Walter N. Butler--His flight from Albany, bent on revenge--The Great
Tree--Hostile indications among the Senecas and Cayugas--Premonitions
of an attack by Butler and Brant upon Cherry Valley--Discredited by
Colonel Alden--Scouts sent out and captured--Surprise of the
town--Massacre and burning--Death of Colonel Alden--Families of Mr.
Wells, Mr. Dunlop, and others--Brutality of the Tories--Family of Mr.
Mitchell--The monster Newberry--Departure of the enemy with their
captives--A night of gloom--Women and children sent back--Letter of
Butler to Gen. Schuyler--Murder of Mrs. Campbell's mother--Vindication
of Brant--Interesting incident--Brant's opinion of Capt. McKean--Colonel
John Butler laments the conduct of his son--Letter of General James
Clinton to Walter Butler--Letter of Butler in reply--Molly
Brant--Particulars of Mrs. Campbell's captivity--Feast of thanksgiving
for their victory--The great feast of the White Dogs--Return of Walter
Butler from Quebec--Colonel Butler negotiates with the Indians for Mrs.
Campbell--She goes to Niagara--Catharine Montour and her sons--Mrs.
Campbell finds her children--Descends the St. Lawrence to
Montreal--Meets Mrs. Butler--Arrives at Albany, and is joined by her
husband--Grand campaign projected--Jacob Helmer and others sent
privately to Johnstown for the iron chest of Sir John--Execution of
Helmer--Arrival of British Commissioners--Not received--Exchange of
Ministers with France--Incidents of the war elsewhere for the year.
The arrest of Walter N. Butler, at the German Flats, in the Summer of
1777; his trial, and condemnation to death; his reprieve; as also his
subsequent imprisonment in Albany, and his escape; are facts with which
the reader has already been made acquainted. Although his execution would
have been perfectly justifiable under the _code militaire,_ taken, as he
had been, within the American lines, in the very act of inviting the
people to treason; yet the respectability of his family, and the
associations he had himself formed in Albany, where he had been educated
to the profession of the law, were the causes, through the interposition
of those who had been his personal friends before the war, of saving his
life. Still, the reprieve granted by General Arnold was followed by
rigorous confinement in the jail at Albany until the Spring of the present
year; when, being either sick in reality, or feigning to be so, through
the clemency of General Lafayette his quarters were changed to a private
house, where he was guarded by a single sentinel. It appears that the
family with whom he lodged were Tories at heart; and having succeeded in
making the sentinel drunk, through their assistance Butler was enabled to
effect his escape. A horse having been provided for him, he succeeded in
joining his father at Niagara soon after the affair at Wyoming. His temper
was severe and irascible; but he was nevertheless not without his good
qualities, and was a young man of fair promise--"a pretty able young
lawyer," to use an expression from the lips of one who knew him well. [FN]
It is believed, however, that he took mortal offence at his treatment
while in Albany, and re-entered the service of the Crown, burning with
resentment and thirsting for revenge.
* * * * *
[FN] The venerable John Frank of German Flats. Butler studied law with
the late Francis Sylvester.
This recapitulation, in part, of a portion of the younger Butler's
history, is deemed essential in connexion with the events to be recorded
in the present chapter.
There was with General Washington, during most of the Summer, a Seneca
chief, called _The Great Tree,_ who, on leaving the head-quarters of the
Commander-in-chief, professed the strongest friendship for the American
cause, and his first object, after his return to his own people, was to
inspire them with his own friendly sentiments. While passing through the
Oneida nation on his way home, he professed the strongest confidence in
his ability to keep his own tribe bound in the chain of friendship, and
pledged himself, in the event of his failure, to come down with his
friends and adherents, and join the Oneidas. Early in October, Mr. Dean,
the Indian interpreter and agent in the Oneida territory, wrote to Major
Cochran, then in command of Fort Schuyler, that, not hearing from The
Great Tree as soon as they expected, they had despatched messengers to
the Seneca country, who had returned with unfavorable intelligence. It
was stated, that on his arrival in his own country The Great Tree found
his tribe all in arms. The warriors had been collected from the remotest
of their lodges, and were then thronging the two principal towns,
Kanadaseago and Jennesee. Having heard that the Americans were preparing
an expedition against their country, they had flown to arms; and The Great
Tree was himself determined to chastise the enemy who should dare to
penetrate his country. The Oneida messengers were farther told that all
the Indians west of their own tribe, including, of course, the Onondagas,
together with the Indian settlements on the Susquehanna and its branches,
were to join them. They were to rendezvous somewhere on the Tioga, and
make a descent either upon the Pennsylvania or New Jersey frontier. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] Letter of Major Cochran to Col. Gansevoort, October 10, 1778.
The Mohawk chief, Thayendanegea, does not appear to have been among the
Senecas at this time; and it is believed that the fermentation had been
wrought by Butler, after his return to Niagara. Be that as it may, he
obtained the command of a detachment of his father's rangers, with
permission to employ the forces of Captain Brant. Though late in the
season, young Walter determined to undertake an expedition into Tryon
County, and avenge his imprisonment. [FN] It has been asserted, that while
on his way from Niagara with his rangers, Butler met Brant returning from
the Susquehanna country to his old winter-quarters at Niagara, and that
the proud Mohawk was not a little displeased at the idea of being assigned
to a subordinate station under a man whom he cordially disliked. However,
the difficulty was adjusted, and the sachem was prevailed upon to turn
back upon the white settlements, with five hundred of his warriors. The
united force comprised seven hundred men.
* * * * *
[FN] Campbell's Annals.
The point selected by the enemy was Cherry Valley--a settlement as
remarkable for the respectability of its inhabitants, as its location was
for its beauty. Unlike the generality of border settlements, the people
were intelligent, and exemplary for their morals. So scrupulous were they
in regard to observing the precepts of Christianity, that their Committee
of Safety declined sitting with the Tryon County Committee on the Sabbath
day--unless in the event of such alarming circumstances as would
necessarily "super-exceed the duties to be performed in attending the
public worship of God;"--which, they said, did not then appear to be the
case. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] Letter to Tryon County Committee, signed by John Moore, Samuel
Clyde, and Samuel Campbell, dated June 9, 1775.
It has already been stated, that in consequence of their exposed
situation, the Marquis de Lafayette had directed the erection of a
fortification at that place early the preceding Spring. Colonel Gansevoort
at once solicited the command of the post, with the regiment which had so
greatly distinguished itself the preceding year in the defence of Fort
Schuyler. But it was given to Colonel Ichabod Alden, at the head of an
eastern regiment, unfortunately but little accustomed to Indian warfare.
On the 8th of November, Colonel Alden received a despatch from Fort
Schuyler by express, advising him that his post was to be attacked by the
Tories and Indians. The intelligence had been conveyed to Fort Schuyler
by an Oneida Indian, reporting that he received it from one of the
Onondagas, who had been present at a great meeting of the Indians and
Tories at Tioga, at which the determination was formed. In consequence of
the lateness of the season, the inhabitants, not anticipating any farther
hostilities before Spring, had removed their effects from the
fortification, where, during the Summer, they had been deposited for
safety, back to their own dwellings. On the receipt of this intelligence,
they requested permission to remove once more into the fort, or at least
to be allowed again to deposite their most valuable property within its
walls. But Colonel Alden, discrediting the intelligence as an idle Indian
rumor, denied their solicitations, assuring the people that he would use
all diligence against surprise, and by means of vigilant scouts, be at
all times prepared to warn them of approaching danger. Accordingly scouts
were despatched in various directions on the 9th. The party proceeding
down the Susquehanna, as it were in the very face of the enemy, very
wisely kindled a fire in the evening, by the side of which they laid
themselves down to sleep. The result might have been foreseen. They were
all prisoners when they awoke!
Extorting all necessary information from the prisoners so opportunely
taken, the enemy moved forward on the 10th--Butler with his rangers, and
Thayendanegea with his Indians--encamping for the night on the top of a
hill, thickly covered with evergreens, about a mile south-west of the
fort and village of Cherry Valley. The snow fell several inches during
the night--the storm turning to rain in the morning, with a thick and
cloudy atmosphere. The officers of the garrison were accustomed to lodge
about among the families near the fort; and from the assurances of Colonel
Alden, the apprehensions of the people were so much allayed, that they
were reposing in perfect security. Colonel Alden himself, with Stacia,
his lieutenant-colonel, lodged with Mr. Robert Wells, a gentleman of great
respectability, recently a judge of the county, who was, moreover, an
intimate friend of Colonel John Butler, as he had also been of Sir William
Johnson. [FN-1] Having ascertained the localities in which the officers
lodged, the enemy approached the unsuspecting village in the greatest
security, veiled by the haze which hung in the atmosphere. An alarm was,
however, given, before the enemy had actually arrived in the village, by
the firing of an Indian upon a settler from the outskirts, who was riding
thither on horseback. He was wounded, but nevertheless pushed forward,
and gave instant information to the vigilant Colonel. Strange as it may
seem, this officer still disbelieved the approach of an enemy in
force--supposing the shot to have proceeded from a straggler. But he was
soon convinced of his error; for even before the guards could be called
in, the Indians were upon them. Unfortunately, probably, for the
inhabitants, the rangers had halted just before entering the village to
examine their arms, the rain having damaged their powder. During this
pause, the Indians sprang forward; and the Senecas, being at that period
the most ferocious of the Six Nations, were in the van. The house of Mr.
Wells was instantly surrounded by the warriors of that tribe, and several
Tories of no less ferocity, who rushed in and massacred the whole family,
consisting at that time of himself, his mother, his wife, his brother and
sister, John and Jane, three of his sons, Samuel, Robert, and William,
and his daughter Eleanor. The only survivor of the family was John, who
was then at school in Schenectady. His father had taken his family to that
place for safety some months before, but his fears having subsided, they
had just removed back to their home. [FN-2] Colonel Alden, having escaped
from the house, was pursued some distance down a hill by an Indian, who
repeatedly demanded of him to surrender. This, however, he refused to do,
turning upon his pursuer repeatedly, and snapping his pistol, but without
effect. The Indian ultimately hurled his tomahawk with unerring direction
at his head, and rushing forward, tore his scalp from him in the same
instant. Thus, in the very outset of the battle, fell the commander, who,
had he been as prudent as he was brave, might have averted the tragic
scenes of that hapless day. Lieutenant-colonel Stacia was made prisoner;
and the American guards, stationed at the house of Mr. Wells, were all
either killed or taken.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Robert Wells was the father of the late distinguished counselor,
John Wells, of New-York.
[FN-2] Notice of John Wells by William Johnson, Esq. concluding vol. of
Johnson's Reports.
The destruction of the family of Mr. Wells was marked by circumstances of
peculiar barbarity. It was boasted by one of the Tories, that he had
killed Mr. Wells while engaged in prayer--certainly a happy moment for a
soul to wing its flight to another state of existence; but what the degree
of hardihood that could boast of compassing the death of an unarmed man
at such a moment! His sister Jane was distinguished alike for her beauty,
her accomplishments, and her virtues. As the savages rushed into the
house, she fled to a pile of wood on the premises, and endeavored to
conceal herself. She was pursued and arrested by an Indian, who, with
perfect composure, wiped and sheathed his dripping knife, and took his
tomahawk from his girdle. At this instant a Tory, who had formerly been
a domestic in the family, sprang forward and interposed in her
behalf--claiming her as a sister. The maiden, too, who understood somewhat
of the Indian language, implored for mercy. But in vain. With one hand
the Indian pushed the Tory from him, and with the other planted his
hatchet deep into her temple!
The fort was repeatedly assaulted during the day, and at times with
spirit; but Indians are not the right description of troops for such
service, and being received by a brisk fire of grape and musketry from
the garrison, they avoided the fort, and directed their attention chiefly
to plundering and laying waste the village, having sated themselves in
the onset with blood. In this work of destruction they were unmolested,
since, numbering more than twice as many as the garrison, a sortie was
felt to be unwarrantable.
Among the families which suffered from the tomahawks of the Indians and
Tories--for the latter, as at Wyoming, were not to be outdone by their
uncivilized allies--were those of the Rev. Samuel Dunlop, and a Mr.
Mitchell. Mrs. Dunlop was killed outright, and thus shared the fate of
Mrs. Wells, who was her daughter. Mr. Dunlop and another daughter would
likewise have been murdered but for the interposition of Little Aaron, a
chief of the Oghkwaga branch of the Mohawks, who led the old gentleman,
tottering beneath the weight of years, to the door, and stood beside him
for his protection. The Indians attempted to plunder him of some of his
attire, but the sachem compelled them to relinquish that portion of their
spoil. The venerable servant of God, shocked by the events of that day
beyond the strength of his nerves, died within a year afterward.
The case of Mr. Mitchell was still more painful. He was in the field at
work when he beheld the Indians approaching; and being already cut off
from his house, his only course was to betake himself to the woods. On
returning to his home, after the enemy had retired, he found his house on
fire, and within its plundered walls the murdered bodies of his wife and
three of his children. The fourth, a little girl of ten or twelve years
of age, had been left for dead. But signs of life appearing, the parent,
having extinguished the fire, which had not yet made much progress,
brought his little mangled daughter forth to the door, and while bending
over her, discovered a straggling party of the enemy approaching. He had
but just time to conceal himself, before a Tory sergeant, named Newberry,
rushed forward, and by a blow of his hatchet extinguished what little
growing hope of life had been left, by a darker though less savage enemy
than himself. It is some consolation, while recording this deed of blood,
to be able to anticipate the course of events, so far as to announce that
this brutal fellow paid the forfeit of his life on the gallows, by order
of General James Clinton, at Canajoharie, in the summer of the following
year. On the next day Mr. Mitchell removed his dead to the fort with his
own arms, and the soldiers assisted in their interment. Several other
families were cut off--the whole number of the inhabitants slain being
thirty-two, mostly women and children. In addition to these, sixteen
soldiers were killed. Some of the inhabitants escaped, but the greater
proportion were taken prisoners. Among the former were Mrs. Clyde, the
wife of Colonel Clyde, who was absent, and her family. She succeeded in
reaching the woods with her children, excepting her eldest daughter, whom
she could not find at the moment; and although the savages were frequently
prowling around her, she yet lay secure in her concealment until the next
day. The eldest daughter, likewise, had made a successful flight, and
returned in safety. Colonel Campbell was also absent; but hastening home
on hearing the alarm, he arrived only in time to behold the destruction
of his property by the conflagration of the village, and to ascertain that
his wife and children had been carried into captivity. [FN] The torch was
applied indiscriminately to every dwelling-house, and, in fact, to every
building in the village. The barns, being filled with the combustible
products of husbandry, served to render the conflagration more fierce and
terrific; especially to the fugitive inhabitants who had escaped to the
woods for shelter, and whose sufferings were aggravated by the
consciousness that their retreating footsteps were lighted by the flames
of their own households.
* * * * *
[FN] Colonel Campbell was the grandfather of the author of the Annals of
Tryon County, so frequently referred to in the present volume, to whom
the author is almost exclusively indebted for the facts respecting the
invasion of Cherry Valley. The author of the Annals being himself a
native of that place, was not only familiar with its history from his
cradle, but has taken great pains to collect the facts. There is indeed
no other reliable authority. Ramsay is equally brief and unsatisfactory;
while Macauley's wretched jumble of every thing, called, for what reason
cannot be divined, a History of New-York, contains the most foul
misrepresentations. The massacre was bad enough, in all conscience; but
when it is stated that, "not content with killing the inhabitants, they
ripped open and quartered the women, and then suspended their mangled
limbs on the trees--that the helpless infants were taken from their
mothers' breasts, and their brains knocked out against the posts,"--and
when these statements are compared with the real facts of the case, we
may well tremble for the truth of history. The simple incident which
gave rise to this shocking tale of mutilating the bodies of the dying
and dead, was this. One of the Tories had lived as a domestic with the
Rev. Mr. Dunlop. He had run away in consequence of ill-treatment, as was
alleged, on the part of Mrs. D. After she was slain, it is said he cut
off her hand. But even this story is of doubtful authenticity.
The prisoners taken numbered between thirty and forty. They were marched,
on the evening of the massacre, down the valley about two miles south of
the fort, where the enemy encamped for the night. Large fires were kindled
round about the camp, into the centre of which the prisoners, of all ages
and sexes, were promiscuously huddled, and there compelled to pass the
hours till morning--many of them half naked, shivering from the inclemency
of the weather, with no shelter but the frowning heavens, and no bed but
the cold ground. It was a dismal night for the hapless group--rendered,
if possible, still more painful by the savage yells of exultation, the
wild, half-frantic revelry, and other manifestations of joy on the part
of the victors, at the success of their bloody enterprise. In the course
of the night a division of the spoil was made among the Indians, and on
the following morning the march was resumed; although parties of the
Indians returned to prowl among the ruins of the village or hang upon its
outskirts, during the greater part of the day, and until reinforcements
of militia from the Mohawk Valley began to arrive, when they dispersed.
The retiring enemy had not proceeded far on their way, before the
prisoners, with few exceptions, experienced a change in their
circumstances, as happy as it was unexpected. They had been separated,
for the convenience of traveling, into small groups, in charge of
different parties of the enemy. On coming to a halt, they were collected
together, and informed that it had been determined to release all the
women and children, excepting Mrs. Campbell and her four children, and
Mrs. Moore and her children. These it was resolved to detain in captivity
as a punishment to their husbands, for the activity they had displayed in
the border wars. With these exceptions, the women and their little ones
were immediately sent back, bearing the following letter from the
commander of the rangers, addressed to General Schuyler. As a key to the
letter, and perhaps, also, to the motives of Captain Butler in this act
of humanity, it should here be remarked, that on the flight of his father
and himself to Canada, his mother and the younger children had been left
behind. Mrs. Butler and her children were detained by the Committee of
Safety, and permission to follow the husband and son to Canada had been
refused, as has been stated in a former chapter:--
"Captain Butler to General Schuyler.
_Cherry Valley, Nov._ 12, 1778.
"Sir,
"I am induced by humanity to permit the persons whose names I send
herewith, to return, lest the inclemency of the season, and their naked
and helpless situation, might prove fatal to them, and expect that you
will release an equal number of our people in your hands, amongst whom I
expect you will permit Mrs. Butler and family to come to Canada; but if
you insist upon it, I do engage to send you, moreover, an equal number
of prisoners of yours, taken either by the Rangers or Indians, and will
leave it to you to name the persons. I have done every thing in my power
to restrain the fury of the Indians from hurting women and children, or
killing the prisoners who fell into our hands, and would have more
effectually prevented them, but that they were much incensed by the late
destruction of their village of Anguaga [FN-1] by your people. I shall
always continue to act in that manner. I look upon it beneath the
character of a soldier to wage war with women and children. I am sure
you are conscious that Colonel Butler or myself have no desire that your
women or children should be hurt. But, be assured, that if you persevere
in detaining my father's family with you, that we shall no longer take
the same pains to restrain the Indians from prisoners, women and children,
that we have heretofore done.
"I am, your humble servant,
Walter N. Butler,
_Capt. Com. of the Rangers._
"General Schuyler." [FN-2]
* * * * *
[FN-1] One of the old names of Unadilla.
[FN-2] This letter was recently found among the papers of General James
Clinton.
Having thus, in a great measure, disencumbered themselves of their
prisoners, the enemy proceeded on their journey by their usual route at
that period, down the Susquehanna to its confluence with the Tioga,
thence up that river into the Seneca country, and thence to Niagara. Mrs.
Cannon, an aged lady, and the mother of Mrs. Campbell, was likewise held
in captivity; but being unfitted for traveling by reason of her years,
the Indian having both in charge despatched the mother with his hatchet,
by the side of the daughter, on the second day of their march. Mrs.
Campbell was driven along by the uplifted hatchet, having a child in her
arms eighteen months old, with barbarous rapidity, until the next day,
when she was favored with a more humane master. In the course of the
march a straggling party of the Indians massacred an English family named
Buxton, residing on the Butternut Creek, and reduced their buildings to
ashes. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] There is some reason to doubt whether this murder of the Buxtons
was not the work of the Oneidas, during their excursion to Unadilla
and the Butternuts.
Thus terminated the expedition of Walter N. Butler and Joseph Brant to
Cherry Valley. Nothing could exhibit an aspect of more entire desolation
than did the site of that village on the following day, when the militia
from the Mohawk arrived, too late to afford assistance. "The cocks crowed
from the tops of the forest trees, and the dogs howled through the fields
and woods." The inhabitants who escaped the massacre, and those who
returned from captivity, abandoned the settlement, until the return of
peace should enable them to plant themselves down once more in safety;
and in the succeeding Summer the garrison was withdrawn and the post
abandoned.
Next to the destruction of Wyoming, that of Cherry Valley stands out in
history as having been the most conspicuous for its atrocity. And as in
the case of Wyoming, both in history and popular tradition, Joseph Brant
has been held up as the foul fiend of the barbarians, and of all others
deserving the deepest execration. Even the learned and estimable
counselor, who so long reported the adjudicated law of the State of
New-York, [FN-1] in the tribute to the memory of the late John Wells, with
which he closed the last volume of his juridical labors, has fallen into
the same popular error; and applies the second stanza in the striking
passage of "Gertrude of Wyoming," which called forth the younger Brant
in vindication of his father's memory, to the case of his departed and
eminent friend. [FN-2] It was indeed most true as applied to the melancholy
case of Mr. Wells, of whose kindred "nor man, nor child, nor thing of
living birth," had been left by the Indians. But it may be fearlessly
asserted that it was not true as coupled with the name of Joseph Brant.
It has already been seen that Brant was not the commander of this
expedition; and if he had been, it is not certain that he could have
compelled a different result. But it is certain that his conduct on that
fatal day was neither barbarous nor ungenerous. On the contrary, he did
all in his power to prevent the shedding of innocent blood; and had it not
been for a circumstance beyond his control, it is more than probable that
the distinguished counselor referred to, would not have been left "alone
of all his race." Captain Brant asserted, and there is no reason to
question his veracity, that on the morning of the attack, he left the
main body of the Indians, and endeavored to anticipate their arrival at
the house of Mr. Wells, for the purpose of affording protection to the
family. On his way it was necessary to cross a ploughed field, the
yielding of the earth in which, beneath his tread, so retarded his
progress, that he arrived too late.
* * * * *
[FN-1] William Johnson, Esq. long reporter of the Supreme Court, the
Court of Errors, and the Court of Chancery of this State.
[FN-2] The passage referred to--as unjust as it is poetical--will be
found near the close of the second volume of the present work, in the
sketch of the life of the younger Brant.
But this is not all. On entering one of the dwellings, he found a woman
employed in household matters. "Are you thus engaged," inquired the chief,
"while all your neighbors are murdered around you?" The woman replied that
they were in favor of the King. "That plea will not avail you today,"
replied the warrior. "They have murdered Mr. Wells's family, who were as
dear to me as my own." "But," continued the woman, "there is one Joseph
Brant: if he is with the Indians, he will save us." "I am Joseph Brant!"
was the quick response; "but I have not the command, and I know not that
I can save you; but I will do what is in my power." At the moment of
uttering these words, he observed the Senecas approaching. "Get into bed
quick," he commanded her, "and feign yourself sick." The woman obeyed,
and when the Indians came up, he put them off with that pretext. Instantly
as they departed, he rallied a few of his Mohawks by a shrill signal, and
directed them to paint his mark upon the woman and her children. "You are
now probably safe," he remarked--and departed. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] It is an Indian practice thus to mark, their captives, and the known
mark of a tribe or chief is a protection from danger at other hands.
Another instance, from the same authority, [FN] will serve farther to
illustrate the conduct and bearing of this distinguished Indian leader
on that occasion: After the battle was over, he inquired of one of the
captives for Captain McKean, who had retired to the Mohawk Valley with
his family. "He sent me a challenge once," said the chief; "I have now
come to accept it. He is a fine soldier thus to retreat!" It was said in
reply: "Captain McKean would not turn his back upon an enemy where there
was a probability of success." "I know it," rejoined Brant; "he is a brave
man and I would have given more to take him than any other man in Cherry
Valley; but I would not have hurt a hair of his head."
* * * * *
[FN] Campbell's Annals.
These were generous sentiments, worthy of a generous soldier. Indeed, the
whole conduct of the Mohawk chief on that melancholy day was anything
rather than characteristic of the "monster" Brant has been represented to
be. Of the conduct of the leader of the expedition, Captain Walter N.
Butler, a less charitable judgment must be formed--not so much perhaps on
account of the atrocities committed--because these, too, may have been
beyond his control, or suddenly perpetrated without his knowledge--but
because the expedition was entirely one of his own undertaking. It was
said that Colonel John Butler was grieved at the conduct of his son at
this place; remarking, on one occasion, in regard to the murder of Mr.
Wells and family--"I would have gone miles on my hands and knees to save
that family, and why my son did not do it, God only knows." It has also
been asserted that the Colonel accused Brant of having incited the Indians
secretly to commit the excesses in question, in order to bring odium upon
his son, under whose command, as the reader has already been informed, he
had been placed, strongly in opposition to his own wishes. But the Mohawk
repelled the charge, and appealed to his former conduct, particularly in
the case of Springfield, as a vindication of his character from the
imputation of wanton cruelty. On the other hand, it has been laid to the
charge of Butler, that when, on the night preceding the massacre, some of
his rangers desired secretly to apprise their friends in the village of
the storm which was to burst upon them in the morning, he peremptorily
denied the request--apprehending that if a few were ever so cautiously
admonished of the approaching danger, the tidings would be bruited and
the whole village escape. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] Campbell's Annals.
These things may, or they may not, be true. But in either case the
loyalist Butlers, father and son, should be justly dealt by, although they
have not been as yet. At least the world has never heard what they might
possibly have said in their own defence--nay, what they did say--in regard
to the affairs of Wyoming and Cherry Valley; and candor requires the
admission, that the narratives of those events which have descended to
us, were written too soon after their occurrence to warrant a belief in
the entire impartiality of the writers. But as truth constitutes the great
excellence of history, and as a just opinion can rarely be formed upon
testimony altogether _exparte_ after fifty-eight years of silence, it may
be allowed to the Butlers, though dead, to speak a word for themselves.
The elder Butler lived at Niagara many years after the close of the
contest; and, though employed in the British Indian Department, his
conduct was such, both in public and private life, as to command the
respect of those who knew him.
The letter of Captain Butler to General Schuyler, written the day after
the affair at Cherry Valley, was delivered by the gentleman who, of all
others, felt the greatest interest in facilitating the arrangement
proposed--Colonel Campbell himself. It was not answered by General
Schuyler, for the reason that he was not then in command of the district;
and for the still farther reason that, from the circumstances of the case,
it took a different direction. On the 1st of January, however, the
following letter upon the subject was addressed to Captain Butler by
Brigadier-General James Clinton:--
"General Clinton to Captain Butler.
_Albany, January_ 1st, 1779.
"Sir,
"A letter, dated the 12th of November last, signed by you, and directed to
General Schuyler, and which was delivered by John Campbell, is come to
hand. As its contents related to persons who were citizens of the State,
with which the military do not interfere, the letter was not delivered to
Brigadier-General Hand, who commanded in this department, but transmitted
to his Excellency Governor Clinton, that his pleasure might be known on
its contents. He has authorized me to make the exchange you request. I am
at a loss to know not only where to direct to you, but also in what part
of the country the unhappy prisoners taken from this State have been
carried. I therefore send the bearers, A. B. and C. D. with a flag, to
carry this letter to any place where they may learn you are, or any other
officer who can accomplish the exchange in your absence. Should the
prisoners be in any of the Indian villages, and in a condition to be
moved, you will please to send them to the nearest of our settlements;
or, if you do not choose to do that, I will send proper persons to meet
and receive them at any place you may appoint. I am not informed if Mrs.
Butler, her family, and such others as will be given in exchange for those
you have in captivity, and those you have suffered to return as mentioned
in your letter, would choose to move at this inclement season. If they do,
they shall be sent. If not, they may remain until Spring; and then they
may either go to Oswego or Canada, at their option. Should the prisoners
taken at Cherry Valley, or any others belonging to the State of New-York,
be at Niagara, it will be impossible for them to re-turn until Spring;
and then I request that they may be sent to Oswego or Fort Schuyler, and
that you will send notice of your determination, that provision may be
made accordingly. Do not flatter yourself, sir, that your father's family
have been detained on account of any consequence they were supposed to be
of, or that it is determined they should be exchanged in consideration of
the threat contained in your letter. I should hope, for the sake of human
nature and the honor of civilized nations, that the British officers had
exerted themselves in restraining the barbarity of the savages. But it is
difficult even for the most disinterested mind to believe it, as numerous
instances of barbarity have been perpetrated where savages were not
present--or, if they were, the British force was not sufficient to
restrain them, had there been a real desire so to do. The enormous murders
committed at Wyoming and Cherry Valley would clearly have justified a
retaliation; and that your mother did not fall a sacrifice to the
resentment of the survivors of those families who were so barbarously
massacred, is owing to the humane principles which the conduct of their
enemies evinces a belief that they are utterly strangers to. The flag
will carry their arms with them, that they may furnish themselves with
provisions, should what they set out with be expended before they reach
any places where they can be supplied. As Captain Butler may be absent, I
enclose a copy of this letter to General Schuyler.
"I am, &c,
James Clinton,
"To Captain Walter Butler, or any officer in the British service to whom
this may be handed." [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] This letter has been copied from the original draft, among the
papers of General Clinton.
This letter reached its destination in due season, and called forth the
following reply from Captain Butler, written in behalf of his father and
himself:--
"Captain Butler to General Clinton.
_Niagara,_ 18th _Feb._ 1779.
"Sir,
"I have received a letter dated the 1st January last, signed by you, in
answer to mine of the 12th November.
"Its contents I communicated to Lieutenant Colonel Bolton, the commanding
officer of this garrison, &c. by whom I am directed to acquaint you, that
he had no objection that an exchange of prisoners, as mentioned in your
letter, should take place; but not being fully empowered by his
Excellency--General Haldimand [FN]--to order the same immediately to be
put in execution, has thought proper I should go down to the
Commander-in-chief for his direction in the matter."
* * * * *
[FN] General Sir Frederick Haldimand had previous to this time superseded
Sir Guy Carleton in the command of the Canadas.
"In the mean time, Colonel Butler, as he ever has done on every other
occasion, will make every effort in his power to have all the prisoners,
as well those belonging to your troops, as the women and children, in
captivity among the different Indian nations, collected and sent in to
this post to be forwarded to Crown Point, should the exchange take place
by the way of Canada, or to Oswego, if settled there. In either case
Colonel Bolton desires me to inform you that the prisoners shall receive
from him what assistance their wants may require, which prisoners have at
all times received at this post.
"The disagreeable situation of your people in the Indian villages, as well
as ours amongst you, will induce me to make all the expedition in my power
to Canada, (Quebec,) in order that the exchange may be settled as soon as
possible. For the good of both, I make no doubt that his Excellency
General Haldimand will acquiesce in the proper exchange. The season of
the year renders it impossible that it should take place before the 10th
or 15th May next. However, I shall write you, by the way of Crown Point,
General Haldimand's determination, and when and where the exchange will
be most agreeable to him to be made, I could wish Mrs. Butler and her
family, including Mrs. Scheehan and son, and Mrs. Wall, were permitted to
go to Canada in the Spring, even should the exchange be fixed at Ontario.
"It is not our present business, sir, to enter into an altercation, or to
reflect on the conduct of either the British or the Continental forces,
or on that of each other; but since you have charged (on report, I must
suppose) the British officers in general with inhumanity, and Colonel
Butler and myself in particular; in justice to them, and in vindication
of his and my own honor and character, I am under the disagreeable
necessity to declare the charge unjust and void of truth, and which can
only tend to deceive the world, though a favorite cry of the Congress on
every occasion, whether in truth or not.
"We deny any _cruelties_ to have been committed _at Wyoming,_ either by
whites or Indians; so far to the contrary, that not a man, woman, or
child was hurt after the capitulation, or a woman or child before it, and
none taken into captivity. Though, should you call it _inhumanity_ the
killing _men in arms in the field_, we in that case plead guilty. The
inhabitants killed at Cherry Valley does not lay at my door--my conscience
acquits. If any are guilty (as accessories) it's yourselves; at least the
conduct of some of your officers. First, Colonel Hartley, of your forces,
sent to the Indians the enclosed, being a copy of his letter charging
them with crimes they never committed, and threatening them and their
villages with fire and sword and no quarters. The burning of one of their
villages, then inhabited only by a few families--your friends--who
imagined they might remain in peace and friendship with you, till assured
a few hours before the arrival of your troops that they should not even
receive quarters, took to the woods; and, to complete the matter, Colonel
Denniston and his people appearing again in arms with Colonel Hartley,
after a solemn capitulation and engagement not to bear arms during the
war, and Colonel Denniston not performing a promise to release a number
of soldiers belonging to Colonel Butler's corps of rangers, then prisoners
among you, were the reasons assigned by the Indians to me, after the
destruction of Cherry Valley, for their not acting in the same manner as
at Wyoming. They added, that being charged by their enemies with what
they never had done, and threatened by them, they had determined to
convince you it was not fear which had prevented them from committing the
one, and that they did not want spirit to put your threats against them
in force against yourselves.
"The prisoners sent back by me, or any now in our or the Indians' hands,
must declare I did every thing in my power to prevent the Indians killing
the prisoners, or taking women and children captive, or in any wise
injuring them. Colonel Stacey and several other officers of yours, when
exchanged, will acquit me; and must further declare, that they have
received every assistance, before and since their arrival at this post,
that could be got to relieve their wants. I must, however, beg leave, by
the bye, to observe, that I experienced no humanity, or even common
justice, during my imprisonment among you.
"I enclose you a list of officers and privates whom I should be glad were
exchanged likewise. The list of the families we expect for those as well
sent back as others in our hands, you have likewise enclosed.
"Colonel Stacey, and several officers and others, your people, are at this
post, and have leave to write.
"I am,
Your very humble serv't.,
Walter N. Butler,
_Captain corps of Rangers._
"Brigadier Gen. Clinton,
of the Continental forces."
This is a straight-forward, manly letter; and when the impartial reader
is weighing the testimony in regard to the transactions of which it
speaks, it certainly deserves consideration. It is, moreover, believed to
be the first time that the accused have been permitted to relate their
own side of the case. There were, no doubt, bloody outrages
committed--probably upon both sides--because in such a contest, waged by
borderers, many of whom, as has been seen, were previously burning with
indignation against each other, it is hardly to be expected that
individual combatants would always contend hand to hand with all the
courtesy which characterised gallant knights in the days of chivalry. In
justice to Colonel John Butler, moreover, it must be admitted that his
conduct toward his prisoners at Niagara, and among the Indians in that
country, was uniformly characterised by humanity. One proof of this
disposition was afforded in the case of Colonel Stacia, whose destruction
had, for some reason or other, been determined upon by Molly Brant, the
Indian wife of Sir William Johnson; who, in her widowhood, had been taken
from Johnstown to Niagara. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] "Molly Brant had, for some cause, a deadly hostility to Colonel
Stacia. Resorting to the Indian method of dreaming, she informed Colonel
Butler that she had dreamed that she had the Yankee's head, and that she
and the Indians were kicking it about the fort. Colonel Butler ordered
a small keg of rum to be painted and given to her. This, for a short
time, appeased her; but she dreamed a second time that she had the
Yankee's head, with his hat on, and that she and the Indians were
kicking it about the fort for a football. Colonel Butler ordered another
keg of rum to be given to her, and then told her decidedly that Colonel
Stacia should not be given up to the Indians. Apart from this
circumstance, I know nothing disreputable to Molly Brant. On the
contrary, she appears to have had just views of her duties. She was
careful of the education of her children, some of whom were respectably
married."--_Campbells Annals._--It may be added, that her descendants
from Sir William Johnson compose some of the most respectable and
intelligent families of Upper Canada at this day. The traditions of the
Mohawk Valley state, that the acquaintance of Sir William with Molly had
a rather wild and romantic commencement. The story runs, that she was a
very sprightly and very beautiful Indian girl of about sixteen when he
first saw her. It was at a regimental militia muster, where Molly was
one of a multitude of spectators. One of the field-officers coming near
her upon a prancing steed, by way of banter she asked permission to mount
behind him. Not supposing she could perform the exploit, he said she
might. At the word she leaped upon the crupper with the agility of a
gazelle. The horse sprang off at full speed, and, clinging to the
officer, her blanket flying, and her dark tresses streaming in the wind,
she flew about the parade-ground swift as an arrow, to the infinite
merriment of the collected multitude. The Baronet, who was a witness of
the spectacle, admiring the spirit of the young squaw, and becoming
enamoured of her person, took her home as his wife.
The few prisoners from Cherry Valley were marched, by the route already
indicated, to the Seneca country, Mrs. Campbell was carried to the Seneca
castle at Kanadaseago, where she was presented to a family to fill a place
made vacant by the death of one of its members. Her children, the infant
included, were separated from her, and distributed among different Indian
families. Being skillful with her needle, and rendering herself useful to
those with whom she lived, she was treated with indulgence. No restraints
were imposed upon her, and she was even gratified in her desire to pay a
due regard to the Sabbath, of which institution they were ignorant. Among
other little civilities, perceiving that she wore caps, an Indian
presented her one, which was cut and spotted with blood. On a closer
scrutiny, her feelings were shocked by the discovery, from the mark, that
it had belonged to the lovely companion of her youth, the hapless Jane
Wells!
After returning from a successful expedition, a dance of _Thanksgiving_ is
performed by the Iroquois, which partakes of the character of a religious
ceremony; [FN-1] and Mrs. Campbell had the opportunity, soon after her
arrival at Kanadaseago, of witnessing the festival in honor of their
recent victory, of which she herself was one of the trophies. A grand
council was convoked for this purpose, and preparations were made for the
observance of the festival, upon a scale corresponding with the importance
of the achievements they were to celebrate. The arrangements having been
completed, the warriors came forth to the centre of the village, where
the great fire had been kindled, horribly disfigured by black and red
paint, and commenced their savage rites by singing of their own exploits,
and those of their ancestors,--by degrees working themselves up into a
tempest of passion; whooping, yelling, and uttering every hideous cry;
brandishing their knives and war-clubs, and throwing themselves into the
most menacing attitudes, in a manner terrific to the unpractised beholder.
There was no prisoner put to the torture, or attired with the raven
death-cap on this occasion; [FN-2] but the prisoners were paraded, and the
scalps borne in procession, as would have been the standards taken in
civilized warfare in the celebration of a triumph. For every scalp, and
for every prisoner taken, the _scalp-yell,_ or, as it is sometimes called,
the _death-halloo,_ was raised in all its mingled tones of triumph and
terror. [FN-3] The scalp-yell is the most terrific note which an Indian
can raise, and from the numbers that had fallen during this expedition,
it was often repeated. The white dog for the sacrifice was then killed;
the offerings collected were thrown into the fire; whereupon the dog was
laid upon the pile and thoroughly roasted. The flesh was then eaten, and
the wild festival closed.
* * * * *
[FN-1] Heckewelder.
[FN-2] The Indians do not often put their prisoners to the torture, or
even to death--seldom, unless when they have sustained great losses, or
when some of their warriors have been murdered. The torture is then
resorted to, to glut their vengeance.--_Heckewelder._
[FN-3] Idem.
From an account of the ceremonies at one of the festivals, of which Mrs.
Campbell was a spectator during her captivity, she must have been present
at the great annual feast of thanksgiving and remission of sin, which is
held by the Senecas and other tribes of the confederacy. This is their
greatest national and most solemn sacrifice. It is invariably held at the
time of the old moon in January, and is celebrated with great parade; the
ceremonies being conducted with the utmost order, harmony, and decorum,
under the direction of a large committee appointed for that purpose.
The festivities continued nine days, on the first of which two white dogs,
without spot or blemish, if such could be found, were strangled and hung
up before the door of the council-house, at the height of twenty feet.
Not a drop of blood was allowed to be shed in compassing their death, as
the victims would thereby be rendered unfit for the sacrifice. After the
animals were killed, and before their suspension, their faces were painted
red, as also the edges of their ears and other parts of their bodies.
They were then fantastically decorated with ribbons and feathers,
rendering them as beautiful, in the eye of an Indian, as possible. Their
fancy dress being completed, the dogs were hung up, and the ceremonies of
the frolic commenced. In the course of the first day every lodge in the
town was visited by the committee, each member being provided with a
shovel, with which he removed the ashes and coals from every hearth, and
scattered them to the winds. In this manner the fire of every lodge was
extinguished, to be re-kindled only by striking virgin sparks from the
flint. The discharge of a gun at every lodge announced that the work of
purification, even of fire itself, had been performed; and with this
ceremony ended the labors of the first day.
The ceremonies of the second day were opened with a dance by the
committee, after which, dressed in bear-skins, the members visited every
lodge, with baskets to take up alms--receiving whatever was bestowed, but
particularly tobacco, and other articles used for incense in the
sacrifice. Two or three days were occupied in receiving these grateful
donations, during which time the people at the council-house were engaged
in dances and other recreations. On the fifth day masks were added to the
bear-skin dresses of the masters of the festival, some ludicrous and
others frightful, in which they ran about the village, smearing themselves
with dirt, and bedaubing all such as refused to add to the contents of
their baskets of incense. While thus engaged, the collectors were supposed
to receive into their own bodies all the sins of their tribe, however
numerous or heinous, committed within the preceding year.
On the ninth day of the feast, by some magical process, the sins of the
nation thus collected were transfused from the several members of the
Committee into one of their number. The dogs were then taken down, and
the whole weight of the nation's iniquity, by another magical process,
was transfused into their lifeless carcasses. The bodies of the dogs were
next laid upon an altar of wood, to which fire was applied, and the whole
consumed--the masters of the sacrifice throwing the tobacco and other
odoriferous articles into the flames, the incense ascending from which
was supposed to be acceptable to the Great Spirit. The sacrifice ended,
the people all partook of a bountiful feast, the chief article of which
was succotash. Then followed the war and peace dances, and the smoking of
the calumet. Thus refreshed, and relieved from the burden of sin--at
peace with the Great Spirit, and with each other--the warriors with their
families returned, each to his own house, prepared to enter upon the
business and the duties of another year; the chiefs, during the festival,
having carefully reviewed the past, and adjusted their policy for the
future. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] The reminiscences of Mrs. Campbell scarcely allowed her to give the
particulars of this great festival _in extenso,_ although she seems,
from the Annals of her grandson, to have retained a remembrance of the
leading points of the ceremonies. The author has supplied the
deficiencies of her account from the life of Mrs. Jemison. The sacrifice
of dogs is, we believe, universal among the North American Indians. How
long the practice has prevailed cannot well be known. Cotton Mather
affirms, "that the Indians, in their wars with us, finding a sore
inconvenience by our _dogs,_ sacrificed a _dog_ to the _devil;_ after
which no _English_ dog would bark at an _Indian_ for divers months
ensuing." _Magnalia,_ iii. 192. What interpreter the devil had on these
occasions, does not appear. That he did not understand the Indian tongue,
is manifest from the same writer:--"Once finding that the _Daemons,_ in
a possessed young woman, understood the _Latin, Greek,_ and _Hebrew_
tongues, my curiosity induced me to make trial of this _Indian_ language,
and the _Daemons_ did seem as if they did not understand it."--_Sands._
Captain Butler having returned from his visit to General Haldimand, with
permission for the proposed exchange of prisoners, the Colonel, his
father, proceeded to the Seneca castle to negotiate for the release of
Mrs. Campbell. The family by whom she had been adopted were very reluctant
to part with her; but, after the holding of a council, the strong appeals
of Colonel Butler, who was anxious for the release of his own wife and
family, prevailed. Mrs. Campbell, however, had been pledged to a Genesee
family, whither she was shortly to be removed; and as her liberation could
not be completed without the consent of that family, Guyanguahta, the aged
king of the Senecas, who had become her zealous friend, made the journey
to the Genesee on her behalf. He was successful, and Mrs. Campbell was
removed to Niagara. The aged king, being too old to go out upon the
war-path, had borne no part in the pending hostilities. He seemed little
disposed to evil, and on parting with the fair captive bade her an
affectionate farewell in the words following:--"You are about to return
to your home and friends," said the venerable sachem. "I rejoice. You
live a great way off, and many journeys from here. I am an old man, and
do not know that I shall live to the end of the war. If I do, I will come
and see you." [FN] Mrs. Campbell reached Niagara in June, 1779. While
residing there, among others she had an opportunity of seeing the
celebrated Catharine Montour, whose name occurs in the preceding pages
in connexion with the battle of Wyoming. One of her two sons, who had
signalized themselves at Wyoming, was also in the affair at Cherry Valley;
and it was he who made prisoner of Mr. Cannon, the father of Mrs.
Campbell, after he had been wounded by a musket ball. Being a Whig of
consideration, and also a member of the Committee of Safety, it was
determined to retain Mr. Cannon in captivity, for the purpose of
exchanging him for some one of their own men of like consequence. But his
age and his wound rendered him an inconvenient prisoner, and Kate Montour
was in a rage with her son for not having killed him outright. Yet,
notwithstanding this exhibition of a savage temper, she was treated with
marked consideration by the British officers.
* * * * *
[FN] Campbell's Annals.
It was not until June of the following year that Mrs. Campbell was sent
from Niagara to Montreal, on her way home. While residing at the former
post, the Indians having been driven into the fort, she was enabled to
recover three of her children. On her arrival at Montreal, she met with
Mrs. Butler and her family, who had been previously released. Here, also,
and in charge of that lady, Mrs. Campbell found her fourth child, a little
son who had been torn from her in the Cherry Valley massacre. He was
dressed in the green uniform of Butler's rangers; but had forgotten the
English language--speaking nothing but Indian. From Montreal Mrs. Campbell
was sent to Albany by the way of Lake Champlain, [FN] where she was shortly
afterward joined by her husband, who had been stationed at Fort Schuyler
most of the time during her captivity.
* * * * *
[FN] On her way from Montreal, a variety of circumstances and incidents
intervened to harass Mrs. Campbell and the prisoners returning in her
company, and to retard their progress. She had been detained four months
at Montreal, and these additional delays were exceedingly vexatious.
Before their departure from Crown Point, a rumor had reached the American
shores of the lake, from Ticonderoga to Skenesborough, that another
expedition was about to be undertaken from Canada against New-York, and
the inhabitants had become not a little alarmed at the prospect. It
happened that the men in the batteaux containing the prisoners, were
clad in blanket coats, and some of the women wore red cloaks. A scout
had discovered them on the lake, and taking them for a party of Indians
and Tories, gave the alarm, and before their arrival, more than a
thousand men had collected, under Col. Ethan Allen. While stopping at a
small fortress, eight miles from Castleton, it was announced that a flag
was approaching. It was supposed to be sent to demand the surrender of
the fortress. Col. Herrick, of the militia, struck his sword upon the
ground with such force that he broke it in pieces, saying it should not
be surrendered. Col. Allen told the prisoners that they should not again
fall into the hands of the enemy, and immediately mounting them upon
horseback, sent them off toward Albany, with an escort of a hundred men.
This flag was sent for the following reason:--It had been rumored that
the inhabitants in that section had said that if they were not protected
from the incursions of the Indians and Tories, they would seek protection
elsewhere. It is perhaps needless to add that this flag was sent to offer
them the protection of Great Britain--a proposition which was of course
refused.--_Campbell's Annals._
The destruction of Cherry Valley closed the warlike operations of both
nations, in the North, for that year. A formidable campaign had indeed
been projected early in the season, as has been already stated, not only
against the hostiles of the Six Nations, but likewise against the nations
more remote, for whom Detroit was the common centre. But the larger half
of this enterprise had been abandoned after the irruption into Wyoming,
and the next project contemplated the invasion of the Seneca country by
way of the Tioga and Chemung rivers. In October this branch of the project
was likewise deferred, at the suggestion of Generals Gates and Schuyler.
Meantime, notwithstanding that these enterprises had successively fallen
to the ground for want of "the sinews of war," Congress had been
projecting another stupendous campaign, comprehending a simultaneous
attack upon the whole northern range of British possessions, from Cape
Breton and Newfoundland to Detroit. The French fleet was to co-operate by
attacking the islands and territories at the estuary of the St. Lawrence;
while the Americans were to send an army to Detroit, another to Niagara,
a third to Oswego, and a fourth against Montreal by the way of St.
Francis. It is needless to add, that although Congress had arranged all
the details, the moment the plan was laid before the Commander-in-chief,
who had not previously been consulted in the premises, it was necessarily
laid aside. In the first place, the nation had not the means; and in the
second, Congress, in arranging matters for this splendid undertaking, had
forgotten that they were to leave Sir Henry Clinton, and all the British
forces in New-York, and at the South, computed at the least at seventeen
thousand men, behind! Thus closed the Northern campaigns of 1778. The
British, Tories and Indians went into winter-quarters, and the frontier
inhabitants disposed of themselves as best they could.
Much has been said in the traditions of Tryon County, and somewhat, also,
in the courts of law, in cases involving titles to real estate formerly
in the family of Sir William Johnson, respecting the burial of an iron
chest, by his son Sir John, previous to his flight to Canada, containing
the most valuable of his own and his father's papers. Late in the Autumn
of the present year, General Haldimand, at the request of Sir John, sent
a party of between forty and fifty men privately to Johnstown, to dig up
and carry the chest away. The expedition was successful; but the chest
not being sufficiently tight to prevent the influence of dampness from
the earth, the papers had become mouldy, rotten, and illegible, when taken
up. The information respecting this expedition was derived, in the Spring
following, from a man named Helmer, who composed one of the party, and
assisted in disinterring the chest. Helmer had fled to Canada with Sir
John. While retiring from Johnstown with the chest, he injured his ankle;
and by reason of his lameness, went back to his father's house, where he
remained concealed until Spring, when he was arrested. He was tried as
a spy by a court-martial, at Johnstown, April 15,1779, and sentenced to
death--chiefly on his own admissions to the court. A considerable number
of rather summary executions, by the Whigs of Tryon County, took place in
the course of the contest. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] This information, in regard to the recovery of the iron chest, is
derived from the minutes of the court-martial, among the papers of Gen.
Clinton. The MS. narrative of Jacob Sammons, in the author's possession,
states that the chest was dug up during a night in May, 1778, by Lieut.
Crawford, at the head of forty men sent from Canada for that purpose.
Sammons then held a lease of the Johnson farm from the committee of
sequestrations. The chest had been buried beneath one of the garden
walks. Sammons discovered it in the morning, with the fragments of papers
scattered around it. But as he wrote his narrative long afterward, the
probability is that the date given on the trial of Helmer is the true
one.
The leading military events occurring in other parts of the country,
during the year 1778, have already been incidentally adverted to, with
the exception of those that transpired at the South. In the month of June,
the Earl of Carlisle, Governor Johnstone, and William Eden, Esq. who, in
conjunction with General and Lord Howe, had been appointed Commissioners
to make another attempt to treat with the Colonies, arrived, and sent
their instructions to Congress. A letter from the President was despatched
in reply, rebuking the Commissioners for the language indulged by them
in regard to the King of France, our ally, and again peremptorily refusing
to entertain a negotiation, except upon the basis of independent States.
On the 6th of August, M. Gerard was publicly received as Minister
Plenipotentiary of the King of France--to the great joy of the American
people; and on the 14th of September, Dr. Benjamin Franklin was appointed
Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Versailles.
In the course of the Summer, two incursions of British regulars and
American refugees had been made from Florida into Georgia. Both
expeditions met with such disheartening obstacles, as to induce their
retreat without accomplishing more than the destruction of the church,
dwelling-houses, and rice-fields of Midway. In return for these
visitations. General Robert Howe led an expedition of about two thousand
men, mostly militia, into Florida. He captured the British posts on the
St. Mary's river, and was proceeding successfully, when his march was
arrested by sickness, so fatal to his army as to compel a relinquishment
of the enterprise. Toward the close of the year, the British
Commander-in-chief determined to strike a signal blow against the South.
For this purpose an expedition of two thousand men, under the command of
Colonel Campbell, an officer of courage and ability, embarked at New-York
on the 27th of November, destined against Savannah. After a passage of
three weeks, Colonel Campbell landed near the mouth of Savannah river.
General Howe, to whom the defence of Georgia had been confided, had but
six hundred regular troops and a few hundred militia to oppose the
invaders. This officer had taken a position between the landing and the
town, where a battle was fought on the 29th of December. He was
out-numbered, out-generaled, and beaten, with a loss of one hundred
killed. The town and fort of Savannah, thirty-eight officers, four hundred
and fifteen privates, twenty-three mortars, together with the shipping in
the river, and a large quantity of ammunition and provisions, fell into
the hands of the conquerors. It was an easy victory to the enemy, whose
loss was but seven killed and nineteen wounded.
From these glimpses of the events of the year 1778, occurring elsewhere
than in the Indian country, it seems, after the battle of Monmouth, to
have been a season of comparative inactivity on both sides. Still, having
repossessed themselves of the strong pass of the Highlands immediately
after the return of Sir Henry Clinton and Commodore Hotham to New-York,
toward the close of the preceding year, no lack of industry was exhibited
on the part of the Americans in strengthening and multiplying its
defences, from which neither force nor treachery ever again dislodged
them. The prosecution of those works had been originally entrusted to
General Putnam; but the advanced age of that patriotic officer had
rendered him less active than formerly, and he had become unpopular in
New-York--mainly from an impression that a more energetic commander,
stationed, as he was, with an army at Fishkill, and apprised of the
approach of Sir Henry Clinton, would have saved Forts Clinton and
Montgomery. By directions from the Commander-in-chief, therefore, the
Connecticut veteran had been transferred back to his own State, upon a
different service.