ijah Johnson, an emigrant from
New York, made himself forever famous in Liberian history by declaring
that he would never desert the home he had found after two years' weary
quest! His firmness decided the wavering colonists; the agents with a
few faint-hearted ones sailed off to America; but the majority remained
with their heroic Negro leader. The little band, deserted by their
appointed protectors, were soon reduced to the most dire distress, and
must have perished miserably but for the arrival of unexpected relief.
The United States Government had at last gotten hold of some ten
liberated Africans, and had a chance to make use of the agency
established for them at so great an expense. They were accordingly sent
out in the brig Strong under the care of the Rev. Jehudi Ashmun. A
quantity of stores and some thirty-seven emigrants sent by the
Colonization Society completed the cargo. Ashmun had received no
commission as agent for the colony, and expected to return on the
Strong; under this impression his wife had accompanied him. But when he
found the colonists in so desperate a situation he nobly determined to
remain with them at any sacrifice. He visited the native chiefs and
found them, under cover of friendly promises, preparing for a deadly
assault on the little colony. There was no recourse but to prepare for a
vigorous defense. Twenty-seven men were capable of bearing arms; and one
brass and five iron fieldpieces, all dismantled and rusty, formed his
main hope. Ashmun at once set to work, and with daily drills and
unremitting labor in clearing away the forest and throwing up
earthworks, succeeded at last in putting the settlement in a reasonable
state of defense. It was no easy task. The fatiguing labor, incessant
rains, and scanty food predisposed them to the dreaded fever. Ashmun
himself was prostrated; his wife sank and died before his eyes; and soon
there was but one man in the colony who was not on the sick-list. At
length the long-expected assault was made. Just before daybreak on the
11th of November the settlement was approached by a body of over eight
hundred African warriors. Stealthily following the pickets as they
returned a little too early from their watch, the savages burst upon the
colony and with a rush captured the outworks. A desperate conflict
ensued, the issue of which hung doubtful until the colonists succeeded
in manning their brass field-piece, which was mounted upon a raised
platform, and