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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174
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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175
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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176
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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177
hewed
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的过去式和过去分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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178
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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179
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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180
lieutenants
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| n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 )；副职官员；空军；仅低于…官阶的官员 | |
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181
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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182
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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183
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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184
marshy
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| adj.沼泽的 | |
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185
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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186
precipitately
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| adv.猛进地 | |
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187
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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188
strata
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| n.地层（复数）；社会阶层 | |
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189
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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190
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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191
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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192
paraphrase
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| vt.将…释义，改写；n.释义，意义 | |
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193
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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194
muse
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| n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感 | |
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195
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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196
tout
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| v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱 | |
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197
coups
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| n.意外而成功的行动( coup的名词复数 )；政变；努力办到难办的事 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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