History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts, Now Called the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. 1637-1888 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1895 edition. Excerpt: ...of the swamp in which the stronghold had been built was reached. The swamp was filled with low cedars, and in the centre was an island, with an area of five or six acres, on which a renegade Englishman had planned a fortification. The side of it, says Mr. Hubbard, was made of palisadoes set upright, and which was compassed about with a Hedg of almost a rod Thickness. These rude works would have been almost impregnable to the assailants had not the swamp been frozen. The customary entrance was over a fallen tree, across a place of water, over which but one could pass at a time. When the Indian outposts retreated into the fortification, the Massachusetts troops were able to follow on the ice as well as on the log. Capt. Johnson (1645) was mortally wounded while crossing on the log, and Capt. Davenport was shot dead as he entered the fortification. The storming party retreated, and lay on the ground until the enemy's fire slackened, when Capts. Moseley (1672) and Gardiner advanced with their companies to support them. They lost so heavily that they were about to retire when Major Appleton came up, with Capt. Oliver (164o), and, massing the two companies, carried the fortification by storm after a two hours' fight. The wigwams and storehouses of the Indians were burned, and some of the old people and children perished in the flames. The colonists had six captains and two hundred and thirty privates killed or wounded, and, feeling they could not resist Indian reinforcements, the remainder withdrew at midnight, to march fifteen miles in a driving snow-storm. The infuriated Indians avenged themselves during the winter by attacks on the frontier settlements. Early in the spring, Canonchet was captured, and...