ISRAEL PUTNA M.

THERE are some names connected with the history of our country which associate themselves with the recollections of our juvenile partialities. Such is that of the intrepid man whose memoir we are about to sketch. His adventures, often bordering on the marvellous, have excited the admiration of our youth; and his daring, prompt, and skilful military manœuvres, through several years of the revolutionary war, are still dwelt on with pleasure by the remnant of our time-worn veterans. Endowed by nature with a powerful frame, a vigorous intellect, undaunted courage, and a spirit of enterprise, he was peculiarly fitted to encounter the perils and hardships of the time that "tried men's souls." To an early education he was but little indebted; but his own observation, his intercourse with men, and his experience during a service of several years with the British and provincial forces engaged in the conquest of Canada, enabled him to perform the duties of his high military rank with honor to himself and usefulness to his country. In his disposition he was sincere, gentle, generous, and noble; his uprightness commanded confidence, and "his word (like Petrarch's) was sufficient."

Major General ISRAEL PUTNAM descended from one of the earliest settlers of Salem, Massachusetts, in which town he was born, on the 7th of January, 1718. In his youth he excelled in athletic exercises. He married at an early age, and removed to Pomfret, in Connecticut, where for several years he cultivated an extensive tract of land. Here he first exhibited the daring of his character in the destruction of a she-wolf, which, after a long pursuit, had taken refuge in a dark and narrow den, about forty feet from the entrance In 1755, when the war between England and France was prosecuted in America, he was appointed a captain of rangers in the provincial regiment under Colonel Lyman. He afterwards served under Generals Abercrombie and Amherst, on the frontiers and in Canada, and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. During that period, being frequently in situations which required not only courage but unwea

ried watchfulness and presence of mind, he gained the esteem and confidence of the army.

Of his numerous adventures by flood and field during this period, the following will serve as examples, characteristic of the man and of the service in which he was engaged.

When stationed at Fort Miller, by his personal exertions a maga zine, containing three hundred barrels of powder, was saved from destruction by a fire which consumed the barracks and burned through the outside planks of the magazine.

Being on the eastern shore of the Hudson, near the rapids in the vicinity of Fort Miller, with a batteau and five men, he received a signal from the opposite bank that a large body of savages were in his rear. To stay and be sacrificed, to attempt crossing and be shot, or to go down the falls, were the sole alternatives that presented themselves to his choice. So instantaneously was the latter adopted, that one man was of necessity left, and fell a victim to savage barbarity. The Indians fired on the batteau before it could be got under way; and no sooner had it escaped by the rapidity of the current beyond the reach of musket-shot, than destruction seemed only to have been avoided in one form to be encountered in another. Prominent rocks, latent shelves, absorbing eddies, and abrupt descents for a quarter of a mile, afforded scarcely the smallest chance of escaping. PUTNAM placed himself sedately at the helm; his companions saw him with astonishment avoiding the rocks and yawning gulfs which threatened instant destruction, and safely shooting through the only passage, they at last viewed the batteau gliding on the smooth surface of the stream below.

While engaged against the French and Indians near Lake George, Major PUTNAM was ambuscaded and attacked by a superior force. His officers and men, animated by his example, behaved with great bravery; but after several discharges his fusee missed fire. A large and well-proportioned Indian, with a tremendous war-whoop, instantly sprang forward with his lifted hatchet and compelled him to surrender, and having disarmed and bound him to a tree, returned to the battle. The Indians having changed their position, he was directly between the fires of the two parties, the balls flying incessantly from each side. Many struck the tree, and several passed through his coat. In this state of jeopardy he remained more than an hour. The enemy having again recovered the ground, a young savage amused himself by hurling his tomahawk to see how near he could throw it without striking his head. The weapon struck in the

tree a number of times at a hair's breadth from the mark. After the Indian had finished his amusement, a French officer approached and levelled his fusee within a foot of his breast; but fortunately it missed fire. Besides many base outrages upon this defenceless prisoner, they inflicted a deep wound with a tomahawk upon his left cheek, and this mark remained during life. The enemy were at length driven from the field; PUTNAM was untied by the Indian who had made him prisoner, and was stripped of his coat, vest, stockings, and shoes, strongly pinioned, and loaded with packs. On the march through the wilderness, Major PUTNAM became so exhausted, that he preferred death to a longer continuance in distress. A French officer now interposed, and the Indian who captured him gave him a pair of moccasins. The savages being determined to roast him alive, stripped him naked, bound him to a tree, piled combustibles in a circle round him, and, with horrid screams and yells, set the pile on fire. He soon began to feel the scorching heat, and as he shrunk from its approach by shifting sides, his inhuman tormentors demonstrated their joy by yells and dances. "When the bitterness of death was in a manner past, and nature, with a feeble struggle, was quitting its last hold on sublunary things," a French officer rushed through the crowd, scattered the burning brands, and unbound the victim. The next day Major PUTNAM was obliged to march, but was excused from carrying any burden. After having been examined by the Marquis de Montcalm, he was conducted to Montreal by a French officer, and treated with great humanity. At that place, among other prisoners, was Colonel Peter Schuyler, a provincial officer, by whose assistance he was soon after exchanged.

At the expiration of ten years from his first receiving a commission, after having seen as much service, endured as many hardships, encountered as many dangers, and acquired as many laurels, as any officer of his rank, he with great satisfaction laid aside his uniform, and returned to his plough. No character stood fairer in the public estimation for integrity, bravery, and patriotism. It was proverbially said, as well by British as provincial officers, that, in a service of great peril and hardship, "he dared to lead where any dared to follow."

At the commencement of the struggle between the American colonies and the mother country, while many citizens who had wit nessed the power of the British nation, stood aloof, PUTNAM was among the first and most conspicuous who engaged in the glorious cause. At Boston he took frequent opportunities of con