It was near to daybreak when we followed the soldier to where General Herkimer lay under a shelter of pine boughs; but owing to the storm the gloom was quite as profound as at any time during the night.

To my surprise, the general came out from his poor apology for a tent on hearing our voices, although we spoke cautiously low, and even then I could but ask myself why it was that an experienced soldier such as he was not giving more heed to his bodily welfare, for men on the eve of encountering a strong enemy surely need all the repose which can be had.

I was soon to understand why the commander slept so lightly, and to learn for the first time that even patriots may be insubordinate.

General Herkimer did not at first recognize us in the gloom; but when Sergeant Corney made himself known, the leader said, in a tone of bitter disappointment:

"Then you did not succeed in getting there?"

"Ay, that we did, sir," the old soldier replied, emphatically; "but Colonel Gansevoort had the desire to send a message to you, and we have brought it, hopin' to be excused from further duty for a short time."

"What had Gansevoort to say?" General Herkimer asked, impatiently, and Sergeant Corney repeated the message twice over, in order that there should be no misunderstanding as to its meaning.

"Very well. We will be on the alert if these hotheads can be restrained," the general replied, and his words were a riddle to me until half an hour later.

Then he asked what the old soldier meant by wishing to be excused from duty, and the sergeant, in the fewest words possible, gave him an account of our proceedings since leaving the camp at Oriskany, concluding by saying:

"There is no question but that Jacob Sitz will make his way through the Indian encampment, if it can be done by any person. Yet the lad is blinded by love for his father, an' will take altogether too desperate chances, unless there be some one at hand who can restrain him."

"Is it in your mind that the prisoner may be taken out of Thayendanega's camp?" General Herkimer exclaimed.

"We do not count on any such good fortune; but follow the lad simply that he may know he has not been forgotten. If it so be you need us, sir, we will wait until you have gained the fort before making any effort to join him."

"No, no, it was not from such motives that I spoke," the general interrupted, hastily. "With a force as large as this two men would not make much of a count either way. Go where you please, Sergeant Braun, and when you are once more at liberty report to me."

"We reckon on resting our legs a bit, sir, before settin' out. You will not advance for some time to come, sir?"

"How far do you count we are from the enemy's pickets?"

"Not above two miles, sir."

"Then we shall remain here, unless matters get beyond my control, until having heard the signal."

Having made this, to me, odd remark, the commander disappeared from view inside the shelter of boughs, and Sergeant Corney led me a dozen yards or more from what might by courtesy have been called "headquarters," when he halted to say, gravely:

"It appears that things are not just as they should be in this camp, lad."

"How do you mean?" I asked, in surprise.

"You heard what the general said?"

"Ay."

"Well, who of his men are making the trouble?"

Before I could so much as make a guess at the proper answer, I must needs be told that there was trouble, for, through having failed to understand exactly what the commander meant, I had not suspected that there was anything serious brewing. But Sergeant Corney, experienced as he was in such matters, seemed to know as if he had been informed in so many words that insubordination was rife in the camp, and at a time when it was in the highest degree necessary the men should move in harmony.

Since I could not even so much as hazard a guess, the old man, forgetting his weariness and the need of gaining repose, led me out to where he had been halted by the sentinel, and, finding him at his post, began his investigations by saying:

"We two have just come from Fort Schuyler, an' knowin' full well how strong a force is in front of the place, have a better idea of the kind of work in hand than you who haven't seen the enemy."

"Did the general send you over here to tell me that?" the man asked, in a certain tone of irritation, and Sergeant Corney replied, soothingly:

"Not a bit of it, my friend; but while we were having an interview with the commander it struck me that matters here were not just as pleasant as they should be, an' instead of awakenin' some one who might need more slumber, we thought to come to you for an explanation."

"Of what?"

"That we cannot say; but there is a question I would ask you, as between man and man, for mayhap the lives of us all depend upon the general sense of good fellowship. Tell me plainly, is there insubordination in the camp?"

"I know not if you may call it by that name," the sentinel said, somewhat moodily; "but certain it is we would have relieved the fort four and twenty hours ago had General Herkimer not held us back. With such a force as we have here, it cannot be a hard matter to do about as we please. Look you," the man continued, growing more confidential, "the general has no less than eight hundred men under his command, and what may not a company of that number do?"

"Very much, my friend; but your eight hundred would be weak indeed unless the advance was made at the proper time and in a soldierly fashion. So your people have been complaining because the commander holds them back?"

"Ay, and with good cause. When Colonels Cox and Paris say openly that it is cowardly for us to loiter here, surely there must be some reason in their words. A full third of this force believe we should have come in front of Fort Schuyler yesterday mornin', an' think you all those can be mistaken, an' only General Herkimer stand in the right?"

"Then it is insubordination!" Sergeant Corney said, sadly, and the sentinel replied, angrily:

"It is only common sense and a desire to aid the Cause. If we are eager to begin a battle which will drive the Tories and their painted allies from the valley, surely that man is a criminal who would hold us back."

"If you had been where this lad and I have just come from, able to see what was seen by us, you would talk in a different strain," the old soldier said, hotly. "Why, man, Colonel Gansevoort himself sent us back to request that you remain here until he signals, so that everything may be prepared for your comin', and we, knowin' how important it was you delay until the proper moment, risked our lives twenty times over in the effort to bring the word."

"Then Colonel Gansevoort is as great a coward as General Herkimer, for we are of sufficient strength to march whithersoever we will."

Sergeant Corney turned as if to go, and then suddenly wheeling upon the sentinel, said:

"I do not read my Bible, as a man should; but yet I remember that in it can be found these words: 'Fools die for want of wisdom,' an' I'm allowin', my friend, if you have any desire to linger in this 'ere world, that you take the statement home mighty strong."

With this cutting remark, which for a moment I feared would provoke a downright quarrel, Sergeant Corney strode off into the darkness, I following meekly at his heels.

"Surely there can be nothing which would work harm in this desire of the men to go forward," I said, when the sergeant had come to a halt, throwing himself down under a tree as if to rest. "It should be a good sign when soldiers are eager to go into battle."

"Insubordination, wherever you find it, is the most dangerous condition of affairs that can be figgered out. When a man puts himself under a leader, whether to fight or to till the land, an' then sets up his opinions against those of the one who is supposed to know best, else he wouldn't be in command, matters have come to a mighty dangerous pass. Instead of helpin' the men inside the fort, this regiment is likely to bring them to grief, unless things are changed, an' that right soon. Now get what sleep you can, lad, before the encampment is astir," the old man added, changing his tone very suddenly, and before I could obey he drew out his rifle from the hiding-place where he had left it when we set off for the fort.

I laid myself down by his side; but it was not to sleep, for I realized that the old soldier would not have spoken in such a tone unless matters, according to his belief, had been in a most serious condition.

I was still speculating upon the situation, sorrowing because the men would, at such a time, while the lives of so many depended upon concerted action, set up their individual opinions against those who had been put in authority over them, when a bustle on every side told that the soldiers were awakening to a day of noble struggle for their country, or worse than criminal bickerings.

If Sergeant Corney had really closed his eyes in slumber, which I doubted, he was now awakened by the many noises, and a plan of action must have been presented to him in his dreams, for he spoke like one who is determined upon some decided course, as he said to me:

"Now, lad, we'll fill ourselves up with one good hearty meal, if it so be this mutinously inclined army has a proper store of provisions, and then it is for us to decide whether we stay among those who are like to come to grief if they have their own way, or push out for ourselves."

I did not understand fully what he meant; but it was sufficient for me that he was no longer in doubt as to what was best, and right willingly did I obey his orders, for my stomach was uncomfortably empty.

There was no lack of food in this command which seemed to be divided against itself, and the breakfast would have been to me most enjoyable but for the sauce with which it was served.

Every man's tongue was loosened as if its owner was the only man amid all the company who knew exactly which was the wisest course to pursue, and I dare venture to say never a commander had under him at a critical moment, such as this certainly was, so many pig-headed recruits.

Only once during the brief meal was Sergeant Corney asked for information, although the word had passed around the encampment that he and I were but just come from Fort Schuyler, and then it was that the old soldier gave those insubordinate men such a tongue-lashing as they deserved and I dare say had never before received; but, storm as he might, it seemed as if all the arguments he brought up in favor of General Herkimer's carrying out the plans suggested by Colonel Gansevoort, only served to make those imitation soldiers more fixed in their opinions.

And for all this unseemly wrangling, when it was almost a crime to raise one's voice against an order of the commander, I lay the blame upon the two colonels, Cox and Paris, who, instead of holding their men firmly in check, as was their duty, openly declared that General Herkimer was in the wrong; thus fomenting what promised to be a most serious disturbance, and what was finally paid for over and over again in blood.

It was perhaps half an hour after daybreak when Colonel Cox, the same officer who by injudicious use of his tongue had well-nigh compassed the death of us all during the powwow with Thayendanega, approached General Herkimer while the latter was walking slowly around the encampment as if on a tour of inspection, and said, in a tone so loud that all in the vicinity might hear it:

"Are we to go forward, sir, as men should who set out to relieve a besieged fort, or must we loiter here until the enemy has worked his will?"

For an instant the general made no reply, and Sergeant Corney whispered to me, angrily:

"That man deserves to be shot, an' all the more so because he is high in command. I've seen troops in many a tight place durin' my life, but never before heard any thin' that quite come up to that."

When, after a pause of fully a moment, General Herkimer spoke, it was to ask:

"Do you know that messengers have come from Gansevoort, asking that we hold our hands until he shall give the signal?"

"I have heard that it is pretended such a message has come," Colonel Cox replied, in a most offensive tone, and I could see Sergeant Corney clenching his fists tightly, as if thereby the better to hold himself in check, for surely were we two entitled to make reply to such an implied accusation.

"The garrison will make a sortie immediately after giving the signal, and we can thus go into action with some hope of success," General Herkimer said, mildly and firmly. "To advance before Gansevoort is ready would be to imperil the lives of all this command."

"Speaking more particularly for yourself, sir, I suppose," Colonel Paris said, with a sneer, and it would have given me the greatest pleasure to have struck him down for that insult.

Then the three officers, still disputing, or, I should have said, the two colonels still insulting their commander, who continued to bear with them beyond that point where forbearance ceases to be a virtue, passed out of earshot for the time being, and the men in the immediate vicinity took up the subject, until, to my surprise, I found that nearly all of them sided with the insubordinate colonels.

Five minutes later the three officers had approached so near where Sergeant Corney and I were sitting that we could hear their words once more, and then, to my indignation and the old soldier's anger, Colonel Cox cried, in a fury, as he planted himself directly in front of the commander:

"You are not only a coward, sir, but a Tory!"

I shall always hold that General Herkimer was a brave man, because, after a severe effort which was evident to us all, he so far mastered his righteous anger as to say, quietly:

"I am placed over you as a father and guardian, and shall not lead you into difficulties from which I may not be able to extricate you."

Unless the soldiers of the command had been literally beside themselves, such words would have brought them to a proper frame of mind; but as it was, the temperate reply seemed to inflame their anger, and on the moment there was a very babel of outcries, amid which it was only possible to distinguish the demand that the force be led toward Fort Schuyler without delay, regardless of any message which the sergeant and I might have brought.

I could see, rather than hear, for the tumult was exceeding great, that the two colonels continued to demand that the commander follow their plans rather than adhere to his own, and it was a veritable fishwoman's squabble during twenty minutes or more, when General Herkimer apparently lost his temper for the first time, and cried, in a tone so loud that the words could be distinctly heard all over the encampment:

"I will give the command to march forward, and you shall soon see that those who have been boasting loudest of their courage will be the first to run on meeting the enemy."

"I was afraid it would come to that," Sergeant Corney whispered to me, with a sigh. "It don't stand to reason that any man could hold his temper a great while under such a tongue-lashin' as those curs gave the commander, an' I'm predictin' that every mother's son of 'em will rue this mornin's work."

Immediately the unwilling permission for them to do as they pleased had been given, the men set about making ready for the advance as if each moment was of the greatest value, and in an incredibly short time after General Herkimer had been bullied into agreeing to that which his better judgment told him to be wrong, the company was ready for the march.

"Are we to go with them?" I asked of the sergeant, believing for the moment that it would be wiser for us to form an independent command of two.

"Ay, lad, I'm thinkin' that we had best stand by the general, for he may be needin' us before this mornin's work is done, an' we sha'n't be takin' a great deal of time from Jacob, because, in case of arrivin' before Colonel Gansevoort is ready for us, the scrimmage will soon be over."

The two colonels, who were responsible for this unsoldierly method of conducting a campaign, busied themselves with getting the men into lines, and all the while telling what it was possible for them to do to St. Leger and his force, as if anything of value could be done when the idiots did not have sufficient sense to make inquiries of those who could give them full information regarding the strength of the enemy whom they were so soon to meet.

Even had Sergeant Corney not decided to follow the commander before the line of march had been arranged, he would have done so later, because General Herkimer beckoned us to approach when he took his place at the head of the column.

"Are you counting on coming with me, despite the unnecessary danger which we know will be encountered?" he asked, and Sergeant Corney replied, promptly:

"Ay, sir, that we are, and had already settled it in our own minds."

"Which portion of the besieging troops are we likely to meet first, if we follow the trail?" the general asked.

"Thayendanega's camp lies southeasterly from the fort; but how far it may be from the trail, I cannot say."

At this moment the report of a rifle from the direction of where the outermost sentinels were stationed startled every one, including those bloodthirsty colonels, and for a moment all stood silent and motionless, waiting to learn the cause of the alarm.

Then it was that the sentinel with whom the sergeant and I had already spoken, came running into camp, for it seemed a favorite trick of his to desert a post of duty whenever inclination prompted.

It was Colonel Cox who asked, advancing:

"Did you fire that gun?"

"Ay, sir; I saw two Indians in the thicket, coming as if from the direction of this camp."

"Did you kill either of them?"

"I do not think I even scratched 'em. The wood is too dense for much good shooting."

Colonel Cox wheeled around as if the information was of no especial importance, when even a boy like me understood somewhat of its import, and, carelessly saluting the commander, reported that the troops were ready for the word to march.

The general, who was mounted, spurred his horse on to the head of the column, Sergeant Corney and I following as best we might, and once in the lead he gave the command.

"Is nothing to be done toward finding out whether the Indians whom the sentinel saw, succeeded in getting back to their own camp?" I asked of my companion, and he replied, grimly, with what was very like a smile of satisfaction on his wrinkled face:

"These officers who have so much wind to spare in camp cannot afford the time to consider such trifles as a few scouts skulkin' around to make certain of what we are doin'."

"An' we are like to find ourselves ambushed!" I cried, in dismay.

"Ay, that's what we are, lad, an' I'm thinkin' there will be no way out of the difficulty until some of these insubordinates are killed off, which will be greatly to the advantage of the command, accordin' to my way of thinkin'."

I will set down here that which I read in a book several years after the day Sergeant Corney and I followed General Herkimer on what we believed to be a most ill-advised and hazardous march, in view of Colonel Gansevoort's request, and from the words it will be seen that I am not the only person who lays blame of all that happened upon those loud-mouthed, imitation soldiers who were so soon to show themselves cowards.

"The morning was dark, sultry, and lowering. General Herkimer's troops, composed chiefly of the militia regiments of Colonels Cox, Paris, Visscher, and Klock, were quite undisciplined, and their order of march was irregular and without precaution. The contentions of the morning had delayed their advance until about nine o'clock, and the hard feelings which existed between the commander and some of his officers caused a degree of insubordination which proved fatal in its consequences.... A deep ravine crossed the path of Herkimer in a north and south direction, extending from the high grounds on the south to the river, and curving toward the east in semicircular form. The bottom of this ravine was marshy, and the road crossed it by means of a causeway of earth and logs. On each side of the ravine the ground was nearly level, and heavily timbered. A thick growth of underwood, particularly along the margin of the ravine, favored the concealment of the enemy."

All the colonels of this small army were on horseback, a fact which caused me no little astonishment, for I had heard my uncle say again and again, and there can be no question but that he was a brave and skilful soldier, that the man who went in the saddle to meet savages was courting his own death.

So great was my indignation against these men who had badgered the commander that I mentally hugged myself with delight because of their folly, not only in thus riding, but in moving the column without scouts ahead to learn the whereabouts of the enemy, or to ascertain what might be in front of, or on either side of them.

It is true that Colonel Visscher's regiment was detailed as a rear-guard, and I question if even such a precaution would have been taken but for the fact that the provision and ammunition wagons, which were not able to move at as rapid a pace as the men, needed something in the way of protection.

It was not until we had advanced half a mile or more that I bethought myself of the position in the column which Sergeant Corney and I occupied because of attempting to follow General Herkimer closely.

In event of an ambush being prepared for our reception, and I confidently expected that such would be the case after the sentinel had seen Indians lurking nearabout the camp, we two would be in a most dangerous position, and I made mention of that which was in my mind to the sergeant.

"Ay, lad, you may be right, an' yet I am questionin' whether we shall be any worse off here than further in the rear, for if it so be Thayendanega's sneaks count on ambushin' us, I can tell you to a dot just where it'll be done. They will let this gang of men--you can't call 'em soldiers after what we have seen--get well into the ravine before makin' any attack. Consequently it will be about the centre of the line that suffers most."

"You mean that if trouble comes it will be at the ravine over which is the causeway?"

"Ay, lad, an' there's no question about our gettin' it hot there!"