ANOTHER INDIAN WAR.
Conflict Between the Governor and the Citizens.--Energy of
the Governor.--His Measures of Defence.--Action of the
English Colonies.--Claims of the Government of Sweden.--Fort
Casimir captured by the Swedes.--Retaliation.--Measures for
the recapture of Fort Casimir.--Shooting a Squaw.--Its
Consequences.--The Ransom of Prisoners.--Complaints of the
Swedish Governor.--Expedition from Sweden.--Its Fate.
There was a brief but bitter controversy between the governor and the
convention, when the governor ordered the body to disperse, "on pain
of our highest displeasure." "We derive our authority," said he, "from
God, and from the Company, not from a few ignorant subjects. And we
alone can call the inhabitants together." These decisive measures did
not stifle the popular voice. Petitions were sent to the Company in
Holland, full of complaints against the administration of Stuyvesant,
and imploring its intervention to secure the redress of the grievances
which were enumerated.
An able man, Francois le Bleuw, was sent to Holland with these
documents, with instructions to do everything in his power to procure
the reforms they urged. Though the citizens of New Amsterdam had, for
a year, enjoyed a limited municipal government, they were by no means
satisfied with what they had thus far attained. What they claimed, and
reasonably claimed, were the larger franchises enjoyed by the cities
in the fatherland.
The condition of New Netherland, at the commencement of the year 1654,
was very precarious. The troubled times, as is ever the case, had
called out swarms of pirates and robbers, who infested the shores of
Long Island, inflicting the most cruel excesses upon the unprotected
inhabitants. The English residents in the Dutch colonies were
numerous, and they were ripe for revolt. The Dutch themselves were
uttering loud murmurs. The governor acted with his accustomed energy.
Several vessels were fitted out to act against the pirates. Many of
these pirates professed to be privateersmen, serving the Commonwealth
of England. It was suspected that the English residents were
communicating with the freebooters, who were chiefly their own
countrymen.
A proclamation was issued prohibiting all persons, under penalty of
banishment and the confiscation of goods, from harboring the outlaws.
Every third man was detailed to act as a minute man whenever required;
and the whole population was pledged for the public defence. At the
same time, to prevent any misunderstanding, messengers were sent to
Connecticut to inform the colonial authorities there, that these
measures were adopted solely for the protection of their commerce and
the punishment of robbery.
In February of this year, a church was organized at Flatbush. Domine
Polhemus was chosen pastor, with a salary of six hundred guilders. A
cruciform wooden church was erected, sixty feet long and twenty-eight
feet wide. This was the first Reformer Dutch Church on Long Island.
The Lutherans had now become quite numerous in New Amsterdam. They
petitioned for liberty to organize a church. Stuyvesant, a zealous
Calvinist, declined, saying that he was bound by his oath to tolerate
no other religion openly than the Reformed. In this intolerance he was
sustained by the Company in Holland.
Oliver Cromwell now decided to carry the war against Holland into the
New World. He sent word to the governors of the New England Colonists
that he was about to dispatch war ships to the coasts of America, and
he called upon them to give their utmost assistance for gaining the
Manhattoes and other places under the power of the Dutch.
Four armed ships were soon crossing the Atlantic. The expedition was
entrusted to Major Sedgwick and John Leverett. They were directed to
enter some good port in New England, where they were to ascertain
whether the colonial governments would join in vindicating the English
right and in extirpating the Dutch.
"Being come to the Manhattoes," wrote secretary Thurlow,
"you shall, by surprise, open force, or otherwise, endeavor
to take the place. You have power to give fair quarter in
case it be rendered upon summons without opposition. If the
Lord give his blessing, you shall not use cruelty to the
inhabitants, but encourage those who are willing to remain
under the English government, and give liberty to others to
transport themselves to Europe."
Governor Stuyvesant received early intelligence of the projected
expedition, and immediately convened his council. The danger was
imminent. The Dutch alone could oppose but feeble resistance. The
English in the Dutch colony, though they had sworn allegiance, would
probably join their countrymen. "To invite them," Governor Stuyvesant
said, "to aid us, would be bringing the Trojan horse within our
walls." After much anxious deliberation, it was decided to enlist a
force of seventy men, "silently and without beat of drum," and to lay
in supplies to stand a siege.
The danger roused the spirit of patriotism. The Dutch rallied with
great unanimity and, spade in hand, worked heartily on the
fortifications. They were all conscious, however, that treason lurked
within their walls.
Several of the New England colonies responded quite eagerly to the
appeal of Cromwell. New Haven pledged herself to the most zealous
efforts Connecticut promised two hundred men, and even five hundred
rather than that the enterprise should fail. Plymouth ordered fifty
men into the service, entrusting the command to Captain Miles Standish
and Captain Thomas Willett. It is worthy of notice that the Plymouth
people made an apology for this action, saying: "We concur in hostile
measures against our ancient Dutch neighbors only in reference unto
the national quarrel."
Massachusetts gave a reluctant consent that five hundred volunteers
against the Dutch should be raised within their jurisdiction.
Just as the fleet was about to sail from Boston, on this expedition,
the result of which could not be doubtful, a ship entered the port
with the announcement that peace had been concluded between England
Holland. This of course put a stop to any farther hostile action. The
welcome news was soon conveyed to Governor Stuyvesant. He was quite
overjoyed in its reception. The glad tidings were published from the
City Hall, with ringing of bell and all other public demonstrations of
satisfaction.
The 12th of August was appointed as a day of general thanksgiving to
God for his great goodness. In his proclamation, the Governor devoutly
exclaimed:
"Praise the Lord, O England's Jerusalem and Netherland's
zion, praise ye the Lord! He hath secured your gates and
blessed your possessions with peace, even here where the
threatened torch of war was lighted, where the waves reached
our lips and subsided only through the power of the
Almighty."
From this moral conflict, which came so near being a physical one,
Stuyvesant emerged very victorious. The Company had ever been disposed
to sympathize with him in his measures. The delegate Le Bleuw, who had
carried charges against him to Holland, was almost rudely repulsed,
and was forbidden to return to New Netherland. The Directors of the
Company wrote to the Governor:
"We are unable to discover in the whole remonstrance one
single point to justify complaint. You ought to have acted
with more vigor against the ringleaders of the gang, and not
to have condescended to answer protests with protests. It is
therefore our express command that you punish what has
occurred as it deserves, so that others may be deterred in
future, from following such examples."
To the citizens they wrote,
"We enjoin it upon you that you conduct yourselves quietly
and peaceably, submit yourselves to the government placed
over you, and in no wise allow yourselves to hold particular
convention with the English or others, in matters of form or
deliberation on affairs of state, which do not appertain to
you, or attempt any alteration in the state and its
government."
A ferry was established to convey passengers from one side of the
river to the other. The licensed ferryman was bound to keep suitable
boats and also a lodge on each side of the river to protect passengers
from the weather. The toll established by law, was for a wagon and two
horses one dollar; for a wagon and one horse eighty cents; a savage,
male or female, thirty cents; each other person fifteen cents.
When Stuyvesant was preparing to defend New Netherland from the
English, he encountered another great annoyance. It will be remembered
that the Swedish government claimed the territory on the South, or
Delaware river, upon which the Dutch governor had erected Fort
Casimir. Gerrit Bikker was in command of the fort, with a garrison of
twelve men. On the morning of the first of June, 1654, a strange sail
was seen in the offing. A small party was sent out in a boat, to
reconnoitre. They returned with the tidings that it was a Swedish ship
full of people, with a new governor; and that they had come to take
possession of the place, affirming that the fort was on land belonging
to the Swedish government.
Bikker with his small garrison, and almost destitute of ammunition,
could make no resistance. Twenty or thirty soldiers landed from the
Swedish ship, entered the open gate of the fort and took possession of
the place. John Rising the commander of the ship, stated that he was
obeying the orders of his government; that the territory belonged to
Sweden, and that neither the States-General of the Netherlands nor the
West India Company had authorized Governor Stuyvesant to erect a fort
upon that spot.
The garrison was disarmed, two shotted guns were fired over the works
in token of their capture, and the name of the fort was changed to
Trinity, as it was on Trinity Sunday that the fort was taken. A
skilful engineer immediately employed many hands in strengthening the
ramparts. The region was called New Sweden, and John Rising assumed
his office as governor. Courteously he sent word to Governor
Stuyvesant of his arrival and of his capture of the forts. He also
summoned the chiefs of the neighboring tribes and entered into a
treaty of friendship with them. Within a month he announced to the
home government that the population of New Sweden had risen to three
hundred and sixty-eight. "I hope," he added,
"we may be able to preserve them in order and in duty, and
to constrain them if necessary. I will do in this respect,
all that depends upon me. We will also endeavor to shut up
the river."
Governor Stuyvesant was very indignant, in view of what he deemed the
pusillanimous conduct of Bikker in "this dishonorable surrender of the
fort." It was in vain for him to attempt its recovery. But with an
eagle eye and an agitated mind he watched for an opportunity to
retaliate.
About the middle of September, a Swedish ship, the Golden Shark, bound
for the Delaware river, under command of Captain Elswyck, entered
Sandy Hook and anchored behind Staten Island. The captain had made a
mistake and supposed that he had entered the mouth of South river.
Discovering his error, he sent a boat up to Manhattan for a pilot.
Stuyvesant's long-looked-for hour had come. He arrested the boat's
crew, and sent them all to the guard-house. He also seized the Shark
and transferred her cargo to the Company's magazine on shore. He then
sent a courteous message to Governor Rising, at New Sweden, inviting
him to visit New Amsterdam, "to arrange and settle some unexpected
differences." He promised him a hospitable reception, but declared
that he should detain the Swedish ship and cargo, "until a reciprocal
restitution shall have been made." Governor Rising declined the
invitation, not deeming it judicious to place himself so effectually
in the power of his impetuous antagonist.
Upon the capture of fort Casimir, Governor Stuyvesant had immediately
sent word of the occurrence to the Amsterdam Directors. In November he
received their reply. It was, in brief, as follows:
"We hardly know whether we are more astonished at the
audacious enterprise of the Swedes in taking our fort on the
South river, or at the cowardly surrender of it by our
commander, which is nearly insufferable. He has acted very
unfaithfully, yea treacherously. We entreat you to exert
every nerve to avenge that injury, not only by restoring
affairs to their former situation, but by driving the Swedes
from every side of the river. We have put in commission two
armed ships, the King Solomon and the Great Christopher. The
drum is beaten daily in the streets of Amsterdam for
volunteers. And orders are given for the instant arrest of
Bikker."
Stuyvesant adopted vigorous measures to cooperate with the little
fleet upon its arrival, in its warfare against New Sweden. The 25th of
August, 1655, was set apart as a day of fasting and prayer,
"to implore the only bountiful God, that it may please him
to bless the projected enterprise, undertaken only for the
greater security, extension and consolidation of this
province, and to render it prosperous and successful to the
glory of his name."
Enlistments were pushed with great energy. Three North river vessels
were chartered, pilots were engaged and provisions and ammunition laid
in store. A French privateer, L'Esperance, which chanced to enter the
harbor of New Amsterdam at this time, was also engaged for the
service.
It seems hardly consistent with the religious character of Stuyvesant
and with his prayers for the divine blessing, that the Lord's day
should have been chosen for the sailing of the expedition. But on the
first Sunday in September, after the morning sermon, the sails of the
little squadron of seven vessels were unfurled and the fleet put to
sea, containing a military force of about seven hundred men. Governor
Stuyvesant in person, commanded the expedition. He was accompanied by
the Vice-Governor, De Lille, and by Domine Megapolensis, as chaplain.
On Friday morning they entered the Delaware river, and with favoring
wind and tide, sailed up beyond fort Casimir, and landed their forces
about a mile above. A flag of truce was promptly sent to the fort,
demanding "the direct restitution of our own property." Some parleying
occupied the time during the day, while Stuyvesant was landing his
batteries. The next morning the Swedish commander, convinced of the
folly of any further attempt at resistance, went on board the Balance
and signed a capitulation. The victor was generous in his terms. The
Swedes were allowed to remove their artillery; twelve men were to
march out with full arms and accoutrements; all the rest retained
their side-arms, and the officers held their personal property.
At noon the Dutch, with pealing bugles and flying banners again
entered upon possession of the fort. Many of the Swedes took the oath
of allegiance to the New Netherland government. The next day was
Sunday. Chaplain Megapolensis preached a sermon to the troops. But a
short distance above fort Casimir there was another Swedish fort
called Christina. It was not denied that the Swedes had a legitimate
title to that land. Indeed after the Company in Holland had sent
directions to Stuyvesant to drive the Swedes from the river, they sent
to him another order modifying these instructions. In this dispatch
they said:
"You may allow the Swedes to hold the land on which fort
Christina is built, with a garden to cultivate the tobacco,
because it appears that they made this purchase with the
previous consent of the Company, provided said Swedes will
conduct themselves as good subjects of our government."
But the Swedish Governor, Rising, having lost fort Casimir,
re-assembled his forces and strengthened his position in Fort
Christina, which was two miles farther up the river. This fort was
about thirty-five miles below the present site of Philadelphia, on a
small stream called Christina creek. The fleet anchored at the mouth
of the Brandywine, and invested the fort on all sides. The Swedes
outside of the fort were ruthlessly pillaged; a battery was erected
and the fort summoned to surrender. Resistance was hopeless. The
articles of capitulation were soon signed between the victor and the
vanquished.
"The Swedes marched out with their arms, colors flying,
matches lighted, drums beating and fifes playing; and the
Dutch took possession of the fort, hauled down the Swedish
flag and hoisted their own."
The Swedes, who to the number of about two hundred had settled in that
vicinity, were allowed to remain in the country, if they wished to do
so, upon condition of taking the oath of allegiance to the Dutch
authorities. Thus the Swedish dominion on the South river was brought
to an end. This was the most powerful military expedition which had
ever moved from any of the colonies. The Swedes had held their
independent position on the Delaware but about seventeen years.
Leaving an agent, as temporary commandant, Stuyvesant returned
triumphantly to fort Amsterdam.
And now for ten years there had been peace with the Indians, when a
gross outrage again roused their savage natures to revenge. The
Indians, ever accustomed to roam the forest, and to gather fruits,
nuts and game wherever they could find them, had not very
discriminating views of the rights of private property. Ensign Van
Dyck, the former treasurer, and one of the most noted men in the
colony, detected an Indian woman in his orchard gathering peaches.
Inhumanly he shot her dead. This roused all the neighboring tribes,
and they united to avenge her death. There was certainly something
chivalrous in this prompt combination of the warriors not to allow,
what they deemed the murder of a sister, to pass unpunished.
Taking advantage of the absence of Governor Stuyvesant, with nearly
all the military force he could raise, on his expedition to the South
river, sixty-four war canoes, containing nineteen hundred armed
Indians, were at midnight on the fifteenth of September, stealthily
paddled into the waters surrounding fort Amsterdam. They were picked
warriors from eight tribes. The night was dark, and the sighing of the
wind through the tree tops and the breaking of the surf upon the beach
added to the deep repose of the sleepers.
The Indians landed and stealthily crept through the silent streets;
and yet, from some unexplained cause, they made no attack. Gradually
the inhabitants were awakened, and there was a rapid assembling of the
principal men within the fort. Several of the chiefs were called
before them. They gave no satisfactory account of the object of their
formidable visit, and uttered no threats. On the contrary they
promised to withdraw before night, to Nutten Island, as Governor's
island was then called. Still, watching their opportunity, one of the
warriors pierced the bosom of Van Dyck with an arrow.
The cry of murder rang through the streets. The inhabitants were
prepared for the not unexpected emergency. The military rushed from
the fort, and a fierce battle ensued. The Indians, leaving three of
their warriors dead in the streets, and having killed five white men
and wounded three others, were driven to their canoes, and crossed
over the North river to the Jersey shore.
And now their savage natures burst forth unrestrained. The flourishing
little villages of Pavonia and Hoboken were instantly in flames. A
general scene of massacre and destruction ensued. Men, women and
children fell alike before the bullet, the arrow and the tomahawk. The
inhabitants of fort Amsterdam in anguish witnessed the massacre, but
could render no assistance. Nearly all their armed men were far away
on the Delaware.
The savages, elated with success, crossed over to Staten island. The
scattered settlements there numbered about ninety souls. There were
eleven farms in a high state of cultivation, and several plantations.
The settlers had received warning of their danger, perhaps by the
flames and musketry of Hoboken and Pavonia, perhaps by some messenger
from fort Amsterdam. Sixty-seven of them succeeded in reaching some
stronghold where they were able to defend themselves. The rest,
twenty-three in number, were cut off by the savages. The buildings of
twenty-eight farms and plantations were laid in ashes and the crops
destroyed.
For three days these merciless Indians had free range, with scarcely
any opposition. During this time one hundred of the Dutch were killed,
one hundred and fifty were taken prisoners, and more than three
hundred were deprived of house, clothes and food. Six hundred cattle
and a vast amount of grain were destroyed. The pecuniary value of the
damage inflicted amounted to over eighty thousand dollars.
Such were the consequences which resulted from the folly and crime of
one man in shooting an Indian woman who was purloining peaches from
his orchard. Terror spread far and wide. The farmers with their
families, fled from all directions to fort Amsterdam for protection.
The feeble settlements on Long island were abandoned in dismay.
Prowling bands of savages wandered over the island of Manhattan,
burning and destroying. No one dared to venture to any distance from
the fort. An express was dispatched to South river to inform Governor
Stuyvesant of the peril of the colony, and to implore his return. This
led to the hurried close of the transactions on the Delaware, and
probably secured for the Swedes more favorable terms of capitulation
than they would otherwise have obtained.
The return of Governor Stuyvesant with his military force, reassured
the colonists. In such an hour his imperious nature hesitated not a
moment in assuming the dictatorship. The one man power, so essential
on the field of battle, seemed requisite in these scenes of peril.
There was no time for deliberation. Prompt and energetic action was
necessary.
The governor sent soldiers to the outer settlements; forbade any
vessel to leave the harbor, forced into the ranks every man capable of
bearing arms, and imposed a heavy tax to meet the expense of
strengthening the fortifications. Several persons, who were about to
sail for Europe, protested against being thus detained. Governor
Stuyvesant fined them each ten dollars for disrespect to the
established authorities, and contemptuously advised them to "possess
their souls in patience."
The savages found their captives an incumbrance. Winter was
approaching and provisions were scarce. They sent one of their
prisoners, an influential man, captain Pos, who had been
superintendent of the colony on Staten island, to propose the ransom
of those captured for a stipulated amount of powder and balls. As
captain Pos did not return as soon as was expected, another messenger
was sent, and soon one of the chiefs returned to Governor Stuyvesant,
fourteen Dutch men, women and children, as a present in token of his
good will, and asking that a _present_ of powder and ball might be
forwarded to him.
The governor sent in return some ammunition and two Indian captives
and promised to furnish more ammunition when other Christians should
be brought in.
Three envoys from New Amsterdam visited the savages bearing these
presents. They were received with the courtesies which civilized
nations accord to a flag of truce. In this way twenty-eight more
captives were ransomed. The promise was given that others should be
soon brought in. Governor Stuyvesant inquired at what price they would
release all the remaining prisoners en masse, or what they would ask
for each individual. They deliberated upon the matter and then replied
that they would deliver up twenty-eight prisoners for seventy-eight
pounds of powder, and forty staves of lead.
The governor immediately sent the amount, and hoping to excite their
generosity, added as a present in token of friendly feeling,
thirty-five pounds of powder and ten staves of lead. But the savages
did not appreciate this kindness. They returned the twenty-eight
prisoners and no more.
The governor of the Swedish colony on the Delaware arrived at New
Amsterdam with a numerous suite, awaiting their transportation to
Europe according to the terms of the capitulation. He was in very ill
humor, and Governor Stuyvesant found it impossible to please him. He
entered bitter complaints against the governor, declaring that the
articles of the late treaty had been grossly violated.
"In Christina," said he,
"the women were violently driven out of their houses. The
oxen, cows and other animals were butchered. Even the horses
were wantonly shot. The whole country was desolated. Your
men carried off even my own property, and we were left
without means of defence against the savages. No proper
accommodations have been provided for me and my suite at New
Amsterdam, and our expenses have not been defrayed."
With much dignity Governor Stuyvesant vindicated himself. "I offered,"
he said,
"to leave fort Christina in your possession, but you refused
it. I am not responsible for any property for which I have
not given a receipt. On account of your high station, I
offered more than once to entertain you in my own house. As
this did not satisfy you, you were induced to reside in one
of the principal houses of the city. There you indulged in
unmannerly threats that you would return and destroy this
place. This so annoyed the people of the house that, for
peace sake, they abandoned their lodgings.
"The rumors of these threats reached the ears of the
captains of the small vessels, and the passengers with whom
you were to embark. They did not deem it safe to take you
and your suite, with such a large number of dependents. They
feared to land you in England or France, unless they should
chance to meet some English or French vessel in the Channel.
We entered into no obligation to defray your expenses or
those of your unusual suite."
Soon after this Governor Rising and his attendants were embarked for
Europe in two vessels. A narrative was, at the same time, sent to the
fatherland of the recent Indian troubles. The defenceless condition of
the country was explained and assistance earnestly implored.
There were still a number of captives held by the Indian tribes who
dwelt among the Highlands. The question was anxiously deliberated, in
the Council, respecting the best mode of recovering them. One only,
Van Tienhoven, was in favor of war. But Governor Stuyvesant said,
"The recent war is to be attributed to the rashness of a few
hot-headed individuals. It becomes us to reform ourselves,
to abstain from all that is wrong, and to protect our
villages with proper defences. Let us build block-houses
wherever they are needed and not permit any armed Indian to
enter the European settlements."
The Long Island Indians sent a delegation to New Amsterdam declaring
that for ten years, since 1645, they had been the friends of the
Dutch, and had done them no harm, "not even to the value of a dog."
They sent, as a present, a bundle of wampum in token of the friendship
of the chiefs of the Eastern tribes. But the up-river Indians
continued sullen. With their customary cunning or sagacity they
retained quite a number of captives, holding them as pledges to secure
themselves from the vengeance of the Dutch. There was no hope of
liberating them by war, since the Indians would never deliver up a
white captive in exchange for prisoners of their own tribes. And upon
the first outbreak of war the unfortunate Dutch prisoners would be
conveyed to inaccessible depths of the forests.
The Dutch settlers had scattered widely, on farms and plantations.
Thus they were peculiarly exposed to attacks from the Indians, and
could render each other but little assistance. As a remedy for this
evil, Governor Stuyvesant issued a proclamation ordering all who lived
in secluded places in the country to assemble and unite themselves in
villages before the ensuing spring, "after the fashion," as he said,
"of our New England neighbors."
In Sweden, before the tidings of the fall of fort Casimir had reached
that country, an expedition had been fitted out for the South river,
conveying one hundred and thirty emigrants. Stuyvesant, on learning of
their arrival, forbade them to land. He dispatched a vessel and a land
force, to capture the Swedish ship the Mercury, and bring it with all
the passengers to fort Amsterdam. Having disposed of her cargo, the
vessel and all the Swedish soldiers it bore, were sent back to Europe.
In obedience to orders from home, Stuyvesant erected a fort at Oyster
Bay, on the north side of Long island. In the instructions he received
he was enjoined, "to maintain, by force, if necessary, the integrity
of the Dutch province, the boundaries of which have just been formally
confirmed by the States-General."
The Directors added,
"We do not hesitate to approve of your expedition on the
South river, and its happy termination. We should not have
been displeased, however, if such a formal capitulation for
the surrender of the forts had not taken place, but that the
whole business had been transacted in a manner similar to
that of which the Swedes set us an example when they made
themselves masters of fort Casimir."