USA > New Jersey > The history of New Jersey, from its discovery by Europeans, to the adoption of the federal Constitution > Part 45
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XX. These injuries were in a small degree retaliated-by inroads into the Indian country from Schoharie, under Colonel William Butler; who pene- trated as far as the towns of Unandilla, and Anaquaqua, the head-quarters of the celebrated Col. Brandt, an Indian of the half-breed, distinguished for his courage and his cruelty, which he destroyed, with a considerable quan- tity of corn, laid up for the winter's supply, without discovering an enemy :- By Colonel Hartley, who had been despatched with his regiment, and two companies of militia, to Wyoming-and by Colonel George Rogers Clarke, of Virginia, who, with a small force, and extraordinary exertions, averted the Indian war from his state, and captured the fort at St. Vincents, with its commander, Colonel Hamilton. This officer, with a few of his imme- diate agents and counsellors, who had been instrumental in the savage bar- barities he had encouraged, were by the executive of Virginia, imprisoned in irons.
These expeditions, however beneficial, procured only partial relief. Con- gress, on being informed that the Indians were fortifying at Chemung, a large settlement about twelve miles from the mouth of Cayuga, a river emptying into the Susquehanna, where a large body of tories was collected, directed General Washington to take measures to disperse this encampment, and to repel the invasion of the savages on the frontiers of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. But the season of the year being unfit for such an enterprise, it was postponed.
Early in 1779, an extensive plan of operations was devised by General Washington, against the broad and fertile country, lying between the then westernmost settlements of Pennsylvania and New York, and the great lakes, occupied by the Six Nation Indians. These tribes had, from long in- tercourse with the whites, acquired many of the comforts of civilized life, with enlarged ideas of the advantages of private property. Their populous villages contained some good houses, their fertile fields yielded an abundant supply of corn, and their thrifty orchards, of fruit. A . few of their towns were attached to the United States, but the greater portion was under the . influence of the British. In the commencement of the war, they had en- gaged to be neutral; but were unable to resist the seduction of British pre- sents, and their own longings for plunder and slaughter. Many of the loyalists driven from the United States, had taken refuge among them, in- creasing their strength, without diminishing their ferocity. Into the heart of these villages of mingled whites and Indians, it was now determined to lead a force, which, overpowering any numbers they could bring in the field, would inflict on them a merited punishment for their cruelties of the past year.
The country was to be entered in three divisions. The principal, consist- ing of three thousand men, marching by the Susquehanna, was to penetrate into the settlements of the Senecas; the second, of one thousand, to proceed by the Mohawk; and the third, of five hundred, by the Alleghany river. To prevent relief from Canada, demonstrations were made of a design to attack that province by the way of Lake Champlain.
XXI. As the army destined for the expedition, was about to move, alarming
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symptoms of discontent appeared in part of it. The Jersey brigade had been stationed through the winter at Elizabethtown, for the purpose of cover- ing the adjacent country from the incursions of the British troops, on Staten Island. It was ordered, carly in May, to march by regiments. To this order, General Maxwell replied, in a letter to the commander-in-chief, that the officers of the first regiment had delivered to their colonel, a remon- strance, addressed to the State Legislature, declaring, that, unless their com- plaints on the subjects of pay and subsistence obtained immediate attention, they were, at the expiration of three days, to be considered as having re- signed; and requesting the Legislature in that event, to appoint other officers. General Maxwell added, " this is a step they are extremely unwilling to take; but is such, as I make no doubt, they will all take. Nothing but ne- cessity, their not being able to support themselves in time to come, and being loaded with debts contracted in time past, would have induced them to resign at so critical a juncture." They declared, however, their readiness to make every necessary preparation for obeying the marching orders which had been given, and to continue their attention to the regiment, until a rea- sonable time for the appointment of their successors should elapse.
General Washington was much afflicted by this intelligence, and sought, in vain, by paternal remonstrance, to change their determination.
The condition of these officers seems to have been one of extreme priva- tion. By a resolution of December, 1777, Congress had recommended to the several States to furnish the officers of their respective quotas, with cer- tain clothing, at the prices current, when the army was established, in the year 1776, the surplus to be charged to the United States. This resolution seems to have been tardily and imperfectly obeyed, notwithstanding the re- peated applications of the soldiery. Their pretensions were probably more strenuously urged in a memorial presented to the Assembly, on the 27th of April, 1779, respecting their pay, subsistence and clothing, and were sup- ported by an energetic letter from General Maxwell; all of which were re- ferred to a joint committee of both Houses. That committee reported, " That provision had been already agreed upon, as far as was consistent, . previous to an application to Congress; and that if upon such application, no measures are by them adopted in that behalf, it will then be the duty of this State, to provide for its quota of troops, in the best manner they can de- vise." This resolution was duly approved; but another offered by the same committee, that the letter of General Maxwell contains indecent and unde- served reflections upon the representatives of the State; and that the same be transmitted to Congress, with a proper expression of the disapprobation and displeasure of the Legislature, was negatived.
Moved by the wretchedness of these officers, and the troops they com- manded, Governor Livingston, John Cooper, Andrew Sinnickson, Joseph Holmes, Robert Morris, Peter Tallman, Abraham Vanest, Silas Condict, and William Churchill Houston, during the recess of the Legislature, on the fifteenth of January, requested the treasurer to pay into the hands of Enos Kelsey, commissioner for the purchase of clothing, the sum of seven thousand pounds, to be applied in procuring clothes for the officers, agreea- bly to the resolution of Congress, engaging to replace that sum in the trea- sury, provided the Legislature, at their next sitting, should not direct it to be credited in the accounts of the treasurer. On the 30th of April, this direction was given by the House, with orders to the commissioners to draw the fur- ther sum of twenty-five thousand pounds, for the purpose of furnishing to certain officers, clothing to the amount of two hundred pounds, as the prices then were, upon their paying the sum it would have cost, in the year 1776. 2 N
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Still there were conditions annexed to these grants, which rendered them ineffective
On the 7th of May, the remonstrance of the officers was repeated, stating, that they were under inarching orders, and in immediate want of a necessary supply. Upon which the House directed the commissioner to furnish them with clothing immediately, to the amount of two hundred pounds, and to pay to the soldiers of the brigade, the sum of forty dollars cach. This disburse- ment removed the obstacle to the march of the brigade. The reason of the delay of the State, in supplying her forces, would seem to be a desire, that some uniform rule to this end, should be adopted by Congress, or that the confederacy should assume the whole duty to itself.
XXII. Before the grand expedition against the Indians, was put in motion, an enterprise of less extent, was successfully undertaken by Colonel Van Schaick, assisted by Lieutenant-colonel Willet, and Major Cochran, and between five and six hundred men, from Fort Schuyler, against the Onon- dago settlements. Most of the Indians escaped-but twelve were killed, and thirty-four made prisoners, including one white man. The houses and pro- visions were burned, the country devastated, and the horses and stock slain. The party returned without the loss of a man; and the colonel received thanks of Congress.
The largest division of the western army reached Wyoming, under Gene- ral Sullivan, in the month of June. Its further progress was delayed for want of provisions and military stores, until the last of July. In the mean while, the enemy was not inactive. Brandt, at the head of some whites and Indians, fell upon the frontiers of New York, murdered many of the inha- bitants, carried others into captivity, and burned and destroyed several houses. He was pursued by one hundred and fifty militia, whom he drew into an ambuscade and entirely defeated. A few days afterwards, Captain M'Donald, at the head of another small party, of whom a third were British, took a small fort on the west branch of the Susquehanna, making the gar- rison, of thirty men, prisoners of war; the women and children, contrary to the usages of the savages, were permitted to retire into the settled country.
Another body of troops designed to compose a part of the western army, had passed the winter on the Mohawk, and early in the season, under the command of General Clinton, marched to Lake Otsego, and thence de- scending the Susquehanna, united with the main division on the 22d of August. The whole army, amounting to five thousand men, proceeded, by the Cayuga, into the heart of the Indian country. The Indians, apprized of its approach, selected and fortified the ground on which to fight a general action, with no inconsiderable skill. About a mile in front of Newton, and some miles above Chemung, they collected their whole force, consisting, by the computation of Sullivan, of fifteen hundred, but by their own, of eight hundred men, only ; with whom were united five companies of whites, com- prising two hundred men. They were commanded .by the two Butlers, Grey, Johnston, M.Donald, and Brandt. A breastwork had been constructed about half a mile in length, upon a piece of rising ground, having its flank and rear covered by the river, and in other respects, naturally strengthened.
About eleven in the morning of the 29th of August, this work was dis- covered by Major Par, of the advance rifle corps. General Hand formed his light infantry in a wood a few hundred yards from the enemy, and awaited the arrival of the main body; skirmishing with parties of Indians, who endeavoured to entice them to an incautious pursuit. Conjecturing that the hills on his right, were occupied by the enemy, Sullivan ordered General Poor, supported by General Clinton, to possess himself of them, to turn the
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left and gain the rear.of the breastwork, while Hand and Maxwell should attack in front. This manœuvre was speedily decisive. The savages find- ing their flank uncovered, abandoned their works, and crossing the river, fled with the utmost precipitation. An unavailing pursuit was kept up for a few miles. Their ascertained loss was inconsiderable; but they were so intimidated, that they abandoned all idea of further resistance. The Ame- rican loss did not exceed thirty. Sullivan penetrated into the heart of the country ; which his parties scoured and laid waste in every direction. Every lake, river, and creek, was traced for villages, and no vestige of human in- dustry was spared. Houses, cornfields, gardens, and fruit-trees, shared one common fate; the commanding general strictly executing the severe, but necessary orders he had received, to render the country completely unin- habitable, and thus to compel the Indians to remove to a greater distance. Eighteen villages, a number of detached buildings, one hundred and sixty thousand bushels of corn, and all those fruits and vegetables which conduce to the comfort and subsistence of man, were utterly destroyed. Five weeks were spent in this work of devastation. The want of provisions, alone, prevented Sullivan from endeavouring to render the campaign more decisive, by an attempt on the British post at Niagara.
XXIII. While Sullivan laid waste the country on the Susquehanna, ano- ther expedition, under Colonel Broadhead, ascended the Allegheny, against the Mingo, Muncey, and Seneca tribes. With more than six hundred men, he advanced two hundred miles up that stream, and destroyed the villages and cornfields on its head branches, with their wretched proprietors.
This chastisement of the savages was most savage, and is defensible, only, on the ground, that experience had taught, that nothing short of such seve- rity could deter them from the yearly, perhaps, the more frequent, repetition of the scenes at Wyoming. Although the object of the campaign was not thoroughly obtained by terminating the Indian war, the Indians were intimi- dated; they became less terrible, their excursions less formidable, and less frequent.
XXIV. In the following year, (1780) the Cherokees, forgetting a severe chastisement given them in 1776, made an excursion into Ninety-Six dis- trict, South Carolina, massacred some families and burned several houses. General Pickens, with three hundred and sixty-four horsemen, penetrated the recesses of their country; killed forty of the enemy, took several pri- soners, and burned thirteen towns and villages. Of his party, one only was killed and two were wounded. No expedition against the Indians was more rapid. and decisive than this. The whites did not expend three rounds of ammunition; and yet, of the Indians who made themselves visible, three only escaped. A new and successful mode of fighting was introduced ; the horse- men charging with reliance only upon their swords. The vanquished hum- bly sued for peace, which was granted, on condition, that they would deliver up all British emissaries, who should stimulate them to war.
XXV. These severe inflictions upon the Indian tribes, were the rigid exactions of duty ; but we are required to record a massacre by the whites, that may be a pendant for that of Wyoming. An English poet * has, gracefully, sung the sufferings in the last, but no bard has described the hor- rors of the slaughter at Muskingum. At this place some Indian converts of the Moravians had settled. Under the care of pious missionaries, they had been formed into some degree of civil and religious order, and had adopted the faith, that " The Great Being did not make men to destroy men, but to love and assist each other." Upon this principle, they advised other tribes
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to desist from war: and from humanity, they premonished the whites, from time to time, of the dangers that threatened them. Provoked by this inter- ference, the hostile Indians removed their pacific countrymen to the banks of the Sandusky. They obtained permission, however, in the fall of the year, to return and collect the crops they had planted. The whites, on the Monongahela, either through misconception or malice, reported, that their designs were inimical; and without due inquiry, one hundred and sixty crossed the Ohio, and slaughtered these inoffensive people, who fell mar- tyrs to their principles of non-resistance. Not less than ninety were thus immolated.
Retribution, however, was not long delayed. Soon after this unprovoked butchery, a party of whites set out with the purpose of destroying the Indian towns on the Sandusky. But being encountered by the Delawares and Wyandots, they were repelled, with the loss of several prisoners, among whom, were Colonel Crawford and his son-in-law. All were offered up to the manes which haunted the Moravian towns of the Muskingum.
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CHAPTER XVI.
1
Comprising a View of the War in the South .- I. Inert state of the Country in 1779. -- II. The British Government adopts views of partial Conquest .- 111. Georgia overrun -- and Charleston threatened-Unsuccessful Siege of Savannah .- IV. S. Henry Clinton subdues South Carolina .- V. His measures induce Revolt .- VI. General Gates assumes command of the Southern Army-Battle of Camden .- VII. Battle of King's Mountain .- VIII. Cornwallis reinforced .- IX. General Greene appointed to the Southern Department-Battle of the Cowpens-Retreat to Virginia .- X. Cornwallis retires, is pursued-Battle of Guilford Court House. -X1. Cornwallis marches for Petersburg-Greene for South Carolina-Expedi- tion of Arnold against Virginia-Preparations against him-Defence of Virginia entrusted to La Fayette-Cornwallis takes command of the British Forces in Vir- ginia .- XII. Progress of Greene in recovering the Southern States .- XIII. Suf- ferings of the Inhabitants.
I. The exertions made by the United States, though not beyond their strength, if put forth with system and discretion, were irregular and violent, and followed by that syncope which invariably attends undue efforts. A general langour had diffused itself through all the civil departments. The alliance with France was supposed to have secured independence, and a con- fidence that the enemy could not longer prosecute the war with success, pre- vented that activity which was painful to exert. The wretched policy of short enlistments had been pursued, until correction was impossible. The enthusiasm, which, at the commencement of the contest had overcome all personal considerations, had subsided, and was succeeded by views more particularly selfish, and more durable. From these considerations, it was not until the 23d January, 1779, that Congress authorized the re-enlistment of the army; nor until the 9th March, that requisition was made upon the States, for their respective quotas. The bounty offered, being insufficient to bring the men into the field, resort was again had to the special authority of the States. Thus, at a season when the recruits should have been in camp, they were yet to be obtained; and the public service was exposed to great hazard from the delay. At this period, too, several circumstances conspired to foment pernicious divisions and factions in Congress, which greater danger might have prevented or suppressed.
These dissentions, the removal of individuals of the highest influence, from the national councils to offices in the state governments; the deprecia- tion of the paper currency ; the destructive spirit of speculation caused by imaginary gain from this depreciation; a general laxity of principles, the in- separable concomitant of civil war and revolution ; the indisposition to sacri- fice personal convenience for the public weal; were rocks, on which the ves- sel of state might yet split, and which required the care of those whom influence and patriotism placed at the helm .*
The knowledge of these facts, deeply affected the mind of the commander- in-chief of the American armies, and gave him many apprehensions for the final result of the contest. They, also, had probably great effect upon the British commissioners; who inferred that the people, worn out by the com- plicated calamities of the struggle, desired an accommodation on the terms proposed by the ministry, and that the increasing difficulties necessarily re- sulting from the failure of public credit, would induce them to desert Con-
* Letter of Washington. Marshall, jv. p. 6.
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gress, or compel that body to accede to those terms. .¿ nese opinions, com- municated to their government, undoubtedly continued to protract the contest.
II. The British government, confident of complete conquest, had prose- cuted the war with a view to the recovery of the whole of its dominions in America. But the reverses they had sustained, the alliance with France, and the firmness with which the contest had been maintained, together with the rejection of the late pacific propositions, induced a change in the plan of operations. The islands about New York were retained, whilst their arms were principally directed against the southern States, which were less capable of resistance, and on which a considerable impression might certainly be made, and probably extended northward; but, however this might be, the possession of several States, at the negotiation for general peace, would afford plausible ground for claiming to retain them. Of the succeeding campaigns, therefore, the most active and interesting operations were in the southern country. But our limits and our purpose, forbid us to do more than shortly to advert to them.
III. Lieutenant-colonel Campbell, who sailed from New York, in Decem- ber, 1777, arrived soon after at Savannah, and, in despite of the opposing efforts of General Howe, captured that place; and, aided by General Prevost, who advanced from Florida, reduced without difficulty, the whole state of Georgia; the inhabitants flocking in numbers to the royal standard. This rapid progress of the enemy calling for more efficient measures of resistance, General Lincoln was appointed to the southern command; in September, 1778. Previously, considerable reinforcements had been ordered from the northern army, particularly in the cavalry regiments of Bland, and Licu- tenant-colonel Washington. Their march was, however, some time delayed, in consequence of the invasion of Virginia, in May, by Brigadier-general Matthews. His expedition, undertaken principally with the view of destroy- ing the stores which had been laid up on the waters of that State, was but too successful; he having destroyed. in a few weeks, public and private pro- perty of immense value, at Norfolk, Portsmouth, Gosport, and the adjacent country.
The greatest force under Lincoln, assembled and armed with much diffi- culty, amounted to three thousand six hundred and thirty-nine, of whom two thousand four hundred and twenty eight, rank and file, were effectives; onc. half, however, were militia; whilst Prevost commanded three thousand ef- fective regulars, aided by many provincials. Lincoln proceeded from Purys- burg, into Georgia; and, in the mean time, Provost marched on Charleston with two thousand four hundred regular troops, and a considerable body of' Indians, driving before him General Moultrie, at the head of an inferior force. He summoned the town, on the 11th of May, 1779, but was com- pelled soon after, to raise the siege, by the approach of Lincoln, and to retire to the islands on the coast. On the 20th of June, a sharp but indecisive affair took place between twelve hundred Americans and seven hundred British, at Stono Ferry, in which the former lost one hundred and fifty men, with the much lamented Colonel Roberts. Prevost, retreating from island to island, soon after returned to Port Royal and Savannah, his troops enriched by the indiscriminate plunder they had made.
The Count D'Estaing, after a successful cruise to the West Indies, pur- suant to the instructions of his court, and the solicitations of Lincoln and the authorities of South Carolina, arrived (September Ist,) on the coast of Georgia. He summoned Savannah, but suffered himself to be amused by Prevost for several days, until the latter had called in his troops, and was fully prepared for defence. Being joined by Lincoln, a formal siege was commenced; the ground being broken on the 23d of the month, and the ad-
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vances made with every prospect of final success. The impatience of the French commander and his officers, excited by the dangers of the hurricane season, induced an assault on the 9th of October, with thirty-five hundred French, and six hundred continental troops; which, though bravely made, was bravely and successfully repelled. Count D'Estaing and Count Pulaski, were both wounded,-the former slightly, the latter mortally. The loss of the French was six hundred and thirty-seven, and of the Americans two hun- dred, men. The militia returned to their homes, and the French. fleet and army to the West Indies. This visit of the fleet, however, disconcerted the British plans for the campaign, and occasioned the withdrawal of their army from Rhode Island; and their efforts in the south resulted in the possession of Savannah merely.
IV: Upon intelligence of these events, both parties sought to strengthen their respective forces, in the south. A large detachment, under Sir Henry Clinton, in person, sailed from New York, late in December, leaving the defence of that city to General Knyphausen; whilst Washington despatched southward, the troops of North Carolina, the new levies of Virginia, the rear division of Bland's and Baylor's cavalry, and afterwards, the Virginia line. In his passage, Sir Henry encountered a storm, which endamaged him so much as to require a reinforcement and supplies from New York. Charles- ton was his primary object, against which he proceeded from Savannah, on the 10th of February, 1780; approaching by way of the islands with great caution. On the first of April, he broke ground, within eight hundred yards of the American works, and on the 12th of May, the town capitulated. General Lincoln and his army, consisting of two thousand effectives, be- came prisoners. During the progress of the expedition, several sharp en- counters took place, between small parties. The cavalry under General Huger, stationed about thirty miles above Charleston, was attacked and routed by Colonel Tarleton and Major Ferguson, on the morning of the 14th of April, and four hundred horses captured; and on the 7th of May, the remnant collected under Colonel White, of New Jersey, at Monk's Corner, was again charged and dispersed by the same active British officers.
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