USA > New York > Delaware County > History of Delaware County, and border wars of New York, containing a sketch of the early settlements in the county > Part 9
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"The determination was immediately formed by Colonel Hathorn to intercept the enemy at the fording-place, for which purpose instant dispositions were made ; but owing to intervening woods and hills, the opposing bodies soon lost sight of each other, and an adroit movement on the part of Brant, gave him an advantage which it was impossible for the Americans to regain. Anticipating the design of Hathorn, the moment the Americans were out of sight Brant wheeled to the right, and by threading a ravine across which Hathorn had passed, threw himself into the rear, by which means he was enabled to select his ground for a battle and form an ambus- cade. Disappointed in not finding the enemy, the Americans were brought to a stand, when the enemy disclosed themselves partially in a quarter altogether unexpected."*
The first shot was fired upon an Indian, who, as the Ameri- cans came to the bank of the river, was crossing the Delaware with a portion of the booty, and who was mounted on a horse
* Stone's Life of Brant,
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he had stolen in Minisink. He fell upon the neck of the horse, but managed to keep his place in the saddle until he had reached the opposite bank, and joined such of his friends as had crossed before him. It is said that he died from his wounds not long afterward.
The belligerents soon engaged in deadly conflict; when, above the yelling and whooping of the savages, the hurrahs of the whites, and the report of fire-arms, Brant was heard-in a voice which was never forgotten by those who were present- commanding all who were on the opposite side of the river. with the plunder, to return. They at once dashed into the Delaware, and soon fell upon the rear of the Americans, who were thus completely surrounded and hemmed in, except about one-third of their number, whom Brant in the early part of the engagement, had contrived to cut off from the main body. The enemy were several times greater in number than the Americans, who were ultimately driven in and confined to about an acre of ground.
"Being short of ammunition, Hathorn's orders, in imita- tion of those of Putnam, at Bunker's Hill, were strict, that no man should fire until very sure that his powder would not be lost. The battle commenced about eleven o'clock in the morn- ing, and was maintained until the going down of the sun ; both parties fighting after the Indian fashion-every man for himself-and the whole keeping up an irregular fire from behind rocks and trees, as best they could."*
The militia were completely cut off from water, and suffered greatly during the day from thirst. About sunset their am- munition gave out, and the survivors attempted to escape by breaking through the circle of bloodthirsty savages, but were many of them cut down.
" Doctor Tustin was engaged behind a cliff of rocks in
* Stone's Life of Brant.
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dressing the wounded, when the retreat commenced. There were seventeen disabled men under his care at the moment, whose cries for protection and mercy were of the most moving description. The Indians fell upon them, however, and they all, together with the doctor, perished under the tomahawk. Among the slain were many of the first citizens of Goshen ; and of the whole number that went forth only thirty returned to tell the melancholy story. Several of the fugitives were .. shot, while attempting to escape by swimming across the Delaware."
One of the militia who escaped, was so exhausted he could not run far; he followed in the direction his friends had gone, till he could go no farther; he then got out of the path, near which he remained some time. In a little while he saw the Indians, one after another, running in the direction the whites had taken; none of them looked towards the place where he was, until a very powerful Indian discovered him. The In- dian's eye no sooner rested upon him, than the white man fired his last shot and fled; the Indian did not follow, and it was supposed he was killed or badly wounded. The name of the white man, we believe, was Cuddeback.
"There was one (Major Wood,) who, during the battle, saved himself by means which Brant said were dishonorable. By some process or other, though not a Freemason, he had acquired a knowledge of the master mason's grand hailing sig- nal of distress ; and having been informed that Brant was a member of the brotherhood, he gave the mystic sign. Faith- ful to his pledge, the chieftain interposed and saved his life. Discovering the imposture afterward, he was very indignant. Still he spared his life, and the prisoner ultimately returned to his friends after a long captivity."
There is another reason given why Wood's life was spared by Brant. Eager says, that the "sign" was accidentally made by him, and that further, "on the evening after the battle,
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when Brant was about to tie him lest he should escape, Wood remonstrated, and said he was a gentleman, and promised not to escape. They did not tie him, but directed him to lie aown between two Indians, who informed him that if he at- tempted to escape they would tomahawk him. The blanket on which he slept caught fire during the night, and he dared not move from his position to extinguish it, lest he should ex- perience the reality of the threat, and be tomahawked. At. last the fire reached his feet, and he kicked it out. The blanket belonged to Brant, and Wood was harshly treated by him ever after; and when asked the reason of his conduct, he said, 'D-n you, you burnt my blanket.' Wood resided in the county for many years, and was a very respectable citizen.
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"But we are of opinion, from all the circumstances of the case, and the character of Wood, that he was not a Freemason; and from the reason of the enmity of Brant, as expressed in the above anecdote, that Wood was innocent of any fraud upon Brant, and that the suggestion was a slander."
Among the killed was Moses Thomas, second son of the gentleman of that name who was murdered by the savages at at the block-house in Cochecton. He was slain by a tory named Case Cole .* For forty-three years the bones of these victims
* Moses Thomas, second, enlisted during the early part of the war, and was with the army some time at West Point and Newburgh. Be- coming dissatisfied with his officers, he hired a substitute, and return- ed to his family, who were in Minisink. When Brant fell upon that point, Thomas volunteered, and was killed, as stated. His widow mar- ried a man named Nathan Chapman, and they removed to the valley of Wyoming, where he was murdered by the Indians. Chapman, and a Mr. Jamison, were in company, on horseback, when some savages, who were in ambush, fired upon them. Jamison fell dead, and his companion, who was mortally wounded, clung to his horse until he reached a house, where he soon after died. Mrs. Chapman subse- quently married a Mr. Jesse Drake. Her descendants are among the most respectable inhabitants of Cochecton.
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of warfare were permitted to bleach upon the bleak hill-side where the battle took place. But one attempt had been made to gather and bury them-and that was made by the widows of the slain-of whom there were thirty-three in the Presby- terian congregation of Goshen. They set out for the battle- ground on horseback; but finding the intervening country too rough and broken for them to proceed, they hired a man to perform the pious duty, who proved unfaithful to the trust, and never returned. In 1820, the remains of these martyrs of freedom were gathered together and deposited in the bury- ing-ground at Goshen, with appropriate ceremonies. A suit- able monument was erected over them, and their names in- scribed on it in the following manner :-
INSCRIPTIONS ON THE MONUMENT IN THE CHURCH-YARD AT GOSHEN.
NORTH SIDE.
Benjamin Tustin, Col.,
Barahil Tyler, Capt.,
Ephraim Mastin, Ens., Nathaniel Fish, Adj.,
Benjamin Vail, Capt.,
John Wood, Lieut.,
John Duncan, Capt.,
Nathaniel Terwilliger,
John Lockwood,
Ephraim Ferguson.
WEST SIDE.
Roger Townsend,
Samuel Knapp,
James Knapp,
Benjamin Bennett,
Abram Shepherd, Shepherd,
Jacob Dunning,
Jonathan Pierce,
Nathan Wade, Simon Wait, ~
Talmage.
James Little, 9*
Joseph Norris, Gilbert S. Vail, Joel Decker,
William Barker,
Samuel Jones, Capt., John Little, Capt.,
Ephraim Middaugh, Ens.,
Gabriel Winser, Esq.,
Stephen Mead,
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SOUTH SIDE.
John Carpenter,
Gamaliel Bailey,
David Barney,
Moses Thomas,
Jonathan Haskill,
Eleazer Owens,
Abram Williams,
Adam Embler,
James Morher,
Samuel Little,
Isaac Ward,
Benjamin Dunning,
Baltus Ninpos,
Daniel Reid.
EAST SIDE.
Erected by the Inhabitants of Orange County, July 22d, 1822. Sacred to the memory of forty-four of their Fellow-citizens, who fell at The Battle of Minisink, July 22d, 1779.
The battle of the Delaware was unquestionably one of the hardest fought conflicts during the Revolutionary war; and Brant afterward informed Squire Whitaker,* that when the Americans gave the order to retreat, he had just resolved to give the same order ; and had the soldiers retained their posi- tion a few moments longer, they would have been left in pos- sion of the field.
Some slight idea of the fruit of this fight may be gathered from the following statement of Benjamin Whitaker, an aged pioneer of this county, who still lives in the valley of the Dela- ware, two miles below Deposit.
" I had two uncles in the battle of the Delaware, at Cedar
* Squire Whitaker was one of the earliest settlers in the western part of the county. He had lost all of his property at the, massacre of Wyoming, and barely escaped with his family to Orange County, where he remained until the declaration of peace, when he removed to Dela- ware County, in 1785.
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Falls. One of them, Benjamin,* was wounded, and becom- ing sick and faint from loss of blood, he eluded the vigilance of the watchful enemy, and secreted himself in the crevice of an impeding ledge of rocks, where he succeeded in stanching the blood by tow from his cartridge-box, and binding up the wound with a handkerchief, joined eagerly in the fight. The other was John, who mingled in the hottest of the fight, and, strange to say, was almost the only person who escaped un- injured, although he received nine bullet-holes through his hat and clothes."
The campaign of 1779 was principally, on the part of the Americans, of a defensive character; this mode of operation being the least expensive-an important consideration in the then crippled state of the finances. The belligerent operations were carried on during the year in three different quarters; the forces of Washington and Clinton in the north; the British troops sent south to subjugate the Carolinas and Geor- gia ; while the marine of England and France were contending fiercely upon the high seas. The tide of war in the north was marked by various reverses to the American arms. The British had captured the forts at Verplanck and Stony Point, which latter place, however, was shortly after gallantly retaken by the brave General Wayne. The infamous Governor Tryon, with six thousand troops, had made a predatory incursion into Connecticut. His course was marked alike by devastation and blood. Fairfield and Norwalk were laid waste, and his forces were about to fall upon New London, which would have shared the same fate, had it not been for the timely check of Clinton, who ordered Tryon to another quarter. These, together with the expedition of General Sullivan, formed the principal fea- tures of the foregoing campaign.
* Benjamin afterward lived at Deposit.
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CHAPTER VI.
Repose of the frontier settlements-Scout under Colonel Alexander Harper-Sent out to Harpersfield-Harper returns to Schoharie-> His return to Harpersfield-Capture of the party by Brant-Recog- nition between Brant and Harper-Death of several of the party- Inscription on the Hendrys' tombstones in the Harpersfield burying- ground-Young Lamb attempts to escape-Is overtaken and cap- tured-Questions put by Brant to Harper-Harper's shrewd reply- Indian Council-Debate in regard to the fate of the prisoners- Party decamp for Niagara-Obtain provisions of a miller on the Delaware-Inhumanity of this man and his daughters to the pri- soners-Incidents of the journey-Murder of Mr. Brown-Arrival of the party at Fort Niagara-Harper finds friends-Prisoners run the gauntlet-Expedient of Brant to alleviate their sufferings-Reception of the party at the Fort-Imprisonment in Canada-Return of the survivors of the party to Harpersfield. Punishment afterward in- flicted on Beacraft, a tory-Bennett family-Early settlers-Capture of by a party of Indians-Incursion of the Indians into Colchester- Capture of Rose-Interesting incident-Correspondence in relation to the war-Indians capture Beach and family-Encounter a scout below Hobert-John Hagidore wounded-Company of troops pursue the Indians-Overtake and release the captives.
THE expedition of Sullivan into the depths of the Indian territory the preceding year, and the desolation which had marked his course, had had the effect to lull the frontiers into a precarious repose. It was not deemed probable, or even pos- sible, that the Indians could recover from the severe but just retribution that had been inflicted upon them, in order to pro- secute an offensive part during the year 1780; but in what manner their hopes were to be realized will, in a measure, ap- pear from the forthcoming chapter.
On the 2d day of April, 1780, a scout, under the command
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DELAWARE COUNTY.
of Captain Alexander Harper, consisting, in all, of fourteen persons, was sent by Col. Peter Vrooman from Schoharie into Harpersfield, for the purpose of making a quantity of maple- sugar, and watching the movements of certain disaffected per- sons residing in that vicinity.
The names of the scout were Alexander Harper, captain, Freegift* and Isaac Patchin, brothers, James Hendry, and his two sons, Thomas and John, William Lamb, and son, Ezra Thorp, lieutenant, Henry Thorp, Cornelius Teabout, James Stevens, and two others, whose names I have been unable to learn.
Shortly after the party had arrived at the place of rendez- vous, a block-houset near the present village of Harpersfield Centre, and distant from the Schoharie forts about thirty miles, where they deposited their provisions, a heavy snow- storm came on, during which the snow fell about three feet in addition to what was already on the ground.
After completing the "camp," as it was commonly termed, and seeing the men fairly engaged in the merry business of making sugar at the different bushes, five in number, Harper returned to Schoharie on some business, and did not come back to them till the 8th." Among the early settlers in Harpersville was one Samuel Cloughston, a tory, who resided on lot No. 13, now owned by James Smith, and situated on the road called Smith street. He had purchased the same of Col. John Harper, sometime in 1776, and had continued to harbor the Indians and tories ever since the commencement of hostilities in that quarter; indeed, so noted had this place
* Freegift Patchin settled apart at Patchin Hollow, Schoharie County, after whom the place took its name. He was a worthy man, and once represented the county in the State Legislature. He was familiarly known in his latter days as General Patchin. He died in 1830.
¡ This block-house was erected as soon as 1778; but the precise time I have been unable to learn.
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become, in this respect, that it was universally known as the " tory house," which name it retained for many years after the cessation of the war, and even up to the time it was de- molished. The residence of Cloughston lay directly on the road from the camp to Schoharie; and Harper, when he arrived near the house, and to the place where the ancient trail took a sort of circuit, and came back something like an ox-bow, in order to avoid observation, as well as to shorten the dis- tance, determined to go straight across, and while in the act of stooping to adjust his snow-shoes, Brant, and two other Indians, came upon him unawares, and took him prisoner.
Harper did not discover their approach until they were too near to allow even the slightest possible chance of escape by flight, and he consequently submitted peacefully. As Brant approached Harper, he swung his tomahawk, as if in the act of finishing his victim at a single blow, and when the instru- ment of death was suspended by his stalwart arm high in the air, Brant exclaimed, as he recognized in the person of his prisoner an old acquaintance : " Ah ! Col. Harper, is it thee ? I am sorry to find thee here !"' " Why," said Harper, "are you sorry, Captain Brant ?" "Because," he replied, "I must kill you, although we were schoolmates in youth." Harper replied, that " There was no use in killing those who submitted peacefully." He was accordingly bound, and taken to Cloughs- ton's house, where he found the rest of Brant's forces, amount- ing in all to forty-three Indians, and seven tories. This was about 8 o'clock in the morning.
In order to make the surprise more complete, and to allow none an opportunity to escape, the enemy were distributed so as to fall upon all parties at once; and so well was the plan of attack concerted, and so silently did they approach, that not even a signal of alarm was given. A company approached the hut where Stevens was engaged, which was on land owned at present by A. B. Wilcox, Esq. Stevens had been up the
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greater part of the night boiling sap, but towards morning, his store becoming exhausted, he laid down in an empty store- trough and fell asleep; he was aroused by the voices of the approaching enemy, and was in the act of springing for his gun, which stood in one corner, when an Indian came to the entrance, and perceiving the movement, instantly hurled his tomahawk, which his intended victim dodged, and it struck in a log of the hut behind him. Stevens was an athletic man, and immediately grappled with the savage; the contest lasted but a moment; with almost herculean strength, in an instant he precipitated the Indian head-foremost beneath the boiler, upon the still unextinguished coals : but the fatal tragedy was not yet accomplished. The deed had scarcely been done, when a second tomahawk, hurled with unerring aim, sank deep into his brain ; he reeled and fell dead, when the Indians finished the sad picture, by scalping the unfortunate man.
A second party proceeded to the clearing of Thomas Hen- dry, who, offering some resistance, he, together with his eldest son James, was immediately tomahawked and scalped, while the youngest son, John, who submitted peacefully, was taken prisoner. A small detachment were sent to capture William Lamb and his son, who were at work alone some half a mile distant ; they surprised and captured the father, who was in the hut. The son, who had gone to gather some sap, was ust returning with two pails-which he carried with the aid of a yoke, a contrivance much used in sugar-making in those early times-when he perceived the Indians, and was at the same moment observed by them : he dropped his pails, and ran down the hill, closely pursued; being lighter, however, the frozen surface of the snow sustained him, while his pur- suers broke through. He was apparently gaining on them, when he commenced ascending the opposite hill, which hap- pening to face the east, the snow had become too much soft-
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ened to sustain him, he soon became exhausted, and was obliged to yield .*.
After some time spent in plundering the different encamp- ments of all articles of value, including the maple-sugar, the different parties reassembled with their prisoners, when Brant approached Harper in a menacing attitude, and fixing his eagle eye upon him, demanded, " Are there any troops in the forts at Schoharie ?" . Harper perceived in a moment, that his reply would procure their instant death or save their lives; for, if he should say "No," which would have been the truth, the Indians would have instantly killed them all, and then proceeded to the settlements at old Schoharie and cut them all
* I copied the following inscriptions from the stones in Harpersfield burying-ground :-
" Sacred to the memory of THOMAS and JOHN HENDRY, who were sacrificed by the Tory party, April 8th, 1780, for the crime called Democracy.
"When the British and Tories o'er this land bore the sway, A less cruel Indian my body did slay.
" THOMAS HENDRY."
On the same stone :-
" When my brother was murdered I was standing by, But in Quebec prison I was doomed to die. " JOHN HENDRY." 5 Another :--- " In memory of MR. JAMES HENDRY, who was killed by the Indians and Tories, April 8th, 1780, in the 35th year of his age.
" While British tyranny o'erspread the land, I was slain by cruel hands."
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off, before assistance could be procured from any quarter ; ac- cordingly, he answered : " There are three hundred continental troops now at the forts, who arrived there about three days since." The whole of this statement was untrue, yet who will condemn the Captain, or say the circumstances did not justify him.
On hearing this, the countenance of Brant changed from the fierceness of his peculiar look to a milder expression ; a coun- cil of war was immediately held, and the eleven surviving pri- soners were securely pinioned and confined in a pig-pen until morning. A guard of tories was placed over them, among whom was one Beacraft, a blood-thirsty villain : a large fire was built, around which their captors assembled, and held a long and. fierce consultation in the Indian dialect, involving the fate of their prisoners.
"While this question was pending," says Patchin in his narrative, " we could see every act through the chinks of the pen, and hear every word, though none of us understood their language but our captain, whose countenance, we could per- ceive by the light of the fire, from time to time change to the alternate expressions of hope and fear, while the perspiration stood in large drops upon his forehead, from the labor of his mind, although it was a cold night; and added to this, the bloody Beacraft would every now and then console us with the imprecation, ' You will all be in hell before morning.'"
In the morning the Colonel was again paraded before Brant and his associate chiefs, who informed him that they were sus- picious he had lied to them the night before. The Colonel, with an expression indicating scorn, at having his word disbe- lieved by them, replied : " That what he had said to them was wholly true, and if they any longer disbelieved the statement, they should go there and see."
Not a muscle of the brave man's countenance moved with hesitation or apprehension, and his statements-fortunately for
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himself, his companions, and the inhabitants of the whole Schoharie Valley, where the savages had determined to act over again the sad tragédies which had engraven desolation in characters of blood upon the beautiful, but unprotected valleys of Wyoming and Cherry, a couple of years before- were believed.
The rest of the prisoners were now let out of the pen, when Brant addressed them in English, telling them that the desti- nation of the expedition had been to lay waste Schoharie, and that his men were so highly irritated at its failure, that it had been with difficulty that he had saved them from being scalped : that if they would accompany him to Niagara, as prisoners of war, he would deliver them up to the English; but if any of them failed by the way, they must not expect to live, as their scalps were as good to him as their bodies .* The line of march was now taken up. The prisoners were compelled to carry the plunder in packs, upon their backs. About ten or twelve miles from the settlement at Harpersfield, on the Dela- ware river, was a grist-mill, owned by one Calder, f at which place the Indians made a halt, to obtain some refreshments.
* It was an act of the English government, allowing the same stipu- lated sum for scalps as for prisoners, which we see acted as a direct inducement to the Indians to murder and scalp their victims, thereby being more certain of the bounty ; as prisoners, during the long journey to Niagara, had frequent opportunities of escape, which more than one party had improved. There is something so odious and disgusting in this act of parliament, that it is hard to reconcile it with their well known pretensions to an enlightened government.
The date of the erection of this mill I have been unable to learn ; but it is certain that it was standing in 1780. Some with whom I have conversed give the owner's name as Rose ; but Stephen Hait, Esq., of Stamford, whose father was an old settler, and who has taken pains to investigate the matter, gave me his name as Calder. This mill is said to have stood on lands owned by John B. Thomas, near Bloom- ville.
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DELAWARE COUNTY.
They were received and kindly treated by this man ; and while he loaded the unhappy prisoners with the most horrible oaths and imprecations, he observed to Capt. Brant, that "they might better have taken more scalps and fewer prisoners." The daughter openly urged Brant to kill and scalp his pri- soners, stating as a reason that should they ever return, their own lives might be taken by the whigs, but that dead men told no tales. At this mill the Indians obtained about three bushels of corn, which was all the whole party had to subsist on, except what they might accidentally fall in with, during their whole journey to Niagara.
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