** Description of the Engraving.--A, Fort Schuyler; 6, southwest

bastion, three guns; r, northwest bastion, four guns; d, northeast

bastion, three guns; e, southeast bastion, four guns; g, laboratory; h h

A, barracks; I, horn-works begun; K, covered way; L L, glacis; M, sally-

port; N, officers' quarters; 0 0, Willett's attack. The figures refer lo

the redoubts, batteries, &c., of the enemy. 1, a battery of three guns;

2, bomb battery, four mortars; 3, bomb battery of three guns; 4 4 4,

redoubts lo cover the batteries; 5, line of approaches, 6 6, British

encampment; 7, Loyalists; 8, Indians; 9, ruins of Fort Newport.

A Tory Address.--Continuation of the Siege.--Adventure of Willett and

Stockwell.--Gansevoort's Resolution.

250sapping to such a distance that the rampart might be brought within

their portieres, at the same time all materials were preparing to run a

mine under the most formidable bastion. *

In the mean while an address to the people of Tryon eounty, signed by

Johnson, Claus, and Butler, was issued, strongly protesting their desire

for peace, promising pardon and protection to all that should submit,

and threatening all the horrors of Indian cruelty if they resisted. They

called upon the principal men of the valley to come up and oblige the

garrison at Fort Schuyler to do at once what they would be forced to do

finally--surrender. This document was sent by messengers through Tryon

eounty, but it effected little else than get the messengers themselves

into trouble. ** The siege, in the mean while, was steadily, but feebly,

continued. The garrison, fearing that re-enforcements for the enemy

might arrive, or that the siege might continue until their own

provisions and ammunition should fail, resolved to communicate with

General Schuyler, then at Stillwater, and implore succor. Colonel

Willett volunteered to be the messenger, and on a very stormy night,

when shower August 10, 1777 after shower came down furiously, he and

Lieutenant Stoekwell left the fort by the sally-port at ten o'clock,

eaeh armed with a spear, and crept upon their hands and knees along a

morass to the river. They crossed it upon a log, and were soon beyond

the line of drowsy sentinels. It was very dark, their path-way was in a

thick and tangled wood, and they soon lost their way. The barking of a

dog apprised them of their proximity to an Indian camp, and for hours

they stood still, fearing to advance or retreat. The clouds broke away

toward dawn, and the morning star in the east, like the light of hope,

revealed to them their desired course. They then pushed on in a zigzag

way, and, like the Indians, sometimes traversed the bed of a stream, to

foil pursuers that might be upon their trail. They reached the German

Flats in safety, and, mounting fleet horses, hurried down the valley to

the headquarters of General Sehuyler, who had already heard of the

defeat of Herkimer, August 13. and was devising means for the succor of

the garrison at Fort Sehuyler.

St. Leger continued the siege. He advanced, by parallels, within one

hundred and fifty yards of the fort, and the garrison, ignorant of the

fate of Willett and Stoekwell, or the relief that was preparing for them

below, began to feel uneasy. Their ammunition and provisions being much

reduced in quantity, some hinted an opinion to their commander that a

surrender would be humane policy. Gansevoort's stout and hopeful heart

would not yield admission to such an idea, and he informed the garrison

that he had resolved, in case succor should not appear before their

supplies were exhausted, to sally out at night and cut his way through

the enemy's camp. Suddenly, and mysteriously to the garrison, the

besiegers August 22 broke up their camp, and fled so precipitately from

before the fort that they left their tents, artillery, and camp equipage

behind them.

The mystery was soon solved. We have already noticed the appeal of

General Sehuyler to his troops at the mouth of the Mohawk, and the

readiness with whieh Arnold and several hundred men volunteered to march

to the relief of Gansevoort. These troops consisted chiefly of the

Massachusetts brigade of General Learned. They marched immediately,

under the general command of Arnold, and were joined by the first New

York regiment, under Colonel Livingston. On the 20th, Arnold and a

portion of the troops arrived at Fort Dayton, where he intended to wait

for the remainder, under Learned, to arrive; but, hearing of the near

approaches of St. Leger to Fort Sehuyler, he resolved to push forward,

and hazard a battle before it should be too late. He knew that his small

force was too inconsiderable to warrant a regular engagement, and he

conceived several stratagems to supply his deficiency of strength. One,

whieh proved successful, was adopted. Among the Tory prisoners who were

taken with Walter Butler was a coarse, unlettered, half idiot named Hon-

* Letter of St. Leger to Burgoyne, dated Oswego, August 27th, 1777.

** Walter N. Butler, a son of Colonel John Butler, and afterward one of

the most brutal of the Tory leaders, with fourteen white soldiers and

the same number of Indians, appeared at the German Flats, at the house

of a Tory named Shoemaker. Colonel Wesson was then in command of a small

fortification there, called Fort Dayton, and he sent a party to arrest

Butler and his associates. They succeeded, and Butler was tried and

condemned as a spy, but was afterward sent a prisoner to Albany, under a

reprieve.

Hon-Yost Schuyler.--His successful Mission to St Léger's Camp.--Arnold's

Proclamation.--Alarm of the Indians

251Yost Schuyler, a nephew of General Herkimer, who, with his mother and

brother, lived near Little Falls. He was tried and condemned to death.

His mother hastened to Fort Dayton and pleaded for his life. For a time

Arnold was inexorable, but finally consented to spare him, on condition

that he should go to Fort Schuyler and endeavor so to alarm St. Leger,

by representations of the great number of Americans that were

approaching, as to induce him to raise the siege. Hon-Yost readily

agreed to perform the duty, for, in reality, his political creed was so

chameleon-like, that it would assume any required hue, according to

circumstances. His mother offered herself as a hostage for his

faithfulness, but Arnold chose his brother Nicholas as security. The

latter was placed in confinement, and Hon-Yost, with a friendly Oneida,

who promised to aid him, departed for Fort Schuyler.

Arnold, having issued a proclamation from Fort Dayton to counteract the

address of Johnson, Claus, and Butler, marched ten miles onward toward

Fort Stanwix. There he received a communication from Colonel Gansevoort,

announcing that the siege had suddenly been raised, and that the enemy

had fled, in great haste, toward Wood Creek; why, he could not imagine.

Arnold perceived that Hon-Yost had been faithful. He and the Indian had

managed the affair adroitly, and the charge of idiotcy against Hon-Yost

was wiped out forever. Before leaving Fort Dayton, he had several

bullets shot through his coat, and, with these evidences of a "terrible

engagement with the enemy," he appeared among the Indians of St. Leger's

camp, many of whom knew him personally. He ran into their midst almost

out of breath, and apparently much frightened. He told them that the

Americans were approaching in great numbers, and that he had barely

escaped with his life. His bullet-riddled coat confirmed the story. When

they inquired the number of the Americans, he pointed to the leaves on

the trees, and shook his head mysteriously. The Indians were greatly

agitated. They had been decoyed into their present situation, and had

been moody and uneasy since the battle of Oriskany. At the moment of

Hon-Yost's arrival they were engaged in a religious observance--a

consultation, through their prophet, of Manitou, or the Great Spirit, to

supplicate his guidance and protection. The council of chiefs at the

_pow-wow_ at once resolved upon flight, and told St. Leger so. He sent

for and questioned Hon-Yost, who told him that Arnold, with two thousand

men, would be upon him in twenty-four hours. At that moment, according

to arrangement, the friendly Oneida, who had taken a circuitous route,

approached the camp from another direction, with a belt. On his way he

met two or three straggling Indians of his tribe, who joined him, and

they all confirmed the story of Hon-Yost. They pretended that a bird had

brought them the news that the valley below was swarming with warriors.

One said that the army of Burgoyne was cut to pieces, and another told

St. Leger that Arnold had three thousand men near. They shook their

heads mysteriously when questioned about numbers by the Indians, and

pointed, like Hon-Yost, upward to the leaves. The savages, now

thoroughly alarmed, prepared to flee. St. Leger tried every means, by

offers of bribes and promises, to induce them to remain, but the panic,

and suspicion of foul play, had determined them to go. He tried to make

them drunk, but they refused to drink. He then besought them to take the

rear of his army in retreating; this they refused, and indignantly said,

"You mean to sacrifice us. When you marched down, you said there would

be no fighting for us Indians; we might go down and smoke our pipes;

whereas numbers of our warriors have been killed, and you mean

* The address of Arnold was well calculated to awe the timid and give

courage to the wavering Whigs. The prestige of his name gave great

weight to it. He prefaced it with a flourish of his title and position,

as follows: "By the Honorable Benedict Arnold, Esq., general and

commander-in-chief of the army of the United States of America on the

Mohawk River." He denominated a certain Barry St. Leger "a leader of a

banditti of robbers, murderers, and traitors, composed of savages of

America and more savage Britons," and denounced him as a seducer of the

ignorant and unthinking from the cause of freedom, and as threatening

ruin and destruction to the people. He then offered a free pardon to all

who had joined him or upheld him, "whether savages, Germans, Americans,

or Britons," provided they laid down their arms and made oath of

allegiance to the United States within three days. But if they persisted

in their "wicked courses," and "were determined to draw on themselves

the just vengeance of Heaven and their exasperated country, they must

expect no mercy from either."

August 23, 1777

Flight of St. Leger's Forces to Oswego.--The Spoils.--Amusement of the

Indians.--End of the Siege.--Captain Gregg

August 23, 1777 to sacrifice us 252also." * The council broke up, and

the Indians fled. The panic was communicated to the rest of the camp,

and in a few hours the beleaguering army were flying in terror toward

their boats on Oneida Lake. Hon-Yost accompanied them in their flight as

far as Wood Creek, where he managed to desert. He found his way back to

the fort that night, and was the first to communicate to Colonel

Gansevoort the intelligence of Arnold's approach. ** The Indians, it is

said, made themselves merry at the precipitate flight of the whites, ***

who threw away their arms and knapsacks, so that nothing should impede

their progress. The savages also gratified their passion for murder and

plunder by killing many of their retreating allies on the borders of the

lake, and stripping them of every article of value. They also plundered

them of their boats, and, according to St. Leger, "became more

formidable than the enemy they had to expect." **** Half starved and

naked, the whites of the scattered army made their way to Oswego, and,

with St. Leger, went down Ontario to Canada..

Colonel Gansevoort, on the retreat of St. Leger, sent a dispatch to

Arnold, acquainting him with the fact. That general sent forward nine

hundred men, with directions to attempt to overtake the fugitives, and

the next day reached the fort himself.

Gansevoort had already sent out a detachment to harass the flying enemy,

and several prisoners were brought in, with a large quantity of spoil,

among which was the _escritoire_, or writing-desk, of St. Leger,

containing his private papers. Colonel Willett was left in command of

the garrison at the fort, and Arnold and his men marched back to the

main army (then at Stillwater, under Gates, who had superseded

Schuyler), to perform valiant service in the battle that soon afterward

occurred, on Bemis's Heights. Thus ended the siege of Fort Schuyler, (v)

in the progress of which the courage, endurance, and skill of the

Americans, every where so remarkable in the Revolution, were fully

displayed. (vi)

* Mary Jemison, whose narrative we have referred to, says that the

Indians (at least the Senecas) were greatly deceived. They were sent for

to "see the British whip the rebels." They were told that they were not

wanted to fight, but might sit down and smoke their pipes, and look

quietly on. With this impression, the Seneca warriors accompanied the

expedition, and, as we have seen, suffered great loss.

** Hon-Yost made his way back to Fort Dayton, to the great joy of his

friends. He afterward fled from the valley with his family and fourteen

Tory associates, and joined Sir John Johnson. After the war he returned

to the valley, where he remained until his death in 1818.

*** Gordon (ii., 240), on the verbal authority of the Rev. Mr. Kirkland,

who was at Fort Schuyler, relates that St. Leger, while standing on the

border of a morass alone with Sir John Johnson, reproached the latter

with being the cause of the disaffection of the Indians. High words and

mutual criminations followed. Two chiefs, standing near, overheard the

quarrel, and put an end to it by shouting, "They are coming! they are

coming!" Both officers, terribly alarmed, plunged into the morass. This

was the signal for the general retreat of the whole army. Such was their

haste, that they left their tents, baggage, and artillery behind, and

the bombardier was left asleep in the bomb battery! When he awoke he

found himself alone, the sole representative in camp of the besieging

army. The Indians continued their cry, at intervals, "They are coming!

they are coming!" behind the fleeing Tories, and thus amused themselves

all the way to Oneida Lake.

**** Letter of St. Leger to Burgoyne, August 27th, 1777.

(v) Fort Schuyler was destroyed by fire and flood in 1781, and was never

rebuilt.

(vi) Before the fort was invested by St. Leger, the Indians, in small

parties, annoyed the garrison, and frequently attacked individuals when

away from their dwellings. On one occasion they fired upon three little

girls who were out gathering blackberries. Two were killed and scalped,

but the third escaped. The remarkable adventure of Captain Gregg is

worthy of notice. He was a soldier of the garrison of Fort Schuyler, and

went out one day to shoot pigeons, with two of his soldiers, and a boy

named Wilson (who became an ensign in the army at the age of eighteen,

and conducted the surrender of the British standards at Yorktown).

Fearing the Indians, the boy was sent back. They had not proceeded far

before some savages in ambush shot all three down, scalped them, and

made off. The captain, though badly wounded, was not killed. His two

soldiers, however, were lifeless, and, laying his bleeding head upon the

body of one of them, he expected soon to die. His dog had accompanied

him, and, in great agitation, whined, licked his wounds, and otherwise

manifested his grief and attachment. He told the dog to go for help, and

the animal, as if endowed with reason, at once obeyed. He ran about a

mile, and found two men fishing. By piteous moans he induced them to

follow him to his wounded master. The captain was carried to the fort,

and, after suffering much, was restored to health. "He was a most

frightful spectacle," says Dr. Thacher, from whose journal (page 144)

this account is taken. "The whole of his scalp was removed; in two

places on the forepart of his head the tomahawk had penetrated the

skull; there was a wound on his back with the same instrument, besides a

wound in his side, and another through his arm with a musket-ball."

Return to Oriskany.--Whitesborough.--Utica.--Little Falls.--Visit to the

German Flats.--Origin of the Name

253On my return to Oriskany village, after visiting the battle-ground, I

learned that Mr. Nellis, who was engaged in that conflict, was still

living at Whitesborough, three miles eastward. I had dismissed the

vehicle that conveyed me from Rome to Oriskany, intending to proceed to

Utica from the latter place upon a canal packet. I felt a desire to

visit the old veteran, and yet was anxious to reach Utica that evening.

While deliberating concerning the matter, a constable from Whitesborough

rode up to the hotel in a light wagon, executed his business in haste,

and kindly offered me a seat on his return. I gladly placed myself in

his custody. He said his errand to Oriskany was in search of a thief,

and I have no doubt the people of Whitesborough gave him credit for

success, for my "fatigue dress" and soiled "Panama" made me appear more

like a prowler than a tourist. Mr. Nellis was not at home, so my visit

was fruitless, except in the pleasure derived from a view of the

beautiful village, as we rode in from the westward. It lies upon a

plain, encircled by the arms of the Erie Canal and the Mohawk River.

At sunset, after partially satisfying a long-suffering appetite from a

table at _a restorer,_ on the verge of the canal, where dainty guests

should eat with closed eyes and unwavering faith in the purity of the

viands and the proper proportions of flies and butter, I embarked for

Utica, six miles eastward. It was the close of a calm, sultry day, and

peculiarly grateful August 20, 1848 was the evening breeze that fanned

us as we glided along upon that tiny river, through cultivated fields

and pleasant woodlands.

"Sweet to the pensive is departing day,

When only one small cloud, so still and thin,

So thoroughly imbued with amber light,

And so transparent that it seems a spot

Of brighter sky, beyond the furthest mount,

Hangs o'er the hidden orb; or where a few

Long, narrow stripes of denser, darker grain,

At each end sharpened to a needle's point,

With golden borders, sometimes straight and smooth,

And sometimes crinkling like the lightning's stream,

A half hour's space above the mountain lie."

Carlos Wilcox.

This quiet scene was soon exchanged for the bustle and noise of the busy

town, and, before the twilight had fairly faded. I was jolted over the

paved streets of Utica. There I spent some thirty hours with some

friends. The city has no noteworthy reminiscences of the Revolution,

except the single fact that the army, under Herkimer, crossed the Mohawk

at old

Fort Schuyler (then a fortress in ruins), while on his way to Oriskany,

and the general interest which belongs to it as that portion of Tryon

county which was consecrated by the presence and the prowess of the

patriots. It is a pleasant and thriving city, upon the southern slope of

the Mohawk Valley. Like all other towns in Western New York, it is young

and vigorous, and every feature glows with the beauty of youth and

health.

I left Utica at noon by rail-road, arrived at Little Falls, twenty miles

eastward, at one o'clock, and at two started in a light wagon for Fort

Herkimer, or Mohawk, on the German Flats. The driver and guide was a

courteous young man, but totally deaf. I never practiced pantomime with

better success, for my companion, intelligent, and apparently well

versed in all the local history of the region, easily comprehended my

awkward manipulations, and answered my mute inquiries promptly and

clearly.

The upper valley of the Mohawk, which narrows to a deep, rocky ravine at

Little Falls, has, within a few miles of its lower extremity, a rich and

fertile alluvial plain on each side of the river, known as the German

Flats, so called in consequence of being first settled and cultivated by

German families. The settlement was originally called Burnet's Field,

from the circumstance that the patent had been granted by Governor

Burnet. The patent comprehended the plain and slopes westward of the

junction of West Canada Creek

Stone Church, German Flats.--Its Pulpit.--The two Pastors.--Fort

Herkimer, or Dayton.

254and the Mohawk River, and included about ten miles of the valley east

and west. Toward the eastern extremity of the Flats, and about four

miles west of Little Falls, on the south side of the river, is one of

the churches which were erected under the auspices and by the liberal

contributions of Sir William Johnson. * The church is of stone, but is

somewhat altered in its external appearance.

The walls are very thick, and it has square buttresses at the corners.

It was altered and repaired in 1811, at an expense of nearly four

thousand dollars. The roof (formerly steep) was raised, an upper row of

windows was formed, and a gallery was constructed within. The height of

the old windows is indicated by the arches seen over the present square

ones, and the eaves were just above the key-stones. The original tower,

with its steeple, was similar to the one at Caughnawaga.

The tower, or belfry, was open, and in it was placed a swivel for the

protection of the inhabitants against the Indians, or to sound an alarm

to the people on the neighboring hills. The pulpit, although newly

constructed when the church was repaired, is precisely the same, in

style, as the original. I he sounding-board and panels in front are

handsomely painted in imitation of inlaid work, and the whole has an

elegant appearance. This church has never been without a pastor since

its construction in 1767, yet only two ministers have presided over the

flock during eighty years of its existence. The first was the Rev.

Abraham Rosenkrans. Before the church was built, he preached to the

people in that region in their dwellings, school-houses, and barns. He

was installed pastor of the church in 1767, and remained there until his

death in 1796, when his remains were deposited beneath the pulpit.

He was succeeded by the Rev. John P. Spinner, from Germany, who preached

in the German language exclusively until within twenty years, and

afterward in English and German alternately. He died in May, 1848.

A few rods west of the church was the large stone mansion of the

Herkimer family, which was stockaded and called Fort Herkimer.

Around this, and the church, the humbler dwellings of the farmers were

clustered, for so frequently did the Indian marauder (and as frequently

the unprincipled Tory, in the Revolution) disturb them, that they dared

not live in isolation. Fort Herkimer became a prey to public vandalism

when the Erie Canal was built. The waters flow in part over the site of

the fort, and its stones, so easily quarried, were used in the

construction of a lock near by.

Two miles further westward, on a gravelly plain upon the north side of

the river, is the pretty little village of Herkimer. It occupies the

site of old Fort Herkimer, erected in the early part of the Seven Years'

War, and known as Fort Dayton during the Revolution, occurrences at

which we have already mentioned. This beautiful region, like

* It was built upon the north side of the old German burying-ground.

Near the southern wall of this church is a large brown sandstone slab,

placed there by the provincial government, on which is the following

inscription: "Here reposes the body of John Ring, Esq., of the Kingdom

of Ireland, a CAPTAIN OF HIS MAJESTY'S INDEPENDENT COMPANY OF THE

PROVINCE, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE 20TH day of September, 1755, in the

30th year of his age." Near this church, it is said, was raised the

first liberty-pole in 1775. White, the sheriff of Tryon county at that

time, came up with a large body of militia from Johnstown and cut it

down.

Plan of Fort Herkimer.--Destruction of Andrustown.--Expedition against

the German Flats.--Destruction of the Settlement.

Fort Herkimer.* 255 of Wyoming, was disturbed and menaced in the earlier

periods of the war, and in 1778 it was made a desolation.

Owing to the distant situation of Fort Schuyler, its garrison afforded

very slight protection to this portion of the valley, and Fort Dayton

had become little better than a dilapidated block-house.

The Tories and Indians were, consequently, bold in their marauding

expeditions, and the murderer and the incendiary kept the patriots in

continual alarm. All the spring and summer succeeding the flight of St.

Leger from Fort Schuyler, the various settlements in Tryon county were

menaced. In July, a secluded hamlet called Andrustown, situated about

six miles southeast of the German Flats, and composed of seven families,

was destroyed by a party of savages, under Brant. They owned a thousand

fertile acres among the hills and pleasant valleys toward the Otsego

Lake, and plunder seemed to be the sachem's chief object. This secured,

some of the people murdered, and others made captive, the torch was

applied, and the whole settlement utterly laid waste.

Success made the Indians more greedy, and toward the close of August

they hung like a gathering storm upon the hills around the German Flats.

Aroused and alarmed by the tragedy at Andrustown, the people had kept

scouts on the alert, and the approach of Brant from Unadilla toward the

settlement was heralded by them in time for the residents to prepare for

the coming invasion. These scouts came in hot haste, and informed the

inhabitants that the savages would be upon them in a few hours. There

was no time to look after and secure their sheep and cattle, but,

gathering up the most valuable things which they could carry from their

houses, the whole settlement took refuge in Forts Dayton and Herkimer,

and in the old church.

Brant, with three hundred Tories and one hundred and fifty Indians,

reached the borders of the settlement early in the evening. ** It was a

dark and rainy night, and he lay concealed in a ravine near Shoemakers

(where Walter Butler was captured the year before) until near daylight,

when his warriors were called to duty, and soon swept, like a fierce

wind, over the plain. The houses were assailed, but neither scalps nor

prisoners were to be found in them. At dawn the fires were kindled.

Barns, filled with the product of an abundant harvest just gathered, the

dwellings of the people, and every thing combustible, were set on fire,

within view of the sorrowing fugitives in the fort. Having nothing but

small arms, the savages did not attack the fort, but, having laid the

whole plain in ashes, collected the horses, sheep,

* I copied this sketch from a manuscript drawing in possession of the

New York Historical Society. It was drawn by a private of Captain

Ogelvie's company, and presented by him to "Charles Clinton, Esq.,*

lieutenant colonel commanding," in July, 1758. Herkimer is there spelled

Herekheimer.

** Explanation of the Sketch.--A, the parade; B, dwelling-house; C,

barracks; D, guard-room; E, officers' kitchen; F, the well; G, draw-

bridge; H H, &c., ten swivel guns; K K, stockades; L, the oven; MM, &c.,

sentry boxes; N, smith's shop; 0, the Mohawk River; 1, terrace; 2,

trench; 3, palisades; 4, parapet; 5, banqueting.

*** At the time in question there were thirty-four houses and as many

barns in the settlement on the south side of the river, and about an

equal number on the north side, at Fort Dayton, now Herkimer village.

* Charles Clinton emigrated to America from Ireland (whither his family

fled from England for refuge in the time of Cromwell) in 1729, and in

1731 he founded a settlement in Ulster county, New York. He was

appointed lieutenant colonel by Governor Delaney, after serving with

distinction under Bradstrcet. He was the father of General James Clinton

(the father of the late Dewitt Clinton) and of Governor George Clinton,

of the Revolution. He died November 19, 1773, aged 82 years.

Incursion of the Oneidas into the Unadilla Settlement.--Damage to the

Tories.--Brant, or Thayendanegea.

256pursued them as far as Edmundston's plantation, on the Unadilla

River, where they found three scouts dead; but they effected nothing in

the way of retaliation or the recovery of property.

A party of friendly Oneidas, however, were more successful. They

penetrated the Unadilla settlement, where Brant * had his headquarters,

burned some of the Tory houses, took several prisoners, and brought away

some of the cattle taken from the people at the German Flats.

A deputation of about one hundred Indian warriors of the Oneidas

communicated the result of this expedition to Major Cochran, then in

command of the garrison at Fort Schuyler. They were a part of those who

proffered their services to General Gates, after the first battle on

Bemis's Heights, in the autumn previous.

I returned to Little Falls toward evening, and the lengthened shadows of

the hills and trees heightened the picturesque beauty of the scene. The

view, on approaching

* Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) was a Mohawk of pure blood. His father

was a chief of the Onondaga nation, and had three sons in the army with

Sir William Johnson, under King Hendrick, in the battle at Lake George

in 1755.

* Joseph, his youngest son, whose Indian name was Thayendanegea, which

signifies a bundle of sticks, or, in other words, strength, was born on

the banks of the Ohio in 1742, whither his parents immigrated from the

Mohawk Valley.

* His mother returned to Canajoharie with two children, Mary, or Molly,

who became the concubine of Sir William Johnson, and Thayendanegea. His

father, To bowaghwengaraghkwin, a chief of the Wolf tribe* of the

Mohawks, seems to have died in the Ohio country.

* According to Colden, each of the original Five Nations was divided

into three tribes, the Tortoise or Turtle, the Bear, and the Wolf.

Others affirm that there were eight divisions in each, the other tribes

being the Crane, the Snipe, the Hawk, the Beaver, and the Deer. The

first three seem to have been preeminent; and among the Mohawks, with

whom the whites had more direct and extensive business and social

intercourse than with any others, these only were known.

* Title deeds to lands, and other papers, now in the office of the

Secretary of State at Albany, have the signatures or marks of the chiefs

of these three tribes attached. The annexed cuts are fac-similes, which

I copied from the originals. No. 1 is the mark of Teyendagages, or

Little Hendrick, of the Turtle tribe; No. 2, that of Kanadagea, or Hans,

chief of the Bear tribe, and is intended to represent a bear lying on

his back; No. 3 is the signature and hieroglyphic of Great Hendrick, the

celebrated chief of the Wolf tribe, who was killed near Lake George in

1755. Kanadagea sometimes made a simple cross.

* Little Abraimm, or found upon several papers the name of Daniel, a

chief of the Tortoise tribe, often associated with that of Little

Abraham and of Hans. The signatures of the chiefs of all the three

tribes appear to have been essential in making those deeds or

conveyances legal. Besides the eight totums here named, there appears to

have been, at an earlier date, three other tribes, the Serpent, the

Porcupine, and the Fox. Giles F. Yates, Esq., of Schenectady, one of our

most indefatigable antiquaries, discovered a document having the marks

of twenty-one chiefs and that of a woman (Eusena) attached. Among them

are those of Togwayenant, of the Serpent; Sander, of the Porcupine; and

Symon, of the Fox tribe. The date of the document is 1714. It is not my

province, neither have I the apace, to pursue this interesting subject

further, in this connection.

* His mother, after her return, married an Indian called Carribogo

(news-carrier), whom the whiles named Barnet; but, byway of contraction,

he was called Barnt, and, finally, Brant was ealled Joseph, and was

known as Brant's Joseph, or Joseph Brant. Sir William Johnson sent young

Brant to the school of Dr. Wheelock, of Lebanon Crank (now Columbia),

Connecticut, and, after he was well educated, employed him as secretary,

and as agent in publie affairs. He was employed as missionary

interpreter from 1762 to 1765, and exerted himself for the religions

instruction of his tribe. When the Revolution broke out, he attached

himself to the British cause, and in 1775 left the Mohawk Valley, went

to Canada, and finally to England, where his education, and his business

and social connection with Sir William Johnson, gave him free access to

the nobility. The Earl of Warwick caused Romney, the eminent painter, to

make a portrait of him for his collection, and from a print after that

picture the engraving on the preceding page was made. Throughout the

Revolution he was engaged in warfare chiefly upon the border settlements

of New York and Pennsylvania, in connection with the Johnsons and

Butlers. He held a colonel's commission from the king, but he is

generally ealled Captain Brant. After the peace in 1783, Brant again

visited England, and, on returning to America, devoted himself to the

social and religious improvement of the Mohawks, who were settled upon

the Ouise or Grand River, in Upper Canada, upon lands procured for them

by Brant from Sir Frederic Haldimand, governor of the province. The

territory embraced six miles on both sides of the river, from its mouth

to its source. He translated the Gospel of St. Mark into the Mohawk

language; and in many ways his exertions for the spiritual and temporal

welfare of his people were eminently successful, and endeared him to his

nation. He died at his residence at the head of Lake Ontario, November

24th, 1807, aged 65 years. One of his sons (John) was an officer in the

British service, on the Niagara frontier, in the war of 1812. His

daughter married William J. Kerr, Esq., of Niagara, in 1821, and, I

believe, is still living.

Return to Little Falls.--Cole's Pictures.--Scenery at Little Falls.--

Evidences of a great Cataract.--Remarkable Cavity.

257from the west, changes from the quiet beauty of a rolling plain,

enriched by the cultivator's art, and enlivened by a gently gliding

river, to the rugged grandeur of lofty hills, craggy steeps, and

turbulent cascades. It reminded me of two of Cole's beautiful pictures

in his "Voyage of Life," wherein is depicted the course of an ambitious

youth. He is out upon a placid stream, so full of self-confidence that

his guardian angel is left behind. All around is beauty and repose. The

stream meanders on without a riff, but in the distance it sweeps with a

majestic curve around a woodland into a mysterious region. Onward speeds

the bark of the youthful voyager upon the gentle current, until the

valley becomes narrower, the waters run swiftly, the tall trees and

beautiful flowers upon its banks disappear, high and barren rocks wall

in his view, and just before him is the wild leap of a cataract into a

fearful gulf below.

The village of Little Falls is upon the rocky bank of the cascades, and

only westward can the eye see any thing from it but rocks, and trees,

and running water mingled in wild confusion. Here the high ridge of the

Alleghany range, which divides the head waters of the Mohawk and the

Ontario streams from the Susquehanna and other Atlantic rivers, crosses

the Mohawk Valley, and in ages long past, ere the great Falls of Niagara

existed, doubtless formed the crown of a cataract almost as magnificent,

when the waters of Ontario covered the upper valley, and a portion of

its flood here found its way into the great lake that filled the Hudson

basin, whose outlet, in turn, was among the rugged hills of the

Highlands at West Point and vicinity. Such is the theory of the

geologist; and never had opinion stronger presumptive proofs of its

correctness than are found at Little Falls. * An obstruction here,

seventy feet in height, would cause the waters to overflow the Rome

summit, and mingle with those of Ontario by the way of Wood Creek,

Oneida Lake, and the Oswego River. The rugged shores present many

incontestible evidences of abrasion by the violent action of water,

thirty to sixty feet above the present bed of the river.

Many of them are circular perpendicular cavities in the hard rocks,

which are composed chiefly of gneiss, granite, and hornblende. In some

instances masses of stratified rocks present the appearance of Cyclopean

architecture, as seen in the above cut,2 and hundreds of small cavities,

far above the present bed of the

* This name was given in contradistinction to the Great Falls, now

called Cohoes, at the mouth of the Mohawk.

** This is a view of a large circular cavity on the western shore of the

river a few yards from the railroad, and about thirty feet above its

bed. On the side of the cavity toward the river is an opening about ten

feet square, and over the entrance is a massive lintel, which appears as

if hewn and placed there by the hands of man. Within the large cavity,

which is open at the top, are smaller ones upon its concave sides. Two

of these concavities are seen in the engraving. The rocks are covered

with a luxuriant growth of shrubbery, springing from the rich alluvial

deposits in the fissures. An exploration of them is dangerous, for some

of the fissures are broad and deep. Indian legends invest these caverns

with romantic interest. One of them I will repeat, in brief, as it was

told to me, for it is identified with the spot represented in the

picture.

* Long ago, when the river was broader and the falls were more lofty, a

feud arose between two young chiefs of the respective tribes of the

Mohawk nation, the Wolf and the Tortoise. A maiden of the Bear tribe was

the cause of the feud, as maidens often are. She was loved by both the

young chiefs, and for a time she so coquetted that each thought himself

beloved by her in return. Her father was a stern old war rior, and loved

his child tenderly. Both chiefs had fought the Mingoes and Mohegans by

his side, and the bravery of each entitled him to the hand of the

maiden. Her affections were at length stirred by the more earnest

importunities of the Wolf, and she promised to become his bride. This

decision reached the ears of the Tortoise, and the embers of jealousy,

which disturbed both while unaccepted suitors, burst into a flame of

ungenerous revenge in the bosom of the disappointed lover. He determined

to possess the coveted treasure before the Wolf should take her to his

wigwam. With well-dissembled acquiescence in her choice, and expressions

of warm friendship for herself and her affianced, he allayed all

suspicions, and the maiden rambled with him in the moonlight upon the

banks of the river when her affianced was away, unconscious of danger.

The day approached for the maiden to go to the wigwam of her lord. The

Tortoise was with her alone in a secluded nook upon the brink of the

river. His light canoe was near, and he proposed a voyage to a beautiful

little island in the stream, where the fire-flies sparkled and the

whippoorwill whispered its evening serenade. They launched, but, instead

of paddling for the island, the Tortoise turned his prow toward the

cataract. Like an arrow they sped down the swift current, while the

young chief, with vigorous arm, paddled for the western shore. Skillful

as with the bow and hatchet, he steered his canoe to the mouth of the

cavern here pictured, then upon the water's brink, seized the affrighted

maiden, and leaped ashore, at the same moment securing his canoe by a

strong green withe. The cave was dry, a soft bed of the skins of beasts

was spread, and abundance of provision was there stored. At the top of

the cave, far above the maiden's reach, an opening revealed a passage

through the fissures to the rocks above. It was known only to the

Tortoise; and there he kept the maiden many months, until her affianced

gave her up as lost to him forever. At length, while hunting on the

southern hills in flowery May, the Wolf saw the canoe at the mouth of

the cave. It solved the question in his mind. The evening was clear, and

the full moon shone brightly. He waited until midnight, when, with an

arm as strong and skill as accurate as his rival's, he steered his canoe

to the mouth of the cavern, which was lighted up by the moon. By its

light he saw the perfidious Tortoise sleeping in the arms of an

unwilling bride. The Wolf smote the Tortoise, but the wound was slight.

The awakened warrior, unable to grasp his hatchet, bounded through the

opening at the top of the cavern, and closed it with a heavy stone. The

lovers embraced in momentary joy. It was brief, for a fearful doom

seemed to await them. The Tortoise would return with power, and they had

to make choice of death, by the hatchet of the rival chief, or the

waters of the cataract. The latter was their choice, and, in

affectionate embrace, they sat in their canoe and made the fearful leap.

The frail vessel struck propitiously upon the boiling waters, and,

unharmed, passed over the gulf below. Down the broad stream they glided,

and far away, upon the margin of the lower lake, they lived and loved

for two generations, and saw their children's children go out to the

battle and the chase. In the long line of their descent, tradition

avers, came Brant, the Mohawk sachem, the strong Wolf of his nation.

Gulf below Little Falls.--The Erie Canal.--Greatness of the Work.--An

Indian Legend

258stream, indicate the action of pebbles in eddies of water. The hills

on either side rise to an altitude of nearly four hundred feet, and from

that height the ancient cataract may have poured its flood. Immediately

below the present cascades at the foot of Moss Island, or Moss Rock, the

river expands into a. broader basin, more than one hundred feet deep,

from whose depths rocky spikes, like church spires, shoot upward, some

of them to the surface of the water. Into this gulf the great cataract

doubtless poured its flood, while the rocky cones, too hard to be

abraded, resisted the unceasing attrition of the water for ages.

I strolled along the railroad at twilight, by the margin of the rapids

and of the gulf below; and before sunrise I went down upon the tow-path

to view the scene in the shadows of early morning. Art and nature here

vie with each other in claims upon our admiration. Here the former

exhibits its wonderful triumphs, and the latter displays its beauty and

grandeur. On the south side of the river is the Erie Canal, the passage

for which was excavated through solid rock a distance of two miles.

"This narrow defile presented the most formidable obstruction on the

whole line of that great work, and it was supposed that at least two

years would be required to complete the excavation. Skill and

persevering industry accomplished the most difficult portion in ninety

days. The waters of the canal here

View of Little Falls.--First Settlement--Night Attack upon the

Settlement--Escape of Cox and Skinner.--Ride to Danube.

259descend forty feet within a mile, by five locks; and the traveler has

ample lime to view the wild scenery while passing them.

On the north side of the river the hard rocks have also been excavated,

for the railroad which traverses the high bank in its winding course.

Altogether, art and nature have here presented a scene worth a long

journey to behold.

There was a small settlement at Little Falls at the time of the

Revolution. A Scotchman named Ellis had obtained, through Sir William

Johnson, a patent for the mountain gorge, and erected flouring mills

there. These were important for supplying the people at the German Flats

and the small garrisons that were kept at Forts Dayton and Herkimer. A

party of Tories and Indians in 1780 joined in an expedition to destroy

the mills, and thus cut off the supply of flour for the Whig garrisons.

They made a stealthy descent, under cover of night. The mill was

garrisoned by about a dozen men, but so sudden and unexpected was the

attack, that only a few shots were exchanged, and one man killed, before

its defenders fled for safety. Some leaped from the windows when the

Indians entered, and others concealed themselves below. Two men, Cox and

Skinner, hid in the race-way, under the water-wheel, while two others,

Edick and Getman, leaped into the race-way above the mill, and attempted

to conceal themselves by keeping under the water as much as possible. In

this they would have succeeded, had not the assailants set the mill on

fire, the light of which revealed the hiding-place of the latter two,

and they were made prisoners. Cox and Skinner were more fortunate. The

waterwheel protected them from the burning timbers that fell around

them, and they remained safe in their hiding-place until the enemy had

departed. The object of the assailants was accomplished, and they

returned to their rendezvous among the hills, carrying with them five or

six prisoners.

After breakfast I rode down to Danube, to visit the residence of General

Herkimer while living, and the old Castle Church near the dwelling-place

of Brant in the Revolution. It was a pleasant ride along the tow-path,

between the canal and the river. Herkimer's residence is about two and a

half miles below Little Falls, near the canal, and in full view

* This view was taken from the rail-road near the village, looking down

the river. On the right is seen the Erie Canal, and on the left, and

more in the foreground, the Mohawk, at the foot of the falls, with the

rail-road and the magnetic highway. The rugged bluff in the center is

Moss Rock, at the lower extremity of which is the gulf, seen in the

annexed engraving. This view is from the tow-path, below Moss Rook On

the left is the canal, and on the right are the gulf and a portion of

the village in the distance. Moss Rock is an island, formed by the canal

and the river. The summit of this amorphous pile has been suggested as

an appropriate site for the proposed monument to the memory of Dewitt

Clinton. It seems to me that the spot is singularly appropriate for that

purpose. The Erie Canal, with its busy commerce, is his perpetual

memorial; and here is the point where the most wonderful triumphs were

achieved in the construction of that stupendous work. Here, too, pass

all travelers to and from Niagara and the great West from the eastward,

and the monument would be seen, if erected there, by more persons than

at any other locality that may be named, out of the city of New York.

Herkimer's Residence.--His Family Burial-ground.--Public Neglect of his

Grave.--Its Location

260of the traveler upon the rail-road, half a mile distant. It is a

substantial brick edifice, was erected in 1764, and was a splendid

mansion for the time and place.

It is now owned by Daniel Conner, a farmer, who was _modernizing_ it

when I was there, by building a long, fashionable piazza in front, in

place of the small old porch, or stoop, seen in the picture. He was also

_improving_ some of the rooms within. The one in which General Herkimer

died (on the right of the front entrance), and also the one on the

opposite side of the passage, are left precisely as they were when the

general occupied the house; and Mr. Conner has the good taste and

patriotism to preserve them so.

These rooms are handsomely wainscoted with white pine, wrought into neat

moldings and panels, and the casements of the deep windows are of the

same material and in the same style. Mr. Conner has carefully preserved

the great lock of the front door of the _castle_--for castle it really

was, in strength and appointments against Indian assaults. It is sixteen

inches long and ten wide. Close by the house is a subterranean room,

built of heavy masonry and arched, which the general used as a magazine

for stores belonging to the Tryon county militia. It is still used as a

store-room, but with more pacific intentions.

The family burial-ground is upon a knoll a few rods southeast of the

mansion, and there rest the remains of the gallant soldier, as secluded

and forgotten as if they were of "common mold." Seventy years ago the

Continental Congress, grateful for his services, resolved to erect a

monument to his memory, of the value of five hundred dollars; but the

stone that may yet be reared is still in the quarry, and the patriot

inscription to declare its intent and the soldier's worth is not yet

conceived. Until 1847, no stone identified his grave. Then a plain

marble slab was set up, with the name of the hero upon it; and when I

visited it (1848), it was overgrown with weeds and brambles. It was

erected by his grandnephew, W. Herkimer. The consecrated spot is in the

possession of strangers, and, but for this timely effort to preserve the

identity of the grave, the visitor might soon have queried, with the

poet in search of General Wooster's resting-place

"O say, can none tell where the chieftain was laid?

Where our hero in glory is sleeping?

Alas! shall we never more seek out his grave,

While fame o'er his memory is weeping?"

Although General Herkimer was severely wounded at the battle of

Oriskany, his death was the result of unskillful treatment, and, if

tradition speaks truth, of criminal indulgence of appetite on the part

of his surgeon. He was conveyed from the field on a litter to his

residence. The weather was sultry, and the wound, which was a few inches

below the August 16, 1777 knee, became gangrenous. Nine days after the

battle, a young French surgeon, who accompanied Arnold in his march up

the valley, recommended amputation. Dr. Petrie, the general's medical

adviser, was opposed to amputation, but it was done. The performance of

the surgeon was so unskillful that the flow of blood was with great

difficulty stanched. Indeed, the bleeding was not entirely checked, and

it was thought advisable for the surgeon and his assistant to remain

with the general, as his situation was very critical. Colonel Willett

called to see him soon after the operation, and found him sitting up in

his

Incidents of Herkimer's Death.--Castle Church.--Residence and Farm of

Brant.--Fort Plain.--Plan of the Fortification.

261bed, as cheerful as usual, and smoking his pipe. The blood continued

to flow, and what little skill the surgeon possessed was rendered

useless by indulgence in wine. No other physician was at hand, and

toward evening, the blood still flowing, the general became convinced

that his end was near. He called for the Bible, and read composedly, in

the presence of his family and others, the thirty-eighth psalm, applying

the deep, penitential confessions of the poem to his own case. He closed

the book, sank back upon his pillow, and expired. Stone justly observes,

"If Socrates died like a philosopher, and Rousseau like an unbelieving

sentimentalist, General Herkimer died like a Christian hero." *

The Castle Church, as it is called--the middle one of the three

constructed under the auspices of Sir William Johnson--is still standing

(1848), two and a half miles below the Herkimer mansion. It is a wooden

building, and was originally so painted as to resemble stone. Its

present steeple is not ancient, but its form is not unlike that of the

original. Here the pious Kirkland often preached the Gospel to the

heathen, and here Brant and his companions received lessons of heavenly

wisdom. The church stood upon land that belonged to the sachem, and the

house of Brant, where Christian missionaries were often entertained

before he took up the war-hatchet, stood about seventy-five rods

northward of the church. Bricks and stones of the foundation were still

to be seen in an apple orchard north of the road, and the locality was

well defined, when I visited it, by rank weeds, nowhere else in the

field so luxuriant. I returned to Little Falls in time to dine and to

take the western train at one o'clock for Fort Plain, seventeen miles

down the Mohawk.

Fort Plain (near the junction of Osquaga Creek and the Mohawk), one of

the numerous comely children brought forth and fostered by the prolific

commerce of the Erie Canal, is near the site of the fortification of

that name, erected in the Revolution.

This fort was eligibly situated upon a high plain in the rear of the

village, and commanded an extensive sweep of the valley on the right and

left. A sort of defense was thrown up there by the people in the early

part of the war, but the fort proper was erected by the government after

the alarming demonstrations of the Indians in the Mohawk and Schoharie

Valleys in 1778. For a while it was an important fortress, affording

protection to the people in the neighborhood, and forming a key to the

communication with the Schoharie, Cherry Valley, and Unadilla

settlements. Its form was an irregular quadrangle, with earth and log

bastions, embrasures at each corner, and barracks and a strong

blockhouse within. The plain on which it stood is of peninsular form,

* I was unsuccessful in my search for information respecting the career

of General Herkimer in youth and early manhood. He left no children.

Those of the family name are descendants of his only brother, George

Herkimer. His family was among the early settlers of the German Flats,

and, though opulent according to the standard of his times, he seems to

have been quite uneducated. An old man whom I saw near the Flats

remembered him as "a large, square-built Dutchman," and supposed him to

have been about 05 years old when he died. Should this meet the eye of

any of his descendants, they will confer a favor upon the author by

communicating to him any information they may possess concerning the

general and his immediate family.

** An aged resident of Fort Plain, Mr. David Lipe, whose house is near

the canal, below the old fortification, went over the ground with me,

and I made a survey of the outlines of the fort according to his

directions. He aided in pulling down the block-house when it was

demolished after the war, and his memory seemed to be very accurate. I

am indebted to him for much of the information here recorded concerning

Fort Plain.

***Explanation of the Plan.--The black line represents the parapet; a,

the largo block-house; bbbb, small block-houses at each bastion; cc,

barracks. There were two largo apple-trees within the fort, and on the

northern side of the hill is the living spring that supplied the

garrison with water.

Fort Plain Block-house.--Trial of its Strength.--Invasion of the

Settlement.--True Location of Fort Plain

262and across the neck, or isthmus, a breast-work was thrown up. The

fort extended along the brow of the hill northwest of the village, and

the blockhouse was a few rods from the northern declivity.

This blockhouse was erected in 1780, after the fort and barracks were

found to be but a feeble defense, under the supervision of a French

engineer employed by Colonel Gansevoort. The latter, by order of General

Clinton, then in command of the Northern Department, had repaired

thither with his regiment, to take charge of a large quantity of stores

destined for Fort Schuyler. Ramparts of logs and earth were thrown up,

and a strong block-house was erected, a view of which is here given. It

was octagonal in form, three stories in height, and composed of hewn

timbers about fifteen inches square. There were numerous port-holes for

musketry, and in the lower story three or four cannons were placed. The

first story was thirty feet in diameter, the second forty, and the third

fifty. Each of the upper stories projected about five feet, and in the

floor of each projection there were also port-holes, through which to

fire perpendicularly upon an enemy below. The powder magazine of the

fort was placed directly under the block-house for protection.

Some time after the completion of the work, doubts were expressed of its

being cannonball proof. A trial was made with a six pounder placed at a

proper distance. Its ball passed entirely _through_ the block-house,

crossed a broad ravine, and lodged in the hill on which the old

parsonage stands, an eighth of a mile distant. This proved the

inefficiency of the building, and its strength was increased by lining

it with heavy planks. In order to form a protection for the magazine

against hot shot, the little garrison that was stationed there in 1782

commenced throwing up a bank of earth around the block-house. Rumors of

peace, and the quiet that then prevailed in that valley, caused the work

to cease, and, August, 1848 happily, its resumption was never demanded.

The mounds which were raised on the south side of the block-house were

yet quite prominent when I visited the locality.

This place was included in the Canajoharie settlement, and in 1780 felt

severely the vengeance of the Tories and Indians, inflicted in return

for terrible desolations wrought by an army under Sullivan, the previous

year, in the Indian country west of the white settlements. The whole

region on the south of the Mohawk, for several miles in this vicinity,

was laid waste. The approach of the dreaded Thayendanegea along the

Canajoharie Creek, with about five hundred Indians and Tories, to attack

the settlement at Fort Plain, was anAugust 2, 1780nounced to the people,

then engaged in their harvest fields, by a woman who fired a cannon at

the fort. The larger portion of militia had gone with Gansevoort to

guard provisions on their way to Fort Schuyler, and those who remained,

with the boys and old men, unable to defend their lives or property,

fled into the fort for protection. In their approach the enemy burned

every dwelling and barn, destroyed the crops, and carried off every

thing of value. Regardless of the strength of the fort, they marched

boldly up within cannon-shot of the intrenchments, burned the church,

the parsonage, and many other build-

* There is considerable confusion in the accounts concerning Fort Plain,

for which there is no necessity. There was a stockade about two miles

southwest of Fort Plain, called Fort Clyde, in honor of Colonel Clyde,

an officer in the Tryon county militia; and another about the same

distance northwest, called Fort Plank, or Blank, from the circumstance

that it stood upon land owned by Frederic Blank. The latter and Fort

Plain have been confounded. Mr. Stone erroneously considered them as

one, and says, in his Life of Brant (ii., 95), "The principal work of

defense, then called Fort Plank, and subsequently Fort Plain, wras

situated upon an elevated plain overlooking the valley, near the site of

the village still retaining the name of the fortress." Other writers

have regarded the block-house as the fort, when, in fact, it was only a

part of the fortifications. The drawing here given is from one published

in Stone's Life of Brant, with a description from the Fort Plain Journal

of December 26th, 1837. Mr. Lipe considered it a correct view, except

the lower story, which, it was his impression, was square instead of

octagonal, and had four port-holes for heavy ordnance.

A Female's Presence of Mind.--Burning of the Church.--Indians deceived.-

-Tardiness of Colonel Wemple.

263ings, and carried off several women and children prisoners. The house

of Johannes Lipe, to a place of concealment in a hollow at the rear, and

had made several deposits there. The last time she returned she met two

prowling Indians at the gate. She was familiar with their language, and,

without any apparent alarm, inquired of them if they knew any thing of

her two brothers, who were among the Tories that fled to Canada.

Fortunately, the savages had seen them at Oswegatehie, and, supposing

her to be a Tory likewise, they walked off, and the house was spared.

The church spire had a bright brass ball upon it, which the Indians

believed was gold.

While the edifice was burning, they waited anxiously for the steeple to

fall, that they might secure the prize. When it fell, the savages rushed

forward, scattered the burning timbers, and several of them in

succession seized the glittering ball. It was speedily dropped, as each

paid the penally of blistered fingers, and discovered that "all is not

gold that glistens."

With the destruction of Fort Ariani the devastation was, for the time,

stayed. In a day the fairest portion of the valley had been made

desolate. Fifty-three dwellings and as many barns were burned, sixteen

of the inhabitants were, slain, and between fifty and sixty persons,

chiefly women and children, were made captives. More than three hundred

cattle and horses were driven away, the implements of husbandry were

destroyed, and the ripe grain-fields, just ready for the sickle, were

laid in ashes. ** The smoke was seen as far as Johnstown, and the people

immediately left the fields and joined the Albany and Schenectady

militia, then marching up the valley, under Colonel Wemple. The colonel

seemed to be one of those men who deem prudence the better part of

valor, and was opposed to forced marches, particularly when in pursuit

of such fierce enemies as were just then attracting his attention. He

managed to reach Fort Plain in time to see the smouldering embers of the

conflagration, and to rest securely within its ramparts that night. The

work of destruction was over, and the Indians and Tories were away upon

another war-path.

At Fort Plain I was joined by my traveling companions, whom I had left

at Syracuse, and made it my headquarters for three days, while visiting

places of interest in the vicinity. It being a central point in the

hostile movements in Tryon county, from the time of the flight of St.

Leger from before Fort Stanwix until the close of the war, we will plant

our telescope of observation here for a time, and view the most

important occurrences within this particular sweep of its speculum. The

battle of Minisink, and the more terrible tragedy in the Valley of

Wyoming, radii in the hostile operations of the Indians and Tories from

our point of view, will be noticed in other chapters. It is difficult to

untie the complicated knot of events here, and make all parts

perspicuous, without departing somewhat from the plan of the work, and

taking up the events in chronological order. Every thing being

subordinate to the history, I shall, therefore, make such departure for

the present, and reserve my notes of travel until the story of the past

is told.

* This view is from the high plain on the right of the block-house,

looking north. The building upon the hill across the ravine is the old

parsonage, which was immediately built upon the ruins of the one that

was burned. On the left I have placed a church in its proper relative

position to the parsonage, as indicated by Mr. Lipe. It was about half a

mile northwest of the fort. On the right are seen the Mohawk River and

Plain, a train of cars in the distance, and the hills that bound the

view on the north side of the Mohawk Valley, in the direction of Stone

Arabia and Kloek's Field, where two battles were fought in 1780. These

will be hereafter noticed.

** Letter of Colonel Clyde to Governor Clinton. The father of David, my

informant, which is still standing, was saved from plunder and fire by

the courage and presence of mind of his wife.

** She had been busy all the evening carrying her most valuable articles

from her house.

Aspect of Affairs in Tryon County.--The Western Indians.--Girty and his

Associates.--Fidelity of White Eyes.

264

CHAPTER XII.

ARK and threatening was the aspect of affairs for the people of the

Mohawk Valley, in the spring of 1778, the year succeeding the dispersion

of St. Leger's motley force at Fort Schuyler. Brant, with his warriors,

retired to Fort Niagara after that event, and during the autumn and

winter he and the British and Tory leaders made extensive preparations

for war the ensuing spring. Colonel Hamilton was in command at Detroit,

engaged actively in endeavors to induce the tribes along the southern

shores of the western lakes and the head waters of the Mississippi to

join the four divisions of the Six Nations of New York who were in

alliance with the crown against the patriots. He was aided by three

malignant Tories, M'Kee, Elliot, and Simon Girty. ** They had been

confined at Pittsburgh, but, escaping, they traversed the country thence

to Detroit, and by proclaiming that the Americans had resolved on the

destruction of the Indians, and that their only safety consisted in the

immediate alliance of the Delawares and Shawnees with the soldiers of

the king, aroused these tribes to a desire for war. Already they had

been excited against the whites in general by the irruption into their

county of Daniel Boon and others (of which I shall hereafter write), and

they listened favorably to the appeal of the refugees. The expedition of

McIntosh into the Ohio Valley gave apparent confirmation to the

assertions of the Tories, and Captain _Pipe_ (the rival chief of White

Eyes of the Delawares, a fast friend of the Americans) at once assembled

his warriors, and urged them to follow him immediately upon the war-

path. He proclaimed every one an enemy who should speak against his

proposition. But White Eyes, the beloved of all, persuaded his people to

desist, and sent a message *** to the Shawnees, which had the effect to

keep them in check for a time. We shall consider the Indian wars in the

Ohio country in detail in a future chapter.

The Johnsons and Colonel John Butler were also active at this juncture

upon the St. Lawrence, recruiting Tory refugees, and inducing the

Caughnawagas and other tribes to take up the hatchet; and at the dawn of

the year a powerful combination was in progress, which threatened the

destruction of all the settlements in the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys.

Two of the Six Nations, the Oneidas and the Tuscaroras, were still

faithful to their pledge of neutrality, nor were the tribes of the other

four yet generally in arms. Congress, therefore, resolved to make

another effort to secure their neutrality, if not a defensive alliance.

****

* The Mohawks, Senecas, Onondagas, and Cayugas.

** Girty was an unmitigated scoundrel, and was far more savage in his

feelings than the Indians. He was present when Colonel Crawford was

tortured by the Indians in 1782, and looked upon his agonies with

demoniac pleasure. The same year he caused the expulsion of the peaceful

Moravians, who were laboring usefully among the Wyandots; and he

personally ill treated them when driven away. He instigated an Indian

warrior, at the defeat of St. Clair in 1791, to tomahawk the American

General Butler, who lay wounded on the field, and to scalp him, and take

out his heart for distribution among the tribes. There were some Tories,

even active ones, whom we can respect; but miscreants like Girty and

Walter Butler, of the Mohawk Valley, present no redeeming quality to

plead for excuse.

*** The message was as follows: "Grandchildren, ye Shawnees: Some days

ago a flock of birds [M'Kec, Elliot, and Girty], that had come on from

the east, lit at Gaschochking, imposing a song of theirs upon us, which

song had nigh proved our ruin. Should these birds, which, on leaving us,

took their flight toward Scioto, endeavor to impose a song on you

likewise, do not listen to them, for they lie."

**** A resolution to this effect was adopted by Congress on the 2d of

February, 1778. They instructed the commissioners to "Speak to the

Indians in language becoming the representatives of free, sovereign, and

independent states, and in such a tone as to convince them that they

felt themselves so."--Journals of Congress, iv., 63.

Council at Johnstown.--Disposition of the Different Notions.--Colonel

Campbell and La Fayette.--Forts strengthened.

265A council was called, and the chiefs of all the Six Nations were

invited to attend. General Schuyler and Volkert P. Douw were appointed

commissioners to attend the meeting and act in behalf of Congress. They

requested Governor Clinton to send a special commissioner to be present

at the council, and James Duane was accordingly appointed. The council

met at Johnstown on the 9th of March. More than seven hundred Indians

were present, consisting of Tuscaroras, Oneidas, and Onondagas, a small

number of Mohawks, 1777 three Cayugas, but not one of the Senecas, the

most powerful and warlike tribe of the confederacy. The latter not only

refused to attend, but sent a message affecting great surprise that they

were invited to such a council. * It is not certainly known that General

Schuyler was present at the meeting. La Fayette accompanied Duane, and

the latter seems to have conducted the proceedings on the part of

Congress. They were opened by an address from that body, charging the

Indians with perfidy, cruelty, and treachery, while the conduct of the

United States had been true and magnanimous toward them. An old Onondaga

hypocritically acknowledged and bewailed the sins of his tribe, but

charged them upon the young and headstrong warriors who had been seduced

by the Tory leaders. The Mohawks and Cayugas were sullen and silent,

while an Oneida chief, conscious of the faithfulness of his own tribe

and of the Tuscaroras, spoke eloquently in behalf of both, concluding

with a solemn assurance that the United States might rely upon their

abiding friendship. Those two tribes were applauded by the

commissioners, while the others were dismissed with an admonition to

look well to their ways, as the arm of the United States was powerful,

and vengeance might penetrate the remotest settlements of the Senecas.

The council, on the whole, was unsatisfactory, for it was evident that

the most warlike and important tribes, with Brant at their head, still

brooded over their loss at Oriskany, and were determined on revenge.

While La Fayette was at Johnstown, Colonel Samuel Campbell, of Cherry

Valley, waited upon him and directed his attention to the exposed

condition of that settlement and of those upon the Schoharie Creek. The

people had built three slight fortifications the preceding year, but

they were quite insufficient for sure protection. They were merely

embankments of earth thrown up around strong stone houses, and

stockaded, into which the women and children might flee for safety in

the event of an invasion. They were respectively known as the Upper,

Middle, and Lower Forts. ** By direction of La Fayette, these were each

manned by a company of soldiers, with a small brass field piece. He also

directed a fort to be erected in the Oneida country, and Forts Schuyler

and Dayton to be strengthened; and, as we have already noticed, Fort

Plain was afterward enlarged and more strongly fortified. These and far

more efficient preparations for defense were necessary; for the recovery

of the Mohawk-Valley, where their property was situated, was an object

too important to the Johnsons, Butlers, and the large number of refugees

who accompanied them to Canada, not to induce extraordinary efforts for

its attainment. Their spies and scouts were out in every direction, and,

at the very time of the council at Johnstown, Colonel Guy Carleton, a

nephew of the Governor of Canada of the same name, was lurking in the

neighborhood, to watch the actions and to report upon the dispositions

of the chiefs in conclave. His employers at the same time were upon the

frontiers, preparing for invasion.

* "It is strange," said the messenger, "that while your tomahawks are

sticking in our heads [referring to the battle of Oriskany], our wounds

bleeding, and our eyes streaming with tears for the loss ol our friends

at German Flats [Oriskany], the commissioners should think of inviting

us to a treaty."--From a MS. Letter of James Duane, cited by Stone.

** These were situated in the Schoharie Valley. The Upper Fort was near

the margin of Schoharie Creek, about five miles southeast of Middleburgh

village, and within the limits of the present town of Fulton. The

remains of the Middle Fort are still visible, near Middleburgh, on the

plain east of the road lending to Schoharie. The Lower Fort was five

miles north of Middleburgh, at the village of Schoharie. An old stone

church (yet standing, but much altered from the original), one mile

northward of the court-house, was within the intrenchments, and formed

the citadel of the fort. The ramparts inclosed the two story stone house

of John Becker, the kitchen part of which was, until recently, well

preserved. Temporary dwellings were erected within the inclosure, and in

these the inhabitants kept their most valuable things. See Simms's

Schoharie, &c., p. 269.

Settlers of Tryon County.--Destruction of Springfield.--M'Kean and Brant

266Early in the spring, Brant and his warriors, with a large number of

Tories, appeared 1778 at Oghkwaga, his headquarters the previous year.

There he organized scalping parties and sent them out upon the

borderers.

The settlers were cut off in detail. Marauding parties fell upon

isolated families like bolts from the clouds, and the blaze of dwellings

upon the hills and in the valleys nightly warned the yet secure

inhabitant to be on the alert. Their dwellings were transformed into

block-houses. The women were taught the use of weapons, and stood

sentinels when the men were at work. Half-grown children were educated

for scouts, and taught to discern the Indian trail, and every man worked

armed in his field. Such was the condition of the dwellers of Tryon

county during almost the whole time of the war.

Brant's first hostile movement of consequence, after his return to

Oghkwaga, was the destruction of a small settlement at Springfield, at

the head of Otsego lake, ten miles west of Cherry Valley. It was in the

month of May. Every house was burned but one, into which the women and

children were collected and kept unharmed. The absence of Tories in that

expedition, and the freedom to act as he pleased on the part of Brant,

may account for this humanity. Several men were made captive, and, with

considerable property, were carried off to Oghkwaga.

In June, Captain McKean, at the head of some volunteers, was sent to

reconnoiter Brant's encampment at Oghkwaga. M'Kean's headquarters were

at Cherry Valley. On his way down the valley of the Charlotte River, he

learned that large war-parties were out, and, fearing a surprise,

thought it prudent to return. He halted an hour to refresh, and wrote a

letter to Brant, censuring him for his predatory warfare; he intimating

that he was too cowardly to show himself in open and honorable conflict,

M'Kean challenged him to meet him in single combat, or with an equal

number of men, to try their skill, courage, and strength; and concluded

by telling him that if he would come to Cherry Valley, they would change

him from a _Brant_ to a _goose_. * This was an injudicious movement,

and, doubtless, incited

* This letter was fastened to a stick and placed in an Indian path. It

soon reached Brant, and irritated him exceedingly. In a letter written

soon afterward to a Tory named Cass, he said, 'Who people of Cherry

Valley, though bold in words, will find themselves mistaken in calling

me a goose.

Battle in the Schoharie Country.--Arrival of Regulars.--Escape of Walter

Butler.--Treachery of Great Tree

267the sachem, in some degree, to join Butler, a few months later, in

desolating that settlement.

There was an engagement on the 2d of July, on the upper branch of the

Cobelskill, between a party of regular troops and Schoharie militia,

fifty-two in number, and an Indian force four hundred and fifty strong.

The Americans, commanded by Captain Christian Brown, were overpowered.

Fourteen were killed, eight wounded, two were missing, and the remainder

escaped. The dwellings were burned, and the horses and cattle, which the

victors could not take with them, were slaughtered in the fields. At the

same time, Colonel John Butler, who had penetrated the country from

Niagara with a body of Indians and Tories, eleven hundred strong, broke

into the Valley of Wyoming and laid it waste. July 3-4, 1778 Of this I

shall write in detail hereafter. We have already considered the

destruction of the settlement at German Flats, toward the close of this

summer. Scalping parties continued to infest the Schoharie and

neighboring settlements until quite late in September, when troops from

the main army checked their depredations for a while. A few days after

the battle of Monmouth, a Colonel William Butler, with a Pennsylvania

regimentJune 23, 1778 and a detachment of Morgan's rifle corps, * was

ordered to Tryon county, and took post at Schoharie, whence parties were

sent out to chastise the white and red savages, and to protect

threatened settlements. They accomplished but little, however, except in

intercepting bands of Tories that were making their way from the Hudson

River settlements to join Johnson at Niagara. One of these parties,

collected in the vicinity of Catskill, under a Captain Smith, was

dispersed, the Commander killed, and several of the men made prisoners.

This, and a few other exploits of a similar character, inspired the

people with confidence, and they anticipated a season of repose. But it

was of short duration, for already a cloud was gathering in the west,

full charged with desolation.

We have noticed the fact that Walter Butler, a son of Colonel John

Butler, was arrested near Fort Dayton in August, 1777, tried, and

condemned to death as a spy, but reprieved and sent a prisoner to

Albany. He was closely confined in the jail there until the spring of

1778, when, through the interposition of his father's friends, some of

them of the highest respectability, he was liberated from prison, and

allowed to reside with a private family, having a single sentinel to

guard him. This family proved to be Tories in disguise. The sentinel was

made drunk, and young Butler, mounting a fleet horse, escaped, and

joined his father at Niagara, just after the massacre of Wyoming. On his

way through the Seneca country he excited the Indians, by tales of the

extensive preparations which the Americans were making to penetrate and

lay waste their country, and they were soon ripe for invading the white

settlements.

About this time a Seneca chief, called _Great Tree_, who was with

Washington during the summer, left for his own country and nation, with

the strongest professions of friendship for the Americans. He promised

to use his influence in keeping the Senecas neutral, and, if

unsuccessful, he was to return with his personal adherents and join the

friendly Oneidas. According to his own account, he found his people in

arms, and uttering loud defiance against the whites. The chiefs and

principal warriors were collected at Kanadaseago and Genesee; and _Great

Tree_, believing the stories of Butler, and finding his people very

united, resolved to join his nation in chastising any whites that might

penetrate their county. He was a popular orator and warrior, and his

adherence gave the Senecas much joy. The Indians west of the Oneidas

"were thus prepared to follow a leader upon the war-path.

Walter Butler obtained from his father the command of a detachment of

his Rangers, and permission to employ them, with the forces of Captain

Brant, in an expedition against the

* Timothy Murphy, the man who shot General Fraser at Bemis's Heights,

was in this detachment, and became the terror of the Indians and Tories

in the Schoharie country. He used a double-barreled rifle, and the

Indians, seeing him fire twice without stopping to load, supposed that

he could fire as often as he pleased in the same manner.

Butler and Brant march toward Cherry Valley.--Colonel Alden warned.--

Capture of American Scouts

268settlements in Tryon county. It was late in the season, but he

thirsted for revenge because of his imprisonment, and departed eastward

early in October. While on his way, and near

1778 Genesee, he met Brant, with his warriors, going from his camp upon

the Susquehanna to his winter-quarters at Niagara. Brant felt a deep

personal hatred toward young Butler, and this feeling was greatly

increased on finding himself made subordinate to the latter. But the

difficulty, which threatened, at first, to be serious, was soon

adjusted. Thayendanegea had thought much of the insulting letter of

Captain M'Kean, and more willingly turned his face back toward the

settlements. The united forces amounted to about seven hundred men.

This movement was known to Mr. Dean, an Indian interpreter in the Oneida

country, early in October, and he communicated the information to Major

Cochran, then in command at Fort Schuyler. That officer sent a messenger

with the intelligence to Colonel Alden, at Cherry Valley, and also to

the garrisons of the Schoharie forts; but the presence of the

Pennsylvania troops and riflemen had lulled the people into fancied

security, and the report of the oncoming invasion was treated as an idle

Indian tale.

Cherry Valley, the wealthiest and most important settlement near the

head waters of the eastern branch of the Susquehanna, was the enemy's

chosen point of attack. Colonel Ichabod Alden, of Massachusetts, was in

command of the fort there, with about two hundred and fifty Continental

troops. * On the 8th of November the commandant received a dispatch from

Fort Schuyler, informing him that his post was about to be attacked by a

large force of Indians and Tories, then assembled upon the Tioga River.

Colonel Alden treated the information with unconcern, but the

inhabitants were greatly alarmed. They asked permission to move into the

fort or to deposit their most valuable articles there, but the colonel,

regarding the alarm as really groundless, refused his consent. He

assured them, at the same time, that he would be vigilant in keeping

scouts upon the look-out and the garrison in preparation, and,

accordingly, on the 9th parties were sent out in various directions. One

of these, which went down toward the Susquehanna, built a fire at their

encampment, fell asleep, and awoke prisoners in the hands of Butler and

Brant. All necessary information concerning the settlement was extorted

from them, and the next day the enemy moved forward and encamped upon a

lofty hill covered with evergreens, about a mile southwest of the

village, and overlooking the whole settlement. From that observatory

they could see almost every house in the village; and from the prisoners

they learned that the officers were quartered out of the fort, and that

Colonel Alden and Lieutenant-colonel Stacia were at the house of Robert

Wells, recently judge of the county, and formerly an intimate friend of

Sir William Johnson and Colonel John Butler.

November 10, 1778 Early in the morning the enemy marched slowly toward

the village. Snow had fallen during the night, and the morning was dark

and misty. When near the village, the Tories halted to examine their

muskets, for the dampness had injured their powder. The Indians, and

particularly the ferocious Senecas, eager for blood and plunder, pushed

forward in the van during the halt. A settler, on horseback, going

toward the village, was shot, but, being slightly wounded, escaped and

gave the alarm. Colonel Alden could not yet believe that the enemy was

near in force, but he was soon convinced by the sound of the war-whoop

that broke upon the settlement, and the girdle of fierce savages, with

gleaming hatchets, that surrounded the house of Mr. Wells. They rushed

in and murdered the whole family. ** Colonel Alden escaped from a

window, but was pursued, tomahawked, and scalped.

* While Brant was collecting his troops at Oghkwaga the previous year,

the strong stone mansion of Colonel Samuel Campbell, at Cherry Valley,

was fortified, to be used as a place of retreat for the women and

children in the event of an attack. An embankment of earth and logs was

thrown up around it, and included two barns. Small block-houses were

erected within the inclosure. This was the only fort at Cherry Valley at

the time in question.

** The family of Mr. Wells consisted of himself and wife, mother,

brother and sister (John and Jane), and a daughter. His son John (the

late eminent counselor of New York) was then at school in Schenectady,

and was the only survivor of the family. They had all been living at

Schenectady for some months, for security, but the alarm in the region

of Cherry Valley having subsided, they had just returned. The

destruction of the Wells family was marked by circumstances of peculiar

ferocity, and I mention them to exhibit the infernal character which the

passions of men assume when influenced by the horrid teachings in the

school of war. One of the Tories boasted that he cleft open the head of

Mr. Wells while on his knees in prayer. His sister Jane was

distinguished for her beauty, virtues, and accomplishments. When the

enemy burst into the house, she fled to a pile of wood and endeavored to

conceal herself. An Indian pursued and caught her. He then wiped his

knife, dripping with the blood of her relatives, sheathed it, and

deliberately took his tomahawk from his girdle. At that moment a Tory,

who had been a domestic in the family of Mr. Wells, relented, and,

springing forward, claimed her as his sister. The savage thrust him

aside and buried his hatchet in her temple. It is said that Colonel John

Butler, professedly grieved at the conduct of his son at Cherry Valley,

remarked, on one occasion, "I would have gone miles on my knees to save

that family, and why my son did not do it, God only knows."

Mr. Dunlap.--Mr. Mitchell.--Destruction of the Settlement.--Treatment of

Prisoners.--Butler's Savageism and Brant's Humanity

269The house of the venerable minister, Mr. Dunlap (whose wife was the

mother of Mrs. Wells), and that of a Mr. Mitchell, were next attacked,

and most of the inmates murdered. Mr. Dunlap and his daughter at home

were protected by Little Aaron, a Mohawk chief, who led him to his door

and there stood by his side, and preserved his life and property. But

the good old man sank under the terrible calamity of that day, and

joined his lost ones in the spirit land within a year thereafter. Many

other families of less note were cut off. Thirty-two of the inhabitants,

mostly women and children, and sixteen soldiers of the garrison, were

killed. The whole settlement was plundered after the massacre had

ceased, and every building in the village was fired when the enemy left

with their prisoners and booty. Among the prisoners were the wife and

children of Colonel Campbell, who was absent at the time. He returned to

find his property laid waste and his family carried into captivity.

The prisoners, numbering nearly forty, were marched down the valley that

night in a storm of sleet, and were huddled together promiscuously, some

of them half naked, with no shelter but the leafless trees, or resting-

place but the wet ground. The marauders, finding the women and children

cumbersome, sent them all back the next day, except Mrs. Campbell, her

aged mother, ** and her children, and a Mrs. Moore, who were kept as

hostages for the kind treatment and ultimate exchange of the family of

Colonel John Butler. The returning prisoners carried back with them a

letter from Walter Butler to General Schuyler, in which he pretended

that feelings of mercy for the almost naked and helpless captives were

the incentive that caused him to release them; disclaimed all desire to

injure the weak and defenseless; and closed by assuring him that, if

Colonel John Butler's family were longer detained, he would not restrain

the Indians from indulgence in murder and rapine. The "tender mercy" of

Butler was that of "the wicked." He was the head and front of all the

cruelty at Cherry Valley on that day. He commanded the expedition, and

while he saw, unmoved, the murder of his father's friend and family, and

of others whose age and sex should have secured his regard, his _savage_

ally, the "monster Brant," hastened to save that very family, but was

too late. *** Butler would not allow his Rangers even to warn their

friends

* Mr. Mitchell was in the field when the invasion took place, and found

safety in the woods. After the enemy had retired, he hastened to the

village, when he found his house on fire and the dead bodies of his wife

and three children lying within. He extinguished the flames, and

discovered his little daughter terribly mangled, but yet alive. He took

her to the door, hoping fresh air might revive her, when he discovered a

straggling party of the enemy near. He had just time to conceal himself,

when a Tory sergeant named Newberry, whose acts in Schoharie entitle him

to a seat in the councils of Pandemonium, approached, and, seeing the

poor child lying upon the door-stone, dispatched her with a blow of a

hatchet. This miscreant was afterward caught and hung by order of

General Clinton.

** Mrs. Cannon, the mother of Mrs. Campbell, was quite old. She was an

encumbrance, and a savage slew her with his tomahawk, by the side of her

daughter, who, with a babe eighteen months old in her arms, was driven

with inhuman haste before her captors, while, with uplifted hatchets,

they menaced her life. Arriving among the Senecas, she was kindly

treated, and installed a member of one of the families. They allowed her

to do as she pleased, and her deportment was such that she seemed to

engage the real affections of the people. Perceiving that she wore caps,

one was presented to her, considerably spotted with blood. On

examination, she recognized it as one that had belonged to her friend,

Jane Wells. She and her children (from whom she was separated in the

Indian country) were afterward exchanged for the wife and family of

Colonel John Butler, then in the custody of the Committee of Safety at

Albany.

*** There are many well-authenticated instances on record of the

humanity of Brant, exercised particularly toward women and children. He

was a magnanimous victor, and never took the life of a former friend or

acquaintance. He loved a hero because of his heroism, although he might

be his enemy, and he was never known to take advantage of a conquered

soldier. I have mentioned the challenge which Captain M'Kean sent to

Brant. After the affair at Cherry Valley, he inquired of one of the

prisoners for Captain M'Kean, who, with his family, had left the

settlement. "He sent me a challenge," said Brant. "I came to accept it.

He is a fine soldier thus to retreat." It was replied, "Captain M'Kean

would not turn his back upon an enemy when there was any probability of

success." "I know it," replied 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."

*** Dr. Timothy Dwight relates that Walter Butler ordered a woman and

child to be slain, in bed, at Cherry Valley, when Brant interposed,

saying, "What! kill a woman and child! That child is not an enemy to the

king nor a friend to Congress. Long before he will be big enough to do

any mischief, the dispute will be settled." When, in 1780, Sir John

Johnson and Brant led a desolating army through the Schoharie and Mohawk

Valleys, Brant's humanity was again displayed. On their way to Fort

Hunter an infant was carried off. The frantic mother followed them as

far as the fort, but could get no tidings of her child. On the morning

after the departure of the invaders, and while General Van Rensselaer's

officers were at breakfast, a young Indian came bounding into the room,

bearing the infant in his arms and a letter from Captain Brant,

addressed to "the commander of the rebel army." The letter was as

follows: "Sir--I send you, by one of my runners, the child which he will

deliver, that, you may know that, whatever others may do, I do not make

war upon women and children. I am sorry to say that I have those engaged

with me who are more savage than the savages themselves." He named the

Butlers and others of the Tory leaders This incident was related to Mr.

Stone by the late General Morgan Lewis.

Character of Walter Butler.--The Settlements menaced.--Expedition

against the Onondagas.--Destruction of their Towns

270in the settlement of the approaching danger, but friend and foe were

left exposed to the terrible storm; he had sworn vengeance, and his bad

heart would not be content until its cravings were satisfied.

Tender charity may seek to cloak his crimes with the plea that partisan

warfare justified his deeds; and lapse of time, which mellows such

crimson tints in the picture of a man's character, may temper the

asperity with which shocked humanity views his conduct; yet a just

judgment, founded upon observation of his brief career, must pronounce

it a stain upon the generation in which he lived. After the destruction

of Cherry Valley his course was short, but bold, cruel, and bloody.

British officers of respectability viewed him with horror and disgust;

and when, in 1781, he was slain by the Oneidas on the banks of the West

Canada Creek, his body was left to decay, while his fallen companions

were buried with respect.

With the destruction of Cherry Valley all hostile movements ceased in

Tryon county, and were not resumed until the following spring, when an

expedition was sent against the Onondagas by General Clinton. Frequent

messages had been sent by the Oneidas during the winter, all reporting

that Brant and his Tory colleagues were preparing for some decisive

blow. The Onondagas, in the mean while, were making peaceful

professions, expressing a desire to remain neutral, while they were in

league and in secret correspondence with the leaders in the hostile camp

at Niagara. Policy, and even the necessity born of the law of self-

preservation, seemed to demand the infliction of summary and severe

chastisement upon the savages who menaced and desolated the Tryon county

settlements. Early in the winter General Schuyler had assured Congress

that, unless something of the kind was speedily done, Schenectady must

soon become the boundary of settlement in that direction.

The arrangement of an expedition against the Indians was intrusted to

General Clinton. April 18,1779 In April he dispatched a portion of the

regiments of Colonels Gansevoort and Van Schaick, under the latter

officer, against the Onondagas., The party consisted of five hundred and

fifty-eight strong men. Van Schaick was instructed to burn their castle

and villages in the Onondaga Valley, destroy all their cattle and other

effects, and make as many prisoners as possible. He was further

instructed to treat the women that might fall into his hands with all

the respect due to chastity. The expedition went down Wood Creek and

Oneida Lake, and thence up the Oswego River to the point on Onondaga

Lake where Salina now is. A thick fog concealed their movements, and

they had approached to within four or five miles of the valley before

they were discovered. As soon as the first village was attacked, the

alarm spread to the others. The people fled to the forests, leaving

every thing, even their arms, behind them. Three villages, consisting of

about fifty houses, were destroyed; twelve Indians were killed, and

thirty-three were made prisoners. A large quantity of

Alarm of the Oneidas.--Expedition against Oswegatchle.--Attack on

Cobelskill.--Scalping Parties.

271provisions, consisting chiefly of beans and corn, was consumed. The

council-house, or castle, was not burned, but the swivel in it was

spiked. All the horses and cattle in the vicinity were slaughtered; and,

when the work of destruction was ended, the expedition returned to Fort

Schuyler, after an absence of only six days, and without the loss of a

man.

This expedition, cruel and of doubtful policy, alarmed the neutral

Oneidas. * They were faithful to the Americans, yet, having intermarried

freely with the Onondagas, their relations had been slain or

impoverished, and this distressed them. They sent a deputation to Fort

Schuyler to inquire into the matter. Colonel Van Schaick pacified, if he

did not satisfy, them, and they returned-to their people. But the ire of

the Onondagas was fiercely kindled, not only on account of the

destruction of their property, but because of the extinguishment of

their council fire. Three hundred braves were immediately sent upon the

war-path, charged with the vengeance of the nation. Guided by a Tory,

they came down fiercely upon the settlement at Cobelskill, ** murdering,

plundering, and burning. The militia turned out to repulse them, but,

being led into an ambuscade, a number of them were killed. They fought

desperately, and while the militia was thus contending, and beating back

the savages, the people fled in safety to Schoharie. Seven of the

militia took post in a strong house, which the savages set fire to, and

these brave young men all perished in the flames. The whole settlement

was then plundered and burned. The patriots lost twenty-two killed, and

forty-two who were made prisoners.

While this expedition was in progress, scalping parties appeared at the

different points in the lower section of the Mohawk, and the settlements

were menaced with the fate of Cherry Valley. On the south side of the

Mohawk a party fell upon the Canajoharie settlement, took three

prisoners, captured some horses, and drove the people to Fort Plain. On

the same day another party attacked a small settlement at Stone Arabia,

*** burned some April 18, 1779 houses, and killed several people. A

party of Senecas appeared at Schoharie on the same day, drove the people

to the fort, plundered the houses, and carried away two men prisoners.

These simultaneous attacks were part of a plan for cutting off the

settlement in detail. The Indians on the south of the Mohawk were from

the Seneca country, and those on the north from Canada, both, doubtless,

the advanced parties of larger forces. The settlements were thoroughly

alarmed. The Palatine **** Committee wrote immediately to General

Clinton, at Albany, for succor. That efficient officer afforded

immediate aid, and, by the timely check thus given to the invaders, the

settlers of the valley were prevented from being driven into

Schenectady. (v) Other settlements near the Delaware and on the

frontiers of Ulster county were visited by the Indians# in May and the

early part of June; and in July the battle of Minisink occurred, the

particulars of which will be hereafter July 20, 1779 related.

In the spring of thig year it was determined to send a formidable force

into the Indian country of Western New York, for the purpose of

chastising the savages and their Tory allies so thoroughly that the

settlements upon the Mohawk and the upper branches of the Susquehanna

might enjoy a season of repose. The tribes of the Six Nations were then

populous. They had many villages, vast corn-fields, and fruitful

orchards and gardens in the

* At the time of this expedition there were about forty Oneida warriors

at Fort Schuyler. These were sent, with a party of regulars, under

Lieutenants M'Lellan and Hardonburgh, northward to attack the fort at

Oswegatchie. This expedition was unsuccessful in its ostensible object,

the garrison having been apprised of their approach. It is supposed that

the employment of the Oneidas so far away that they could not notify

their kinsmen, the Onondagas, of the invasion, was the principal object

of this northern movement, and in that it was successful. The Oneidas

were really friendly to the patriots, but to their credit it was said by

General Clinton (who knew them well), in a letter to General Sullivan,

"Their attachment to one another is too strong to admit of their being

of any service when employed against their fellows."

** Cobelskill was taken from Schoharie. The little village is about ten

miles west of the former.

*** Stone Arabia is about three miles north of the Mohawk, in the rear

of Palatine, and thirteen west of Johnstown.

**** Palatine is on the north side of the Mohawk, opposite Cannjoharie,

with which it is connected by a bridge

(v) Campbell's Annals; Stone's Brant.

Preparations to invade the Indian Country.--General Sullivan, Commander-

in-chief.--General James Clinton

272fertile country westward of Otsego Lake.

It was supposed that the most effectual method to subdue or weaken them

would be to destroy their homes and lay waste their fields, and thus

drive them further back into the wilderness toward Lake Erie.

Already the Mohawks had been thrust out of the valley of their name, and

their families were upon the domains of the Ca-yugas and Senecas. It

was, therefore, determined to make a combined movement upon them of two

strong divisions of military, one from Pennsylvania and the other from

the north, at a season when their fields and orchards were fully laden

with grain and fruits. It was a part of the plan of the expedition to

penetrate the country to Niagara, and break up the nest of vipers there.

General Sullivan * was placed in the chief command, and led in person

the division that ascended the Susquehanna from Wyoming, while General

Clinton ** commanded the forces that penetrated the country from the

mouth of the Canajoharie. It was arranged to unite the two divisions at

Tioga.

Clinton's troops, fifteen hundred strong, were mustered at Canajoharie

on the 15th of June, and on the 17th he commenced the transportation of

his bateaux and provisions across the hilly country to Springfield, at

the head of Otsego Lake, a distance of more than twenty

* John Sullivan was born in Berwick, Maine, on the 17th of February,

1740. His family emigrated to Ameriea from Ireland in 1723. He was a

farmer in his youth, and, after arriving at maturity, he studied law,

and established himself in practice in Durham, New Hampshire. He was

chosen a delegate to the first Continental Congress. After retiring from

that body, he and John Langdon, the speaker of the Provincial Congress

of New Hampshire, commanded a small force which seized Fort William and

Mary, at Portsmouth, and carried off all the cannon. He was appointed

one of the eight brigadiers when the Continental army was organized in

1775, and early in the following year he was made a major general. He

superseded Arnold in the command of the American army in Canada in 1776.

When General Greene became in on Long Island, he took command of his

division, and was made prisoner at the battle fought there in August,

1776. He was exchanged, and took command of General Charles Lee's

division in New Jersey after the capture of that officer. In the autumn

of 1777 he was engaged in the battles at the Brandywine and Germantown,

and in the winter following he took command of the troops on Rhode

Island. He besieged Newport in August, 1778, was unsuccessful, and

retreated from the island after a severe battle near the north end. He

commanded the expedition against the Indians in 1779, and this was the

last of his military career. Having offended some of the members of the

Board of War, and believing himself ill treated, he resigned his

commission in 1779. He was afterward a member of Congress, and, for

three years from 1786, was President of New Hampshire. In 1789 he was

appointed district judge, whieh office he held until his death, whieh

occurred January 23d, 1795.

** James Clinton was born in Ulster county, New York, August 9th, 1736.

At the age of twenty (1756) he was captain, under Bradstreet, in the

attack on Fort Frontenac. In 1763 he was intrusted with the command of

four companies in Ulster and Orange, raised for defense against the

inroads of the savages. He, with his brother George (the Governor of New

York during the Revolution), early espoused the patriot cause. He was

appointed a colonel in 1775, and accompanied Montgomery to Canada. In

August, 1776, he was made a brigadier; and he was in command, under

Governor Clinton, at Forts Montgomery and Clinton when they fell into

the hands of the enemy in 1777. He escaped, and made his way to his

residence in safety. Conjointly with Sullivan, he led the expedition

against the Indians in 1779. During the remainder of the war he was

connected with the Northern Department, having his quarters at Albany.

He retired to his estate, near Newburgh, Orange county, New York, after

the Revolution, where he died December 22d, 1812, aged 75 years. He was

the father of De Witt Clinton, the eminent Governor of New York in 1826-

7.

Capture of Hare and Newberry.--Information from General Schuyler.--Mr.

Denne.--Damming of Otsego Lake.--Its Effects.

273miles. It was an arduous duty, for his boats numbered two hundred and

twenty, and he had provisions sufficient for three months. He reached

Springfield, with all his luggage, on the 30th. On his way he captured

Hare and Newberry, two notorious spies, the former a lieutenant in the

British service, and the latter the miscreant whom we have already

noticed as the murderer of Mr. Mitchell's wounded child at Cherry

Valley. They were tried, and hanged "pursuant to the sentence of the

court, and to the entire satisfaction of the inhabitants of the county."

*

Clinton, with his division, proceeded to the foot of Otsego Lake, and

there awaited July 1,1779 orders from Sullivan. A day or two after his

arrival, General Schuyler communicated to him the important information

that the purpose of the expedition was known to the enemy, and that four

hundred and fifty regular troops, one hundred Tories, and thirty Indians

had been sent from Montreal to re-enforce the tribes against whom it was

destined. This information General Schuyler received from a spy whom he

had sent into Canada. The spy had also informed him that they were to be

joined by one half of Sir John Johnson's regiment and a portion of the

garrison at Niagara. On the 5th, Mr. Deane, ** the Indian interpreter,

arrived with thirty-five Oneida warriors, who came to explain the

absence of their tribe, whom Clinton, by direction of Sullivan, had

solicited to join him. *** They confirmed the intelligence sent by

Schuyler, and added that a party of Cayugas and Tories, three hundred in

number, were then upon the war-path, and intended to hang upon the

outskirts of Clinton's army on its march to Tioga.

Clinton remained at the south end of Otsego Lake, awaiting the tardy

movements of Sullivan, until the first week in August. His troops became

impatient, yet he was not idle. He performed a feat which exhibited much

ingenuity and forecast. He discovered that, in consequence of a long

drought, the outlet of the lake was too inconsiderable to allow his

boats to pass down upon its waters. He therefore raised a dam across it

at the foot of the lake, by which the waters would be so accumulated

that, when it should be removed, the bed of the outlet would be filled

to the brim, and bear his boats upon the flood. The work was soon

accomplished, and, in addition to the advantages which it promised to

the expedition, the damming of the lake caused great destruction of

grain upon its borders, for its banks were overflowed, and vast corn-

fields belonging to the Indians were deluged and destroyed. The event

also greatly alarmed the savages. It was a very dry season, and they

regarded the sudden rising of the lake, without any apparent cause, as

an evidence that the Great Spirit was displeased with them. And when

Clinton moved down the stream with his large flotilla upon its swollen

flood, the Indians along its banks were amazed, and retreated into the

depths of the forest.

Sullivan and Clinton formed a junction at Tioga on the 22d of August,

the entire force amounting to five thousand men, consisting of the

brigades of Generals Clinton, 1779

* So said General Clinton in a letter to General Schuyler. The latter

remarked, in reply, "In executing Hare you have rid the state of the

greatest villain in it. I hope his abettors in the country will meet

with a similar exaltation."

** James Deane was the first settler in the town of Westmoreland, Oneida

eounty. He was the son of pious New England parents, and at the age of

eleven years was sent among the Indians upon the Susquehanna to learn

their language, for the purpose of becoming a missionary among them. He

was afterward a student in Dartmouth College. On the breaking out of the

war, he was appointed Indian agent, with the rank of major in the army,

and during the contest he was most of the time among the Oneidas. At the

close of hostilities the Oneidas granted him a tract of land two miles

square, near Rome, in Oneida county, which he afterward exchanged for a

tract in Westmoreland, where he removed in 1786, and resided until his

death in 1832.

*** General Clinton was averse to the employment of the Oneidas or any

other Indians; but such being the orders of his superior, he engaged Mr.

Deane to negotiate with them. The Oneidas, to a man, volunteered to

accompany the expedition, and the few Onondagas who still adhered to the

Americans were also ready to join Clinton. But on the 23d the Oneidas

received an address at Fort Schuyler, from General Haldimand, written in

the Iroquois language; and so alarming were the menaces it contained,

that they suddenly changed their minds, and determined to stay at home

and defend their own castles and dwellings.

March of Sullivan's Expedition.--Fortifications of the Enemy.--General

Edward Hand.--The Battle

274Hand, Maxwell, and Poor, together with Proctor's artillery and a

corps of riflemen. The movement of the expedition had been so slow that

the enemy was prepared to receive them. Near Conewawah * (Newtown in the

histories of the battle), a considerable Indian village at the junction

of the Newtown Creek with the Chemung River, they had thrown up

breastworks half a mile in length, where they had determined to make a

bold stand against the invaders.

The Americans moved cautiously up the Tioga and Chemung, having large

flanking par ties on either side, and p. strong advanced and rear guard,

for they were told that detachments of the enemy were hovering around,

ready to strike when an opportunity should offer. On their march they

destroyed a small Indian settlement August 29, 1779 and the next day

Major Parr, of the advanced guard, discovered the enemy's works. These

were about a mile in advance of Conewawah, and were so covered by a bend

in the river, that only the front and one flank were exposed to the fire

of the assailants. That flank rested upon a steep hill or ridge running

nearly parallel with the river.

Further to the left was another ridge, running in the same direction,

and passing in the rear of the American army. Detachments of the enemy

were stationed on both hills, having a line of communication; and they

were so disposed that they might fall upon the assailants, flank and

rear, as soon as the action should commence. The Tories and Indians were

further protected by the pine-trees and shrub oaks that covered the

ground. Hoping that the Americans might not discover their concealed

fortification, they had arranged it in such a relative position to the

road along which the invaders must pass, that the whole flank of the

army would be exposed to an enfilading fire. Happily for the Americans,

their preparations were discovered in time.

General Hand *** formed the light infantry about four hundred yards from

the breast-works, and, while thus waiting for the main body to come up,

was several times attacked by small parties of Indians, who sallied out,

raised the war-whoop, and then retreated within the works. The hill upon

the right swarmed with savages, and Sullivan ordered Poor to sweep it

with his brigade. He immediately commenced the ascent, and the action

became warm His progress was bravely disputed for two hours, when the

enemy slowly gave way. They darted from tree to tree as they yielded

inch by inch; and from behind rocks, and bushes, and trees they galled

the Americans terribly with a scattering fire. Brant was at the head of

the savages, and Sir John Johnson, aided by the Butlers and Captain

M'Donald, one of

* Conewawah was upon the site of the present village of Elmira. The name

is an Iroquois word, signifying a head on a pole. It was beautifully

situated in-the midst of a fertile valley, and, at the time of the

invasion, was surrounded by fruitful orchards and broad fields of

flowering corn. The place became a white settlement, and was

incorporated by the name of Newtown in 1815, which was changed to Elmira

in 1825. There are no vestiges to be seen here of the battle of Chemung,

as the engagement that took plaee there is sometimes called. The spot

where Sullivan landed is a few rods below the "Sullivan Mill," which

stands upon the Conewawah or Newtown Creek, near its junction with the

Chemung. The works thrown up by Sullivan, and destroyed when he returned

from the Genesee country, were a little south of the mill.

** Explanation of the Plan.--The advanced guard, composed of light

infantry, one mile in advance, a a, flanking corps, b b, the main body.

Clinton's and Hand's brigades were on the right, and Poor's and

Maxwell's were on the left, c, Proctor's artillery and the pack horses.

The rifle corps composed a portion of the strong rear-guard.

*** General Edward Hand was a native of Leinster province, Ireland, and

was born at the close of 1744. His amiable disposition and urbanity of

manner endeared him to his men, and he maintained, throughout the war,

the unlimited confidence and respect of his superior officers. After the

war he was much engaged in civil offices of trust, and his name is

attached to the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1790. So highly did

Washington esteem him, that when, during Adams's administration, he

consented to take the chief command of the American army to be raised to

resist the threatened and actual aggressions of France, he desired the

appointment of General Hand as adjutant general. He died in 1803.

The Effect of the Artillery.--Retreat of the Enemy.--Destruction of

Catharlnestown and other Villages and Plantations.

275the Scotch refugees from Johnstown, commanded the Tories. It is

believed that Guy Johnson was also in the battle, but this is not

certainly known. They fought skillfully and courageously, and, but for

the artillery that was brought into play as speedily as possible, the

victory would doubtless have been on their side. The cannonade produced

a great panic among the Indians, yet their leader, who was seen at all

points, and in the hottest of the fight, kept them long from retreating.

Poor at length gained the summit of the ridge, outflanked the enemy, and

decided the fortunes of the day. Brant, perceiving that all was lost,

raised the loud, retreating cry, _Oonah! Oonah!_ and savages and Tories,

in great confusion, abandoned their works and fled across the river,

pursued by the victors. Thus ended the battle of Chemung. The force of

the enemy was estimated by Sullivan at fifteen hundred, including five

companies of British troops and Rangers. The Americans numbered between

four and five thousand, a considerable portion of whom were not brought

into action at all. Considering the length of time occupied in the

battle, and the numbers engaged, the loss was very inconsiderable. Only

five or six of the Americans were killed, and about fifty wounded. The

loss of the enemy was much greater. In their flight eight Indians were

slain and _scalped_ by their pursuers. Ay, _scalped!_ for the Americans

had been apt scholars in learning the Indian art of war that had been so

terribly taught them in Tryon county for three years.

Sullivan's army rested upon the battle-ground that night, and the next

morning pushed onward toward Catharinestown, an Indian settlement

northwest from Conewawah, and about three miles from the head of Seneca

Lake. The march was difficult and dangerous. The route lay through

narrow defiles and a deep valley traversed by a stream so sinuous that

they had to ford it several times, the water often waist high. At night

they bivouacked in a dark and tangled cedar swamp, without blankets or

food, and in continual fear of an enemy in ambush. * The whole army

reached Catharinestown in safety, and encamped before it on the 2d of

September. The people fled, and the next day the village and surrounding

corn-fields and orchards were destroyed.

The flying campaign, charged with destruction, had now fairly begun.

"The Indians shall see," said Sullivan, "that there is malice enough in

our hearts to destroy every thing that contributes to their support,"

and cruelly was that menace executed. The Indians fled before him like

frightened deer to cover, and the wail of desolation was heard

throughout their pleasant land, from the Susquehanna to the Genesee.

Village after village was laid waste, and fields and orchards were

desolated. Kendaia was swept from September 6, 1779 existence; (a) other

and smaller villages were annihilated; and on the 7th of September the

conquerors sat down before Kanadaseagea, the capital of the Senecas,

near the head of the beautiful lake of that name. Sixty indifferent

cabins, surrounded by fine orchards of apple, peach, and pear trees,

became a prey to the army. Not a roof was left to shelter the sorrowing

inhabitants on their return--not a fruit-tree to shade them or to give

them sustenance---not an ear of corn of all the abundance that lay

before the invaders when they approached, was saved from the devouring

flames.

While the chief portion of the army was engaged in this work,

detachments went out and wrought equal devastation elsewhere. Four

hundred men went down the west side of the lake and destroyed

Gotheseunquean, or Gaghsiungua, and the plantations around it, and

another party, under Colonel Harper, marched to Schoyere, near Cayuga

Lake, and utterly destroyed it and its fields of grain.

Taking breath at Kanadaseagea, the invaders marched on to Kanandaigua,

at the head of the little lake of that name, and in a few hours after

their arrival the "twenty-September 10three very elegant houses, mostly

framed, and, in general, large," ** with the extensive fields of corn

and beans, and orchards of heavily-laden fruit-trees, were destroyed.

* The enemy might have rallied upon the hills along this perilous route,

and greatly thinned, if not quite destroyed or captured, the invading

army. But, as Brant afterward said, they did not believe that Sullivan

would commence a march so soon over so bad a route; and the Indians were

so terrified by the cannons, and disheartened by the result of the

battle, that they could not be readily induced to attempt another.

** See General Sullivan's official account of this expedition.

Approach to Genesee.--Council of the Indian Villages.--A Battle.--

Capture and Torture of Lieutenant Boyd.

276Honeoye, or Anyeaya, a village lying in the path of the invading army

in its march toward the Valley of the Genesee, was next swept away, and

Sullivan prepared to desolate the broad valley in whose bosom nestled

the great capital of the Western tribes, and the most important of all

the Indian settlements.

Thus far the enemy had fled in terror before the invading army, and the

villages of the Indians were destroyed without an effort being made to

defend them. The beautiful Valley of the Genesee, the earthly paradise

of the Six Nations, was now menaced. A council of the villages of the

plain was held, and they resolved to turn and strike another blow in

defense of their homes. Their women and children were removed to the

deep shelter of the forest, and the warriors prepared for battle upon a

plain between Honeyoe and the head of Connissius Lake, now known as

Henderson's Flats. There they waited in ambush the approach of

Sullivan's army, and rose upon the advanced guard with the desperation

of wounded panthers. The battle was short, the savages were routed, and

all that they had gained was the capture of two Oneida chiefs. *

On the 12th, Kanaghsaws and its plantations were laid in ashes. Here the

progress of the army was temporarily checked by a deep stream, which it

was necessary to bridge in order to pass over with the baggage and

stores. Before them lay the village of Little Beard's Town, and, while

the army was delayed in constructing a bridge, Lieutenant Boyd, of the

rifle corps, with a detachment of twenty-six men, went to reconnoiter

the town. He found it deserted, except by two Indians, whom he killed

and scalped. Returning, his route lay near the party who had captured

the two Oneidas. One of them, as we have seen, was killed, the other was

spared for torture. He broke loose from his captors, and fled in the

direction of Sullivan's camp. Many Indians started in pursuit, and these

were joined by Brant and a large body of warriors, who had lain in

ambush to cut off Boyd on his return. September 13, 1779 The pursuing

Indians came upon Boyd and his party. Surrounded by overwhelming

numbers, he saw no way to escape but by cutting his way through the

fierce circle. Three times he made the attempt; almost all his men were

killed, and himself and a soldier named Parker were made prisoners and

carried in triumph to Little Beard's Town. ** Brant treated them

humanely, but, having business elsewhere, the chief left them in the

custody of Colonel John Butler, who, with his Rangers, was there. The

unfeeling Tory handed them over to the tender mercies of the Indians. By

them Boyd was tortured in the most cruel manner, and then beheaded.

Parker was beheaded without being tortured. Among the few who escaped

was Timothy Murphy, the slayer of Fraser at Bemis's Heights. The

Americans found the bodies of the two victims at Little Beard's Town,

and buried them upon the bank of Little Beard's Creek, under a clump of

wild plum-trees on the road now running from Moscow to Genesee.

The Tories and Indians now held another council, and it was concluded

that further attempts to oppose such an army as Sullivan's was futile.

They therefore resolved to leave their beautiful country; and their

women and children were hurried off toward Niagara,

* One of these was General Sullivan's guide, and had rendered the

Americans very important services. He had an elder brother engaged with

the enemy, and here they met for the first time since their separation

at the Oneida Castle. Fierce was the anger of the elder chief when he

recognized his brother in the prisoner. Approaching him with violent

gestures, he said, "Brother! you have merited death! The hatchet or the

war-club shall finish your career!" He then reproached him for aiding

the rebellion, for driving the Indians from their fields, and for

butchering their children. "No crime can be greater," he said. "But

though you have merited death, and shall die on this spot, my hands

shall not be stained with the blood of a brother! Who will strike?"

Instantly a hatchet gleamed in the hand of Little Beard, the sachem of a

village near by, * and the next moment the young Oneida was dead at the

feet of his brother.--See Campbell's Annals.

** Han Yerry, an Oneida sachem, was with Lieutenant Boyd, serving him as

guide. He fought with signal courage. The Indians knew him, and, several

springing upon him, he was literally hacked in pieces by their hatchets.

Han Yerry lived at Oriskany at the time of the battle there, and joined

the Americans. He was a powerful man, and did great execution. For this

the Indians defeated in that battle entertained toward him feelings of

the most implacable hatred.

* Little Beard's Town, now Leicester, in Livingston county.

Destruction of Genesee and the surrounding Country.--Picture of the

Desolation.--Name given to Washington.--Corn Planter.

277while the warriors hovered around the conquering army, to watch its

movements and strike a blow if opportunity should occur.