Chapter VIII (2)

At the time of Herkimer's approach, St. Leger was but poorly prepared for an engagement. The garrison and the relief column together were equal in number to St. Leger's total force. The passage of the creek had been so completely blocked that 110 men were nine days in freeing it from obstruction. To get his artillery and stores forward, St. Leger was obliged to clear a path or roadway sixteen miles in length. He had but 250 soldiers on duty at the camp when the news reached him that the Americans were advancing. From these he could spare but 80 men to co-operate with 400 Indians in an ambuscade which was prepared for Herkimer. Sir John Johnson commanded 50 of these, and was posted, for the purpose of checking the column, on the road over which the Americans were advancing. It was intended that the Indians and a small party of rangers under Colonel Butler, who concealed themselves in the woods by the sides of the road, should, when Sir John had performed his part of the work, pour in their fire from all sides. At ten o'clock on the morning of the 6th, the approach of the unsuspecting and undisciplined American troops, with their wagons, was heard by the Tories and Indians in their place of concealment. The presence of the enemy was first revealed to the Americans by a volley from the impetuous Indians, who could not restrain themselves long enough for the perfect development of the plan, but opened fire before the head of the column had reached Sir John Johnson's post, and before the rear guard, with the wagons, had completely entered the fatal circle. Had the regiment which composed the rear guard been made up of men accustomed to warfare, they might even then have done good service in behalf of the surprised column. Unfortunately, those who could get away fled, leaving their companions to their fate. The returns show that even this regiment suffered severely in the engagement. A desultory combat followed, in which each of the entrapped Americans fought for himself, taking advantage of whatever opportunities offered for defence. The remnant of the surprised and disordered troops, thus brought to bay, proved formidable opponents, and punished severely the Indians, who bore the brunt of the fighting. Quite early in the action several of the American officers were killed or wounded. General Herkimer was shot through the leg, and his horse was killed. The saddle was removed from the animal and placed at the foot of a tree. Upon this the disabled general was seated by his men, and by his coolness and indifference to suffering and to danger won their respect. A heavy shower, which interrupted the progress of the battle, afforded opportunity for the Americans to arrange for co-operation. After the shower was over, the contest was renewed, and, according to the American accounts, fresh troops from the English camp participated. Local annals are filled with tales of feats of valor and vindictiveness which characterized this portion of the combat. At length the Indians, wearied with the protracted contest, and disheartened by the loss of several of their warriors, left the field. The English troops closely followed them. A diversion made by the garrison probably hastened the retreat. During this action the American loss was, according to their own accounts, about two hundred killed and nearly as many wounded and prisoners. The British loss was stated by themselves to have been not over six killed and four wounded. From the same source we learn that the Indians lost thirty-three killed and about as many wounded.

NOTE.—The above cut of a brass emblem worn by Butler's men follows one in Simms's _Frontiersmen of New York_, ii. 68, drawn from a sample ploughed up in Otsego County;—ED.]

After the shower which checked the battle at Oriskany was over, Colonel Willett, at the head of two hundred and fifty men, with a three-pound carronade, sallied forth from the fort. The camp was almost entirely unprotected. Lieutenant Bird, who was in charge of the portion which Willett attacked, had received information that Sir John Johnson needed succor, and had abandoned his post and marched towards Oriskany. Colonel Willett penetrated the camp, secured a large quantity of guns, ammunition, Indian weapons, blankets, etc., captured nearly all the books and papers of the expedition, evaded an attempt on the part of St. Leger to cut off his retreat, and safely effected his return to the fort with all his plunder, without losing a man.[1305] The Indians, before going out to fight, had stripped themselves nearly naked. On their return to camp they found neither clothing, tents, nor blankets. Thus ended the day. The relief party under Herkimer was shattered. The fort was still besieged, and the besiegers had now opportunity to open their communications; but their camp had been rifled, and their Indian allies, discouraged by their losses, had no further interest in the siege, and began to think of home. St. Leger sought to secure a capitulation on the ground of the defeat of Herkimer, and caused the captured militia to write accounts setting forth the strength of his force and the excellence of his artillery; but Gansevoort was firm. The argument that the English would be unable to restrain the Indians from barbarities if the siege were protracted was also spurned by the garrison. Failing in this direct attempt upon their fears, an effort was made to reach them through the people of the county. A proclamation was put forth by Sir John Johnson, D. W. Claus, and John Butler as superintendents. This also was of no effect. It being desirable to communicate with Albany, Colonel Willett and Major Stockwell penetrated through the enemy's camp by night, and proceeded on foot through the woods to Fort Dayton. From that point Colonel Willett went to Albany. He found that General Arnold had already been ordered to relieve the fort. The siege, notwithstanding the fact that the artillery was of little avail, was continued until the 23d of August. The garrison, ignorant of the fate of Colonel Willett and Major Stockwell, were in grave doubts as to how long they could hold out. On the 23d, the enemy suddenly abandoned their camp, leaving a great quantity of material behind. The retreat was precipitated by false intelligence which Arnold caused to be conveyed to the English camp. St. Leger evidently suspected the ruse, but was unable to prevent its effects.

The gallant Herkimer did not long survive the battle. A simple, unlettered man, without experience in leading troops, he paid the penalty of his mistakes at Oriskany with his life. His intrepidity during the action and the coolness with which he faced death convinced his followers of his dauntless courage, and his loss was deeply felt.

The Indians, in their resentment for the severe losses with which they had met, murdered several of the American prisoners. They also burned one of the Oneida settlements, destroyed the crops, and killed or drove away the cattle belonging to the village. Colonel Butler, in his report to Sir Guy Carleton concerning affairs at Fort Stanwix, coolly says, "Many of the latter [prisoners] were, conformable to the Indian custom, afterwards killed." On the retreat the Indians became uncontrollable, and robbed the English officers. In the words of St. Leger, they "became more formidable than the enemy we had to expect."

The failure of St. Leger and the capitulation of Burgoyne placed the affairs of the colonies in such position that Congress deemed it worth while to renew negotiations with the Indians. The time seemed opportune for securing the services of the Six Nations, and the commissioners were, on the 3d of December, 1777, instructed "to urge them to some decisive enterprise which will effectually tie them to our cause." On the 4th the commissioners were authorized to expend $15,000 as a reward to the Indians for reducing Niagara. In February, 1778, they were instructed to speak to the Indians "in language becoming the representatives of free, sovereign, and independent States." "Whether it would be prudent to insist upon the Indians taking an active part in behalf of these States" would depend upon the temper in which they should appear to be. Action upon that point was submitted to the discretion of the commissioners. The temper of the Senecas was found to be far from favorable; and instead of attending the conference, they sent a message expressing surprise that while the tomahawk was still sticking in their heads, and they were still grieving for the loss of their friends at Oriskany, the commissioners should think of inviting them to a treaty. On March 4th, Washington was empowered by Congress, if he should think it prudent and proper, to employ in the service of the United States a body of Indians, not exceeding five hundred. On the 7th, Colonel Nathaniel Gist was instructed to enlist Indians on the borders of Virginia and North Carolina, not to exceed two hundred in number. On June 11th, Congress recommended aggressive warfare, being satisfied, from the presence of British agents among the Indians, that the cruel war had been "industriously instigated" and was still being "prosecuted with unrelenting perseverance by principal officers in the service of the king of Great Britain."

In 1778, according to the plan of campaign as given by Guy Johnson in his correspondence, the English forces on the western borders of New York were divided into two bodies: one, consisting of Indians under Brant, to operate in New York, while Deputy Superintendent Butler with the other should penetrate the settled district on the Susquehanna. Brant, who, according to Colonel Claus, "had shown himself to be the most faithful and zealous subject his majesty could have in America", did his work unsparingly, and ruin marked his track. In the valley of the upper Mohawk and the Schoharie nothing but the garrison-houses escaped, and labor was only possible in the field when muskets were within easy reach. Occasionally blows were struck at the larger settlements. In the last of May, Brant, with about three hundred and fifty Indians, destroyed a number of houses in the Cobleskill Valley, and routed, with severe loss, a militia company which attempted to pursue him.[1306] In June, the little town of Springfield, at the head of Otsego Lake, was burned. Such of the men as did not take flight were seized as prisoners. The women and children were not injured. During the same month, Sir John Johnson, with a company of loyalists, made a sudden descent upon the Mohawk Valley, the scene of their former homes, and took a number of citizens prisoners.

In July, 1778, the threatened attack on Wyoming took place. This region was at that time formally incorporated as the county of Westmoreland of the colony of Connecticut. This result had been accomplished by the persistence of the emigrants, under most discouraging circumstances and at the expense of some bloodshed. In the fall of 1776, two companies, on the Continental establishment, had been raised in the valley, in pursuance of a resolution of Congress, and were shortly thereafter ordered to join General Washington.[1307] Several stockaded forts had been built during the summer at different points. The withdrawal of so large a proportion of the able-bodied men as had been enlisted in the Continental service threw upon the old men who were left behind the duty of guarding the forts. Repeated alarms, during the summer of 1777, compelled the young men to scour the woods, but their vigilance did not prevent some prisoners being taken by the Indians. In March, 1778, another military company was organized, by authority of Congress, to be employed for home defence. In May, attacks were made upon the scouting parties by Indians, who were the forerunners of an invading army. The exposed situation of the settlement, the prosperity of the inhabitants, and the loyalty with which they had responded to the call for troops, demanded consideration from Connecticut, to whose quota the companies had been credited, and from Congress, in whose armies they had been incorporated; but no help came. On June 30th, an armed labor party of eight men, which went out from the upper fort, was attacked by Major Butler, who with a force estimated by the American commander in his report at eight hundred men, Tories and Indians in equal numbers, had arrived in the valley. This estimate was not far from correct; but if we may judge from other raiding forces during the war, the proportion of whites is too large, for only a few local Tories had joined Butler. The little forts at the upper end of the valley offered no resistance to the invaders.

On July 3d, there were collected at "Forty Fort", on the banks of the river, about three miles above Wilkesbarré, two hundred and thirty Americans, organized in six companies (one of them being the company authorized by Congress for home defence), and commanded by Colonel Zebulon Butler, a resident in the valley and an officer in the Continental army. It was determined, after deliberation, to give battle. In the afternoon of that day, this body of volunteers, their number being swelled to nearly three hundred by the addition of old men and boys, marched up the valley. The invaders had set fire to the forts of which they were in possession. This perplexed the Americans, as was intended, and they pressed on towards the spot selected by the English officer for giving battle. This was reached about four in the afternoon, and the attack was at once made by the Americans, who fired rapidly in platoons. The British line wavered, but a flanking fire from a body of Indians concealed in the woods settled the fate of the day against the Americans. They were thrown into confusion. No efforts of their officers could rally them while exposed to a fire which in a short time brought down every captain in the band. The Indians now cut off the retreat of the panic-stricken men, and pressed them towards the river. All who could saved their lives by flight. Of the three hundred who went out that morning from Forty Fort, the names are recorded of one hundred and sixty-two officers and men killed in the action or in the massacre which followed. Major Butler, the British officer in command, reported the taking of "two hundred and twenty-seven scalps" "and only five prisoners." Such was the exasperation of the Indians, according to him, that it was with difficulty he saved these few. He gives the English loss at two whites killed and eight Indians wounded.[1308]

During the night the worst passions of the Indians seem to have been aroused in revenge for Oriskany. Incredible tales are told of the inhumanity of the Tories. These measures of vengeance fell exclusively upon those who participated in the battle, for all women and children were spared.

As soon as the extent of the disaster was made known, the inhabitants of the lower part of the valley deserted their homes, and fled in the direction of the nearest settlements. Few stayed behind who had strength and opportunity to escape. In their flight many of the fugitives neglected to provide themselves with provisions, and much suffering and some loss of life ensued. The fugitives from the field of battle took refuge in the forts lower down the valley. The next day, Colonel Zebulon Butler, with the remnants of the company for home defence, consisting of only fourteen men, escaped from the valley. Colonel Denison, in charge of Forty Fort, negotiated with Major Butler the terms of capitulation which were ultimately signed. In these it was agreed that the inhabitants should occupy their farms peaceably, and their lives should be preserved "intire and unhurt." With the exception that Butler executed a British deserter whom he found among the prisoners, no lives were taken at that time. Shortly thereafter, the Indians began to plunder, and the English commander, to his chagrin, found himself unable to check them. Miner even goes so far as to say that he promised to pay for the property thus lost. Finding his commands disregarded, Butler mustered his forces and withdrew, without visiting the lower part of the valley. The greater part of the Indians went with him, but enough remained to continue the devastation, while a few murders committed by straggling parties of Indians ended the tragedy. The whole valley was left a scene of desolation. In August the American forces returned, and a few settlers came back and endeavored to save some of their crops, but occasional surprises by Indians warned them that the region was still unsafe. In September, Colonel Hartley marched with one hundred and thirty men against the Indian towns of Tioga and Sheshequin, and broke up those settlements.

* * * * *

Brant, meanwhile, had not been idle. On July 18th he burned a little settlement about six miles from German Flats, called Andrustown. In the latter part of August, German Flats, a settlement containing thirty-four houses, was destroyed and the cattle were driven away. Only two lives were lost, the inhabitants having taken refuge in Fort Dayton. The rapine was not, however, all on one side. From Schoharie an American expedition under Colonel William Butler threaded its way through the woods, forded the flooded streams, and destroyed the Indian town of Oquaga, and on their return burned the Tory settlement and the grist and saw mills at Unadilla.

In the spring of 1778, General Lafayette ordered a fort to be built at Cherry Valley, and this post was afterwards garrisoned by the Continental regiment under Colonel Ichabod Alden. During the fall, information of a positive character was conveyed to Colonel Alden that the place was threatened. Some of the officers of the garrison were accustomed to sleep outside the fort, and notwithstanding the warning, this practice was continued. Neither Alden nor his men were familiar with Indian warfare. The citizens wished to move their effects into the fort, but Colonel Alden quieted them by saying that he had good scouts out, who would give timely warning. One of these scouting parties, through carelessness, was captured on the night of November 10th, and by this means the enemy learned the exact condition of affairs. The invading force is said to have consisted of two hundred whites and about five hundred Indians, the whole under command of Captain Walter N. Butler. This officer had been arrested as a spy near Fort Stanwix during the siege, and had been condemned to death, but had been reprieved, and had escaped from custody. He had with him a body of Senecas, besides Brant and his Mohawks. The night after the capture of the scouting party, the enemy encamped near the village. On the morning of the 11th, under cover of a heavy rain, they penetrated a swamp in the rear of the house used as headquarters, where they concealed themselves, awaiting a favorable opportunity for attack. Chance favored the garrison, and gave them a brief warning. A resident of the valley, on the way to the village, at about half past eleven o'clock discovered two Indians, and was fired upon by them.

From the _Gesch. der Kriege in und ausser Europa, Dreyzehnter Theil_, Nürnberg, 1778. The original of this design was a print published in London, Aug. 22, 1776. Reproductions of it will be found in Irving's _Washington_, quarto ed., vol. iii.; E. M. Stone's _Our French Allies_, p.76; T. C. Amory's _Sullivan_. Cf. also Murray's _Impartial History_, p. 241; Jones's _Campaign for the Conquest of Canada_, p. 88; Lossing's _Field-Book_, i. 272.

For a view of Gen. Sullivan's house at Durham, N. H., with a paper on its associations, see _Granite Monthly_, v. 18, 80. For his family, see _N. E. H. and Gen. Reg._, 1865, p. 304.—ED.]

Although wounded, he was able to reach headquarters in advance of the enemy, and give the alarm. The regimental officers hastened towards the fort, and some of them succeeded in reaching it before the Indians surrounded it. Colonel Alden was one of the first victims of his own infatuation, having been shot while trying to reach the fort. For three hours and a half the enemy protracted their efforts to capture the post. Sixteen Continental soldiers were killed during the attack on the village, and thirty-two of the inhabitants, principally women and children, were massacred. Some of the murders were committed under circumstances of peculiar barbarism, in which whites competed with Indians. The houses, barns, and out-houses of the settlement were burned. The garrison, although too weak to attack the enemy, was strong enough to defend the fort. The enemy having completed the work of destruction as far as they could, retired, but made a feeble renewal of the attack on the 12th. This was easily repelled, and they then devoted themselves to collecting the cattle belonging to the villagers. The greater part of the prisoners who had been captured were liberated on the 12th, and permitted to return to the settlement. In setting them free, Captain Butler entered into a correspondence with General Schuyler, in which he endeavored to relieve himself from responsibility for the massacre. Brant also denied responsibility for it. Butler in his letter asserted that at Wyoming "not a man, woman, or child was hurt after capitulation, or a woman or child before it." If we admit the disclaimers of the Butlers, father and son, the fact still remains that they headed raiding parties, where plunder and destruction of property were the main purposes of the expeditions, and where the massacre of the inhabitants was one of the possibilities of success. Strip from the stories of Wyoming the exaggerations of the frightened refugees, the brutal massacre of the prisoners remains. The mercy which was extended to the prisoners at Cherry Valley merely reduces the number of horrors which were committed there. The massacre still stands out conspicuously as the most shocking in its details of any event in this region during the Revolution. Fortunately for the memory of Sir John Johnson, notwithstanding his prominence as the scourge of the Mohawk Valley during the war, his name is not associated with either of these events.

* * * * *

On March 6, 1779, Washington, acting under instructions from Congress, "to take effectual measures for the protection of the inhabitants and the chastisement of the Indians", tendered to General Gates the command of an expedition "to carry war into the heart of the country of the Six Nations, to cut off their settlements, destroy their next year's crops, and do every other mischief which time and circumstances will permit." This offer Gates declined, and on March 31st General Sullivan was appointed to the command. He was to lay waste all the Indian settlements in the most effectual manner, "that the country may not be merely overrun, but destroyed." Sullivan was to assemble his forces in Pennsylvania. General James Clinton was to assemble a force in the Mohawk Valley. In all the preliminary discussions of the campaign it was contemplated to make the main advance by way of the Mohawk. This idea was, however, abandoned, and it was arranged that Clinton should cross over to the Susquehanna River, and by that route effect a junction with Sullivan. As a preliminary to the campaign, Colonel Van Schaick, on the 18th of April, left Fort Stanwix at the head of five hundred and fifty-eight men, including officers, and made a sudden descent upon the Onondaga towns. The expedition was completely successful, and on the 24th Van Schaick was back at the fort, and able to report that this work of destruction and plunder had been accomplished, with the loss of only one man. On June 16th, General Clinton arrived at Canajoharie, where he found about fifteen hundred troops. From that point over two hundred boats and three months' provisions for the command were transported over the hills to Lake Otsego. On June 30th, Clinton reported to Sullivan that this transfer had been accomplished, and that he was now ready to come down the river. Here he remained with his troops until August 9th, awaiting orders. Meantime he constructed a dam across the outlet of the lake, by means of which he raised the water about a foot.

By the latter part of June the troops which were under Sullivan's immediate command had assembled in the Wyoming Valley. They numbered, on the 21st of July, 2,312 rank and file. They remained in this valley, awaiting the arrival of stores, until the last day of July, when marching orders were issued. During this period of idleness the troops at Wyoming and at Lake Otsego chafed at their inaction. The enemy continued the policy of desultory attacks and devastating raids, some of which were committed in close proximity to the American encampments. In May, at Fantinekill and at Woodstock, in Ulster County, New York, houses were destroyed, cattle killed, and prisoners taken. On the night of July 19th, Brant, with a force one third white and two thirds Indians, variously estimated at from ninety to one hundred and sixty men, made a descent upon the Minisink settlement. The citizens and militia of Goshen marched next day in pursuit, and were joined on the 21st by a small detachment of the Warwick militia, the whole number being, according to Colonel Hathorn, who took command, one hundred and twenty. On the 22d they overtook Brant, were completely outwitted by him, and were defeated, with a loss of forty-four killed.

In Pennsylvania several outrages were committed in the immediate vicinity of Sullivan's army. On July 28th Freeland's fort, on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, was taken by the enemy, and a small detachment sent from Northumberland for its relief was badly cut up. Neither Clinton nor Sullivan were diverted from the purposes of the campaign by these forays. The Oneidas had agreed to join Clinton, but were prevented by a threatening message from General Haldimand. They excused themselves to the American general on the ground that they feared an attack on their castles, should they assist in the campaign. Their defection had no influence upon operations. On the 13th Sullivan destroyed the Indian town of Chemung, and then fortified a post at a narrow point on the peninsula, a short distance above the junction of the Tioga and Susquehanna. Clinton, on receipt of orders to advance, destroyed the dam at the foot of the lake on the 9th, and successfully embarked his bateaux on the flood of his own creating. On the 22d the junction of the two columns was effected. On the 26th the united forces moved forward, and on the 29th encountered the enemy under the Butlers, McDonnell, and Brant at Newtown, five miles from Elmira. Here the enemy had selected a spot on rising ground which commanded the road, and had thrown up a rude breastwork of logs. Some attempt had been made to conceal it by placing before it brush and young trees. Here they were apparently prepared to make a stand. General Poor was dispatched with his brigade to gain a hill to the right, and from thence to attack the enemy's left flank. After allowing some time for Poor to reach his destination, Sullivan opened with his artillery. Poor met with resistance, but when he had forced his way to a position which became threatening to the enemy, they abandoned their whole line.[1309] On the 30th Sullivan proposed to his men, as provisions were short, that they should go on half rations, trusting to the country to furnish them the rest. This was readily agreed to. The baggage and heavy guns were sent back, and on the 31st the column advanced, taking for campaign artillery four light three-pounders and a small howitzer. The main army marched down the east side of Seneca Lake to its outlet, destroying villages, cornfields, and orchards on the way. From the foot of the lake a party was sent down the Seneca River towards Lake Cayuga to destroy a town, and another was sent a short distance up Lake Seneca, on the west side, for the same purpose. From the foot of this lake the main army moved westward, skirting the northern ends of lakes Canandaigua, Honeyoye, and Hemlock, destroying as it moved. Then it bore to the southwest, and passed the southern end of Lake Conesus. On the 14th of September, about sunset, the expedition arrived at the great castle of the Senecas, on the west side of the Genessee River, and on the opposite side of the valley from the site of Geneseo. On the evening of the 12th, as the army approached this region, Sullivan ordered a scouting party to be sent out. It was his intention that only five or six men should go, but the officer in charge of the party, Lieutenant Thomas Boyd, took with him twenty-six men, including the Indian guides. In the darkness, Boyd unconsciously passed the encampment of Butler and his force, who were ambushed near Lake Conesus, waiting for Sullivan. On the morning of the 13th, Boyd, having reconnoitred an Indian town, sent word to camp by two of his men, and halted where he intended to await the approach of the army. While waiting here, some Indians were discovered by the party, whom Boyd indiscreetly pursued. By this means his force was led directly into the power of Butler, whose men completely surrounded the Americans and opened fire upon them. Nerved to desperation, a gallant attempt was made by the devoted band to break through the enemy's lines. In this attempt eight of them succeeded. Fifteen of the party were killed. Two, Boyd and his sergeant, were captured. The two captives were taken to Seneca Castle, or "little Beard's town", and honored for their brave defence with tortures of unusual cruelty. The "western door of the Long House", as this place was termed by the Indians, consisted of one hundred and twenty-eight houses, some of which were well built. The gardens were filled with corn and vegetables. All these were destroyed; and on the 15th the army, having completed its work, began its return march. Sullivan had, on the outward march, dispatched a messenger from Catharine's town to the Oneidas, calling upon them to furnish him with some warriors. At Kanadasaga, near the foot of Lake Seneca, on his return, he received a message from them, explaining why their warriors had failed him, and putting in a plea for mercy in behalf of the Cayugas. He accepted their excuses, but paid no attention to their requests. From Kanadasaga he sent Colonel Smith, with a command, to complete the destruction on the west side of Lake Seneca. He also detached Colonel Gansevoort, with one hundred and five men, with instructions to proceed to Albany, and on the way to destroy the lower Mohawk Castle. Through motives of policy, the latter part of this order was not carried out to the letter. A detachment was also sent out to destroy the towns on the eastern side of Lake Cayuga. On the 21st another detachment was dispatched, with orders to lay waste the towns on the western side of Lake Cayuga, and to intercept the Cayugas if they should attempt to escape the officer who had gone up on the other side of the lake. The rest of the army then marched south, between Seneca and Cayuga lakes. When they reached the valley of the Tioga, an expedition was sent up that river on an errand of destruction. On the 28th these several detachments, with the exception of Gansevoort's, had all rejoined the main column, having accomplished their work without resistance. They were then met by a supply of provisions from Tioga. The work of destroying Indian towns and crops was finished. Fort Sullivan, near the junction of the rivers, was abandoned and razed. The army descended the Susquehanna to Wyoming, which place they reached October 7th. By the route which they took, the distance marched by the army, in going from Wyoming to Seneca Castle, was two hundred and fifteen miles, all of it in Indian country, without a road over which a wagon could be transported. Forty Indian towns were destroyed. Some of them were insignificant. Several had from twenty to thirty houses. One had one hundred and twenty-eight houses. Colonel Gansevoort, speaking of the lower Mohawk Castle, said: "It is remarked that these Indians live much better than most of the Mohawk families. Their houses were well furnished with all necessary household utensils, and a great plenty of grain." The excellent construction of some of the houses of the Seneca and Cayuga villages was a source of surprise to the invaders. They marvelled at the well-conditioned orchards, the cultivated gardens, and the extensive cornfields. They left behind them, on the sites of these villages, smoking ruins and blighted vegetation. Notwithstanding the fact that the expedition was delayed so long waiting for stores, it was undertaken with the certainty that there was not enough on hand for the purpose, if the army was to rely upon what was supplied. General Sullivan was compelled to march thus or not at all. In numbers the troops fell short of what had been counted on. They met with no opposition worthy of note. The losses during the campaign, by accident, by sickness, and in the field, amounted to only forty. They could not have foreseen that General Haldimand would be so completely bewildered as to their intentions, and that he would refuse to believe that they could purpose invading this region, until too late to render the Indians assistance.[1310] The greater part of the warriors of the Six Nations were in the field on the side of the English. It was but reasonable to anticipate that the Indians would receive aid from their allies in defence of the Indian country. Everything militated against the probability of the expedition being able to accomplish its work with such ease. The expedition was too large to treat the question of supplies in the same way that an ordinary raiding party would have done. Through the delays in procuring supplies, it was prosecuted at a time when the army could subsist partially upon the growing crops. Had Sullivan started when he expected, he must have depended upon his train. Otherwise the Indians could easily have destroyed their stores and impeded the progress of the army.[1311]

As a part of the original scheme, a simultaneous movement from Fort Pitt against the Indian towns on the Alleghany was ordered. The difficulty of communication between the two forces led to the abandonment of all idea of co-operation. Colonel Brodhead, who had charge of the movement on the Alleghany, was left to pursue his own course. On August 11th he left Pittsburgh at the head of six hundred and five rank and file, with one month's provisions. With this force he proceeded up the river by boat to Mahoning; there the stores were loaded on pack-horses, and the march was begun. On the way to the Indian towns the advance guard came in contact with a party of between thirty and forty warriors, whom they put to flight. The detachment marched for a distance of about two hundred miles from Pittsburgh, and destroyed the Indian settlements along the Alleghany extending for eight miles, and consisting of one hundred and thirty houses. The growing crops and provisions were ruined. This extraordinary march was made without the loss of a single man, and without meeting any warriors except the party already mentioned.

On October 20, 1779, Washington wrote to the Marquis de Lafayette, saying: "General Sullivan has completed the entire destruction of the country of the Six Nations, driven all the inhabitants, men, women, and children, out of it, and is at Easton on his return." He further said that Colonel Brodhead had inflicted similar chastisement on the "Mingo and Muncey tribes", living on the Alleghany, French Creek, and other waters of the Ohio. Washington concluded with these words: "These unexpected and severe strokes have disconcerted, humbled, and distressed the Indians exceedingly, and will, I am persuaded, be productive of great good; as they are undeniable proofs to them that Great Britain cannot protect them, and that it is in our power to chastise them whenever their hostile conduct deserves it."[1312] The cruel steps taken against the Senecas, Cayugas, and Onondagas were probably justifiable as war measures. War against these Indians without the adoption of their own tactics could only be prosecuted at a great disadvantage.[1313] The destruction of their homes and the consequent removal of the natives to a point more distant from the American settlements, together with the necessity thus thrown upon the British government of providing for their allies, undoubtedly affected the aggressive power of the Indians and diminished the value of their alliance. But if it was expected that raids upon the border settlements would be stopped by this campaign, then the authorities must have been disappointed. The border knew no peace until the war was ended.

The Indians, driven out of their own country and left without shelter and without food, took refuge at Niagara for the winter. The Oneidas feared an attack, and abandoned their castles. About four hundred of them placed themselves under the protection of the government at Schenectady. In April, 1780, the settlement at Harpersfield was destroyed, and a scouting party of Americans which happened to be in the neighborhood was captured. Repeated blows were struck at the scattered, poorly defended settlements along the border. The lower Mohawk was invaded by a force under Sir John Johnson, and the local histories, in their records of the work of the summer of 1780, have a melancholy monotony of conflagration and plunder. In August the settlement at Canajoharie was laid waste by Brant, and several small settlements adjacent to Canajoharie, and at Norman's Kill, not far from Albany, were ravaged. From the valley of the Mohawk the enemy moved southward, destroying a number of houses and capturing prisoners in Schoharie Valley. In October, 1780, Schoharie Valley was again ravaged, this time from the south, by an invading force of about one thousand in all, under Sir John Johnson, which consisted of Tories, together with Brant and his Mohawks, and Cornplanter with a body of Senecas. They had, by way of artillery, two small mortars and a brass three-pounder.[1314] There were three forts in the valley, in which the inhabitants took refuge. The invaders did not succeed in capturing either of the forts, and the loss of life in them was small, but they left scarcely a building standing in the whole valley.

After thoroughly completing the work of destruction in Schoharie Valley, the invaders proceeded to the valley of the Mohawk, and ravaged the country on the north side of the Mohawk from Caughnawaga to Stone Arabia and Palatine. A little force from Stone Arabia, acting, it is supposed, under a promise of support from General Van Rensselaer, undertook to check them. The general had collected some of the militia, and was to fall upon the rear of the enemy. The promised support was not furnished. Colonel Brown, who led the attacking party, was killed, and his followers were badly cut to pieces. After this encounter Sir John's forces renewed their work of destroying property in the neighborhood of Stone Arabia, and then moved slowly up the river, ravaging the country as they went. The invaders were followed by the Americans, whose numbers increased as they moved, until they were numerically stronger than the enemy. There were some Oneidas with the Americans, under command of one of their own number holding a commission from the Continental Congress as lieutenant-colonel. On the afternoon of October 20th, just at nightfall, a skirmish took place between the two commands at the spot selected by Sir John for his evening bivouac. It was soon terminated by the increasing darkness, of which the Americans took advantage to withdraw to a camping place about three miles back, and the invaders, availing themselves of the opportunity, hurriedly sought the woods. During their flight the enemy captured a party of Americans which had been dispatched to destroy their boats.[1315] After this raid the upper Mohawk Valley and the Schoharie Valley rivalled in their desolation the region of the lakes which had been invaded by Sullivan the preceding year. Numbers of prisoners had been carried off during these raids, some of whom were liberated shortly after capture. Others were detained till the close of the war. In one instance a child was returned by Brant, with a letter, in which he said "I do not make war upon women and children. I am sorry to say that I have those with me in the service who are more savage than the savages themselves."

Simultaneously with the operations in the Mohawk Valley, the enemy ascended Lake Champlain and captured Forts Ann and George. Portions of Kingsbury, Queensbury, and Fort Edward were burned. A branch of this expedition destroyed the settlement at Ballston. At the same time, a party of about two hundred, chiefly Indians, under Major Haughton of the 53d, left Canada, and destroyed several houses in the upper part of the Connecticut Valley, and carried off thirty-two inhabitants as prisoners.[1316]

The work of retribution on the part of the Indians did not stop with what has been recorded. Even during the succeeding winter Brant was on the war-path, appearing now here and now there in the Mohawk country cutting off stragglers and detached parties. Great difficulty was experienced in furnishing the garrisons at the outposts with provisions. Distress ensued, and there was serious danger that the outlying defences could not be maintained. Fort Stanwix was badly damaged in May, 1781, both by flood and by fire, and in consequence the post was shortly afterward abandoned. The command of the Mohawk Valley was this season assigned to Colonel Willett. He carefully acquainted himself with its condition, and infused a portion of his own active spirit into the management of affairs. Very shortly after he assumed command, on June 30th, Currietown, a village near the mouth of the Schoharie, was destroyed. With a small force, Willett pursued the raiders, overtook them, and routed them with severe loss. In July, Colonel Willett wrote that the number of men in Tryon County liable to bear arms did not exceed eight hundred. At the beginning of the war the enrolled militia numbered 2,500 men. He accounted for this reduction by supposing that one third had been killed or made prisoners, one third had gone over to the enemy, and one third had abandoned the country. Indeed, life in the valley had become almost unendurable. The only places of safety were within the walls of the stockaded forts which were scattered through the region. All through the summer of 1781 detachments of the enemy struck blows at different points along the border. The most conspicuous of these desultory acts of devastation was the destruction of the little town of Wawarsing. Unsuccessful efforts were made this season to seize the persons of both General Gansevoort and General Schuyler. The active movements of the year closed with a foray on the Mohawk by Sir John Johnson and Major Walter N. Butler, in the latter part of October. When the Americans learned the approach of the invaders, Colonel Willett gathered a force together, with which, although inferior in numbers to the enemy, he attacked them at Johnstown. The varying fortunes of the day were, on the whole, with the Americans. The enemy fled, after dark, to the woods. Willett followed them for some days, and had a collision with their rear guard, in which the notorious Major Walter N. Butler was shot through the head and left on the field.[1317] The difficulties of the military as well as the political situation had been greatly complicated this summer by the menacing aspect of the British forces on Lake Champlain, and doubts as to the fidelity of certain of the leaders in Vermont, whose hostility to the threatened extension of the authority of New York over the inchoate State had been pronounced in terms of bitter earnest.

During the summer of 1782, although the frontiers of New York were not altogether quiet, the scene of activity in border warfare was transferred further west. There were none of the organized raids of the enemy in the valleys of the Mohawk and Schoharie, with which the inhabitants had become so familiar.

In February, 1783, the last movement of the war on the border took place in this region. It was an attempt by Colonel Willett to surprise the garrison at Oswego. A forced march of a night and a day was made through the trackless forests, on the snow, from the Mohawk Valley to the vicinity of the fort. Then preparations for the assault were made, but when the column advanced the guide became confused and lost his way. As surprise was essential for success, the attempt was abandoned. Willett and his men found their way back as best they could, enduring on the return march intense suffering from fatigue, cold, and exposure. Colonel Willett then proceeded to Albany, at which place he arrived in time to hear peace proclaimed.

The story of this chapter opened with the determination of a boundary line between the king of Great Britain and his allies. It closes with an assurance on the part of the Continental Congress, which is intended to pacify the Indians, that, "as the country is large enough to contain and support us all, and as we are disposed to be kind to them, to supply their wants, and to partake of their trade, we, from these considerations and from motives of compassion, draw a veil over what is passed, and will establish a boundary line between them and us, beyond which we will restrain our citizens from hunting and settling, and within which the Indians shall not come, but for the purpose of trading, treating, or other business equally unexceptionable."[1318] The discussion of how far the kindly spirit which pervades these promises has been maintained in subsequent dealings with the Indians does not fall within the subject of this chapter.

CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE SOURCES OF INFORMATION.

THE relations of the Indians to the British government and to the colonies during the period immediately preceding the Revolutionary War, is readily studied in _The life and times of Sir William Johnson, Bart._, by William L. Stone (Albany, 1865, in 2 vols.[1319]), which was intended to form a part of a history of the relations of the Iroquois to current events. Stone completed but two volumes of the series, the _Life of Brant_ and the _Life of Red Jacket_. The _Life of Sir William Johnson_, being incomplete at the time of his death, was finished and published by his son, of the same name.[1320] The book for awhile stood alone in its detailed treatment of the official relations and dealings of the superintendent with the Indians. Later publications have infringed somewhat upon its monopoly.

The _Pennsylvania Archives_, and the _Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania_, commonly cited as "Colonial Records", lay bare the secrets of the province, and furnish authentic information upon many points which prior to their publication were obscure.[1321]

The documentary publications of the State of New York are for the purposes of this chapter of even more value than those of Pennsylvania. They contain many official papers from the hands of Sir William Johnson, and letters from Guy Johnson, Daniel Claus, and Generals Carleton and Haldimand, treating of Indian affairs. Some of these documents help us materially in the study of the situation. The history of the publications known as the _N. Y. Colonial Documents_ and _Documentary History of N. Y._ is told elsewhere;[1322] but the _Journals of the Provincial Congress_ are of peculiar use in the present inquiry.[1323] Such of the conferences, treaties, and agreements with Indians on the part of the colonies, the Continental Congress, and the government of the United States as have been printed, are scattered through a variety of publications.[1324]

The literature of border life, from which the habits and methods of life of the frontier inhabitants may be drawn, is too extensive to permit any attempt at an exhaustive recapitulation of titles. Especial use has been made in this chapter of Dr. Joseph Doddridge's _Notes on the Settlements and Indian Wars_,[1325] perhaps the most valuable of the many works upon this subject. Notwithstanding the sufferings from Indian raids which Dr. Doddridge himself endured, he deals fairly with the subject of border warfare, and candidly admits the terrible responsibility of the whites for counter outrages. He draws a vivid picture of the lack of law on the frontier, aggravated as it was by the conflicts of colonies. "In the section of the country where my father lived", he says, "there was for many years after the settlement of the country neither law nor gospel. Our want of legal government was owing to the uncertainty whether we belonged to Virginia or Pennsylvania." "Thus it happened that during a long period we knew nothing of courts, lawyers, magistrates, sheriffs, or constables." "Every one was, therefore, at liberty to do whatever was right in his own eyes."

In _An Account of the remarkable occurrences in the life and travels of Col. James Smith, etc., etc._,[1326] the author unconsciously gives us a picture of the lawlessness of frontier life and the power of the volunteers. The story is told in a simple manner, and the narrative is full of interest. The rare _Chronicles of Border Warfare_, by Alexander S. Withers (Clarksburg, Va., 1831), is a recognized authority, and is frequently quoted. It was reproduced in substantial form in Pritt's _Border Life of Olden Times_,[1327] a compilation of reprints of volumes, narratives and statements relating to border life. The relations of the Indians to current events are also to be traced in Gale's _Upper Mississippi_, etc.,[1328] and in Ketchum's _History of Buffalo_.[1329] The latter work covers much of the ground which Col. Stone had preëmpted. The materials are well arranged, the views of the author are clearly presented, and as a result the volumes form a valuable contribution to the history of the Indians.[1330] Many details will be found collected in Drake's _Book of the Indians_.[1331]

James Handasyd Perkins was a careful student of the early history of the country, and contributed many articles to the periodical literature of his day on the subject of Indian history and border warfare, which have been collected.[1332] The compiler of _Annals of the West_,[1333] in the preface to the third edition of that work, says: "The first edition was issued at Cincinnati, where he (the compiler) was assisted by the lamented James H. Perkins, a gentleman highly competent for the task." In the second edition of the _Annals_ "the editor had the valuable assistance of Rev. J. M. Peck, a gentleman whose long residence in the far West, and familiarity with the history of those portions of the work less elaborately treated of in the first edition, rendered him admirably qualified for the undertaking." This work, in its chronological arrangement of events, touches upon a portion of the ground covered by this chapter. In 1791, J. Long published in London a volume entitled _Voyages and Travels of an Indian Interpreter_, etc. Long arrived at Montreal in 1768. His occupation for the next seven years made him familiar with frontier life and Indian ways. He volunteered in 1775 with the Indians who entered the English service, and was at Isle au Noix with a few Mohawks on the occasion of their collision with the Americans. He also served a short time with the regulars. He states intelligently the value of the alliance of the Six Nations to the English.

Wills de Haas, in his _Indian Wars of Western Virginia_,[1334] has devoted one chapter to "Land Companies",[1335] and another to the "Employment of Indians as Allies." His treatment of these topics is brief, but the chapters contain much more information on the subjects than can generally be obtained from American histories.

In _Fugitive Essays_, etc., by Charles Whittlesey (Hudson, Ohio, 1852), an article is reproduced from the January number (1845) of the _Western Literary Journal and Review_, entitled "Indian history: their relations to us at the time of the American Revolution", which is well worth examination.

The _Calendar of the Virginia State Papers and other Manuscripts_, 1652-1781 (Richmond, 1875),[1336] though meagre as a whole, is particularly full on the subject of the encroachments of individuals and companies on Indian lands. Among these papers is the deposition of Patrick Henry, setting forth that he felt compelled to withdraw from all connection with land schemes, when, as a member of Congress, he found himself in a position where he might be called upon to act as a judge in matters in which he was directly interested. It may be inferred from what he says that there were among his associates some who were not so scrupulous.