nd to a stake, after some preliminary tortures,
and a pile of fagots heaped about him and set on fire. The flames were
searing his flesh, when a French officer happened to come up and rescued
him. These are but three incidents out of a dozen such. He seemed to
bear a charmed life, and any of his men would willingly have died for
him. In 1765, when he returned home after ten years of continuous
campaigning, it was with the rank of colonel, and a reputation for
daring and resourcefulness second to none in New England.

Ten years of quiet followed, and Israel Putnam was fifty-seven years of
age--an age when most men consider their life work done. On the
afternoon of April 20, 1775, he was engaged in hauling some stones from
a field with a team of oxen, when he heard galloping hoofbeats down the
road, and looking up, saw a courier riding up full speed. The courier
paused only long enough to shout the tidings of the fight at Concord,
and then spurred on again. Putnam, leaving his oxen where they stood,
threw himself upon horseback, without waiting to don his uniform, and at
sunrise next day, galloped into Cambridge, having travelled nearly a
hundred miles! Verily there were giants in those days!

He was placed in command of the Connecticut forces with the rank of
brigadier-general, and soon afterwards was one of four major-generals
appointed by the Congress for the Continental army. For four years
thereafter he took a conspicuous part in the war, bearing himself always
with characteristic gallantry. But the machine had been worn out by
excessive exertion; in 1779 he was stricken with paralysis, and the last
years of his life were passed quietly at home. For sheer, extravagant
daring, which paused at no obstacle and trembled at no peril, he has,
perhaps, never had his equal among American soldiers.

Not far from West Greenwich, Connecticut, there is a steep and rocky
bluff, the scene of one of Putnam's most extraordinary feats, performed
only a short time before he was stricken down. An expedition, fifteen
hundred strong, had been sent by the British against West Greenwich, and
Putnam rallied a company to oppose the invaders, but his little force
was soon routed and dispersed, and sought to escape across country with
the British in hot pursuit. Putnam, prominent as the leader of the
Americans, was hard pressed, and his horse, weary from a long march, was
failing; his capture seemed certain, for the enemy gained upon him
rap