1764. He went with the Connecticut troops on several expeditions
against the French forts at Crown Point and Ticonderoga, on Lake
Champlain and Lake George. He had plenty of exciting adventures
in this war, and long afterward, in his old age, he liked to tell
them over to his friends and neighbors at home. Some of the
stories have come down to us.

Once word came to the English camp at Fort Edward that a wagon
train bringing supplies had been plundered by a party of French
and Indians, and Major Robert Rogers, with his New England
Rangers and a detachment of Provincial troops,--some of whom were
under Putnam's command,--was sent out to intercept the enemy on
their retreat. These rangers, or scouts, had been drilled by
their famous leader until they almost equaled the Indians in
their own mode of fighting, and they were of great use in the
war. This time they were too late and the plunderers escaped, but
as other parties were said to be hovering near, Rogers spent some
days searching for them. He saw no signs of them and at last
turned back toward the fort.

One morning, contrary to his usual practice, he allowed some of
his men to fire at a mark for a wager. This was a dangerous thing
to do because they could never be sure that there were no enemies
lurking near. It happened this time that a large body of French
and Indians were not far off, and, hearing the firing, they came
up quickly and silently through the thick forest and hid
themselves in ambush, Indian fashion, near a clearing in the
woods where the tall trees had been cut down and a thicket of
small underbrush had grown up. The English were obliged to pass
this clearing on their way home and the only path across it was a