he whole northern frontier.

Commanding a company of forty-six trained men, Captain Lovewell started
from Dunstable on his arduous undertaking, April 16, 1725. Toby, an
Indian ally, soon gave out and returned to the lower settlements. Near
the island at the mouth of the Contoocook, which will forever perpetuate
the memory of Hannah Dustin, William Cummings, disabled by an old wound,
was discharged and was sent home under the escort of Josiah Cummings, a
kinsman. On the west shore of Lake Ossipee, Benjamin Kidder was sick and
unable to proceed; and the commander of the expedition decided to build
a fort and leave a garrison to guard the provisions and afford a shelter
in case of defeat or retreat. Sergeant Nathaniel Woods was left in
command. The garrison consisted of Dr. William Aver, John Goffe, John
Gilson, Isaac Whitney, Zachariah Whitney, Zebadiah Austin, Edward
Spoony, and Ebenezer Halburt. With his company reduced to thirty-three
effective men, Captain Lovewell pushed on toward the enemy. On Saturday
morning, May 8, in the neighborhood of Fryeburg, Maine, while the
rangers were at prayers, they were startled by the discharge of a gun,
and were soon attacked by a force of about eighty Indians. Their rear
was protected by the lake, by the side of which they fought. All through
the day the unequal contest continued. As night settled upon the scene
the savages withdrew, and the scouts commenced their painful retreat of
forty miles toward their fort. Left dead upon the field of battle were
Captain John Lovewell, Lieutenant Jonathan Robbins, John Harwood, Robert
Usher, Jacob Fullam, Jacob Farrar, Josiah Davis, Thomas Woods, Daniel
Woods, John Jefts, Ichabod Johnson, and Jonathan Kittredge. Lieutenant
Josiah Farwell, Chaplain Jonathan Frye, and Elias Barron, were mortally
wounded, and perished in the wilderness. Solomon Keyes, Sergeant Noah
Johnson, Corporal Timothy Richardson, John Chamberlain, Isaac Lakin,
Eleazer Davis, and Josiah Jones, were seriously wounded, but escaped to
the lower settlements in company with their uninjured comrades, Seth
Wyman, Edward Lingfield, Thomas Richardson, Daniel Melvin, Eleazer
Melvin, Ebenezer Ayer, Abial Austin, Joseph Farrar, Benjamin Hassell,
and Joseph Gilson,--names which should be held in honor for all time.

[Illustration: Township of Bow, NH, and vicinity.]

Both parties seemed willing to retreat from this disastrous battle, each
with the loss of its chief. Paugus and many of