We give Allen’s own account of his reception by the British officer. “He asked me my name, which I told him. He then asked me whether I was that Colonel Allen who took Ticonderoga, I told him I was the very man. Then he shook his cane over my head, calling me many hard names, among which, he frequently used the word rebel, and put himself in a great rage.”[14] Ethan Allen, according to his own account, answered with becoming spirit. Indeed he gives somewhat of a melodramatic scene, which ended by his being sent on board of the Gaspee schooner of war, heavily ironed, to be transported to England for trial; Prescott giving him the parting assurance, sealed with an emphatic oath, that he would grace a halter at Tyburn. Neither Allen’s courage nor his rhetorical vein deserted him on this trying occasion. From his place of confinement, he indited the following epistle to the general:— “HONORABLE SIR,—In the wheel of transitory events I find myself prisoner, and in irons. Probably your honor has certain reasons to me inconceivable, though I challenge an instance of this sort of economy of the Americans during the late war to any officers of the crown. On my part, I have to assure your honor, that when I had the command and took Captain Delaplace and Lieutenant Fulton, with the garrison of Ticonderoga, I treated them with every mark of friendship and generosity, the evidence of which is notorious, even in Canada. I have only to add, that I expect an honorable and humane treatment, as an officer of my rank and merit should have, and subscribe myself your honor’s most obedient servant, “ETHAN ALLEN.” In the British publication from which we cite the above, the following note is appended to the letter, probably on the authority of General Prescott: “N. B.—The author of the above letter is an outlaw, and a reward is offered by the New York Assembly for apprehending him.”[15] The reckless dash at Montreal, was viewed with concern by the American commander. “I am apprehensive of disagreeable consequences arising from Mr. Allen’s imprudence,” writes General Schuyler. “I always dreaded his impatience of subordination, and it was not until after a solemn promise made me in the presence of several officers, that he would demean himself with propriety, that I would permit him to attend the army; nor would I have consented then, had not his solicitations been backed by several officers.” The conduct of Allen was also severely censured by Washington. “His misfortune,” said he, “will, I hope, teach a lesson of prudence and subordination to others who may be ambitious to outshine their general officers, and, regardless of order and duty, rush into enterprises which have unfavorable effects on the public, and are destructive to themselves.”