The Yankee Insolence of Ethan Allen

The Yankee Insolence of Ethan Allen JOHN DITSKY A Narrative of Colonel Ethan Allen's Captivity,* first published in 1779, is generally regarded as a stirring account of the bravery of the leader of the Green Mountain Boys and a defiant example of Yankee courage during two and a half years' imprisonment at the hands of his British enemies. But the modern reader, far removed from that struggle for independence, may well look upon Colonel Allen's actions in the presence of the enemy as nothing short of extraordinary, if not verging upon utter insolence in their disregard of both prudence and propriety. When, as the author prays, "'The critic will be pleased to excuse any inaccuracies in the performance itself, as the author has unfortunately missed a liberal education" (p. 3), we are left concluding that the antics as well as the heroics of Ethan Allen abroad contributed to that impression of Americans in general that proved, in spite of the existence of Paines and Franklins, to be dominant in the minds of many Europeans , both then and for a good many years afterwards - and may be said to be of undiminished importance at the present time. The bravado of Ethan Allen is first illustrated by the most famous incident in the Narrative, the legendary capture of Fort Ticonderoga by a handful of Americans: ..... the capt. came immediately to the door with his breeches in his hand, when I ordered him to deliver me the fort instantly, who asked me by what authority I demanded it; I answered, 'In the name of the great Jehovah, and the Continental Congress.' (p. 8) This famous, almost incredibly dramatic scene establishes Allen's customary moral self-assurance when dealing with lesser men on lesser missions. We are not merely witnessing the traditional assumption of divine interest in the military success of one party to a conflict; rather, Allen is accomplishing nothing less than the reclaiming of a continent in the name of a new government (not yet formed), by appealing to the * All quotations are from the most recent reprinting of the original version of the Narrative (New York, 1961). Page references are interpolated within the text parenthetically. THE CANADIAN REVIEW OF AMERICAN STUDIES, VOL. 1 1 NO. 1 1 SPRING 1970 usual witness. One can imagine the bewilderment of this rudelyawakened , undressed "capt ..,, at this answer: "In the name of Whom? and What?" It is the beginning of the John Brown myth of American character. But Allen's peculiarly American manners only make themselves obvious after his capture. Questioned by a British officer as to his identity, and being called "rebel" upon disclosing it, Allen refused to be intimidated by the threat of personal violence: I told him he would do well not to cane me, for I was not accustomed to it, and shook my fist at him, telling him that it was the beetle of mortality for him, if he offered to strike. (p. 23) Moments later, Allen offered, in a gambit of theatrical strategy, to accept death on behalf of the condemned men he had led into defeat (p. 23). He was apparently successful in preventing the execution of these men, Canadians as he calls them. (Canadians in fact they were, though Allen means by the term French Canadians, men with a personal reason to oppose the British administration of their nation, and who by making common cause with the Americans had both risked especial punishment at the hands of their captors, and no doubt established themselves as true Americans in Allen's eyes as well.) Thus Allen's attempt on Montreal, like Arnold's on Quebec, can be seen as not only a military thrust, but as an attempt to radicalize the Canadian population into opposed camps of allies and enemies: French and British, largely, though Allen had some English Canadian support. Later, "on board the Gaspee schooner," he deliberately continued to attract attention to himself: To give an instance upon being insulted, in a fit of anger I twisted off a nail with my teeth, which I took to be a ten-penny nail; it went through the mortise of the bar of my hand cuff...