(seq. 149)

February 23d
continued -

In which the salted Buffaloe had been kept during the winter
we had oars and paddles sufficient, and thought it practicable
to raise some of the stockades silently and launch the boats
undiscoverd by the Enemy - but the treachery of our inmates
and the necessity of leaving our wounded men behind made
us relinquish this scheme, which at first view had flatterd us
with the appearance of feasibility -

The greater part of the night I passed in sorting papers
and preparing for the disagreeable ceremony of the ensuing day -

The mortification, disappointment and indignation I felt,
may possibly be conceived if all conditions are taken
togather which suggestd themselve in turn - Our views of
prosecuting any design against the enemy totally overturned -
The being captives to an unprincipled motley Banditti,
and the being betrayed and sacrificed by those very people
who owed the preservation of their lives and properties to us,
and who had so lately at the foot of the alter called God to
witness their sincerity and loyalty -

24th - This morning Captain Helm came to me at 7 o'clock
and gaven me to understand that Colonel Clarke had been
informed that we had been hard at work all night in the
Fort fixing powder chests under ground, that the 6 {pounder}
was to be loaded with grape and planted opposite the
Fort gate, that whenever the enemy enterd to take possession
it was to be fired by a train, & the chests were to be sprung
by a match -- I imparted this report to the machinations
of the french but assured him I was incapable of so
villinous a scheme -- he said he had told {Colonel} Clarke as much -