USA > New York > Franklin County > Historical sketches of Franklin county and its several towns > Part 62
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Besides paying these Indians their annuity, and exempting them from all taxation and from the duties to which citizens are subject, and sup- .porting their schools, the State provided a few years ago that they
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THE SAINT REGIS INDIAN RESERVATION
should have a physician ready to respond to their calls without cost to themselves, but compensated at a stated salary at the public expense ; and it has always been generous (perhaps even to the point of wasteful- ness) in constructing and maintaining reservation highways. As early as 1820 the State began outlay in this direction, and in 1840 it appro- priated four thousand dollars for highway work at this point. About 1887 appropriations began to be voted with regularity for similar pur- poses, amounting usually to three thousand dollars a year, but after a time in not so large sums until 1909, when they reached yet larger fig- ures. The total so granted and expended in six years has been $69,762.65. A considerable part of this total went for a bridge over the Raquette river near Nyando, which, by the way, spans the stream at the point where it conveniences the whites more than it does the Indians.
What is to be the future of this people? Their increase, which carries no suggestion of race suicide, certainly does not indicate extinction. But will there be disappearance through amalgamation ? The supposition is not reasonable that the State will continue through the centuries to deal with the Indians simply as its wards, and the trend of opinion seems to be that eventually they must be made citizens, enjoy- ing the privileges and benefits of that status, and accepting its respon- sibilities and burdens. But the time for so radical a change is by no means yet full, and it would be little short of shameful shirking of an obligation to a people who have had little except injustice at the hands of civilization to invoke it until they shall have made much further progress in intelligent comprehension of the meaning and responsibilities of civic life, and also in ability to safeguard for themselves their individual rights and property interests. Happily the advancement which they have been making of late carries some promise that, continuing in equal or greater measure, they may at a day which can not now be even guessed attain to self-reliance, a capacity and an enlightenment which will justify abandonment of the State's historic policy concerning them, and sub- stitution of the course of leaving them to fend for themselves. In that event, amalgamation would almost certainly follow, and a race be blotted from the world.
CHAPTER XXIV
FRANKLIN COUNTY AND THE WAR OF 1812
Had not the command on this northern frontier been given in the war of 1812 to a general whom Secretary of War Armstrong character- ized as a drunken incompetent, and General Winfield S. Scott as an " unscrupulous imbecile," it seems at this distance in time not improb- able that Franklin county might have escaped almost untouched in the conflict. True, two or three insignificant affairs with the enemy had occurred in 1812 just at the border, but until General Wilkinson brought General Hampton to Chateaugay (which village then contained only eight or ten houses) and himself to French Mills (now Fort Covington), everything had been quiet here for an entire year, and, inasmuch as an offensive movement against this locality, no matter how successful, could have held no promise of strategic advantage, no opening of a rich coun- try to ravage, nor assurance of capture of any considerable quantity of arms, munitions or subsistence stores, it is not unlikely that, but for the coming of General Wilkinson, the British would have continued to let us alone, as our own utter weakness locally was guaranty that we would not undertake to operate against Canada.
The records as to early activities in this locality are very incomplete and somewhat confusing. War was declared by Congress June 18, 1912, and according to pay-rolls in the office of the adjutants-general both at Albany and at Washington one company of State militia, serving through three separate terms of enlistment, with a maximum enrollment of sixty-four officers and men, but never mustering that number at any one time, and under the command of Rufus Tilden, of Dickinson (now Moira), was stationed at French Mills from July 8, 1812, to January 8, 1813. But these pay-rolls are manifestly at fault, for other conclusive evidence is to the effect that Captain Tilden and the members of his command were made prisoners by the British on November 23, 1812, and taken to Montreal. The fact probably is that the men continued to be carried as in service while they were prisoners, and were so paid, as of course they ought to have been. It is amazing that the State archives should contain no reference whatever to this incident, inconsequential though it may have been, and even more so that the office of the adjutant- general at Washington should be equally barren of record regarding it.
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It is to be noted, however, as partial explanation of conditions at Albany that a portion of the records that really belong there were transferred long ago to Washington, and that all efforts for their recovery have been unavailing. What such documents, now at Washington, may contain on this point I have been unable to ascertain, notwithstanding repeated requests to army headquarters for information before the present war activities acquired so much attention. Merely negative replies were returned to definite inquiries, and there seemed to be no disposition in that quarter to make intelligent searches and accommodate. At the best, records were poorly kept, or, rather, were badly neglected, both at Albany and Washington in this period, and our United States historians are hardly more satisfactory except as to the larger events- a condition not especially surprising in view of the fact that there was little in land operations in the war of 1812 to excite American interest and pride. Upon the other hand, the accounts even of minor movements and unim- portant battles are quite fully chronicled and described by Canadian authors.
Fortunately I have been able to gather authoritative data .piecemeal concerning events at French Mills during Captain Tilden's service there. In the early part of his occupation his men, with those of other com- panies, began construction of a block-house at a point near where the Presbyterian church now stands. They called it Fort Invincible -an absurdly inappropriate name in view of subsequent events.
At about the same date that Captain Tilden was sent to French Mills, a battalion from Essex county, consisting of companies commanded respectively by Captain John Richardson, Captain Sanford and Captain Dix, was called out for service along the northern frontier. Major Ransom Noble, of Essex, was assigned to the immediate command of these three companies and also of Captain Tilden's company. Captain Richardson was stationed at first at Chateaugay, and the other Essex companies at Champlain and Mooers. The orders in the case directed that a guard of a sergeant, a corporal, and twelve men of Captain Rich- ardson's company be stationed "at or near Pomeroy's, and guards at different suitable places from thence to and through Chateaugay and into Constable." (French Mills was then a part of the town of Con- stable, and the two names appear to have been used interchangeably in orders.) The orders further directed that "a communication must be kept up between the several officers commanding at the several posts or stations with that next on either side, from the lake through to Constable, and the earliest information given to each other and to the commanding officer in case of any appearance of invasion, or of anything essential that
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
takes place. The troops, it is expected, will be watchful, attentive and vigilant in the safety and security of the inhabitants, both in their property and in their persons. And it is expected that no wantonness or depredations will be committed on our own, or those of the enemy, without being compelled by our enemy so to do. * * * The officers commanding companies or detachments will keep their men from stroll- ing or absenting themselves without permission, and that, it is expected, will not often be granted."
Franklin county had at this time " a committee of safety," of which Albon Man, of Constable, was chairman, and Hiram Horton (the elder) of Malone, secretary. Even before Captain Richardson could reach his destination, a communication was dispatched to him by Amasa Fairman, of Chateaugay - one of the committee - stating that "we have had an alarm this (July 13th) evening by some Indians, and they have fired our house. I therefore request you to march without delay to our assistance."
On July 18th, General Mooers advised General Noble from Platts- burgh, that "from what we learn from the enemy, they will not commit depredations on us if we do not upon them," and again, " from the best information we have from Canada the Governor will not permit any depredations be committed upon our inhabitants." Then, on August 12th, the commander-in-chief gave orders that "hostilities are to cease [though apparently they had never been begun in this section] between us and the British until further orders."
In August Major Noble was relieved from further service upon his own request, though the companies that had been under him remained in Franklin county for a time longer, and in September were reinforced by two companies from the Troy district, and the entire force here placed under the immediate command of Major Guilford D. Young, of Troy. A company commanded by Captain Pliny Miller, also from Rensselaer county, was added later. Captain Miller became a resident of Har- rietstown in 1828, and was a prominent man there for many years.
On the first of October Major Young led a detachment of five com- panies from French Mills as far as the east bank of the St. Regis river for an attack upon a British command stationed at St. Regis village, but, because unable to cross the St. Regis river, had to return without having even alarmed the enemy. Three weeks later the movement was repeated, a crossing effected in the vicinity of Hogansburgh, the British troop surprised, four of them killed, and the remainder (about forty men) made prisoners. Major Young reported officially concerning this affair, that it was undertaken because reports had reached him that the
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British force at St. Regis numbered somewhere between one hundred and three hundred men, with expectation of arrival of considerable reinforce- ments, and that it contemplated an attack upon French Mills. The troops participating were the Troy companies, and Captain Tilden's, Captain Miller's, and Captain Richardson's, the latter under com- mand of Lieutenant C. McNeil, the captain having resigned because of sickness. The departure from French Mills was at eleven o'clock at night, "with two days' rations of provisions and double rations of whis- key;" the arrival at Gray's Mills (now Hogansburgh) at three-thirty the next morning, and there were found a boat, a small canoe, and "two cribs of boards." Two companies crossed the river in the boat and canoe, and the remainder of the men and the horses on the cribs. At eleven o'clock the same morning the expedition was back at French Mills, the journey both ways, the engagement and the search for stores all having been accomplished in twelve hours. Besides the soldiers captured, two batteaux and thirty-six stands of arms were taken. The Americans did not have a man hurt, and Major Young's report pronounced the con- duct of both officers and men as deserving " the highest encomiums." The prisoners were sent to Plattsburgh. William L. Marcy, afterward Gov- ernor of the State, was present as a lieutenant in the St. Regis affair, and is credited with having captured a stand of colors, the first taken in the war. Major Young made much of this capture of a standard, having addressed a letter to Governor Tompkins on the subject, reciting the particulars of it, and requesting the privilege of calling upon the Governor and of presenting the colors to him for deposit " in the cxecu- tive department of the capitol." The Governor graciously consented in a very complimentary letter, thanking Major Young and his command for " their faithful and meritorious service." But if the Canadian version of the capture be credited, it was not much of an exploit. Christie says : "The Americans, in plundering the village, found an ensign or union jack in the house of the resident interpreter, usually hoisted upon a flagstaff at the door of the chief on Sundays and holy days." Thus the capture would not be the colors of a troop, but only the flag of private or community ownership.
Just one month later a British force of about one hundred and fifty men similarly surprised the American garrison at French Mills, which then consisted only of Captain Tilden's company - Major Young and the other forces immediately under him having been withdrawn for serv- ice elsewhere. Captain Tilden and his men were captured. They were the same force, or a part of it, that had captured St. Regis in October. Fifty-seven stands of arms were also taken. One American, not a sol-
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
dier (Thomas Fletcher by name) was fired upon by the attacking force, and killed. He had first discharged his own gun from the door of his home, but whether in the air or aimed at the enemy is not known. A more inexcusable act was the shooting of 'Squire Philemon Berry of Westville, of which no mention is made in any of the histories or in the official reports, but which is well authenticated by family tradition as well as by others still living who had the story from 'Squire Berry him- self. When the alarm of the British approach was given 'Squire Berry was in a store and his team was hitched under a hotel shed. Running to his rig, Mr. Berry headed the horses toward his home, and himself lay down in the bottom of the sleigh. The rig soon collided with a stump (I think the flight was from Water street up Center), and Mr. Berry, rais- ing his head to ascertain the cause of the stoppage, was shot. Except that his head was protected by a fur collar and a fur cap, it is thought that the wound must have been fatal. As it was, the bullet hardly more than penetrated the skin, but it rendered him unconscious. The British left him for dead, and confiscated his team. The bullet was never extracted. One family tradition in explanation of 'Squire Berry's pres- ence at French Mills on the day in question is that he had driven there from Westville with a load of supplies for Captain Tilden's company. There were no other casualties. The prisoners were sent to Montreal, and about two weeks later were exchanged for the British soldiers who had been taken at St. Regis.
Captain Tilden was reproached for his surrender without having made any defense at all, and in some quarters was charged with cowardice because of it. The accusation was, I think, unmerited, and it grieved him sorely to the day of his death, which occurred at Moira in 1834. Whether his course was even an error of judgment is to be doubted. The enemy outnumbered him three to one or more, his only defensive work was a roofless blockhouse, and reinforcements could not reasonably be expected, and the loss of the position was not of great moment, as is shown by the fact that the British evinced no disposition whatever to hold it. Knowing that resistance could carry no hope of a successful issue, but that it would have comprehended the certainty of a useless loss of life, as well as of destruction of property, was it unreasonable in the commandant to deem a surrender the wiser course ?
From a report of Lieutenant-Colonel Alric Man, dated at Constable November 24, 1812, I condense these particulars : At five-thirty o'clock of the preceding morning an express from Captain Tilden reached Colonel Man, advising him that a body of from three hundred to four hundred British and Indians had entered the Salmon river at its mouth,
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FRANKLIN COUNTY AND THE WAR OF 1812
about five miles below French Mills, which place they were on their way to attack. Colonel Man dispatched orders immediately to each of the several captains in Franklin county to assemble their men and march to Captain Tilden's relief, and himself started for French Mills. When he had accomplished half of the distance he was informed of the sur- render. Continuing, however, he found upon arrival that Captain Tilden and his ensign were still there, having been permitted, upon their prom- ise to report later at St. Regis, to remain for a few hours to arrange business matters. Captain Tilden then told Colonel Man that before surrendering he had had an interview with the British commandant, and had been shown the latter's force, which he estimated to number three hundred or more. The British commandant promised that if Captain Tilden surrendered without resistance there should be no violence or depredations, but threatened that if he refused the village should be burned and the block-house carried by assault. Colonel Man's report described this structure as having been so incomplete that it had been carried up only a single story, and left without a roof or even a door.
Colonel Man's report recited further that on his way to French Mills he found the highway thronged with men, unorganized and without leaders, but armed, who had turned out without having been summoned, and, each acting solely upon his own initiative, bound for French Mills to take a hand in repelling the invaders. Three hours later there were two hundred of these men in Captain Tilden's old camp. The enemy remained at French Mills barely three-quarters of an hour.
The Quebec Mercury of December 1, 1812, contained the following dispatch from Montreal under date of November 28th: “On Friday last about fifty American (militia) prisoners, with a captain and ensign, arrived here from Salmon River. They were taken by surprise by Captain Grey's company of the Glengary regiment and a number of militia, &e., from the Raisin River. These prisoners are said to be a part of the party which assisted in taking Captain McDonald's company of voyageurs." The same paper of December 8th had this dispatch, also from Montreal, dated December 5th : "Capt. McDonald and Ensign Hall, of the company taken at St. Regis, arrived in town on Tuesday last. We understand they, with their company, were exchanged for Captain Tilden's company, New York militia, taken at Salmon River, which were to leave here yesterday." The Mercury quotes also from a Troy paper's report of the French Mills affair, which claimed that the British force consisted of three hundred regulars and sixty Indians. The Troy paper stated, further, that the enemy departed "with destroy- ing only the muskets and accoutrements."
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
A general order issued by Canadian Adjutant-General Edward Baynes on November 27th states the strength of the British in this attack as one hundred and forty men, and adds: "The attack was conducted with great judgment, alertness and spirit. The enemy fled to a block- house for protection, but, being completely surrounded, one captain, two subalterns and forty-one men, which composed the garrison of this post, surrendered prisoners of war. Four batteaux and fifty-seven stand of arms were taken. In rendering that praise which is due to the spirit and good order with which this service has been performed, his excel- lency has the greatest satisfaction in noticing the moderation and dis- cipline displayed by the troops, by confining themselves to a just and ample retaliation for the attack upon a company of voyageurs at St. Regis ; and in respecting the persons and property of the inhabitants which the events of war had placed at their disposal."
As already told, Captain Tilden and his men continued to be carried on the rolls while they were prisoners as though still in service in the field. Most of them were mustered out at once after they had been exchanged, but a few were not discharged until a month later - per- haps because sickness may have delayed their return or they may have separated from the main body on the march.
Miss Sarah L. Perry, formerly superintendent of Malone's schools, and Mrs. S. D. P. Williams (nee Burnham) of Ogdensburg, are grand- daughters of Captain Tilden.
At once following Captain Tilden's capture, a company under the command of David Erwin of Constable (seventy men in all) was installed as a garrison at French Mills, but was succeeded after about two weeks by troops from Columbia county, who remained until the following March. These were in turn relieved by Captain Erwin, who, through three separate terms of service, continued in command at French Mills until the arrival of General Wilkinson's army in November, 1913. With the exception of the building of the block-house by Captain Tilden and others, the erection of an arsenal at Malone, and two block- houses at Chateaugay, and except also the two insignificant affairs in 1812, as just told, there had been no military activities whatever in the county, beyond the bringing of arms from Plattsburgh, until General Hampton came to Chateaugay and General Wilkinson to French Mills.
General Wade Hampton, of South Carolina, had been an officer in the war of the revolution. He owned three thousand slaves, was the richest planter in the south, and was indisposed to brook restraint. He was, besides, accused of intemperance. Nominally he was under the command of General James Wilkinson, of Kentucky, who also had seen
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service in the revolutionary war, and whose selection for command on the northern frontier is inexplicable. He had been tried by court mar- tial only a few years previously upon the double accusation of having accepted bribes from Spain and of having conspired with Aaron Burr to split the Union, and both age and physical infirmity, not to mention lack of capacity, unfitted him for responsible service on a frontier where hardships were inevitable, and where the rigors of winter must try the hardiest physique. The assignment, while carrying opportunities for brilliant achievement, unfortunately involved also possibilities of dis- astrous failure. General Wilkinson proved equal only to developing and reaping the latter.
In the late summer of 1813 there was agreement both at Washington and in the field that there should be a campaign for the capture of Montreal, to proceed simultaneously from Sacket Harbor under Gen- eral Wilkinson and from Plattsburgh under General Hampton, with provision that the two armies should unite at some point in the vicinity of Lake St. Francis, and move thence together to the projected destina- tion, which was expected to be found weakly defended. Under com- petent leadership, and with the movement begun a month earlier and carried forward expeditiously, it could probably have succeeded.
General Hampton advanced from Plattsburgh in September, making, first, a fruitless demonstration against Odelltown, near Rouses Point, and, retreating thence, proceeded to Chateaugay, where he arrived September 25th, with a force of infantry, cavalry and artillery variously reported to number from six thousand to seven thousand five hundred men. From September 26th to October 4th, the soldiers of his com- mand were engaged in improving the road that led to Plattsburgh, so that supplies might be forwarded regularly. and also as if even at the outset it was contemplated that a good road would be needed for pur- poses of retreat. General Hampton established his main encampment on the Chateaugay river. north and west of the village, where one of his outposts was attacked by a force of three or four hundred British or Canadian troops. The casualties were few, and the enemy soon with- drew. On October 21st General Hampton began an advance upon Canada with his entire army, following the course of the river for a dis- tance of something over twenty miles. Near the junction of the Chateau- gay with the Outard, on October 26th, he came into touch with the enemy, protected by log breastworks and abattis, and whose total strength was only about nine hundred. One of the most absurd engagements of this or any other war resulted. The Canadians were under command of de Salaberry, and broke and fled at the first sight of the Americans, de
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
Salaberry himself alone standing his ground, and clutching a bugler by the collar to restrain him from flight. This bugler was commanded to sound the charge, and another officer, hurrying up with reinforcements, had the inspiration to scatter his buglers through the forest, with orders to sound an advance from various points, while the Indians were incited to let loose a series of fiendish yells The bugles and the cries are said to have created the impression among General Hampton's men that they were confronted by a force of at least ten thousand. The Ameri- cans were without competent guides, and one of the columns lost its way. In the confusion two bodies of the Americans are said to have fired upon each other. After some hours of desultory fighting the American army retreated more or less in confusion, and returned to its encampment near Chateaugay village. Canadian historians attribute to this battle and to that at Chrystler's Farm, which occurred a fort- night later, the saving of Montreal, and, indeed, all of Canada from conquest. They insist that their victory on the Chateaugay was indis- putable and complete, while American writers rather regard it as a drawn affair, though Lossing pronounces it a disgrace to the American arms. General Hampton's own officers were bitter against him for his conduct of the movement and battle, and one of them intimated strongly that if he had been competent and sober, the result would have been different. A careful reading of the reports on both sides compels the conclusion that, the disparity of forces considered, and taking into account the demoralized American retreat, and the subsequent retire- ment of Hampton to Plattsburgh, the great advantage and the glory were all with the enemy. General Hampton himself explained later that his movement had no independent object, and that it was intended only as a diversion in the interest of General Wilkinson, in order to prevent British reinforcements from being sent to the troops that were opposing the latter. The Americans left upward of forty dead on the field, while of the British only five were killed and twenty wounded and missing. A Franklin county company under command of Captain David Erwin is said by Hough to have participated in this movement, though such representation conflicts with the record of Captain Erwin having been at French Mills at that time.
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