capitulate. On the 27th, the English took possession of the fort and town, with the islands of Cape Breton and Prince Edward, and nearly all the coast to the mouth of the St. Lawrence. Wolfe was the soul and genius of the expedition, and Pitt, clear-headed enough to see to whom honor was due, resolved to reward effective officers, regardless of precedents and family lineage. General activity prevailed throughout the colonies. The generous voice of Pitt inspired the Americans with such hope and enthusiasm as they had never before known. While Amherst and Wolfe were conquering in the east, Abercrombie and young Lord Howe were leading seven thousand regulars and nine thousand provincials through the forests of the upper Hudson and over Lake George, against the French stronghold at Ticonderoga. On the 1st of July, an army of fifteen thousand was at the head of Lake George. If Wolfe was the genius of the eastern campaign, Howe was of the north. He was a military Lycurgus, introducing sweeping reforms in the army. Ornament in dress was abolished. He caused the hair of his soldiers and officers to be cut short to prevent maladies engendered by wet locks. He shortened the muskets to make them more convenient in tangled woods, and had the barrels painted black to prevent discovery by their glitter.

404 BRADDOCK.

He made his men wear leggins, like the Indians,
toward off the briars and insects, and forbade the
carrying of all useless luxuries calculated to fatigue
or encumber the troops on their long march. In
all reforms, he set the example in person.
On July 5th, 1758, Abercrombie's army moved
down Lake George in nearly eleven hundred ba-
teaux and whale-boats, accompanied by artillery
on rafts. Just at twilight they landed on a long,
grassy cape for rest and refreshments after a sultry
day. It was Saturday evening. The soldiers
strolled over the cape, and Lord Howe spent hours
in his tent in consultation with Stark and other
provincials, who knew the country well, concern-
ing the situation of Ticonderoga and the region
between it and Lake George. A short time before
midnight, they were re-embarked, and a most in-
spiring scene was presented. Howe, in a large
boat, surrounded by rangers as a guard, led the
van of the flotilla. The regulars occupied the
centre, the provincials the wings. A starry, serene
sky was above them, and not a breeze ruffled the
waters sleeping quietly in the shadows of the
mountains. Oars were muffled, and so silently
did the army move over the waters in the dark-
ness, that not a scout upon the hills observed them.
Day dawned just as they were abreast the blue
mountains, four miles from their landing-place,

and the first intimation which the outposts of the
enemy had of the approach of the English, was
the apparition of scarlet uniforms, as the boats
swept around a point, and the army prepared to
land.
Landing, the English and provincials formed
and pressed on into the forest. They were soon
in a dense thicket, and the advance guard, led by
Howe in person, came upon a party of French sol-
diers who had lost their way. A sharp skirmish
ensued, and almost the first shot fired killed the
intrepid Lord Howe, and the whole army fell back
in disorder to the lake.
Next day, pioneers, under command of the brave
Colonel Bradstreet, opened the way to the falls,
and on the morning of the 8th, Abercrombie with
his whole force moved forward, leaving the artillery
behind, to attack the outworks of the French at
Ticonderoga. That fort was then occupied by
Montcalm, with about four thousand men. Un-
like Howe, Abercrombie despised the advice of
Stark, Putnam and all other provincials and pressed
forward to scale the walls. The result was an at-
tack, a terrible repulse and flight back to the lake,
leaving two thousand dead and wounded in the
forest. The alarmed Abercrombie did not cease
flight, until his whole army was safe at the head
of Lake George. He had displayed the coward all

through the fight, “never once seeing the flash of a French musket.” Colonel Bradstreet, after earnest solicitation, was permitted to lead three thousand men against Fort Frontenac (on the site of Kings. ton, Canada), which, on the 27th of August, was captured, with the shipping in the harbor; so English dominion over Lake Ontario was secured. Though he lost but three men in the fight, five hundred perished from a malignant camp fever which broke out soon afterward. With the remainder, he assisted in building Fort Stanwix, on the site of the town of Rome, on the upper Mohawk. Meanwhile, Abercrombie, after garrisoning Fort George, which had been built near the head of the lake, returned with the remainder of his troops to Albany. The body of Lord Howe was conveyed to that city by Captain Philip Schuyler and placed in the family vault. Though Montcalm did not follow the retreating English, he was not idle. He strengthened Ticonderoga, and sent out scouting parties to annoy the English and capture their foragers. These scouting parties were closely watched by rangers under Rogers and Israel Putnam. The skirmishes and adventures of these daring men would fill volumes. On one occasion, Captain Molang, a French officer, had captured some English supply wagons, and Rogers and Putnam hastened with their rangers