USA > New York > Warren County > Queensbury > A history of the town of Queensbury, in the state of New York : with biographical sketches of many of its distinguished men, and some account of the aborigines of northern New York > Part 35
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 | Part 52 | Part 53
provinces, he resigned his command shortly after the conclusion of peace between Great Britain and France, and returned to London in December, 1763, where new honors and favors awaited him. In 1770 he became governor of Guernsey and its de- pendencies, and two years afterwards was sworn of the privy council. In 1776 he was advanced to the dignity of the peerage, when he took the title of Baron Amherst of Honesdale in the county of Kent ; and in 1787 received another patent as Baron Amherst of Montreal. From 1772 to 1782 he officiated as commander-in-chief of the English forces, during the latter part of which period he acted as eldest general on the staff of England. In 1782 he received the golden stick from the king, but on the change of administration, usually called that of Lord North, the command of the army, and the Lieutenant Generalship of Ordnance, was put into other hands. In 1783 he was again appointed to the command of the army ; but in 1785 he was superseded by the Duke of York, then in his 31st year, who had never seen any service. The government upon this occasion, with a view to soothe the feelings of the old general, offered him an earldom, and the rank of field marshal, both of which he rejected ; but in the following year accepted the latter. He died 3d August, 1797 in the 81st year of his age. Lord Amherst was a man of collected and temperate mind, without brilliancy or parade ; a strict officer, yet the soldier's friend. He was twice married, but left no issue, and was succeeded in his title and estates by his nephew, the son of the brother whom he had employed in the reduction of Newfoundland."- Wilson's Orderly Book (Munsell's Hist. Series), pp. V, VI, VII.
333
RECONNOISSANCE OF ST. FREDERICK.
partly as a loan to the home government, to defray the expenses of this gigantic enterprise. Two thousand six hundred and eighty men were drawn from the province of New York alone, as its quota to the new levies; and bills of credit to the amount of one hundred thousand pounds were issued, being made redeema- ble in 1768; beside taxes to the amount of six hundred and twenty- five thousand dollars, including one hundred and fifty thousand loaned to the parent state. An oath of secrecy was exacted from the members of the colonial assemblies when the plan of this campaign was communicated to them. As soon as the commission arrived, appointing him to the chief command of the American army, Amherst sailed from Halifax, and touching at Boston, landed at New York near the close of the year (De- cember 12th), and immediately applied himself to the duties of his responsible station. The following month, Abercrombie embarked on board a man-of-war lying at that port, and accom- panied by Wolfe, returned to England. The forces at Louis- bourg and vicinity were left meanwhile in the charge of Colonel Monckton.
In addition to two new corps of rangers, which it was pro- posed to raise at this time, negotiations were entered into with three chiefs of the Mohegan tribe for three companies of Indians to be used in the scouting service.
About the last of February a company of fifty Mohawks under the command of Captain Lotridge, was sent to Rogers, through the instrumentality of Sir Wm. Johnson. These cooperated with the rangers in a scout to Ticonderoga, which will hereafter be related.
The eastern colonies, which the preceding year had been so lavish of their means for the promotion of the war, were dis- appointed in the results of the campaign and exhibited an un- usual reluctance to increase the amount of the appropriations or levies. Under the earnest representations of Amherst, whose successes had rendered him deservedly popular throughout New England, Massachusetts was finally induced to contribute both men and money to the coming campaign, New Hampshire, in- creased the number of her levies to one thousand, which was mainly designed to replenish Rogers's command. An addi- tional regiment of volunteers, called the Jersey Blues, was raised in the state of New Jersey, through the agency of Edward Hart; and the sparsely settled region of the Mohawk valley
334
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
turned out a battalion of eight hundred rangers who served under General Johnson on the western frontier. The northern states at the opening of spring were again alive with the stir of military preparations, and every city, village and hamlet in the neighborhood of the Hudson echoed once more the words of command and the din of arms.
While these movements were in progress, Major Rogers was despatched by Colonel Haldimand, then in command at Fort Edward,1 to reconnoitre and report upon the strength and con- dition of the garrison and fortification at St. Frederic and Carillon. His force consisted of three hundred and fifty-eight men, including the party of Mohawks already named. On the evening of the 3d of March, he encamped at the deserted post near the Half-way brook. Here one of the Indians becoming - disabled, was sent back. The ensuing day his party was marched to the vicinity of King Hendrick's spring and halted until even- ing to avoid exposure to any of the enemy's parties of observa- tion.2 The march was then resumed and the party reached the Narrows on Lake George, about two o'clock in the morning and bivouacked for the night. The cold was so in- tense that at this point several of the men were found to be frost-bitten, and it became necessary to send them back to Fort Edward, in charge of a sergeant. At eleven o'clock on the night of the 5th, they reached Sabbath-day point,3 the cold causing them great suffering. Starting again at two o'clock, they reached the landing place at the foot of the lake at eight o'clock in the morning. Scouts were now despatched in various directions, and it was ascertained that two working parties of the French were out on the east side of the lake. The remainder of the day was devoted to a reconnoissance of the French works. Rogers with forty-nine rangers and the party of Mohawks under Captain Lotridge accompanied the engineer to the bold pro- montory overlooking the scene rendered memorable by the
1" N. B. The exterior circuite of Fort Edward is nearly 1569 feet. And as I am informed took nearly two seasons to build it."- Doc. Hist. N. Y., vol. IV, p. 524. 2 On a manuscript map of great age in the State Library there is marked near this place a locality by the name of Indian rock.
3 When and upon what occasion this celebrated landing place received the name of Sabbath-day point is involved in obscurity. The guide books with customary inaccuracy vary in their accounts, and none of them are correct. One assigns the occasion of Abercrombie's landing on a sabbath morning in 1758, and another that of'Amherst in 1755. The official correspondence and returns go to show that the name was in common use in 1757-8 .- Vide Colonial Records, and Rogers's Journal.
335
DISPATCHES.
bloody repulse of the preceding year, while Captain Williams was left behind with thirty rangers and regulars as a corps of reserve. After the return of the party of observation, five In- dians with one of the rangers was detailed to watch the return of the fatigue parties and take note of their numbers. At night the engineer visited the French intrenchments accompanied by an escort of ten men under the command of Lieutenant Tute. The necessary observations being completed the engineer with his party returned at midnight, and in consequence of the severe cold, they, with the remainder of the regulars and rangers, were sent back to Sabbath-day point, where fires were built and a temporary camp established. At three o'clock on the following morning the remainder of the force consisting of the Mohawks, forty of the rangers and one regular under the command of Rogers, started to intercept the laborers engaged in cutting wood, who were discovered the previous day. By a rapid march, they succeeded in crossing South bay, and reaching a point nearly opposite the fort before sunrise. They dashed in upon the choppers and succeeded in killing or capturing nearly all of them.
The garrison being alarmed, a force of one hundred and fifty regulars and eighty Canadians and Indians, started in pursuit but the retreat was so well organized that they were repulsed at every assault, and finally being pursued by the Mohawks, were routed with considerable loss. The ensuing night they rejoined their comrades at Sabbath-day point, and participated in the comforts of the blazing camp fires. The next day's march brought them to Long Island in Lake George, where they en- camped for the night. Before leaving, Lieutenant Tute was detached express with the following letter :
" CAMP AT SABBATH-DAY POINT, 8 o'clock, A. M. $.
" Sir : I would inform you that sixty Indians in two parties, have gone toward Fort Edward and Saratoga, and I fear they will strike a blow be- fore this reaches you. Mr. Brehme, the engineer, has completed his busi- ness agreeably to his orders ; since which I have taken and destroyed several of the enemy near Ticonderoga, as the bearer will inform. The Mohawks behaved well, and ventured within pistol shot of the fort. The weather is extremely severe, and we are compelled to carry some of our men whose feet are frozen. " R. ROGERS.
"N. B .- Two-thirds of my detachment have frozen their feet."
336
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
To this communication the following reply was returned :
" FORT EDWARD, March 20, 1759.
" Dear Sir : I congratulate you on your success, and send twenty-two sleighs to transport your sick. You will also bring as many boards [these had been left the previous season at the south end of Lake George, and were now required for use at Fort Edward,] as you can conveniently. My compliments to Captain Williams and the gentlemen.
" Your most obed't serv't,
" FRED HALDIMAN.
"P. S .- The signal guns have been fired to give notice to the different forts to be on their guard. Nothing has yet appeared."
The guns had the effect to intimidate a party of savages in the vicinity of Fort Miller eight miles south of Fort Edward, and thinking that they were discovered returned back from their fruitless errand. At the south end of Lake George the return- ing party were met by an escort of one hundred men accom- panied by the sleighs, which were a great relief to the foot-sore and worn-out rangers. The entire party reached the fort without further molestation.
The month following this adventure Gen. Amherst left New York on his way toward the northern frontier, and on the 3d of May arrived at Albany, where the troops and new levies had already begun to assemble. These were immediately placed under active discipline, preparatory to their march to the north. In the meanwhile, the artillery, munitions, and provisions for the approaching campaign were being gathered rapidly in at this point, under Amherst's vigilant supervision. The month of May was devoted to drilling the troops as fast as they gathered at Albany, while the regular forces in camp were forwarded to Fort Edward by detachments as soon as they could be supplied with the necessary stores. In the meantime, Major West was despatched by the orders of Amherst with a company of troops and laborers for the purpose of constructing an intermediate post between Lake George and Fort Edward. In compliance with this order, a site was selected in the neighborhood of the recent massacre on the south bank of the Half-way brook, and a few rods to the east of the old military road. Here, a stock- ade fortress was thrown up, which was surrounded on three of its sides by a ditch and counterscarp, while the rear was pro-
337
BLOODY RUN.
tected by a heavy, impassable morass.1 This post was supplied with artillery and placed in charge of a small garrison under the command of Major West. To this fortification was given the name of Fort Amherst in honor of the commander-in-chief.2 About the same time a picketed fort was erected at the head of Lake Champlain for the purpose of checking the irruptions of the French and Indians.3
As the army was thus slowly gathering at Fort Edward, Fort Miller was in possession of a small detachment of regular troops. A party of these ventured out one day on a fishing excursion to a small stream in the vicinity. While following their amuse- ment, they fell into an ambush of Indians who were lurking in the neighborhood, and seven of their number fell victims to savage fury. The remainder escaped to the fort, and a pursuit was immediately instituted, but the marauders were not to be found. The place of this massacre is commemorated by the name of the Bloody run.4
About the last of May (1759) the provincial levies had assem- bled at Albany and the quota assigned to Rogers's corps were forwarded to the rangers' camp on the island at Fort Edward.5 Rogers, having paid his respects to the commanding general at Albany during the early part of the month, had received assu- rances of his confirmation as major in the regular army with
1 June 21, 1759. The stockade at the 7 mile post was finished to-day .- Knox's Hist. Journal, 376.
2 The remains of this fortification with its cellars and embankments are still to be seen on what is to this day called the Garrison ground on the cross road leading from the Champlain place to the brick yard. Some years since, Geo. W. Cheney, Esq., found here a pair of silver sleeve buttons marked "P," which he insists be- longed to the famous General Putnam.
" " Within the memory of some of our citizens, the whole brow of the hill, east of Church street, and south of High street, was enclosed by an embankment, which formed the base of a picket fort, said to have been constructed during that war," (i. e. the French war of 1766-63) .- Kellogg's Historical Discourse, p. 4.
4 " An eighth of a mile westward is Bloody run, a stream which comes leaping in sparkling cascades from the hills, and affords fine trout fishing. * *
* This clear mountain stream enters the Hudson a little above Fort Miller, where the river makes a sudden curve, and where, before the erection of the dam at the rapids, it was quite shallow, and usually fordable. This was the crossing place for the armies ; and there are still to be seen some of the logs and stones upon the shore, which formed a part of the old King's road leading to the fording place."-Field Book of the Revolution, vol. I, p. 94.
6 " According to the report of all these prisoners the island where Robert Rogers's company is quartered is in progress of being palisaded ; that partisan had only 220 men with him."-Report of Goo. Vaudreuil to M. Berryer, 28th March, 1759.
43
338
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
rank from the date of his first commission. On his return to Fort Edward, May 15th, Rogers learned to his regret of the death of Capt. Burbank, who with a party of thirty men was captured by the Indians while on a scouting expedition. One of the captors mistaking the brave captain for Rogers, exultingly displayed his bleeding scalp to some of the prisoners ; and when informed of their mistake, the savages expressed regret, as they stood indebted to the captain for kindness. Gen. Gage, who was a prominent officer in Amherst's campaign,being assigned to leading and important duties, with a strong detachment was sent forward in advance of the main army, and taking position at the head of the lake, proceeded to the erection of some tem- porary defenses on a commanding eminence, spoken of as Element hill, in one of the soldier's journals, to the west of the old Fort Wm. Henry, to which was given the name of Fort Gage,1 in honor of its builder.(a) Gage was soon afterward joined by Stark with three companies of rangers. Rogers, with the other three companies, remained at Fort Edward, engaged in frequent scouts and reconnoissances, under the immediate supervision of Amherst in person.
' The author of this work has sought diligently for some account or description of this fortification, whose name and site, tradition has preserved for more than a century, but none has been found. It is on the authority of the late Hon. Wm. Hay, of Saratoga Springs, that the period above named is given as the date of its construction. It was probably little more than a redoubt, and intended as a flank support to the main fortifications now known as the ruins of Fort George.
(a) THOMAS GAGE was the second son of the 1st, and father of the 3d, Viscount Gage of Castlebar, in the county of Mayo, Ireland. In 1755 he accompanied the expedition under General Braddock, against Fort Du Quesne, as lieutenant colonel of the 44th regiment, and commanded the vanguard in the fatal engagement of the 9th July, when he was slightly wounded. After the battle he carried the general off the field. In May, 1758, he was appointed colonel of the 80th regiment and brig. general, and on the 8th December following, married Margaret, daughter of Peter Kemble, Esq., president of the council of New Jersey. In 1759 he accompanied the expedition under General Amherst, and led the 2d column against Fort Ticon- deroga, which however, had been abandoned by the French before the arrival of the English troops. On learning the death of General Prideaux, General Am- herst dispatched Brigadier Gage on the 28th July to take command of that division of the army, but Fort Niagara had already been reduced by Sir William Johnson.
On the 11th July, in the following year, he departed from Oswego with the army to Montreal, of which city he was appointed governor, after its capitulation. He was promoted in May, 1761, to the rank of major general, and in March fol- lowing became colonel of the 22d regiment of foot. At the departure of General Amherst for England in 1763, Major General Gage succeeded him as commander- in-chief of his majesty's forces in North America. He rose to be lieutenant general in 1770, and resided in New York until May, 1774, when he removed to Boston, on being appointed governor of Massachusetts. He was a suitable instrument for
339
EXECUTION OF DESERTERS.
The main body of the army was put in motion in the early part of June, and after three days' march General Amherst encamped with his entire force at Fort Edward. Here the troops were again placed under a rigid system of discipline, exercise, and drill to prepare them for their coming duties. The raw and inexperienced provincials who composed the greater portion of the army, unused to the irksome and rigid require- ments of stern military rules, soon manifested a disposition to return to the homes from which they had been so uncere- moniously torn. Wearied and heartsick of the monotonous camp duties assigned them, with a certain prospect of a danger- ous march and a sanguinary battlefield before them, the spirit of insubordination 1 and desertion spread to an alarming extent ; the provincials by twos, threes, and even whole platoons steal- ing off to the woods, despite the most exacting vigilance, and animated appeals to their patriotism and courage. At length Amherst found it necessary to resort to the terrible death penalty to stay the progress of the alarming defection in his fast dwindling army. Four deserters, Dunwood, Ward, Rogers
executing the purposes of a tyrannical ministry and parliament. Several regi- ments soon followed him, and he began to repair the fortifications upon Boston Neck. The powder in the arsenal at Charleston was seized ; detachments were sent out to take possession of the stores in Salem and Concord and the battle of Lexington became. the signal of war. In May, 1775, the provincial congress de- clared Gage to be an inveterate enemy of the country, disqualified from serving the colony as governor and unworthy of obedience. From this time the exercise of his functions was confined to Boston. In June he issued a proclamation offering pardon to all the rebels excepting Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and pro- claimed martial law ; but the affair of Breed's hill, a few days afterwards, proved to him that he had mistaken the character of the Americans. In October he em- barked for England, and was succeeded in command by Sir William Howe. His conduct towards the inhabitants of Boston in promising them liberty to leave the town on the delivery of their arms, and then detaining many of them, has been reprobated for its treachery. In 1782 he was appointed colonel of the 17th light dragoons, and rose to the rank of general of the army in the following month of November. General Gage died in England on the 2d of April, 1787. His widow survived him until the 9th February, 1824, when she died aged 90 years."- Wilson's Orderly Book (Munsell's Hist. Series), p. 52-3, note.
1 " Thomas Burk, waggoner, tryed by a court martiall of the line for abusing and offering to strick his officer at Half-way brook, is found guilty of the crime laid to his charge, and sentenced to receive four hundred lashes. The general approves of the above sentence, and orders that the said Thomas Burk is marched to-morrow morning at 5 o'clock by the provost guard, regiment to regiment and that he receives 30 lashes at each of the 4 regular regiments, beginning at . Forbse's and so on to the right. That he also receives 30 lashes each at the head of 8 provincial regiments, and forty at the head of Schuyler's."- Wilson's Orderly Book (Munsell's Hist. Series), p. 83.
340
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
and Harris by name, were apprehended, and after a trial by court martial, were shot in the sight of the whole army, which was drawn out in battle array to witness the execution. This stringent measure had the desired effect in stopping the pro- gress of desertion.1
About this time M. de Bourlemaque, the commandant of the French forces at Carillon, despatched a flag of truce by a party of French officers to General Amherst at Fort Edward for the ostensible purpose of arranging the preliminaries of a treaty ; but in reality to ascertain the strength of the garrison and its defenses. By the prudence of Amherst, their design was de- feated. The approaching party was directed to halt at a suit- able distance from the fort, at which place the conference was held, thus depriving them of a plausible pretext for visiting the fort. To check in some degree the barbarities committed by the enemy's scouting parties on the unoffending inhabitants of the frontier, General Amherst forwarded a copy of the follow- ing proclamation to the governor of Canada. "No scouting party or others in the army, are to scalp women or children be- longing to the enemy. They are, if possible, to take them prisoners, but not to injure them on any account, the general being determined, should the enemy continue to murder and scalp women and children, subjects of the King of Great Britain, to revenge it by the death of two men of the enemy, for every woman or child murdered by them." This order which was carried secretly into the French camp, had the effect of relieving the campaign of the long catalogue of horrors, which, since the commencement of the war had annually dar- kened the pages of history.
1 Of the severity of the discipline followed in this campaign, the following is an illustration.
TICONDEROGA, 3d August, 1759.
" George - Edwards a deserter of the 17th regiment is to suffer death. The Picquits of the line to assemble immediately in the front of Montgomerys. The commanding officer of Forbes will order that regiment to erect a gallows imme- diately on the battery in front of Montgomerys, where the prisoner, George Ed- wards, is to be hanged in his French coat, with a libble on his breast, Hanged for Deserting to the French. He is to be hanging all day and at the retreat beating he is to be buried very deep under the gallows, and his French coat with him. This to be put in execution instantly, and if the provost martiall does not find a hangman, the commanding officer of the Picquitts will order that provost martiall does it himself."- Wilson's Orderly Book (Munsell's Hist. Series), p. 113.
FORKS CR.
FORT WM. since 1759.
HENRY.
HERST.
FORT AM built 1759.
HUDSON R.
Waggon Road.
EDWARD.
MAP OF THE OLD MILITARY ROUTES BETWEEN LAKE GEORGE AND FORT EDWARD.
342
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
Towards the close of June,1 the army, amounting to six thousand men, preceded by Rogers's rangers, advanced in two columns to the head of Lake George, where they erected their camp, very nearly on the ground occupied by Abercrombie the year before. On the following day, Amherst traced a plan for a fortification near the camp ground, which was soon afterwards constructed, and whose ruins are now crumbling in massive piles upon the shrub-grown eminence to the east of the village of Caldwell.2 While the army remained posted at this position,
"FORT EDWARD, 19th June, 1759. . " After Orders.
1 " Three or four Ox Carts will be delivered to the New Jersey and first Connec- ticut Regiment this Evening, and 7 Ox Carts and a Waggon to be delivered to the Royall this Evening, that they may be loaded to-morrow at the Brake of Day. The above Regiments are at that Time to strick their Tents, and are to be under the command of Collo. Forster, who will receive his Orders from the Generall. The Regiments are to March by the Left, the Royall to march along the Front of the Line, joyning the Jersey Regiment, then both joyning the Connecticut Re- giment, the whole to proceed as Collo. Forster will direct. Capt. Brewer and 60 Rangers joyning them as they march from the Camp, eight hundred working Men for mending the roads to-morrow, half will take their Arms, the other half will take Tools ; the whole to be Commanded by two Field Officers, and repaire the Roads to the Four Mile Post."- Wilson's Orderly Book, (Munsell's Hist. Series), p. 35.
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.