[18] Indian Scouts, and Manner of Scalping.
Having endeavoured to explain the nature and importance of the Five and Six Nation Indians, and described the situation of the posts, and the probable consequences of complying with the treaty, I shall return to my situation at Montreal.
Having stayed with my employer seven years, and not being willing to enter into a new agreement, I determined to pursue the bent of my inclinations; and being naturally of a roving disposition, which was increased by my frequent associations with the Savages, I entered a volunteer at the head of a party of Indians, thinking that my country might at some future period derive advantage from my more intimate knowledge of the country and its language.
My entrée was in 1775, when a party of about thirty of the Americans, commanded by the famous Ethan Allen, appeared at Long Point, about two miles from Montreal, intending to plunder the town; they were however disappointed in their expectations by the good conduct of captain Crawford of the twenty-sixth regiment, who with about forty regulars and some volunteers sallied out and made the enemy retreat to a barn, where an engagement took place, in which major Carden, Mr. Paterson, a volunteer, and three privates were killed, and I was wounded in the foot; but on the arrival of a field piece, the enemy surrendered.[1]
[19] Being beloved by the Indians, and preferring active service with them to any other mode of life, I accom-
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- ↑ This action took place September 24, 1775, and was the occasion of the capture and imprisonment of Ethan Allen. For his own narrative of this event, see Hall, Ethan Allen (New York, 1892), pp. 110-119.—Ed.
