Ethan Allen, the Robin Hood of Vermont

by Henry Hall

Two days after the date of this letter Allen sent a copy of it to the Assembly of Connecticut, saying: "I thought it advisable that the Honorable Assembly should be informed of all our politicks."

Allen shows great shrewdness in adapting his letters to what he considers the aboriginal mind. Addressing the Indians constantly as brothers he appeals to their love of bush-fighting, and as regards the question of barter, to their love of rum. By his reiteration he recognizes the childish immaturity of the Indian. Far differently he addresses the Canadians, to whose reason he appeals and whose sense of justice he compliments:

Ticonderoga, June 4.

Countrymen and Friends, the French people of Canada, greeting:

Friends and Fellow-Countrymen:—You are undoubtedly more or less acquainted with the unnatural and unhappy controversy subsisting between Great Britain and her Colonies, the particulars of which in this letter we do not expatiate upon, but refer your considerations of the justice and equitableness thereof on the part of the Colonies, to the former knowledge that you have of this matter. We need only observe that the inhabitants of the Colonies view the controversy on their part to be justifiable in the sight of God, and all unprejudiced and honest men that have or may have opportunity and ability to examine into the merits of it. Upon this principle those inhabitants determine to vindicate their cause, and maintain their natural and constitutional rights and liberties at the expense of their lives and fortunes, but have not the least disposition to injure, molest, or in any way deprive our fellow-subjects, the Canadians, of their liberty or property. Nor have they any design to urge war against them; and from all intimations that the inhabitants of the said Colonies have received from the Canadians, it has appeared that they were alike disposed for friendship and neutrality, and not at all disposed to take part with the King's troops in the present civil war against the Colonies.

We were, nevertheless, surprised to hear that a number of about thirty Canadians attacked our reconnoitring party consisting of four men, fired on them, and pursued them, and obliged them to return the fire. This is the account of the party that has since arrived at headquarters. We desire to know of any gentlemen Canadians the facts of the case, as one story is good until another is told. Our general order to the soldiery was, that they should not, on pain of death, molest or kill any of your people. But if it shall appear, upon examination, that our reconnoitring party commenced hostilities against your people, they shall suffer agreeable to the sentence of a court-martial; for our special orders from the Colonies are to befriend and protect you if need be; so that if you desire their friendship you are invited to embrace it, for nothing can be more undesirable to your friends in the Colonies, than a war with their fellow-subjects the Canadians, or with the Indians.

Hostilities have already begun; to fight with the King's troops has become a necessary and incumbent duty; the Colonies cannot avoid it. But pray, is it necessary that the Canadians and the inhabitants of the English Colonies should butcher one another? God forbid! There is no controversy subsisting between you and them. Pray let old England and the Colonies fight it out, and you, Canadians, stand by and see what an arm of flesh can do. We conclude, Saint Luke, Captain McCoy, and other evil-minded persons whose interest and inclination is that the Canadians and the people of these Colonies should cut one another's throats, have inveigled some of the baser sort of your people to attack our said reconnoitring party.

Allen signed this letter as "At present the Principal Commander of the Army."

A copy of it was sent to Mr. Walker at Montreal by Mr. Jeffere. Another copy was sent to the New York Provincial Congress.

John Brown, a young lawyer of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was the cause of Ethan Allen's long, terrible captivity. That alone justifies our curiosity to know all about him. In March, before the war, he made an eventful trip to Montreal, going along our borders, crossing the lakes, visiting Bennington, engaging two pilots, contracting with the foremost men there, spending days investigating the status of affairs in Canada as to the coming struggle. Reporting to his employers, Samuel Adams and Dr. Joseph Warren, he says that after stopping about a fortnight at Albany he was fourteen days journeying to St. John's, undergoing inconceivable hardships; the lake very high, the country for twenty miles each side under water; the ice breaking loose for miles; two days frozen in to an island; "we were glad to foot it on land;" "there is no prospect of Canada sending delegates to the Continental Congress." He speaks of his pilot, Peleg Sunderland, as "an old Indian hunter acquainted with the St. Francis Indians and their language." The other pilot was a captive many years ago among the Caughnawaga Indians. This last was Winthrop Hoit, of Bennington. These two men were famous for their familiarity with Indian ways and speech, as well as for general prowess, and their exploits in "beech-sealing" the Yorkers. Several days Sunderland and Hoit were among the Caughnawagas, studying their manifestations of feeling toward the colonists. Brown gave letters to Thomas Walker and Blake, and pamphlets to four curés in La Prairie. He was kindly received by the local committee, who told him about Canadian politics, that Governor Carleton was no great politician, a man of sour, morose temper, and so forth. Brown wrote Adams and Warren he should not go to Quebec, "as a number of their committee are here," but "I shall tarry here some time." "I have established a channel of correspondence through the New Hampshire Grants which may be depended on." "One thing I must mention, to be kept as a profound secret. The fort at Ticonderoga must be seized as soon as possible should hostilities be committed by the King's troops. The people on New Hampshire Grants have engaged to do this business." This letter was dated three weeks before the Lexington and Concord fights electrified the continent.