The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-09-13

A5c' WA Pl1A WAS WO'A
Arriving in the enemy's country at a
place within the limits of the preseno
town OF Ossipee fort was ereoCeu a. d
base of supplies and to afford pro1ecoion
in case of retreat This fort seems TO
have been admirably located for oeiense
and carefully constructed as IL was sur,
rounded by a stookade and ditch with a
off. In the fore he left the surgeon WIN
a small garrison of men and portseon 4t oa
his supplies and took up his march Ior Ghe
Pequaket settlement abe ut for5y ihiiee
distant.
On the Sth of May, while. at prayers,
the party heard the report OF gun, anu
looking in the direction of the souno,
a savage was discovered upon point OF
land on the northerly side OF bne Pono
which now bears LovewelPs name:
Thinking that the presence OF his men
had been discovered. and that the savage
had exposed himself to draw them lnto
an ambush, Lovewell prudently helu
council to determine whether IL IN, were
better to advance or to retreat: Line re-
ply of his men was heroic. Having,
they said, come out to meet the enemy,
and continually prayed to COO thaG ehey
might do so, they would rather trus1 70
Providence with their liyes-aye, Woulu
indeed rather die for their country tnah
retreat and earn the title towards. IN
lOtUuldUSly, lLOV6WCll ul0 INV ~>AAO
his enemy was in his rear, hence ne OF,
dered his men to leave their PACKS, anu
advance with caution. This enabled tne
sayages, who were upon his trail, TO CAL
culate the weakness of his force. Una
ware of the presence OF the enemy III ms
rear, Lovewell advanced toward the polno
where the savage had been seen. soon ne
guns were fired at him without apparent
effect as he returned the fire, Wouno1ng
Loyewell and one of his men with beaver
shot, when he was brought down py
Lieut.. Wyman.
Not finding the savages in their fort,
the English returned to obtain tneir
packs, when the savages,. VINO hao Iol,
lowed them, rose from their amousn anu
fired upon them The first fire OF the
sayages was wild. and did not inf1ict seri-
Gus damage.
Finding themselves in danger OF being
surrounded the English fell back upon
the pond, where the fight was renewed,
and continued all day, with considerable
loss to both parties
The savages, confident of success, at one
time called upon their sadly weakened
foes to surrender, which they scornIuily
refused to do and kept up the nght SO
stontly that at nightfal1 the sayages
Withdrew.
When the survivors had time to look
about them they found their condltlon
indeed pitiable. Loveweu was deao,
Farrah just expiring, Robbins and Usher
too severely wounded to walk, and eleven
others more or less severely wounded.
The brave Robbins, perhaps no Drawer
than the rest, for they were al brave
enough, made the dying request that MS
gun Should be loaded and left by him, SO
Chat he might kill another savage, II
any came to scalp him before he died. IL
was necessary to leave behind those VINO
could not walk, and those who could 90
SO set out on their terrible march towards
the fort, forty miles away. They were
worn out with fatig ne and munger nav,
ing eaten nothing through the day, and
having no provisions with them. Ii was
indeed a terrible march, for in addition
to physical suffering was the constant
fear of surprise by pitiless foe. -Four OF
the wounded, Farwell, Frye, DAVIS ana
Jones soon gave out and at their request
they we're left behind. When the fort was
reached by the survivors II was, 10 onear
great disappointment. found abandoned;
The men left to garrison it had heard
thatstheir leader had been killed and their
friends defeated, and being so few IN
number resolved to abandon their fort
rather than to risk q battle with a foe SO
greatly superior in numbers and elated
With success. OF the four wounded men
left on the march, one succeeded in drag
cling himself to the fort, where he found
provisions which revived him, and he
finally reached home; the others were
never heard from. OF the thirty -four men
who were in the fight, but nineteen
reached home alive, and these were re-
ceived as heroes who had achieved great
victory 1t is probable, indeed, that
never were victors returning from war
more honored than were these brave men.
I.oyewell was eulogized as one OF the
greatest heroes whose names had been
recorded in history. Symmes, one OF the
most eloquent diylnes of the day, preached
his funeral sermon from the text How
are the mighty fallen ana tne weapons
of war persisted.
In rejecting upon this subject upon
former occasion remarked that the emer-
gency which called Lovewell and his
men to leave their homes to enter upon
SO desuerates an enterprise as the expe
dition against the Pequaktes involved
consequences of vital Importance to the
people of New England. Their welfare,
if not their existence, depended upon
the destruction Of the Indian power.
Paugus, the Pequaket chief, had long
been the terror of the frontier, and these
natriotic and heroic men had overthrown
him. The exploit was indeed theme
worthy not only of the peoples gratitude,
but of the best powers OF the orator and
DOeG, lu6 pt3bIlOclSld VI
his men has been criticisedby sentimental
lists, on account of the eagerness displayed
by them in securing the .scalps OF their
foes; but to suppose that these men were
actuated by no higher motive than to
derive gain from traffic in scalp locks Is
to ignore abundant proofs to the con
trary. They were not responsible for the
methods devised by the government to
secure proof of effective service rendered
it but even if they were. We should con-
slider the character of the enemy with
whom they had to deal. Europeanl
methods of warfare could not avail
against savages who prowled about the
settlements in the darkness of night, sur
p1ising and killing people in their beds;
they c,uld only DO successfully reached
by men adopting their own secret methods
of attack, and to prevent them from de-
stroying the growing settlements it was
necessary to inf1ict upon them the sharp
est punishment. No more lofty patrio-
tism has been displayed by Englishmen
than that displayed by Lovewen and his
hardy comrades. In season of supreme
peril to their country, amid the fervent
prayers of the best people Of the land,
with an unalterable resolution to con-
ouer or perish in the attempt they went
| forth to meet hardships and perils cal
I - --L-