"It is necessary that we reduce St. Johns, and as it is our first real battle you must each be responsible for your men. Don't let any falter. At the first sign of retreat, unless I order it, shoot the leader; that will prevent the others from running. It is harsh, but necessary. Now remember that our country depends on us for victory. We must prove ourselves worthy. Address your companies and inspire them with courage. Let each man do his duty." There was a magnetism about Allen which won respect and obedience. "Do you not think he blundered?" an officer once asked another about the great Napoleon. "Blundered? Perhaps he did. But if he ordered me to cut off my hand I would do it. He owns me body and soul." And it was just this kind of feeling which animated the men who followed Ethan Allen. The British regiment charged the earthworks, and the Americans had all they could do to hold their position. The slaughter was large in proportion to the number engaged, and Allen feared for the result. But when the English began to retire he ordered his men to follow and challenge to another combat. The enemy, seeing the move, turned and prepared to resist the charge of the Americans. Then commenced a series of masterly feints which won renown for the Green Mountain hero. His men fell back after the first volley, and the English pursued. Again Allen rallied his men and charged the enemy, only to retreat as quickly as before. Three times was this maneuver practiced, and each time the English were drawn nearer the strongest points of the line of circumvallation. Montgomery saw, at first with surprise, the movements of his able coadjutor; then, when the object became apparent, he ordered his division to be in readiness, and after the third feint, with a loud shout the entire force of the Americans charged the English and pursued them into the town, slaughtering them like sheep. Allen advised forcing an entrance into the town, but Montgomery knew that the enemy would have every advantage, and that success was very doubtful. He preferred to wait, and by strengthening his position compel the garrison to surrender. The afternoon saw the white flag floating over both fort and earthworks. The emblem of peace meant that both sides wished to care for the wounded and bury the dead. It is a strange feature of civil war, and the war between the English and the Americans might be so called, that when the flag of truce is hoisted the men of both sides are ready to fraternize. It was so in this instance before St. Johns. Men who had been aiming at each other an hour previously now drank from the same canteen and helped to bury each other's dead. Among the wounded was young Eben Pike. He was not a soldier; that is, he had never been enrolled among the men, but, as it was afterward known, he had borrowed the uniform of a sick soldier and had answered the name when it was called.