Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. A great council was held at Oswego, in
which these Indians, with Brant, as their now acknowledged leader, took
part with other tribes from the west. Engagements to aid the British
cause were entered into, and, consequently, Colonel St. Leger, about
the time that General Burgoyne began his invading expedition by way of
Lake Champlain, also set out with his force of British and Canadian
troops and Indian allies from Oswego, to coöperate with Burgoyne, by
passing down the Mohawk valley, and meeting him near Albany. As Fort
Schuyler lay in his way, it was besieged on the 3d of August, 1777. The
Indians, concealing themselves behind clumps of trees, greatly annoyed
the garrison with their fire, while throwing up parapets for their
defence. To relieve Fort Schuyler, thus assailed, General Herkimer was
sent forward from below. He apprised Colonel Gansevoort, the commander,
of his approach, and urged his coöperation. Measures for this purpose
were concerted, but delay prevented the union being effected before
the enemy made their appearance at Oriskany. Here a severe battle was
fought, and greatly to the disadvantage of the Americans in the outset,
though they were finally victorious. The Indians bore a prominent
part in this dreadful contest. It is said the Senecas were first
intoxicated, and in this condition lured into the battle, under the
idea that they were only to smoke their pipes, and see the British
whip the rebels. Their loss was great, many of them being killed and
wounded. It is supposed, that, on this occasion, a large force was led
on by Brant, consisting principally of Cayugas, Senecas, and Mohawks.
On the 3d of December in the same year, Congress made another effort to
divert the Six Nations from the British service, but without effect.
The Indians now wholly threw off the mask, and sent out various parties
to attack the settlements. Severe skirmishes took place, among which
may be mentioned the battle of Cobelskill between a party of regular
troops and Schoharie militia, fifty-two in all, and a body of Indians
450 strong. The latter were victorious, and the Americans retreated,
with the loss of fourteen killed, eight wounded, and two missing. The
Indians then burned several houses, destroyed all the horses and cattle
which they could not drive away, and took considerable other plunder.
Strolling bands were continually prowling about the valley of Schoharie
and other exposed situations, and many persons were killed or carried
off as captives.
Among the expeditions of this period, in which Brant and the Six
Nations, as they were still called, though embracing only four of the
tribes, were engaged, in alliance with the British, we may particularly
notice those which resulted in the destruction of the German Flats,
and the massacre at Cherry Valley. Yet the dreadful scenes at this
latter place, as they are recorded in history, are too shocking for
detail. Neither beauty, nor youth, nor innocence, nor age, nor piety,
formed the slightest protection against the ferocity of the savages and
their worse than savage instigators. Every dwelling and barn in the
village was set on fire, and thirty or forty prisoners, of all classes
and both sexes, were marched off, half-naked and shivering, through
the woods, to the distant post of Fort Niagara. On their return to
the Seneca country, the savages celebrated their exploits by a dance
of thanksgiving, sacrificing, as usual, a dog, and going through the
various ceremonies of the scalp-yell, while brandishing their knives,
and recounting their achievements in song.
In the autumn of 1778, occurred the celebrated massacre in the
beautiful vale of Wyoming. This lovely spot was peopled with Germans
and emigrants from New England, who lived in a state of enviable peace,
comfort, and content. On the first of July, a force of 1,200 British
and tories, with 400 Indians, appeared on the Susquehannah, and began
their hostile operations. A brave resistance was made by the settlers,
but they were at last overcome, and the whole valley became a scene
of the most fearful desolation. These terrific events have acquired
immortality from the pen of Campbell, who has made them his theme in
the pathetic poem of “Wyoming.”[10]
The year 1779, which was distinguished by the war of the Western
Indians, and the Shawanese and Delawares in the remote parts of
Virginia, was also marked by the project of Brant for a combined attack
on the friendly Oneidas. This led to an expedition to Onondaga, by the
Americans, against that hostile tribe. The Indians abandoned their
villages on the approach of the enemy, yet thirty-three of them were
taken prisoners, and a few slain. Three villages, consisting of nearly
fifty houses, were burned to the ground; a large amount of provisions
was destroyed; a hundred muskets and rifles, with a considerable
quantity of ammunition, constituted part of the booty.
The Onondagas now breathed vengeance, and 300 of their warriors poured
down on the valley of the Schoharie, where they plundered and burnt
Cobelskill, which had been settled by some twenty families, since its
destruction a year or two previous. The Mohawks also burst suddenly on
the town of Minisink, and laid waste the settlement, burning, killing,
and plundering on every hand. A battle was fought between them and a
force sent from Goshen and its vicinity. It lasted from 11 o’clock,
A. M. till nightfall. The Americans, though superior in numbers, were
defeated, and forced to retreat, owing to a successful ambuscade formed
by the Indians, and the failure of ammunition.
A vigorous effort was now made by the Americans against the Senecas,
the most numerous and ferocious of the Six Nations. General Sullivan,
at the head of a large force, penetrated into their country, and
destroyed forty towns and villages, some of them having fifty or a
hundred houses, and one as many as a hundred and twenty-eight. He
also destroyed 160,000 bushels of corn, and many extensive fields and
beautiful orchards of fruit, some of them containing 1,500 trees.
The lovely valley of the Genesee was thus transformed into a scene
of desolation, and the nation was left houseless and destitute to
encounter the severe winter of 1780. Previous to his reaching the
Seneca country, however, a severe battle took place at Chemung, in
which the Indians fought with determined bravery, though they were
defeated, and lost many of their warriors. In another engagement at
Newtown the whole force of the Senecas and the other Indians, variously
computed at from 800 to 1,500, was routed with great slaughter. A
tragic scene occurred at this period in the cruel death of Lieutenant
Boyd, belonging to General Sullivan’s army, who, with a small party of
men, was sent out on a scouting expedition. They were cut off by some
Indians, and, being captured, the lieutenant was put to death with
tortures too horrible to relate.
The destruction of the Seneca towns was not, however, suffered to pass
without retaliation. The hostile Indians, aided by the British, in
1780, invaded the villages of the Oneidas, and entirely destroyed their
castle, church, and dwellings; the Oneidas were thus driven, in their
state of desolation, upon the white settlements for protection and
aid. The American government gave them support, fixing them, till the
close of the war, at Schenectady and its vicinity.
Numerous incursions were made, in the same year, by the Indians, led on
by Brant, who burned Canajoharie, and took fifty-two prisoners, besides
killing seventeen persons. One hundred and forty houses and barns were
burned; twenty-four people killed, and seventy-three made prisoners.
The towns of Johnstown and Caughnawaga had recently been visited with
the vengeance of the Indians, in connection with Sir John Johnson’s
invasion of the seat of his ancient residence. The Senecas, however,
were still unsated with revenge. Under Cornplanter, a famous chief of
that nation, joined by Brant and some British troops, they again made
their appearance in the valley of the Schoharie, with the intention
of completing the work of destruction there. Some severe skirmishes
ensued, but their purpose was in a great degree effected, and the whole
region was left desolate. The Mohawk valley became the scene of a
similar incursion. Here, however, the enemy was overtaken and defeated,
in the battle of Klock’s Farm, and compelled to seek safety in flight.
In 1781, the Indians assisted at the battle of Durlagh, where, after a
spirited attack and resistance, they were routed, leaving nearly forty
dead on the field. In October, they were also present at the battle of
Johnstown, and fought from noon till sunset, when they were finally
forced to retreat; in the pursuit, Butler, the notorious leader in the
Cherry Valley massacre, was killed. This was the last expedition in
which they were engaged previous to the close of the American war.
In the articles of peace between the mother country and her former
colonies, no provision had been made for the Indian allies of the
English. The Mohawks, who had left their own country, were invited by
the Senecas to take a tract of their territory; but they declined it,
choosing, as they said, to sink or swim with the English. The latter
then assigned them a domain on the north side of Lake Ontario, upon the
Bay of Quinte. Not satisfied, however, with this, another, by their
request, six miles on each side of the Grand River, from the mouth to
its source, about forty miles above the Falls of Niagara, was bestowed
on them.
In the mean time, the sachems and warriors of the Six Nations held
a conference, in 1784, with the agents of the United States. There
were present representatives from the Mohawks, Senecas, Onondagas,
Cayugas, Oneidas, and Tuscaroras, and Seneca Abeal, or the Senecas of
Cornplanter’s clan, on the Alleghany. In the treaty that was concluded,
the Six Nations relinquished a portion of their territory, and were
to be secured in possession of that which they then occupied. The
treaty, however, did not satisfy the Indians, and both Red Jacket,[11]
the noted Seneca orator, and Brant, the Mohawk chief, were highly
displeased with its terms. A plan was laid by the latter for obtaining
assistance from the English, in the event of a general Indian war with
the United States, which he evidently had in contemplation.
[Illustration: _Red Jacket._]
Questions of boundary originated further difficulties between the new
republic and the Indians. In December, 1786, a grand council was held
at Huron village, attended by the Six Nations, the Hurons, Ottawas,
Miamis, Shawanese, Chippewas, Cherokees, Delawares, Potawatomies,
and Wabash confederates. An address to the United States was agreed
upon, pacific in its character, but it closed by suggesting, that, in
case their views were not concurred in, they should take the field to
assert their claim by arms. Another council was held in 1788, at which
Brant succeeded in making further advances toward hostilities; but
the purpose of the Mohawk chief was, for the present, defeated by the
treaties of General St. Clair with the Western Indians, at Fort Huron,
in 1789.
In 1791, the Six Nations, after the defeat of General Harmar by the
Western Indians, joined with them in sending a deputation to the
British governor at Quebec, to inquire if British aid could be hoped
for in the further prosecution of the war. They received, however,
but little encouragement from him, and Cornplanter used his efforts
to prevent the warriors of the Six Nations from taking part in the
contest, and to persuade the Miamis to peace. These, and other efforts,
were but partially successful; for, in the battle which soon after took
place, resulting in the defeat of General St. Clair, it is said one
hundred and fifty Mohawks, with their leader, were engaged.
Negotiations were carried on, however, during the early part of the
year 1792; and in the autumn, Cornplanter, with forty-eight chiefs of
the Six Nations, thirty chiefs and warriors of the Mohawks and Canada
Indians, with others from tribes beyond the Canadian territory, visited
the Miamis and held a council with a view to dissuade them from war.
They succeeded only so far as to make them agree to suspend hostilities
till spring, and then meet the United States in council for further
deliberation.
The account of the transactions in Ohio, connected with these events,
will be found in the history given of the Western Indians. The Six
Nations desired, if possible, to bring about peace, and a number of
councils were held, at which they were present; but their efforts were
vain. In consequence of a claim being set up by Pennsylvania on Presque
Isle, the Six Nations were induced to assume a hostile attitude toward
the United States in 1794, and, probably, but for the interposition of
Washington, withholding Pennsylvania from prosecuting her design, a
collision would have been inevitable. The defeat of the Western Indians
by General Wayne effectually quieted the Six Nations, and Jay’s treaty
with Great Britain was soon followed by a general peace.
The Six Nations continued to reside in their respective territories.
Missionaries were received among them, the Bible was translated into
their language, and numbers were converted to Christianity. The pacific
feelings of this period are indicated by the fact, that the Mohawks and
Senecas met by mutual challenge for athletic exercises, especially for
matches of ball and cricket, which they had learned from the whites,
and in which they had become remarkably expert.
When the war between the United States and England broke out, in 1812,
the Mohawks, led by John Brant, youngest son of the great chief, took
part with the latter, and were present at a number of battles fought on
the frontiers. The Senecas, and other tribes residing in the State of
New York, were on the side of the Americans. More recently, numbers of
them have removed to the West. But a feeble remnant of the once mighty
confederacy is now to be found. They have, also, by repeated transfers,
become so intermingled with other tribes, that it is difficult to trace
them. By a recent report of the Indian Department, it appears, that,
west of the Mississippi, there are about 251 Senecas from Sandusky, and
211 Senecas and Shawanese; the whole number of the New York Indians
is estimated at 3,293. These probably include the Oneidas, Onondagas,
and Cayugas, with such relics of other tribes as may be found within
the limits of the State of New York. By repeated cessions and sales of
former reservations, they are dispossessing themselves of their ancient
abodes; and the time is not far distant when scarcely a solitary Indian
will be found where they once spread terror by their numbers and valor,
and excited admiration for their heroism and sagacity.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[9] For an account of Brant, see “Lives of Famous American Indians.”
[10] See Life of Brant, in “Lives of Famous American Indians.”
[11] See “Lives of Famous Indians.”
WESTERN INDIANS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
The Shawanese, who were joined with the Delawares and other nations
in the Indian wars by which the western section of the United States
was disturbed, about the close of the Revolution, seem to have been
a Southern nation, and are said to have once resided on the River
Suwaney, in Florida. They have a tradition that their ancestors crossed
the sea. The Delawares were once numerous and powerful. Yet, as has
been mentioned, they were conquered by the great confederacy of the
Five Nations; so that, for a considerable period afterwards, they make
no great figure in history.
At the grand council held at Philadelphia in 1742, by the chiefs and
warriors of the Six Nations and the Delawares, on the one part, and
the English, on the other, the governor of Pennsylvania alleged,
that William Penn, in his purchases, had bought certain lands of the
Delawares, which they still retained in their possession, while, at
the same time, the Six Nations claimed the ownership. He reminded the
chiefs of the Six Nations, that, as they required him to remove the
whites who intruded on their lands, the Six Nations were under a
similar obligation to remove the Indians from the lands of which the
English had acquired the right by purchase.
The old chief, Canassatego, after rebuking the Delawares sharply for
their dishonesty and duplicity, in selling land they did not own
and still retaining it in their possession, taunted them for their
degradation in being conquered and made women of by the Six Nations;
and then pronounced it as the decision of the chiefs and warriors, that
they should leave the disputed territory, and remove to Wyoming or
Shamokin. The Delawares did not dare to disobey, and at once retired to
Wyoming.
The Shawanese were already settled there; but, as they were in
friendship with the Six Nations, they made no attempt to molest them.
The Shawanese occupied, therefore, the west side of the river, while
the Delawares planted themselves on the eastern side, and built their
town. It was not long, however, before mutual jealousies arose, and,
on the breaking out of the old French War, the Shawanese favored the
French, while the Delawares, like the Six Nations, continued faithful
to the English.
At first, there were no actual hostilities, but the following
incident is said to have brought on a desperate fight between these
rival neighbours. While the Delaware chiefs were one day engaged in
the chase, on the mountains, their women and children were occupied
in gathering fruit on the margin of the river below the town. Some
Shawanese women and children, seeing them thus employed, paddled
across the river, and joined them. They all engaged in sports; but, in
the course of the morning, a Shawanese child having caught a large
grasshopper, a quarrel arose as to the right of possession. The fight
among the young ones brought up the squaws, who took part with their
children respectively. From words they came to blows; the Delawares
said, the Shawanese had no right to cross the river, and come upon
their premises; and being the stronger party, after several had been
killed on both sides, they drove off the Shawanese, and compelled them
to recross the river to their homes.
On the return of the warriors, they also entered into the contest.
The Shawanese invaded the territory of the Delawares, who met them on
the river’s brink, and fought them as they landed from their canoes.
Still, the Shawanese, after a smart struggle, were enabled to land,
when a fierce and bloody battle took place, in which several hundreds
were killed on both sides. The Shawanese were routed, and, after having
lost half their number, were compelled to return. They, therefore,
immediately left Wyoming, and joined the main body of their nation,
already settled on the Ohio. The Delawares remained.
In 1761, a conference was held between several American governors and
the Six Nations, at which the Delawares, also, were present. Here a
warm dispute arose respecting some lands, of which the Delaware chief
complained that the English had taken possession, in consequence of a
fraudulent conveyance. The Indians being thus dissatisfied, the French
took care, by emissaries, to foment disturbances. The resentment of the
Shawanese and Delawares was further roused by the suspicion that the
English had concerted a plan for their extirpation. They therefore
united with the other tribes upon the Ohio, and the nations about
Detroit and along the Mississippi, for the purpose of making a sudden
and general attack on the frontiers, and at one blow to cut off the
inhabitants and their means of subsistence. This plot, in which the
celebrated Pontiac[12] was one of the master spirits, was matured with
great art and secrecy.
In 1763, the storm, which had been long gathering, and of which the low
muttering had been heard, burst forth in its fury. The savages broke in
upon the settlements, massacred the inhabitants, and all the frontier
country of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, for twenty miles back,
was abandoned. The travelling merchants, who were among the Indians,
were murdered and plundered, and property to the amount of hundreds of
thousands of pounds was lost. So fierce and unexpected was the onset,
that several forts, as those of Le Bœuf, Venango, and Presque Isle,
were captured by the enemy. They next attempted Fort Pitt, Detroit, and
Niagara. The two former were invested at the same time, though about
three hundred miles apart.
A strong detachment was despatched by the English to relieve these
posts. On reaching the neighbourhood of Fort Detroit, an attack on the
Indian camp, about three miles off, was determined on. But, before
the English approached, the Indians themselves began the attack, with
the utmost fury, and the troops were compelled to retreat to the
fort, with the loss of seventy killed and forty wounded. The Indians,
however, soon despairing of success in their scheme of reducing the
garrison, gave it up and withdrew.
The war still waged with fury along the whole western frontier. The
siege of Fort Pitt was long continued, but after severe fighting,
in which the loss of the Indians was great, they were beaten. Fort
Niagara was also sharply assailed, but the enemy were finally driven
back. At last the savages began to feel the necessity of peace, which
was accordingly concluded in September, 1764, though the terms, being
dictated by the English, were unfavorable to the Indians.
In the summer of 1774, hostilities again broke out. This war had its
immediate origin in the incursions and outrages of the whites. The
earlier stage of it is known in history as “Cresap’s War,” from the
murder, by one Cresap, of the family of Logan, the Mingo chief,[13] who
had settled among the Shawanese in Ohio. This base act of treachery
and cruelty, which occurred in the spring of 1774, was followed by
another atrocity, committed by a man named Greathouse, who invited
a large number of Indians to drink with him and his men, and, when
in a state of intoxication, fell upon them and massacred them. These
and other outrages had the effect to combine several tribes in a war,
which resulted in the desolation of many of the remote settlements.
The governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, sent a large body of troops
under General Andrew Lewis, who marched towards the junction of the
Kenhawa with the Ohio. Here, on the morning of the 10th of October,
just at sunrise, he was attacked by a body of Indians, estimated at
from eight to fifteen hundred, consisting of Shawanese, Delawares,
Mingoes, Wyandots, Cayugas, and other tribes, led on by Logan, aided by
Cornstalk, his son, and the Red Eagle.
The Indians are said to have had the advantage of position, and in
the early part of the battle they compelled the Virginia regiments
to give way. But other troops being brought up, the Indians were, in
turn, forced to retreat, and fall back behind a breastwork of logs and
brushwood which they had erected. Here they made a valiant stand, and
defended themselves till night had nearly set in. Cornstalk cheered on
his men, crying out, “Be strong, be strong!” and he is said also to
have buried his tomahawk in the head of one who was seeking safety in
flight. The Indians, however, were at last outflanked by an unperceived
movement of a body of troops, who passed to their rear, and drove
them from their lines. Supposing that the Virginians had now received
reinforcements, they fled across the Ohio, and retreated to the Scioto.
Pressed with difficulties and dangers, the inquiry arose among the
Indians, what was to be done. Cornstalk, who had been opposed to the
battle, but who had been overruled in the council, now spoke. “What
shall we do? The Long Knives are coming upon us by two routes. Shall
we turn out and fight them?” As no one answered, he next inquired,
“Shall we kill our squaws and children, and then fight until we are
all killed ourselves?” Every one was silent,--and Cornstalk struck his
tomahawk into the war-post, exclaiming, with stern emphasis, “Since you
are not for fight, I will go and make peace.” He accordingly repaired
to the English camp, where negotiations were opened, and a treaty
concluded.
Logan was not present at the council, but a special messenger was
despatched to gain his assent. Cornstalk, as it appears, was even his
superior as an orator. An American officer, who was present at the
interview between this chief and Lord Dunmore, says, “I have heard the
first orators in Virginia, Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, but
never have I heard one whose powers of delivery surpassed those of
Cornstalk.”