Chapter IV (2)

General Van Rensselaer was now close in pursuit of Sir John, with a strong force. Indeed, he ought to have overtaken him in the early part of the day, since he had encamped the night before on the south side of the river, at Van Eps's, nearly opposite Caughnawaga, while Sir John himself was encamped opposite the Nose, only two or three miles farther up the river. Sir John's troops, moreover, were exhausted by forced marches, active service, and heavy knapsacks, while those of Van Rensselaer were fresh in the field. On the morning of the same day, while continuing his march on the south side of the river, Van Rensselaer was joined by Captain McKean, with some eighty volunteers, together with a strong body of Oneida warriors, led by their principal chief, Louis Atayataronghta, who, as stated in a former chapter, had been commissioned a lieutenant colonel by Congress. With these additions, the command of General Van Rensselaer numbered about fifteen hundred--a force in every way superior to that of the enemy.

Sir John had stationed a guard of forty men at the ford, to dispute its passage. On approaching this point, General Van Rensselaer halted, and did not again advance until the guard, of the enemy had been withdrawn. Continuing his march still upon the South side of the river, while the enemy was actively engaged in the work of death and destruction on the North, Van Rensselaer arrived opposite the battle-ground where Brown had fallen, before the firing had ceased, and while the savage war-whoop was yet resounding. This was at 11 o'clock in the morning, and the Americans, came to a halt, about three miles below Caroga Creek, still on the south side. While there, some of the fugitives from Colonel Brown's regiment came running down, and jumping into the river, forded it without difficulty. As they came to the south bank, the General inquired whence they came. One of them, a militia officer named Van Allen, replied that they had escaped from Brown's battle. "How has it gone?" "Colonel Brown is killed, with many of his men. Are you not going there?" "I am not acquainted with the fording place," said the General. He was answered that there was no difficulty in the case. The General then inquired of Van Allen if he would return as a pilot, and the reply was promptly in the affirmative. Hereupon Captain McKean and the Oneida chief led their respective commands through the river to the north side, expecting the main army immediately to follow. At this moment Colonel Dubois, of the State levies, rode up to the General, who immediately mounted his horse, and instead of crossing the river, accompanied the Colonel to Fort Plain, some distance above, to dinner as it was understood. Meantime the baggage wagons were driven into the river, to serve in part as a bridge for the main body of Van Rensselaer's forces, and they commenced crossing the stream in single files. The passage in this way was not effected until four o'clock in the afternoon, at which time the General returned and joined them, just as the last man had crossed over. Governor Clinton remained at the fort. As the General arrived at the water's edge, Colonel Louis, as the Oneida chieftain was called, shook his sword at him, and denounced him as a Tory. Arrived on the north side, Colonel William Harper took the liberty of remonstrating with the General at what he conceived to be a great and unnecessary delay, attended with a needless loss of life and property, on the part of the inhabitants who had been suffered thus long to remain unprotected. From that moment Van Rensselaer moved with due expedition. The troops were set in motion, and marched in regular order, in three divisions, with the exception of the Oneida warriors and the volunteers under McKean, who regulated their own movements as they pleased--showing no disposition, however, to lag behind. The advance was led by Colonel Morgan Lewis.

Anticipating that he should be compelled to receive an attack, Sir John had made his dispositions accordingly. His regular troops, Butler's rangers, and the Tories less regularly organized, were posted on a small alluvial plain, partly encompassed by a sweeping bend of the river. A slight breast-work had been hastily thrown across the neck of the little peninsula thus formed, for the protection of his troops, and the Indians, under Thayendanegea, were secreted among the thick shrub oaks covering the table-land of a few feet elevation, yet farther north. A detachment of German Yagers supported the Indians. [FN]

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[FN] These Yagers were a sort of rifle corps--using short rifles.

It was near the close of the day when Van Rensselaer arrived, and the battle was immediately commenced in the open field. Two of the advancing divisions of State troops, forming the left, were directed against the regular forces of Sir John on the flats, commencing their firing from a great distance with small arms only--the field-pieces not having been taken across the river. Colonel Dubois commanded the extreme right, which was so far extended that he had no enemies to encounter. Next to him were McKean's volunteers and the Oneida Indians, whose duty it was to attack Thayendanegea's Indians and the Yagers. These were supported by a small corps of infantry, commanded by Colonel Morgan Lewis. The American left was commanded by Colonel Cuyler of Albany. Sir John's right was formed of a company of regular troops. His own regiment of Greens composed the centre, its left resting upon the ambuscaded Indians. The latter first sounded the war-whoop, which was promptly answered by the Oneidas. Both parties eagerly rushed forward, and the attack, for the instant, was mutually impetuous. Dubois, though too far extended, brought his regiment speedily to the support of McKean's volunteers, who were following up the attack of the Oneidas. The hostile Indians manifested a disposition to stand for a few moments; but Dubois had no sooner charged closely upon them, than they fled with precipitation to the fording place near the upper Indian Castle, about two miles above--crossing the road in their flight, and throwing themselves in the rear of the Greens as a cover. The Mohawk chief was wounded in the heel, but not so badly as to prevent his escape.

The enemy's regular troops and rangers, however, fought with spirit, although Sir John himself was reported by some to have fled with the Indians. [FN] On the flight of the Indians, Major Van Benschoten, of Dubois's regiment, hastened to the General for permission to pursue the flying enemy. It was just twilight; and the indications were not to be mistaken, that the best portion of the enemy's forces were in confusion, and on the point of being conquered. The disappointment was therefore great, when, instead of allowing a pursuit of the Indians, or charging upon the feeble breast-work on the flats, and thus finishing the battle, General Van Rensselaer ordered his forces to retire for the night. His object was to obtain a better position for a bivouac, and to renew and complete the battle in the morning--for which purpose he fell back nearly three miles, to Fox's Fort. His troops were not only disappointed, but highly incensed at this order, believing that the contest might have been victoriously ended in a very few minutes. Indeed, the brave Colonel Louis, of the Oneidas, together with Colonel Clyde and Captain McKean, refused to retreat, but sheltered themselves in the adjacent buildings--hanging upon the enemy's lines several hours, and making some prisoners. In the course of the evening Clyde, with a handful of Schoharie militia, succeeded in capturing one of the enemy's field-pieces. The Americans were still more chagrined on learning from one of the prisoners that the troops of Sir John were on the point of capitulating at the very moment of Van Rensselaer's order to retreat. And from the fact that the river was alike too rapid and too deep, where it curved round the battle-field, to admit of an escape in that direction, no doubt can be entertained that the enemy had been entirely within their power. But it was now too late. The golden opportunity had been lost. On the morrow's dawn there was no enemy in the field to encounter. Under cover of darkness the Royal Greens and Butler's Rangers had followed the example of the Indians, and made good their escape.

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[FN] Major Thomas Sammons, from whose manuscripts the author has chiefly drawn the facts of this portion of the narrative--i. e. after the arrival of Gen. Van Rensselaer at Van Eps's--is positive in his declarations, that the British Commander was among the first to flee. Other accounts speak differently. Major Sammons was in the battle, among the volunteers of McKean.

Louis with his warriors, and McKean with his volunteers, crossed the river early in the morning, in pursuit. General Von Rensselaer also arrived on the battle-ground between 8 and 9 o'clock, for the purpose of completing the work of the preceding day. While he was crossing the river and preparing to follow on, some of McKean's volunteers, who were waiting for the main army, in strolling about, came upon a little block-house, in which they found nine of the enemy who had been made prisoners during the night; One of the party making the discovery was Thomas Sammons, and among the prisoners was a Tory who had been his near neighbor in Johnstown. On being asked how they came there, this man, whose name was Peter Cass, replied--"Why, I am ashamed to tell. Last night, after the battle, we crossed the river. It was dark. We heard the word, 'lay u down your arms.' Some of us did so. We were taken, nine of us, and marched into this little fort by seven militia-men. We formed the rear of three hundred of Johnson's Greens, who were running promiscuously through and over one another. I thought General Van Rensselaer's whole army was upon us. Why did you not take us prisoners yesterday, after Sir John ran off with the Indians and left us? We wanted to surrender."

When Sir John fled from the field with the Indians and Yagers, he doubtless supposed all was lost. He laid his course direct for the Onondaga lake, where his boats had been concealed, pursuing the main road, and making only a slight deviation to the south of the German Flats, to avoid the forts at that place. His Greens and Rangers followed closely upon his heels, and overtook him at Oneida. Van Rensselaer pressed forward in pursuit, with all his forces, as far as Fort Herkimer, where he was overtaken by Governor Clinton, who did not, however, interfere with the command. Louis and McKean were now pushed forward in advance, with orders to overtake the fugitive army if possible, and engage them--Van Rensselaer promising to continue his march with all possible rapidity, and be at hand to support them in the event of an engagement. On the next morning the advance struck the trail of Sir John, and took one of his Indians prisoner. Halting for a short time, Colonel Dubois came up, and urged them forward, repeating the assurances of the General's near approach and sure support. The march of the advance was then resumed, but they had not proceeded far before they came upon the enemy's deserted encampment--the fires yet burning. The Oneida chief now shook his head, and refused to proceed another step until General Van Rensselaer should make his appearance. There was accordingly a halt for some time, during which a Doctor Allen arrived from the main army, informing the officers that the pursuit had already been abandoned by the General, who was four miles distant on his return-march!

The expedition was of course at an end. But fortune had yet another favor in store for Sir John Johnson--to be won without the bloodshed that had attended his desolating course through the Mohawk Valley. Having ascertained where Sir John's boats were concealed, General Van Rensselaer had despatched an express to Fort Schuyler, ordering Captain Vrooman, with a strong detachment, to hasten forward in advance of the enemy, and destroy them. Vrooman lost no time in attempting the execution of his orders; but one of his men falling sick, or feigning himself to be so, at Oneida, was left behind. Sir John soon afterward came up; and being informed by the treacherous invalid of Vrooman's movement, Brant and his Indians, with a detachment of Butler's rangers, were hastened forward in pursuit They came suddenly upon Vrooman and his troops while they were engaged at dinner, and every man was captured without firing a gun. [FN]

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[FN] Major Sammons; also statement of John More, yet living, who was one of Sir John's soldiers. According to the official returns of Sir John Johnson, this affair of the capture of Captain Vrooman and his detachment took place on the 23d of October, at a place called Canaghsioraga. Two captains and one lieutenant were taken, together with eight non-commissioned officers and forty-five privates. Three privates and one lieutenant were killed.

The last obstacle to his escape having thus been removed, Sir John reached Oswego without farther molestation. By this third and most formidable irruption into the Mohawk country during the season, Sir John had completed its entire destruction above Schenectady--the principal settlement above the Little Falls having been sacked and burnt two years before. General Van Rensselaer has always been censured for his conduct in this expedition. Indeed his behavior was most extraordinary throughout. On the night before the battle of Klock's Field, Sir John was not more than six miles in advance--having left Van Eps's just before dark, where Van Rensselaer arrived and encamped early in the evening; and it was obvious to all that no extraordinary share of energy was required to bring the enemy to an engagement, even before the encounter with Colonel Brown. Major Sammons, at the close of his account of the expedition, remarks with emphasis--"When my father's buildings were burnt, and my brothers taken prisoners, the pain I felt was not as great as at the conduct of General Robert Van Rensselaer." [FN]

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[FN] "With regard to the battle on Klock's Farm, and the facts stated in those papers, I would say that I joined with Captain McKean as a volunteer, and met Gen. Van Rensselaer on the south side of the river, opposite Caughnawaga, early in the morning; and of my own knowledge I know moat of the facts to be as they are stated. I staid with the volunteers after the battle, and held the conversation with the prisoners found in the little block-house the next morning, as stated. I was with Capt. Kean when he had orders to advance and overtake Sir John, and a short time after saw Dr. Allen, who came to inform us that Van Rensselaer was re-turning. With regard to the route of Sir John, I received my account from those of his own party who are now living, and men of undoubted veracity."--_Note of Major Sammons_--1836.

But Sir John's escape, after all, was rather a flight than a retreat; and had it not been for the capture of Vrooman's detachment--a most unexpected conquest--the visible trophies of his expedition would have been few and dearly purchased. Indubitable evidences were discovered by the pursuers, that he was reduced to a most uncomfortable situation; and from the Baronet's own letter to General Haldimand, it appears that there were many missing, who it was hoped would find their way to Oswego or Niagara. General Haldimand wrote to his government that Sir John "had destroyed the settlements of Schoharie and Stone Arabia, and laid waste a great extent of country, which was most true." It was added:--"He had several engagements with the enemy, in which he came off victorious. In one of them, near Stone Arabia, he killed a Colonel Brown, a notorious and active rebel, with about one hundred officers and men. I cannot finish without expressing to your Lordship the perfect satisfaction which I have, from the zeal, spirit, and activity with which Sir John Johnson has conducted this arduous enterprise." [FN]

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[FN] Letter of Sir Frederick Haldimand to Lord George Germaine, New Annual Register 1781.

While General Van Rensselaer was pushing forward in pursuit of Sir John Johnson, an incident occurred at Fort Hunter, which speaks volumes in favor of the character of Joseph Brant. The plundered and distressed inhabitants of the Schoharie settlements, the day after the enemy had departed from Fort Hunter, crowded about the fort, each his tale of loss or grief to relate. Among them was a woman, whose husband and several other members of the family were missing. She was in an agony of grief, rendered more poignant by the loss of her infant, which had been snatched from the cradle. Early the next morning, while the officers at Van Rensselaer's head-quarters were at breakfast, a young Indian warrior came bounding into the room like a stag, bearing an infant in his arms, and also a letter from Brant, addressed "to the commanding officer of the rebel army." General Van Rensselaer not being present at the moment, the letter was opened by one of his suite, and read substantially 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 in the service, who are more savage than the savages themselves."

Among those thus referred to, he proceeded to name several of the leading Tories, including the two Butlers, and others whose names are not recollected. [FN-1] It was very speedily ascertained that the infant was none other than that of the disconsolate mother of whom mention has just been made. Her sensations on again clasping her infant to her bosom need not be described; nor could they be. [FN-2]

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[FN] The bitter hostility of the Tories of the Mohawk country toward their former neighbors, was at times exhibited in acts of such fiend-like ferocity as to defy explanation and stagger belief. In a former chapter the case of an infant murdered in its cradle by a Tory, after the refusal of an Indian to kill it, has been stated. There was another like instance in the neighborhood of the Little Falls, marked, if possible, by still greater brutality. An Indian having refused to kill an infant as it lay smiling in the cradle, the more savage loyalist, rebuking the compassion of the red man, thrust it through with his bayonet as a fisherman would spear a salmon, and held it writhing in its agonies in triumph above his head. A gentleman of the Bar, late of Little Falls, has assured the author, that to his knowledge the wretch who committed that diabolical act had the effrontery a few years since to present himself as a candidate for a pension, under one of the acts of Congress for rewarding the surviving soldiers of the revolution. The fact just related was fortunately elicited before his papers were completed, and the result need not be stated.

[FN-2] The author has received the account of this interesting occurrence from General Morgan Lewis, who was present at the time, a spectator of all the particulars.

There was yet another adventure connected with this expedition, which was alike interesting and amusing. The Senecas, it has already been stated, were led by the Corn-Planter, whose father, as it has also been stated, was a white man named O'Bail. According to Mary Jemison, the residence of the Corn-Planter's father was in the vicinity of Fort Plank, and, of course, not far from the battle-ground of Klock's Field. He had formerly been in the habit of traveling back and forth from Albany through the Seneca country, to Niagara, as a trader. Becoming enamored of a pretty squaw among the Senecas, in process of time the Corn-Planter became one of the living evidences of his affection. Whether the father was aware that a chief of so much eminence was his own son, history does not tell; but the son was ignorant neither of his parentage, nor of the residence of his sire; and being now in his close vicinity, he took a novel method of bringing about an acquaintance with him. Repairing with a detachment of his warriors to his father's house, he made the old man a prisoner, and marched him off. Having proceeded ten or twelve miles, the chief stepped up before his sire, and addressed him in the following terms:--

"My name is John O'Bail, commonly called Corn-Planter. I am your son! You are my father! You are now my prisoner, and subject to the customs of Indian warfare. But you shall not be harmed. You need not fear. I am a warrior! Many are the scalps which I have taken! Many prisoners I have tortured to death! I am your son! I am a warrior! I was anxious to see you, and to greet you in friendship. I went to your cabin, and took you by force; but your life shall be spared. Indians love their friends and their kindred, and treat them with kindness. If now you choose to follow the fortunes, of your yellow son, and to live with our people, I will cherish your old age with plenty of venison, and you shall live easy. But if it is your choice to return to your fields, and live with your white children, I will send a party of my trusty young men to conduct you back in safety. I respect you, my father. You have been friendly to Indians; they are your friends." [FN]

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[FN] Life of Mary Jemison. In a letter written by Corn-Planter to the Governor of Pennsylvania, in 1822, complaining of an attempt made by the officers of that State to impose taxes upon him and the Senecas residing on the Allegheny, he began as follows:--"When I was a child, I played with the butterfly, the grasshopper, and the frogs. As I grew up, I began to pay some attention, and play with the Indian boys in the neighborhood, and they took notice of my skin being a different color from theirs, and spoke about it. I inquired of my mother the cause, and she told me that my father was a resident of Albany. I ate still my victuals out of a bark dish: I grew up to be a young man, and married me a wife, but I had no kettle or gun. I then knew where my father lived, and went to see him, and found he was a white man, and spoke the English language. He gave me victuals while I was at his house, but when I started to return home, he gave me no provision to eat on the way. He gave me neither kettle nor gun, neither did he tell me that the United States were about to rebel against the government of England," &c., &c. By this statement it appears that he must have seen his father several years before the Mohawk campaign. This may very well have been, and yet the anecdote related by Mary Jemison be true also. In every instance in which the author has had an opportunity of testing the correctness of her statements by other authorities, they have proved to be remarkably correct. Corn-Planter lived to a great age, having deceased within the last eight or ten years. He was an able man--distinguished in subsequent negotiations. He was eloquent, and a great advocate for Temperance. He made a very effective and characteristic speech upon that subject in 1822. "The Great Spirit first made the world, and next the flying animals, and found all things good and prosperous. He is immortal and everlasting. After finishing the flying animals, he came down on earth, and there stood. Then he made different kinds of trees, and woods of all sorts, and people of every kind. He made the Spring, and other seasons, and the weather suitable for planting. These he did make. But stills to make whiskey to give to Indians, he did not make. . . . The Great Spirit told us there were three things for people to attend to. First, we ought to take care of our wives and children. Secondly, the white people ought to attend to their farms and cattle. Thirdly, the Great Spirit has given the bears and deers to the Indians. . . . The Great Spirit has ordered me to quit drinking. He wishes me to inform the people that they should quit drinking intoxicating drink." In the course of the same speech, he gave evidence that he was not overmuch pleased with the admixture of his own blood. . . . "The different kinds the Great Spirit made separate, and not to mix with and disturb each other. But the white people have broken this command, by mixing their color with the Indians. The Indians have done better by not doing so."

The old gentleman, however, had sown his wild oats. His days of romance were over. Preferring, therefore, the produce of his own fields, the company of his white children, and the comforts of his own house, to the venison, the freedom, and the forests of the western wilds, he chose to return. His son, fulfilling his word, bowed to the election, and giving his father in charge to a suitable escort, he was enabled to reach his own dwelling in safety. The proud Seneca and his warriors moved off to their own wilds.

Simultaneously with the movements of Sir John Johnson through the Schoharie and Mohawk country, the enemy had been actively engaged against the settlements at the North of Albany, between the Hudson and Lake Champlain, and likewise against some of the upper settlements on the Connecticut river. In order to create a diversion in favor of Sir John, Major Carleton came up the lake from St. John's, with a fleet of eight large vessels and twenty-six flat-bottomed boats, containing upward of one thousand men, regular troops, loyalists and Indians. Fort George and Fort Anne were both taken by surprise, and their garrisons, which were not large, were surrendered prisoners of war. [FN-1] The party directed against the upper settlements of the Connecticut river, was commanded by Major Haughton of the 53d regiment, and consisted almost entirely of Indians, of whom there were two hundred. This marauding incursion was likewise successful. In addition to the booty taken, thirty-two of the inhabitants were carried away prisoners. Several of the militia, who turned out in pursuit of Major Haughton, were killed. In regard to Major Carleton's expedition, sad tales of cruelty were reported. One of these was a relation, by a deserter named Van Deusen, of a horrible case of torture inflicted upon a soldier of Colonel Warner's regiment, taken by Carleton in the action near Fort George. Van Deusen was a deserter from the American army to the enemy; but having stolen back into his own country, was apprehended and executed. Colonel Gansevoort, however, then in command at the North, wrote to Major Carleton upon the subject on the 2d of November, stating the particulars of the story. Carleton repelled the charge in the most positive and earnest manner, as will presently appear. [FN-2]

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[FN-1] Forts Anne and George were taken by Major Carleton on the 10th and 11th of October. In his official report, Major Carleton stated his own loss, on both occasions, at four officers and twenty-three privates killed. The number of prisoners taken is stated at two captains, two lieutenants, and one hundred and fourteen privates.

[FN-2] Speaking of Carleton's expedition, Sir Frederick Haldimand, in a letter to Lord George Germaine, observes:--"The reports assiduously published on all occasions by the enemy, of cruelties committed by the Indians, are notoriously false, and propagated merely to exasperate the ignorant and deluded people. In this late instance Major Carleton informs me, they behaved with the greatest moderation, and did not strip, or in any respect ill use, their prisoners." Sir John Johnson had less control over _his_ Indians at Schoharie.

The correspondence between Gansevoort and Carleton, however, was not confined to this particular transaction. Indeed, that was altogether an incidental affair, and the correspondence with Carleton himself was also incidental, being part only of a more extended negotiation with other and higher officers of the British army in Canada, the object of which was the settlement of a cartel for an extensive exchange of prisoners at the North. The story will be best told by the introduction of a portion of the correspondence itself, while at the same time several other points will receive satisfactory illustration.

"General Powell to Colonel Van Schaick.

"_St. John's, Sept._ 22_d,_ 1780.

"Sir,

"Agreeable to the promise made in my letter of the 15th of last March, I send by your returning flag of truce, Mrs. Campbell, Mrs. Moore, and their families, together with Matthew Cannon, and five others, made prisoners by the Indians on the Mohawk river, whose advanced time of life and earnest solicitations to return to their families, have induced General Haldimand to grant them that permission; [FN] as also Mr. Williams of Detroit, who desires to go to his relatives; and Mary and Betsey Lewis, who beg to go to their father near Albany. His Excellency is sorry that the breach of faith on the part of the colonists, in the cartel of the Cedars, has put it out of his power to enter upon an exchange of prisoners, and, notwithstanding their repeated attempts to escape, many throughout the province are enlarged upon their parole. They have all a plentiful allowance of wholesome provisions, and those whom it is thought necessary to keep in confinement, are accommodated in the most comfortable manner circumstances will admit off. They have, besides, received money to the amount of the within accounts; and if this last indulgence is to be continued, it is but reasonable it should be remitted in coin; to which I am to desire your attention, as very heavy bills are every day presented from our troops who are prisoners in the colonies."

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[FN] The prisoners above-mentioned, it will be recollected, were taken at Cherry Valley in 1778. See Mrs. Campbell's Narrative, sketched in Vol. I.

"The attention which has been shown to Mrs. Campbell, and those in her unfortunate circumstances, as well as the good treatment of the prisoners, which it is hoped they will have the candor to acknowledge, is referred to for comparison, to those by whose orders or permission His Majesty's subjects have experienced execution, the horrors of a dungeon, loaded with irons, and the miseries of want.

"The families specified in the enclosed list have been long in expectation, and many of them promised permission, to join their husbands and relatives in this province; it is therefore requested they may be sent to your advanced post on the Skenesborough communication, and a flag of truce shall be sent from hence, in the course of three weeks, in order to receive them.

"I am, Sir,
Your most obedient,
Humble servant,
H. Watson Powell,
_Brigadier General_

"_To Colonel Van Schaick._"

"Colonel Gansevoort to General Powell.

"_Saratoga, Nov._ 2_d,_ 1780.

"Sir,

"Your letter of 22d September last, directed to Colonel Van Schaick, it becomes my duty to answer, as commanding this department until the arrival of General McDougall, who is daily expected. [FN] The prisoners whom you noticed, I am informed, have taken the route to Albany, through Bennington."

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[FN] This reference to the expected arrival of General McDougall was not exactly true, and was made as a _ruse de guerre_ to mislead the British General as to the strength of the Northern Department. The truth was, that Colonel Gansevoort was so weak in point of troops, that he was apprehensive of a second visitation from St. John's should Powell and Carleton obtain information of his actual means of resistance. Hence he threw in the name of McDougall, in order to create an impression at St. Johns that there was at least a General's command of troops at Saratoga. Colonel Gansevoort wrote to General Washington upon the subject, and gave this explanation for the deception he had practised in his letter to General Powell. There was, indeed, good cause for apprehension at that time. After Carleton had captured forts George and Anne, and returned down the lakes to St John's, he had suddenly returned with reinforcements. The leaders in Vermont were also at the same time holding a correspondence with the British Commanders in Canada, of which semi-treasonable conduct Ethan Allen himself was at the head, as will appear hereafter. General Schuyler had obtained some knowledge upon the subject, which he lost no time in communicating to the Commander-in-chief. The consequence was, the ordering of several regiments to the North, and the appointment of General James Clinton to the command of the Department at Albany.--_Washington's Letters--Sparks._

"The families specified in your list, whom I believe to be all in the vicinity of this place, were to have been sent to the British shipping in Lake Champlain in the beginning of last month. Major Carleton's incursion prevented their being forwarded then, and as all the batteaux in Lake George were carried off by that gentleman, it may have been impracticable to send them on since, if even it had been proper, while he remained at Ticonderoga and Crown Point. I have written Major Carleton, and requested him to send batteaux to Fort Anne or Fort George, if he can, for their conveyance. As soon as I am advised of his determination, the necessary measures will be taken. The accounts of cash advanced to the prisoners in Canada, I shall do myself the honor to transmit to his Excellency, General Washington."

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[FN] The following is the list referred to, as enclosed by General Powell, viz:--"Names of the different families belonging to the following men of the 84th Regt. residing at Saratoga: John McDonell's family; Donald McGrewer's family; Duncan McDonell's family; John McIntosh's ditto; Duncan McDonell's ditto; Donald McDonald's ditto; Kenneth McDonell's ditto; John McDonell's father and mother."

"It affords me great satisfaction to learn that the British have at length found it prudent to follow the generous example exhibited to them by the Americans, in the mild treatment with which the prisoners in the power of the latter have been invariably indulged during the war.

"It is, however, a justice due to General Carleton and his successors to declare that, from all accounts, the prisoners immediately in their power have been treated with much leniency.

"But you, Sir, suppose that British subjects in our possession have experienced executions, the horrors of a dungeon, loaded with irons, and the miseries of want. It is true some spies have been executed, and amongst these Major Andre, Adjutant General of the British army under the command of Sir Henry Clinton. And even his death, although justice required it, and the laws of nations authorised it, was and is lamented by us with a feeling of generosity which does honor to human nature. None have experienced the horrors of a dungeon, or been loaded with irons, excepting a few on whom it was thought proper to retaliate for the many, the very many, indeed, of ours, whom British cruelty and inhumanity could suffer to perish for want in dungeons and prison-ships, loaded with irons and with insults. If you are ignorant of these facts, I can excuse your observations. If not, give me leave to tell you they are unworthy the gentleman and the officer, and evince a degree of disingenuousness unbecoming either.

"If General Haldimand considers the governing powers or these States to have been guilty of a breach of faith with regard to the cartel of the Cedars, he ought to apply to them in regard to that matter. Barely to mention it to a subordinate officer, was indelicate and improper. But as you have ventured to accuse, I will venture to deny the justice of the charge; and, as far as my memory of that transaction serves, I think I can do it with propriety." [FN]

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[FN] The maxim of Colonel Gansevoort was, "his country, right or wrong." He would have found it a difficult undertaking, however, to justify the course adopted by Congress touching the cartel agreed upon by General Arnold at the Cedars. Indeed, the violation of the stipulations made on that occasion, had created difficulties in regard to exchanges of prisoners during the whole war. It wan frequently a source of embarrassment, and even of mortification, to General Washington, during the course of nearly the whole war.

"The newspapers announce that a general exchange of prisoners is settled below. Whether it extends to Canada, is not specified.

"I am, Sir,
Your most obedient,
Humble servant,
Peter Gansevoort,
_Col._3_d N. Y. Reg't._

"_To Brigadier General Powell._"

"Colonel Gansevoort to Major Carleton.

"_Saratoga, Nov._ 26, 1780

"Sir,

"This will be delivered you by Major Rosecrantz, of my regiment, who, together with the persons named in my pass of this day's date, goes as a flag to carry the letters he is charged with, and to return with your answer.

"General Powell's letter of the 22d September last, Captain Monsell's of the 19th, and your's of the 24th ultimo, were delivered me about noon to-day.

"I have left the letter for General Powell under flying seal for your perusal, that you may learn my determination respecting the families he requested to have sent. Should you conclude to send batteaux for them, they must come as far as Fort Anne, as the roads to Skenesborough are impassable for carriages, or to the farther end of Lake George, which would be much easier for the women and children. Their number amounts to nearly three hundred; and I believe ten batteaux will be necessary to carry them all at once. You will please to give directions to the officer whom you may send with your flag, to pass his receipt for the number of men, women, and children which shall be delivered. Pray advise me on what day you think the batteaux will arrive at the place you may intend to send them, that I may so arrange matters as to cause the least delay.

"A certain James Van Deusen, who deserted from our service to you, and who, since you were on this side the lake, has stolen back into the country, has been apprehended, and will suffer death as a deserter. He confesses that after the rencontre near Fort George, with some of Colonel Warner's men and your party, in which one of our Indians was killed, your Indians, in cool blood, scalped one of Warner's men alive, tormented him a considerable time, and afterward cut his throat--and all this in your presence. Your character, Sir, suffers greatly on this account. It has hitherto been marked by conduct the reverse of this sad catastrophe; and men of honor are unwilling to believe Van Deusen. I wish you to explain yourself to me on the subject.

"I am, Sir,
Your most obedient and
Humble servant,
Peter Gansevoort,
_Col._ 3d _N. Y. Reg't._

"_Major Carleton_"

"Major Carleton to Colonel Gansevoort.

"_Mile Bay, Nov._ 6_th._ 1780.

"Sir,

"By your flag I have this moment received your letter of the 2d instant, with one directed to Brigadier General Powell. Respecting the families intended to be sent in, I answer to both. Being entirely ignorant of the purport of Brigadier Powell's letter to you on the subject, and having no instructions from General Haldimand respecting that business, I can only say that such persons as are specified in the Brigadier's list will be received, provided the number of boats mentioned in my postscript can contain them. Should there be room to spare, the names contained in the enclosed list, or as many of them as can be taken on board, will be received. My boats shall be at Skenesborough on the 9th, where they shall remain till the 14th at night, and then return to me, as I could not take upon me the risk of their being frozen up there.

"I should have expected Captain Chapman would hare given a flat contradiction to James Van Deusen's confession. No prisoner was scalped, or tortured alive. I saved the lives of several of the prisoners, who were neither stripped nor insulted in the smallest degree after the affair was over. I heard of one man being killed after he was taken during the firing, owing to a dispute between the two Indians, of different villages, who had taken him. He was either a Negro or a Stockbridge Indian I believe, and he would not suffer himself to be conducted to the British guard by a loyalist officer. The attention of the officer was necessarily directed to the care of his own men; and after the action I heard of the man being killed.

"I am, Sir,
Your most obedient, and
Most humble servant,
Chr. Carleton,
_Major_ 29_th Reg't._

"_Colonel Gansevoort._

"P. S. There being no idea of this business, the shipping went down some days ago. I find it will not be in my power to furnish more than five boats. Could not the boat I gave to carry up the last families, be sent down with these?" [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] These letters are contained among the Gansevoort papers, and have been copied from the originals by the author. The same papers, together with a letter from General Haldimand to Lord George Germaine, are likewise the author's authorities for the brief sketch of the expeditions of Carleton and Major Haughton.

No farther outrages were committed on the northern and western frontiers during that Autumn. The next information received of Brant and his associates, was brought to Fort Schuyler by a family of Oneidas who had been released from Niagara. They arrived at the Fort on the 6th of December. Colonel Weisenfeldts, then in command, caused the head Indian of the party, whose name was Jacob Reed, to be examined; and the whole examination was transmitted, as taken down by question and answer, to General Clinton. From this statement it appeared that Joseph Brant, Colonel Butler, and Colonel Guy Johnson, were then in their old winter-quarters at Niagara. Of the Oneida warriors only thirty-seven had been persuaded to join the royal cause; one of whom had been killed, and five others had returned with Reed. The forces at Niagara at this time were stated to be sixty British regulars, commanded by a captain; four hundred loyalists commanded by Colonel Butler, and twelve hundred Indians (including women and children,) commanded by Brant and Guy Johnson. One of the objects of the late expedition to the Mohawk was stated by Reed to be the destruction of Schenectady; but as they had not penetrated so far, Brant and Johnson were meditating another campaign. The prisoners taken from Stone Arabia, after reaching Niagara, had been shipped for Buck Island in the river St. Lawrence; but from the long absence of the vessel, and the fragments of a wreck, drums, furniture, &c., which had been washed ashore, it was believed that she had been lost, and that all on board had perished. Reed farther stated, that as soon as the snow was hard, Brant, with five or six hundred warriors, was coming to the Oneida country, in order to keep within a convenient distance for sending scouts down the Mohawk. One of their objects was to be at all times prepared for cutting off the supplies proceeding for the garrison of Fort Schuyler. The Indians at Niagara, according to Reed's account, were well provided with every thing they could desire. [FN-1] But it was far otherwise with Fort Schuyler at this time. The letters of General Schuyler were full of complaints, not only of the difficulty of procuring provisions, but also of forwarding them to the outposts. In one of his letters, written at that period, he said there was not flour enough in Fort Schuyler to suffice for a single day's consumption. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] General Clinton's Manuscripts.

[FN-2] MSS. of General Schuyler.

Thus ended the Indian campaigns of the North for the year 1780. There were, indeed, other petty occurrences on the outskirts, alarms, and now and then a few shots exchanged with a straggling Indian or Tory scout. But no other occurrence of importance within the range of the present history, marked the winter then closely advancing. And never did winter spread his mantle over a scene of greater desolation than lay beneath it in the Valley of the Mohawk.