Full Description
A gritty look at the French and Indian War through the lens of the bloody skirmish of Hodges' Scout, the heretofore untold story of a lost patrol.
In September 1756, fifty American soldiers set off on a routine reconnaissance near Lake George, determined to safeguard the upper reaches of the New York colony. Caught in a devastating ambush by French and native warriors, only a handful of colonials made it back alive. Toward the end of the French and Indian War, another group of survivors, long feared dead, returned home, having endured years of grim captivity among the native and French inhabitants of Canada.
Pieced together from archival records, period correspondence, and official reports, Hodges' Scout relates the riveting tale of young colonists who were tragically caught up in a war they barely understood. Len Travers brings history to life by describing the variety of motives that led men to enlist in the campaign and the methods and means they used to do battle. He also reveals what the soldiers wore, the illnesses they experienced, the terror and confusion of combat, and the bitter hardships of captivity in alien lands. His remarkable research brings human experiences alive, giving us a rare, full-color view of the French and Indian War—the first true world war.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue. Recovering Lost Lives
Part One
1. "Kill'd or taken"
2. Captain Hodges' Company
3. General Winslow's Dilemma
4. "Ye very bane of New England Men"
5. Slaughter
6. Captain de Bougainville's American Adventure
Part Two
7. Ensign Lincoln's Great Escape
8. The Peregrinations of Peleg Stevens
9. Isaac Foster at the Edges of Empire
10. Homecomings
11. The Court-Martial of Jonathan Barnes
12. Coda
Appendixes
A. The Roll of Hodges' Scout
B. The Captives
C. William Merry's Account, Recorded 1853
D. Captain Hodges' Sword
Notes
Essay on Sources
Index
