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 16
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
+ General Maxwell resigned his commission on the 23d of June, 1780, and retired from the service.
184
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
was one one of my Generals." He survived this expedition only a year, dying on the eighth of Sep- tember, 1780, aged forty-four years. He died from the effect of a wound received in a duel with a French officer, the difficulty growing out of a contro- versy on the subject of State policy. So beloved was he by the soldiery, that it was deemed unwise to allow the real cause of his death to transpire, for fear of serious results; hence the army was permitted to believe that he died of bilious fever, and this error has remained uncorrected until now. He sleeps far away from his native hills, in the grave-yard of the Protest- ant Dutch church at Hackensack, New Jersey. There, underneath a willow, rests a horizontal stone which marks the grave of this gallant officer .* The army lay at Kinerhamach, near the boundary between this State and New Jersey, at his death. His coffin, draped with the national banner, was borne to the grave by officers of rank ; and a long line of soldiers, both foot and horse, swelled the funeral procession, which extended from the upper end of the town to the church. Washington and Lafayette took part in the rites. Two field-pieces, drawn by artillery horses, followed the hearse, but were not discharged on account of the enemy's vicinity.
Other officers were present at this council. Colonel William Butler, whose regiment, stationed at Scho- harie when ordered on this expedition, and which numbered on its rolls the names of Lieutenant Boyd, Timothy Murphy, and others of the scouting party, was doubtless there. The Connecticut missionary, Samuel Kirkland, who, a dozen years before, had
* The inscription on the tombstone reads as follows: "In memory of the Hon. Brigadier-general Enoch Poor, of the State of New Hampshire, who departed this life on the 8th of September, 1780, aged 44."- Barber & Howe's- Ilist. Coll. of New Jersey.
185
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
been successfully employed among the Senecas in this region, and now serving as brigade chaplain, as well as guide and interpreter, was probably present. This good man was of Scotch descent, and had come to this region under the auspices of the society for the pro- pagation of the gospel among the Six Nations. No account of the proceedings on this occasion has come down to us. We only know that Sullivan expressed anxiety at the prolonged delay of the scouting party ; and, most likely, he produced and read the instruc- tions of Washington, which were drawn up by Hamil- ton, and bore the signatures of those two immortal men. They direct the total destruction of the prop- erty of the Indians. Certainly, before many hours had elapsed, these orders, in their fullest extent, were carried into literal execution.
When the council broke up, the army still lay en- camped in full view before its commanders. The sur- roundings were picturesque. Five thousand soldiers had improvised their camp upon the plain and its im- mediate hillsides ; their white tents contrasting vividly with the autumnal tint of woodland foliage. Anon, the drum-beat and sentry-call emphasised, at intervals, the undertone of warlike preparation. The resound- ing echoes, as the forest-trees gave way for the bridge, and the fruit-trees, loaded with apples and peaches, fell before ringing axe-strokes; the rustling of crisp corn, trampled under heedless feet ; all lent their busy music to the scene which had heretofore been the do- main of solitude and silence. The situation of the army was in itself novel. Its arms, now carried far into the heart of this remote and barbarous country, were unsupported from behind through hundreds of miles of forest wilderness, stretching eastward back to the main force under Washington. Before these martial pioneers all was unknown. Nothing, indeed, was felt
186
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
to be certain save the resolute purpose of every soldier to waste the hostile soil, and to extinguish the last vestige of Indian occupancy.
While the army lay here, a bewildered pig made its way into the camp. Entering first the quarters of a French subaltern, it was ejected with more haste than ceremony. It next rushed into the tent of a tall Dutch lieutenant named Teunis Van Wagner, who summari- ly ended its raids by converting its carcass into pork. This latter was news too good for keeping, and soon reached the French officer's ears, who lost, no time in demanding of his more thoughtful Teutonic neighbor a share of the prize, on the plea of discovery. "But," replied the latter, "a man of no more sense than to turn such a 'gentleman' out of his tent, shal lhave no part of its effects." Thus the Frenchman lost his roast, and the idlers about the camp enjoyed a passing laugh at the good-natured logic.
CAUGUA
WAYCA
1780
CHEMUNG
JOHN COON
HIS HORN
Mars
SULLIVAN'S ROUTE, AS TRACED ON A SOLDIER'S POWDER HORN .*
Early on Monday morning, Mr. Lodge, the surveyor,
* I am indebted to Mr. Benson J. Lossing for the drawing for this engrav- ing. It was taken by him from the powder-horn now in his possession, which belonged to a soldier in Sullivan's army. Captain Salmon said that similar tracings, on several powder-horns, were finished by the soldiery while the army lay at Conesus lake.
187
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
began to run his chain upward along the rise just west of the inlet. A picket-guard was here posted. As- cending the hill, outside the line of sentinels, the sur- veyor was proceeding with his work, making notes in his field-book, when he was fired upon by an Indian who had crept up to him. Leaving his jacob-staff stand- ing, Mr. Lodge made quickly for the nearest sentinel, the Indian, tomahawk in hand, close upon him all the way. The sentinel, still unperceived by the pursuing enemy, raised his gun and shot the savage, bringing him down. The alarm was at once given, and the whole picket guard, strongly supported, immediately advanced to the top of the hill. No enemies, howev- er, were in sight, although evidences of their recent presence were apparent in a line of packs, a hundred blankets or more, and a large number of hats lying along the brow of the hill. Simultaneously with the attack upon the surveyor, a corporal at the extreme verge of the picket line received a wound, causing his death next day. The sentinel, a mere lad, whose coolness saved the surveyor's life, and whose mod- esty had made him quite a favorite, was a recruit in the Jersey line. The general sent for him, applauded his presence of mind, and, subsequently, after the return of the army, ordered a sum of money to be paid to him in reward for his soldierly deed.
While the American army lay encamped almost un- disturbed, the devoted Indian villages of Beardstown, Canaseraga, Big Tree, Canawaugus, and other towns on the river, were scenes of consternation. In Octo- ber, 1865, I visited the Cattaraugus Indian reservation, near Buffalo, for the purpose of consulting Philip Kenjockety, a representative of the almost extinct tribe of the Kah-kwas. His parents resided with the Senecas on the Genesee during the early years of our Revolution. In 1779, they were living at Beardstown,
188
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
as has been stated in a previous page ; and Philip re- collected, with marvelous distinctness, these episodes of Sullivan's invasion. To the Indians residing on the Genesee river, and perhaps to the Six Nations gen- erally, the American troops were known as Yankees, or, more familiarly, as " Bostonians" (Wah-stoh-nah- yans), and were looked upon, especially by the women and children, with great dread. The whole popula- tion of the Seneca villages became speedily aware that the army was forcing its way through the wilderness to destroy their homes and possessions. The corn, that year, was remembered to have been a great crop, and they were just engaged in gathering it when the army reached Conesus lake. Every day or two, dur- ing the progress of our forces, the arrival of messen- gers and wounded braves announced that the Yankees were drawing near. One of these runners had been taken prisoner by the invaders, but managed to escape. His relation was full of detail, and gave great alarm. The air seemed to grow heavy with omens, and the very birds gave signs of approaching evil. A small party of young warriors from Beardstown met the ad- vance force of our army on a hillside, not many miles from the Genesee, and one of them, a favorite of the village, was wounded, but his companions conveyed him to his home. Skirmishes of this kind were fre- quent, and the wounded Indians managed to get back to their lodges, only to add to the general gloom. Af- ter Sullivan reached Conesus lake, a young Indian named Sah-nah-dah-yah, who could neither run nor walk well, because of a previous wound received in one of these skirmishes, said he must again go out to fight the Yankees. His orphan sisters begged him to remain with them. One of them clung about his per- son to keep him back, but he pushed her aside and left the hut. Arriving just at day-break in the little
189
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Indian village where Boyd's scouting party had passed the night, he was discovered by Murphy, and sank under his death-dealing rifle. His moccasins, worked with a sister's care, were transferred to Murphy's feet, and his scalp soon hung from Murphy's belt.
Though the commotion in the Indian villages in- creased with the march of our men, none fled until, on the evening that witnessed the enemy's arrival near the lake, a "noise like thunder" was heard in that direction. An old warrior said to the wondering vil- lage that this was the echo of the Yankee's big guns -those terrible engines which embodied, to Indian superstition, all the dread mysteries of hostile "med- icine men." On hearing this portentious word, the women set up a wail, the children bawled out a wild accompaniment, and the excitement grew every mo- ment greater. By laying the ear to the ground the In- dians could hear the tread of the troops in Sullivan's camp. The day was misty and rainy by turns, but preparations for quitting their villages went actively forward, and in a brief space the few horses that could be collected were ready to begin the long journey to Fort Niagara, whither the families were told to direct their pilgrimage. Soon after their departure, the shrill notes of a bugle, belonging, perhaps, to Boyd's party, were borne to them upon the night air, creating intense alarm among the fugutives. Kenjockety recol- lected that the Indians were followed next day for some distance by a small body of Yankees, but that they were protected by a detachment of British troops dressed in green uniforms.
Boyd's scouting party, on leaving the army, had pressed forward for nearly half a mile along the base of the hill, then, turning to the left, marched actively up the acclivity. A mile and a half above where the army lay, the trail they were following divided, one
190
HISTORY OR LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
path leading to Canaseraga, in the direction of Wil- liamsburgh, the other to Beardstown. Boyd chose the former; his guides, unacquainted with the country, mistaking this for the proper path. On reaching the little village of Canaseraga, situated near Colonel Abell's residence, they found it deserted, although fires were still alive in the huts. The night was far advanced, and the party, quite weary, encamped, for a few hours, intending to ascertain at early morning the location of the capital town, the object of their quest.
It was not yet break of day on Monday morning, the fifteenth of September-a day so fatal to most of the little party - when Boyd, accompanied by Murphy, stole away from their companions, and entered the village near at hand. They here discovered two In- dians coming out of a hut, one of whom was the wounded young warrior mentioned above, the other an uncle of the sachem Soh-nah-so-wah. A ball from Murphy's rifle quickly sealed the fate of the former, and the latter fled. Murphy, as was his custom, took off the slain Indian's scalp-his three and thirtieth trophy. The flying Indian, Boyd was well aware, would at once make known his visit to the enemy, and thus defeat his purpose. He therefore resolved to rejoin the army without delay. On going back to his party, he despatched two messengers to Sullivan with a report of operations. They were directed also to inform the general that the scouts would return immediately. The messengers reached the camp early in the morning. The scouting party prepared to retrace their steps also. Hanyerry recommended his leader to follow a different trail, but Boyd unwisely disregarded the advice of his faithful and intelligent guide. The most jealous caution was observed on the return march. "With Hanyerry in the front,
191
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
and Murphy in the rear, their eagle eyes fixed on each moving leaf and waving bough, they marched forward slowly and with the utmost caution. Five weary miles had they thus travelled the dangerous route, and were about to descend the hill at whose base the army lay."* "Less than two miles intervened between them and the camp, and the party were beginning to breathe freely, when they were surprised by five hundred In- dians, under Brant, and five hundred Royalists, un- Butler.+ The enemy were secreted in a ravine." The party had taken to a small grove of trees when the firing began. A moment was thus secured for reflec- tion. The lieutenant saw at once that the only chance of escape for his little party was the hazardous one of gathering all into a compact force, and breaking through the enemy's lines. After a few encouraging words, he led forward his men for the attempt.
"In the first onset, not one of Boyd's men fell, while his fire told fearfully upon the enemy. A sec- ond and third attempt to break the enemy's lines was made, and seventeen of the Americans had fallen." The firing was so close, before the brave party was destroyed, that the powder from the enemy's muskets was driven into their flesh. Though a majority lay dead, yet "at the third onset of the Americans, the enemy's line was broken through, and Murphy, tum- bling a huge warrior in the dust who obstructed his passage-even to the merriment of his dusky compan- ions-led forward the little band. Boyd, justly sup- posing if any one escaped with life it would be Mur- phy, determined to follow him ; but not being so fast a runner, he was soon taken, and with him one of his
* Treat's Oration.
+ This number is believed to be too large. Six hundred in all, is, perhaps, nearer the truth. Kenjockety 'thought there could not have been as many as the latter number.
192
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
men named Parker."* Sullivan says that Boyd was shot through the body during the melee. If so, his inability to escape is thus accounted for.
"Murphy, as he found the path unobstructed, ex- claimed of himself, in hearing of the enemy, 'Clear again, Tim., by -,' while shaking his fist at the same time at his pursuers."+ He now pressed for- ward in the direction of the army, and soon ob- served that he was pursued only by two Indians, a tall and a short one. As they neared him, from time to time, he pointed toward them with his well-known but (now) unloaded rifle, and they, at every menace, slackened their pace. His moccasins, borrowed in the morning from the dead Indian, were growing too tight for comfort, and while under full headway, he opened his pocket knife and cut away the thongs which bound them about his feet and ankles, the blade accidentally entering and severely wounding his flesh. "Shortly after, he reached a swale, where, his feet becoming entangled in the long grass and rank weeds, he fell. The spot proved favorable for concealment, and he did not immediately rise. His pursuers soon broke over a knoll so as to gain a view of the grass plot, and not discovering him, although he did them, they altered their [course." "Murphy now loaded his rifle and cautiously pro- ceeded on his way to the camp. He well knew his fate if taken prisoner, with the Indian's scalp in his pocket, and moccasins on his feet. Again setting forward, he soon found himself headed by an In- dian." The discovery was instant and mutual, and each took to a tree. After dodging one another for some time, Murphy drew his ramrod, placed his hat upon it, and quietly pushed it a few inches beyond
* Captain John Salmon's account.
+ Mr. Treat's Oration.
193
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
the tree. The Indian, supposing it contained a head, fired a ball through it. The hat dropped, and run- ning up to scalp his man, the savage received the bullet of Murphy's rifle through his breast, and as he fell dead, exclaimed, "O-Wah."*
* Murphy's life deserves a book to give his exploits at full length. The Schoharie valley is full of traditions of his bravery and daring. It would be difficult to magnify his astonishing skill with the rifle, or his courage and address as a border fighter. Some years ago the author visited his grave, located on the farm he had owned near Middleburgh. The Onistegrawa moun- tain, whose sides often echoed back the sharp ring of his death-dealing rifle, looks down upon his humble resting place. His simple tomb-stone bears this inscription :
" Here, too, this warrior sire with honor rests, Who braved in freedom's cause his valiant breast, Sprang from his half-drawn furrow as the cry Of threatened liberty came thrilling by."
" Lo, here he rests, who every danger braved, Marked and honored, 'mid the soil he saved."
*
He died June 27, 1818, aged 67 years.
" After the battle of Monmouth, in 1778, Morgan's riflemen were sent to protect the settlements near Schoharie. Among those whose term of ser- vice had expired before the autumn of '79, was the bold Virginian, Timothy Murphy. Instead of returning home, he enlisted in the militia, and continued to wage a desultory war against the savages then hovering over the Mo- hawk settlements. By his fearless intrepidity, his swiftness of foot, his promptness for every hazardous enterprise, he was, though a mere private, entrusted with the management of every scouting party sent out. He always carried a favorite double rifle, an object of the greatest terror to the Indians, who for a long time were awe-struck at its two successive discharg- es. In the hands of so skillful a marksman, the greatest execution always followed its unerring aim. He had been several times surprised by small Indian parties; but, with remarkable good fortune, had as often escaped. When the savages had learned the mystery of his double rifle, knowing that he must re-load after the second discharge, they were careful not to expose themselves until he had twice fired. Once, when separated from his troops, he was surrounded by a large party of savages. Instantly he struck down the nearest foe. and fled at his utmost speed. Being hard pushed by one runner, whom alone he had not outstripped in the flight, he suddenly turned and shot him on the spot. Stopping to strip his fallen pursuer, he saw another close upon him. He seized the rifle of the dead Indian, and brought
194
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
While this tragedy was transpiring almost within rifle shot, the army, ignorant of the cause of delay, was uneasily watching for the return of the scouting party. As hour followed hour, and still they came not, vague fears of evil began to be entertained. Sul- livan had carefully estimated the time necessary for their return march, and again called up and ques- tioned the two messengers who had arrived in the morning from Boyd, anxiously looking meanwhile for his brave lieutenant, or further tidings from him. The first hint of the danger reached Sullivan through the party still engaged at the bridge, and was, no doubt, brought by Murphy, who preceded the others. From this source the general was informed that Boyd and most of his detachment had been surrounded a short distance beyond the hill in overwhelming numbers by the enemy, who had been discovering themselves be- fore him for some miles ; that his men had killed two, and were pursuing the rest, when they were ambus- caded ; that the supporting party, sent to secure Boyd's flanks, had escaped, but that Boyd himself, with fourteen of his men, and the Oneida chief, had
down his victim. The savages, supposing all danger now passed. rushed heedlessly on with yells of frantic rage. When nearly exhausted, he again turned, and, with the undischarged barrel, fired, and the third pursuer fell. With savage wonder, the other Indians were riveted to the spot; and, ex- claiming that 'he could fire all day without re-loading,' gave over the pur- suit. From that hour, Murphy was regarded by the savages as possessing a charmed life. When Clinton passed along the Mohawk, on his way to Tioga Point, he again joined his rifle corps, to share the dangers of the march into the wilderness."-Treat's Oration.
Murphy was a member of Captain Michael Simpson's rifle company, in Col. Butler's regiment. Lieut. Boyd was also an officer of this company. John Salmon, late of Groveland, likewise served in the same company. In the autumn of 1778, after the battle of Monmouth, Morgan's riflemen, to which Simpson's company belonged, marched to Schoharie to go into winter quarters. It was here that the orders to proceed to the Indian country found them the following spring.
195
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
been completely encircled. "To arms!" was imme- diately sounded. All the light troops of the army, and the flanking division, were at once detached and ยท hurried forward. But relief was then too late; for, after destroying our scouting party, the enemy lost no time in vanishing into the great forest. They left behind them, however, a wagon-load of packs, blank- ets, hats, and provisions, thrown off at the opening of the fight, to enable them to act with more vigor. An Indian corpse was also found, accidently left among the fallen Americans.
The enemy's force was commanded on this occasion by Walter Butler. Hunted at length to their homes, and too much weakened for offensive measures, they yet could harass the march of the invader. Accord- ingly, the day before, they had left Beardstown under their skilled leader, for the purpose of annoying our approaching army, as best they might, and after reconnoitering, had chosen a favorable spot crossed by the pathway leading to the Indian villages, and over which the patriot army must necessarily march. Butler's original purpose was to attack the army near the inlet as they crossed the swamp. But the sol- dierly dispositions made by Sullivan, and his con- stant preparation, did not favor this plan. Butler was therefore compelled to remain inactive with his force, and to witness, hour by hour, as he did, from his hiding-place near the brow of the hill, the pro- gress of the work on the bridge, and the measures preparing for the destruction of the Indian villages. His latter well-conceived design was also frustated by the appearance of Boyd's party in the rear. Always on the alert, the savages were doubly watch- ful now that their powerful enemy lay within cannon shot below, and cautiously as the scouting party advanced, their coming was known in time to make
196
HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
simple dispositions. Nothing, therefore, but swift destruction awaited our little band. For the fierce warriors at once spread themselves out in a great circle, and then forming smaller circles within, so that when the devoted scouts entered at the opening left by the Indians on the path, and that opening had closed behind Boyd's band, they were absolutely sur- rounded, and their doom fixed. The brave fellows, finding that escape was impossible, resolved, doubt- less, to die a soldier's death on the field, rather than be taken captive and suffer inevitable torture. Hence they asked no quarter, as we know, but fought un- flinchingly to the death. The contest embraced all the elements of sublime heroism ; but narrowed down to an ambuscade, it has escaped the attention which dauntless courage so well merits. Like bravery, ex- hibited on a broader and more conspicuous theatre, would have won for the actors a place in heroic his- tory, and their individual names, now forgotten, might have been preserved and honored in song and story.
Murphy, a private named McDonald, Garret Put- man, of Fort Hunter, afterwards in command of a spirited company of rangers in the Mohawk valley, and a French Canadian, regained the American camp. " The two latter secreted themselves early in the fight under a fallen tree around which was growing a quan- tity of thrifty nettles, and thus escaped observation, although several Indians passed over the log in pur- suit of Murphy."
Jolin Putman, a cousin of Garret's, above named, also from the vicinity of Fort Hunter, lost his life in this affair. "At his burial it was found that he had been shot while in the act of firing, as a ball and sev- eral buck-shot had entered the right arm-pit without injuring the arm." A soldier named Benjamin Cus- tin, who belonged to the troops from Schoharie, at-
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.