Montgomery in a parody of one of Horace's odes, which possesses more historical interest than literary merit.[1] It is evident from his dedication of certain odes to "ceux des Français, qui ont connu l'auteur au siége de la Martinique," that Morris accompanied General Monckton upon that expedition in 1762.
After his adventures along the Maumee, related in the present journal, he remained at Detroit for some time, and returned to England with his regiment in 1767. At this time occurred his meeting with the soldier whom he had previously encountered as an Indian prisoner, under circumstances of great danger and distress, near the treacherously-destroyed Fort Miami.
What we know of Morris's later life is comprised in
his "Preamble" to the volume containing this journal.
Having retired from the army in 1775, he lost his property
by means of speculative ventures. For the sake of
his children, he appealed to the king for a pension, on the
ground of past services, especially those detailed in the
Maumee journal. A copy of the journal was annexed
to the petition, but the latter failed of effect. The narrative
here reprinted was laid aside until encouragement
from a "respectable gentleman of my acquaintance, a
man of letters in whose judgment I place implicit faith"
determined him to print some of his literary efforts and
to include the journal to "complete the volume." He
expresses the hope that the recital of his adventures
"might possibly, some time or other, procure a friend or
protector to one of my children." "This is a plain and
simple tale," he concludes, "accounting for my presumption
in offering to the public an old story relating
to one whose wish used to be, to lie concealed in domestic
————
- ↑ Simms, Frontiersmen of New York (Albany, 1882), i, pp. 438, 439.
