month, of the whole expedition only two remained fit for any kind of service. 7. The agent was enabled, by a merciful dispensation of Divine Providence, to maintain a difficult struggle with his disorder for four weeks; in which period, after a night of delirium and suffering, it was not an unusual circumstance for him to be able to spend an entire morning in laying off and directing the execution of the public works. 8. The plan of defense adopted was to station five heavy guns at the different angles of a triangle which should circumscribe the whole settlement-each of the angles resting on a point of ground sufficiently commanding to enfilade two sides of the triangle, and sweep a considerable extent of ground beyond the lines. The guns at these stations were to be covered by musket-proof triangular stockades, of which any two should be sufficient to contain all the settlers in their wings. The brass piece and two swivels mounted on traveling carriages were stationed in the center, ready to support the post which might be exposed to the heaviest attack. 9. After completing these detached works, it was the intention of the agent, had the enemy allowed the time, to join all together by a paling to be carried quite round the settlement; and in the event of a yet longer respite, to carry on, as rapidly as possible, under the protection of the nearest fortified point, the construction of the martello tower, which, as soon as completed, would nearly supersede all the other works, and by presenting an impregnable barrier to the success of any native force, probably become the instrument of a general and permanent pacification. Connected with these measures of safety was the extension to the utmost of the cleared space about the settlement, still leaving the trees and brushwood, after being felled, to spread the ground with a tangled hedge, through which nothing should be able to make its way, except the shot from the batteries. CHAPTER XXI. EMIGRATION TO LIBERIA.-Continued. 1. THIS plan was fully communicated to the most intelligent of the people, which, in the event of the disability or death of the agent, they might, it was hoped, so far carry into effect as to insure the preservation of the settlement. Their defenses were still very far from complete when, on the 7th of November, intelligence was received at the cape that the enemy were ready for an assault on the settlement, which was ordered in four days, but the plan of the attack was not ascertained. 2. Mr. Ashmun was only able, with great effort, to inspect the works, give directions and encouragement to the people, and arrange them in order of action. They lay on their arms, with matches lighted, through the night. The most wakeful vigilance was continued during the following nights, and patrols kept up through the day. Early on the morning of the 11th the attack was made by above 800 men. In consequence of the sickness of the agent, and his inability to enforce his orders personally, one pass had been neglected to be properly defended. 3. By this the enemy approached, drove the picket-guard, delivered their fire and rushed forward with their spears; several men were killed by the first fire, and the remainder driven from their cannon without discharging it. Had the enemy, at this instant, pressed their advantage, it is hardly conceivable that they should have failed of entire success. Avidity for plunder was their defeat. Four houses in that outskirt of the settlement had fallen into their hands, and while they rushed impetuously upon the pillage, Ashmun rallied his broken forces, and discharging the brass fieldpiece (double-shotted with ball and grape), produced great havoc among the enemy, and brought their whole body to a stand; a few musketeers passing around upon their flank increased their consternation, and in about twenty minutes after the colonists rallied, the enemy began to recoil. 4. The colonists regained their post, and instantly brought a long nine to rake the whole line of the enemy. A savage yell was raised, which filled the surrounding forest with a momentary horror. It gradually died away, and the whole host disappeared. At eight o'clock the wellknown signal of their dispersion and return to their homes was sounded, and many small parties were seen at a distance directly afterward, moving off in different directions. One large canoe, employed in re-conveying a party across the mouth of the Montserado, venturing within the range of the long gun, was struck by a shot and several men killed. 5. In the engagement the colonists had three men and one woman killed, two men and two women severely wounded, and seven children captured. Although thus completely discomfited, the natives did not abandon their design of exterminating the Colony. They determined to renew the attack with additional forces, collecting auxiliaries from as many of the neighboring tribes as they could induce to unite with them. The colonists, on their side, were equally on the alert, and made incredible exertions to prepare for repelling the assailants. They reduced the extent of their works, and thus rendered them more defensible. But the number of effective men was less, being only thirty. 6. The attack was made on the 30th of November, and incomparably better concerted than the former one. It took place almost simultaneously on three sides of the fortifications. The assailants displayed a tact and skill that would have done credit to more experienced warriors. But they were received with that bravery and determination which the danger of total destruction, in case of defeat, was calculated to inspire, and were finally defeated with severe loss. The garrison had one man killed and two badly wounded. The skill and talent and energy of Mr. Ashmun mainly secured the triumph. He received three bullets through his clothes, but was not wounded. 7. This action, which continued an hour and a half, and was renewed three times with the utmost desperation, was still more interesting in its details than the other. The wounded suffered much for want of surgical aid. There was not even a lancet or probe in the settlement; a penknife was substituted for the first, and a priming wire for the last. An alarm, the night after the battle, induced an officer of the guard to open a fire of musketry and cannon, which providentially brought relief to the settlement. 8. The English colonial schooner Prince Regent, bound for Cape Coast, with Major Laing, the celebrated African traveler, and midshipman Gordon on board, was then in the offing, a little past the cape. So unusual a circumstance as a midnight cannonading induced the vessel to lay by till morning, when the officers communicated with the shore, and learning the situation of the colonists, generously offered any assistance in their power. Major Laing sought the chiefs, found them tired of the war, and disposed for peace. They signed a truce, and agreed to submit all their differences with the Colony to the Governor of Sierra Leone. 9. Midshipman Gordon and eleven seamen remained at the settlement on the departure of the Prince Regent, having generously volunteered their services to assist the colonists in their extremity. The lamented Gordon and eight of the seamen fell victims to the climate in less than four weeks after the vessel sailed. 10. On the 8th of December, a large privateer schooner, under Columbian colors, came to anchor near the cape. The commander, Captain Wesley, and several officers, who were natives of the United States, rendered important aid to Mr. Ashmun. By assistance obtained from this vessel, the settlement, in a few weeks, was put in a bet ter state of defense; while the sufferings of the sick and wounded were alleviated by the kind attentions of a skillful surgeon. CHAPTER XXII. EMIGRATION TO LIBERIA.-Continued. 1. In 1823, Mr. Ashmun's health, which had been improving for several weeks, sunk again under excessive exertion, and he continued for some time in a state of hopeless debility. He was at length restored by an extraordinary prescription of a self-taught French doctor, who arrived in a transient vessel at the cape, so that by the middle of February he was able to resume his active duties. Previous to this time two of the captive children had been recovered, and a few weeks after the remaining five were gratuitously restored. So kindly and tenderly were they treated by the old women to whose care they had been committed, that they were unwilling to leave them, and their foster-mothers were equally reluctant to give them up. 2. At this period the colonists were in a sad condition; their provisions were mostly consumed; their trade nearly exhausted; their lands untilled; their houses without roofs, except of thatch; the rainy season was approaching; and the people, as a natural consequence of their late irregular life, had, in many instances, become indolent and improvident, and finally were experiencing all that derangement in their affairs which is produced by a protracted war. In these desponding circumstances they were cheered by the arrival, on the 31st of March, of the United States ship Cyane, R. T. Spencer, Esq., commander. This gentleman proceeded to make the most active exertions for the benefit of the Colony. |