"Brother! You have merited death, and shall have your deserts! When the rebels raised their hatchets to fight their good master, you sharpened your knife, you brightened your rifle, and led on our foes to the fields of our fathers!
"Brother! You have merited death, and shall die by our hands! When those rebels had driven us from the fields of our fathers to seek out new houses, it was you who could dare to step forth as their pilot, and conduct them even to the doors of our wigwams, to butcher our children and put us to death! No crime can be greater! But though you have merited death, and shall die on this spot, my hands shall not be stained with the blood of a brother!—Who will strike?"
A pause of but a moment ensued. The bright hatchet of Little Beard, the sachem of the village, flashed in the air like the lightning, and the young Oneida chief was dead at his feet. [FN] The other captive, who was also an Oneida sachem, was then informed by Little Beard that he was warring only against the whites, and that his life should be spared; adding, farther, that at a suitable time he should be restored to liberty. Distrusting the good faith of the chief, however, the captive watched an opportunity for escape, and very shortly afterward accomplished his purpose—but in a manner which produced another tragic catastrophe, as will presently appear.
[FN] This was truly a shocking transaction, but not so shocking as that of the horrible fratricide before recorded at Wyoming, nor so shocking as the attempt of the brother of Colonel Frey at Oriskany. The Indian had far the most humanity, and far the highest sense of honor and duty.
From Honeoye, General Sullivan advanced in two days upon a town containing twenty-five houses, called Kanaghsaws. There were large corn-fields to be destroyed here also, and a bridge to be constructed over an unfordable creek intervening between Kanaghsaws and Little Beard's town, lying next in the route to Genesee—so called from the name of a celebrated chief then residing there. While delayed by these obstacles, Lieutenant Boyd, of the rifle corps, was detached with twenty-six men to reconnoiter that chieftain's town, where also was a castle. Having performed that duty, and in doing so killed and scalped two Indians [FN-1] in the otherwise deserted village, he had commenced his return to the main division. It so happened that Boyd was passing at no great distance from the party of Indians having the Oneida prisoner in charge. The latter was guarded by two Indians, between whom he was walking arm in arm, when, at a favorable moment, he suddenly broke from their grasp, and fled at the top of his speed in the direction of Sullivan's army. The Indians, in goodly numbers, turned out in pursuit, and while running, fell in with the party of Lieutenant Boyd. [FN-2] By this time the Indians in pursuit after the fugitive numbered several hundred, under the immediate command of Joseph Brant, who seems suddenly to have made his appearance for the occasion. [FN-3] Indeed, according to one authority, Brant was not concerned with the pursuit, but had previously secreted himself in a deep ravine, with a large party of his Indians and Butler's rangers, for the express purpose of cutting off Boyd's retreat. [FN-4] Discovering his situation, and in fact surrounded by fearful odds, Boyd saw, of course, that his only chance of escape was to strike at some given point, and cut his way through the ranks of the enemy. It was a bold measure; but there was no alternative, and he made three successive attempts to accomplish his purpose. In the first, several of the enemy fell, without the loss of a single man on his own part. But he was repulsed. The Indians stood their ground nobly; and in the second and third attempts upon their line by Boyd, his whole party fell except himself and eight others. In the next moment several of these were killed, while a few succeeded in flight—among whom was the bold Virginian, Murphy. Boyd was himself taken prisoner, and one other man named Parker. The Lieutenant immediately solicited an interview with Thayendanegea, and making himself known as a Freemason, was assured by the chief of protection. [FN-5] One of the party under Lieutenant Boyd was a brave Oneida warrior, named Honyerry, who served him as a guide. This faithful Indian had served long with the Americans, and, as the reader has already seen, was particularly distinguished in the battle of Oriskany, where so many of the Mohawk and Seneca warriors fell. On the present occasion, moreover, he acquitted himself with signal courage. Being an excellent marksman, his rifle did great execution. The Indians knew him, and as they closed in upon the little band, poor Honyerry was literally hacked to pieces. [FN-6] It was a dear victory, however, to the enemy. The firing was so close before the brave party was destroyed, that the powder of the enemy's muskets was driven into their flesh. The enemy had no covert, while Boyd's party was, for a portion of the time at least, possessed of a very advantageous one. The enemy were, moreover, so long employed in removing their dead, that the approach of General Hand's brigade obliged them to leave one of the number among the dead riflemen; together with a wagon load of packs, blankets, hats, and provisions, which they had thrown off to enable them to act with more agility in the field. [FN-7]
[FN-1] Captain Fowler's Journal. One of these Indians was shot and scalped by Murphy, whose name has already occurred in connexion with the Schoharie wars.
[FN-2] Life of Mary Jemison.
[FN-3] Captain Fowler and John Salmon both state the number of Indians engaged in this affair at upward of five hundred.