commission, had enlisted, had met the enemy,
acting, as he always acted, on his own initiative; and it seemed very
fit that he should be appointed to command a company of "partizans," as
the picked troops were called who made forays, performed scouting
duties, and led the advance of the main body.

He became associated with the redoubtable leader of the hardy company of
back-woodsmen known as "Rogers' Rangers," and he held his own with the
best of them. The duties of these rangers were particularly hazardous,
for they were ever in the advance, as scouts or skirmishers, employing
the Indians' tactics in bush-fighting, engaged as escorts for the wagon
trains, as well as for the artillery, etc. They were thoroughly
independent, in the fullest sense of the word, following their
commander's general rule only, which was: "Every man's reason and
judgment must be his guide, according to the particular situation and
nature of things, and that he may do this to advantage, he should keep
in mind the maxim, never to be departed from by a commander, viz., to
preserve a firmness and presence of mind on every occasion."

Had the foregoing rule been made expressly for our farmer-soldier, it
could not more exactly have exemplified the qualities he pre-eminently
possessed. He was a born "partizan," and entered at once into his
dangerous duties with ardor and zest.

There exists a "Report of Captain Putnam, who was sent by Captain Rogers
as a Spy to Ticonderoga," dated October 9, 1755, which illustrates both
the bravery of the young officer, and the defects of his early
education, to which allusion has been made. It is as follows:

"Then left Capt. Rogers upon a neck of Land upon the west side of
Lake George and Set out towards Tyconderogue to see what
Discoveries we Could make and after we had marchd about 7 or 8
miles we came upon a Large Mountain near the Heither end of the
narrowes, and when we came there we Could make no Discovery at all,
but after sometime we espyed three Barke Cannoes Drew upon the
Shore upon a point of Land that Ran into the Lake, and then wee
espyed two Indians Comeing out of the Bushes toward the Cannoes,
after water, and after sometime wee espyed several french and
Indians on the East side of the Lake ... and so Concluded to tarry
there all knight and see what further Discoveries wee Could make by
the fires in the knight, and just at the Dusk of the