USA > New York > Livingston County > A history of Livingston County, New York: > Part 16
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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.
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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- unus Willet and other officers, were also present.
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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.t
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
+ General Maxwell resigned his commission on the 23d of June, 1780, and. retired from the service.
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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. Hist. Coll. of New Jersey.
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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
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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.
WAYSA
CHEMUNG
JOHN COON
HIS HORN
1780
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.
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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,
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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
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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
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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,
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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.t 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.
t 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.
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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."t 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.
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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 Jiberty 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
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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
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