USA > New York > Livingston County > A history of Livingston County, New York : from its earliest traditions, to its part in the war for our Union : with an account of the Seneca nation of Indians, and biographical sketches of earliest settlers and prominent public men > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51
On Sunday morning, the 12th of September, it rained heavily, and the army did not move until nearly noon. A defile which they had to cross, prevented the usual order of march, and otherwise retarded movements. After traveling five miles they came to Hemlock Lake, which was forded at the mouth, where the water was knee-deep and about ten yards over. Soon they as- cended an acclivity. Before them now lay a broad country in full view, covered generally with a large growth of oak and walnut. Moving forward, they, by turns, crossed tracts of marsh and alluvium, suit- able, as the farmer-soldiers saw, for the finest meadows. The traveling, however, was indifferent, and the army moved slowly. By night-fall, General Hand's light corps, having the advance, arrived within half a mile of the little Indian town of Conesus (Gah-nyuh-sas.) It was designed in the morning that the army should pass the night in this village, but the main forces, delayed by the morning rain and other impediments of the roads, were still a full mile in the rear ; and, without attempting to enter the Indian town, they all encamped for the night. Gen- eral Hand's corps was ordered to remain on what is now Dr. McMillan's farm. The particular spot, then heavily wooded, proved to be " exceedingly ill-calcu- lated for that purpose, no water being nearer than half a mile."
It was now Sunday evening, and after the light corps had encamped, Sullivan ordered Lieutenant Thomas Boyd, of the rifle corps, to report at his head- quarters for special duty. This brave and tried young
172
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
officer was directed to take three or four riflemen, a guide, and the Indian chief Hanyerry, and reconnoitre the principal Seneca village on the Genesee river, in order, if possible, to effect its surprise. Major Adam Hoops, third aide-de-camp on Sullivan's staff, was present in the General's tent, and heard the instruc- tions to Boyd. These were verbal, of course, but quite specific. "The country before us," said Major Hoops, "was unknown. We had heard of an Indian castle on the Genesee, which, by our reckoning, might be a few miles ahead of us." Sullivan calls this castle, or village, the capital of the Indian coun- try ; and toward it Boyd was to take his course. On leaving his commander's tent, he proceeded at once carefully to select his scouting party. Instead, how- ever, of the smaller number, he took twenty-three soldiers who volunteered from the rifle corps, and three from Colonel Butler's Schoharie regiment, thus making the party in all to consist of twenty-six men, a force by no means as likely to effect the purpose as that which he had been directed to take with him. "Too few," says Minor, "if battle were intended ; too many, if secrecy and celerity were prime requis- ites of the enterprise." Hanyerry (or Han Yost) acted as guide. Timothy Murphy, a private soldier, of marvelous coolness and boldness, famous alike as a border fighter and scout, whom Boyd found at a camp fire, filling the eager ears of his fellow-soldiers with stories of his Indian hand-to-hand fights, was also a member of the party. They set out early in the eve- ning. The service was full of danger, the path was wholly new to them ; but aware that time was essen- tial, they proceeded actively, though with caution, along the trail leading westward from Conesus lake,. up the steep aclivity, and over the Groveland hills. Doubtless before quitting the summit for the mazes of
173
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
the dark and fruitless forest, the little band lingered a moment along the damp trail to catch another sight, to most of them a last one, of the camp fires glimmer- ing far over the marshy plain.
Early on Monday morning, the 13th of September, the army marched from their evening's bivouac at the False Faces, * as it afterwards was called, on the farm now owned by Lemuel B. Richardson, near Conesus Centre, westward a mile to the Indian village of Cone- sus, where they made camp and breakfasted. This Indian town was situated on what is now known as Henderson's flats, near the head of the lake. "Here we found," says General Sullivan, " some large corn- fields, which part of the army destroyed, while the other part were employed in building a bridge over an unfordable creek between this and Genesee." This unfordable creek was the inlet of Conesus lake. The margins of this stream fronting the Indian village, now so well cultivated, were then a quagmire, and impassable for horses. Accordingly a strong cover- ing party was detailed early in the morning to con- struct a log bridge over the inlet, and corduroy the approaches. The point selected was about four rods below the present bridge, over which passes the highway across the flat leading from Conesus Centre to the Lakeville road. The remains of this rude struc- ture, composed of trunks of elm and white wood, were plainly visible in 1806, when James Scott came
* The spot where the army encamped is now embraced in a nine acre field, situated three quarters of a mile south-west of Conesus Centre and fifty rods east of Mr. Richardson's residence. For many years after the country was settled there stood in this field on either side of the Indian path, two oak trees upon which had been cut in the bark, the rude represen- tation of the human face ; about this spot Sullivan's camp was formed. The .locality was long known as the "False faces," and from the circumstance mentioned, the place took its name. Lemuel Richardson, who afterwards .. " took up" this farm, was a Revolutionary soldier and accompanied the ex- ¿pedition into this region in 1779.
174
.HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
into this region ; and the abutments, stringers, and some few of the logs that constituted the track-way, could still be seen as late as 1813, and were removed, for the most part, in June of that year, for the pur- pose of repairing the more modern bridge and its approaches, and because it had become an obstruction to the highway. John White, of Groveland, then lived in that road district, and assisted in its removal. A tradition is extant that the army, in crossing here on their way to the Indian village on the Genesee, threw a three-pounder brass cannon into the stream, because of their inability to transport it further. But Sullivan makes no mention of the loss of a field-piece' here, although his official report is quite particular, especially in reference to ordnance and ammunition. It seems most unlikely that so formidable a weapon, intended for use in this region, would be abandoned at this stage of the expedition, after surmounting more serious obstacles, especially as the army, hav- ing little to fear from the enemy, moved leisurely across the bridge. Moreover, had the piece proved burdensome, it could easily have been sent back to Honeoye during the morning, while the army lay inactive here, where Captain Cumming would have welcomed it as additional armament to his little fort. So strong, however, is the popular belief in this story that, when in April, 1865, the rebels evacuated Rich- mond, and the whole country was alive with excite- ment, a rumor reached Scottsburg, and traveled along the line of the inlet, that this abandoned cannon had been recovered, and was being fired in honor of the great event of. the day. Firing was certainly heard in the direction of the lake, and scores of people flocked thither to see the old gun, and listen to its brazen voice ; but they reached the spot to learn that
175
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
the sound proceeded from a blacksmith's anvil, im- provised for the occasion.
Noon was advancing, and yet the scouting party had not returned from its hazardous mission, though two of the little band despatched by Boyd, had returned in the morning, bringing a brief report to the General .* A council of officers, it is said, was now summoned at Sullivan's tent, which occupied the present site of the old negro fisherman's, Harkless Williams' house. This assembly was striking. The leading personage, Major-General John Sullivan, commander of the expedition, was a man of dauntless resolution and genuine revolutionary fire. One of the very first to strike for the cause of liberty, he held throughout the great struggle a conspicuous place ; and after the war, in all measures tending to secure the adoption of the Federal constitution, and the paci- fication of the country, took an earnest and often important part. Three times its chief magistrate, he continued to enjoy other high civil dignities in his native State, down to the close of a life far more use- ful than the historian has yet accorded it to be ; though Webster, at Bunker Hill monument, in addressing Lafayette, refers to him as an immediate companion in arms of the immortal Frenchmen, and groups him with Washington, Gates and Lincoln.+ He was an attached friend of John Adams, and enjoyed the intimate companionship of Lafayette. At
* Sullivan's report says two; Major Hubley says, " Four men of Lieut. Boyd's party this morning (Monday, Sept. 13) returned, bringing informa- tion of the town of Gaghsuginlaheny (which they took for Genesee) being abandoned ;" Major Norris's diary says, "After sunrise Boyd sent four men to report to Gen. Sullivan what he had discovered."
+ " Monuments and eulogy belong to the dead. We give them this day to Warren and his associates. On other occasions they have been given to your more immediate companions in arms, to Washington, to Greene, to Sullivan, to Lincoln."- Webster's Bunker Hill Oration.
176
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
the moment appointed for the meeting, he enters the tent from a tour of personal inspection of the camp. His bearing is dignified, and the expression, worn on his sunburnt face is grave and even anxious ; for the expedition is now on the very threshold of its final work. His piercing eye moves from one to another ; for he would gather the present feeling of each officer. Amiable in personal intercourse, he salutes, as he takes his camp-stool, the officers severally with warmth and native kindness. Forty years of age, erect in stature, five feet nine inches in height, his chest full, already inclining to corpulency, his eyes keen and dark, his hair black and curly, he presents a form and demeanor that challenge respect. The business of the council at once begins ; for Sullivan is always impatient of delay. As the conference pro- ceeds, we may glance at his career. Born at Somers- worth, then a part of Dover, New Hampshire,“ on the 17th of February, 1740, he passed his early years on his father's farm. After reading law in the office of Judge Livermore, of the supreme court of his native State, he was admitted to practice, and for several years before the war, was a leading member of the New Hampshire bar. He early showed a military
* The State of Maine is uniformly given as General Sullivan's birth place ; but this is an error. When in 1787 he was a candidate for President of New Hampshire, as tho office of governor was then called, for a second term, the opposition endeavored to prejudice his cause by urging that he was a foreigner-a native, not of New Hampshire but of Maine, and therefore not deserving of support, for, it was asked, "Are there not New Hampshire men competent to fill her Gubernatorial chair ?" But the story availed his opponents nothing, for his father and mother, then both living, set the fiction at rest by asserting that Somersworth was in truth his birth-place-a fact which the people were thus made to believe-and they honored him with a re-election in 1787 and again in 1789.
The General's brother, James Sullivan, Governor of Massachusetts, was a native of Berwick, Maine, where he was born after the parents removed from New Hampshire.
177
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
taste, and received, in 1772, a provincial commission as major of militia. His father, the humble founder of one of the most distinguished of New England fam- ilies-a family that has furnished two governors, several high military and a long list of civilian officers, was a school-master, of Irish birth ; still retaining the family name of O'Sullivan, * possessed of a good edu- cation, a warm heart, and small earthly possessions. Deriving his mental activity and warmth of tempera- ment from an Irish ancestry, Sullivan inherited, no doubt, from the same source, a jealousy of Great Britain. Not unfamiliar with political science, and alive to the bearings of public questions, the people turned to him at the first mutterings of that storm which culminated in the Revolution ; and in 1774 he and Nathaniel Folsom were appointed delegates from New Hampshire to the first continental Congress. In December of that year, he, John Langdon, and Cap- tain Thomas Pickering, "led a force against Fort William and Mary, near Portsmouth, took possession of one hundred barrels of gunpowder (afterwards used at the battle of Bunker Hill,) fifteen cannon, and all the small-arms and other stores, and carried them up into the country ; concealing a portion of them under the pulpit of the Durham meeting-house. This was the first act of armed hostility committed in the colo- nies."+
In June, 1775, he was appointed one of the eight brigadier-generals, and was assigned to a command
The Irish prefix, O', was omitted by his children, however. The father lived to be more than a hundred years old, and was in the habit of visiting the General every year on horseback, from Maine.
{ This bold act was " consumated by the seizure of the King's property and the disarming and imprisonment of his soldiers; and this, too, at a time when the universal language held in public was that of peace and antici- pated reconciliation. It was not until four months afterwards that the first blood was shed at Lexington."
178
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
on Winter Hill, at the siege of Boston. Despatched soon after with reinforcements to the northern army in Canada, he displayed great military skill and reso- lution in the retreat. Commissioned as major-general, "he served under Putnam on Long Island, and by a combat of two hours in the woods, aided by Stirling's vigorous defence on the right, contributed to the pre- servation of the American army. He was taken prisoner, but being exchanged for General Prescott, was with Washington at Westchester during the autumn. After General Lee's capture, Sullivan took command of his division, and led the right at Trenton on Christmas night, 1776." He commanded the right wing at Brandywine, and defeated the British left at Germantown, driving them two miles. In 1778, he personally directed the siege of Newport, but not receiving the expected aid from the French fleet, the siege was abandoned. In 1779, he was assigned, as we have seen, to conduct this expedition.
Seeing that "matters were drawing to a happy conclusion," he resigned his commission on the 9th of November, 1779, much against the wishes of Wash- ington. The expedition, though conducted with emi- nent success, was keenly criticised in Congress, where political animosity must thus early be gratified, and he felt that certain members, especially of the Board of War, who appear to have blamed him for disasters which were inevitable, had deeply wronged him. His health, too, impaired by rough service and a bilious disorder that had seized him at the commencement and continued during the whole of the march, and his private affairs needed attention. Like other officers of the Revolution, his support had been drawn mainly from private means ; but his personal concerns, less favorably situated than many, had become greatly embarrassed. On quitting the army, he resumed his
179
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
profession ; but the task of righting finances, shattered by long neglect, proved too great, and he died, as for years he had lived, surrounded by importunate credit- ors. Even death did not close the rugged chapter of a life of rugged fortunes. Under an old provincial statute, a debtor's corpse might be attached and held from burial until redeemed, Availing of this on the day of the funeral, Sullivan's creditors sent an officer to execute the infamous law on his remains. Closing the house, the relatives despatched a messenger for General Cilley, a former comrade in arms, who resided a short distance away. On arriving, the old soldier directed the doors to be opened, and the services to proceed. Said he, " the funeral of this dear general must not be interrupted." He then drew from his coat two horseman's pistols, carried by him through the Revolution, and, as he cocked them, added "Go on with the ceremonies." Prayer was offered, and the remains were placed on a bier ; the bearers took it up and proceeded to the grave, General Cilley, pistol in hand, following close after. The rites were completed without interference from creditor or civil officer; Cilley then turned sorrowfully away, mounted his horse, and rode slowly homeward.
Brigadier-general James Clinton, the officer next in rank on this occasion, was of that honorable family which gave two generals to the Revolution, two governors to New York, and, we had almost said, two vice-Presidents to the Republic .* Born in Ulster
* George Clinton, brother of the General, was Vice-President of the United States during the second term of Jefferson. In 1812, DeWitt Clin- ton, his nephew, was favored with the nomination of the Republican mem- bers of the New York Legislature, for the Presidency. The Federalists made no nomination, and indirectly gave him their support. He received 89 electoral votes, while Mr. Madison received 128, and was thus ro-elected. Before the amendment to the Constitution in 1803, the person, after the choice of the President, receiving the greatest number of electoral votes was
180
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
county, New York, three years earlier than Sullivan, his father was likewise an Irishman, and, on the mother's paternal side, was related to an officer in Cromwell's army. After receiving a liberal education, he served as a captain in the French war under Bradstreet, and, at twenty, took a gallant part in the capture of Fort Frontenac. Seven years later, he held command of the regiments raised to protect the frontiers of Ulster and Orange counties against Indian incursions. In 1775, with the rank of colonel, he went with the chivalric Montgomery to Canada. In 1777, promoted to brigadier-general, he, with his brother, Governor George Clinton, was in command of Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery, just below West Point. On the 6th of October, the Fort was stormed by the British with 3,000 men, as a diver- sion in favor of Burgoyne, who was moving down from the upper Hudson, and who, a few days later, lost the field of Saratoga, that decisive battle of the Revolution. After a gallant resistance, the garrison of only 500 men were overpowered, but succeeded in making their escape. Clinton, the last to leave the works, was pursued, fired at, and his attending ser- vant killed. Still flying, he was severely wounded by a bayonet, but escaped on horseback; yet pur- sued, he dismounted, and slid down a precipice a hundred feet to the creek ; whence, covered with blood, he made his way home, a few miles distant. He was stationed at West Point during the greater part of 1778, engaged in throwing the great chain across the Hudson, to prevent the ascent of the ene- my's ships. He was in charge of the northern depart- ment during most of the war, and was present at the
Vice-President. Had this provision been continued nine years longer De Witt Clinton would have been Vice-President, as he stood next highest to Madison in that canvass.
*
181
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
capture of Cornwallis. In 1779, he was directed to co-operate with Sullivan in this expedition. In order to effect the junction, his force of 1,600 men was con- veyed up the Mohawk in beatteaux, about fifty miles above Schenectady, thence across to Ostego lake, a source of the Susquehanna river. Cooper, our great novelist, has invested the fair region through which he passed, with romantic interest, and has seen in Clinton's expedient of damming the outlet of that beautiful sheet to collect its waters, then tear away the obstruction in order to create an artificial current for floating his boats to the place of meeting with Sul- livan, an episode of romantic interest. Clinton's appearance at this council is deferential, yet soldier- like. He has well endured the fatigues of the great march, for his constitution is like iron. His nature is affectionate and mild, but at the mention of danger ahead, he is roused to interest. His counsel is wise, and is received with the attention due to so experi- enced an officer .*
Brigadier-general Edward Hand, the leader of the vanguard, was a native of Clyduff, Ireland, where he was born on the last day of December, 1744. At twenty-eight, he entered the British army as ensign in the Royal Irish Foot, then on duty in this country. After serving two years, he settled in Pennsylvania. But his retirement was brief; for, at the beginning of the Revolution, he entered the continental service as a lieutenant-colonel. Made colonel of a rifle regiment in the spring of 1776, he was engaged in the battle of Long Island in the same year, and shared in the retreat from Brooklyn. He was also in the battle of
* General Clinton was the father of Governor DeWitt Clinton. He made his last appearance in arms on the evacuation of the city of New York by the British. He held civil positions after the war, and died at Little Britain,. in Orange county, greatly loved and honored, in December, 1812.
182
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Trenton in the following December. He commanded at Pittsburg during the succeeding summer and fall. In October, 1778, he was on duty at Albany, in com- mand of the northern department, and in April follow- ing was appointed brigadier-general, and assigned to command of the light corps in this expedition. In the previous autumn, Washington had called his par- ticular attention to the subject of such an undertaking, and asked him to consult General Schuyler as to its practicability. The correspondence reveals the de- gree of confidence reposed in his judgment. After- wards, in September, 1780, Washington, recognising his standing, placed him on the board of general offi- cers convened in the old Dutch church at Tappan, for the trial of Major Andre, the famous British spy. Lord Stirling, Lafayette, Baron Steuben, Knox, Stark, and other distinguished officers, to the number of fourteen, composed that tribunal. In the same year he succeeded Scammel as adjutant-general of the army, and held that important post until the war closed .* In character, he was bold and chivalric. His love for horses, especially for his fine roan charger, an animal remarkable for lofty carriage and spirit, which he had brought on this expedition, though he generally rode an active gray, gained him no little notoriety, as also did his excellent horseman- ship. His military knowledge was valuable and extensive, and his general reading considerable. In this expedition he had exhibited ability and zeal, and, doubtless, at the council, his opinions were heard with attention.
* Gen. Hand died at Rockford, Lancaster county, Penn., on the 3d of Sep- tember, 1802, aged 58 years. Judge James L. Campbell, of Cherry Valley, had a lively recollection of General Hand's being entertained with Washing- ton at his father's, Col. Samuel Campbell's house, in Cherry Valley, in 1783. On this occasion Governor George Clinton, General Humphrey, Colonel Mar- inus Willet and other officers, were also present.
183
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Brigadier-general William Maxwell, in command of the New Jersey brigade, was also present at the consultation. He was commissioned a general officer in October, 1776, having entered the continental ser- vice as colonel of a New Jersey regiment, and served under Montgomery in the Canada campaign of that year. He commanded the Jersey brigade at the battle of Brandywine, and also at Germantown. His caustic letter to the governor and legislature of New Jersey in respect to arrearages of pay due his officers and men, on the eve of leaving for the rendezvous of Wyoming, exhibits the positive side of his character, and shows his regard for the soldiers' welfare ; while
his selection, by Lord Stirling, as the army lay at White Plains, to accompany his lady and daughter to the British lines, and the "great politeness" with which, in the words of the Countess of Stirling, he received them on their return, proves him to have been a gentlemen of refinement and courtesy.+
Brigadier-general Enoch Poor was also at this council-board. His brigade was ordered from Con- necticut, where it lay unemployed at the time. He entered the continental service in command of the New Hampshire regiment. John Poore, the ancestor of the family, came from Wiltshire, England, in 1635, and settled in Massachusetts. The General was descended from lieutenant Daniel, of the colonial mil- itia, who died at Andover, in 1713. General Poor served under Lafayette, and gained that distinguished officer's respect and affection. During Lafayette's last visit to this country, he gave as a toast on one occasion, "Light Infantry Poor and Yorktown Scam- mel ;" and when shown the grave of Poor, he was much affected, and turning away, said, "Ah ! that
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.