I lived with the Interpreter 'till the
first of March, when General Rigeau came to the Fort with about 9000 Men, in
order, as they said, to make an Attempt on Fort William Henry. Their Design was
to scale the Walls, for which Purpose I saw them making scaling-Ladders. The Day
before they marched the General sent for me and said, Young Man, you are a
likely Fellow; it's Pity you should live with such an ignorant People as the
English; you had better live with me. I told him I was willing to live with him.
He answer'd, I should, and go with him where he went. I
replied, Perhaps he would have me to go to War with him: He said That was
the Thing; he wanted me to direct him to Fort William Henry, and show him where he might scale the Walls. I
told him I was sorry that a Gentleman should desire such a Thing of a Youth, or
endeavor to draw him away from his Duty. He added, He would give me 7000
Livres on his Return. I replied that I
was not to be bought with Money, to be a Traitor to my Country and assist in
destroying my Friends. He smiled, and said In War you must not mind even
Father nor Mother. When he found that he could not prevail with me, by all the fair
Promises he made, he ordered me back to the Fort; and had two other Prisoners
brought before him, to whom he made the same Proposals as he had to me; to
which they consented. The next Day I went into the Room where they were, and
asked them if they had been with the General; they said they had, and that they
were to have 7000 Livres apiece, as a Reward. I asked them if that was the
Value of their Fathers and Mothers, and of their Country? They said they were
obliged to go. I said the General could not force them; and added, that if they
went on such a Design they must never return among their Friends; for if they
did, and Baker and I should live to get Home we would endeavour they should be
hang'd. At this Time a Smith came and put Irons on my Feet: But the General
gave those two Men who promis'd to go with him, a Blanket, a Pair of Stockings
and Shoes. They were taken out of the Guard-House, and marched with the French
as Pilots. The General did not succeed; he only burnt our Battoes, &c, and
returned to Tionderoga. The poor Fellows never had their Reward, but instead of
that were sent to the Guard-House and put in Irons. 1
Brown was asked
to turn traitor and he refused; his fellow prisoners were not so
patriotic. How often we are tempted to
forsake Christ and indulge in sin, and yet the final pay-off is the same as
what these less honorable prisoners received… chains!
Soon after this I was taken out of Irons,
and went to live with the Interpreter till the 27th of March, at which Time the
Indians took me with them in order to go to Montreal, and set me to draw a
large Sled with Provisions, my Arms being tied with a Rope. By the Time we got
to Crown Point, I was so lame that I could not walk. The Indians went ashore
and built a Fire, and then told me I must dance; to which I complied rather
than be kill'd. When we sat off again I knew not how to get rid of my Sled, and
I knew I was not able to draw it: but this Fancy came into my Head: I took
three Squaws on my Sled and pleasantly told them I wished I was able to draw 'em. All this took with
the Indians; they freed me of the Sled, and gave it to other Prisoners. They
stripp'd off all my Cloaths [sic],
and gave me a Blanket. And the next Morning they cut off my Hair and painted
me, and with Needles and Indian ink prick'd on the back of my Hand the Form of
one of the Scaling-Ladders which the French made to carry to Fort William
Henry. I understood they were vex'd with the French for the Disappointment.
We travelled about nine Miles on Lake Champlain,
and when the Sun was two Hours high we stop'd; they made a Fire, and took one
of the Prisoners that had not been wounded, and were going to cut off his Hair,
as they had done mine. He foolishly resisted them, upon which they prepar'd to
burn him; but the Commanding Officer prevented it at this Time. But the next
Night they made a Fire, stripp'd and ty'd him to a Stake, and the Squaws cut
Pieces of Pine, like Scures [skewers],
and thrust them into his Flesh, and set them on Fire, and then fell to pow
wawing and dancing round him; and ordered me to do the same. Love of Life
obliged me to comply, for I could expect no better Treatment if I refus'd. With
a bitter and heavy Heart I feigned myself merry. They cut the poor man's Cords,
and made him run backwards and forwards. I heard the poor Man's Cries to Heaven
for Mercy; and at length, thro' extreme Anguish and Pain, he pitched himself
into the Flames and expired. 2
Far be it from me to condemn Brown for his failure to repudiate the actions of the Indians towards his fellow captive. Perhaps discretion is not the better part of valor, but it is hard to say what we would do were we in his shoes. It is certain there is little he could have done and any resistance surely would have garnered him the same fate. What must his thoughts have been? Would his life eventually be spared? Would he too be burned alive at the stake? We’ll answer these questions in our next installment.
Christ, not man, is King!
Dale
1)
“A Plain Narrativ of the Uncommon Sufferings and
Remarkable Deliverance of Thomas Brown,” The Magazine of History, Extra No. 4,
Vol. 1 (New York, NY: William Abbatt, 1908), p. 214-15.
2)
Ibid., p. 215-16.
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