Meantime, having completed his organization at Oswego, General St. Leger commenced his march upon Fort Schuyler, moving by the route already indicated, though with great circumspection. The name of this place of rendezvous has already recurred more than once, or twice, in the preceding pages. Its position was important, and it had been a place of renown in the earlier wars of the Colony. The river bearing the same name, which here pours Northwardly into Lake Ontario, is the outlet both of the Oneida and Seneca rivers, through which, and their tributary streams, it is connected with the chain of small lakes bearing the names of Oneida, Cazenovia, Skaneateles, Owasco, Cayuga, Seneca, and Canandaigua. Its estuary, of course, forms the natural opening into the rich district of country surrounding those lakes, which, down to the period of the present history, contained the principal towns of four of the Five Nations of Indians. During the wars between the French and Five Nations, Oswego was repeatedly occupied by the armies of the former. It was here that Count Frontenac landed, on his invasion of the Onondaga country in 1692, at which time, or subsequently, a considerable military work was erected on the western side of the river. During the war with France, which was closed in America by the conquest of Canada, it was in the occupancy of the Provincials and English. The expedition destined to descend the St. Lawrence upon Montreal, was assembled at this point in 1759, after the fall of Niagara, under General Shirley and Sir William Johnson, The army was encamped here several weeks, and finally broke up without attempting its main object—owing, as Sir William Johnson intimates in his private diary, to a want of energy on the part of Shirley. After the fall of Quebec and Montreal into the hands of the English, a battalion of the 55th regiment was stationed at Oswego, under Major Duncan, a brother of the naval hero of Camperdown. A new and far more formidable work was constructed upon the Eastern or North-eastern promontory, formed by the embouchure of the river into the lake. The new position was far better chosen for a fortress than the old; and, ultimately, before the Britons were dispossessed of it by the Americans, it became a work of somewhat formidable strength and dimensions. The situation is one of the most beautiful that can be imagined; and during the two or three years in which Major Duncan was in command, by the cultivation of a large garden, the laying out and improving of a bowling-green, and other pleasure-grounds, it was rendered a little paradise in the wilderness. [FN]
[FN] See Mrs. Grant's delightful book—"Memoirs of an American Lady," chapters xliv. to xlvii. inclusive.
All told, the army of St. Leger consisted of seventeen hundred men—Indians included. These latter were led by Thayendanegea. The order of their march, as beautifully drawn and colored, was subsequently taken, with the escritoire of the commanding General, and will be found on the subsequent page, accurately copied and engraved. The advance of the main body, it will be seen, was formed of Indians, marching in five Indian columns; that is, in single files, at large distances from each other, and four hundred and sixty paces in front of the line. From these columns of Indians, files were stretched at a distance often paces from each other, forming a line of communication with the advanced guard of the line, which was one hundred paces in front of the column. The right and left flanks were covered by Indians at one hundred paces, forming likewise lines of communication with the main body. The King's regiment moved from the left by Indian file, while the 34th moved in the same order from the right. The rear-guard was formed of regular troops; while the advance guard, composed of sixty marksmen, detached from Sir John Johnson's regiment of Royal Greens, was led by Sir John's brother-in-law, Captain Watts. Each corps was likewise directed to have ten chosen marksmen in different parts of its line, in case of attack, to be pushed forward to any given point as circumstances might require. [FN]
[FN] MS. directions found among the captured papers of St. Leger.
From these extraordinary precautions, it may well be inferred that General St. Leger, who probably acted much under the advice of Sir John Johnson and the refugee Provincials, who must have been best acquainted with the country and the character of the enemy they were going to encounter, was not a little apprehensive of an attack by surprise while on his march.
In addition to the arrangements already indicated, a detachment from the 8th regiment, with a few Indians, was sent a day or more in advance, under the command of Lieutenant Bird. This officer pushed forward with spirit, but was somewhat annoyed by the insubordination and independent action of his allies. The following extracts from his private diary [FN] will not only disclose his own embarrassments, but illustrate the character of Indian warriors acting in concert with regular troops:—