Satanstoe; Or, the Littlepage Manuscripts. A Tale of the ColonyCooper, James Fenimore
General
Satanstoe; Or, the Littlepage Manuscripts. A Tale of the Colony
Cooper, James Fenimore
Antirent War, N.Y., 1839-1846 -- Fiction
I am not soldier enough to describe what followed in a very military or
intelligible manner. As the brigade drew near the foot of the lake, where
there was a wide extent of low land, principally in forest, however, some
batteaux were brought to the front, on which were mounted a number of
pieces of heavy artillery. The French had a party of considerable force
to oppose our landing; but, as it appeared they had not made a sufficient
provision of guns, on their part, to contend with success; and our grape
scouring the woods, we met with but little real resistance. Nor did we
assail them precisely at the point where we were expected but proceeded
rather to the right of their position. At the signal, the advanced brigade
pushed for the shore, led by our gallant commander, and we were all soon on
_terra firma_, without sustaining any loss worth naming. We four, that is,
Guert, Dirck, myself and Jaap, kept as near as was proper to the noble
brigadier, who instantly ordered an advance, to press the retreating foe.
The skirmishing was not sharp, however, and we gained ground fast, the
enemy retiring in the direction of Ticonderoga, and we pressing on their
rear, quite as fast as prudence and our preparations would allow. I could
see that a cloud of Indians was in our front, and will own, that I felt
afraid of an ambush; for the artful warfare practised by those beings of
the wood, could not but be familiar, by tradition at least, to one born and
educated in the colonies. We had landed in a cove, not literally at the
foot of the lake, but rather on its western side; and room was no sooner
obtained, than Gen. Abercrombie got most of his force on shore, and formed
it, as speedily as possible, in columns. Of these columns we had four, the
two in the centre being composed entirely of King's troops, six regiments
in all, numbering more than as many thousand men; while five thousand
provincials were on the flanks, leaving quite four thousand of the latter
with the boats, of which this vast flotilla actually contained the large
number of one thousand and twenty five! All our boats, however, had not yet
reached the point of debarkation; those with the stores, artillery, &c.,
&c., being still some distance in the rear.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account