Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 6 (of 8) / The United States of North America, Part I

by Unknown

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]