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 36
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" June 19, 1759. The Royal, with the New Jersey Regiment and Connecticut troops marched this Morning from Fort Edward to the Seven Mile Post, under the Command of Colonel Forster ; from thence the Colonel proceeded with the Royal, 55th and New Jersey Regiments, an Officer of Artillery and two field-pieces, one company of rangers, and some Indians, towards the lake, and took post about three miles on this side of it. The Colonel immediately cleared his ground threw up an intrenchment, and fortified it with the trees that were felled."-Knox's Journal, 1, 373.
" After Orders, 20th June.
* " 2 Companys of Montgomery, to march to Morrow Morning be- fore Day to relieve Capt. Delsell at the 4 Mile Post. The commanding Officer will escort the Batteaux as far as that Post, and will receive further orders at 3 o'clock this Night."- Wilson's Orderly Book (Munsell's Hist. Series), p. 37.
2 In a work in the N. Y. State Library, entitled Plans and Forts in America, 1765, may be found the following Plan of part of Fort George, with the barracks, etc., erected in the year 1759, viz :
A. "Fort showing what was finished." This was the south-west bastion or angle of the fort which was an irregular quadrangle in form.
1. Officer's barracks. 2. Soldier's barracks. 3. Powder magazine. 4. Guard room. 5. The kitchen. 6. 6 store houses. 7. Saw mill in the swamp to the South West.
B. Stockaded fort erected to serve during the time the other was building.
In addition to which, is a garden plot of considerable size, octagonal in form, near the north-east angle. Also a stone wall of considerable size, semicircular in form on the eastern side, probably designed as a breastwork against musketry.
343
MOVEMENTS OF TROOPS.
several days elapsed in bringing up from the various posts be- low, the artillery, heavy stores, boats and baggage, necessary for prosecuting the siege of Forts Carillon and St. Frederic.
During this time the corvette, Halifax, which had been sunk at the head of the lake after Abercrombie's retreat the preced- ing year, was raised and refitted, together with several batteaux, and a large floating battery, in which labor Captain Loring of the English navy, lent his most efficient aid. In the meantime several skirmishes both by land and water occurred between the scouting parties of the opposing forces, in the majority of which the French were triumphant.
Towards the end of July, the baggage and artillery having arrived, the troops were embarked in the batteaux which had been brought overland, and proceeded down Lake George. Like to the array of the preceding year, Amherst's force was arranged in four columns, the two centre ones consisting of six battalions of regulars numbering five thousand seven hundred and fifty-three men, being led by General Amherst in person ; while the two wings comprised nine battalions of provincials and a regiment of light infantry amounting in all to five thou- sand two hundred and seventy-nine men under the command of General Gage. The entire force amounted to eleven thousand one hundred and thirty-three men, including one hundred and eleven of the Royal artillery, having in charge fifty-four pieces of artillery of various calibre.
On their passage through the lake, the general with his staff landed on the point where Abercrombie built his camp-fires the year before. Here the army bivouacked on the night of July the 21st. Notwithstanding the weather was tempestuous, and the lake rough and boisterous, the army resumed its progress in the morning. With Rogers's corps in advance, the boats pushed steadily forward through the whitened crests of the roll- ing waves and debarked on the west side of the outlet of Lake George.1 The rangers pushed rapidly forward across the mount- ain ridge and through the thick woods, and were in a short time in possession of the bridge and saw mills at the lower falls, which, in their precipitate retreat, the enemy had failed to de- stroy. On the rising ground above, now known as Mount Hope,
1 The main army landed near the spot where Abercrombie had disembarked the year before, and proceeded down the left bank of the outlet, on nearly the same route pursued by Lord Howe's corps the previous year .- The Conquest of Canada, vol. II, p. 148.
344
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
they were met by a detachment of the regiment de Berry and a small body of Indians under the command of Captain Bournie. An active skirmish ensued, in which the French were repulsed, several of their number killed and wounded and four taken prisoners. Securing their wounded, the remnant of the French advanced party made a precipitate retreat to their fortress two miles distant. This was accomplished by the rangers before they were joined by the grenadiers and light infantry in the command of Colonel Haviland. The heights were occupied the same night by Amherst with the remainder of the army. The rangers and Col. Haviland's corps still held the advance, and were greatly annoyed during the night by a galling fire from flying parties of Canadians and Indians, scouting at the front. A redoubt, and trench with breast-works had been thrown up on these heights the previous year, prior to the advance of the English army. The name of Mount Hope was at this time conferred upon this locality, significant of the cheering antici- pation of conquest and success, which animated the British forces. Here the entire army laid upon their arms the night of July 22d. The following morning, at an early hour, the armies of the rangers were again called in requisition. They were directed to move with caution and celerity across the Chestnut plain to the nearest point on Lake Champlain, near the enemy's batteries. At the same time a detachment was ordered to the front to carry the main intrenchment by assault, which was done, the enemy retiring to their stronghold without much show of opposition. At about the same time one of the outworks on Lake Champlain was stormed and taken posses- sion of by a party of two hundred rangers. Up to this time the provincial regiments had been busily engaged in transporting the artillery and ammunition across from the other lake.
The whole army under cover of the artillery now moved for- ward with care and circumspection, and before noon, was drawn up in line of battle before the barricade and embankment which, the year previously, had been the scene of such terrific slaughter. Here in the middle of these memorable works, was discovered a deep trench containing the remains of those who had fallen in last year's murderous assault.
Finding the lines deserted, Amherst caused his grenadiers to push forward and occupy the intrenchments, while the main army encamped a short distance to the rear.
345
FORT CARILLON ABANDONED.
The defense of the frontier of Lake St. Sacrament and fortress of Carillon, was entrusted at this time to M. de Bourlemaque, an officer of distinguished ability, who for two campaigns had served with great success in this vicinity. The garrison con- sisted of one battalion of the regiment of La-Reine, two battal- ions of the regiments of Berry, one hundred and fifty soldiers detached from the other five battalions, an equal number of soldiers of the marine, and eight hundred provincial militia, making an aggregate of two thousand three hundred men. His instructions, based upon despatches recently received from the court of France, were not to hazard an engagement, but to fall back before the advance of the English army, and take po- sition upon an island in the river St. John, which was judged to be the post best adapted to protect the frontier.1 The main body of the French and Canadian forces were at this time drawn away by Montcalm to the north for the defense of the almost im- pregnable stronghold of Quebec, which was being threatened by the veteran brigades under the command of the daring Wolfe.
M. de Bourlemaque, finding the English army too well pre- pared for an attack, and he being too circumspect to trust the event of a siege, prudently resolved to act in conformity with his instructions, and abandon the fortress to its inevitable fate. Accordingly preparations were made for a retreat, and during the night of the 23d the main division of the army filed noiselessly out and retired to their boats. The final defense of the post was committed to the care of Capt. d'Hebecourt and four hundred men. During the retreat of the main body the atten- tion of the British army was diverted by the assault of this small force upon the intrenchments. This threw the English lines into such confusion that they fired upon each other, thus enabling the assaulting party to retire in safety to their de- fenses. In this affray the English lost sixteen men. During the next three days,'the fire from the French batteries was main- tained with great activity and effect, holding the English well in check. Among the killed in these discharges, was Colonel Townsend, assistant adjutant-general, an officer of great ability, and universally beloved throughout the army.
During this period, the English engineers were busily en- gaged in planting siege batteries, while a portion of the army
1 Vide Colonial Documents, vol. x, p. 1054.
44
346
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
were employed in preparing fascines. At the same time a por- tion of the rangers were despatched on a scout to Crown Point. To Major Rogers was entrusted the important duty of cutting away a large boom, which the French had built across the narrow part of the lake, opposite the fort, to obstruct the navi- gation. Day by day, the trenches were advancing, and the English batteries began to play upon the outworks of the fort, while their officers and gunners were constantly being picked off by the sharpshooters of Rogers's corps, who were engaged in skirmishing from the covert of the adjacent forest.
On the evening of the 26th, some deserters brought to the En- glish camp intelligence that the French had abandoned the fort, and, that in expectation of an assault from the besieging army, a slow match had been left burning which connected with the magazine, and battery, every gun of which was loaded to the muzzle with grape, canister and chain shot. In addition to this, several mines charged with the most destructive missiles were sprung beneath the fortifications. This timely notice saved the English forces. At ten o'clock at night, in the sight of the whole British army, which was drawn out in anticipation of the spectacle, the most terrific explosion took place. Running along the cleft chasms in the rocky ground, the yellow fire rushed, greedily lapping with the forked tongues of its lambent flame, the gaping crevices in the massive masonry, that trem- bled, reeled and fell, while the solid earth for many rods shook as with the throes of an earthquake. One after another, the guns of the fortress flashed out from the sulphurous glow, that invested the ruined pile, and their sharp reports were slowly answered by long, dull echoes from the deep caverns beneath. Bombs, grenades and rockets, booming and whirring through the heavy night air, exploded in every direction, trailing earth- ward long and glittering lines of various colored light. Soon, through the dim haze of smoke and vapor, the glaring red light of the barracks and woodwork of the fortress burst forth, re- vealing through the veil of surrounding gloom, the ruined wrecks hurled in unsightly piles along the line of fortification, while here and there, a long gaping fissure in the smoking earth exhibited the direction of the mines, and the tremendous agencies which had toppled down the massive ramparts and towering bastions from their rocky bases.
347
A FRENCH RETREAT.
After the mines were sprung, the retreat of the French be- came so precipitate that their scouting parties were not called in, and these subsequently surrendered themselves as prisoners to the English. The same day, two whaleboats, and one large scow were transported from Lake George, across the isthmus that separates the lake. In these, Major Rogers with sixty rangers, embarked at dusk and crossed to the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. Before accomplishing the destruction of the boom, the party were startled by a terrific explosion. The fortress had been undermined by the French, and as soon as the mines were sprung, the garrison embarked in their boats and swiftly pulled away to the north. At this juncture Rogers with his party, having succeeded in getting their boats across the boom, made a sharp attack and drove several of the enemy's boats on the east shore, where in the morning, ten boats with a large quantity of baggage, fifty casks of powder, and quite an amount of shot and fixed ammunition, together with sixteen prisoners were captured, and reports of the same returned to the general in command the same evening. Through the gallantry of a sergeant belonging to one of the batteries of the line, the French flag was taken down on the morning of the 27th, from its elevation among the blazing ruins, and for the first time in its dark and bloody history, the red cross of St. George flaunted its silken folds above the blackened and grim battlements of Carillon. As soon as practicable, a detachment of troops was sent to extinguish the flames which yet glowed about the ruined fortress. This work was successfully accom- plished in a short time without any loss to the captors. Not- withstanding the fire, a vast quantity of spoils, including all the heavy artillery together with a profusion of light arms and munitions of war, fell into the hands of the English. From the moment of landing up to the time possession was taken of the fort, General Amherst lost only seventy-six men, including the wounded, while nearly double that number of the French were taken in the progress of the siege, and were now held as prisoners of war by the victors.
Soon after, the fortress at Crown Point having been aban- doned by the enemy, was taken possession of by a detachment of rangers. The joy with which the capture of these two import- . ant posts was received throughout the colonies, pervaded all ranks of society, and lifted up the vail of doubt and gloom
348
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
which had so long rested like a funereal pall over the harassed frontier. The campaign for the British arms had been an un- interrupted record of brilliant achievements and triumphant success. North and west as well as here, the conquests fore- shadowed a future of brighter promise, enuring to the tranquil- ity and happiness of the country at large, and the lasting renown of the officers whom the judgment of the great Pitt had selected for these responsible trusts, reflecting by their gallant achieve- ments additional lustre upon his splendid genius. (a)
(a) It was during this season of the capture of the fortress at Ticonderoga, that Fort George, or all that was ever built of it, was constructed by Col. James Mon- tressor of whom the following sketch is taken from Wilson's Orderly Book (Mun- sell's Hist. Series), p. 72, note.
JAMES MONTRESSOR (spelled Montrezure in the text), became director of en- gineers and lieutenant colonel in the British army 4th January, 1758, in which year he was at the head of the engineer department in the expedition against Ticonderoga under Abercrombie. He drew the plan of Fort Stanwix and the surrounding country in the summer of the same year. He was chief engineer also to Amherst's expedition and superintended the construction of Fort George, at the head of Lake George, in July, 1759. He obtained in 1771 a grant of 10,000 acres of land at the forks of the Pagkataghan, or Otter creek, in the present town of Panton, Vt., and in May, 1772, became colonel in the army. He died in the month of December, 1775."
Jeff Anhent
349
INDIAN DEEDS.
CHAPTER VI.
THE LAND PATENTS -THE DELLIUS GRANT-THE LYDIUS PUR- CHASE-THE KAYADEROSSERAS PATENT-THE GLEN GRANT -- THE QUEENSBURY PATENT.
HE greed of wealth, and lust of power, which were among the most powerful incentives, and active in- strumentalities toward the pushing out, and estab- lishment of new settlements in the virgin wilderness of the new world, led to the early issue of royal patents, and colonial land grants, covering immense and valuable tracts of territory to partisan favorites, and needy courtiers.
Following in the wake of the Van Rensselaers, the Lansings, the Bayards, and Van Courtlandts, the Rev. Godfrey Dellius, the Dutch minister at Albany, who had the address, and influ- ence, to secure the appointment as one of the commissioners of Indian affairs, made use of his position to obtain the convey- ance from the Indians and a subsequent confirmation by patent of two large wilderness tracts, bordering upon Lakes George and Champlain and the east banks of the Hudson as far south as the Battenkill. To quote the language of the early historian of the province,1 he had fraudulently obtained the Indian deeds according to which the patent had been granted.
One of the grants included all the land within twelve miles on the east side of the Hudson river, and extended twenty miles in length, from the north bounds of Saratoga. Another state- ment says the patent was made under the great seal of the province, bearing date Sept. 3d, 1696, and embraced the ter- ritory " lying upon the east side of the Hudson river, between the northernmost bounds of Saratoga and the Rock Rossian,2 containing about 70 miles in length, and 12 miles broad, subject to a yearly rent to the crown of one hundred raccoon skins.3!"
1 Smith's History of New York, p. 159.
2 " At this period, the country on both sides of the Hudson, was called Saratoga. The Rock Rossian is in Willsborough, Essex county, and is now called Split rock."-Macauley's Hist. of N. Y., vol, II, p. 412, note.
3.Munsell's Annals of Albany, vol. i, p. 95. Macauley's Hist. of N. Y., vol. II, ut supra.
350
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
This patent was issued under the great seal of the province, by Col. Fletcher while acting as governor in 1696, and included the greater portion of Essex, Warren, and Washington counties. This with other patents was vacated at the instance of Lord Bellamont, at the session of the provincial assembly, which was organized March 21st, 1699. Notwithstanding this fact, Dellius still asserted his claim and right to the territory in question, and on his return to Holland is commonly stated to have dis- posed of his interests therein to his successor in the ministry at Albany, the Rev. John Lydius.1
Nearly all the earlier writers concur with singular unanimity in making this statement, and are endorsed by such later writers as Gordon, Fitch and Lossing.
"In a pamphlet exposition of the title of Lydius, printed at New Haven in 1764, doubtless by his authority, he says nothing about the Dellius grant, but claims under an Indian deed in language as follows :
" The father of the present Colonel Lydius, being a minister of the gospel at Albany, was well known to have taken much pains with the Mohawk Indians for a series of years, in which (on his decease) he was succeeded by his son aforesaid, who (though not a clergyman) still continued their instruction, till he so far ingratiated himself into their favor, that on the first day of February, 1732, he obtained a deed of the heads of that nation, for two certain tracts of land lying on Otter creek and Wood creek, and bounded as follows : Beginning at the mouth of Otter creek, where it empties into Lake Champlain and runs easterly, six Dutch miles (equal to twenty-four English ;) then runs southerly to the uppermost falls on Otter creek, being about fifteen Dutch miles, be the same more or less; then westerly six Dutch miles, and thence northerly to the place of beginning. The other on Wood creek beginning two Dutch miles and a half due north of the place called Kingequaghtenock, or the falls
1 Lydius was not the immediate successor of Dellius. In August, 1683, the Re- formed Dutch church of Albany, took measures for determining the salary of the newly arrived pastor from Holland, the Rev. Godefridus Dellius. On the 12th of May, 1699, he was deposed by act of general assembly " from the exercises of his ministerial function in the city and county of Albany, for the illegal and surrepti- tious obtaining of said grants." Having ten months in which to procure his rein- statement, the Rev. John Peter Nucella occupied the pulpit as a temporary supply until the 20th of July, 1700, when he was succeeded by the Rev. John Lydius whose ministry terminated with his death 1st March, 1709 .- Munsell's Annals of Albany, vol. I, pp. 82-88, 95.
ROCK ROSIAN
OR
SPLIT ROCK
CHAMPLAIN
Hudson river as formerly delineated.
פ -GRANT.
CROWN PT ..
TICONDEROGA
U S
GEORGE
KE
-
WHITEHALL.
WOOD CREEK
BATEN KILL
Saratoga.
THE DELLIUS GRANT OF 1696.
This Grant was bounded west by the Hudson, north and south by dotted lines and Wood. creek. The shaded part represents the Grant in two parcels as erroneously claimed by Duane .- Hall's Hist. Vermont, p. 490.
352
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
on Wood creek; and thence runs westerly to the falls on Hudson river, going to Lake St. Sacrament; thence down said river five Dutch miles; and thence running easterly five Dutch miles ; thence southerly three Dutch miles and a half; thence easterly five Dutch miles ; and thence northerly to the place of beginning.
The pamphlet then states that his title by the Indian deed was confirmed and declared valid by Governor Shirley of Massachu- setts, in obedience to the special command of his majesty. The Indian deed to Lydius, as well as the confirmation of it, if they ever existed, were doubtless both founded in fraud. But the description of the land claimed by Lydius, as well as the title under which he professes to derive it, seems to exclude any idea that it had any connection with the previous grant to Dellius." 1
On the strength of this claim, Mr. John Henry Lydius, son of the minister, erected a block house on the south side of Fort Ed- ward creek and a trading post on the site of old Fort Nicholson which had been built as early as 1709; built mills, supplied with water from a wing-dam extending from the mainland to the island opposite the village, put up a number of log dwellings, introduced a small colony of dependents, and, for a period of ten years, maintained a considerable state and establishment, claiming for himself the title of governor of Fort Edward in his majesty's dominions of North America.2 He was familiar with many of the Indian dialects, was often consulted by Sir William Johnson in reference to Indian affairs, and was to some extent the rival of the astute baronet, in the influence and regard of the wandering tribes, who enjoyed his hospitality, accepted his gifts, and looked up to him as their father. His little settle- ment and fort which was named for him, were once or twice made the subject of incursions by the savages in 1745, when the improvements were utterly destroyed and the inhabitants driven off. They were afterwards rebuilt and reoccupied to some extent, and Lydius is supposed to have acquired a handsome property in the prosecution of his traffic with the Indians. After the outbreak of the last French war, he held for a year
1 Dr. Hall in No. 5, vol. III, Historical Magazine for 1868, p. 310. It will be perceived by the above defined boundaries, that the greater portion of the town of Queensbury was included in the Lydius claim.
2 " Lydius soon afterward built a stone trading house upon the site of Fort Ed- ward. Its door and windows were strongly barred, and near the roof, the walls were pierced for musketry. It was erected upon a high mound, and palisaded, as a defense against enemies."-Lossing's Hudson, p. 74.
353
THE KAYADEROSSERAS PATENT.
or more some subordinate position in connection with the pub- lic service, but falling into disagreement with his superiors he afterwards returned to Europe, and disappeared from public view. He died at Kensington near London, Eng., in the spring of 1791, at the advanced age of 98.
We next come to the consideration of the Kayaderosseras patent,1 whose north line cuts through the west and south west portions of the town, and from the beginning has given rise to almost interminable litigation. The early law reports 2 of the century, are loaded with these cases, whose various points and issues have hardly yet been completely tested. One of the more recent cases was tried in 1857, being brought by Thomas B. Bennett, who claimed under the Kayaderosseras patent, against Abraham Wing and others who also claimed under the same patent but from a different deed. Bennett's action being founded on a supposition that Wing would claim under the Queensbury patent, he was defeated with costs. It is proper to state how- ever, that there were other points in issue.
The great Kayaderosseras patent, 3 was founded on a grant
1 The original Kayaderosseras patent is on file in the county clerk's office at Ballston Spa.
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