The veil removed; or, Reflections on David Humphrey's essay on the life of Israel Putnam

Front matter

THE

VEIL REMOVED;

REFLECTIONS

Preface

" Is the time never to arrive when an honest man can tell the truth as to the events of the revolution ? Are facts, in regard to the character and conduct of Gen. Putnam, to be refuted by idle denials, and tales to be deemed veracious because they have been often repeated ? I trust not, but that the time will come when the candid and impartial historian will do full justice to the men who were distinguished in the war for national independence."

The above is an extract of a letter in reference to the work I had commenced. The prophecy of the writer is, I believe, already fulfilled. The fullness of time, in respect to this matter, has at length arrived.

Judge Marshall has done much to dissipate the mist that enveloped a portion of our revolutionary history, and other lights have appeared since his publication, that clear the way for Mr. Bancroft to complete the work.

Objections are made to my undertaking ; that it is too late to correct erroneous statements of occurrences which happened so long ago as our revolutionary war; that the sacred ashes of the dead should not be disturbed, de mortuis nil nisi bonum, etc. As though the truth should not be told, for the benefit of the living, from fear of injuring the deceased, who are beyond the reach of harm. This principle acted upon vv'ould render history as worthless as romance.

Many even say, if they suspected they h^d been cheated in respect to the history of Putnam, they would not wish to be undeceived ; showing thereby the tenacity with which the generality of mankind cling to preconceived opinions. With such, all argument would be vain and useless.

It is, moreover, said that the feelings of the descendants of Gen. Putnam would be wounded by any remarks tending to depreciate the military fame of their ancestor. To this I answer, that in the United States every person is estimated by his individual merits, and the descendants of Gen. Putnam may be entitled to the highest respect, without claiming one of the greatest military heroes in the world for their ancestor.

If the history of our glorious revolution has been perverted by awarding undue honor to some, to the neglect of those more deserving ; if the stories promulgated to the world by Col. Humphreys and others of the wonderful prowess and achievements of Israel Putnam are not true, and the credit bestowed upon them disreputable to an intelligent, free people, I can see no reason why they should not be shown to be at variance with fact. This is the object I have in view, without any ill-will towards Gen. Putnam, or any of his family, none of whom have I ever known.

*I have not written without book ; but if any errors, in matter of fact, should be pointed out, that have crept into the work, they will be acknowledged with pleasure, and corrected. Vituperative abuse will be suffered to pass unheeded.

New Fork, Feb., 1843.

Chapter I

Putnam's Birth and Education — Singular Adventure in Killing a Wolf, p. 32. — Engages in the French War — Expedition in quest of a Prisoner, 38. — Putnam and Durkee tumble into a Clay-pit, 40. — A Singular Race, 46. — P. goes on a Scout in open daylight, 48. — Chivalrous Adventure, 52. — P.'s remarkable Courage in extinguishing a Fire which had taken place in the Barracks at Fort Edward, 55.

CHAPTER n.

Expedition against Ticonderoga, 57. — Perilous descent of the Rapids, near Fort Miller, 66. — Scout to South Bay — Putnam made prisoner, and taken to Montreal, 67. — Col. Peter Schuyler and Mrs. Jemima Howe, 77.

Chapter IV

Putnam offered a Bribe by Gen. Gage to support the Royal cause, 97. — Gen. Charles Lee — Skirmish on Hog and Noddle Islands, 103. — Letter from Roger Sherman to Gen. Wooster on the appointment of a Major-general by Congress, from ■ Connecticut, 106. — Letter from Gen. Washington to the President of Congress on the appointment of general officers, 107. — 1#

Trumbull's Painting of the Battle of Bunker Hill, 109.— Extracts from the Histories of the Battle of Bunker Hill by various authors, with the testimony of persons in the action, 116.

Chapter V

Sketch of Bunker Hill Battle, by S. Swett, 141.— George E. Ellis's Oration, in commemoration of the Battle of Bunker Hill, 155.

Chapter VI

Battle of Long Island, 165. — Letter of Gen. Sullivan to the President of Congress, 171. — Letter of Gen. Washington to Gen. Sullivan, 172.

CHAPTER VIL

Putnam's command on the North River. Forts Montgomery and Clinton taken, 174. — Col. Hamilton's Letters to Gen. Washington respecting Gen. Putnam's neglect to obey his orders to forward reinforcements to him in the vicinity of Philadelphia, 193. — Washington's Letter to Putnam requiring

- him in the most peremptory manner to forward the troops, before ordered, immediately, 199. — Chancellor Livingston's Letter to Gen. Washington, complaining of Gen. Putnam's " imprudent lenity to the disaffected, and too great intercourse with the enemy," 211. — Horse Neck Expedition, 213. — Gen. Putnam's command of fifty men, stationed at Princeton — Capt. McPherson, 219. — Mrs. Coghlan, 221.— Military conduct of Col. Burr and Gen. Putnam contrasted, 225. — Putnam's death — Reflections.

Introduction

I SHALL have frequent occasion to refer to the journal of Major Robert Rogers, who commanded a corps of provincial troops denominated Rangers, during the French or Seven Years' War, so called. The journal was published at London, in 1765. And as the work is probably little -known in America, it will doubtless be satisfactory to the reader to be made acquainted with the character and standing of the author. For this purpose, I will in the first place give an abstract of the introduction to the work ; followed by oflicial documents, establishing the reputation Major Rogers acquired with the respective commanders ; likewise examples of his hazardous enterprises.

" I claim," says the author, "the merit of impartially relating matters of fact without disguise or equivocation. Most of those which relate to myself can at present be attested by living witnesses."

As an apology for defects in the style of his journal, he says : " It is the soldier, not the scholar, who writes ; that many things here were written in deserts, on rocks and mountains, amidst the hurries, disorders, and noise of war. This was my situation when the following journals were transmitted to the generals and commanders I acted under ; which I am not now at liberty to correct, except in some very gross and palpable errors."

Major Rogers was a native of a frontier town in the then province of New Hampshire, where, he says, " I could hardly avoid obtaining some knowledge of the manners, customs, and language of the Indians ; and my manner of life was such as led me to a general acquaintance with the British and French settlements.

"At the opening of the campaign, in 1755, troops were levied in the several provinces of New England, New Yoi'k, and New Jersey. The general rendezvous was appointed at Albany, in the province of New York, and the troops put under the command of Major-general (since Sir William) .Johnson. I had the honor of commanding a company in the troops furnished by New Hampshire ; and was rebommended to the general as a person well acquainted with the haunts and passes of the enemy, and the Indian method of fighting."

"The 24th of September, [1755,] I received an order from the general to proceed with ibur men to Crown Point, and, if practicable, bring a prisoner from thence ; and with an account of the manner in which I executed this order, I shall begin my journals."

The major then proceeds to detail his various expeditions and rencounters with the enemy ; of which I shall presently give an account of two, that proved very disastrous to the rangers. Reference to others will also occur, in the course of this work. — I now pass to the ofiicial documents alluded to above.

" In Januar)^ 1758," says the author, " Lord Loudoun informed me of his intention to levy five additional companies of rangers, desiring me to name the persons whom I thought fit for officers, and such as might be depended upon to levy the men, giving me the following instructions : ' Whereas, I have thought proper to augment the rangers with five additional companies, that is, four New England and one Indian company ; and whereas I have an entire confidence in your skill and knowledge of the men most fit for that service ; I do, therefore, by these presents, appoint you to raise such a number of non-commissioned officers and private men as will be necessary to complete the said five companies, upon the following establishments,' &c. — * You will not fail to instruct the officers appointed to this service that they are not to enlist any man for a less term than one year, nor any but what are ablebodied, well acquainted with the woods, used to hunting, and every way qualified for the ranging service. You are also to observe that the men are all to be at Fort Edward on or before the 15th of March next ensuing.'

"In pursuance of the above instructions, I immediately sent officers to the New England provinces, where, by the assistance of my friends, the requested augmentation of rangers was quickly completed, the whole five companies being ready for service by the fourth day of March."

On the 6th of April, 1758, Capt. Rogers was promoted to a majority, by Gen. Abercrombie, who had succeeded Lord Loudoun, on the latter's returning to England. The commission says : " Having the greatest confidence in your loyalty, courage and skill in this kind of service, [that of the rangers,] I do, by virtue of the power and authority to me given by his majesty, hereby constitute and appoint you to be major of the rangers in his majesty's service, and likewise captain of a company of said rangers," &c.

;:}0 INTRODUCTIO^f.

At the close of the French war m America, in 1760, jMajor Rogers was commissioned, by Gen. Amherst, then commander-in-chief, to receive the surrender of Detroit and other western posts, then in possession of the French. The commission is addressed to Major Rogers, commanding his majesty's independent companies of rangers. It is dated at the head-quarters in the camp of Montreal, 12th of September, 17G0.

Major Rogers gives a particular account of the manner in which he executed this service, including his correspondence with the French commander at Detroit, and a journal of his whole tour, which terminated at New York, February the 14th, 1761. And with this he closes his book, an octavo volume of two hundred and forty-eight pages.

Thus it appears that Major Rogers, by his fidelity, courage, and skill, obtained the fullest confidence and approbation of the several general officers under whom he served from the commencement to the end of the war. And as his journals, although not formally addi'essed to the commanders-in-chief, were constantly submitted to their inspection ; and, moreover, as his work was published soon after the close of the war, while living witnesses of the transactions therein recorded might contradict his statements, if incorrect, we may safely place the utmost faith in the truth of the record.

The author subjoins to the work the following advertisement : — " It is proposed to continue this journal in a second volume, containing an account of my travels into the country of the Cherokees and of the southern Indians ; also of my second tour into the interior country upon the great lakes, and of the Indian wars in America since the year 1760, with correct plans of all the British forts upon the American continent."

I take the following notice of Major Rogers and the rangers from Mr. Edward Everett's Life of John Stark, which is incorporated in Professor Sparks' " Library of American Biography."

" A corps of rangers was enlisted in New Hampshire, by Robert Rogers, who acquired great reputation as a partisan officer in the progress of the war. Stark's experience on scouting parties obviously fitted him for the service ; and his character was already so well established, that he received a commission as a lieutenant.

" The journal of his service with these rangers was pubhshed by Major Rogers in 1765, at London, and presents an exceedingly interesting view of their severe and perilous warfare. Their duty was to reconnoitre the hostile posts and armies, to surprise straggling parties, and obtain prisoners, to effect diversions by false attacks, to serve as guides and couriers. They acted in a corps independent of the line of the army, under their own officers, and with their own regulations, as prescribed by their gallant leader, and still preserved in his journal alluded to."*

" Early in January, 1757, a party of the rangers was detached on an expedition down the lake, which ended in an engagement of great severity, in which we behold clear indications of the future hero of Bennington."

* These companies were kept, during the war, in the pay of the crown ; and after the peace, the officers were allowed half-pay in the British establishment. — Belknap's Hist, of New Hampshire.— Edii.

Here Mr. Everett gives a detail of this expedition, from Rogers' journal, in an improved style, with some additional information from other sources.

" The action, which began at two o'clock in the afternoon, was kept up till sunset, when Major Rogers received a wound through his wrist, which prevented him from holding his gun.

" The enemy used every artifice to induce the rangers to submit. He assured them, at one time, that large reinforcements were at hand, by whom they would be cut to pieces without mercy, and that if they surrendered they should be treated with kindness. He called on Rogers by name, and assured him of his esteem and friendship, and expressed his regret that his brave companions in arms should persist in maintaining the contest, at the hazard of certain death. But these blandishments were as unavailing as the superior physical power of the enemy ; and after Major Rogers's second wound had disabled him, the contest was kept up by Lieutenant Stark with equal bravery and conduct, till at the approach of night the fire of the enemy ceased, and the rangers were able to take up their retreat in safety.

** The rangers were much weakened by the loss of men killed, and they had a great number too severely wounded to travel without extreme difficulty and the assistance of their comrades. Still, however, they were so near the French fort, that it was deemed absolutely necessary to make the best of their way during the night. Perceiving a large fire in the woods, which they supposed to be that of a hostile party, they made a long circuit in the night, and found themselves in the morning six miles south of the advanced guard of the French, on Lake George. The wounded were unable to advance further on foot, and they were still forty miles from Fort William Henry.

" In this distressing state of affairs, Lieutenant Stark volunteered, with two of his men, to proceed to the fort and return with sleighs for the wounded. The snow" was four feet deep on a level, and could be traversed only in snow-shoes. Notwithstanding their efforts and exhaustion the preceding day and night, Stark and his companions reached the fort, at a distance of forty miles, by evening. They got back to their companions with a sleigh and a small reinforcing party by the next morning. The party, reduced to forty-eight effective and six wounded men, with the prisoners they had taken from the convoy, reached the fort in safety, the same evening.

" In this severe affair, the rangers, out of seventyeight n-j^n, had fourteen killed, six wounded, and six taken prisoners. The force of the enemy engaged amounted to two hundred and fifty, of which, according to a statement subsequently made by the enemy to Major Rogers, one hundred and sixteen were killed or mortally wounded. A large share of the honor of the day unquestionably belongs to Stark. After the first partial success against the convoy, it was recommended by the council of officers to retreat, by a difierent route from that by which they came ; a settled practice of warfare borrowed by the rangers from the Indians. Had they pursued this prudent course, they would have escaped the battle. Rogers however, rendered confident by a long series of successful adventures, and relying on the terrors with wliich his rangers had inspired the enemy, declared that they would not dare pursue him, and took the same route back.

"After Captain Spikeman was killed and Rogers was disabled by his wounds, Stark's fortitude and perseverance prevented the party from throwing away their lives, in a panic tlight before a victorious enemy.

" On the reorganization of the corps. Stark received the justly merited promotion to the rank of captain, in the place of Spikeman who was killed. The whole party were honorably noticed by the commander-inchief."

The statement respecting Rogers' determination to return by the same route in which they came, is taken from a note by the editor of the Concord, N. H., edition of Rogers' journal, on the authority of a Mr. Shute, who was in the action. — That Stark returned to the ■party, as above stated, I presume, is a mistake. It is not unlikely that he volunteered to proceed to Jhe fort, although Rogers, very properly in an official report, says, " From Lake George I despatched Lieut. Stark with two men to Fort William Henry, to procure conveyance for our wounded men thither ; and the next morning w^e were met by a party of lifteen men with a sled, under the command of Lieut. Buckley, of Hobb's company of rangers, at the first narrows at Lake George."

The following is an abstract from the journal :

" Having laid my return, says Rogers, of the killed, wounded, and missing, in the above action, before Maj. Sparks, commanding officer at Fort Edward, he transmitted it to the general. And the 30th of January fol-

INTEODUCTIOX, 15

lowing, I wrote to Capt James Abercrombie, then at Albany, recommending such officers as I thought most deserving to fill the vacancies occasioned by the late action ; and I received the following answer :

'Albany, Feb. 6, 1757. * Dear sir :

* The general received your report by Maj. Sparks, and returns you and your men thanks for your good behavior. On receiving the account of your skirmish, we sent an express to Boston, and expect his return in a few days. Please to send me the names of the officers you would recommend for your own company, and also to fill the vacancies in the others. — I yesterday received yours of the 30th of January. You cannot imagine how all ranks of people here are pleased with your conduct, and that of your men ; for my own part, it is no more than I expected. * * * * As soon as Gen. Abercrombie receives Lord Loudoun's instructions in regard to the rangers, I shall send you notice of it ; in the interim, I hope you will get the better of your wound. If I can be of any service to you or your men, as long as they continue to behave so well, you may command your most humble servant,

• James ABERCRo>fBi£, aid-de-camp.

* To Capt. Robert Rogers.' "

The Concord editor, above mentioned, says of Rogers : " He was a man of great presence of mind, intrepidity, and perseverance in the accomplishment of his plans. He was six feet in height, well-proportioned, and one of the most active and athletic men of his time.

The Indians entertained a great dread of him, and with very good reason. — The late Gen. Stark, who had been for years the companion and friend of Rogers, gave him full credit for his courage."

I will give here another specimen of the severe and hazardous duties imposed upon Maj. Rogers and the rangers, and of their courage and perseverance in the performance of them : in which it is also shown that Capt. Putnam had no connection with this corps.

" On the 28th of February, 1758, Col. Haviland, who then commanded at Fort Edward, ordered out a scout under the direction of one Putnam, who commanded a company of Connecticut provincials, with some of my men, giving out publicly at the same time, that, upon Putnam's return, I should be sent to the French forts with a strong party of four hundred rangers. This was known not only to the officers, but soldiers also, before Putnam's departure.

" While this party was out, a man in the service of Mr. Best, a sutler, was captured by a party from Ticonderoga, and one of Putnam's men deserted to the enemy. Upon Capt. Putnam's return, we were informed, he had ventured within eight miles of the French fort at Ticonderoga, and that a party he had sent to make discoveries reported to him, that there were nearly six hundred Indians not far from the enemy's quarters.

"March 10th. Soon after the said Capt. Putnam's return, in consequence oi positive oxAers from Col. Haviland, I this day began a march for the neighborhood of Carillon, [the French name of Ticonderoga,] not with a party of four hundred men, as first given out, but of one hundred and eighty men only, officers included. I acknowledge I entered upon this service, and viewed this small detachment of brave men march out, with no little concern and uneasiness of mind ; for as there was the greatest reason to expect that the enemy were, by the prisoner and deserter above mentioned, fully informed of the design of sending me out upon Putnam's return, what could I think, to see my party, instead of being augmented, reduced to less than half the number originally proposed ? I must confess it appeared to me, ignorant and unskilful as I then was in politics and the arts of war, incomprehensible ; hut my commander doubtless had his reasons, and is able to vindicate his own conduct. [The foregoing clause is italicized by the author ; who doubtless had his suspicions that Col. Haviland had been influenced by improper motives in this case. And I am inclined to believe he was moved by jealousy at the fame of the American partisan officer, Rogers, and his rangers, and intended they should be massacred. There are such wretches in all armies. America has not been free from them.] We marched to the half-way brook, and there encamped the first night." — Journal, p. 79.)

Here the author gives a minute detail of his scout, and of his bloody, disastrous conflict with the enemy ; which occupies ten octavo pages. This detail would afford but little interest to the reader, at the present day. I, therefore, pass to the author's concluding remarks :

" The enemy pushed us so close in front, that the parties were not more than twenty yards asunder in general, and sometimes intermixed with each other. The fire continued almost constant for an hqur and a half, from the beginning of the attack, in which we lost

2* eight officers, and more than one hundred privates killed upon the spot. We were at last obliged to break, and I with about twenty men ran up the hill to Crafton, where we stopped and fired on the Indians, who were eagerly pursuing us with numbers we could not withstand. Lieut. Phillips, being surrounded by three hundred Indians, was at this time capitulating for himself and party, on the other part of the hill. He spoke to me, and said if the enemy would give them good quarters, he thought it best to surrender, otherwise that he would fight while he had one man left to fire a gun.*

" I now retreated with the remainder of my party, in the best manner possible ; several who were wounded and fatigued, were taken by the Indians. We reached Lake George in the evening, where we found several wounded men, whom we took with us to the place where we had left our sleds. From this place I sent an express to Fort Edward, desiring Mr. Haviland to send a party to assist in bringing in the wounded. We passed the night here without fire, or blankets which had fallen into the enemy's hands. In the morning we proceeded up the lake, and, at Hoop island, met Capt. John Stark coming to our relief, with provisions, blankets, and sleighs. We encamped there that night, and on the evening of the next day, March 15th, arrived at Fort Edward.

" The number of the enemy who attacked us was about seven hundred, of whom six hundred were In-

* This unfortunate officer and his party, upon the strongest assurances of good treatment, after they surrendered, were tied to trees, and hewed to pieces in the most barbarous and shocking manner.

dians. We afterwards learned that we killed one hundred and fifty of them, and wounded as many more. I will not pretend to say what would have been the result of this unfortunate expedition had our numbers been four hundred strong, as w^as contemplated ; but it is due to those brave officers and men who accompanied me, most of whom are now no more, to declare, that every man, in his respective station, behaved with uncommon resolution and courage ; nor do I know an instance during the action in which the prudence or good conduct of one of them could be questioned." (Journal, p. 87.) In making the above abstract from Rogers' journal, I have in some parts adopted the language of the Concord, N. H., edition of that work. The editor of this edition, by the way, has taken unbounded liberty with the original, adding to, and deducting from it, ad libitum ; as well as occasionally changing its phraseology. To this perhaps there would be no objection, provided the reader were informed of the course taken. The diction, where the editor appears to take any pains about it, is improved ; and the additions are probably correct, particularly the information derived from Gen. Stark, whose Life is included in the same volume, which was the principal object of the publication. The journal, moreover, would well admit of great curtailment in its details, judiciously made. The editor, however, did not, I think, take sufficient time to prepare the work so well as he might have done.

REVIEW OF Rogers' journal.

The following is the only English notice of the work, that has fallen under my observation :

" ' Journals of Major Robert Rogers ; containing an account of the several excursions he made, under the generals who commanded on the continent of America, during the late war. From which may be collected the most material circumstances of every campaign on that continent, from the commencement to the conclusion of the war.' From the specimen of the work now before us, it appears that the accounts of Major Rogers may be depended upon by the public ; they are undoubtedly as authentic as they are important and necessary to those who would acquire a thorough understanding of the nature and progress of the late military operations in North America.

" The author writes like an honest, a sensible, and a modest man ; and has given, throughout his whole account, undoubted proofs that he is a brave and skilful officer. He headed, with much reputation, the provincial troops called rangers, during the whole course of what were called the French wars in America." — Bibliotheca Americana Nova, or catalogue of books relating to America, printed from 1700 to 1800. By O. Rich. London, 1832.

That no doubt may rest on the mind of the reader in regard to the authenticity of the statements of facts by Maj. Rogers, in his journal, the following testimony of his title to credibility has been obtained from the distinguished gentlemen therein named, citizens of his native state, where his character would doubtless be duly estimated :

" Concord, July 16, 1842.

" Dear sir —

" I have made some inquiry respecting Major R. Rogers, and among our oldest inhabitants I find but one opinion respecting his character, and that is fullyexpressed in the note enclosed to me, and transmitted herewith to you, from Gov. Hill.

" Mr. Hill has perhaps a better knowledge of Major Rogers' character, as an officer, than any other person here : he has been prompted by reasons which could not have operated on others.

" Respectfully, your obedient servant,

" Robert Davis.

"Mr. Charles Coffin, New York city."

"Concord, July 2, 1842.

" Gen. Robert Davis : • '• My dear sir — " I have this moment read Mr. Coffin's letter addressed to you, requesting information in relation to the character of the late Maj. Robert Rogers. Having recently had occasion to make inquiries relative to his early history, I find nothing in the region of his birth that goes at all to discredit him. One of the last of his blood relations in this vicinity who personally remembered him, a lady, died about one year ago. From her mouth, through Mark Burnham, Esq., a native of the same town with Rogers, I derived the information that all the family were proud of his name, and were reluctant to associate it with a reputation that was not entirely unsullied. Maj. Rogers never resided in this state permanently after the commencement of the Revolutionary