unmannerly fellow, to the great diversion of a crowd of spectators. In running, leaping and wrestling, he almost always bore away the prize.

In 1739, he removed to Pomfret, in Connecticut, where he culti⚫ vated a considerable tract of land. He had, however, to encounter many difficulties, and among his troubles the depredations of wolves upon his sheepfold was not the least. In one night, seventy fine sheep and goats were killed. A she wolf, who with her annual whelps had for several years infested the vicinity, being considered as the principal cause of the havock, Mr. Putnam entered into a combination with a number of his neighbours, to hunt alternately, till they should destroy her. At length the hounds drove her into her den, and a number of persons soon collected with guns, straw, fire and sulphur, to attack the common enemy. But the dogs were afraid to approach her, and the fumes of brimstone could not force her from the cavern. It was now ten o'clock at night. Mr. Putnam proposed to his black servant to descend into the cave and shoot the wolf; but as the negro declined, he resolved to do it himself. Having divested himself of his coat and waistcoat, and having a long rope fastened round his legs, by which he might be pulled back at a concerted signal, he entered the cavern head foremost, with a blazing torch, made of strips of birch bark in his hand. He descended fifteen feet, passed along horizontally ten feet, and then began the gradual ascent, which is sixteen feet in length. He slowly proceeded on his hands and knees in an abode, which was silent as the house of death. Cautiously glancing forwards, he discovered the glaring eye-balls of the wolf, who started at the sight of his torch, gnashed her teeth, and gave a sullen growl. He immediately kicked the rope, and was drawn out with a friendly celerity and violence, which not a little bruised him. Loading his gun with nine buck shot, and carrying it in one hand, while he held the torch with the other, he descended a second time. As he approached the wolf, she howled, rolled her eyes, snapped her teeth, dropped her head between her legs, and was evidently on the point of springing at him. At this moment he fired at her head, and soon found himself drawn out of the cave. Having refreshed himself, he again descended, and seizing the wolf by her ears, kicked the rope, and his companions above with no small exultation, dragged them both out together.

During the French war, he was appointed to command a company of the first troops which were raised in Connecticut, in 1755. He rendered much service to the army in the neighbourhood of Crown Point. In 1756, while near Ticonderoga, he was repeatedly in the most imminent danger. He escaped in an adventure of one night with twelve bullet holes in his blanket. In August he was sent out with several hundred men, to watch the motions of the enemy. Being ambuscaded by a party of equal numbers, a general but irregular action took place. Putnam had discharged his fusee several times,

but at length it missed fire, while its muzzle was presented to the breast of a savage. The warrior, with his lifted hatchet, and a tremendous war-whoop compelled him to surrender, and then bound him to a tree. In the course of the action, the parties changed their position, so as to bring this tree directly between them. The balls flew by him incessantly; many struck the tree, and some passed through his clothes. The enemy now gained possession of the ground, but being afterwards driven from the field, they carried their prisoner with them. At night he was stripped, and a fire was kindled to roast him alive; but a French officer saved him. The next day he arrived at Ticonderoga, and thence he was carried to Montreal. About the year 1759, he was exchanged, through the ingenuity of his fellow prisoner, col. Schuyler. When peace took place, he returned to his farm.

He was ploughing in his field, in 1775, when he heard the news of the battle of Lexington. He immediately unyoked his team, left his plough on the spot, and without changing his clothes, set off for Cambridge. He soon went back to Connecticut, levied a regiment, and repaired again to the camp. In a little time he was promoted to the rank of major general. In the battle of Bunker's hill, he exhibited his usual intrepidity. He directed the men to reserve their fire, till the enemy was very near, reminded them of their skill, and told them to take good aim. They did so, and the execution was terri ble. After the retreat, he made a stand at Winter hill, and drove back the enemy under cover of their ships. When the army was organized by general Washington, at Cambridge, Putnam was ap pointed to command the reserve. In August, 1776, he was stationed at Brooklyn, on Long Island. After the defeat of our army on the twenty-seventh of that month, he went to New York, and was very serviceable in the city and neighbourhood. In October or November, he was sent to Philadelphia to fortify that city. In January, 1777, he was directed to take post at Princeton, where he continued until spring. At this place, a sick prisoner, a captain, requested that a friend in the British army, at Brunswick, might be sent for, to assist him in making his will. Putnam was perplexed. He had but fifty men under his command, and he did not wish to have his weakness known; yet he was unwilling to deny the request. He however sent a flag of truce, and directed the officer to be brought in the night. In the evening, lights were placed in all the college windows, and in every apartment of the vacant houses throughout the town. The officer on his return, reported that general Putnam's army could not consist of less than four or five thousand men. In the spring he was appointed to the command of a separate army in the highlands of New York. One Palmer, a lieutenant in the tory new levies, was detected in the camp; governor Tryon reclaimed him as a British officer, threatening vengeance if he was not restored. nam wrote the following pithy reply: Sır, Nathan Palmer, a lieu

General Put

tenant in your king's service, was taken in my camp as a spy; he was tried as a spy; he was condemned as a spy; and he shall be hanged as a spy. P. S. Afternoon. He is hanged.' After the less of fort Montgomery, the commander in chief determined to build another fortification, and he directed Putnam to fix upon a spot. To him belongs the praise of having chosen West Point. The campaign of 1779, which was principally spent in strengthening the works at this place, finished the military career of Putnam. A paralytic affection impaired the activity of his body, and he passed the remainder of his days in retirement, retaining his relish for enjoyment, his love of pleasantry, his strength of memory, and all the faculties of his mind. He died at Brooklyn, Connecticut, May 29, 1790, aged seventy-two years.

MAJOR GENERAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY.

Richard Montgomery, a major general in the army of the United States, was born in the north of Ireland, in the year 1737. He possessed an excellent genius, which was matured by a fine education. Entering the army of Great Britain, he successfully fought her battles with Wolfe, at Quebec, in 1759, and on the very spot, where he was doomed to fall, when fighting against her, under the banners of freedom. After his return to England, he quitted his regiment, in 1772, though in a fair way to preferment. He had imbibed an attachment to America, viewing it as the rising seat of arts and freedom. After his arrival in this country, he purchased an estate in New York, about a hundred miles from the city, and married a daughter of judge Livingston. He now considered himself as an American. When the struggle with Great Britain commenced, as he was known to have an ardent attachment to liberty, and had expressed his readiness to draw his sword on the side of the colonies, the command of the continental forces in the northern department, was entrusted to him and general Schuyler in the fall of 1775.

By the indisposition of Schuyler, the chief command devolved upon him in October. He reduced fort Chamblee, and on the third of November captured St. Johns. On the twelfth, he took Montreal. In December, he joined col. Arnold, and marched to Quebec. The city was besieged, and on the last day of the year it was determined to make an assault. The several divisions were accordingly put in motion, in the midst of a heavy fall of snow, which concealed them from the enemy. Montgomery advanced at the head of the New York troops along the St. Lawrence, and having assisted with his own hands in pulling up the pickets which obstructed his approach to one of the barriers he was determined to force, he was pushing forwards, when one of the guns of the battery was discharged, and he was killed, with his two aids. This was the only gun that was fired, for the enemy had been struck with consternation,

and all but one or two had fled. But this event probably prevented the capture of Quebec. When he fell, Montgomery was in a narrow passage, and his body rolled upon the ice, which formed by the side of the river. After it was found the next morning among the slain, it was buried by a few soldiers, without any marks of distinction. He was thirty-eight years of age. He was a man of great military talents, whose measures were taken with judgment, and executed with vigor. With undisciplined troops, who were jealous of him in the extreme, he yet inspired them with his own enthusiasm. He shared with them in all their hardships, and thus prevented their complaints. His industry could not be wearied, nor his vigilance imposed upon, nor his courage intimidated.

To express the high sense entertained by his country, of his services, Congress directed a monument of white marble, with the fol lowing inscription on it, and which was placed in front of St. Paul's church, New York.

THIS MONUMENT

Was erected by order of
Congress, 25th January, 1776,
To transmit to posterity
A grateful remembrance of the
Patriotism, conduct, enterprize, and
Perseverance

OF MAJOR GENERAL

RICHARD MONTGOMERY;
Who, after a series of success,
Fell in the attack

On Quebec,

31st December, 1775,
Aged 39 years.

at

The remains of general Montgomery, after resting 42 years Quebec, by a resolve of the state of New York, were brought to the city of New York, on the 8th of July, 1818, and deposited with ample form and grateful ceremonies, near the aforesaid monument in St. Paul's church.

The remains were deposited in a most splendid mahogany coffin, with the following inscription, elegantly engraved upon a silver plate placed on the lid :

THE STATE OF NEW YORK,

IN HONOUR OF

GENERAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY ;

Who fell gloriously fighting for the

INDEPENDENCE AND LIBERTY OF THE UNITED STATES,
Before the walls of Quebec, the 31st day of
December, 1775, caused these remains

Of this distinguished Hero to

Be conveyed from Quebec,

And deposited on the eighth day of July, 1818,
In St. Paul's Church, in the city of
New York, near the monument
Erected to his memory

BY THE UNITED STATES.

MAJOR GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER.

Philip Schuyler, a major general in the revolutionary war, received this appointment from congress, June 19, 1775. He was directed to proceed immediately from New York to Ticonderoga, to secure the lakes, and to make preparations for entering Canada. Being taken sick, in September, the command devolved upon Montgomery. On his recovery, he devoted himself zealously to the management of the affairs in the northern department. The superintendence of the Indian concerns claimed much of his attention. On the approach of Burgoyne, in 1777, he made every exertion to obstruct his progress; but the evacuation of Ticonderoga by St. Clair, occasioning unreasonable jealousies in regard to Schuyler, in New England, he was superseded by Gates, in August, and congress directed an inquiry to be made into his conduct. It was a matter of extreme chagrin to him, to be recalled at the moment when he was about to take ground and face the enemy. He afterwards, though not in the regular service, rendered important services to his country, in the military transactions of New York. He was a member of the old congress, and when the present government of the United States commenced its operation, in 1789, he was appointed with Rufus King a senator from his native state. In 1797 he was again appointed a senator, in the place of Aaron Burr. He died at Albany, November 18, 1804, in the seventy third year of his age. Distinguished by strength of intellect, and upright intentions, he was wise in the contrivance, and enterprising and persevering in the execution of plans of public utility. In private life he was dignified, but courteous, a pleasing and instructive companion, affectionate in his domestic relations, and just in all his dealings. General Hamilton married his daughter.

MAJOR GENERAL BENJAMIN LINCOLN.

Benjamin Lincoln was born at Hingham, Mass. O. S. 1733, and holds a high rank in the fraternity of American Heroes. His early years, and until he was more than forty, were spent upon the farm. He early espoused the cause of his country, as a determined whig, and in 1776 was appointed major general by the Massachusetts committee of safety. In 1777, upon the recommendation of Washington, congress created him a major general on the continental establishment. In July, 1777, gen. Washington selected him to join the northern army, under command of under command of gen. Gates, to oppose Burgoyne's advance. By his enterprize and vigilance while in this command, he contributed essentially to the glorious results which followed. In