The flying campaign, charged with destruction, had now fairly begun. "The Indians shall see," said Sullivan, "that there is malice enough in our hearts to destroy every thing that contributes to their support," and cruelly was that menace executed. The Indians fled before him like frightened deer to cover, and the wail of desolation was heard throughout their pleasant land, from the Susquehanna to the Genesee. Village after village was laid waste, and fields and orchards were desolated. Kendaia was swept from September 6, 1779 existence; (a) other and smaller villages were annihilated; and on the 7th of September the conquerors sat down before Kanadaseagea, the capital of the Senecas, near the head of the beautiful lake of that name. Sixty indifferent cabins, surrounded by fine orchards of apple, peach, and pear trees, became a prey to the army. Not a roof was left to shelter the sorrowing inhabitants on their return—not a fruit-tree to shade them or to give them sustenance—-not an ear of corn of all the abundance that lay before the invaders when they approached, was saved from the devouring flames.
While the chief portion of the army was engaged in this work, detachments went out and wrought equal devastation elsewhere. Four hundred men went down the west side of the lake and destroyed Gotheseunquean, or Gaghsiungua, and the plantations around it, and another party, under Colonel Harper, marched to Schoyere, near Cayuga Lake, and utterly destroyed it and its fields of grain.
Taking breath at Kanadaseagea, the invaders marched on to Kanandaigua, at the head of the little lake of that name, and in a few hours after their arrival the "twenty-September 10three very elegant houses, mostly framed, and, in general, large," ** with the extensive fields of corn and beans, and orchards of heavily-laden fruit-trees, were destroyed.
* The enemy might have rallied upon the hills along this perilous route, and greatly thinned, if not quite destroyed or captured, the invading army. But, as Brant afterward said, they did not believe that Sullivan would commence a march so soon over so bad a route; and the Indians were so terrified by the cannons, and disheartened by the result of the battle, that they could not be readily induced to attempt another.
** See General Sullivan's official account of this expedition.
Approach to Genesee.—Council of the Indian Villages.—A Battle.—Capture and Torture of Lieutenant Boyd.
Honeoye, or Anyeaya, a village lying in the path of the invading army in its march toward the Valley of the Genesee, was next swept away, and Sullivan prepared to desolate the broad valley in whose bosom nestled the great capital of the Western tribes, and the most important of all the Indian settlements.
Thus far the enemy had fled in terror before the invading army, and the villages of the Indians were destroyed without an effort being made to defend them. The beautiful Valley of the Genesee, the earthly paradise of the Six Nations, was now menaced. A council of the villages of the plain was held, and they resolved to turn and strike another blow in defense of their homes. Their women and children were removed to the deep shelter of the forest, and the warriors prepared for battle upon a plain between Honeyoe and the head of Connissius Lake, now known as Henderson's Flats. There they waited in ambush the approach of Sullivan's army, and rose upon the advanced guard with the desperation of wounded panthers. The battle was short, the savages were routed, and all that they had gained was the capture of two Oneida chiefs. *
On the 12th, Kanaghsaws and its plantations were laid in ashes. Here the progress of the army was temporarily checked by a deep stream, which it was necessary to bridge in order to pass over with the baggage and stores. Before them lay the village of Little Beard's Town, and, while the army was delayed in constructing a bridge, Lieutenant Boyd, of the rifle corps, with a detachment of twenty-six men, went to reconnoiter the town. He found it deserted, except by two Indians, whom he killed and scalped. Returning, his route lay near the party who had captured the two Oneidas. One of them, as we have seen, was killed, the other was spared for torture. He broke loose from his captors, and fled in the direction of Sullivan's camp. Many Indians started in pursuit, and these were joined by Brant and a large body of warriors, who had lain in ambush to cut off Boyd on his return. September 13, 1779 The pursuing Indians came upon Boyd and his party. Surrounded by overwhelming numbers, he saw no way to escape but by cutting his way through the fierce circle. Three times he made the attempt; almost all his men were killed, and himself and a soldier named Parker were made prisoners and carried in triumph to Little Beard's Town. ** Brant treated them humanely, but, having business elsewhere, the chief left them in the custody of Colonel John Butler, who, with his Rangers, was there. The unfeeling Tory handed them over to the tender mercies of the Indians. By them Boyd was tortured in the most cruel manner, and then beheaded. Parker was beheaded without being tortured. Among the few who escaped was Timothy Murphy, the slayer of Fraser at Bemis's Heights. The Americans found the bodies of the two victims at Little Beard's Town, and buried them upon the bank of Little Beard's Creek, under a clump of wild plum-trees on the road now running from Moscow to Genesee.
The Tories and Indians now held another council, and it was concluded that further attempts to oppose such an army as Sullivan's was futile. They therefore resolved to leave their beautiful country; and their women and children were hurried off toward Niagara,