[FN-1] Letter from Washington to the commander at Morristown, Dec. 30.
[FN-2] Holmes's Annals.
[CHAPTER VIII.]
Continuation of movements in New Jersey—Extinguishment of the council-fire at Onondaga—Tryon County—Colonel Harper's mission to Oghkwaga—The Harper family—Adventure at the Johnstone settlement—Capture of Good Peter and his party—Thayendanegea crosses from Canada to Oghkwaga—Interview with the Rev. Mr. Johnstone—Doubtful course of Brant—Feverish situation of the people—Expedition of General Herkimer to Unadilla—Remarkable meeting between Herkimer and Brant—Meditated act of treachery—Wariness of the chief—Meeting abruptly terminated—Ended in a storm—Brant draws off to Oswego—Grand council there—The Indians generally join the Royal standard—Approach of Brant upon Cherry Valley—How defeated—Death of Lieutenant Wormwood.
Having secured his prisoners on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware, General Washington established himself at Trenton. But he was not long permitted its undisturbed possession. Collecting his forces, Cornwallis advanced rapidly upon the capital of New Jersey, where he arrived on the 2d of January. Some skirmishing ensued toward evening, but both armies encamped for the night without coming to a general engagement—being separated only by Assumpinck Creek—and apparently both expecting a battle in the morning. The force of the enemy, however, was too great to render it safe for the American Commander-in-chief to hazard an action. By an adroit and masterly movement, therefore, leaving his fires burning. General Washington succeeded in getting away unperceived, and throwing himself into the enemy's rear. The battle and victory of Princeton followed, and the American army moved to Morristown, while Cornwallis hastened back to New Brunswick and thence to New-York—the different detachments of British troops, which had been scattered through New Jersey, being at all points discomfited.
Returning from this digression to the Indian relations of New-York, there is one event to be noted, the character of which cannot be explained. Among the manuscripts preserved in the family of the hero of Oriskany, [FN-1] is a speech from the Oneida chiefs to Colonel Elmore, the officer who, at the commencement of the present year, was in the command of Fort Schuyler, announcing the final extinguishment of the great council-fire of the Six Nations at Onondaga. As the central nation of the confederacy, their general councils, time immemorial, had been holden at the Onondaga Castle, at which, in their own figurative language, their council-fire was ever kept burning. These councils assembled annually to discuss the exterior relations, and all matters of national concernment. They were composed of chiefs delegated from each member of the federative republic, and sometimes numbered as many as eighty sachems in the assembly. [FN-2] By what means the event had been accomplished—whether the calamity was the result of pestilence or war—the speech of the Oneidas does not inform us; although it announces the fall of a large number of the Onondaga warriors, in connexion with the catastrophe. Still, the transaction is veiled in darkness so thick as to baffle investigation. The following is the speech:—
[FN-1] Colonel, afterward General Herkimer.
[FN-2] "The national council took cognizance of war and peace, of the affairs of the tributary nations, and of their negotiations with the French and English Colonies. All their proceedings were conducted with great deliberation, and were distinguished for order, decorum, and solemnity. In eloquence, in dignity, and in all the characteristics of profound policy, they surpassed an assembly of feudal barons, and were perhaps not far inferior to the great Amphyctionic council of Greece."—De Wilt Clinton.