The defeat of Colonel Boon at the Blue Licks in August, the massacre of the Moravian Indians, and the fate of Crawford and his expedition, are the last tales of blood connected with the American Revolution. It is true that in September following, a large body of Indians laid siege to the fort at Wheeling, but the siege was raised without farther bloodshed than the death of one man in the fort and of three or four without. A barn was burnt at Rice's fort, which was also invested, but not seriously, and the Indians withdrew to their own wilds. Should the details of the last few pages be considered rather too ample for the general plan of the present work, it must be remembered that the awarding of justice to the Indian character also entered largely into its design. The transaction on the Muskingum forms one of the darkest pages in the records of civilized war; unsurpassed, certainly, if not unparalleled, in the history, written or unwritten, of the whole aboriginal race. The victims were not only innocent and harmless, but, obedient to the precepts of their religion, offered no resistance to their hypocritical murderers, and poured out their blood like water—crimson libations in sacrifice to the white man's rapacity and hate. Nor can the Indians be censured for the fate of Crawford.
With the exception of the Indian details in the present chapter, the year 1782 passed away without furnishing any military operations of moment, under the immediate direction of the respective Commanders-in-chief. Sir Guy Carleton had probably been restrained from offensive war by instructions conforming to the pacific vote of the House of Commons, cited in the early part of the present chapter; while the condition of the American army, had Washington been otherwise disposed, disabled him from making any attempt on the posts in possession of the British. Generals Greene and Wayne had reconquered the south; and Sir Guy Carleton had directed the officers of his Majesty in the north to send out no more Indian expeditions and to recall those already on foot. Still, notwithstanding all these conciliatory indications, there remained a possibility that the conflict was not yet ended. A change of ministers in England might produce a change of policy. In view of this uncertainty, the Commander-in-chief relaxed none of his efforts during the year to preserve the discipline of the army, and keep the country in an attitude of defence. In pursuance of this policy, in the month of January, 1783, news of the signing of a treaty of peace not having yet been received, the Commander-in-chief conceived the project of surprising and obtaining possession of the important fortress of Oswego. It was the occupation of this post which gave the British such ready facilities for intriguing with the Six Nations on the one hand, and for pouring their motley battalions down upon the American settlements; and the Commander-in-chief judged wisely, that in the event of another campaign the possession of that fortress would be of the first consequence to the Americans, being then one of the most formidable military defences on the Continent.
[FN] Marshall.
Having determined to attempt its capture by surprise, the execution of the project was confided to Colonel Willett. With the utmost secrecy therefore, as to destination, the troops of his command were suddenly assembled at Fort Herkimer on the eighth of February. Commencing their march immediately, on the night of the 9th they crossed the Oneida lake, and arrived at Oswego Falls, a few miles only from the fortress, by two o'clock P. M. on the following day. With the small force under his command, and without the means of prosecuting a siege, it was of course necessary to carry the works by escalade if at all. Halting, therefore, at the Falls, the necessary ladders were constructed and the march was resumed. At 10 o'clock in the evening they were within four miles of the fort. After which, having marched about two hours, and not coming in sight of the point of destination, an investigation of the cause was undertaken, when, to the astonishment and mortification of the Commander, and to the vexation of the whole corps, it was ascertained that, by diverging from the river, their guide, a young Oneida Indian, had lost his way. The situation was, indeed, awkward and perplexing. They had been at one time nearly within speaking distance of the works, and the shout of victory was almost raised in anticipation, when suddenly they discovered that they were lost in a deep forest, in the depth of winter, and amid mountains of snow. It was too late to prosecute the enterprise any farther that night. They could not remain in the vicinity of the fortress over the ensuing day without being discovered. And the instructions of the Commander-in-chief were peremptory, that if they failed in surprising the fort, the attempt would be unwarrantable. The only alternative, therefore, was to relinquish the enterprise, and reluctantly retrace their steps. It was a sad mistake of the poor Indian, but not an error of design. The march had been one of great severity and fatigue. The guide had led them into a swamp, and while they were standing still, after discovering themselves to be lost, so cold was the weather, that the feet of some of the men froze into the mire. The return march was even more painful still, because of the lameness of some and the varied sufferings of others. One man was frozen to death. But all happened well in the end, for on Colonel Willett's return to Fort Rensselaer, and thence to Albany, he arrived at the ancient Dutch capital just in season to hear the welcome news of peace proclaimed by the Town Clerk at the City Hall, and to mingle his rejoicings with those of the inhabitants.
An agreement for the cessation of hostilities between the United States and Great Britain was signed by the respective commissioners of the two powers on the 20th of January, upon the basis of the articles stipulated in Paris on the 30th of the preceding November. And on the 24th of March, a letter was received from the Marquis de Lafayette, announcing a general peace. On the 11th of April Congress issued its proclamation, declaring the cessation of arms by sea and land.
In regard to the failure of Colonel Willett's last expedition, no possible censure was imputable to him. In reply to the Colonel's official account of the affair, General Washington wrote a characteristic letter, approving of his conduct, and consoling him for his disappointment. "Unfortunate as the circumstance is," said the Commander-in-chief, "I am happy in the persuasion that no imputation or reflection can justly reach your character; and that you are enabled to derive much consolation from the animated zeal, fortitude, and activity of the officers and soldiers who accompanied you. The failure, it seems, must be attributed to some of those unaccountable events which are not within the control of human means, and which, though they often occur in military life, yet require, not only the fortitude of the soldier, but the calm reflection of the philosopher to bear. I cannot omit expressing to you the high sense I entertain of your persevering exertions and zeal on this expedition; and beg you to accept my warm thanks on the occasion; and that you will be pleased to communicate my gratitude to the officers and men who acted under your command, for the share they had in that service."
Thus ends the history of the border wars of the American Revolution—the principal theatres of which were in the districts north and west of Albany. The vale of the Mohawk, including its intersecting valley of the Schoharie-kill, was among the most thickly populated and wealthy agricultural districts of the country at the commencement of the war. The productiveness of its soil, and the riches of its people, rendered it ever an inviting object of plunder to the enemy—especially to the savages, and the swarms of refugees who had fled from the country, and were sharing a precarious livelihood among the Indian wigwams and in the wilds of Canada. Its geographical position, moreover, rendered it the most easily assailable of any well-peopled section of the whole Union; while at the same time the larger armies of the enemy were employed elsewhere, and of course required the greatest portion of the physical strength of the country elsewhere to oppose them. The consequence of these, and other circumstances that might be enumerated, was, that no other section or district of country in the United States, of the like extent, suffered in any comparable degree as much from the war of the Revolution as did that of the Mohawk. It was the most frequently invaded and overrun; and that, too, by an enemy far more barbarous than the native barbarians of the forest. Month after month, for seven long years, were its towns and villages, its humbler settlements and isolated habitations, fallen upon by an untiring and relentless enemy, until, at the close of the contest, the appearance of the whole district was that of wide-spread, heart-sickening, and universal desolation. In no other section of the confederacy were so many campaigns performed, so many battles fought, so many dwellings burnt, or so many murders committed. And those who were left at the return of peace, were literally a people "scattered and peeled." It was the computation, two years before the close of the war, that one third of the population had gone over to the enemy, and that one third had been driven from the country, or slain in battle and by private assassination. And yet, among the inhabitants of the other remaining third, in June, 1783, it was stated, at a public meeting held at Fort Plain, that there were three hundred widows and two thousand orphan children. But with the news of peace the dispersed population began to return to the sites of their former homes. [FN] Their houses were rebuilt, and their farms once more brought into cultivation; while different and not less enterprising occupants, deriving their titles from the state, took possession of the confiscated lands of those who had adhered to the cause of the crown. The spirit of industry and enterprise, so characteristic of the American people, was not long in imparting a new aspect to the scene; and Tryon County, exchanging her name for that of the patriot Montgomery, soon smiled through her tears.
[FN] Along with the returning patriots, as Satan was wont in the olden time occasionally to present himself in better company, some of the Tories began to steal back into the country they had forsaken, and assisted to drench in tears of blood. But the Whig population would not endure their presence. The preceding narrative of events has shown that the Tryon County loyalists, who had taken arms in company with the Indians, were far more revengeful and bloody than were the Indians themselves. It is no marvel, therefore, that a feeling of peculiar bitterness against them existed in the bosoms of those who had suffered so keenly at their hands. These feelings were embodied and declared at two public meetings held in different sections of Tryon County, in June, 1783; for which, see Appendix, No. V.