The first of his hostile demonstrations within the Colony of New-York is believed to have been made in the month of May preceding the interview with General Herkimer; although from the semi-pacific intercourse maintained with him for several weeks longer, the fact was not then certainly known. The settlement of Cherry Valley was commenced in 1739; and in consequence of some threatened Indian troubles, a detachment of troops had been stationed there as early as 1763. But no military works were erected, and the breaking out of the war of the Revolution found the place defenceless. While Brant was collecting his warriors at Oghkwaga, however, the inhabitants bethought themselves of the necessity of defences. But not having the means to undertake the erection of any formidable work, the house of Colonel Samuel Campbell was selected as the largest, strongest, and most eligibly situated for military purposes. A rude embankment of logs and earth was thrown up around this building, so extended in its dimensions as likewise to include two large barns. These buildings were all strengthened, and provided with doors and window-shutters bullet-proof. Small block-houses were also erected within the enclosure; and to this place, in moments of peril and alarm, the inhabitants fled for protection. Martial law was proclaimed, and no persons were allowed either to enter or leave the settlement without permission.
Toward the close of May, and soon after these precautionary measures had been executed, Brant conceived the idea of making a descent upon the settlement, for the purpose of either killing, or making captive, the principal inhabitants, especially the vigilant members of the Committee. It has been stated in a former page, that among the precautionary measures adopted the preceding year, the exempts from military duty had organized themselves into a volunteer company. The martial fever of course descended from sire to son; and as the population had been considerably augmented by the arrival of distant settlers for safety, a goodly number of boys were collected, who formed a corps of cadets, with no better armor than wooden swords and guns. These juvenile soldiers happened to be parading upon the esplanade in front of Colonel Campbell's house at the very hour, one bright sunny morning, when Brant and his party of warriors, who had secretly arrived from Oghkwaga, were reconnoitering the post under shelter of a tangled thicket skirting the brow of a hill about a mile distant. His vision being somewhat obstructed by the intercepting shrubbery, the chief mistook the lads for bona fide soldiers. Observing the semblance of a fortification before described, Captain Brant moved his party to a convenient lurking-place near the road leading to the Mohawk river, and there lay in ambush for the purpose of obtaining such information as might chance to come in his way. A short distance from where the chief lay ensconced behind a large rock, "the road wound along near the edge of a cliff, overhanging a rocky glen of one hundred and fifty feet deep. This chasm was shaded by evergreens, and the whole scene was shadowy and almost dark, even at mid-day. The wildness of the place was increased by the dashing of a mountain-torrent into the gloomy abyss, called, by the Indians, the falls of Tekaharawa." [FN]
[FN] Annals of Tryon County.
It chanced, that on the morning of that day, Lieutenant Wormwood, a promising young officer from Palatine, of an opulent family, had been despatched to Cherry Valley, with information to the authorities that a detachment from Colonel Klock's regiment of militia was to march to their defence on the following day. It was toward evening that Lieut. Wormwood started on his return to the Mohawk, accompanied by the bearer of some despatches, named Peter Sitz. As he mounted his horse in the village, he threw down his portmanteau, remarking that he needed not to take it, as he should return on the next morning with his company. He was well-mounted, and richly dressed "in a suit of ash-colored velvet, which attracted much attention during his stay;" and many persons remained at the door, looking at the noble bearing of the young patriot, until he disappeared behind the crest of the hill in the direction of the Tekaharawa. Scarcely, however, had the clattering of hoofs died away upon their ears, before a discharge of musketry resounded from the glen—the startling report being speedily followed by the soldier's horse, returning at full speed, the saddle crimsoned with blood. Suspicions of the most painful description at once flashed upon the minds of the people, and a party was immediately despatched to investigate the circumstances. They returned without success that night, but on the following morning the body of Wormwood was found behind the rock heretofore described, scalped and lifeless. It afterward appeared, that as Wormwood and Sitz approached the rock, they were hailed, but instead of answering, they put spurs to their horses and endeavored to pass. Being fired upon, Lieutenant Wormwood fell wounded, as did the horse of Sitz. The Indians rushed forth from their ambuscade, and Sitz was made prisoner; while the gallant officer was scalped by Brant's own hand. The chief is said to have lamented the death of this young man. They were not only acquaintances, but friends; and he had been fired upon under the supposition that he was an officer of the Continental army. [FN] The despatches carried by Sitz were double, and it was fortunate that he had sufficient presence of mind to destroy the genuine, and deliver the delusive papers to his savage captors. Deceived thereby as to the real strength at Cherry Valley, Brant retired without committing any farther act of hostility. Colonel Klock arrived at Cherry Valley on the following morning, accompanied by the afflicted father of the slaughtered officer, who was mourned and wept by all who knew him.
[FN] Annals of Tryon County,
Another coincident event, forming an appropriate conclusion to the present chapter, was the tragic death of the great Shawanese chief, Cornstock, with his gallant son, Ellinipsico; both of whom will be remembered as among the brave Indian leaders at the battle of the Kanhawa, the last action of the Cresap war, in 1774; and both of whom were now as basely murdered by white men, as were the family of Logan. The circumstances attending this foul transaction were these:—Cornstock, after the defeat of his warriors at Point Pleasant, and his subsequent treaty of peace with Lord Dunmore, had become sincerely and truly the friend of the Colonies; and while the Indians of the Northwest, generally, were preparing to take up arms with the English, he exerted himself to the utmost to prevent his own nation from any participation in the contest. But the influence of the British agents, and the example of the surrounding Indian nations, were so powerful upon the minds of the Shawanese, that Cornstock perceived his pacific efforts were likely to prove futile. Thus circumstanced, he repaired to the fort which had been erected at Point Pleasant after the battle of the Kanhawa, to lay the matter before the officer in command—Captain Arbuckle—and take his advice. He was accompanied on this mission by a young Delaware chief named Redhawk, who had also fought by his side in the Cresap war. Having made a full developement of the state of Indian affairs in the North-west, and frankly admitted that, from the causes already indicated, he should be unable to prevent the Shawanese from taking up the hatchet in the cause of the Crown, the commander of the fort deemed it expedient to detain the old chief, with his Delaware companion, as hostages for the good conduct of their people. Nor did they remain unwillingly—little anticipating the fate that awaited them—and giving all the information respecting the Indians and their country, that could be desired by the Americans.
Uneasy at the protracted absence of his father, Ellinipsico, his son, went in pursuit, and traced him to the fort, where they had an affectionate meeting. Unfortunately, the day after the arrival of the young warrior at Point Pleasant, two white men having crossed the Kanhawa on a hunting expedition, were fired upon by some straggling Indians, and one of them, whose name was Gilmore, was killed. The other escaped. No sooner was the event of Gilmore's death known, than the cry of revenge was raised, and a party of ruffians assembled, under the command of a Captain Hall—not to pursue and punish the perpetrators of the murder—but to fall upon the friendly and peaceable Indians in the fort. Arming themselves, and cocking their rifles, they proceeded directly to the little garrison, menacing death to any or all who should oppose their nefarious designs. Some friend of the hostage-chiefs attempted to apprise them in advance of the approaching danger; but the savage mob were probably too close upon the heels of the messenger to allow of their escape. At the sound of the clamor without, Ellinipsico is said to have been somewhat agitated. Not so the veteran Cornstock. He had too often grappled with death on the war-path to fear his approaches now. Perceiving the emotion of his son, he calmly observed:—"My son, the Great Spirit has seen fit that we should die together, and has sent you to that end. It is his will, and let us submit," The infuriated mob had now gained the apartment of the victims; Cornstock fell, perforated with seven bullets, and died without a struggle. The son, after the exhortation of his father, met his fate with composure, and was shot on the seat upon which he was sitting. Red-hawk, the young Delaware, died with less fortitude. He hid himself away, but was discovered and slain. Another friendly Indian, in the fort at the time, was likewise killed, and his body mangled by the barbarians in a manner that would have disgraced savages of any other complexion. "Thus," says an Indian Chronicler, [FN] "perished the mighty Cornstock, sachem of the Shawanese, and king of the Northern confederacy, in 1774—a chief remarkable for many great and good qualities. He was disposed to be at all times the friend of white men, as he was ever the advocate of honorable peace. But when his country's wrongs summoned him to the battle, he became the thunderbolt of war, and made his enemies feel the weight of his arm. His noble bearing, his generous and disinterested attachment to the Colonies, his anxiety to preserve the frontier of Virginia from desolation and death, all conspired to win for him the esteem and respect of others; while the untimely and perfidious manner of his death caused a deep and lasting feeling of regret to pervade the bosoms, even of those who were enemies to his nation, and excited the just indignation of all toward his inhuman murderers."