CAPTURE OF FORT BULL,1 BY MR. DE LERY. [Paris Doc. XII.] On the 27 March 1756 at four o'clock in the morning, the detachments commanded by M. de Lery, Lieutenant of the Colonial troops, commenced their march, very much weakened by the fatigue they experienced during fifteen days since they left Montreal, for they were two days entirely out of provisions." At half past five they arrived at the road to the Carrying place, and the scouts in advance brought in two Englishmen who were coming from the fort nearest to Chouaguin, whom M. de Lery caused to be informed that he should have their brains knocked out by the Indians if he perceived that they endeavored to conceal the truth, and if they communicated it to him, he should use all his efforts to extricate them from their hands. These prisoners stated that the Fort, this side of Chonaguin, was called Bull, having a garrison of 60 soldiers, commanded by a lieutenant, that there was in this fort a considerable quantity of munitions of war and provisions; that the fort was constructed of heavy pickets, 15 to 18 feet above ground, doubled inside to a man's height, and was nearly of the shape of a star; that it had no cannon, but a number of grenadoes which Colonel Johnson had sent on intelligence being communicated to him by the Indians of our march; that the Commandant of this Fort was called Bull; that 15 batteaux were to leave in the evening for Chouaguin; that at the moment sleighs were arriving with 9 batteaux loads; that the fort on the Corlear side, at the head of 1 This Fort is referred to in a Report of a Committee appointed to explore the Western Waters in the State of New-York. -Albany, Barber and Southwick, 1792. It is laid down in Sauthier's Map, as fort Bute. Its situation was about two miles west of Rome. See Outline Map annexed. 2 He left on the 17th March on the ice, passed by La Presentation (Ogdensburgh) and proceeded across the country and along the mountains, by paths known only to the savages to within a short distance of one of those Forts called Bull. Mem. sur les aff. du Canada dep. 1749 jusq. 1760. published by Hist. Soc. Quebec, 1838. |