Memoirs Of Aaron Burr, Volume 1 - Matthew L. Davis (top android ebook reader txt) 📗
- Author: Matthew L. Davis
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Me, Immediately Changed To Something More Tender; But I Won'T Waste
Paper.
If You Should Happen To Find Dr. James Cogswell, Who Is In Colonel
Spencer'S Regiment, Please To Give My Best Love To Him, And Tell Him
He Is A Lazy Scoundrel.
It Rains, My Boy, Excessively. Does It Not Drop Through Your Tent?
Write Often To
Jona. Bellamy.
To A. Burr.
Chapter V (General Montgomery'S Answer) Pg 44As Soon As The Guardian And Relatives Of Young Burr Heard Of His
Determination To Accompany Arnold In His Expedition Against Quebec,
They Not Only Remonstrated, But They Induced Others, Who Were Friendly
To Him, To Adopt A Similar Course. While He Remained At Cambridge, He
Received Numerous Letters On The Subject. The Two Following Are
Selected:--
From Dr. James Cogswell.
Camp In Roxbury, 9Th September, 1775.
I Am Extremely Sorry To Hear That You Are Determined On The New
Expedition To Quebec. I Am Sorry On My Own Account, As I Promised
Myself Much Satisfaction And Pleasure In Your Company: But I Am Not
Altogether Selfish; I Am Right-Justified Sorry On Yours. The
Expedition In Which You Are Engaged Is A Very Arduous One; And Those
Who Are Engaged In It Must Unavoidably Undergo Great Hardships. Your
Constitution (If I Am Not Much Mistaken) Is Very Delicate, And Not
Formed For The Fatigues Of The Camp. The Expedition, I Am Sensible, Is
A Glorious One, And Nothing But A Persuasion Of My Inability To Endure
The Hardships Of It Would Have Deterred Me From Engaging In It. If
This Excuse Was Sufficient For Me, I Am Persuaded It Is For You, And
Ought To Influence You To Abandon All Thoughts Of Undertaking It. I
Have No Friend So Dear To Me (And I Love My Friends) But That I Am
Willing To Sacrifice For The Good Of The Grand--The Important Cause,
In Which We Are Engaged; But, To Think Of A Friend'S Sacrificing
Himself, Without Any Valuable End Being Answered By It, Is Painful
Beyond Expression. _You Will Die; I Know You Will Die In The
Undertaking; It Is Impossible For You To Endure The Fatigue._ I Am So
Exercised About Your Going, That I Should Come And See You If I Had
Not Got The Scriptural Excuse,--A Wife, And Cannot Come.
My Dear Friend, You Must Not Go: I Cannot Bear The Thoughts Of It.
'Tis Little Less Melancholy Than Following You To Your Grave.
Your Affectionate Friend,
James Cogswell.
Chapter V (General Montgomery'S Answer) Pg 45From Peter Colt.
Watertown, 11Th September, 1775.
I Cannot Retire To Rest Till I Have Written You A Few Lines, To Excuse
My Casting So Many Discouragements In The Way Of Your Journey To
Quebec. At First I Did Not Think It So Hazardous; But, Upon Inquiring
Of Those Who Had More Knowledge Of The Country, Thought It Too
Fatiguing An Undertaking For One Of Your Years; And I Find It
Altogether Against The Sentiments Of Your Friends. I Think You Might
Be Fairly Excused, Without The Risk Of Being Reported As Timid, As The
Hopes Of Your Family Depend In A Great Degree Upon You. I Should Have
Rejoiced To See You Relinquish This Expedition; But, As You Are
Determined To Pursue It, Must Beg You Not To Let Any Thing We Have
Said To You Depress Your Spirits, Or Damp Your Resolution, As It May
Otherwise Have A Fatal Effect. We Have Held Up The Dark Side Of The
Picture, In Order To Deter You From Going. You Must Now Think Only On
The Bright Side, And Make The Least Of Every Disagreeable Circumstance
Attending Your March. Let No Difficulty Discourage You. The Enterprise
Is Glorious, And, If It Succeeds, Will Redound To The Honour Of Those
Who Have Planned And Executed It.
May God Give You Health And Strength Equal To The Fatigue Of The
March, And Preserve You Safe From Every Danger You May Encounter. Make
Quebec A Safe Retreat To The Forces. I Hope To Have A Particular
Description Of Canada From You When You Return.
Don'T Turn Catholic For The Sake Of The Girls. Again I Beg You To
Forget What I Have Said To Discourage You. It Proceeded From Love To
You, And Not A Desire Of Rendering You Ridiculous. Adieu, My Dear
Friend.
Yours,
Peter Colt.
Chapter V (General Montgomery'S Answer) Pg 46A Day Or Two After Burr'S Arrival At Newburyport, He Was Called Upon
By A Messenger From His Guardian, Timothy Edwards, With Instructions
To Bring The Young Fugitive Back. A Letter From His Uncle (T. Edwards)
Was Delivered To Him At The Same Time. Having Read The Letter, And
Heard The Messenger'S Communication, He Coolly Addressed Him, And
Asked, "How Do You Expect To Take Me Back, If I Should Refuse To Go?
If You Were To Make Any Forcible Attempt Upon Me, I Would Have You
Hung Up In Ten Minutes." After A Short Pause The Messenger Presented A
Second Letter From His Guardian, And With It A Small Remittance In
Gold. It Was Couched In The Most Affectionate And Tender Language,
Importuning Him To Return; And Depicting, In The Darkest Colours, The
Sufferings He Must Endure If He Survived The Attempt To Reach Quebec.
It Affected Young Burr Very Sensibly, Insomuch That He Shed Tears. But
His Destiny Was Fixed. He Wrote, However, A Respectful Letter To His
Uncle, Explanatory Of His Reasons For Accompanying The Army, And
Expressive Of His Gratitude For The Kindness He Had Experienced.
On Or About The 20Th Of September, 1775, The Troops Under The Command
Of Arnold Embarked At Newburyport. This Detachment Was To Penetrate
Canada About Ninety Or One Hundred Miles Below Montreal, Proceeding By
The Kennebec River, And Thence Through The Wilderness Between The St.
Lawrence And The Settled Parts Of Maine. In This Route, Precipitous
Mountains, Deep And Almost Impenetrable Swamps And Morasses, Were To
Be Passed. Arnold, In A Letter To General Washington, Dated _Fort
Weston_, September 25Th, 1775, Says:
Chapter V (General Montgomery'S Answer) Pg 47"I Design Chaudiere Pond As A
General Rendezvous, And From Thence Proceed In A Body. I Believe, From
The Best Information I Can Procure, We Shall Be Able To Perform The
Journey In Twenty Days; The Distance From This Being About One Hundred
And Eighty Miles."
During The March Through The Wilderness, No Regard Whatever Was Paid
To Order Or Discipline. Every Man Was Left To Take Care Of Himself,
And Make The Best Of His Way Through The Woods. The Sufferings Of This
Detachment From Wet, And Cold, And Hunger, Were Excessive. From The
Latter, However, Burr Suffered Less Than Any Of His Companions. His
Abstemious Habits In Regard To Eating Seemed Peculiarly Calculated For
Such An Expedition. Both Burr And Ogden Had Been Accustomed, In Small
Boats, To Aquatic Excursions Round Staten Island And In Its Vicinity.
They Were Skilful Helmsmen, And In This Particular, In Passing The
Rapids, Were Frequently Useful. Notwithstanding This Qualification,
However, Burr, With Some Soldiers In A Boat, Was Carried Over A Fall
Of Nearly Twenty Feet. One Man Was Drowned, And Much Of The Baggage
Lost. The Weather Was Cold, And It Was With Great Difficulty That He
Reached The Shore.
"Arnold, Who, At The Head Of The Two First Divisions, Still Prosecuted
His March, Was Thirty-Two Days Traversing A Hideous Wilderness,
Without Seeing A House Or Any Thing Human. The Troops Were Under The
Necessity Of Hauling Their Bateaux Up Rapid Streams; Of Taking Them
Upon Their Shoulders, With All Their Provisions, Across
Carrying-Places; And Of Traversing, And Frequently Repassing, For The
Purpose Of Bringing Their Baggage, Deep Morasses, Thick Woods, And
High Mountains. These Impediments, Notwithstanding The Zealous And
Wonderfully Persevering Exertions Of His Men, So Protracted His March,
That, Though He Had Expected Certainly To Enter Canada About The
Middle Of October, He Did Not Reach The First Settlements On The
Chaudiere, Which Empties Itself Into The St. Lawrence Near Quebec,
Until The Third Of November.
"On The High Grounds Which Separate The Waters Of The Kennebec From
Those Of The St. Lawrence, The Scanty Remnant Of Provisions Was
Divided Among The Companies, Each Of Which Was Directed, Without
Attempting To Preserve Any Connexion With Another, To March With The
Utmost Possible Celerity Into The Inhabited Country. While Those Who
Gained The Front Were Yet Thirty Miles From The First Poor And
Scattered Habitations Which Composed That Frontier Of Canada, Their
Last Morsel Of Food Was Consumed. But, Preceded By Arnold, Who Went
Forward For The Purpose Of Procuring For Them Something Which Might
Satisfy The First Demands Of Nature, The Troops Still Persevered In
Their Labours, With A Vigour Unimpaired By The Hardships They Had
Encountered, Until They Once More Found Themselves In Regions
Frequented By Human Beings." [1]
On The Arrival Of Arnold'S Detachment At Chaudiere Pond, Burr Was
Despatched With A Verbal Communication To General Montgomery.
Chapter V (General Montgomery'S Answer) Pg 48He
Disguised Himself As A Young Catholic Priest. In This Order Of Men He
Was Willing To Repose Confidence. He Knew That
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