which ran mountain-high, dashed with such violence against the ship, that the most experienced seaman expected it would soon part asunder. The rest of the fleet, so far from being able to afford assistance, with difficulty rode out the gale. In this deplorable situation, as the only expedient by which they could be saved, strict order was maintained, and all those people who best understood the use of tools, instantly employed in constructing rafts from spars, plank, and whatever other materials could be procured. There happened to be on board a large quantity of strong cords, (the same that are used in the whale fishery) which, being fastened to the rafts, after the first had with inconceivable hazard reached the shore, were of infinite service in preventing the others from driving out to sea, as also in dragging them athwart the billows to the beach; by which means every man was finally saved. With the same presence of mind to take advantage of circumstances, and the same precaution to prevent confusion on similar occasions, how many valuable lives, prematurely lost, might have been preserved as blessings to their families, their friends, and their country! As soon as all were landed, Lieutenant-Colonel Putnam fortified his camp, that he might not be exposed to insult from the inhabitants of the neighbouring districts, or from those of Carthagena, who were but twenty-four miles distant. Here the party remained unmolested several days, until the storm had so much

abated as to permit the convoy to take them off. They soon joined the troops before the Havannah, who, having been several weeks in that unhealthy climate, already began to grow extremely sickly.* The opportune arrival of the Provincial reinforcement, in perfect health, contributed not a little to forward the works, and hasten the reduction of that important place. But the Provincials suffered so miserably by sickness afterwards, that very few ever returned to their native land again.

Although a general peace among the European powers was ratified in 1763, yet the savages on our western frontiers still continued their hostilities. After they had taken several posts, General Bradstreet was sent, in 1764, with an army, against them. Colonel Putnam, then, for the first time, appointed to the command of a regiment, was on the expedition, as was the Indian chief whom I have several times had occasion to mention as his capturer, at the head of one hundred Cochnawaga warriors. Before General Bradstreet reached Detroit, which the savages invested, Captain D'Ell, the faithful friend and intrepid fellow-soldier of Colonel Putnam, had been slain

* Colonel Haviland, an accomplished officer, several times mentioned in these memoirs, who brought to America a regiment of one thousand Irish veterans, had but seventy men remaining alive when he left the Havannah. Colonel Haviland, during this siege, having once with his regiment engaged and routed five hundred Spaniards, met Colonel Putnam on his return, and said—“ Putnam, give me a pinch of snuff." "I never carry any," returned Putnam. "I have always just such luck,” cried Haviland; "the rascally Spaniards have shot away my pocket, snuff box and all.”

in a desperate sally. He having been detached with five hundred men, in 1763, by General Amherst, to raise the siege, found means of throwing the succour into the fort. But the garrison, commanded by Major Gladwine, a brave and sensible officer, had been so much weakened, by the lurking and insidious mode of war practised by the savages, that not a man could be spared to co-operate in an attack upon them. The commandant would even have dissuaded Captain D'Ell from the attempt, on account of the great disparity in numbers; but the latter, relying on the discipline and courage of his men, replied, "God "forbid that I should ever disobey the orders of 66 my General," and immediately disposed them for action. It was obstinate and bloody; but the vastly superior number of the savages enabled them to enclose Captain D'Ell's party on every side, and compelled him, finally, to fight his way, in retreat from one stone house to another. Having halted to breathe a moment, he saw one of his bravest sergeants lying at a small distance, wounded through the thigh, and wallowing in his blood. Whereupon he desired some of the men to run and bring the sergeant to the house, but they declined it. Then declaring, "that he never "would leave so brave a soldier in the field to "be tortured by the savages," he ran and endeavoured to help him up-at the instant a volley of shot dropped them both dead together. The party continued retreating from

house to house until they regained the fort; where it was found the conflict had been so sharp, and lasted so long, that only fifty men remained alive of the five hundred who had sallied.

Upon the arrival of General Bradstreet, the savages saw that all further efforts, in arms, would be vain, and accordingly, after many fallacious proposals for a peace, and frequent tergiversations in the negociation, they concluded a treaty, which ended the war in America.

Colonel Putnam, at the expiration of ten years from his first receiving a commission, after having seen as much service, endured as many hardships, encountered as many dangers, and acquired as many laurels as any officer of his rank, with great satisfaction laid aside his uniform, and returned to his plough. The various and uncommon scenes of war in which he had acted a respectable part, his intercourse with the world, and intimacy with some of the first characters in the army, joined with occasional reading, had not only brought into view whatever talents he possessed from nature, but, at the same time, had extended his knowledge, and polished his manners, to a considerable degree. Not having become inflated with pride, or forgetful of his old connexions, he had the good fortune to possess entirely the good will of his fellow citizens. No character stood fairer in the public eye for integrity,

bravery, and patriotism. He was employed in several offices in his-own town, and not unfrequently elected to represent it in the General Assembly. The year after his return to private life, the minds of men were strangely agitated, by an attempt of the British Parliament to introduce the memorable Stamp Act in America. This germe of policy, whose growth was repressed by the moderate temperature in which it was kept by some administrations, did not fully disclose its fruit until nearly eleven years afterwards. All the world knows how it then ripened into a civil war.

On the twenty-second day of March, 1765, the Stamp Act received the royal assent. It was to take place in America on the first day of November following. This innovation spread a sudden and universal alarm. The political pulse in the Provinces, from Maine to Georgia, throbbed in sympathy. The Assemblies, in most of these colonies, that they might oppose it legally and in concert, appointed Delegates to confer together on the subject. This first Congress met, early in October, at New-York. They agreed upon a Declaration of Rights and Grievances of the Colonists; together with separate Addresses to the King, Lords, and Commons of Great-Britain. In the mean time, the people had determined, in order to prevent the stamped paper from being distributed, that the Stamp-Masters should not enter on the execution of their office. That