from which he suffered was premonitory of the
final stroke; but it was eleven years before it came and removed from
earth this stout-hearted man who had given his best years and his best
efforts to battling for his native land. There is no doubt that his
mighty struggles in the several wars--his daylight marches and nighttime
vigils; his tremendous exertions in emergencies like the fire at Fort
Edward, the running of the rapids at Fort Miller; long hours without
rest in the saddle, and in the trenches, with wet and frozen clothing
sometimes unchanged for days--all conduced toward the weakening of that
mighty frame prematurely stricken with paralysis.

But he had regrets only for what he was prevented from doing; not for
what he had done. Having recovered somewhat, he entertained hopes--vain
hopes--of rejoining the army; but was finally convinced that his active
career was ended. Major Humphreys having visited him in May, 1780, by
his hand he sent a missive to Washington, informing him of his
condition, and ending with this pathetic postscript: "I am making a
great effort to use my hand to make the initials of my name for the
first time. "I.P."--Israel Putnam."

Washington replied in July, congratulating him on his improved state of
health, and four years later, after peace was declared between Great
Britain and the United States, he wrote a long and cordial letter, which
the old General regarded as one of his most precious treasures. The
opening paragraph shows Washington's real and lasting estimate of his
former comrade in adversity, and is as follows:

Your favor of the 20th of May I received with much pleasure. For I
can assure you that among the many worthy and meritorious officers
with whom I have had the happiness to be connected in service
throughout this war, and from whom I have had cheerful assistance
in the various and trying vicissitudes of a complicated contest,
the name of a Putnam is not forgotten; nor will it be but with
that stroke of time which shall obliterate from my mind the
remembrance of all those toils and fatigues through which we have
struggled for the preservation and establishment of the Rights,
Liberties, and Independence of our Country.

It was not like Old Put to give up the fight so long as life held out,
and by the exercise of his iron will he kept up and about for years.
Within less than a twelvemonth from having been disqualified fr