“For freedom's battle once begun.
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son
Tho' baffled of is ever won.”

[figure description] Page 167.[end figure description]

While the incidents last described were transpiring,
an event occurred, which spread consternation
and alarm over all the neighboring country.
This was, the unexpected evacuation of the important
fortress of Ticonderoga, to which the Americans
seemed to have confidently looked as a barrier
which was to interpose an effectual check to the
further progress of Burgoyne in that quarter. But
whatever may have been said of the remissness of
General St. Clair, in suffering the enemy, to gain
these advantages which compelled him, for the salvation
of his army, to evacuate that post, and whatever
disasters were immediately occasioned by the
movement, the final consequences which resulted
from the event proved highly auspicious to the American
arms: For while it inspired the British General
with an undue confidence of success, and caused
him to push rashly into the heart of the country,
it at once aroused the Americans from the apathy,
with which they seemed to have viewed the approach
of the invading army, and kindled up the flagging
spirit of patriotism to a pitch of enthusiasm that
soon brought the rallying bands of the hardy yeomen
of the north to the post of danger, and led to
that series of brilliant achievements which terminated
in the entire overthrow of this formidable array
of British power.

[figure description] Page 168.[end figure description]

Scarcely had St. Clair succeeded, under cover of
darkness, in reaching the eastern shore of the lake,
and getting his army in motion for the interior, before
an active pursuit was commenced by General
Frazier with a large detachment of British regulars,
followed by General Reidesel with most of the Brunswick
forces. The Americans, however, kept some
miles in advance of the enemy through the day;
and St. Clair, with the main body of his troops,
pushed forward that night as far as Castleton, leaving
the rear guard of the army, consisting of about
a thousand men, under the command of Colonel
Warrington, on the road some distance behind,
where he encamped at a farm-house within three
miles of the place which was the same night occupied
by the lawless gang of Sherwood and their unfortunate
captives, all parties being equally ignorant
of their vicinity to each other.

With this glance at the situation of our army,
with whose movements were more or less closely
linked the destines of all those whose individual
fortunes we have undertaken to follow, we will now
go on with our tale, which the crowding events of
the next twenty-four hours were destined to bring
to its catastrophe. And leaving our fair and persecuted
captive in the happy state of insensibility, in
which we last described her, we will now follow her
trusty messenger on his adventurous way to the
American army, which both he and his mistress supposed
was still posted at Ticonderoga, some twenty
miles distant.

Happily succeeding in leaving the cabin and gaining
an adjoining field undiscovered by the guards,
Neshobee, after stopping a moment to pitch his
course, plunged directly into the tangled and

[figure description] Page 169.[end figure description]

dripping wilderness lying along the northern borders of
the pond. Pausing at every considerable interval
of darkness, that still almost impenetrably shrouded
the earth, and darting forward by the views which
the fast flashing lightning afforded, he treaded the
difficult mazes of the forest with a rapidity rarely
attainable by any but natives of the wilds. Passing
round the western extremity of the pond, and bending
his course in a more southerly direction, an
hour's travelling brought him to the great military
road leading directly to the lake. The storm having
now ceased, he hastily stripped off his drenched
garments, wrung out the water to enable him to run
with more expedition, reinvested himself, and again
set off at a long trot down the road towards his supposed
destination. It was to be his fortune,
however, to travel but a short part of the distance
for which he had prepared himself: For after proceeding
about a mile along the now unobstructed
way with a speed to which his foverish anxiety lent
wings, he came to a large opening, which presented
the unexpected appearance of numerous dimly burning
fires scattered through an extensive field. Stopping
short at a spectacle so unusual under the present
circumstances, the cautious native immediately
put his ear to the earth, and listened long and intently.
A low, mingled hum, as of a hushed and
reposing multitude, rose in a searce perceptible murmer
on the air; and soon the slight jar of measured
footsteps, resembling the distant tread of slowly
pacing sentinels, became distinguishable to his
acute senses. No longer doubting the presence of
an encamped army in the opening, but wholly ignorant
of its character, he cautiously crept forward,
rising, from time to time, to discover if possible,

[figure description] Page 170.[end figure description]

without exposing himself, whether it was a friendly
or hostile force, which he had thus unexpectedly encountered.
Keeping within the range of a stump,
or some object by the road-side, to screen his approach,
he crawled along about a dozen rods, and
again paused for a more careful observation. The
clouds were now rapidly breaking away, and, in the
increasing light, he was soon enabled to trace the
outlines of a sentry, standing motionless as a post in
the middle of the road, but a few rods ahead.
While he thus lay tasking his vision to discover
something in the dress, arms, or appearance of the
man, from which the fact he sought to know might
be inferred, the waning moon shone out through the
parting clouds, and disclosed to the startled Indian
the British uniform of the sentry, and at the same
time the numerous tents of the enemy dotting the
fields in the distance beyond. The first thought of
Nehobee, on making this alarming discovery, was to
secure a retreat from this dangerous vicinity to the
sentinel, though he was wholly at a loss what course
he should now take to find those to whom he had
been dispatched for succour. But his doubts in this
respect were set at rest by information he the next
moment obtained from an unexpected quarter: For
while he lay anxiously watching a cloud that was
nearing the moon, and promised in a few moments
again to obscure her light, which now made it hazzardous
for him to move from his position, a soldier
approached to relieve the one on guard.

`Well, Tom,' said the soldier just arrived, `you
have had a devil of a drenching this bout, hav'nt
you?—Why! what! has the man turned to stone?
Say, Tom, why dont you answer me?'

`O, yes, yes,' replied the other arousing himself

[figure description] Page 171.[end figure description]

from his stupor—`yes, wet enough—a ghastly time
I've had of it, Jerry, since I've been out here.
Hang me, if I hav'nt got quite enough of this chasing
the Yankees into the bush. I wish 'twas over.
But do you know the orders for to-morrow?'

`Why, to chase the d—n'd rebels till we take
them, besure. Our Captain has just returned from
General Frazier's quarters; and he says they have
had a sort of go between, by the name of Remington,
who came directly from the Yankee camp, and
brought word, that the main body of the rebels have
got about ten miles ahead, while a regiment or two,
under a Colonel Warrington, are encamped within
a league of us on the road. And the plan is, I believe,
to move on, at daylight, to the attack of the
nearest force. And if the main body return to the
rescue, why, we have General Reidesel, with a plenty
of Hessians, a few miles behind, to back us: so
very likely we may get a tolerable bush fight out of
it, before it is over, particularly as this Warrington,
they say, is a fellow of grit; and his men are mostly
Green Mountain Boys, who have more of the regular
built bull dog about 'em than any thing the
Yankees have got in their ragamuffin army.'

`Well, Jerry,' replied the other, in accents partaking
somewhat of the doleful. `I cant exactly tell
how tis, but if we do have a battle, I have a notion I
shan't live through it.'

`Why what makes you think so, Tom?'

`O, I don't know—I feel it creeping over me;
and that ain't all, I am very sartain—deed, I could
swear to it—that I saw a shape out there in the
road yonder, a little while ago, that rose up right
out of the ground, and then kinder stood quivering

[figure description] Page 172.[end figure description]

a minute, and vanished. I expect it was my spirit,
Jerry,'

`Pooh! man, your liver must have got water
soaked here in the rain, to make you down in the
mouth about such whimsies. Here, take a suck at
my canteen.—There! now back to your tent, your
pluck will be up by morning.'

Animated by the cheering intelligence he had
gathered from the conversation above detailed, every
word of which had reached his attentive ears, the
native slowly and noiselessly withdrew from the spot
in the now favoring darkness, till fairly beyond the
sight and hearing of the guard; when he began rapidly
to retrace his way along the road towards the
American encampment, to which we will now repair
in anticipation of his arrival.

It was a calm and cloudless morning that ushered
in the day so long remembered in Vermont for the
sanguinary conflict of Hubbardton, which proved so
destructive to the boastful and haughty foe, while it
widely scattered the weeds of wo throughout her infant
settlement.[3] The sun had just burst over the long
range of eastern mountains, whose broad empurpled
sides lay looming in the distance, and a thousand
sparkling exhalations were rising from the storm
beaten encampment of the Green Mountain Boys.

[figure description] Page 173.[end figure description]

Though deeply worn and fatigued by the forced
march of the previous day, and drenched to the
skin through the night, yet the troops were already
in motion, eagerly engaged in preparing themselves
for whatever emergency might follow, and while
hastily snatching their morning's repast, many an
eye was turned anxiously towards the quarters of
their gallant commander, where it was understood a
council of war was being held to determine whether to
continue their flight after the main army, or remain
to give battle to the pursuing enemy. At length
the officers were seen emerging from the quarters
in question, and with quickened steps returning to
their respective corps, while the increased activity
which succeeded throughout the camp indicated the
importance of the result now communicated.

`Well, Captain Selden,' said Warrington, as rousing
himself from the reverie into which he had fallen
after the council had broken up, he looked around
and observed that his confidential friend now remained
with him in the apartment, `what do you
think of the argument of Hale, and those who so
strenuously opposed our proposition of making a
stand against the enemy?'

`Quite as well of their arguments as their patriotism,
Colonel,' promptly answered the person addressed.
`Shakespeare never better evinced his
knowledge of the human heart than when he put
into the mouth of one of his secretly craven boasters
the salvo argument that “discretion is the better
part of valour.”'

`The inference is a sharp one, Captain, but I fear
me, too well deserved. There was one thing, however,
which gratified me:—not a single officer from
the Green Mountains opposed the proposition. And

[figure description] Page 174.[end figure description]

it is so with the troops of my regiment: I was out
among them this morning, by daylight, to gather
their feelings on this subject; and though the poor
fellows were wet, weary and war-worn, I found our
Green Mountain Boys universally burning for the
encounter.'

`There is no doubt of it. But after all, Colonel,
I fear these preachers of prudence were prophesying
by instinct, when they told us we had a bloody day's
work before us. The force we are sure to encounter
is perhaps, more than double our own; and we
know not how many more are on their way to reinforce
them.'

`I am aware of all this. But as soldiers can we
longer endure the thought of being driven before the
foe?—as citizens and settlers of these our mountain
homes, can we see the enemy marching into the heart
of our country, and strike no blow for its protection?
As little as the people expected our evacuation of
Ticonderoga, much less will they expect us to continue
a flight, which will soon leave the whole settlement
exposed to the ravages of the merciless minions
of Burgoyne. With my own regiment alone,
I can make a successful stand against the force
which immediately menaces us with an attack; and
if more arrive, the reinforcements which St. Clair
will surely send us, when our express shall reach
him, will be in season for the rescue.'

`Gen. St. Clair may send us a reinforcement,
but'—

`May? he must! And if he does, and will send
another force round into the rear to cut off the
enemy's retreat, they are all ours before sunset.
Think you Ethan Allen would be found longer skulking
before the foe, or, if in St. Clair's command,

[figure description] Page 175.[end figure description]

would suffer a man of them to return to the lake
alive, or uncaptured?'

`Never! but Ethan Allen is not our general.
And the man who suffered the enemy to get possession
of every commanding post round Ticonderoga
till we had good reason to evacuate, may still, like
some of his humble imitators in our council just
now, think it prudent to take care of himself, and
leave us to do the same.'

At this moment the sergeant of the guard entered
the door.

`Colonel,' said he, `we have taken a prisoner this
morning, who came from the direction of the enemy;
and though he professes fair, and pretends business
with you, yet having no pass, or papers of any
kind, and refusing to give any further account of
himself, we have kept him under guard, till we
thought you might have leisure to examine him.'

`What is he,—a British soldier?'

`No—an Indian, or part Indian, I should think.'

`Bring him here, instantly,' said Warrington, with
an expression of interest.

The sergeant accordingly left the apartment, and
in a few moments returned with Neshobee by his
side, when, upon an intimation from his superior,
he withdrew, leaving his prisoner and the two officers
by themselves.

`Neshobee, my good fellow,' exclaimed Warrington,
advancing to the native, and shaking him cordially
by the hand, `I hope they have not misused
you; but how came you here?'

`Me come for purpose find you. Misses Alma'—

`Alma Hendee! where is she?' eagerly interrupted
the Colonel.

The Indian then related to his astonished

[figure description] Page 176.[end figure description]

auditors, in his peculiar manner, the particulars of the
capture of the Hendee family, and all of the subsequent
occurrences which had come to his knowledge
till he reached the American encampment.

`Execrable villain!' exclaimed Warrington with
unusual bitterness, after a few questions and answers
respecting the number and equipment of Sherwood's
gang had been rapidly exchanged between the excited
officers and the native, `execrable villain! but
his triumph shall be a short one!'

`God grant it!' responded Selden with the same
spirit, `but what do you propose, Colonel?'

`To proceed instantly to their camp, storm it,
and rescue the captives within this hour—if possible,
within this very hour!'

`And you are willing to risk, even at this emergency,
the absence of men enough to accomplish
it?'

`I must,—as much as we may need them, I must
risk it. And would to God, that my duties would
permit me to head them, against this farrago of
fiends incarnate.—Will you perform the service, Captain
Selden?'

`Most joyfully.'

`Go, then. Take your company, including Jones
and as many of his scouts as you think best. If
you succeed, furnish the family with an escort to a
place of safety, or bring them to the rear of the army,
as circumstances shall dictate.—Stay, Selden,
a moment,' he continued approaching the side of the
spirited and impatient young officer, and speaking
in a low confidential tone, `I am well aware that this
may be a day of danger—of death, to many of us—
Tell that lovely girl her frank and noble explanation
has been received and appreciated—that my heart

[figure description] Page 177.[end figure description]

has ever been, and is now doubly hers—that if I
survive, I will soon be by her side, and if I fall, my
last thoughts will be upon her.'

At that instant the quickly successive reports of
a dozen muskets in the direction of the expected
enemy broke the stillness of the morning, announcing
a collision between the opposing outposts, and
the battle at hand.

`To arms!' exclaimed the commander, rushing
out into the open air, and leaping upon his charger,
that caparisoned and ready for his gallant rider
stood impatiently pawing the ground at the door, `to
arms, instantly to arms!'

As the loud, and thrilling tones of the well known
voice of their idolized leader rung through the camp,
falling upon the ears of the aroused and excited
troops, every man sprang for his musket, and the
busy quiet, that one moment before had reigned
through the tented lines, was at once changed into
the noisy din of preparation. Captain Selden, in
accordance with the arrangement just settled between
him and his superior, hastily formed his company,
briefly informed his men of the object of their proposed
expedition, and, amidst the clangor of rattling
steel and rolling drums, mingled with the stern,
brief words of command, filed off rapidly across the
field towards the northern forest, and, with Neshobee
as guide, soon disappeared within its borders.

Let us now return to the captured. The first object
that saluted the eyes of our hapless heroine, on
recovering her consciousness, was the dimly seen
figure of Sherwood standing in the door-way,
in the attitude of one whose attention on entering
had been suddenly arrested by some unexpected
sight or sound behind him. The next instant a man

[figure description] Page 178.[end figure description]

on horseback came dashing up furiously to the spot.
Hastily closing the door behind him, Sherwood immediately
advanced to the side of the halted horseman;
when the following dialogue distinctly reached
the ears of the eager listener within.

`Captain Sherwood—ain't it?'

`Yes—Remington, I believe, from the voice?—
Well, what news?'

`Important—great—glorious!'

`Aha, what is it?'

`The Rebels have evacuated Ti.'

`The devil! and all escaped?'

`Every scoundrel of them, but their race is nearly
up.'

`Why? How? Where are they?'

`St. Clair, with the bulk of them made shift to
push on to Castleton by dark,—Warrington with a
regiment or two, now lies encamped at Seleck's
farm, right against us over on the military road.
Gen. Frazier, who followed hard on their tracks
through the day, lies at Lacy's Camp, with his brigade;
and Red Hazle and his Jarmans are but a
few miles behind.'

`And what is Frazier's plan?'

`To move upon Warrington at daylight; and he
told me to tell you to be on hand when the attack is
made,—flank the rebels in the woods, and keep on
ahead of them to cut off their retreat. But the order
need'nt interfere with your business here,' added
the traitor, with a knowing chuckle, pointing towards
the house with one hand, and giving his master
a significant nudge with the other:—There's no
need of your marching before break of day; so you
see you'll have time to'—

[figure description] Page 179.[end figure description]

`Hush! speak lower, you prying devil,—she'll
hear you.'

`Well, well; but what is to be my share for this
night's job?'

`British gold,—Burgoyne will see to that.'

`Yes, I know that; but I mean what share of the
same kind of coin that you are about to make free
with?—You understand me, hey?'

`That's asking more than you have any right to
expect, Remington.'

`The hell it is! I know there is game to be
had, and if I can't have my share, when my betters
are helping themselves, I'll know the reason why,
by'—

`Yes, but don't get in a passion about it: Something
of the kind may be effected for you, perhaps. The
Scotch girl is promised to Darrow; but there are
two maids. It can be managed, possibly'—

`To night?'

`Why—why, not very conveniently—if you will
delay it till to morrow night—but hush! hush!
who is that?—who is that coming in such haste?'—
hurriedly exclaimed Sherwood, as startled by the
sound of rapidly approaching footsteps, he looked
round and distinguished the figure of some one hastily
making his way towards them.

`It is the lieutenant's gait,' observed Remington,
whose situation on his horse enabled him best to determine
the point in question. `And it is Darrow,
too, ain't it?'

`Yes, I am the chap,' responded the ruffian striding
up to the spot. `Where is the Captain?—O
here! Jake, the devil is to pay?'

`What is the matter?' eagerly asked Sherwood.

`Why, it may be matter enough for us soon, if

[figure description] Page 180.[end figure description]

what Remington here says about the rebels being
so near us, is true—Hendee's cursed Indian has escaped!
'

`Hell and furies! Bill, who suffered that?'

`The lubberly curse that you set to guard the red
scamp in the corner of the barn got asleep, I spose;
and the confusion and crowding caused by the
storm prevented any one else from seeing to it.'

`How long has he been gone?'

`These two hours, for aught I can ascertain.'

`Did you see any thing that could be taken for
the imp, on your route, Remington?'

`No Captain. As soon as I found the rebels
were on the road, I rode several miles round, in by-roads,
to reach the British camp.'

`Well, Darrow, we must move,' said Sherwood
after musing a moment: `I know that fellow well.
He will know what to do without being told, and
will be as cunning as Satan in bringing it about. In
beating about for help to rescue the family, he will
learn Warrington's position, which ten to one he
has reached before this. You, as well as I, can
guess what will come next. Within an hour, a hundred
of Warrington's bull dogs may be upon us,
with ambuscades in every direction around us. We
must march, and that instantly. Our private plans,
Bill, must be deferred till another night. And, by
that time, I am thinking, there wont be enough left
of the damned scoundrel, or his men, to trouble us.
We will take to the hill on the south end of the
pond yonder. The moon is coming out; and this
breeze will shake the water from the trees, so that
we can make our way comfortably. Go forward,
Darrow, and be mustering the men. Remington,
let me mount that horse, till we enter the woods.

[figure description] Page 181.[end figure description]

Guards! ho! you may close up round the house
now, and in a few moments we will relieve you of
your charge.'

If ever an offering of unfeigned, unmingled gratitude
ascended to Heaven from the lips of mortals
for boon bestowed, it was that of Alma Hendee, as
on bended knees she poured out the incense of her
gushing and grateful heart to her divine Preserver
for this temporary deliverance from the perils that so
nearly threatened her. She had scarcely risen from
her devotions, when a messenger from Sherwood's
quarters entered, and summoned her to attend him
to the other cabin. She obeyed with cheerful alacrity,
and, in a few moments more, was in the silent
embrace of her friends, receiving the low murmurred
caresses and blessings of her overjoyed father,
on whose bosom she lay sobbing till interrupted by
the stern, harsh voice of Darrow at the door, commanding
them all to come forth, to be taken along
with the band in the movement which had been so
hastily concerted by the alarmed leaders!

On emerging from the house the prisoners found
the entire band of their captors drawn up in the
yard, waiting only to receive them before commencing
the contemplated march. And, after the former
had been ordered to take their places near the
centre of the line, separated from each other by the
alternate intermingling of guards as on the afternoon's
march, the whole moved silently forward
across the pasture in the direction previously mentioned
by their leader. When they arrived at the
outskirts of the clearing, Sherwood relinquished the
horse, upon which he had thus far superintended the
march, to Remington, and, after sending off the
latter on some secret destination, took his station at

[figure description] Page 182.[end figure description]

the head of his forces, and plunged directly into the
forest. After many windings through the pathless
and still dripping woods, for the purpose of confusing
or misleading their enemies, in any attempts
which might be made to follow the trail, they bore
down towards the pond, and soon struck into an old
Indian path running along the margin of the water
towards the south. In this they slowly pursued their
dark, and often difficult way, till day-light; when
arriving at the southern extremity of the pond, and
being here, as they believed, out of the reach of any
immediate danger from pursuit, they withdrew a
short distance from the vicinity of the water, and
halted to wait the operations of the hostile armies,
being now within a short distance of the clearing in
which the action was expected to take place.

After scouts had been despatched to watch the
movements of Warrington's forces, and some time
spent in inspecting their arms, and preparing them
for instant service, the band, at the intimation of
their leaders, proceeded to partake of a hasty repast,
consisting mostly of bread and dried meats,
which each produced from his own knapsack, with
the exception of the officers and captives, for the
supplying of whom one of Captain Hendee's horses,
loaded with provisions and tent-cloths, had followed
in the rear. A scanty portion of this kind of food,
with a gourd-shell of water, was, after a while, sent
to the faint and wearied prisoners by Sherwood, who
seemed studiously to avoid coming himself into their
immediate presence. The meal was partaken by
the captives in gloomy silence, which, except here
and there in the ribald jest of a tory, or the low
guttural grunt of a savage, was imitated by the

[figure description] Page 183.[end figure description]

mongrel gang of ferocious and brutal looking fellows
around them.

Scarcely had they finished their homely repast,
when a rattling peal of distant musketry, followed
by the sound of rolling drums furiously beating to
arms, came booming through the forest, awakening
the echoes of hill and dell for miles around, and
startling both captives and captors by the sound,
now well understood by all as the herald of the approaching
conflict.

`To the hills! forward to a station on the hills!'
loudly shouted Sherwood, now for the first time
openly exercising the command in the presence of
the prisoners.

Hastily forming a line of march, Sherwood, with
quick and eager steps led his men up the ragged
steeps towards his proposed station, leaving the brutal
Darrow, who had charge of the rear, in which
the captives were now placed, to goad on the infirm
old captain, and the tender, and already exhausted
females, to keep pace with the rest. After a rapid
and fatiguing march of half an hour, at almost every
step of which the forest around them was resounding
to the roar of the thickening conflict on the
plains to the right, they reached the summit of a
wood covered hill, which overlooked the extensive
opening to the west, now occupied as the scene of
action by the contending armies. Immediately detaching
about a dozen of his most trusty tories with
Darrow at their head to guard the prisoners, Sherwood,
with the remainder of his force, proceeded
some forty or fifty rods down the hill, and took his
station in the bushes bordering the opening, to wait
a favorable opportunity to co-operate with his British
friends. The guard, on the departure of Sherwood,

[figure description] Page 184.[end figure description]

wishing to take a stand themselves where they could
witness the battle, ordered the captives forward to
the brow of the hill, and permitted them to take
seats upon the edge of a cliff which afforded them,
through the openings of the overhanging foliage, a
distinct view of the field of conflict. A grand and
thrilling spectacle now burst upon their view. At
the distance of less than a mile, in the broad field
beneath them, stood the plain and hardy sons of
liberty, unflinchingly engaged face to face, and often
arm to arm, in deadly strife with the gorgeous
and disciplined bands of their outnumbering foes,—
the fluttering standards and glittering arms of wheeling
squadrons now flashing in the morning sun, and
now enveloped in clouds of eddying smoke, as the
fires of a thousand death-tubes blazed fiercely along
the opposing lines; while hill and forest around
seemed rocking responsive to the deafening thunders
of the embattled plain. With an interest equally
intense, but with emotions widely different, was the
scene witnessed by the little group of captives: for
while Alma and Jessy gazed in silent awe upon the
fearful spectacle, trembling and amazed at the tremendous
din that rose from the spot, and with bosoms
painfully beating with secret anxiety for the
fate of their betrothed lovers, engaged, as they believed,
in the hottest of the strife, and exposed every
instant to the missiles of death, or already weltering
in their gore among the dying and dead,—
while, with such agitating emotions gazed they upon
the scene, Captain Hendee watched the progress of
the contest with the experienced eye of a soldier,
and with a view to its general results. For nearly
an hour the battle raged with unmitigated fury. Alternately
driving and driven, the contending foes,

[figure description] Page 185.[end figure description]

without any permanent advantage to either, fiercely
disputed for the mastery of the field; while volley
after volley, bursting in rapid succession along the
serried lines of the opposing fronts, continued to
sweep the plain with the leaden tempest, covering it
with heaps of the dying and the dead. At length
there was a momentary lull in the din of battle.
Even the `stormy music' of the shriek-drowning
drum for an instant ceased to send up its monotonous
roar from the field of conflict. And all beneath
the broad and veiling cloud of smoke, that hung
over the spot, at first seemed as silent as if that cloud
had been a pall for an army of the dead. The next
moment, however, a sound reached the quick ears of
the female captives more fearful than the thunders
of battle.

`List! what is that?' asked the girls, with a simultaneous
exclamation, and looks of horror, as the
piercing and mingled wail of many voices came
wafting on the breeze with awful distinctness to the
ear. `Oh, father, what dreadful sound is that?' repeated
Alma, with a shudder.

The old gentleman, whose less acute organs had
not been affected by the sound, without replying,
turned an ear towards the fatal field. The same
hideous, though low and distance-mellowed screech,
came up again from the spot with the succeeding
undulation of the fitful breeze, but was the next instant
lost in a fresh burst of martial music, which
once more sent its swelling roar over the surrounding
hills.

`It is the cries of the wounded!' said the Captain,
turning to his unheeding auditors, for they sat
with their hands tightly pressed upon their ears to
exclude the abhorrent sound. `But it is over—it is

[figure description] Page 186.[end figure description]

over now,' he continued, motioning them to withdraw
their hands.

Understanding the gesture rather than the words,
the girls hesitatingly unstopped their ears, and turned
a mute and startled look of enquiry upon the
Captain.

`It was the groans of the wounded,' resumed the
Captain. `It is, indeed, a dreadful sound to one
not inured to the horrors of war. The first time I
ever heard it, I well remember, it made my hair rise
upright on my head, and filled me with more terror
and dread than the bullets of the enemy. But it
does not often occur, and should never, as it disheartens
the men; yet it will sometimes happen
when some sudden change in the order of battle is
taking place on both sides at the same moment.'

`And do you suspect any important change is
about to take place in the present battle, father?'
anxiously enquired Alma.

`I do, child. I can perceive there is a movement
going on among our troops. There! do you see
that officer dashing at full speed along the lines, as
he occasionally appears in the openings of the lifting
smoke? He is is rallying and forming for a
fresh onset, and is probably the chief in command,
who you understood was to be'—

`It is! is he!' exclaimed Alma, with trembling
eagerness. `Yes, it is he, and yet spared, thank
Heaven!' she added, checking herself, and sinking
her voice into an almost inaudible whisper, `but
Oh! the perils which the next moment may surround
him!' and she buried her face in her hands
to conceal her emotion.

`Well, whether Warrington or another,' observed
the Captain, `the officer in command there is

[figure description] Page 187.[end figure description]

winning glory for himself and his country. I have never
seen a defence against a superior force conducted
with more ability than he has displayed, nor a field
disputed with more determined intrepidity than this
by the men under him; at least by all those who
have yet engaged. But there is one battalion standing
aloof by the copse, yonder, whose movements I
neither understand nor like. I wonder who they
are?'

`That is Colonel Hale's regiment,' said a voice
from the rear, `we have no great fears of him, or
his men; but them dare-devils in the thickest of it,
there, are Green Mountain Boys, and I'll own—but
they've got to knuckle soon, for Red Hazle can't
now be more than a mile, or so, off, and then'—

The Captain turned his head, and beheld in the
speaker the traitor Remington, who had arrived unperceived,
and now stood unblushingly, and with a
malicious and exulting lear, looking him in the face.
The double-faced villain, however, was met by the
old veteran with such a withering look of scorn and
contempt, as caused him to pause in his remarks,
and soon to slink away behind the guards.

Muttering a few deep and bitter curses upon the
object of his aversion, on whom he looked as the
despicable instrument of his present misfortunes,
Captain Hendee again turned to watch the progress
of the battle.

`Keep your eyes on the field, girls,' said the old
gentleman, after closely scanning the appearance of
the belligerent forces a moment. `They are evidently
on the eve of some important evolution. There!
see there! there goes the fire of our whole line upon
them in a single blaze! Ah! that fire must have
told dreadfully on the enemy!' he continued, with

[figure description] Page 188.[end figure description]

an exulting air, while waiting for the dispersion of
the smoke that, curling its wavy folds over the
American lines, at this terrible volly, concealed for
an instant both them and their foes completely from
view. `Yes, dreadfully, as they acknowledge, by
not returning the fire. There, you can just see their
scarlet lines now,—and in confusion! staggering and
recoiling in confusion, as I live! And by Jupiter!
see! how like lightning the black masses of the continentals
are throwing themselves into columns!
They charge! they charge! Heavens! what a clash
of encountering steel!—but no wavering in the
charging columns yet. On they move! And by
the Lord of Heavens! the Red-coats give way before
them! They reel,—break, and run—yes, see!
see! the poor beaten devils are fairly taking to their
heels! ha! ha! Hurra for the Green Mountain
Boys! ha! ha! ha! ha!' And the excited old veteran,
breaking the restraint which his situation, as a
closely guarded prisoner, had imposed, leaped up,
and clapped his hands in gleeful exhultation.

`Stop that d—n'd old fool's gab!' shouted the
nettled and chafing Darrow, who, having taken a
separate station in the bushes, some rods distant,
stood deeply absorbed in the movements of the field,
when the old gentleman's exclamations reached his
ears: `stop his gab, I say! or spit him on your bayonet,
and hurl him over the cliff. Hell! Here, let
me come—I may as well have my revenge now as
ever.'

As with angry growls Darrow was hastening
through the bushes to the spot, the nearest guard
brought down his piece, and drew back for a thrust
at the Captain with his bayonet; but in the act, he
suddenly started, dropped his musket, gave a

[figure description] Page 189.[end figure description]

convulsive screech, sallied back, and was on his way to
the earth, when the sharp and stunning report of a
dozen rifles, from the back of the hill, burst upon the
ears of the startled captives, and their no less astonished
captors, who, in their eagerness to see the action
had neglected to keep watch against a surprise
from pursuing enemies from the woods.

`There! take that, damn you!' exclaimed Darrow,
as more intent on accomplishing his meditated
revenge than attempting a defence, he sprang forward,
the instant he perceived himself attacked, within
a rod of the captives, discharged his pistol at
Captain Hendee, and, without waiting to see the effect
of his shot, which his eager haste had luckily
rendered a vain one, jumped off the cliff, and, venturously
leaping from shelf to shelf down the precipice,
disappeared in the direction of Sherwood's
station at the foot of the hill.

The surviving tories, for four of them had been
stretched lifeless upon the earth by the shot of their
assailants, discharged their guns at random towards
the covert of their yet unseen foes, and fled along
the cliff to the south, to gain the gorge where Sherwood
and his party had descended. But they were
a moment too late to effect their object. The movement
having been perceived by Selden's party, for,
as the reader has doubtless already anticipated, the
assailants were no other, they suddenly closed up
that end of their line, and cut off the retreat of the
fugitives, who, quickly tacking about, commenced
their flight back towards the captives, with the view
of escaping along the ledge to the north of them.

`Aha! ye scampering satans, you can't go that
this time!' exclaimed the sharp and rattling voice
of Pete Jones, who with a dozen sturdy fellows at

[figure description] Page 190.[end figure description]

his heels, at that instant burst through the bushes,
and came down like a whirlwind, upon the baffled
tories in time to prevent them from gaining the
thicket in the rear of the captives,—`spread out
there, boys, and be ready to give 'em the lead at the
word,' continued the scout, motioning to his men,
who promptly complying, cocked their rifles, and
throwing themselves into a half circle, continued
with hasty steps to advance upon the affrighted
wretches, now standing huddled together on the
brink of the precipice, and looking wildly around
them for some chance to escape.

`Now, ye painted divils,' resumed Jones, still
drawing up with leveled rifle, `now you have got to
jump, or take it.'

`Misunderstanding the real intentions of the scout,
which were to frighten, and then give quarters, and
expecting to be shot down the next instant, the tories
threw down their guns, and with one consent,
plunged madly from the cliff!

`Blood and Bayonets! who would have thought
that?'—exclaimed the woodsman, in tones of mingled
horror and surprise, as he stepped up and peered
over the brink, from which, down a broken, but
nearly perpendicular descent of over an hundred
feet, this desperate leap had been taken. `Now I'll
be blamed, if it don't make me feel ugly—only see
'em there!' he continued, gazing down upon the
mangled wretches at the foot of the precipice, with
an expression of the deepest commiseration, `only
see! three or four lay there in a heap, panting and
quivering at the last gasp! And there's the rest,
just crawling off into the bushes like snakes with
their backs broke! Howsomever,' he added, turning
away with an effort to shake off the feeling, `we

[figure description] Page 191.[end figure description]

can't very well afford the poor devils a great deal of
lament, for the same sarce would have been ours,
if we'd fell into the hands of their sort of cattle, jest
as sure as Tory is their name, and infarnal their nater.'

In the meanwhile Selden, followed by the rest of
his company, had reached the spot; and the former
having flown to the side of his overjoyed Jessy and
her friends, the now liberated captives, was exchanging
those hasty and heartfelt greetings, which the
circumstances were so well calculated to call forth,
when a new and startling war-cry rose from the
thicket below, where he had just learned from his
rescued friends that Sherwood with the main part
of his band was posted.

`Do you hear that, my brave fellows?' exclaimed
the young officer in a tone that rung through the
forest, as he burst from the group of his embracing
friends, and, with a look of kindling enthusiasm,
leaped forward towards his men, `do you hear that
rallying shout below? But let them come! The
red-coats are flying in confusion before our friends
in yonder field. Let their scurvy minions here in the
bush be taught the same lesson. Every man to his post!'

Responding with hearty and reiterated cheers to
the words of their gallant leader, the men flew to
their stations along the ridge to await the approach
of their foes, who were now evidently rallying for a
rescue.

At this instant a shower of bullets struck the
crags at the very feet of the captives.

`Jones, your assistance!' shouted Selden, rushing
back to the group who had thus narrowly escaped
death, and pointing him to Alma, as he himself
grasped his own affianced girl in his arms, and with
rapid steps bore her back nestling and trembling on

[figure description] Page 192.[end figure description]

his bosom to a place of temporary safety over the
screening ridge in the rear.

Comprehending the other at a glance, the scout
bounded forward to the side of Miss Hendee, at that
instant engaged in trying to quiet the alarms of her
less self-possessed domestic, when concluding to give
the order of his superior its most liberal construction,
he gave a swoop with his long arms, and gathering
both mistress and maid in his grasp, and lifting them
high from the ground, bore them, blushing through
their alarms, at their novel situation aloft, over the
hill, occasionally pausing in his monstrous strides
over rock and log, to give a wink to Neshobee to
follow his example with Zilpah, the only female now
left on the spot of danger.

`Guess you catch um first,' tartly observed the
yellow maiden, eluding the hesitating grasp of her
bashful gallant, and darting forward like an arrow
towards her friends.

`Where is my father?' enquired Alma with a look
of concern, the instant she was released from the
arms of the scout.

`Your father, mum?' replied Jones, `O, didn't
yer see him?—Why, that careless shot of the enemy
there among you jest now seemed to raise the old
Captain's dander right up, and seizing the gun of
that dead tory, that my old Trusty here brought
down in such good time for the old gentleman, I'll
be blest if he didn't hobble off like the very mischief
to help the boys man the cliff. And your tame
red skin has concluded to do the same thing, I reckon,
seeing as how he got the mitten,' added the
scout, tipping a knowing and saucy wink to Zilpah.

A general discharge of rifles and musketry by
Selden's party along the top of the ridge to the

[figure description] Page 193.[end figure description]

south, here interrupted the conversation, announcing
that the enemy had made their appearance on their
way up the hill towards the accessible points in the
ledge.

`That must be a feint,' observed Captain Selden;
`they cannot be serious in any attempt to mount
the ridge in the very teeth of our death-dealing rifles,
can they, Jones?'

`No, Captain, that an't no part of their calkerlation,
I'll swear to it. Neither need we have any fears
of their flanking round the ledge to the north of us,
as that might bring 'em between two fires, one from
us, and another from the field. So, while a few of
'em are showing themselves, and firing jest enough
to keep up the sham, the main part will push round
at the other end of the ridge, about a half mile or
so, to the south of us. And I should'nt be surprised
if the lead was flying considerable thick along
here in the matter of twenty minutes from now—
what suppose you put the women a jogging, Captain;
and let me be looking to the sarpents a little,'
added the scout, glancing uneasily around him, and
showing signs of impatience to be gone.

`You are right, Jones,' promptly replied Selden,
`and there is now but one course to be pursued.
The ladies must pass down the hill, and, striking for
the open field, endeavor to gain the rear of our army.
I must attend them, leaving the command of
the men with you to cover our retreat—can you do
it?'

`Why, I rather guess I mought; that is, if you
will clear with the women—the sight of them kinder
clogs a fellow, you know.'

`Call in Captain Hendee, then. He is not nimble

[figure description] Page 194.[end figure description]

enough for a bush fight. Send us also Neshobee,
and two of my men as an escort.'

`Ay, ay, Captain,' cheerfully responded the scout,
loping off at a rapid pace to his charge—`Ay, ay,
we'll fix it about right, won't we, old Trusty? Trol,
lol, lol, de larly.'

Within five minutes from the disappearance of
Jones, the family party were all collected, and in
rapid motion down the hill. Nor was the expedition
with which the movement was accomplished
uncalled for by the event: For scarcely had they
proceeded a furlong on their rout, before the cracking
and irregular reports of rifles behind them announced
an attack by the foe in a manner just predicted
by the sagacious scout. Passing onward
with all the speed they were capable of making,
they paused not in their course till they reached the
spot where they and their captors had halted in the
morning. There, after taking charge of Captain
Hendee's horse, which had been left tied to a tree,
and ascertaining from the direction and distance of
the firing at the scene they had just left, that Jones
was at least maintaining his position on the hill, they
turned short to the west, and made their way immediately
to the opening, where the main action, as
was evident from the heavy discharge of artillery
that occasionally came pealing through the forest,
was still kept up by the slowly retreating enemy.
On arriving at the borders of the woods, our party
entered the mouth of a ravine, which, while it protected
them, by its screening banks, from the view of
any spies whom Sherwood might have posted on
the hill, luckily led up, and opened upon the plain,
directly abreast of the position now occupied by
Warrington's regiment of Green Mountain Boys.

[figure description] Page 195.[end figure description]

Passing hastily along, in Indian file, up this ravine
till fairly beyond rifle-shot distance from the woods,
and arriving by this time at an elevation, where, still
unseen, they could easily obtain a glance over the
scene of action, the company halted for the purpose
of ascertaining, before proceeding any further, the
exact position of the American forces, and the prospect
of maintaining the temporary advantages which
they had evidently already obtained over the boasted
brigade of the gallant, but now mortified General
Frazier.

A misty veil of undissipated smoke still hung over
the field of battle, and prevented Selden and Captain
Hendee, who mounted the bank for the purpose,
from ascertaining any thing more than the
general position of the hostile armies. The Americans
having pursued their routed enemies a short
distance, had fallen back upon the ground occupied
by them at the onset; while the British, having collected
and rallied their broken and disordered forces,
had made a sullen stand about half a mile distant.

`Our troops have beaten the red-coats and driven
them from the field of attack, it is evident;' observed
Selden musingly, as he ran his eye anxiously
over the field, `and yet, I fear, their temporary victory
has been bought too dearly to permit them to
avail themselves of the advantages they have obtained.
'

`I fear so too,' replied Captain Hendee, `nor do
I exactly like the aspect and motions of the enemy
yonder.—See! they are now deploying off towards
the woods against our left wing. They are either
preparing for a fresh onset in a new form, or opening
for a reinforcement large enough to form a center;
and I am apprehensive the latter, as, now I

[figure description] Page 196.[end figure description]

bethink me, I heard a treacherous scoundrel, who
came near us a few moments before you arrived for
our rescue, making the boast that a fresh body of
Burgoyne's German hirelings were but a mile or
two distant, and in full march for the field.'

`God forbid!' exclaimed Selden, with a look of
anxiety and alarm. `But this must instantly be
seen to. Perhaps our officers are not aware of it.
I must immediately forward to Warrington. Keep
your position here, my friends, till I return, which
shall be soon, better informed how to act, and with
some plan for your disposal, or escape,' added the
young officer, as leaping down into the valley, he seized
the horse from the hands of Neshobee, mounted, and,
waving a hasty adieu to the ladies, dashed forward
at full speed over the plain to the American lines.

Captain Hendee, still retaining his post of elevation,
continued anxiously to watch those movements
of the enemy which had raised his suspicions of an
approaching reinforcement. Nor had many minutes
elapsed before his worst apprehensions were confirmed
by the appearance of Reidesel, who with flying
colours and rattling drums, and all the pomp
and pride of military array, came pouring the numerous
troops of his well trained brigade across the field,
and bearing down in solid columns directly upon
the American centre, which stood calmly awaiting
their approach; while at the same time, Frazier,
with his whole force, a little in advance of the Germans,
moved rapidly along under the woods to the
South against the extreme left of the Americans,
mostly composed of the doubtful regiment of Hale.
A few moments of awful suspense followed; and
again the flash of a thousand exploding muskets enveloped
the encountering hosts in clouds of rolling

[figure description] Page 197.[end figure description]

smoke, and shook the earth and heavens with the
fearful concussion that followed.

At that instant Selden, accompanied by a soldier
with two horses, emerged from the smoke and came
galloping to the spot.

`Prepare for instant flight!' he exclaimed, hastily
dismounting, and urging his horse down the bank
towards the little grassy nook on which the females
stood instinctively crowding together in mute consternation
at the fearful noise and commotion of the
plain above. `Ten minutes delay on this spot may
again make you prisoners, and in the hands of a
brutal and exasperated soldiery.'

`There is no hope, then, that our troops can long
withstand this fresh and formidable onset?' said
Captain Hendee, coolly preparing to mount the horse
allotted to carry him and his daughter, in the manner
in vogue among the settlers of carrying their females
behind them on horseback.

`Scarcely longer perhaps than to allow us time
to gain the forest,' replied Selden, placing Jessy on
the crupper of his own horse, and springing himself
into the saddle before her, while the little cavalcade,
the two maids having been placed on the back of
the third horse, began to move slowly down the
rocky and frequently obstructed ravine.

`I feared so,' said the former; `but where in the
name of Heaven is St. Clair all this time, that he
sends no reinforcement?'

`Well may you ask that, Captain Hendee,' said
Selden bitterly—`within hearing of our guns—with
a full knowledge of our attack by a superior force,
and with more than two thousand troops at disposal,
all impatient to be with us, he allows not a man to
come to our assistance. God forgive him! I can't.'

[figure description] Page 198.[end figure description]

`Nor I; but what of that dainty-fingered colonel,
whom I noticed from the hill standing aloof and idle
with his regiment at a distance on the left?'

`Hale? Eternal infamy on his name! Having
looked coldly on, and without lifting a finger in assistance
through the whole of the first assault, he,
on the approach of Frazier in this last onset, hoisted
a white flag—even before it could be seen by the
enemy, and disgracefully surrendered his regiment,
with all the chance in the world to save it by retreat.
And by this craven act he has thrown all that important
part of the field into the possession of the
British, who are already sweeping past us, and securing
the roads to the south, leaving our brave
friend Warrington with his regiment of heroes,
(scores of whom are stretched bleeding, or lifeless
on the field,) and the gallant Colonel Francis with
his battalion of Massachusetts troops, to contend
with a fresh force of more than double their numbers.
But they must soon give way—not to retreat
in a body, for every pass by which that could be effected
is now closed against them,—much less to
surrender themselves as prisoners, but to break, scatter
and save themselves as they best can, to rally
again in some appointed place round the standard
of their lion-hearted leader.'

`And which way do you and Warrington propose
for our flight, after reaching the forest?'

`An old by-road leading from the head of yonder
pond directly across the country to Otter Creek, and
there intersecting the Creek road to Pittsford and
the older settlements. One of our guards, here
must be despatched to call in Jones with a dozen
trusty men to guard us on our way, while the rest
of my company shall keep the accursed Sherwood

[figure description] Page 199.[end figure description]

and his gang, if possible, engaged, that he may
have no way to discover the route we have taken till
we are beyond the reach of his malice. But hark!
'tis a shout of triumph from, the British lines!
Forward with all possible speed—for God's sake,
forward to the woods!'

Dashing onward at the word, the whole party in
a moment more gained the confines of the forest,
and quickly disappeared within its recesses, thus escaping
the dangers of the field, where they had been
nearly involved in the general melee of dispersing,
pursued and pursuing combatants, that ensued at
the close of that fierce and bloody conflict, but escaping
only to encounter other perils, in their flight
through the woods, of a still more fearful and dreaded
character.

eaf390v2.n3

[3] There was no engagement in our revolution, perhaps, which exhibited
such determined energy and resolution on the part of the Americans
as the battle of Hubbardton; and yet there was no one, of which the results
are more obscurely or incorrectly stated by our leading historians,—most
of them making our loss from 200 to 300 and that of the British from 100
to 200. But if they had reversed the statement, they would not even then
have done justice to our gallant troops. Ethan Allen, in his narative
says: “Our loss was about 30 killed, and that of the enemy amounted to
300 killed including a Major Grant. The enemy's loss I learnt from the
corfession of their own officers, when a prisoner among them. I heard,
them likewise complain that the Green Mountain Boys “took sight.” After a
diligent enquiry I am satisfied that Colonel Allen's statement is substantially
a correct one.