The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1898-02-17

length saw spire of smoke rising
out of tine gray forest by the side of
a frozen pond. The party lay close
till o'clock in the morning; then
cautiously approached, found two or
three wigwams. surrounded them, and
killed all the inmates. ten in number.
They were warriors from Canada on
a winter raid against the borders.
Lovewell and his men, it will be seen,
were much like hunters of wolves.
catamounts, or other dangerous beasts
except that the chase of this fierce
and Willy human game demanded far
more hardihood and skill.
They brought home the scalps in
triumph, together with the blan
kets and the new guns furnished to
the slain warriors by their Canadian
friends; and Love veil began at once
to gather men for another hunt. The
busy season of the farmers was at
hand, and voluteers came i'll less free
ly than before. The middle of April,
however, he had raised a band of
forty six, of whom he was the captain,
with Farwell and Robbins, his lien
tenants. Though they were regu
larly commissioned by the governor
they were leaders rather than com
manders, for they and their men were
| neighbors or acquaintances on terms
of entire social equality. Two more
of the number require mention.
One was Seth Wyman, of Woburn,
the second ensign, and thu other was
Jonathan Frye, of Andover, the chap
IAN, youth of q, graduated at Har-
ward college in 1923, and now stu
dent of theology. Chaplain though
he was he carried a gun. knife, and
Ratchet like the others, and not one
of the party was more prompt to use
! them.
They began their march on April
the 18th. A day or two after one
| William Cummings, of Dnnstable,
became disabled by the effects of
wound received from Indians some
time before that he could not keep up
with the rest and Lovewell sent him
back in charge of kinsman, thus re
ducing their number to forty-four.
| When they reached the west bank Of
Lake Ossipee Benjamin Eidder, of
Nutfield, fell seriously ILL., To leave
hlm unguarded IN place so danger
GUS was not to be thought of. His
comrades, therefore, built a small
fort or pallisaded cabin at the edge of
the water, and here the sick man was
left in care of the doctor. together
with a guard of seven men, with their
commander, Sergeant Woods. The
rest, now reduced to thirty-four, con
timed their march through the forest
northeastward toward Pequawket,
| while the savage heights of the
White Mountains, still covered with
snow, rose above the dismal, bare
forest on their left.
They crossed the Saco just below
the site of Fryeburg, and in the night
as they lay in the woods, near the
north end of Lovewel]s Pono, the
men on guard heard sounds like In
dians prowling about them At day
break-it was Sunday, the Sth of May
AS they stood bareheaded, listening
to prayer from the young chaplain.
they heard the report of gun, and
soon after discovered an Indian on
the shore of the pond at a consider
able distance. Apparently he was
shooting ducks, but Lovewell, sus-
pecting a device to lure them into
ambuscade, asked the men whether
they were for pushing forward or
falling back, and with one voice they
called upon him to lead them on.
They were then in a piece of open
pine woods traversed by a small
brook. He ordered them to lag down
their packs and advance with extreme
caution. They had moved forward
about mile when they met an Indi-
an coming toward them through the
dense trees and bushes. He, no Soon
er saw them than he fired his gun at
the leading men. His gun was
charged with small shot, but he was
SO near his mark that the effect was
equal to that of bullet, and he Sc
verely wounded Lovewell and man
named Whiting; on which Seth Wy
man shot him dead and the chaplain
aud another 1nan scalped him.
Lovewe]l, though believed to be
mortalIy hurt, was still able to walk.
and the party fell back to the place
where they had left their packs The
packs had disappeared, and sudden
ly, with fr1ghtful yells, the whole bo-
dy of Pequawket warriors rushed
from their hiding places. firing as
they came on. The survivors say
that they were more than twice the
number of the whites, which is prob
ably an exaggeration, though their
conduct, SO unusual with Indians,
in rushing forward instead of firing
from their ambush shows a re-
markahle confidence in their numer,
zeal strength. They no doubt ex-
pected to strike their enemies with
panic Lovewell received anoth-
er mortal wound, but he fired more
than once on the Indians as he
lay dying. His lieutenants, Farwell
and Robbins, were also badly hurt.
Eight others fell, but the rest stood
their ground and pushed the Indians
so hard that they drove them back to
cover with heavy loss. One man
played the coward, Benjamin Hassill,
of Dunstable, who ran off, escaped in
the confusion, and made with his best
speed for the fort at Lake Ossipee
The situation of the party was des
perate, aud nothing saved them from
destruction but the prompt action of
their surviving officers. only one of
whom, Ensign Wyman, had escaped
unhurt. 1t was probably under his
direction that the men fell back stea-
Oily to the shore of the pond, which
was only few lods distant Here
the water protectected their rear so
that thep could not be surrounded;
and now followed one of the most
obstinate and deadly bush fights in
the annals of New England. 1t was
about 10 o'clock when the firing
) began, and lasted until night. The
Indians had the greater agility and
| cE,n in h,l,nr ,pI eh