This position was distant about two miles from the works before Ticonderoga; and consequently at no great distance from the outlet of Lake George. Here the army was brought into good order, and took up its station for some little time.
It was necessary to await the arrival of the stores, ammunition and artillery. As the bringing up these materials, through a country that was little else than a virgin forest, was no easy task, it occupied us quite two days. Melancholy days they were, too; the death of Lord Howe acting on the whole army much as if it had been a defeat. He was the idol of the King’s troops, and he had rendered himself as popular with us Americans, as with his own countrymen. A sort of ominous sadness prevailed among us each common man appearing to feel his loss as he might have felt that of a brother.
We looked up the ——th, and joined Bulstrode, as soon as we reached the ground chosen for the new encampment. Our reception was friendly, and even kind; and it became warmer still, as soon as it was understood that we composed the little party that had skirmished so freely on the flank of the right centre column, and which was known to have gone farther in advance than any one else, in that part of the field. Thus we joined our corps with some éclat, at the very outset, everybody welcoming us cordially, and with seeming sincerity.
Nevertheless, the general sadness existed in the ——th, as well as in all the other corps. Lord Howe was as much beloved in that regiment, as in any other; and our meeting and subsequent intercourse could not be called joyful. Bulstrode had an extensive and important command, for his rank and years, and he certainly was proud of his position; but I could see that even his elastic and usually gay temperament was much affected by what had occurred. That night we walked together, apart from our companions, when he spoke on the subject of our loss.
“It may appear strange to you, Corny,” he said, “to find so much depression in camp, after a debarkation that has certainly been successful, and a little affair that has given us, as they assure me, a couple of hundred prisoners. I tell you, however, my friend, it were better for this army to have seen its best corps annihilated, than to have lost the man it has. Howe was literally the soul of this entire force. He was a soldier by nature, and made all around him soldiers. As for the Commander-In-Chief, he does not understand you Americans, and will not use you as he ought; then he does not understand the nature of the warfare of this continent, and will be very likely to make a blunder. I’ll tell you how it is, Corny; Howe had as much influence with Abercrombie, as he had with every one else; and an attempt will be made to introduce his mode of fighting; but such a man as Lord Howe requires another Lord Howe to carry out his own conceptions. That is the point on which, I fear, we shall fail.”
All this sounded very sensible to me, though it sounded discouragingly; I found, however, that Bulstrode did not entertain these feelings alone, but that most around me were of the same way of thinking. In the mean time, the preparations proceeded; and it was understood that the 8th was to be the day that was to decide the fate of Ticonderoga; The fort proper, at this celebrated station, stands on a peninsula, and can only be assailed on one side. The outworks were very extensive on that side, and the garrison was known to be formidable. As these outworks, however, consisted principally of a log breastwork, and it could be approached through open woods, which of itself afforded some cover, it was determined to carry it by storm, and, if possible, enter the main work with the retreating enemy. Had we waited for our artillery, and established batteries, our success would have been certain; but the engineer reported favourably of the other project; and perhaps it better suited the temper and impatience of the whole army, to push on, rather than proceed by the slow movements of a regular siege.
On the morning of the 8th, therefore, the troops were paraded for the assault, our party falling in on the flank of the ——th, as volunteers. The ground did not admit of the use of many horses, and Bulstrode marched with us on foot; I can relate but little of the general movements of that memorable day, the woods concealing so much of what was done, on both sides. I know this, however; that the flower of our army were brought into the line, and were foremost in the assault; including both regulars and provincials. The 42d, a Highland corps, that had awakened much interest in America, both by the appearance and character of its men, was placed at a point where it was thought the heaviest service was to be performed. The 55th, another corps on which much reliance was placed, was also put at the head of another column. A swamp extending for some distance along the only exposed front of the peninsula, these two corps were designated to carry the log breastwork, that commenced at the point where the swamp ceases; much the most arduous portion of the expected service, since this was the only accessible approach to the fortress itself. To render their position more secure, the French had placed several pieces of artillery in battery, along the line of this breastwork; while we had not yet a gun in front to cover our advance.
It was said, that Abercrombie did not take counsel of any of the American officers with him, before he decided on the attack of the 8th of July. He had directed his principal engineer to reconnoitre; and that gentleman having reported that the defences offered no serious scientific obstacles, the assault was decided on. This report was accurate, doubtless, agreeably to the principles and facts of European warfare; but it was not suited to those of the conflicts of this continent. It was to be regretted, however, that the experience of 1755, and the fate of Braddock, had not inculcated a more extensive lesson of discretion among the royal commanders, than was manifested by the incidents of this day.
The ——th was placed in column directly in the rear of the Highlanders, who were led, on this occasion, by Col. Gordon Graham; a veteran officer of great experience, and of an undaunted courage. 36 Of course, I saw this officer and this regiment, being as they were directly in my front, but I saw little else; more especially after the smoke of the first discharge was added to the other obstacles to vision.
A considerable time was consumed in making the preparations; but, when everything was supposed to be ready, the columns were set in motion. It was generally understood that the troops were to receive the enemy’s fire, then rush forward to the breastwork, cross the latter at the bayonet’s point, if it should be necessary, and deliver their own fire at close quarters; or on their retreating foes. Permission was given to us volunteers, and to divers light parties of irregulars, to open on any of the French of whom we might get glimpses, as little was expected from us in the charge.
Nearly an hour was consumed in approaching the point of attack, owing to the difficulties of the ground, and the necessity of making frequent halts, in order to dress. At length the important moment arrived when the head of the column was ready to unmask itself, and consequently to come under fire. A short halt sufficed for the arrangements here, when the bagpipes commenced their exciting music, and we broke out of cover, shouting and cheering each other on. We must have been within two hundred yards of the breastwork at the time, and the first gun discharged was Jaap’s, who, by working his way into the cover of the swamp, had got some distance ahead of us, and who actually shot down a French officer who had got upon the logs of his defences, in order to reconnoitre. That assault, however, was fearfully avenged! The Highlanders were moving on like a whirlwind, grave, silent and steady, cheered only by their music, when a sheet of flame glanced along the enemy’s line, and the iron and leaden messengers of death came whistling in among us like a hurricane. The Scotsmen were staggered by that shock; but they recovered instantly and pressed forward. The ——th did not escape harmless, by any means; while the din told us that the conflict extended along the whole of the breastwork, towards the lake-shore. How many were shot down in our column, by that first discharge, I never knew; but the slaughter was dreadful, and among those who fell was the veteran Graham, himself. I can safely say, however, that the plan of attack was completely deranged from this first onset; the columns displaying and commencing their fire as soon as possible. No men could have behaved better than all that I could see; the whole of us pushing on for the breastwork, until we encountered fallen trees; which were made to serve the purpose of chevaux-de-frise. These trees had been felled along the front of the breastwork, while their branches were cut, and pointed like stakes. It was impossible to pass in any order, and the troops halted when they reached them, and continued to fire by platoons, with as much
