Thus far the expedition had proceeded as successfully as could have been anticipated. The fatigue was extreme, yet one man only had been lost by death. There seem to have been desertions and sickness, as the whole number now amounted to no more than nine hundred and fifty effective men. They had passed four portages, assisted by oxen and sleds where the situation of the ground would permit. So rapid was the stream, that on an average the men waded more than half the way, forcing the batteaux against the current. Arnold wrote, in a letter to General Washington, "You would have taken the men for amphibious animals, as they were great part of the time under water." He had now twenty-five days' provisions for the whole detachment, and expressed a sanguine hope of reaching the Chaudière River in eight or ten days.
In this hope he was destined to be disappointed. Obstacles increased in number and magnitude as he advanced, which it required all his resources and energy to overcome. The Great Carrying-place extended from the Kennebec to the Dead River, being a space of fifteen miles, with three small ponds intervening. From this place the batteaux, provisions, and baggage were to be carried over the portages on the men's shoulders. With incredible toil they were taken from the waters of the Kennebec, and transported along an ascending, rugged, and precipitous path for more than three miles to the first pond. Here the batteaux were again put afloat; and thus they continued by alternate water and land carriage, through lakes, creeks, morasses, and craggy ravines, till they reached the Dead River.
As some relief to their sufferings, the men were regaled by feasting on delicious salmon-trout, which the ponds afforded in prodigious quantities. Two oxen were also slaughtered and divided among them. A block-house was built at the second portage, at which the sick were left; and another near the bank of the Kennebec, as a depository for provisions ordered up from the commissary at Norridgewock, and intended as a supply in case a retreat should be necessary.
While the army was crossing the Great Carrying-place, Arnold despatched two Indians with letters to gentlemen in Quebec and to General Schuyler. They were accompanied by a white man, named Jakins, who was to proceed down the Chaudière to the French settlements, ascertain the sentiments of the inhabitants, procure intelligence, and then return. It appeared afterwards, that the Indians betrayed their trust. The letters never reached the persons to whom they were addressed, but were doubtless put into the hands of the Lieutenant-Governor of Canada. The Indian, who had them in charge, named Eneas, was afterwards known to be in Quebec.
The Dead River presented for many miles a smooth surface and gentle current, interrupted here and there by falls of short descent, at which were carrying-places. As the batteaux were moving along this placid stream, a bold and lofty mountain appeared in the distance, whose summit was whitened with snow. When approached, the river was discovered to pursue a very meandering course near its base; and, although the fatigue of the men was less severe than it had been, yet their actual progress was slow. In the vicinity of this mountain Arnold encamped for two or three days, and, as report says, raised the American flag over his tent. The event has been commemorated. A hamlet since planted on the spot, which ere long will swell to the dignity of a town, is at this day called the Flag Staff. The mountain has been equally honored. Tradition has told the pioneers of the forest, and repeated the marvel till it is believed, that Major Bigelow had the courage as well as the leisure to ascend to its top, with the hope of discovering from this lofty eminence the hills of Canada and the spires of Quebec. From this supposed adventure it has received the name of Mount Bigelow. Its towering peaks, looking down upon the surrounding mountains, are a beacon to the trappers and hunters, who still follow their vocation in these solitudes, notwithstanding the once-coveted beaver has fled from their domain, and the field of their enterprise has been ominously contracted by the encroaching tide of civilization.
From this encampment a party of ninety men was sent back to the rear for provisions, which were beginning to grow scarce. Morgan with his riflemen had gone forward, and Arnold followed with the second division. For three days it rained incessantly, and every man and all the baggage were drenched with water. One night, after they had landed at a late hour and were endeavouring to take a little repose, they were suddenly roused by the freshet, which came rushing upon them in a torrent, and hardly allowed them time to escape, before the ground on which they had lain down was overflowed. In nine hours the river rose perpendicularly eight feet. Embarrassments thickened at every step. The current was everywhere rapid; the stream had spread itself over the low grounds by the increase of its waters, thereby exposing the batteaux to be perpetually entangled in the drift-wood and bushes; sometimes they were led away from the main stream into smaller branches and obliged to retrace their course, and at others delayed by portages, which became more frequent as they advanced.
At length a disaster happened, which was near putting an end to the expedition. By the turbulence of the waters seven batteaux were overset, and all their contents lost. This made such a breach upon the provisions, and threw such a gloom over the future, that the bravest among them was almost ready to despond. They were now thirty miles from the head of the Chaudière River. It was ascertained, that the provisions remaining would serve for twelve or fifteen days. A council of war was called, at which it was decided that the sick and feeble should be sent back, and the others press forward.
Arnold wrote to Colonel Greene and Colonel Enos, who were in the rear, ordering them to select such a number of their strongest men as they could supply with fifteen days' provisions, and to come on with them, leaving the others to return to Norridgewock. Enos misconstrued the order, or chose not to understand it. He retreated with his whole division, consisting of three companies, and marched back to Cambridge. *
* Colonel Enos was tried by a court-martial, after his arrival at head-quarters, and acquitted on the ground of a want of provisions. But the true state of the case was not understood, as no intelligence on the subject had been received from Arnold. The trial was hastened, because Enos's commission in the army, as first organized, would expire at the end of the year, and it was supposed he could not be tried under his new commission. He certainly disobeyed the order of his commander, nor was the plea of a deficiency of provisions admissible. The same quantity of provisions, that would be consumed by three companies in returning to the settlements on the Kennebec, would have served part of them for that purpose, and another part for fifteen days in marching to the Chaudière. He was ordered to divide his men in such a manner as to accomplish both these objects. Although acquitted by the court-martial, he either imagined, or had the sagacity to perceive, that his conduct was not satisfactory to General Washington, and soon left the army.—See Washington's Writings, Vol. III. p. 164.
After despatching this order, Arnold hastened onward with about sixty men under Captain Hanchet, intending to proceed as soon as possible to the inhabitants on the Chaudière, and send back provisions to meet the main forces. The rain changed into snow, which fell two inches deep, thus adding the sufferings of cold to those of hunger and fatigue. Ice formed on the surface of the water in which the men were obliged to wade and drag the boats. Finally the highlands were reached, which separated the eastern waters from those of the St. Lawrence. A string of small lakes, choked with logs and other obstructions, had been passed through near the sources of the Dead River, and seventeen falls had been encountered in ascending its whole distance, around which were portages. The carrying-place over the highlands was a little more than four miles. A small stream then presented itself, which conducted the boats by a very crooked course into Lake Megantic, the great fountainhead of the Chaudière River.