284 FATE OF THE FOREST GARRISONS. [1763, June. 



warning the garrison that farther resistance would 

 be useless, since preparations were made for setting 

 the blockhouse on fire, above and below at once. 

 Christie demanded if there were any among them 

 who spoke English ; upon which, a man in the 

 Indian dress came out from behind the breastwork. 

 He was a soldier, who, having been made pris- 

 oner early in the French war, had since lived 

 among the savages, and now espoused their cause, 

 fighting with them against his own countrymen. 

 He said that if they yielded, their lives should be 

 spared ; but if they fought longer, they must all be 

 burnt alive. Christie told them to wait till morn- 

 ing for his answer. They assented, and suspended 

 their fire. Christie now asked his men, if we may 

 believe the testimony of two of them, " whether 

 they chose to give up the blockhouse, or remain 

 in it and be burnt alive ? " They replied that they 

 would stay as long as they could bear the heat, and 

 then fight their way through.^ A third witness, 

 Edward Smyth, apparently a corporal, testifies that 

 all but two of them were for holding out. He says 

 that when his opinion was asked, he replied that, 

 having but one life to lose, he would be governed 

 by the rest ; but that at the same time he reminded 

 them of the recent treachery at Detroit, and of the 

 butchery at Fort William Henry, adding that, in his 

 belief, they themselves could expect no better usage. 



1 Evidence of Benjamin Gray, soldier in the Ist Battalion of the 60/A Regi- 

 ment, before a Court of Inquiry held at Fort Pitt, 12th Sept. 1763. Evidence 

 of David Smart, soldier in the QOth Regiment, before a Court of Inquiry held at 

 Fort Pitt, 2ith Dec, 1763, to take evidence relative to the loss of Presqu' Isle 

 which did not appear when the last court sat. 



