CHAPTER XVI.
No sooner had Great Britain been apprized of the alliance between France and her revolted colonies, than it was determined to evacuate Philadelphia, and concentrate the royal army at New-York. Accordingly, on the 18th of June, the British troops crossed the Delaware into New-Jersey, and commenced their march for New-York, ascending the east bank of the river to Allentown, and thence taking the lower road leading through Monmouth to Sandy Hook. General "Washington, anticipating this movement, had previously detached a division of the army, under General Maxwell, to impede the enemy's march. It was known that General Gates was approaching with the army from the North, and the enemy's motions were no sooner ascertained, than General Wayne was despatched, with one thousand chosen men, to strengthen the lines. The Marquis de Lafayette was directed to take command of the whole force thus sent in advance, while Washington himself moved rapidly forward with the main army. It was his design to bring on a general, and, if possible, a decisive engagement. The result of his movements for that object was the battle of Monmouth, fought on the 28th of June. The dispositions for this engagement were admirably arranged on the night of the 27th, the position of the enemy being such as to afford the best advantages for an attack upon his rear the moment he should get in motion. Such being the intentions of the commamander-in-chief, they were communicated to General Lee, who was ordered to make his dispositions accordingly, and to keep his troops lying upon their arms to be in readiness at the shortest notice. At five in the morning of the 28th, the front of the enemy was observed to be in motion, and orders were instantly despatched to General Lee to move on and attack, " unless there should be very powerful reasons to the contrary." Lee was also advised that "Washington was himself advancing to support him. After marching about five miles, to the great surprise and mortification of the Commander-in-chief, he met the whole advanced corps retreating, by the orders of Lee, without having made any opposition, except one fire given by a party under Colonel Butler, on their being charged by the enemy's cavalry, who were repulsed. Leo was sharply rebuked, and placed in arrest. Hurrying to the rear of the retreating corps, which the commander-in-chief found closely pressed by the enemy, he arrested their flight, re-formed them, and with the aid of some well-served pieces of artillery, at once checked the enemy's advance, and gained time for making such dispositions as the unexpected emergency required. The battle soon became general, and was obstinately contested at various points through the whole day, until dark, Sir Henry Clinton and General Washington heading their respective armies in person. By the misconduct of Lee, however, and an error of General Scott in the morning, advantages had been lost which entirely disconcerted the views of the commander-in-chief and deprived the American arms of a victory which was all but certain. Still, the fortunes of the day were so far recovered, that, from being the pursued, the Americans drove the enemy back over the ground they had followed, and recovered the field of battle, and possessed themselves of their dead. But as theyVOL.I.-DD
retreated behind a morass very difficult to pass, and had both flanks secured with thick woods, it was found impracticable for the Americans, fainting with fatigue, heat, and want of water, to do anything more that night.
Both armies encamped in the field, and lay upon their arms, Washington himself sleeping in his cloak, under a tree, in the midst of his soldiers. His intention was to renew and end the battle on the following morning, not doubting as to the issue. Indeed, the result of that day's fight was justly considered a victory by the American officers ; and but for the conduct of Lee in the morning, it would, almost beyond question, have been decisive. But the purpose of the commander-in-chief to renew the engagement was frustrated by a silent midnight retreat of the enemy--so silent, indeed, that his departure was not known until the morning. A variety of circumstances concurred to render a pursuit by the Americans unadvisable; among the principal of which were, the extreme heat of the weather, the fatigue of the army from its march through a deep sandy country, almost entirely destitute of water, and the distance the enemy had gained by his midnight march. A pursuit, it was believed, would answer no valuable purpose, and would certainly be fatal to numbers of the men, several of whom had perished of heat on the preceding day. The American commander thereupon drew off his army to the Hudson, crossed over, and once more established his headquarters at White Plains. Meantime, Sir Henry Clinton proceeded to Sandy Hook, and thence passed his troops over to New-York. The loss of the Americans in this battle was eight officers and sixty-one privates killed, and one hundred and sixty wounded. That of the enemy was three hundred and sixty-eight in killed, wounded, and missing, and about one hundred taken prisoners. One thousand of their men deserted on their march Both parties claimed the victory, which was, in fact, won by neither. The advantages, in the earlier part of the day, were in favour of the British ; in the after part, of the Americans. The stealthy retreat of the former, moreover, covered by the darkness, left no doubt as to which army was best prepared to renew the conflict with the return of daylight.
The French fleet, under the Count d'Estaing, consisting of twelve ships of the line and six frigates, having on board four thousand troops, arrived on the coast of Virginia about the 1st of July. The design of the French commander was to engage the British squadron in the Chesapeake. But, unfortunately, the latter had sailed for New-York a few days before. Thither the count followed the British admiral, but the bar of the New-York harbour would not allow the entrance of his heavy ships. An attack upon New-York thus proving to be impracticable, by the advice of General Washington it was determined to make an attempt upon Rhode Island, then occupied by six thousand British troops, commanded by Major-general Sir Robert Pigott. General Sullivan, with an army of ten thousand men, was lying in the neighbourhood of Providence. Count d'Estaing arrived off Newport on the 25th of July, and arrangements were soon adjusted between General Sullivan and himself for a combined attack upon the town of Newport, by land and sea. The assault was to be made on the 9th of August, for which purpose Sullivan moved down to Tiverton, where he was joined by General Green, and the ships of war entered the channel. But the militia not having joined the regular troops so promptly as was expected, General Sullivan judged it necessary to postpone the attack for a day or two. Meantime, Lord Howe appeared off the harbour with the British fleet, and the Count d'Estaing immediately put to sea to engage him. The French fleet having the weather gage, the British admiral weighed anchor and put to sea, followed by the count. A storm separated the fleets, so that no engagement took place; and on his return to port on the 19th, Count d'Estaing found it necessary to repair to Boston to refit. During the absence of the count, however, while in chase of Lord Howe, General Sullivan had crossed over to the island, and on the 15th laid siege to the town of Newport. But when the French admiral departed for Boston, the militia, disappointed and disheartened at being thus abandoned by their allies, left the service in such numbers, that Sullivan was compelled to raise the siege and retire. He was pursued to the distance of a mile north of Quaker Hill, where, on the 29th of August, was fought the battle of Rhode Island. It was a sharp and obstinate engagement of half an hour, at the end of which the enemy gave way and retreated. The loss of the Americans was two hundred and eleven; that of the enemy two hundred and sixty. Ascertaining, soon afterward, that strong re-enforcements were coming from New York to the aid of General Pigott, a resolution was immediately adopted by Sullivan to evacuate the island. This determination was executed on the night of the 30th-most luckily, as the event proved; for on the very next day Sir Henry Clinton arrived at Newport with four thousand troops, which re-enforcement would doubtless have enabled the enemy to cut off the retreat of the Americans.
In September, after the return of the British troops to New-York, strong divisions moved north-ward on each side of the Hudson River. By a detachment of one of these, under General Gray, a regiment of American cavalry, commanded by Colonel Baylor, was surprised while asleep at Tappan, and almost entirely cut off. The enemy rushed upon the sleeping troopers, numbering one hundred and four privates, with their bayonets. The loss, killed, wounded, and taken, was sixty-four. This exploit was very similar to that of the Paoli, under the same general, the preceding year.
In consequence of the hostile spirit very generally and extensively manifested by the Indians-the great Western tribes becoming more and more restiff-early in June, immediately preceding the affair of Wyoming, Congress had determined upon a more enlarged and decisive campaign against them. This had, indeed, become the more necessary from the belligerant indications among the Delawares and Shawanese, inhabiting the territory now forming the State of Ohio. At the commencement of the war, Koquethagaeehlon, the Delaware chief usually known as Captain White-Eyes, a firm friend of the colonies, had succeeded in preventing his people from taking up the hatchet against them, in opposition to the views of his rival chief, Captain Pipe. But in the spring of the present year, the policy of the latter had well nigh prevailed, through the revengeful machinations of three celebrated Loyalists, named M'Kee, Elliot, and Simon Girty, who had been confined at Pittsburgh as Tories ; but who, effecting their escape, traversed the Indian country to Detroit, proclaiming, as they went, that the Americans had resolved upon their destruction, and that their only chance of safety was to espouse the cause of the crown, and fight. Availing himself of the excitement created by those fugitives, Captain Pipe assembled a large number of his warriors, and proclaimed " every one an enemy to his country who should endeavour to persuade them against fighting the Americans, and declared that all such ought surely to be put to death." But White-Eyes was by no means inactive in his efforts to preserve peace. Collecting the people of his tribe, he addressed them with great earnestness and pathos. Observing that some of his warriors were preparing to take up the hatchet, he admonished them strong-
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ly against such a course, which, in the end, could only bring upon them sure destruction.
The counsel of White-Eyes, supported by a conciliatory message, which was received just in good time, from the Americans, prevailed for the moment, and the Delawares came to the unanimous determination to follow his advice, and his alone. But the hostile action of these people was only suspended for a short time, and it became necessary for more extended and efficient operations against nearly the whole race.* In the project of Congress already adverted to, it was intended that one expedition should move upon Detroit, while General Gates was instructed by resolution to co-operate
* Indeed, the Shawanese had not been remarkably quiet antecedent to the visitation of M'Kee, Elliot, and Girty, since they had for several years been engaged in a system of predatory warfare against the celebrated Colonel Daniel Boon and his adventurous companions, almost from the day they made their appearance upon the banks of the Ohio, with their families, in 1773, when tile settlement of the present State of Kentucky was commenced. Boon had been engaged with Lord Dunmore in his war against the Shawanese in 1774. In the following year he was attacked in Boonsborough, his principal settlement ; and through the entire years of 1776 and 1777, hostilities were actively prosecuted by the savages against the advancing colonists. In one of the earlier battles Boon had lost a son. A second son fell afterward, and his daughter was taken a captive, but bravely rescued by the chivalrous father. In April, 1777, the Indians so divided their forces as to fall upon all the infant settlements at once, and their little forts only saved the people from destruction. On the 15th of April, Boonsburough was attacked by one hundred Indians, at which time the inhabitants suffered severely. On the 19th, Colonel Logan's fort was attacked by a force of two hundred Indians, but they were repulsed by the garrison, consisting of only thirteen men, two of whom were killed. Re-enforcements arriving from Virginia, the skirmishes became almost daily. In February of the present year (1778) Boonsborough was again attacked, and the gallant colonel himself taken prisoner. He was taken first to Chllicothe, and thence to Detroit, where he was treated with humanity by Colonel Hamilton, the governor, who offered the Indians -£100 if they would surrender him into his hands, that he might liberate him on his parole. But having imbibed a strong affection for their most subtle and successful enemy, the Indians declined the offer. Taking him back to Chilicothe, the colonel was duly adopted into one of the Shawnese families as a son, to whom his new parents became strongly attached, he soon acquired their confidence to such an extent, that they allowed him to wander off and hunt by himself. Ascertaining, however, that they were meditating another descent upon Boonsborough, he absconded, and, eluding pursuit reached his home on the 20th of June.
with that expedition by carrying the war into the Seneca country, and also to dispossess the enemy of Oswego, should he be found in the occupancy of that post. It appears that, at the very moment of the invasion of Wyoming, there was a delegation of Seneca chiefs at Philadelphia ; but having taken their departure without communicating with the government, a resolution was passed by Congress, immediately upon the receipt of Colonel Z. Butler's despatches, instructing the board of war to send after the chiefs, and ascertain from them in what character, and for what purpose, they had made the said visit; and also to inquire whether the Seneca warriors had not been engaged in hostilities against the United States. On the 16th of July information was received that the chiefs refused to return, and instructions to General Schuyler were proposed, directing him to intercept and detain them at Albany. The motion was negatived; but on the 25th of July, Congress having ascertained that the Senecas were actually engaged in the invasion of Wyoming, " aided by Tories and other banditti from the frontiers of New-York, New-Jersey, and Pennsylvania," it was resolved that the expedition against the hostiles of the Six Nations should, be forwarded with all possible despatch. In the mean time, however, from the expensiveness of the undertaking, the expedition against Detroit was reluctantly abandoned; but, in lieu thereof, General M'lntosh, commanding the Western Department, was ordered to proceed from Pittsburgh against those of the Indian towns the destruction of which, in his opinion, would tend most effectually to intimidate and chastise them. M'lntosh had been stationed at Pittsburgh early in the spring, and, with a small party of regulars and militia, had descended the Ohio about thirty miles, and erected a fort, which was called by his own name, at Beavertown. It was a small work, built of strong stockades, and furnished with bastions mounting one six-pounder each. The situation was well chosen, as a point affording the best facilities for intercepting the war parties of the Western Indians in their frequent hostile incursions the present year.
This expedition was doubtless judged the more important from the increasing audacity of the Indians on the Ohio border of Virginia, now forming the State of Kentucky. In August, Colonel Boon had led a small band of nineteen men against one of the Indian towns on the Scioto, before reaching which he fell in with and dispersed a party of forty Indians then on their way to Boonsborough. The colonel found the town at Point Creek deserted, and learned that their whole force had gone against his own settlement, to the defence of which he was, consequently, compelled to hasten back. Fortunately, he anticipated their arrival by a few hours, and was enabled to prepare his little garrison for defence. On the 8th of August, the Indians, to the number of about four hundred and fifty, arrived before the fort, led, in addition to their own chiefs, by Captain Duquesne, and eleven other Canadian Frenchmen. The garrison was formally summoned to surrender, which summons was peremptorily refused. A treaty was then proposed by the besiegers, and acceded to, the Indians requiring that nine men should be sent out to them as negotiators. But this movement proved to be an artifice, by means of which they hoped to gain access to the fort. An attempt to grapple with and carry off the nine negotiators, though happily unsuccessful, disclosed their treacherous design. The. besiegers then attempted a regular approach from the river's brink by mining; but finding that the garrison had discovered their purpose, and were engaged in countermining them, the siege was abandoned on the 20th of August. The loss of the enemy was thirty-seven killed, and a much larger number wounded. The loss of the garrison was only two men killed and four wounded.
But, as we have seen, the expedition of General M'lntosh, as authorized by the vote of Congress recently cited, was specially destined against the Sandusky towns. It was commanded by the general himself, and consisted of one thousand men; but such were the delays in getting it on foot, that the officers, on arriving at Tuscarawa, judged it imprudent to proceed farther at such an advanced season of the year. They therefore halted at that place, and built Fort Laurens, in which M'lntosh left a garrison of one hundred and fifty men, under the command of Colonel John Gibson, and returned himself to Fort Pitt for the winter.
Connected with these distant Indian operations of the summer of 1778, was one equally distinguished by the boldness of its conception and the brilliancy of its execution. The increasing hostility of the remote tribes upon the waters of the Mississippi and its tributaries had induced a belief that a powerful influence must have been exerted upon their minds by the settlements planted long before at Kaskaskias, and in the country of the Upper Mississippi, by the French, in connexion with Canada. For the purpose of striking at once at the root of the evil, an expedition was organized early in the season, the object of which was to invade and take possession of those settlements. The command was intrusted to Colonel George Rogers Clarke, of Virginia, a bold and experienced border officer; and his whole force, destined to penetrate twelve hundred miles through a wilderness, which was, in fact, the enemy's country, did not exceed two hundred men. The rendezvous of this little army was at the Great Kanhawa, where they were attacked by a superior Indian force before their embarcation. But, finding they were not able to make any impression upon the fort, the assailants drew off, having killed but one man and wounded one or two more. Descending to the falls of the Ohio, a small fort was erected at that place, in which a garrison was left of ten or twelve families. Arriving within about sixty miles of the mouth of the Ohio, the troops were landed, and, with only four days' provisions, marched for the Illinois. They reached the precincts of Kaskaskias at midnight on the sixth day, having marched two days without food, and determined forthwith, and unanimously, to take the town or die in the attempt. The town was strongly fortified, and contained about two hundred and fifty well-built houses ; but the approach of the invaders was unknown ; the people and the garrison were alike slumbering in security; and both town and fort were taken, the latter being carried by surprise, although the defences were sufficiently strong to resist a thousand men. The commanding officer, Philip Rocheblave, was made prisoner; and among his papers, falling into the hands of Colonel Clarke, were the instructions which he had from time to time received from the British governors of Quebec, Detroit, and Michilimackinack, urging him to stimulate the Indians to war by the proffer of large bounties for scalps. Rocheblave was sent a prisoner to Williamsburg, in Virginia, and with him were sent the papers taken from his portfolio.
On the day after the fall of Kaskaskias, Captain Joseph Bowman, at the head of thirty mounted men, was sent to attack three other towns upon the Mississippi, the first of which, called Parraderuski, distant fifteen miles from Kaskaskias, was surprised, and taken without opposition, the inhabitants at once assenting to the terms of the conqueror. The next town was St. Philip's, distant nine miles farther up. The force of Captain Bowman was so small, that he wisely determined to make a descent upon St. Philip's in the night, that his strength, or, rather, his weakness, might be concealed. The precaution ensured success; and the inhabitants, with whom the whole negotiation was conducted in the night, acceded to the terms prescribed. From St. Philip's, Captain Bowman directed his course upon the yet more considerable town of Cauhow, distant between forty and fifty miles. This town contained about one hundred families, and was also approached secretly, and entered in the night. Captain Bowman, with his troop, rode directly to the quarters of the commander, and demanded the surrender of himself and the whole town, which was immediately complied with. Taking possession of a large stone house, well fortified, the "bold dragoon" immediately established his quarters therein, and awaited the morning's dawn, which would disclose to the people the diminutive force to which they had surrendered. Enraged at the discovery, one of the enemy threatened to bring a body of one hundred and fifty Indians against the little American squadron, and cut them on". But he was secured, and in the course of ten days upward of three hundred of the inhabitants became so reconciled to their change of masters as to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. Leaving a small guard at Cauhow, Captain Bowman returned to Kaskaskias.
But the enemy on the New-York frontiers were by no means inactive. In addition to the severe affair in the Cobleskill settlement, in which Captain Christian Brown was the leader of the American militia and a small band of regulars, as noted in the last preceding chapter but one, a large band of Indians and Tories, under the conduct of Brant and Barent Frey, broke into the same district at the close of May, and inflicted no small degree of damage, by the destruction of both life and property. They were met by Captain Patrick, belonging to Colonel Alden's regiment, and a handful of troops, who were entirely cut to pieces. Captain Patrick fell early in the engagement. His lieutenant, a corporal, and nineteen men, were also killed. The command then devolved upon a sergeant, who fought bravely, as all had done. But they were surrounded by a force greatly superior in numbers, and but four men, exclusive of the sergeant, escaped, all wounded. The bodies of Patrick and his lieutenant were shockingly mutilated. A portion of the settlement was burned, and the settlement of Turlock, in the same vicinity, was also ravaged.
Nor was this all. In the course of the summer, and probably at about the time of Colonel Hartley's expedition into the country above Wyoming, one of the M'Donalds, who had fled from Johnstown, a Loyalist officer, distinguished for his activity, made a sudden irruption into the Schoharie settlements, at the head of about three hundred Tories and Indians, burning houses, and killing and making prisoners such of the inhabitants as came in his way, and were not able to make their escape. The little fortress of Schoharie was occupied by a small garrison, commanded by Colonel Vrooman, one of that class of men who, though officers, are certain never to be called soldiers. They saw the ravages of the enemy-the conflagrations by night rendering visible the acts of outrage committed by day-but, from their own weakness, dared not to venture forth, or make a show of opposition. The brave Colonel Harper was in the fort with Vrooman, and was little satisfied with the course of that officer. Leaving the fort, therefore, himself, he succeeded in making his way through the enemy, mounted his horse, and started express for Albany. His movement was discovered, and several Tories and Indians were despatched in pursuit. They overtook him in the night, at an inn at Fox's Creek, after he had retired to bed. Hearing the noise below, the colonel sprang up in full panoply, and as they broke open the door, which he had locked, he presented his arms with such earnestness that they recoiled. Standing upon the watch until the dawn of morning, he again succeeded in getting to horse, and rode off. One of the Indians followed him almost to Albany, the colonel being obliged frequently to turn upon his dusky pursuer, who as often took to his heels as his pursuit was discovered. Having communicated the situation of affairs in the Schoharie Valley to Colonel Gansevoort, a squadron of cavalry was forthwith detached to their assistance. The detachment rode all night, and early on the following morning, to the great joy of the terrified inhabitants who remained, the tramp of hoofs announced the approach of succours. The spirited light-horsemen had no sooner sounded a charge and made a dash upon the besiegers, led on by Harper, than the troops sallied out from the fort, and a precipitate retreat of the enemy was the consequence.
The people of Schoharie had suffered severely from the scouts and scalping parties of the enemy during the summer, but their bravery in individual contests had amply avenged their wrongs. On one occasion a party of seven Indians made prisoner of a Mr. Sawyer, whom they bound and marched off into the wilderness. Having proceeded eight or ten miles, they laid themselves down to sleep for the night. But their prisoner had been less effectually secured than they supposed. In the course of the night he succeeded in disengaging his hands, and cautiously taking a hatchet from the girdle of one of the Indians, he despatched six of them in rapid succession, and wounded the seventh, who made his escape. Having thus relieved himself of his keepers, Sawyer returned home in safety, and at his leisure.
Soon after the battle of Monmouth, Lieutenant-colonel William Butler, with one of the Pennsylvania regiments and a detachment of Morgan's riflemen, was ordered to the North, and stationed at
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Schoharie. Butler was a brave and experienced officer, especially qualified for the service upon which he was appointed. His arrival in Schoharie had a salutary effect, by discouraging the disaffected, and, by the presence of a stronger force than had yet been among them, establishing the confidence and reviving the spirits of the people. Several of his scouting parties also returned with good success. Attached to the rifle corps, under Captain Long, were several bold spirits, who signalized themselves so greatly in the partisan warfare in which they were engaged, that many of their exploits are freshly remembered among the inhabitants of Schoharie to this day. Of this number were David Elerson, and a Virginian named Murphy. The first expedition of Captain Long was directed to the valley of the Charlotte River, one of the upper tributaries of the Susquehanna, flowing from the mountains south of Schoharie. The object was to arrest and bring to the fort a conspicuous Tory living upon that stream, named Service. His house being a point of rendezvous and supply for the Tory and Indian scouts, it was desirable that it should be broken up. While on his way to the place of destination, it was the good fortune of Captain Long to intercept a company of Tories, enlisted for the king's service, in the neighbourhood of Catskill, by a Captain Smith, who were then on their way to join Sir John Johnson at Niagara. Smith was killed by the simultaneous shots of Elerson and his captain, they being a few rods in advance at the moment when the Tory leader emerged at the head of his men from a thicket. His followers fled in every direction. They had intended to lodge that night with Service, but that unfortunate man had guests of quite another character. While unapprized of danger, his house was surrounded by the troops of Long, when in an instant Murphy and Elerson rushed in, and made him a prisoner. Having been informed that he must accompany them to Schoharie, on leaving his house he seized an axe standing by the door, which he poised, and directed for a blow at the head of Murphy. The latter was too quick-sighted to receive it; but as he sprang aside to avoid the descending weapon, Service fell dead from the rifle of Elerson.
After his term of enlistment had expired, Murphy remained in Schoharie, and made war on his own account. He was as remarkable for his fleetness as for his courage and great precision in firing. He used a double-barrelled rifle ; and the fact of his frequently firing twice in succession without stopping to load, and always bringing down his man, rendered him a terror to the Indians. Not knowing the peculiar construction of his rifle, they were impressed with the belief that it was a charmed weapon, and supposed he could continue firing as long and as often as he pleased without loading at all. He fought the savages after their own fashion; was more than their equal in stratagem or with his heels, and, the greater the apparent danger he was encountering, the greater was his delight. When he had opportunity, he took pattern of the Indians in scalping those who fell by his unerring aim; and it was said that he killed forty of their warriors with his own hands.
Colonel Gansevoort yet remained in the command of Fort Schuyler, and was continued there during nearly the whole year, although, weared by inaction, Willett and others of his officers made a strong and formal effort to be relieved, that their regiment might have an opportunity to distinguish themselves in the field with the main army. At Fort Schuyler they could have little else to do than observe the motions of the enemy on the lakes and the St. Lawrence, and to watch, and occasionally cut off, a hostile party when venturing too near the garrison. But, from the correspondence of the officers, it would appear that the troops of the garrison must have been the severest sufferers from this petty mode of warfare, since the enemy seemed ever to be hovering in the precincts, ready to bring down or carry into captivity such straggling soldiers as ventured beyond musket-shot from the fort.*
Early in July, Lieutenant M'Clellan, an active and efficient officer, was sent with a small party to destroy the buildings and public works at Oswego, which it was ascertained were not at that momentin the occupation of the enemy. The object of the expedition was accomplished, and the buildings were burned to the ground, together with a quantity of ammunition, provisions, and other public stores. It seems unaccountable that this post was left thus wholly unprotected; the only occupants found by the American party being a woman and her children, and a lad fourteen years old. The woman and her family, together with her furniture and a suitable supply of provisions, were placed in an out-building, and left without farther molestation. The boy was brought off as a prisoner, and furnished some important information touching the movements of the
* As an example of these individual murders, the following passage is copied from a MS. letter from Major Robert Cochran to Colonel Gansevoort, dated September 8, 1778. During the occasional absences of Colonel Gansevoort, Major Cochran was in command of the post: "This morning Benjamin Acker, of Captain De Witt's company, who was out in the meadow, was killed and scalped by a party of Indians, who were seen and fired at by the sentinel near Brodack's house. I heard the firing in my room, and ran to tile office of the guard to know what was the matter. I was informed that a party of Indians had fired upon one of our men who had gone to catch a horse, and that he had either been killed or taken prisoner. I ordered Captain Bleecker to go out immediately, with the guard just parading, to see if he could find him dead or alive. They found Acker lying dead. He was scalped, and a weapon about two feet and a half long, like this"-[here Major Cochran gave a drawing of the instrument-a war club, with a blade like the spear of a lance inserted in the side, near the upper end of it]-"lying near him. This lance-head had been stuck several times in his body. It is supposed to have been left behind on purpose, as there were several marks on it, denoting the number of persons killed and scalps taken by the means of it." [Captain Bleecker, mentioned in the foregoing extract, is the venerable Leonard Bleecker, yet living at Sing Sing. He was a very active and efficient officer at Fort Schuyler for a long time.]
enemy between, their island, rendezvous in the St. Lawrence and Niagara.
But Colonel Gansevoort had some serious troubles to encounter within the garrison, and some painful duties to execute. Notwithstanding the high character which the forces constituting the garrison had acquired, and the sound patriotism of his officers, the spirit of disaffection appeared among them in the spring, and the early part of the summer, to an alarming extent. Distant as was the post of Fort Schuyler from New-York, Sir Henry Clinton had succeeded in the introduction of an emissary within the fort, in the character of a recruit. His name was Samuel Geake. He was an American soldier, and had been corrupted while a prisoner in New York, whence he was sent forth, in company with Major Hammell, also an American prisoner, whose virtue yielded to the all-subduing power of gold. Geake accompanied Hammell to Poughkeepsie, where, in furtherance of his iniquitous designs, he enlisted in Captain Abraham Swartwout's company, and was transferred to Fort Schuyler, to join Colonel Gansevoort's regiment; into which place, for specific objects, he was instructed, to insinuate himself by an aid-de-camp of Sir Henry Clinton. After Hammell's arrest, Colonel Varick wrote to Gansevoort, putting him on his guard as to the character of Geake. A sergeant named Kartele was employed by Colonel Gansevoort to ingratiate himself in Geake's confidence, and, if possible, ascertain his true character, and penetrate his designs. The commission was successfully executed by the sergeant, and the whole circumstances of Hammell's employment by the enemy, and his own, were elicited. Geake was thereupon arrested, but not until he had made great progress in his designs, and was on the eve of desertion, for the purpose of joining the British army in Philadelphia. He was tried by a court-martial, made a full confession, and, with his Ee2
confederates, was sentenced to death. The sentence was not carried into execution against Geake, not only because the constitution of the court was irregular, but because of the desire of the commander-in-chief to spare him as a witness against Hammell.
The position of Fort Schuyler was of the first importance, as the key to the western entrance of the Mohawk country; but it was, nevertheless, too remote from the upper German settlements of the valley to afford them protection from sudden irruptions of the enemy, avoiding that fortress in their approach. The consequence was, that the work of destruction was actively prosecuted among the settlements referred to during the summer of this year. The first blow was struck upon a small and rather secluded hamlet, called Andrus-town, situated about six miles southeast of the German Flatts, on the 18th of July, by a small party of Indians led by Brant in person. This settlement consisted of seven families, planted upon a lot of one thousand acres. They were in affluent circumstances for borderers, and the object of the invasion was plunder. The settlement was utterly destroyed everything of value that could be removed was carried away-the houses and other buildings were reduced to ashes-an aged man named Bell, with his son and two others, was killed-one other inhabitant perished in the names of his own house-and the remainder of the little colony were carried into captivity. Advices of this catastrophe had no sooner reached the Flatts than a party of resolute Whig's determined to pursue the marauders, among whom was John Frank, one of the Committee of Safety. Arriving at the scene of desolation, they hastily buried the dead, and continued their march, accompanied by six or seven friendly Indians, to the Little Lakes, where, also, was a small white colony known as "Young's Settlement," from the name of its founder. Here it was discovered that the enemy was so far in advance, that the chase was relinquished. But as Young, the head man of the settlement, was a Tory, as also was his next neighbour, a man named Collyer, the exasperated Whigs avenged, to a small extent, the destruction of Andrus-town, by plundering and burning their habitations.
But the most considerable event of the season in that vicinity was the entire destruction of the comparatively extensive and populous settlement of the German Flatts. This settlement, originally called Burnetsfield, from the circumstance that the patent had been granted by Governor Burnet, extended over the richest and most beautiful section of the Mohawk Valley, comprehending the broad alluvial lands directly beyond the junction of the West Canada Creek and the river, and including about ten miles of the valley from east to west. Midway of the settlement, on the south side of the river, yet stands the ancient stone church, the westernmost of the line of those structures built under the auspices of Sir William Johnson. A short distance east of the church stood the large and massive-built stone mansion of the Herkimer family, which, like the church itself, was used as a fort. Hence it was called Fort Herkimer. On the north side of the river, upon a gravelly plain, elevated some ten or fifteen feet above the surrounding flatts, stood Fort Dayton.*
At the time of which we are writing, the settle-
* The present site of the village of Herkimer, in the town of the same name, and one of the most beautiful localities in America. The name of German Flatts was designed for this town, which would have been the most appropriate, as Herkimer would have been for the town on the south side of the river, now called German Flatts, where the flatts are far less extensive, and where the Herkimer family resided. The mistake was made by the Legislature when the towns were named. This explanation, together with the geographical description in the text, is necessary, to prevent confusion in regard to the localities of Forts Dayton and Herkimer, in the record of subsequent events.
ment on the south side of the river numbered thirty-four dwelling-houses, end there were about an equal number upon the north side, together with as many barns and other out-buildings, and several mills. The population, for the number of houses, was numerous. The lands, rich by nature, and well cultivated, had that year brought forth by handfuls; so that the barns were amply stored with their products.
It was at the close of August, or early in the month of September, that this fine district was laid waste by the Indians under the direction of Brant. Most providentially, however, the invasion was attended with the loss of but two lives; one man being killed outright, and another, named M'Ginnis, perished in the flames. The particulars of this hostile irruption were these : Entertaining some suspicions of Brant, who was at Unadilla, a scout of four men had been despatched into that vicinity for observation. Three of these men were killed at the Edmeston settlement. The fourth, John Helmer, succeeded in making his escape, and returned to the flatts at half an hour before sundown, just in time to announce that Brant, with a large body of Indians, was advancing, and would, in a few hours, be upon them. All was, of course, terror and alarm through the settlement; and the inhabitants, men, women, and children, were gathered into Forts Dayton and Herkimer for security. In flying to those defences, they gathered up the most valuable of their stuff, and, by means of boats and canoes upon the river, succeeded, in the course of the evening, in collecting a large portion of their best articles of furniture. But they had no time to look after their flocks and herds.
Early in the evening, Brant arrived at the edge of the settlement, but as the night came on excessively dark and rainy, he halted with his forces in a ravine, near the house of his Tory friend, Shoemaker, where the younger Butler and his party were captured the preceding year. Here the chieftain lay with his warriors until the storm broke away towards morning, unconscious that his approach had been notified to the people by the scout in season to enable them to escape the blow of his uplifted arm. Before the dawn he was on foot, and his warriors were sweeping through the settlement; so that the torch might be almost simultaneously applied to every building it contained. Just as the day was breaking in the east, the fires were kindled, and the whole section of the valley was speedily illuminated by the flames of houses and barns, and all things else combustible. The spectacle, to the people in the forts, was one of melancholy grandeur. Every family saw the flames and smoke of its own domicil ascending to the skies, and every farmer the whole product of his labour for the season dissolving into ashes.
Having no fire-arms larger than their rifles, the Indians avoided even a demonstration against the forts, notwithstanding their chagrin that neither scalps nor prisoners were to grace their triumph. But as the light of day advanced, their warriors were seen singly, or in small groups, scouring the fields, and driving away all the horses, sheep, and black cattle that could be found. Nothing upon which they could lay their hands was left; and the settlement, which, but the day before, for ten miles, had smiled in plenty and in beauty, was now houseless and destitute. Happily, however, of human life there was no greater sacrifice than has already been mentioned. After the Indians had decamped with their booty, a force of between three and four hundred militiamen collected, and went in pursuit, following as far as Edmeston's plantation on the Unadilla River, where the bodies of the three scouts were found and buried. But no other results attended this expedition. A party of the Oneida Inone of the Unadilla settlements burned several houses, retook some of the cattle driven from the German Flatts, and brought off a number of prisoners.
The Oneidas, with very few exceptions, were ever faithful to the cause of the Whigs, and sometimes fought with great personal bravery. The Oriskany clan of that nation joined General Herkimer on the morning of his disastrous battle, under their chiefs Cornelius and Colonel Honyerry, and sustained themselves valiantly in that murderous conflict.
But the acquisitions of booty by the Indians at the German Flatts were more than counterbalanced, a few days afterward, by their losses in their own chief towns, Unadilla and Oghkwaga, which were invaded, and in turn laid waste, by Colonel William Butler, with the 4th Pennsylvania regiment, a detachment of Colonel Morgan's riflemen, then recently stationed at Schoharie, as we have already seen, and a corps of twenty rangers. Having marched from Schoharie to the head waters of the Delaware, and descended that stream two days' march, Colonel Butler struck off thence to the Susquehanna, upon which he emerged in the neighbourhood of Unadilla. He approached the settlement with great caution, but the enemy had left the place several days before. Two of the white settlers, Tories, were made prisoners, however, one of whom was compelled to guide the forces of Butler to Oghkwaga, which service he performed. The town was 'taken possession of without interruption, the Indians having fled the day before in the greatest confusion, leaving behind a large quantity of corn, their dogs, some cattle, and a great part of their household goods. The march of Butler's troops had been fatiguing, and the vegetables and poultry, which they found here in great abundance, enabled them to fare sumptuously during their stay. The town was uncommonly well built for an Indian settlement, there being a considerable number of good farmhouses on either side of the river. These were all destroyed, together with the Indian castle three miles farther down the river, as also large quantities of provisions, intended for their winter's supply. They saw nothing of the enemy, and lost only one man at that place, who was shot by an Indian straggler lurking in ambush. Returning to Unadilla, that settlement, upon both sides of the river, was burned, as also a gristmill and sawmill, the only ones in the Susquehanna Valley.
But although, so far as fighting was concerned, it was an easy campaign, still the difficulties encountered by the expedition were very great, and such as could not have been undergone but by men possessing a largo share of hardiness, both of body and mind. They were obliged to carry their provisions on their backs, and, thus loaded, frequently to ford creeks and rivers. After the toils of hard marches, they were obliged to camp down during wet and chilly nights without covering, or even the means of keeping their arms dry. They completed their work in sixteen days, -and returned to Schoharie. But the Indians were not slow in taking their revenge for this destruction of their towns. An Indian's vengeance slumbers no longer than until an opportunity is afforded for sating it, as will appear in the ensuing chapter.
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