CONTENTS—A spirit of strife—The French war—British American Troops—
Former comrades opposed—Number of U. E. Loyalists in the field—
General Burgoyne—Defeat—First reverse of British arms—The
campaign—Colonel St. Leger—Fort Stanwix—Colonel Baume—Battle of
Bennington—General Herkimer—Gates—Schuyler—Braemar Heights—
Saratoga—Surrender—The result upon the people—Sir John Johnson—Sir
William—Sketch—Indian Chief—Laced coat—Indian’s dream—It comes to
pass—Sir William dreams—It also comes to pass—Too hard a dream—Sir
John—Attempt to arrest—Escape—Starving—Royal Greens—Johnson’s
losses—Living in Canada—Death—Principal Corps of Royalists—King’s
Rangers—Queen’s Rangers—Major Rogers—Simcoe—The Rangers in Upper
Canada—Disbanded—The Hessians.
The seven years’ war between Canada and New England, in which a large
number of the Colonists were engaged, had created not a few officers of
military worth and talent, while a spirit of strife and contention had
been engendered among the people generally. The Colonial war, carried on
with so much determination, was stimulated, not so much by the English
nation at home as by New Englanders. It was they who were chiefly
interested in the overthrow of French power in Canada. While money and
men had been freely granted by the Imperial Government, the several
colonies had also freely contributed. They “furnished in that war quite
twenty-eight thousand men, in more than one of the campaigns, and every
year to the extent of their ability.” “On the ocean, full twelve
thousand seamen were enlisted in the Royal Navy and in the Colonial
Privateers.” In this manner had been formed a taste for military life,
which waited to be gratified, or sought for food. When, therefore, the
unsavory acts of England wounded the Colonial vanity, and demagogues
traversed the country to embitter the feelings of the mass against the
king, the hot-headed were not slow to advise an appeal to arms. At the
same time, the loyal in heart, the conservators of Imperial interest,
viewing with wonder and alarm the manifestation of fratricidal war—of
rebellion, felt it their duty to take up arms against the unprincipled
(and often dishonest) agitators, and endeavor to crush out the spirit of
revolt. And thus it came, that very many who had fought side by side at
Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Duquesne, Niagara, Oswego, Frontenac,
Montreal, and around Quebec, under a common flag, were now to be arrayed
in hostile bands. Not state against state, nor yet merely neighbor
against neighbor, but brother against brother, and father against son!
Civil war, of all wars, is the most terrible: in addition to the horrors
of the battle-field, there is an upheaving of the very foundation of
society. All the feelings of brotherhood, of Christian love, are
paralyzed, and the demon of destruction and cruelty is successfully
invoked.
Behold, then, the British Americans divided into two parties; each
buckling on the armor to protect from the other, and sharpening the
weapons of warfare to encounter his kindred foe. The contest of 1776-‘83
is most generally looked upon as one between the English and Americans;
but in reality it was, at first—so far as fighting went—between the
conservative and rebel Americans. In an address to the king, presented
by the loyalists in 1779, it is stated that the number of native
Americans in his service exceeded those enlisted by Congress. Another
address, in 1782, says that “there are more men in his Majesty’s
provincial regiments than there is in the continental service.” Sabine
says that “there were 25,000, at the lowest computation.” If such be the
case, the question may well be asked, how came it that the rebels
succeeded? Looking at the matter from our distant stand-point, through
the light of events we find recorded, there seems but one conclusion at
which we may arrive, namely, that the disaster to the British arms was
due—altogether due—to the incapacity of certain of the generals to whom
was intrusted the Imperial interests in America.
THE COMBATANTS—BURGOYNE.
The most notable instance of mistaken generalship was that of Burgoyne.
His campaign in the summer of 1777, and the final overthrow of his army
and surrender at Saratoga, will engage our particular attention;
inasmuch as it was the first decided reverse to the British arms, and by
giving courage to the rebels, assisted much to further their cause.
Thereby their faith was strengthened, and the number of rebels increased
from no inconsiderable class, who waited to join the strongest party.
Again, the scene of this campaign was close to the borders of Canada,
and there followed a speedy escape of the first refugees from the Mohawk
valley and the Upper Hudson to the friendly shores of the St. Lawrence.
A year had elapsed since the Declaration of Independence, and England
had sent troops to America, with the view of assisting the forces there
to subdue the malcontents. In the early part of July, Burgoyne set out
from Lower Canada with about 8,500 soldiers, 500 Indians, and 150
Canadians, intending to traverse the country to Albany, possessing
himself of all rebel strongholds on the way, and thence descend along
the river Hudson, to New York, to form a junction with General Howe,
that city having been captured from the rebels the 15th September
previous. Passing by way of Lake Champlain, he encountered the enemy on
the 6th July, and captured Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, with 128
cannon, several armed vessels, a quantity of baggage, ammunition and
provisions. “This easy conquest inflamed his imagination.” The first
step towards the defeat of his army was the unsuccessful attempt of
Colonel St. Leger, with 800 men, who ascended the St. Lawrence to
Oswego, and thence up the river, to take Fort Stanwix (Rome), intending
to descend the Mohawk and join Burgoyne with his main force, as he
entered the head of the valley of the Hudson. Colonel St. Leger arrived
at Fort Stanwix on the 3rd August, 1777. For a time he was the winner;
but for some reason, it is said that the Indians suddenly left him, and
his troops, seized with a panic, fled. In the meantime, General Burgoyne
was pursuing his way, having driven General Schuyler from Lake St.
George to the mouth of the Mohawk river.
Burgoyne, flushed with this renewed success, after his late capture of
Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, vainly supposed he could advance
steadily down the Hudson. He sent a body of men, 500 strong, under
Colonel Baume, into the interior, eastward, with the view of encouraging
the inhabitants to continued loyalty, and of arresting the machinations
of the rebels. Near Bennington the rebels had an important post, with
magazines, and a large force under General Stark. Baume, ignorant of
their strength, rushed headlong against the enemy. Nothing daunted, he
led on his 500 brave men. For two hours he contended with the unequal
foe, when his troops were almost annihilated, and he fell from his
horse, mortally wounded. But few escaped to tell the tale. Meanwhile,
Burgoyne, apprised of the danger surrounding Baume, had sent assistance
under Colonel Breynan. Unfortunately, they had not much ammunition, and,
after fighting until all was exhausted, they had to flee. These three
reverses paved the way for the final overthrow of Burgoyne. He was still
marching forward, bent on reaching Albany, to accomplish the object of
the campaign—a juncture with the army of General Howe. But now in his
rear, to the west, instead of Colonel St. Leger descending the Mohawk,
was General Herkimer, who had dispersed St. Leger’s force; and to the
east was General Stark, flushed with his victories over Baume and
Breynan. Burgoyne met Gates at last on Braemar heights, and again, and
for the last time, led his troops on to victory, although the contest
was well sustained. General Schuyler had intrenched his forces at the
mouth of the Mohawk, and Burgoyne, having waited until his provision was
exhausted, at last resolved to make an assault. It was bravely made, but
without success; and before night-fall the army was retreating. Night,
instead of enabling them to regain their spirits and renew their ardor,
only brought the intelligence of the defeats previously sustained at
Stanwix and Bennington. This was the 7th October. Flight now was the
only possible chance for safety. The tents were left standing; his sick
and wounded forsaken. But the enemy now surrounded him; the places he
had taken were already re-taken; and upon the 10th of the month he found
himself helpless upon the fields of Saratoga, where he surrendered. The
whole of the men were sent to Boston and other places south, there to
languish in prison.
Thus it came that the inhabitants in this section of the country came
under the power of the rebels, and those who had adhered to the loyal
side were mercilessly driven away at the point of the bayonet. The
writer has heard too many accounts of the extreme cruelty practised at
this time to doubt that such took place, or question the fiendish nature
of the acts practised by the successful rebels against, not foes in
arms, but the helpless. Many thus driven away (and these were the first
refugees who entered Canada) suffered great hardships all through the
winter. Most of the men entered the ranks subsequently, while not a few,
from their knowledge of the country, undertook the trying and
venturesome engagement of spies. The families gathered around the forts
upon the borders had to live upon the fare supplied by the commissariat
of the army. A large number were collected at Mishish; and the story
goes that a Frenchman, whose duty it was to deal out the supplies, did
so with much of bad conduct and cruel treatment.
SIR JOHN JOHNSON.
Among the officers who served with General Burgoyne was Sir John
Johnson, who had been the first to suffer persecution, the first to
become a refugee, and who became a principal pioneer in Upper Canada.
“His father, Sir William Johnson, was a native of Ireland, of whom it
was said, in 1755, that he had long resided upon the Mohawk river, in
the western part of New York, where he had acquired a considerable
estate, and was universally beloved, not only by the inhabitants but
also by the neighboring Indians, whose language he had learned and whose
affections he had gained, by his humanity and affability. This led to
his appointment as agent for Indian affairs, on the part of Great
Britain, and he was said to be ‘the soul of all their transactions with
the savages.’”
Of Sir William’s talents and shrewdness in dealing with the likewise
shrewd Indian, the following is found in Sabine: “Allen relates that on
his receiving from England some finely-laced clothes, the Mohawk chief
became possessed with the desire of equalling the baronet in the
splendor of his apparel, and, with a demure face, pretended to have
dreamed that Sir William had presented him with a suit of the decorated
garments. As the solemn hint could not be mistaken or avoided, the
Indian monarch was gratified, and went away, highly pleased with the
success of his device. But alas for Hendrick’s shortsighted sagacity! In
a few days Sir William, in turn, had a dream, to the effect that the
chief had given him several thousand acres of land. ‘The land is yours,’
said Hendrick, ‘but now, Sir William, I never dream with you again, you
dream too hard for me.’”
At the breaking out of the revolutionary war, Sir John, who had
succeeded to his father’s title, appears, also, to have inherited his
influence with the Indians, and to have exerted that influence to the
utmost in favor of the Royal cause. By this means he rendered himself
particularly obnoxious to the continentals, as the Americans were then
called. Accordingly, in 1776, Colonel Dayton, with part of his regiment,
was sent to arrest him, and thus put it out of his power to do further
mischief. Receiving timely notice of this from his tory friends at
Albany, he hastily assembled a large number of his tenants and others,
and made preparations for a retreat, which he successfully accomplished.
“Avoiding the route by Lake Champlain, from fear of falling into the
hands of the enemy, who were supposed to be assembled in that direction,
he struck deep into the woods, by way of the head waters of the Hudson,
and descended the Raquette river, to its confluence with the St.
Lawrence, and thence crossed over to Canada. Their provision failed soon
after they had left their homes. Weary and foot-sore, numbers of them
sank by the way, and had to be left behind, but were shortly afterwards
relieved by a party of Indians, who were sent from Caughnawaga in search
of them. After nineteen days of hardship, which have had few parallels
in our history, they reached Montreal. So hasty was their flight, that
the family papers were buried in the garden, and nothing taken with them
but such articles as were of prime necessity.” Soon after his arrival at
Montreal he was “commissioned a colonel, and raised two battalions of
loyalists, who bore the designation of the Royal Greens. From the time
of organizing this corps, he became one of the most active, and one of
the bitterest foes that the whigs encountered during the contest. So
true is it, as was said by the wise man of Israel, that ‘a brother
offended is harder to be won than a strong city, and their contentions
are like the bars of a castle.’ Sir John was in several regular and
fairly conducted battles. He invested Fort Stanwix in 1777, and defeated
the brave General Herkimer; and in 1780 was defeated himself by General
Van Rensselaer, at Fox’s Mills.”
The result of his adherence to the Crown was, that his extensive family
estates upon the Mohawk were confiscated; but at the close of the war he
received large grants of land in various parts of Canada, beside a
considerable sum of money. He continued to be Superintendent of Indian
affairs, and resided in Montreal until his death, in 1822.
THE LOYAL COMBATANTS.
The following are the principal corps and regiments of loyalists who
took part in the war against the rebels, and who were mainly Americans:
“The King’s Rangers; the Royal Fencible Americans; the Queen’s Rangers;
the New York Volunteers; the King’s American regiment; the Prince of
Wales’ American Volunteers; the Maryland Loyalists; De Lancey’s
Battalions; the Second American regiment; the King’s Rangers, Carolina;
the South Carolina Royalists; the North Carolina Highland Regiment; the
King’s American Dragoons; the Loyal American Regiment; the American
Legion; the New Jersey Volunteers; the British Legion; the Loyal
Foresters; the Orange Rangers; the Pennsylvania Loyalists; the Guides
and Pioneers; the North Carolina Volunteers; the Georgia Loyalists; the
West Chester Volunteers. These corps were all commanded by colonels or
lieutenant-colonels; and as De Lancey’s battalions and the New Jersey
Volunteers consisted each of three battalions, there were twenty-eight.
To these, the Loyal New Englanders, the Associated Loyalists and
Wentworth’s Volunteers, remain to be added. Still further, Colonel
Archibald Hamilton, of New York, commanded at one period seventeen
companies of loyal Militia.”
Respecting the officers and more prominent men of the corps, who settled
in Canada, we have succeeded in collecting the following account.
THE QUEEN’S RANGERS.
This corps acted a very conspicuous part during the war. It was raised
by Major Robert Rogers, of New Hampshire, son of James Rogers. He had
served during the French war, with distinction, as commander of Rogers’
Rangers, and was, “in 1776, appointed Governor of Michilimackinac.
During the early part of the rebellion he was in the revolting states,
probably acting as a spy, and was in correspondence with the rebel
Congress, and with Washington himself. He was imprisoned at New York,
but was released on parole, which, it is said, he broke (like General
Scott in 1812), and accepted the commission of colonel in the British
army, and proceeded to raise the corps mentioned.” About 1777 “he went
to England, and Simcoe succeeded him as commander of the Queen’s
Rangers.”
Sabine, speaking of John Brown Lawrence, says he was imprisoned in the
Burlington gaol, New Jersey, and that “Lieut.-Colonel John G. Simcoe,
commander of the Queen’s Rangers, was a fellow-prisoner, and when
exchanged said, at parting, ‘I shall never forget your kindness.’ He did
not: and when appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, he invited
Mr. Lawrence to settle there,” and, through the Governor, he acquired a
large tract of land.
The Queen’s Rangers were disbanded in 1802, having been associated with
the events of the first government of Upper Canada, their colonel
(Simcoe) having been the first Governor. A detachment of this regiment
were stationed upon the banks of the Don, before there was a single
white inhabitant where now stands Toronto.
FERGUSON’S RANGERS.
This corps formed a part of Burgoyne’s army at the time of surrendering,
and, “with other provincial prisoners, retired to Canada, by permission
of Gates.”
THE HESSIANS.
The British Government, during the course of the war, procured some
foreign troops from one of the German Principalities upon the Rhine,
mostly from Hesse-Hamburg. This foreign legion was under the command of
General Baron de Reidesel, of their own country. It would seem from the
testimony of their descendants in Marysburgh, that the British
Government employed the men from the Government of the principality, and
that the men did not voluntarily enter the service, but were impressed.
These Hessians were drilled before leaving their country. They were
composed of infantry, artillery, and a rifle company, “Green Yongers.”
They were embarked for Canada, by way of Portsmouth, and reached Quebec
in time to join the British army, and meet the enemy at Stillwater.
Conrad Bongard, of Marysburgh, informs us that his father was one of the
company under General Reidesel. He was in the artillery, and accompanied
Burgoyne in his eventful campaign; was at the battle of Tyconderoga;
and, with the rest of the Hessian troops, was taken prisoner at
Saratoga. They were taken down to Virginia, and there retained as
prisoners of war for nearly two years. Being released on parole, many of
them, with their General, were conveyed back to Germany; but some of
them, having the alternative, preferred to remain in America, to share
with the loyalists in grants of land. (See Marysburgh, where the
Hessians settled). Conrad Bongard became the servant of Surveyor
Holland, and was with him as he proceeded up the St. Lawrence, to
survey. Bongard married a widow Carr, whose husband had been in the 24th
regiment of Royal Fusileers, and had died while the prisoners were
retained in Virginia. He eventually settled in the fifth township, where
he died, January, 1840, aged 89. His wife, Susan, died February, 1846,
aged 98. Both were members of the Lutheran church. Mrs. B. was a native
of Philadelphia.
The wife of the General, Baroness de Reidesel, has left an interesting
record of the battles prior to Burgoyne’s surrender.