yohn Stark.
��127
��down the lake from Ticonderoga to Crown Point. Lieut. Stark was or- dered, with twent}' men, to capture the leading sled, while the main body attempted to prevent the others from going back. They succeeded in tak- ing seven prisoners, six horses, and three sleds. The remainder of the sleds made good their escape, and gave the alarm at the fort. Valuable information was obtained from these captives, and it was also learned that the French garrisons had been re- cently considerably reenforced, and were on the alert to cut off all Eng- lish scouting parties. The heavy French sjarrison at Ticonderoga being now informed by the fugitives of this audacious reconnaissance in their im- mediate vicinity, Rogers wisely de- cided to retire with all expedition. But he unwisely departed from the usual custom of the Rangers to return by a different route from that on which they came, and, in defiance of the counsels of his officers, retreated on his tracks.
The day was rainy. On reaching the fires that they had kindled and camped by the night before, the Rangers halted to dr}' their guns and otherwise prepare for the expected conflict. It was past noon when the little battalion had completed their preparations. Forming in single file, with Capt. Rogers in front, Capt. Spikemau in the centre, and Lieut. Stark in the rear, supported by their snow-shoes on the deep snow, they silently took up their homeward march. Their path lay over hilly ground and through thick woods, from whose dark depths they had reason to believe they were watched bv the savage scouts of the enemy ;
��a belief but too soon verified, for on rising the brow of a hill, not a mile from the fires of their late camp, they received a volley of two hundred bul- lets, fired from the guns of the un- seen enemy in ambush, at distances from five to thirty yards away. Rogers was wounded in the head, and several of the men were killed or wounded by this volley ; but fortu- nately the marksmanship of the enemy was, in this instance, faulty, and the effect comparatively slight. The habitual tactics of the Rangers, — to scatter when suddenly attacked by a superior force, and to rally again upon some supporting point, — now stood them in hand. They had been under fire too many times to be thrown into a panic. Each man was for the time being his own command- er. Each took his own way to the rallying point, exchanging shots with the enemy as he ran. That rallying point was John Stark, with his rear guard. Gathering around him, they awaited their pursuers. The sur- rounding trees of the thick forest were of large size. Each Ranger endeavored to so place himself that a tree covered him partially from the shots of the enemy, and thus they awaited the second onset. No sol- diers ever had more at stake. The French officials at Montreal paid $11 each for English scalps, and $55 each for English prisoners — sufficient in- ducement to excite the savage cupid- ity of their Indian allies into desper- ate efforts to kill or capture ; and oftentimes the alternative fate of a prisoner was torture at the stake. The backwoodsman learned to give no quarter, and to expect none, in fighting this savage foe.
�� �
