A vigorous effort was now made by the Americans against the Senecas, the most numerous and ferocious of the Six Nations. General Sullivan, at the head of a large force, penetrated into their country, and destroyed forty towns and villages, some of them having fifty or a hundred houses, and one as many as a hundred and twenty-eight. He also destroyed 160,000 bushels of corn, and many extensive fields and beautiful orchards of fruit, some of them containing 1,500 trees. The lovely valley of the Genesee was thus transformed into a scene of desolation, and the nation was left houseless and destitute to encounter the severe winter of 1780. Previous to his reaching the Seneca country, however, a severe battle took place at Chemung, in which the Indians fought with determined bravery, though they were defeated, and lost many of their warriors. In another engagement at Newtown the whole force of the Senecas and the other Indians, variously computed at from 800 to 1,500, was routed with great slaughter. A tragic scene occurred at this period in the cruel death of Lieutenant Boyd, belonging to General Sullivan’s army, who, with a small party of men, was sent out on a scouting expedition. They were cut off by some Indians, and, being captured, the lieutenant was put to death with tortures too horrible to relate.
The destruction of the Seneca towns was not, however, suffered to pass without retaliation. The hostile Indians, aided by the British, in 1780, invaded the villages of the Oneidas, and entirely destroyed their castle, church, and dwellings; the Oneidas were thus driven, in their state of desolation, upon the white settlements for protection and aid. The American government gave them support, fixing them, till the close of the war, at Schenectady and its vicinity.
Numerous incursions were made, in the same year, by the Indians, led on by Brant, who burned Canajoharie, and took fifty-two prisoners, besides killing seventeen persons. One hundred and forty houses and barns were burned; twenty-four people killed, and seventy-three made prisoners.
The towns of Johnstown and Caughnawaga had recently been visited with the vengeance of the Indians, in connection with Sir John Johnson’s invasion of the seat of his ancient residence. The Senecas, however, were still unsated with revenge. Under Cornplanter, a famous chief of that nation, joined by Brant and some British troops, they again made their appearance in the valley of the Schoharie, with the intention of completing the work of destruction there. Some severe skirmishes ensued, but their purpose was in a great degree effected, and the whole region was left desolate. The Mohawk valley became the scene of a similar incursion. Here, however, the enemy was overtaken and defeated, in the battle of Klock’s Farm, and compelled to seek safety in flight.
In 1781, the Indians assisted at the battle of Durlagh, where, after a spirited attack and resistance, they were routed, leaving nearly forty dead on the field. In October, they were also present at the battle of Johnstown, and fought from noon till sunset, when they were finally forced to retreat; in the pursuit, Butler, the notorious leader in the Cherry Valley massacre, was killed. This was the last expedition in which they were engaged previous to the close of the American war.
In the articles of peace between the mother country and her former colonies, no provision had been made for the Indian allies of the English. The Mohawks, who had left their own country, were invited by the Senecas to take a tract of their territory; but they declined it, choosing, as they said, to sink or swim with the English. The latter then assigned them a domain on the north side of Lake Ontario, upon the Bay of Quinte. Not satisfied, however, with this, another, by their request, six miles on each side of the Grand River, from the mouth to its source, about forty miles above the Falls of Niagara, was bestowed on them.
In the mean time, the sachems and warriors of the Six Nations held a conference, in 1784, with the agents of the United States. There were present representatives from the Mohawks, Senecas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas, and Tuscaroras, and Seneca Abeal, or the Senecas of Cornplanter’s clan, on the Alleghany. In the treaty that was concluded, the Six Nations relinquished a portion of their territory, and were to be secured in possession of that which they then occupied. The treaty, however, did not satisfy the Indians, and both Red Jacket,[11] the noted Seneca orator, and Brant, the Mohawk chief, were highly displeased with its terms. A plan was laid by the latter for obtaining assistance from the English, in the event of a general Indian war with the United States, which he evidently had in contemplation.
