60 CHARLES LEE 



already noted among his fellow-soldiers for an arro- 

 gant and quarrelsome temper, and the significant 

 name bestowed upon him by his Mohawk friends was 

 " Boiling Water." He seemed to court opportunities 

 for saying and doing offensive things. His tongue 

 bit shrewdly; it was a nipping and an eager tongue. 

 He was fond of commenting upon the imbecility of his 

 superior officers, and the conduct of the war afforded 

 plenty of occasions for this display of humour. 

 About this time in accordance with a practice 

 which survived in the British army until Mr. Glad- 

 stone put an end to it he purchased, for ,900, a 

 captain's commission in the 44th. The commission 

 was dated June n, 1756. The regiment did little 

 that year except take part in a futile attempt to raise 

 the siege of Oswego, which surrendered to the French 

 on the 1 4th of August. After another idle winter in 

 the neighbourhood of Albany, the troops were con- 

 veyed by sea to Halifax, from which point the Earl of 

 Loudon intended to pounce upon the great stronghold 

 of Louisburg. A powerful force was collected, and 

 some acres were prudently planted with succulent 

 vegetables as a safeguard against scurvy ; but nothing 

 more was accomplished, for the commander-in-chief, 

 according to Franklin, resembled King George on the 

 tavern sign-boards, always on horseback but never 

 getting ahead. When Captain Lee openly derided 

 the campaign as a "cabbage-planting enterprise," the 

 remark drew public attention to the young man, and 

 no doubt there were quarters where it sank deep and 

 was remembered against him. 



Early in the next summer, 1758, we find the 44th 

 regiment marching up the valley of the Hudson, as 



