USA > New York > Fulton County > History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents > Part 9
USA > New York > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery and Fulton counties, N.Y. : with illustrations and portraits of old pioneers and prominent residents > Part 9
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On the same morning that Washington arrived at Arnold's head-quarters from Hartford, where he had been to confer with some French officers, Arnold received intelligence of . Andre's arrest, and hastening to his barge made his escape to the Vulture. He was apprised that Washington would soon be at his quarters, and left orders to inform him that he had gone over to West Point, and would soon return. Washington arrived shortly after, and crossing over to West Point found, to his surprise, that Arnold had not been there. After spending some time in examining the works, he re- turned, when the papers which had been found upon Andre were placed in his hands, and the whole conspiracy revealed. AAn immediate pursuit to overtake the traitor was made, but it was too late to prevent his escape. Unfortunate Andre was tried by a court of fourteen generals, convicted of being a spy, sentenced, and executed. Arnold wreaked his malice on the Americans by devastating different parts of the country during the war. After its close he went to England, where he was shunned and despised by all honorable men.
On the 15th of October, 1780, a large party of Tories and Indians, under Sir John Johnson and Brant, invaded the Mohawk Valley by way of Scho- harrie Creek, destroying the settlements on the way to Fort Hunter, and thence up the Mohawk, on both sides. As soon as intelligence of this in- vasion reached Albany, General Van Rensselaer marched against them
with a body of militia. Colonel Brown was stationed at Fort Paris, and receiving orders from Van Rensselaer to attack the enemy, promptly obeyed, but his small force was dispersed, and himself and forty of his men slain. Van Rensselaer, after great delay, attacked and routed the invaders, who fled, and succeeded in making their escape to Canada. The Mo- hiwk Valley continued to be devastated by the savage foe On the 9th of July, 1781, Currytown was attacked by a party of more than three hundred Indians, commanded by a Tory named Doxstader. They were pursued by Colonel Willett, and in a battle forty of their number were slain, and the others routed. On the 24th of October Major Ross and Walter Butler, at the head of nearly a thousand men, consisting of British regulars, Indians, and Tories, made a sudden descent into the Mohawk Valley, and began their work of plunder and devastation. They were met by Colonels Wil- lett and Rowley near Johnstown, and a sharp engagement ensued, lasting till dark, when the enemy fled. They were pursued, and at Canada Creek another skirmish took place, wherein the cruel and infamous Butler was slain. Upon his fall their whole force fled in the utmost confusion. This was the final invasion of the Mohawk Valley, and their flight the closing scene in one of the most terrible warfares on record.
While menacing an attack on New York, Washington carefully withdrew from the Hudson to attack Cornwallis in his devastating march through the South, and was far on his way to Virginia before Sir Henry Clinton was aware of the movement. Cornwallis was beseiged at Yorktown, and com- pelled to surrender his whole army on the 19th of October, 1781. This virtually closed the war. Sir Guy Carlton was sent to take the command of the British forces in place of Sir Henry Clinton, with directions to open negotiations for peace. A provisional treaty was signed on the 30th of November, 1782, and a definitive treaty, recognizing the independence of the United States, was concluded at Paris, September 3d, 1783. On the 25th of November the British troops took their final departure from the city of New York, and on the same day Washington entered it with his army, amid the joyous acclamations of the emancipated people. Never, perhaps, was peace more welcome, for the long war had been a terrible and trying ordeal for the patriots, and we, who are living in peace and plenty, so far removed by the wheels of time from that eventful period, are not likely to properly estimate their endurance of great and continued suf- ferings, nor fully appreciate the liberties they obtained at so great a sacri- fice, and bequeathed to succeeding generations.
The United States, having been recognized as an independent nation, it was early perceived that the powers conferred upon Congress by the Articles of Confederation, were in many essential respects inadequate to the objects of an effective national government. The States had been leagued together for a particular purpose, but retained their individual sovereignty, and Congress had no power to compel them to obey its man- dates. The people were losing their regard for the authority of Congress ; its recommendations for the liquidation of the debts incurred by the war were not promptly complied with, and financial and commercial affairs were falling into serious derangement. Each State being independent of the others in the Confederacy, jealousies would naturally arise, and without concerted action on the part of the States it was almost impossible to col- lect revenue. In view of these increasing evils the leading minds of the country desired a closer union of the States under a general government.
A convention was held at Annapolis, in September, 1786, to take into con- sideration the establishment of a general tariff on imports and a uniform system of commercial regulations. Commissioners were present, however, from only five States, among which was New York, represented by Alex- ander Hamilton. They recommended the calling of a convention of delegates from the several States, in May following, and transmitted a report of their conclusions to Congress. Their recommendations were adopted by Congress, and that body deemed it expedient that the delegates should be instructed to revise the Articles of Confederation and report to Congress, and the several State Legislatures, such amendments and pro- visions as should seem adequate to the exigencies of the government. All the States except Rhode Island, were represented in the Convention, which was held at Philadelphia. Believing that the Articles of Confederation were so defective as to be wholly inadequate to the wants of the country, the delegates went to work to form a new Constitution. Its plan was generally approved, but there were many in the convention who looked upon the preservation of State sovereignty as pre-eminently essential, and regarded the proposed change in this particular as an infringement of State rights. The delegates from New York, upon their appointment, had been
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OUTLINE HISTORY OF STATE OF NEW YORK.
restricted to the revision of the existing Articles of Confederation, and when the Convention decided to provide a new Constitution they, with the exception of Alexander Hamilton, withdrew. That body then proceeded to form a consti- tution, which was adopted and submitted to the several States for approval, the assent of nine being required for its ratification. A spirited contest ensued in the State of New York, between its advocates and opponents, the latter being in the ascendancy ; but having been adopted by the requisite number of States, it was ratified in convention by the State of New York by a close vote, on the 26th of July, 1788, but with the recommendation of several amendments which, however, were not adopted. The city of New York was chosen for the seat of the Federal Government, and George Washing- ton was elected President.
The difficulties relative to the New Hampshire grants still continued. A convention of the people in that disputed territory, in 1777, declared it an independent State, and petitioned Congress for admission into the Con- federacy. New York thereupon sought the interposition of Congress in her behalf, and that body recognized her claims ; but the people interested in the New Hampshire grants were determined to maintain their indepen- dence, and during the following year organized a State government This revived the discord, which had remained inactive since the breaking out of the war, and so great was the hatred of the New Hampshire people toward the State of New York, that rather than be subject to her jurisdiction they chose to return to their allegiance to Great Britain, and were secretly negotiating with the British to become a colony under the Crown ; but before the conspiracy was fully matured it was interrupted by the capture of Cornwallis. Hostile feelings continued after the war, but in 1790 the difficulties were amicably adjusted. New York, on receiving a stipulated sum for the extinction of land claims, relinquished her jurisdiction, and in the following year the disputed territory was admitted into the Union, under the name of Vermont.
Large tracts of wild land were in possession of the State of New York, at the termination of the war. In 1786 the State granted two tracts to Massachusetts, to satisfy certain antiquated claims of that State, but retained her sovereignty over the ceded territory. The largest of these tracts, known as the Genesee country, embraced the western part of the State, and was designated by a line running south from a specified point on Lake Ontario to Pennsylvania. The other embraced a portion of the present counties of Tioga and Broome. Land commissioners of the State, a few years later, authorized by an act of the Legislature, disposed of large tracts of land in the northern part of the State, for very small considerations. The largest and most important of these was that granted to Alexander Macomb, con- taining upward of three and a half millions of acres, at about eighteen pence per acre.
In 179t the Legislature ordered an exploration and survey to ascertain the most eligible method of removing obstructions from the Mohawk and Hudson rivers, in view of improving their navigation by the construction of canals. The following year two companies were incorporated, styled the Northern and Western Inland Lock Navigation Companies, for the purpose of facilitating navigation by connecting by canals Lake Ontario with the Mohawk and Lake Champlain with the Hudson.
Governor Clinton, in 1795, having declined to be a candidate for re- election, John Jay was chosen as his successor. The State was now rapidly gaining in population, and. in 1800 had reached to nearly six hundred thousand. By an act of the Legislature a convention was called to amend the State Constitution in regard to the apportionment of members of the Legislature. This body convened in 1801, chose Colonel Aaron Burr to preside over it, and fixed the number of Assemblymen at 100. In 1801 George Clinton was again elected to the Governorship, which office he held until 1804, when he was chosen Vice-President of the United States, and Morgan Lewis was elected his successor. At this time Aaron Burr was holding the office of Vice-President, and failing to receive the nomination for re- election was nominated by his friends for the office of Governor of New York. Mortified and chagrined at his defeat he sought revenge upon those who had been the most prominent and influential in causing it. He regarded the influence of Alexander Hamilton as having contributed largely to his defeat, and in desperation at his blighted political prospects deter- mined to wreak his vengeance upon him. An excuse was presented by Hamilton's expressing political views antagonistic to his own, which having been reported to him in a distorted form he chose to consider as personal, and challenged him. The challenge was accepted and the duel fought, Hamilton falling mortally wounded at the first exchange of shots.
His deplorable death produced a gloomy feeling throughout the country, as his brilliant talents and unexceptionable character had won for him the esteem of the whole community. After this occurrence, Burr visited the Western States and engaged in treasonable schemes for detaching them from their present political associations, to form, in conjunction with Mexico, a separate government. He was arrested and tried for treason, but escaped conviction for want of sufficient proof. All confidence in his integrity, however, was lost, and the remainder of his life was passed in comparative obscurity. In 1807 Daniel D. Tompkins was elected to succeed Morgan Lewis as Governor of New York. In this year Robert Fulton com- pleted the Clermont, the first boat that ever succeeded in steam navigation. It was launched at Jersey City, and made its trial trip up the Hudson to Albany.
Great Britain and France being at war, the former by a series of "Orders in Council," prohibited vessels of neutral nations from trading with France or her allies, and in retaliation Napoleon proclaimed the notable Berlin and Milan decrees, forbidding all trade with England and her colonies. The effects of these ordinances were very injurious to American commerce; and in consequence thereof Congress, on the 23d of September, 1807, laid an embargo on all vessels in the harbors of the United States, which bore heavily on the mercantile interests of the country, and excited considerable opposition.
CHAPTER XIV.
CAUSES OF THE LAST WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN-EXPEDITIONS AGAINST CANADA-HOSTILITIES ALONG THE BORDER.
The country was now rapidly drifting into another conflict with Great Britain. The aggressions of the British had, for several years, been a subject of great anxiety and bitter animosity, which continually increased. Although the United States maintained a strict neutrality while the Napoleonic wars were raging between Great Britain and France, their rights, as a neutral nation, were disregarded. The embargo laid by Congress upon the shipping in American ports was found so injurious to commercial interests that it was repealed, and a non-intercourse act passed in its place. In April, 1809, the English ambassador at Washington opened ne- gotiations for the adjustment of the existing difficulties, and consented to the withdrawal of the obnoxious "Orders in Council " so far as respected the United States, on condition that they should repeal the act prohibiting intercourse with Great Britain. Upon this basis an agreement was effected, when the President issued a proclamation declaring that as it had been officially communicated to the United States that the "Orders in Council " would be repealed on the 10th of June, trade might be resumed with Great Britain after that date. As soon as intelligence of this agreement on the part of their ambassador reached the English Government, the lattet refused to ratify it on the ground that he had exceeded his instructions, and immediately recalled him. The proclamation of the Pre- sident was then revoked, and the two governments resumed their former relations. In addition to other injuries and encroachments upon the rights of the United States as neutrals, the English Government claimed the right to search American vessels, and authorized its officers to examine their crews, seize all whom they chose to regard as British subjects, and force them into their service. All remonstrances were unavailing. The English officers in enforcing this right of search committed great outrages, and the practice became so obnoxious as to demand some decided mea- sures for its suppression. Under these circumstances, there appeared to be no alternative but war, and Congress having authorized it, war was declared against Great Britain on the 19th of June, 1812. The mea- sure was far from being universally sustained, however. The Federal party, then in the minority, opposed it, and their political opinions being apparently stronger than their patriotism, they loudly denounced it. It was also but feebly sustained by a portion of the Democratic party, not on political grounds, but from the belief that the country was unprepared for war. New York and New England were most prominent in their opposi- tion, and if they did not directly aid the enemy, their conduct was dis- couraging and injurious to those who were perilling their lives in their country's cause.
The Americans, deeming it expedient to invade Canada, directed the attention at once toward that point, and measures were taken to collect forces along the northern frontier of New York, and westward to Michi-
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SUCCESSFUL DEFENCE OF SACKETT'S HARBOR-COMMODORE PERRY'S BRILLIANT VICTORY.
gan. They were distributed in three divisions. The eastern rendezvoused in the vicinity of Plattsburg, on the western shore of Lake Champlain. The central was under the command of General Stephen Van Rensselaer, who made his headquarters at Lewiston, on the Niagara river; and the northwestern division assembled at Detroit. In connection with these armaments a naval force was fitted up on the lakes, the command of which was assigned to Commodore Chauncey. in July a small British fleet made an attack upon Sackett's Harbor, on Lake Ontario, which was defended by Lieutenant Woolsey, who, from a battery arranged on the shore, so dis- abled the hostile fleet that it withdrew. In October an attack on Ogdens- burg by a British fleet was repulsed by General Brown. In the same month Lieutenant Elliott, by a bold movement, captured on Lake Erie the British vessel Caledonia, laden with a valuable cargo of furs, while she fay in fancied security, protected by the guns of a British fort.
After the inglorious surrender of Gen. Hull at Detroit, the next offensive movement on the part of the Americans was assigned to the central divis- ion, which was eager to offset Hull's disgrace, by a brilliant achievement. An attack on the heights of Queenstown was decided on, and was made Oct. 13. With inadequate means of transportation, about a thousand men were transferred to the Canadian bank of the Niagara, drove the British from their batteries, and took the heights. Gen. Brock rallied the enemy and attempted to recapture the position, but was mortally wounded and his force repulsed. The Americans, however, were unable to hold their ground against the British reinforcements which were brought up, having no implements for fortification ; and the militia who had not yet crossed the river became panic-stricken on seeing some of the wounded brought over, and refused to go to the aid of their outnumbered comrades. The
latter were therefore overwhelmed and forced to surrender, after having about sixty killed and a hundred wounded.
Nothing save a little skirmishing occurred in this quarter during the re- mainder of the year. The disgrace which had fallen upon the American arms on land this year was alleviated to a considerable extent, however, by their splendid triumphs on the water. Soon after the new year had been ushered in, the sanguinary conflict at Frenchtown, on the Raisin river, took place, resulting in the surrender of the American forces. The prisoners taken on this occasion were left to be tortured by the barbarous Indians under Proctor, the infamous British commander, in direct violation of his pledge for their safety. Several persons in St. Lawrence County were arrested by the British authorities and confined in Canada on charges of desertion. On the 7th of February Captain Forsyth, the commander of the post at Ogdensburg, crossed to the Canadian shore with a small force, and captured about fifty prisoners and some military stores. In retaliation, Colonel McDonnell, on the 22d of the same month, crossed the river with a considerable force, and attacked Ogdensburg. Only a feeble retinue of soldiers was stationed there for its protection ; but this, with the aid of the citizens, defended the town gallantly, although they were finally ob- liged to abandon it to the invaders. A large quantity of military stores came into the enemy's possession, several vessels were destroyed, and considerable damage was done to the property of the citizens.
General Dearborn had been entrusted with the command of the central division, and on the 25th of April detached a force of seventeen hundred men, under General Pike, for a descent upon Toronto, then known as York. They embarked at Sackett's Harbor on board the squadron of Commodore Chauncey, and landed on the 27th in the vicinity of York in the face of a spirited fire from the enemy, whom they soon drove back. The British before leaving their fortifications had laid a train of combustible matter, and connecting it with their magazine, thus plotted the destruction of the invaders. The scheme was in part successful, for the Americans took the redoubts as they advanced, and when within about fifty rods of the bar- racks the explosion took place. General Pike was mortally wounded, and about two hundred of his followers either killed or injured. The troops were appalled at this disaster ; but at the order of their dying commander they sprang forward and captured a part of the retreating enemy, and drove the remainder from the field. After the capture of Toronto, the squadron returned, and preparations were made for an attack upon Fort George, on the Niagara river, near Lake Ontario. A descent was made upon this post on the 27th of May, and although meeting a stout resist- ance, was in the end successful. On the landing of the troops, Colonel Scott advanced to attack an advantageous position held by the enemy, and after a sharp conflict succeeded in dislodging them. General Vincent, the British commander, in alarm, ordered the evacuation of the remaining posts
on the Niagara frontier, and on retreating from Fort George caused the magazine to be blown up. The greater part of the garrison made their escape, but nearly four hundred regulars and five hundred militia were made prisoners. General Vincent retreated with the view of taking a position on Burlington Heights, and was followed by a detachment of the Americans ; but the British turned and attacked their pursuers in the night, and suc- ceeded in capturing their generals, and further pursuit was abandoned. Colonel Boerstler was detached with a force of about six hundred men to dislodge a body of the enemy stationed at Beaver Dam, about seventeen miles from Fort George. Arriving in the vicinity of that place he was at- tacked by a body of Indians in ambush, who kept up a confliet in their skulking manner until the arrival of a reinforcement of British troops. The British officer then sent a summons to the Colonel to surrender, at the same time magnifying the number of his troops. Colonel Boerstler believ- ing that he had a superior force to contend with, and unable to obtain a reinforcement, surrendered his detachment as prisoners of war.
During these offensive operations on the part of the Americans, like expeditions were undertaken by the British. The force at Sackett's Har- bor, having been reduced to aid the expedition along the Niagara river, and the fleet of Commodore Chauncey being at Fort George, Sir George Pre- vost made an attempt to re-capture that post. On the 29th of May he appeared before the place with a force of about one thousand men. It had been left in command of Colonel Backus, who, aided by General Brown, so successfully resisted the onslaught, that the enemy, after sus- taining considerable loss, withdrew. This affair was followed by consider- able skirmishing along the American side of Lake Ontario, and on the TIth of July, Colonel Bishop made an attack upon the village of Black Rock, on the east bank of the Niagara river. In this conflict the British force was repulsed with considerable loss, and their leader mortally wounded.
Meanwhile Commodore Perry was preparing to dispute the control of Lake Erie with the enemy. The Americans had no efficient force upon that lake, and Perry, by unremitting exertions, built and equipped a fleet of nine vessels. Of these the Lawrence and the Niagara each carried twenty guns, and the whole fleet but fifty-four. The British fleet, under Commodore Barclay, consisted of six vessels, carrying sixty-three guns. On the 10th of September the British commander approached the Ameri- can fleet with his vessels arrayed in battle order, and Perry at once pre- pared for action. With his flag-ship, the Lawrence, he advanced to meet the enemy, and maintained an unequal conflict until his ship was reduced to a complete wreck, and nearly all of her crew either killed or wounded. At this juncture, and when the enemy had a fair prospect of obtaining a bril- liant victory, Captain Elliott, commander of the Niagara, who had perceived the crippled and unmanageable condition of the Lawrence, moved for- ward to her aid, and Perry, although exposed to a continuous fire from the enemy, sprang into a boat and proceeded to the Niagara, to which he trans- ferred his flag. The action was then renewed with great vigor by the re- mainder of the American squadron. They passed fearlessly among the enemy's ships, dealing such a destructive fire upon them that the whole fleet soon after surrendered.
This important and brilliant victory was followed by one under General Harrison, commander of the northwestern division, who on the 5th of Oc- tober defeated General Proctor at the battle of the Thames. By these victories the territory of Michigan, which had been so ingloriously sur- rendered by General Hull at the commencement of the war, was regained. Late in the autumn of this year, an unsuccessful attempt was made to in- vade Canada, under the direction of General Wilkinson, who had suc- ceeded Dearborn in the chief command of the northern army. The American Generals, Izard and Hampton, were repulsed near the border in Franklin County. General Wilkinson descended the St. Lawrence, and on the 19th of November, at Chrystler's Farm, near Williamsburg, an in- decisive engagement took place, the Americans retreating to their boats, and abandoning further operations.
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