USA > New York > Chautauqua County > History of Chautauqua County, New York > Part 26
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 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115
218
HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.
traveled during the winter as far east as " Sinclear's Mills," now Sinclairville. Notwithstanding the war, a few resolute pioneers came this year from the east and settled in different parts of the county. More than ten years had passed since its first settlement and not a log cabin had been reared or a clearing made in a tract of 12 miles square. An unbroken wilderness cov- ered the four southwestern towns of the county. This year settlement was commenced in the town of French Creek, the extreme southwest town. Ande Noble from Oswego county, made the first settlement upon lot 44, Jolin Cleveland upon lot 31 the same year. In 1813 Roswell Coe settled on lot 39 and Nathaniel Thompson on lot 9. Paul Colburn from Oneida county came in 1814. This year the board of supervisors consisted of two members, Philo Orton from Pomfret and Samuel Ayres from Chautauqua. Mr. Ayres was an excellent farmer residing on the east side of the lake. He was born at Killingworth, Conn., in 1769. He died in Virginia in 1829. Charles B. Rouse was re-elected clerk of the board. It had now become evident that should war with England occur that the contest would take place along the frontier bordering upon Canada. During the spring active preparations were consequently made along the border. The majority of the people of the county at the time sustained the administration in its measures to vindicate the honor and rights of the country, and Chautauqua county was nearly the first to actively respond to the call for troops. The middle of the county had been organized into one regiment under the command of Col. John MeMahan. In June 1812, Governor Tompkins ordered a company to be detached from this regiment for ready service. Col. McMahan hoping to organize such company from volunteers immediately called the officers of the regiment together at Dunn's tavern in the town of Portland and explained the order. Captain Jehial Moore of Forestville, Lieutenant David Eaton of Portland, and Ensign Charles Burrett of Canadaway immediately volunteered. A day was then appointed at Mayville and at Canadaway to recruit the company from volunteers. At the time appointed Captain Moore and Ensign Burrett attended at Canadaway and lieutenant Eaton at Mayville. Col. McMahan and others made patriotic speeches, and Ho men and the officers volunteered to hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's warning and serve for six months. This all occurred early in the month of June before the declaration of war.
June 18 war was declared by Congress. The express riders who carried the proclamation of President Madison announcing the fact reached Fort Niagara June 26th, and Col. Swift who was in command at Black Rock the same day. The British and Canadians learned of the declaration of war 12 hours earlier through a dispatch sent to Queenstown by John Jacob Astor in the interest of the fur companies. The British promptly captured a small vessel loaded with salt, which had just set out from Black Rock bound up
.
219
WAR.
the lake. This was the first notice that the citizens of Buffalo had of the existence of war. The important tidings were spread as if carried upon the wings of the wind to the most remote settlements of the Holland Purchase. Almost as soon as the news reached Chautauqua, Captain Moore received an order to march with his company to Lewiston and join the 18th regiment of New York detached militia under Col. Hugh W. Dobbin. He immedi- ately warned out his company. A portion assembled at the Cross Roads and a portion at Canadaway, and July 4th were united at the latter place. The roll was called and every man answered to his name. The next day they marched. They arrived at Lewiston on the 9th and joined the regi- mient.
In less than three weeks from the time war was declared, and in less than to days from the time it was first known in Chautauqua, the county, which at that time did not contain 3,000 inhabitants, had a full company of 113 able-bodied men on the march to the seat of war. The county has never since responded to a call for troops with more alacrity nor with a larger quota than on this occasion. This company and its officers fully maintained the honor of the county on the field of battle.
The declaration of war at first created consternation upon the Holland Purchase. Chautauqua was thinly settled. Its people were poor and illy prepared for war. It was known that the enemy had anticipated the coming contest and made great preparations for it in Canada. They had a considerable force of regulars and were better provided with defences, cannon and the munitions of war. Besides, close to the borders of the county, and partly within its limits, and along the Allegany river not far away, dwelt the Senecas, the most warlike of the Six Nations. Many persons then living could remember the massacre of Cherry Valley and Wyoming, in which these Indians had acted a hostile part. The cruelties in the more recent western wars were fresh in the memories of the people and cansed a sense of inse- curity to oppress them. They feared that the Senecas might join their kins- men the Canadian Indians and become allies of the British and that they might at any moment appear among them armed with tomahawk and scalp- ing knife. The more timid settlers resolved to go back to the east. Steps were immediately taken to ascertain the disposition of these Indians towards the United States. It was known that Red Jacket advised neutrality. Eras- tus Granger, then government agent of the Senecas, held a council with them in which it appeared that their attitude towards the Americans was friendly, which a little later was fully confirmed.
Joseph Ellicott, in order to reassure the people, issued an address dated July 4, 1812, in which he assured the people that the, lines were effectually guarded. A detachment of 45 men under the command of Capt. James McMa- han had been posted at Barcelona (where McMahan built a defensive work,) and
220
HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.
another detachment of about the same number was stationed at the mouth of the Canadaway. These things had the effect in a measure to allay the fears of the inhabitants.
Chantauqua at the beginning of the war in one respect seemed to be more exposed to invasion than most other parts of the Purchase. It had 40 miles of lake coast. Until Perry's victory in the fall of 1813 the British had com- plete command of Lake Erie and undoubtedly could have landed a force in the county had they chosen so to do. The poverty of the people at the time undoubtedly shielded it from invasion. The British cruisers seemed gener- ally satisfied to prey upon the slender commerce of the lake ; salt boats and other small craft that timidly coasted along the shores.
The very first affair of the war in which there was an exchange of hostili- ties, it is believed occurred in Chautauqua county. It was an attempt by the enemy to capture a salt boat on its way from Buffalo to Erie. About 40 men of Captain Tubbs' company of Colonel McMahan's regiment had been posted at the widow Cole's house at the mouth of the Canadaway to guard such craft as might take refuge in that haven of safety. The salt boat had been obliged to put into the Eighteen-mile creek to escape from a British cruiser. It stole out in the darkness, and after a hard night's row ran up on the west shore of Canadaway creek. As morning broke and the fog cleared away, they saw right before them off the mouth of the creek, not a quarter of a mile away, a large armed schooner, probably the Lady Provost. After a little a boat with a dozen or more armed men set out from the vessel to attack the salt boat, which fired upon them from a swivel. Captain Tubbs and his men lay concealed behind the east bank of the creek ; when the British small boat arrived within musket shot they opened fire. The boat iminediately put back to the vessel. What loss the enemy sustained, or whether any, has not been certainly ascertained. It is related that the crew of the Lady Pro- vost, afterwards captured by Perry, stated their loss to have been three wounded and none killed. Mrs. Cole was the heroine of the occasion ; when hostilities commenced she mounted her horse and rode to Canadaway for reinforcements ; after her return she was actively engaged in carrying food and drink to the men. The war waged by the British upon the salt boats finally destroyed all commerce in salt, and its transportation over the Portage road came to an end. The defenceless condition of the county led the peo- ple to hold a public meeting during the summer which resulted in sending Robert Dixon of Ripley to Albany for arms for its militia. About Septem- ber 200 stands of arms were forwarded from the state arsenal at Canandaigua to Chautauqua county.
The first year of the war was signalized by splendid achievements of the navy. On land it was less auspicions to the American arms. The British had a regular army in Canada. Three small bodies were assembled by the
221
WAR.
United States for the purpose of invading that province. One at Detroit under General Hull, another at Lewiston on the Niagara river called the anny of the center under the command of General VanRensselaer, and one at Plattsburg under General Dearborn, the commander-in-chief. The war opened disastrously to American arms in the west by the surrender of Detroit in August, 1812. The army of the center of which Capt. Jehial Moore's company of Chautauqua volunteers formed a part, on the 11th of August was placed under the command of Major General Stephen VanRensselaer. His headquarters were at Lewiston. The summer and much of the fall was spent in collecting troops, who came in squads and larger bodies from differ- ent parts of western New York, and in drilling and equipping them. The soldiers finally became impatient of the long delay and demanded to be led against the enemy.
The waters of the Niagara from the foot of the great cataract for many miles race swiftly through a deep and narrow gorge. The cliffs that form the sides of this enormous chasm abruptly terminate seven miles below the falls, where the river, flowing less rapidly, emerges into a gently sloping plain and finally discharges itself into Lake Ontario. At the foot of this cliff, where it faces the lake, just across the river from Lewiston, in Canada, in the midst of fine and striking scenery, was the handsome village of Queenstown. The British occupied the village, and had erected batteries along the heights that overshadow it. VanRensselaer regarded it as a place of importance, and, influenced by the apparent eagerness of the militia to be led against the enemy, he determined to attack it. The first attempt, made on the 11th of October, failed by reason of tempestuous weather and other causes. Van Ren- sselaer prepared for a second attempt on the 13th of October. Those familiar with the history of this battle remember that a portion of the forces posted at Lewiston crossed the river, and distinguished themselves for their brav- ery in the battle which ensued. They will also remember of a much larger number of militia-men claiming the government had no right to send state troops beyond the limits of the state, and, to their great disgrace, refusing to cross the national boundary and support their countrymen in the fight. Van Rensselaer was obliged to recognize the construction the militia put upon their rights, and to rely wholly upon such as should volunteer.
It is said that the 18th New York detached militia to which the Chautau- company belonged was paraded before the battle, and that one of its field offi- cers made an eloquent and patriotic speech urging the regiment to volunteer to cross the river, saying that he would ask them to go no further than he would himself go in the defence of his country's honor. The whole regiment stepped forward, with the exception of 50 or 60 men, to evince their willing- ness to volunteer. Those who declined to cross the river were placed under the command of a lieutenant, one of their number, and were called the
222
HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.
"coward company." The Chautauqua company as far as it is known all volunteered.
In a cold rain storm at three o'clock in the morning of the 13th, 400 reg- ulars under the command of Lieut. Col. Christie and 300 militia under the com- mand of Lieut. Col. Solomon Van Rensselaer, a brave offier who had been dis- tinguished for cool and intrepid conduct in the wars with the Indians, were mustered along the river's bank. They embarked at this gloomy time in the night, and notwithstanding the perils of the swift flowing river and the unknown dangers hidden in the darkness on the other side, they boldly crossed to the Canada shore. Nearly the whole force was successfully landed at a spot now marked by a large rock under the Canada end of the suspension bridge. Their landing was sharply opposed. The troops formed as soon as they gained the shore. As Col. Van Rensselaer had been wounded, they were led against the enemy by Captain Wool, afterwards a distinguished gen- eral in the American army. After a severe engagement he drove the British . back towards Queenstown. The Americans, who were mostly regular sol- diers, suffered great loss in the short contest. Every commissioned officer was killed or wounded. Col. Van Rensselaer ordered the men to fall back to the margin of the river.
The Chautauqua company, although not the first, was among the first to cross the river. They embarked at the dawn of day. It was not quite light when they reached the opposite shore. There they saw the indomitable Col. VanRensselaer as he lay upon the ground at the river side so exhausted by the loss of blood from four severe wounds as to be unable to stand on his feet. His officers stood around him holding a council of war. They heard him say to them as he lay upon the ground, " Parade your men, and go up and take that battery." He was compelled to yield the command to Captain Wool, who was himself wounded but still able to keep the field. Led by Wool, the regulars and militia marched up the river, concealed by its banks from the enemy, until they were within the great chasm of the Niagara. There they found a fisherman's path that wound up the precipice, which was there so steep in many places that they had to pull themselves up by the bushes. When the head of the column had reached a small level place or shelf in the cliff not far from its top they halted for the remainder of the force to come up. When the order was given to again advance, a part of the Chautauqua company, which was near the center when the line was formed, happened to lead the van, and were the first Americans to reach the top of the hill, and Captain Moore, their commander, was the first man to stand on the heights of Queenstown on that day. As soon as the British discovered their assail- ants they rallied out, but were quickly put to flight. The Americans soon had possession of their battery consisting of an 18-pounder and two mortars. As the Chautauqua company, with the rest of the force mounted the works,
223
WAR.
they swung their hats and gave them three hearty cheers. A little later the Americans captured a more important battery upon the northeastern portion of the heights, and drove the British to the cover of a stone house near the river.
Gen. Brock now arrived from Fort George, seven miles below, took com- mand of the British forces, and marched them up the heights. He was killed, and his forces defeated by the Americans and driven beyond Queenstown. At this time Lieut. Col. Winfield Scott took command of the Americans. 500 Indi- ans led by Captain Jacobs and John Brandt, son of Joseph Brant, the celebrated Mohawk warrior, supported by the British light troops fell upon the Ameri- cans, but were quickly routed. Gen. Sheafe, an American by birth, but an English officer of merit, reluctantly bearing arms against his native land, was now approaching from Fort George with a large reenforcement for the British. The killed and wounded of the Americans had greatly reduced their num- bers. Not a man of the militia of the large force that remained on the American side of the river would come over to support their countrymen. Gen. Sheafe had at least 1, 300 British, while Col. Christie, now in command of the Americans, had not over 300 effective men. They could not retreat ; with such odds against them the case of the Americans was desperate. Col. Scott mounted a stump and in a stirring speech proposed that they resist to the last. His men gave a unanimous shout in approval.
"Nor were the militia volunteers who had continued faithful through the morning skirmish backward in seconding the determination." (Colonel Stone.) After a brave and desperate resistance, in which they delivered sev- eral effective and well directed fires into the ranks of the enemy, the Ameri- cans retreated to the bank of the river, but with sufficient deliberation to enable them to return the fires of their pursuers. At the river's bank they found no boats in which to cross and were compelled to surrender.
The regular soldiers and officers bore the brunt of the battle, and fought valiantly to vindicate the honor of their country. They were bravely sup- ported in the unequal contest by a small portion of the militia, among whom were these volunteers from Chautauqua. Among the killed of the Chautau- qua troops was Daniel Spencer, a young man residing in Charlotte near Sin- clairville. He was shot through the body and killed while the Americans were storming the heights and was one of the first to fall. Nathaniel Bowen of Villenova, and Ira Stephens were also killed. Mr. Winsor died of his wounds. Lieutenant Eaton was wounded by a ball through his wrist. Eras- tus Taylor of Portland was wounded in the last effort of the enemy, a ball striking his leg below the knee, breaking and shattering the bone in a shock- ing manner. Alpheus McIntyre and Alexander Kelly were also wounded, John Ingersoll was taken prisoner. The officers and men of Captain Moore's company conducted themselves bravely. It is said only one act of cowardice
224
HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.
by any one of the company is known to have occurred. The wounded Ameri- cans were taken to the bank of the river where they lay upon the ground waiting for their wounds to be dressed. It is related that when the turn of a certain non-commissioned officer of Captain Moore's company came, the surgeon's inquiry concerning his wound was answered by a groan. The surgeon saw no blood, but, believing him wounded, unceremoniously stripped him, finding not even a scratch. He turned away with a contemptuous smile to administer to those really suffering. It is also related that the redoubtable officer of the Eighteenth New York detached militia who made. the flaming speech designed to inspire his men to deeds of valor never crossed. to the Canada side. His courage left him at the river bank, while the lieu- tenant who refused to volunteer and was put in command of the " coward company," when he saw the peril of his countrymen and the fight rage fiercely on the heights of Queenstown, seized a musket, crossed the river, and fought bravely to the end of the battle. Of such fickle and imcertain stuff. . is courage made.
Of Captain Jehial Moore, who was the first to plant his feet on the heights, and by his brave condnet maintained the honor of the county he represented, something further should be said. He was the son of Captain Roger Moore, a brave soldier of the Revolution, who was captured with Ethan Allen, and. suffered with him extremely brutal treatment from the British on board the ship which carried them to England. Allen in his narrative several times speaks in praise of the courage and conduct of Moore. The history of his. father's sufferings and brutal treatment while a prisoner inspired Jehial with deep hatred for the British. In ISOS and :809 he became the founder of Forestville, and was active to advance its settlement until war was declared in 1812. He entered the service and devoted all of his energies in behalf of his country. He determined to avenge the sufferings of his father. He stood bravely at his post on all occasions, until after the burning of Buffalo. He was deeply mortified at the want of firmness of his fellow soldiers in that affair, left the service in disgust and despair, returned to his family and informed them that he would no longer be a citizen of a state that would suffer such disgrace. The burning of Buffalo occurred January 1, 1814. The next February, without selling his property, he removed to Hamilton, Ohio, where he died in December, 1817. Judge Thomas B. Campbell, who knew him well, says that the leading trait of his character was frankness, "that he was always ready to act entirely destitute of fear, ardent in his feelings, honest in his purposes, and a most unrelenting enemy to anything that could bear the shade of cowardice, or a dereliction of duty."
General Van Rensselaer was greatly mortified by the affair at Queenstown and resigned in disgust. Gen. Alexander Smythe succeeded him. Prepar- ations were made to again immediately invade Canada from the Niagara
225
WAR.
frontier. General Smythe issued a grandiloquent address to the people of New York calling for volunteers. In response to his call 4,500 men includ- ing regulars assembled at Black Rock. Chautauqua county promptly sent a company of men, in response to this requisition, soon after the fall of Queens- town. Attempts were then made to invade Canada, but they ignominiously failed without bloodshed. There occurred no other events of importance during the year 1812 along the Niagara frontier. The campaign of that year on the part of the United States was a failure.
In Chautauqua county the war produced a most deplorable state of affairs. Peacock, in a letter to Ellicott dated September 21, 1812, writes: " The sale of lands is ahnost nothing, but one article issued since the first of the month, not a dollar received on contracts since the first instant." Many of the settlers left the county. Those who had to remain were harassed by drafts. Five full companies were drafted into the service during a portion of the time that year, comprising three-fourths of the men liable to do military duty in the county. Constantly disturbed by flying reports of invasidhs and threat- ened dangers, the people of the county could do no work. The state of aların that existed along the western borders of the state appears by this let- ter from Gen. Stephen VanRensselaer to Governor Tompkins dated Septem- ber Ist, 1812.
"SIR :- In the letter which I yesterday had the honor to address to your excellency, I mentioned the general alarm which the surrender of General Hull's had spread through the frontiers. The inhabitants (very where think themselves in danger. This is particular the case in the county of Chautauqua. In consequence of representations made to me by the inhabitants of that county I had on the 27th ult., issued an order to Lieutenant Colonel McMa- han to order into service two full companies of his regiment for the protec- tion of the inhabitants. This morning again I have been called upon by Captains Baldwin and Mack, gentlemen of respectability from that county, very earnestly soliciting in behalf of the inhabitants still further force for their protection, and I have issued another order to Lieutenant Colonel McMahan to detach one captain, two sergeants, two corporals and 26 privates more for the service aforesaid, until your excellency's pleasure can be known on the subject."
A reading of the correspondence between Peacock and Ellicott, and the letters of other citizens of the county during that period, cannot fail to impress one with the great poverty of the people, and their exceedingly for- lorn condition. Many families were threatened with starvation. Never have the calamities of war borne so hardly upon the people of the county as during the la t war with England.
During the administrations of Washington, Adams and Jefferson, party spirit ran high. In congress, in the newspapers, and among the people, public questions were discussed with a degree of acrimony that we can not · now understand, unequalled in bitterness during the exciting period of the
.
226
HISTORY OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N. Y.
late civil war. This was not due to the existence of a spirit of strife, but was the result of conditions then existing. The statesmen of that day had faith in the stability of a government by the people, but were not entirely sure that the untried and complex system that they had adopted would secure it. Moreover sufficient time had not elapsed since the organization of the government to test the loyalty of the people to the new doctrines of govern- ment promulgated, and each citizen, although he felt himself firmly estab- lished in his democratic ideas, feared that his neighbor was not equally devoted. Consequently the Federalists sincerely denounced the Republicans as Jacobins, and the Republicans as honestly stigmatized the Federalists as aristocrats.
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.