til the heroic and desperate
fighting men were entirely exhausted. Never was there a greater display
of courage and senseless devotion to a mistaken sense of duty, than on
that day when the fifteen thousand British and Provincial soldiers tried
vainly to dislodge one-third their number of Frenchmen from their
position at Ticonderoga. And it was all on account of the incapacity of
a British commander, whom the home Government had sent out with
authority, not only over his own regulars, but Colonial officers whose
abilities were vastly in excess of his own. But it was not for these
Colonials to question; only to "do and die," and they did all in their
power, and died by hundreds, merely that an incompetent commander's
whims should be gratified.

When at last the inept Abercrombie had sacrificed the lives under his
command to the number of two thousand or more, and became convinced that
he could not take Ticonderoga that way, he was seized with panic and
ordered a retreat. As the Rangers under Putnam were the first in the
assault, so they were the last to retire, being obliged to protect the
retreat of the main army, and remained till dusk on the edge of the
forest, where they maintained a continuous fire, to prevent pursuit.
With but one-third as many soldiers as Abercrombie brought to the
attack, Montcalm did not feel like pursuing the retreating foe, but
contented himself with the great victory--a victory won not so much by
the valor of his men as by the incompetency of his chief opponent.

Had the advice of Putnam, Rogers, and others of the Provincials been
sought and accepted, much of this loss of life might have been averted,
for though themselves fighting with great courage, doggedly and against
all hope, they were averse to a direct assault without the cannon, with
which a breach might have been opened into the fort. But the cannon
reposed at the lake-side, whither retreated the defeated soldiers, with
such haste that they were enabled to embark that very night, leaving
their dead and many of their wounded in the forest where they lay. A few
days before, after the first engagement, Major Rogers, of the Rangers,
having been sent to bring off the dead and wounded of the enemy, had
cruelly despatched the latter, to the horror not only of his confrere,
Major Putnam, but of the British officers who became cognizant of the
fact.

CHAPTER VIII

A PRISONER AND IN PERIL

The good fortune with which Major Putna