The Great Bore
A Souvenir Of The Hoosac Tunnel

65 western settlements of New England and as a menace to New Hampshire, whose encroachments Massachusetts was beginning to resent. It was originally nothing- more than one or two block houses, without the protection of a stockade. Cap- tain, afterwards Colonel, Ephraim Williams was the first commander of the defences in this neighbor- hood, with headquarters at Fort Massachusetts. On August 20, 1746, when Captain Williams was on an expedition against Canada, a band of 900 French and Indians, under General Rigaud de Vandreuil, suddenly appeared before the fort and demanded its surrender. Sergeant John A. Hawkes, who was in command, firmly refused to strike his colors, in spite of the fact that he had but a poor supply of ammunition, no artillery and a force of only eleven able-bodied fighting men. Then a siege began which lasted for thirty-six hours. At the end of that time Sergeant Hawkes was obliged to capitu- late and the.Frenchmen hoisted the flag of Prance, burned the fort, turned part of the prisoners over to the Indians and marched away to Canada with the rest. The bravery of Sergeant Hawkes in at- tempting to hold the fort against such overwhelming numbers was rewarded by promotion, and, after- wards, in the war of 175^ he rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. During the following year the