THE MINUTE BOYS OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY by JAMES OTIS Author of "The Boys of Fort Schuyler," "The Boys of '98," "Teddy and Carrots," "Captain Tom, the Privateersman," "The Boys of 1745," "The Signal Boys of '75," "Under the Liberty Tree," "When Israel Putnam Served the King," "The Minute Boys of the Green Mountains," Etc., Etc. Illustrated by A. Burnham Shute [Illustration: "An Indian strode gravely into the encampment"] 1911 Contents I. Young Soldiers II. The Powwow III. Disappointment IV. On the Oriskany V. Divided Duty VI. Between the Lines VII. Insubordination VIII. The Ambush IX. The Indian Camp X. Prisoners XI. The Escape XII. In the Fort XIII. The Assault XIV. Mutiny XV. The Torture XVI. Short Allowance XVII. Perplexing Scenes XVIII. Close Quarters XIX. The Pursuit XX. Enlisted Men Foreword It seems not only proper, but necessary, that I should explain how the material for this story was obtained, and why it happens that I can thus set down exactly what Noel Campbell thought and did, during certain times while he was serving the patriot cause in the Mohawk Valley as few other boys could have done. At some time in Noel's life--most likely after he was grown to be a man with children, and, perhaps, grandchildren of his own--he wrote many letters to relatives of his in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, wherein he told with considerable of detail that which he did during the War of the Revolution, and more particularly while he and his friends were fighting against that wily Indian sachem, Thayendanega. These letters, together with many others concerning the struggles of our people for independence, came into my keeping a long while ago, and from the lines written by Noel Campbell I have put together the following story after much the same fashion as he himself set it down. When the work was begun I doubted if Thayendanega could have been frightened by a party of boys who were playing at being soldiers, and refused to make such statement until, quite by chance, I found the following in Lossing's "Field-Book of the Revolution": "It was a sunny morning toward the close of May, when Brant and his warriors cautiously moved up to the brow of the lofty hill on the east side of the town (Cherry Valley) to reconnoitre the settlement at their feet. He was astonished and chagrined on seeing a fortification where he supposed all was weak and defenceless, and greater was his disappointment when quite a large and well-armed garrison appeared upon the esplanade in front of Colonel Campbell's house.