USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > Reports and papers. Fairfield County Historical Society, Bridgeport, Conn. 1882-1896-97 > Part 43
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On the afternoon of July 3d the gates of Forty fort were thrown open and the little column of men and boys marched out to meet their fate. It comprised 230 enrolled men and 70 others of all ages. The judges of the court and all the magistrates, grand fathers, and school boys with their teacher were in the ranks : a few sentinels were left to keep the fort together with the weeping and trembling women and children whose prayers and tears followed the fated band of husbands and fathers and sons as they moved out to take their almost hopeless chances with battle and death.
The column marched about three miles before it found the enemy. These being fully apprised of its approach, had already taken position. A short pause ensued during which the little band formed in order of battle. Col. Butler spoke a few words only, exhorting the men to stand firm and do their duty. At four o'clock the battle commenced. The Connecticut men advanced firing by platoons, directly against the enemy's center which was composed of Canadians and Tories and commanded by John Butler in person, who was conspicuous
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with a handkerchief tied about his head. As the Wyoming men pressed hotly forward this body gave way, but the great force of concealed Indians on both flanks was pouring in a murderous fire which soon made further progress impossible. For half an hour the Connecticut men endured it, their ranks rapidly thinning. An attempt was then made to face part of the line to the right so as to confront the hidden enemy on that side; some confusion occurred in trying to execute this manenver and in an instant the savages rushed in with horrid yells : some one called out to retreat and the disorder in- ereased. Col. Butler rushed to the spot and endeavored to rally the line, " Dont leave me, my children" he cried, "and the victory is ours." But the disparity in numbers was too great : those who stood still were cut down, every captain in the whole company had been slain and what were left of the men soon broke in hopeless rout.
The Indians crowded between the fugitives and the fort forcing most of them toward the river and followed their flight in that direction, killing and scalping by the score. At the river many were killed, a few swam to the island where they concealed themselves and escaped, others were Inred from the water by promises of quarter and butchered. Lieu- tenant Shoemaker was thus murdered by a former neighbor whom he had often befriended.
Large numbers of captives were arranged in eireles and held by savages while a hideous squaw known as queen Esther slaughtered them with clubs and tomahawk. Four- teen scalped and mangled bodies were afterwards found in one such circle and nine in another. These horrible scenes continued till darkness interfered : then the death fires were lighted and all night long the black sky was lurid with the flames at which most of the remaining captives were roasted while their shrieks rang in the ears of their friends and families in the fort. Of all the prisoners captured in the battle and the flight two only were spared: these were both carried off by the enemy on their return to Canada and one being too infirm to keep up was killed by the way.
While these dreadful scenes were being enacted the un-
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happy occupants of Forty Fort were suffering the agonies of bereavement and despair. Col. Butler had succeeded in reach- ing the fort with a few survivors and at once hurried to Wilkesbarre about two miles distant to take measures for its defence leaving Col. Dennison in command. One hundred and sixty of his company had been lost. One hundred and forty escaped by swimming the river; some reached Forty Fort and some took refuge in the mountains Immediately from all the other forts in the valley began a panic stricken flight; the woods were filled with women and children, and with the sick and infirm, without guide or protectors and without food, and some of them in desperate illness. The day after the battle the enemy sent flags to Forty Fort de- manding the surrender of the entire valley. Col. Dennison having sent word to Col. Zebulon Butler at Wilkesbarre to escape with all the soldiers of the continental line, soon agreed to the terms of capitulation; these were that all the remaining forts in the settlement should be delivered up with all the continental stores, the inhabitants to remain on their farms and their private property to be protected so far as Major Butler's influence would avail, all Tories resident in the valley to be allowed to remain unmolested and the settlers not to take up arms again during the war.
The gates of Forty Fort were now thrown open and the arms and stores delivered up. Notwithstanding Butler's en- gagement to use his influence for the protection of private property his followers speedily began to pillage unrestrained and to destroy everything within reach, Butler declaring himself unable to stop it. Even Col. Dennison was stripped of his hat and coat. Butler remained in possession of the fort for three days; then finding his commands disregarded by his own men and foreseeing that the excesses of the sava- ges continually increasing would soon grow beyond control he mustered as much of his force as was still amenable to dis- cipline and withdrew from the valley, his followers loaded with scalps and plunder. A considerable proportion of the savages however broke up into separate bands and roved about the neighborhood for many weeks plundering, murder-
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ing and burning until the whole district had been scathed with fire and slaughter. Those who could, fled from the county. Forty Fort was deserted and except a few inhabi- tants who collected at Wilkesbarre the whole people aban- doned the settlements. Those who remained and some others who afterwards returned made an effort to gather in what little of the crops had escaped destruction. Interrupted constantly by the Indians, numbers were killed and but little of the grain could be secured. With the help of a few troops from the Continental line who were sent to their assistance, these marauders were finally driven out It was not till the end of October however that the bodies of those who had fallen in the battle of July 3d, could with safety be buried.
The massacre at Wyoming aroused intense feelings of sym- pathy and indignation not only throughout this country but in every other. The story embellished with constantly grow- ing details of barbarity and suffering was studiously circulated throughout Europe in the interest of the American cause. The inhuman course of Great Britain in its employment of savage allies in civilized warfare was used as a theme by ora- tors, essayists and poets, until the British Government itself felt ashamed and sullenly charged that Butler as the comman- der of the invading force was responsible for its excessive slaughter and cruelty. Such was also the prevailing impres sion iu this country for two generations, and it colored the narrative as given in all the earlier histories.
It is now well established however that while Butler justly merits execration for taking charge of such a fiendish foray, well knowing what the consequences must be, he was himself moved by the atrocities that he witnessed and granted easy conditions of surrender in order to prevent their renewal. The realities were dreadful enough, but not more so and on a much smaller scale than numerous horrors which have been enacted since that date in the warfare of so called christian peoples, and for which christian congregations have sung Te Deums in the temples of the Prince of Peace.
Such is war, that relic of human savagery; justifiable doubt- less it often is, but only as a dire necessity in order to pre-
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serve rights whose loss would be worse for the human race than even War's accumulated crimes and miseries. God speed the day when in any cause less sacred than this, The warrior's name shall be a name abhorred. And every nation that shall lift again Its hand against its brother, on its forehead
Shall wear forevermore the brand of Cain !
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SECOND PAPER.
Connecticut's East India Company ; THE STORY OF WYOMING.
CHAPTER V.
When Major John Butler withdrew from Wyoming valley after the dreadful scenes of slaughter and havoc which were related in the last paper, the larger part of his Indian allies went with him, but many bands remained in the vicinity, murdering, plundering and burning. Forty Fort was abandoned ; and except a few destitute inhabitants who gathered at Wilkesbarre the whole people fled from the set- tlements. The crops of course were lost and the entire valley became the scene of widespread conflagration and ruin.
A month after the massacre while the whole country was still quivering with grief and sympathy over the shocking story, the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania in an address to the Assembly expressed itself as follows: " The late fatal catastrophe which has befallen the Connecticut settlers on the Penn Susquehanna, deplorable as it is, recollects the disput- ed footing on which these sufferers stood. Compassion for them as well as justice to this State require that they be re- minded of the precarious nature of their tenure before they re-establish themselves." Notwithstanding this considerate warning against any attempt by the surviving victims to res- tore their ruined homes and fortunes, Col. Zebulon Butler and a few settlers with the aid of a small force obtained from the Continental line, began at once to expel the Indian ma- randers from the immediate vicinity. After three months of hard fighting this was so far accomplished that it became pos- sible to bury the bodies of those who had been slain in the battle and the massacre. On October 10th, under a military
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guard the mangled and unrecognizable forms, still lying where they fell, were collected and mingled in a common trench. The spot has since been marked by a plain and suitable mon- nment.
No sooner had the Continental companies returned to the army than the savages renewed their devastations, and sever- al families who had ventured back were slaughtered or car- ried off before the Spring of 1779. During the winter Col. Butler being left with only about 100 men, bands of Indians appeared about Wilkesbarre, repeatedly threatening and once attacking the fort. On this occasion the famous four pounder being called into play made its only recorded hit, actually killing the Indian chief who led the assault. The attack was repelled but it was impossible to follow the enemy with so small a force, and they retired, burning houses and barns and carrying off large numbers of cattle and horses. A few days afterwards they returned and in full sight of the Fort killed and sealped several inhabitants. A detachment of two hun- dred men sent from the Continental army to Butler's assist- ance, was surprised and barely escaped defeat. It reached the fort however and by its aid, Col. Butler was enabled to clear the open portions of the valley of the human wolves, though small packs of them still hovered in the forest and mountain passes murdering and plundering at every oppor- tunity.
Gen. Washington now determined to make an inroad into the country of the Six Nations in order to punish and to check these hostile demonstrations. By his orders Gen. Sul- livan assembled a force of about 3500 meu at Wilkesbarre for the expedition. The enemy which consisted of Indians with British troops regular and irregular, were on the alert and while the expedition was preparing, hovered around the very edges of its encampment, attacking settlements and cutting off several small detachments of the Continental forces. Sul- livan's army left Wilkesbarre July 31, 1779, and marched to the head waters of the Susquehanna harrassed all the way by the vigilant and active foe. At the Tioga River the enemy comprising about 2500 men under John Butler made a stand
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behind fortifications. A severe battle ensued and the Indians and British were routed The Indian country was immediat- ely invaded and ravaged : every house but one wigwam was . consumed, hundreds of cultivated fields laid waste and numer- ous peach orchards loaded with ripening fruit eut down, From the 29th of August till the 28th of September, the whole army was incessantly engaged in the work of destruction. Several captives from Wyoming, were discovered and freed, but besides these and one old squaw too old to be removed, not a human being was found, so totally was the country de- serted.
When Sullivan's victorious army returned down the river it had a grand reception at Wilkesbarre ; the village had already begun to be filled with returning refugees, and there was new hope that it would again be safe to reocenpy their desolated farms. The hope proved illusory. Sullivan's expedition did not end the Indians ravages in the valley. Their invasions continued till the end of the war ; and for three successive years Wyoming was the theatre of almost continuous carnage. plunder, conflagration and captures. Nevertheless during those years of terror such was the charm of the well loved spot that few settlers voluntarily left it, and many who had fled returned.
The population elustered for the most part about the fort at Wilkesbarre. The civil organization was resumed. Elect- ions were held and magistrates chosen and representatives sent to the General Assembly at Hartford. In 1780 some of the more daring settlers began to re-occupy some of the out- lying farms. Quickly the Indians reappeared in roving bands. and numerous and romantic were the exploits and adventures with which the annals of the settlements teem throughout this distressful and thrilling period.
In 1780 the General Assembly of Connecticut resolved that " in view of the great losses and sufferings of the people of Westmoreland all their taxes be abated :" and a committee was appointed to take account of their losses with a view to farther indemnitication. During this year the Indian raids continued ; almost every month several settlers were slain and
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others taken captive. Thirteen men in one party were killed in September. The season was also excessively hot and sick- ly. Owing to the Indian ravages very little corn could be gathered or planted and the community suffered from a scar- city of food. A supply which was coming up the river for the garrison of the fort was stopped and confiscated by the Pennsylvanian authorities. In pleasing contrast with this in- humanity was the act of the parish of Dresden, Virginia, which sent §180 for the relief of the distressed inhabitants. Faith- ful little Dresden ! I have been unable to find it on the map, and its name so far as I know appears no where else in his- tory. That kindly act, the only one of the sort which was ex- tended at this time to afflicted Wyoming, is all that is known of it ; shining across the years like a far off candle in the dark- ness-a good deed in a naughty world! Another friend which had often cheered and sustained the people also came nobly to the rescue. The Susquehanna River after furnishing its usual supply of shad in the spring, this year doubled its ef- forts and produced in the fall extraordinary swarms of eels. Fourteen thousand of these wriggling dainties were taken within three weeks-a welcome boon to the hungry people which they did not allow to slip through their fingers. In December came another Indian attack on one of the settle- ments and seven inhabitants, all prominent men and fathers of families were carried off. This ended 1780.
For the next two years, 1781 and 1782, the record is mon- otonous and melancholy of Indiau ravages and bloodshed. In 1781 such was the insecurity and depopulation of the valley that less than 200 acres in all were cultivated. The tax valu- ation for this year shows less than $7,500 as the entire rate- able property of the settlements. Comparing this with the valuation of the year preceding the massacre, a diminution appears of nearly $60,000, or about 92 per cent. Neverthe- less the settlers kept up their courage during these arduous years, enlivening the time with scouting parties, and singing meetings and marriages, and by way of variety au occasional good old fashioned Connecticut divorce. The conservation of morals also by judicial proceedings was not neglected. A Son
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of Belial who played eards was convicted and punished. It would appear that the game must have been solitaire as no associate in erime is mentioned. Mary Pritchard being found guilty of nunecessarily going from her place of abode on the Lords day was fined five shillings. It is not unlikely that these prosecutions were brought not so much on account of the acts complained of as for the purpose of discouraging con- tinued residence by disagreeable members of the community, yet these are the most serious offences which appear on the criminal records of Wyoming at this period. Says Miner : "Disjointed as were the times, aroused as were the passions and unloosed as moral ties generally are during the preva- lence of war, it is a just and pleasing tribute to Wyoming that neither tradition. the Court records, nor any memorandum found discloses a single crime that deserves the character of heinous. There never was a record for the same number of years less stained with guilt, its pages more pure and free from the taint of malignity and corruption."
In October 1781 Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. The war was virtually ended, and the curtain now rises on new phases and new actors in the complex and animated drama of Wyoming.
Early in the Revolution the Government of the Penn fam- ily had been superseded in Pennsylvania and Governor John Penn had fled to England in 1776. In 1778 the Legislature sequestered all the proprietary lands except a few manors and thus the State succeeded to the claim of jurisdiction and ownership in Wyoming which the proprietaries had previous- ly asserted. It had then proceeded to make grants in the valley, of lands already occupied by the Connecticut settlers : which grants were purchased by parties who speculated on their chances of getting possession of the lands through fu- ture judicial proceedings or direet state action. These land grants were now held by persons of influence with the State authorities and the first movement in their interest was quick- ly taken. Fifteen days after the surrender of Cornwallis the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, presented a petition to Congress praying for an adjudication under the IXth Article
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of the Confederation of the respective claims of that State and the State of Connecticut to the Wyoming Valley. The State of Connecticut through its representatives in Congress concurred in the application. A commission of six was agreed upon by the delegates from the two states. and appointed by Congress August 12, 1782, and the commission opened its Court November 12, 1782, at Trenton, New Jersey. Wm. Bradford, Joseph Reed, James Wilson and Jonathan Sergeant appeared as Counsel for Pennsylvania For Connecticut came Eliphalet Dyer, Wm. Samuel Johnson and Jesse Root.
Before referring to the action of the Court let us recur for a moment to the Susquehanna Company which we have so long lost sight of and inquire what it had been doing during_ the eight years which had elapsed since the town of West- moreland had been established under the jurisdiction of Con- necticut. In fact so far as the records of the Company show, not a meeting had been held since May 24, 1774, only two months after the township organization. No reference appears in the record of that meeting to the new political relations of the settlements, and no indication that the Company expected to abate its interest in their affairs, yet the next page of the volume is headed with the date of November 13, 1782, the day after the assembling of the Court at Trenton. The meet. ing was held at Hartford with Eleazar Talcott for Moder- ator and Samuel Gray for Clerk, and proceeded to appoint Col. Eliphalet Dyer, Wm. Samuel Johnson Esq. and Jesse Root Esq , as its agents jointly and severally to act before that Court for the benefit of the Company. These gentlemen were already in attendance before the Court as counsel for Connecticut : but the controversy between Pennsylvania and Connecticut related to political jurisdiction only, while as against the company Pennsylvania also claimed ownership of the soil and the invalidity of all the titles which it had given or might give to settlers. It did not appear that this ques- tion of ownership of the soil would be at issue before the Court ; but evidently the company feared it might be, and thought it prudent to fortify themselves by a special retainer of the same counsel on their own account. The gentlemen
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named were therefore authorized "to transact all manner of business necessary to be done and transacted on behalf of said Company before the Commissioners appointed to try and determine the right, title and jurisdiction between the State of Connecticut and the State of Pennsylvania." Fifty shares of stock were authorized to be sold to pay expenses and one share was voted to each of the Connsel "as a gratuity." or in modern phrase "a retainer." A special committee was also appointed to obtain copies of certain documents from the State of Massachusetts to be used in evidence if required. Meantime however the question had been raised at the open- ing of the Court whether questions beating on the ownership of the soil and the validity of private titles were to be consid- ered on the hearing. The Court decided that they should not : on the ground that the proceeding was between the States alone, and related to political jurisdiction only. An- other clause in the Articles of Confederation provided for the adjudication of ownership of the soil in disputed territory, as between the States and private parties interested, and this could therefore be made the subject of a separate trial should one become necessary.
The session at the Court at Trenton lasted 41 judicial days.
It does not come within the province of this paper to pre- sent the legal questions discussed before the bearing upon the respective claims of the two States to jurisdiction over the Wyoming Valley. As we have seen, whatever may have been the rights of Connecticut she had always been back ward in maintaining them by recognition and vigorous support of the Wyoming settlements. On the other hand Pennsylvania had never failed or faltered in her persistent efforts to occupy the territory. Doubtless these contrasting facts had much influence on the Court, whose decisions was rendered Decem- ber 30, 1782, in favor of Pennsylvania. There are grounds to believe that this decision was not entirely unexpected or even disagreeable to Connecticut. for reasons which do not appear on the surface. So many States had conflicting claims to Western territory that there was every prospect of inextrica- ble confusion and controversy and possibly a disruption of
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the Confederacy unless there could be mutual adjustment and compromise on this subject. That there was some secret un- derstanding between Connecticut and Pennsylvania is indi- cated by the fact that immediately after the Trenton decree Connecticut ceded to Congress all her lands lying west of Pennsylvania reserving however a certain tract in Ohio since known as the Western Reserve. These Ohio lands were also claimed by Virginia, and if the title of Connecticut was bad to the Wyoming Valley it was bad for the same reasons to all land west of it. Yet on the question whether Congress would accept the cession and recognize the right of Connecticut to keep the Western Reserve, (a question which gave rise to much debate) Pennsylvania always voted with Connecticut and in one instance in opposition to all the other States. But whatever may have been the real grounds or secret influences which determined the decree, the fact remains that on the 30th of December 1782, the Court rendered its unanimous judgement, but without giving any reasons, that the State of Connecticut had no rights to the Wyoming lands in controv- ersy and that the jurisdiction and pre-emption of all those lands did of right belong to the State of Pennsylvania. With this event so important to Wyoming, and as the sequel show- ed so fraught with new complications and direful consequen- ces to its hapless settlers, the year 1782 came to a close.
CHAPTER VI.
The news of the decision brought consternation to the peo- ple of Wyoming. Within 18 days after it was issued they pre- sented to the Assembly of Pennsylvania an eloquent and pa- thetic petition reciting the good faith with which they had sustained the claims of Connecticut under the encouragement of that Commonwealth. the increased value they had given to the land by their improvements, and the losses and sufferings they had endured. "If we have committed faults," they say, "we pray for mercy and forgiveness. If we have deserved anything we hope something from the gratitude of our coun- try." " We are yet alive, but the richest blood of our neigh-
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