Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1873-12-05
Relics of Bradstreets Expedition,


Relics of Bradstreets Expedition,
In the fail of 1854, General Bradstreet
with three thousand men opened a cam
paign against the Indians on Lake Erie,
and after various successes and defeats
started in batteaux from Sandusky Bay
to coast down the lake, bis forces con-
sisting of British regulars, provincials
and large body of Indian allies. 1t is
probable that the beautiful autumn
weather peculiar to the Western lakes,
deceived him as it had deceived Major
Wilkins in the preceding year, for when
sudden gale overlook him, surprised
and confused, he ran the boats ashore on
an open beach, where twenty-five were
broken into fragments by the surf, and
six cannon, together with most of the
ammunition aud baggage we're lost.
This open beach was within mile of
the scene of the previous years disaster.
AS before, the storm continued three
days, and many of the men were lost,
swept away by the waves and overcome
with hunger and fatigue. When the
skies cleared, Bradstreet reviewed his
diminished forces. and after burying the
remaining cannon and ammunition. start
ed onward with the regulars in the bat
teaux which had escaped the storm,
leaving the provincials and Indians to
make their way by land, on foot aud
without provisions, four hundred miles
through the forest as best they could.
These provincials came from New York
Connecticut and New Jersey, and were
commanded by Major Israel Putnam,
afterwards Major General in the United
States army. The story of their terri
BILE journey is unwritten, but it is known
that many died from slow starvation
and fatigue along the route, which led
through swamps and thickets, with deep
rivers barring their path and not until
the last of December did they reach the
forts, after having been twelve weeks i'll
the wilderness. The number of those
who perished in the wreck or died on
the journey is not recorded, but it was
so large as to occasion petitions to the
government-an unusual proceeding at
that early date.
The route of the provincials and In
dians left by Bradstreet to find their way
by land is marked by various objects
dropped at the start or soon after. A
stack of bayonets covered with soil and
rubbish was found piled Systematically
at the foot of tree, forgotten perhaps,
or else left behind as too heavy for the
long journey. A musket barrel was also
found enclosed in the fork of tree by
growth of the wood {; it had been placed
in an inclined position, and had remain
ed undisturced until the tree had com.
pletely enveloped it. A number of gun
ffints, peck or more, were piled up on
the high ground back of the lake, also q
sword and bayonets. Farther on, French
and English coins bearing the date of
IVA were found, and in another locality
a silver teaspoon and some pennies of
1749; these articles were probably
thrown down in discarded clothing or
knapsacss.
Every year discoveries are made of
articles thrown up by the waves, washed
out Of the cliffs or ploughed up in the
fields. Many of these relics are in the
possession of the silver haired professor,
who has studied the localities and invest.
ed the point with legendary interest
rare in this busy West. When we recall
the early date of these expeditions, the
great loss of life, the tragic scenesn the
shore, and the terrible journey of the
provincials through the forest, we mus
feel that the story with its silent illustra
tions is as worthy of place in American
history as many other events of less in
terest, whose minutest details have beer
described over and over again in the cur
rent literature of the dsy.-Lippincotf
Mdgdzine.
A GREAT Loss.-A few days aftel
Dickens death, an Enlishman, deepl,
grieved at the event, made a sort of pil