Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1844-02-09

ABOUT 10 enter the gate, lew RANDOM ShOl
were fired at them, land Instantly loud whoo
arose on the enemy's left flank, which pas
sed, as it by concert, along the line, to III
extreme right, until the welkn was filled witt
a chorus of the most wild and startling char
acter. This salute was responded to by
few well-directed rifle shots from the lowe
block-houses, which produced manifest con
fusion in the ranks of the beseigers. The,
discontinued their shooting and retired few
PAGES, probably to await the coming up o
their right flank, which, it would seem, hat
been directed to make a general sweep of thu
bottom, and then approached to slockad'
on the eastern side.
At this moment the garrison Of Fort Hen
ry numbered no more than twelve men ant
boys. The fortunes of the day, so far, hat
been fearfully against them; two of thei
best officers, and more than two-thirds O
their original force we're missing. The ex.
act fate of their comrades was unknown &c
them, but they had every reason to appre.
bend that they had been cut to pieces. Still
they were not dismayed-their mothers and
sisters, wives and children, we're assembled
around thcm-they had sacred charge to
protect, and they resolved to fight to the last
extremity, and confidently trusted in Heaven
for the successful issue of the combat.
When the enemy's right flank came up,
Girty changed his order of attack. Parties
of Indians were placed in such of the village
houses as commanded view of the block
houses; a strong body occupied the yard of
Ebenezer Zane, about fifty yards from the
fort, using a pailing fence as cover, while
the greater part were posted under cover in
the edge of the corn field, to act Extensively
or serve as occasion might require. These
dispositions having been made, Girty, with a
white flag in his hand, appeared at the win
dow of "a cabin, and demanded the surrender
Of the garrison IN the name of his Britannia
majesty. He read the proclamation of Gov
ernor Hamilton, and promised them protec-
ton if they would lay down their arms and
swear allegiance to the British crown. He
warned them to submit peaceably, and adj
mltted his inability 10 restrain the passions of
his warriors when they once became excited
with the strife of battle. Colonel Shepherd
promptly told him, in reply, that the garrI-
son would never surrender to him, and that
he could only obtain possession of the fort
when there remained no longer an American
soldier to defend it. Girty renewed his
proposition, but before he finished his i,ar-
rangue a 'houghtless youth IN one of the block
houses fired gun at the speaker, and brought
the conference TO an abrupt tern.ination.-
Tlrty disappeared, aud :" ahnmt fifteen min.
utes the Indians opened the siege by gene
raj discharge of rifles.
1t was yet quite early in the morning, the
sun not having appeared above the summit of
Wheeling hill, and the day is represented to
have been one of surprising beauty. The
Indians, not entirely concealed from the view
OF the garrison, kept up brisk fire for the
space of six hours without much intermission.
The little garrison, in spite Of its heteroge-
nous character, was, with scarcely an excep-
ton, composed Of sharp.shooters. Several
OF them, whose experience in Indian warfare
gave them remarkable degree of GOODNESS
and seli-pOssession in the face of danger, in.
fused confidence into the young and, as
they never fired at random, their bullets, in
most cases, took ef1ect.-The Indians, on
the contrary gloated with their previous sue
cess, their tomahawks reeking with the blood
Of Mason's and Ogle's men, and all of them
burning with Impotence to rush into the fort
and complete their work of butchery, dis
charged their guns against the pickets, the
gates, the logs of the block houses, and eve.
ny other object that seemed to shelter white
man. Their fire was thus thrown away. At
length some Of their most daring warriors
rushed up close to the bock-houses and at
tempted TO make sure work by firing through
the logs; but these reckless savages receiv-
ed from the well directed rifles of the from
tiersmen the fearful reward of their temerty.
About one o'clock the Indians discontinued
their fire and fell back against the base of the
hill.
The stock Of gunpowder in the fort hav.
ing been nearly exhausted, it was determin.
ed to seize the favorable opportunity offered
by the suspension Of hos,ities, to send for
keg Of powder winch was known TO be in the
house Of Ebenezer Zane, about sixty yards
from the gate Of the fort. The person exc
cutting this service would necessarily expose
himself to the danger of being shot down by
the Indians, who were yet sufficiently near
to observe every thing that ,ranspired about
WV "o'NS' uC Soiohci cApidineu Tie mat
ter to his men, and, unwilling to order one of
them to undertake such desperate enter
prise, inquired whether any man would vol
unteer for the service. Three or four young
men promptly stepped forward in obedience
to the call. The colonel informed them that
the weak state of the garrison would not JUS
tify the absence of more than one man, and
that it was for themselves to decide who thai,
person should be. The eagerness felt by
each volunteer to undertake the honorable
mission, prevented them from making the
arrangement proposed by the commandant !;
and so much time was consumed in the con.
tention between them that fears began to
arise that the Indians would renew the attack
before the powder could be procured. At
this crisis, young Indy, the sister of Ebene-
zcr and Silas Zane, came forward and desir-
ed that she might be permitted to execute
the service. This proposition seemed SO
extravagant that il met with peremptory
refusal; but she Instantly renewed her petit
ton in terms of redoubed earnestness, and
all The remonstrances Of the colonel and her