The Life and Heroic Exploits of Israel Putnam: Major-general in the Revolutionary War

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S. Andrus, 1847 - 190 pages

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Page 11 - ... growl. As soon as he had made the necessary discovery, he kicked the rope as a signal for pulling him out The people, at the mouth of the den, who had listened with painful anxiety, hearing the growling of the wolf, and sup-, posing their friend to be in the most imminent danger, drew him forth with such celerity that his shirt was stripped over his head and his skin severely lacerated.
Page 114 - A hundred men, with each a pen, Or more, upon my word, sir, It is most true, would be too few, Their valor to record, sir. " Such feats did they perform that day Against these wicked kegs, sir, That, years to come, if they get home, They'll make their boasts and brags, sir.
Page 46 - The balls flew incessantly from either side, many struck the tree, while some passed through the sleeves and skirts of his coat. In this state of jeopardy, unable to move his body, to stir his limbs, or even to incline his head, he remained more than an hour So equally balanced, and so obstinate was the fight ! At one moment, while the battle swerved in favor of the enemy, a young savage chose an odd way of discovering his humor.
Page 112 - Twas early day, as poets say, Just when the sun was rising, A soldier stood on a log of wood, And saw a thing surprising. As in amaze he stood to gaze, The truth can't be denied, sir, He spied a score of kegs or more Come floating down the tide, sir. A sailor, too, in jerkin blue, This strange...
Page 103 - We shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before. " With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and impartial Judge and Ruler of the universe, we most devoutly implore his divine goodness to conduct us happily through this great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to reconciliation on reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve the empire from the calamities of civil war.
Page 47 - When the Indian had finished his amusement, a French bas-ofiicer, (a much more inveterate savage by nature, though descended from so humane and polished a nation,) perceiving Putnam, came up to him, and, levelling a fuzee within a foot of his breast, attempted to discharge it ; it missed fire. Ineffectually did the intended victim solicit the treatment due to his situation, by repeating that he was a prisoner of war. The degenerate Frenchman did not understand the language of...
Page 166 - The secretary at war, who is now here, informs me that you have ever...
Page 8 - This wolf at length became such an intolerable nuisance that Mr. Putnam entered into a combination with five of his neighbors to hunt alternately until they could destroy her. Two, by rotation, were to be constantly in pursuit. It was known that having lost the toes from one foot by a steel trap, she made one track shorter than the other.
Page 167 - ... the day, and that, I trust, not far off, when I shall quit the busy scenes of a military employment, and retire to the more tranquil walks of domestic life. In that, or whatever other situation Providence may dispose of my future days, THE REMEMBRANCE OF THE MANY FRIENDSHIPS AND CONNEXIONS I HAVE HAD THE HAPPINESS TO CONTRACT WITH THE GENTLEMEN OF THE ARMY, WILL BE ONE OF MY MOST GRATEFUL REFLECTIONS.
Page 48 - That savage chief again returned to the care of the wounded, and the Indians, about two hundred in number, went before the rest of the party to the place where the whole were that night to encamp. They took with them Major Putnam...

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