USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : from 1700 to the present time, Volume I > Part 5
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Sir John Johnson, although an ardent royalist, remained at Johnstown and made preparation to defend his opinions by force of arms. The loyalists also commenced arming themselves, and were ready to accept the wager of war.
The National Congress recognized the importance of Fort Stanwix, and had ordered it repaired. This work was done under the direction of Colonel Dayton by the Tryon county militia.
The meeting between General Herkimer and Joseph Brant at Unadilla had been productive of no result; and, although it is probable that Herkimer
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had hoped to induce Brant to join the colonists, or, at least, to remain neutral, his hopes were doomed to disappointment. It is most probable that, had the great Mohawk chief cast his lot with the Americans, the history of the Mo- hawk valley would have been a different story. His ability and his influence with the Indians were so great that, undoubtedly, the Mohawk nation would have followed his leadership, and, perhaps, the entire Iroquois confederacy. It was after his conference with Herkimer that Brant joined Guy Johnson at Oswego.
The Tryon County Committee required of Sir John to declare himself either for or against the king. October 26, General Herkimer, as chairman of that committee, addressed a letter to him requesting the right to form military companies according to the regulations of the Continental Congress, and also asked "if your honor would be ready himself to give his personal assistance to the same purpose?" He also asked if Johnson would "hinder" the use of the public buildings of the county in the interest of the colonies. Johnson addressed Herkimer in a lengthy letter, which was entirely unsatisfactory to the committee.
Johnson promised neutrality, but, being suspected of violating his prom- ise, a regiment of soldiers was sent to arrest him, and he fled with his family and retainers to Canada. His property and effects were afterwards confiscated by the colonies. At about this time an armed conflict occurred between the Patriots and Tories in Schoharie, and Tory as well as Patriot was arming in the Mohawk valley ready for the coming conflict.
Although the Iroquois Indians had pledged themselves to neutrality, all but the Oneidas and a portion of the Tuscaroras soon cast their lot with the king. This was unquestionably largely due to the influence of Joseph Brant -Thayendanegea.
Discouraging reports came from other parts of the country. Washington had been defeated in the battles of Long Island and White Plains, lost New York City, and retreated southward through New Jersey. The patriot cause had also fared illy in central New York, and at the beginning of the eventful year 1777, the condition of the Americans was desperate, bordering on a state of general hopelessness.
Alarming reports kept the inhabitants of the Mohawk valley in constant fear of Indian and Tory depredations. Some of the Tories of central New York were contemplating leaving their homes and joining the king's forces. Others of the inhabitants, fearing the final outcome, placed themselves under the pro- tection of the loyalists. From the Schoharie country came distressing accounts and a call for help.
Momentous consequences depended upon what should be done within the next few months. It was recognized in England, as well as in America, that a crisis in affairs between the two countries was at hand.
The British ministry had planned a campaign for the summer of 1777 that was intended to put an end to the revolution in America. This plan was as follows: Sir Henry Clinton, who was in New York City, was to ascend the Hudson river with a considerable force to Albany; Burgoyne, an able soldier, who was in Canada with about 7,000 men, was to pass southward along the
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west shore of Lake Champlain, capture Fort Ticonderoga, sweep down the Hudson valley and join Clinton at Albany; Colonel Barry St. Leger was to leave Oswego, cut his way through the forest, capture Fort Stanwix, pass down the Mohawk valley, lay that beautiful valley desolate, rouse the Tories and Indians on the way, and join forces with Clinton and Burgoyne at Albany.
Speaking of the plan, Mr. E. S. Creasy, in his book entitled "Fifteen De- cisive Battles of the World," in discussing the battle of Saratoga, says: "With- out question, the plan was ably formed; and, had the success of the execution been equal to the ingenuity of the design, the reconquest or submission of the thirteen United States must in all human probability have followed, and the independence which they proclaimed in 1776 would have been extinguished before it existed a second year. No European power had as yet come forward to aid America. It is true that England was generally regarded with jeal- ousy and ill will, and was thought to have acquired, at the treaty of Paris, a preponderance of dominion which was perilous to the balance of power; but though many were willing to wound, none had yet ventured to strike; and America, if defeated in 1777, would have been suffered to fall unaided."
The defeat and capture of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga was made possible by two other events, which, at the time, were not considered as important by any means as subsequent occurrences proved them to be. The battles of Oris- kany and Bennington made Gates's victory over Burgoyne possible.
During the summer of 1777 the British government was making its prep- aration to prosecute the war in America with greater vigor, and it was ap- parent that the state of New York was to be the battle ground, not only for that state and America, but for Republican institutions in the world.
One of the principal acts in the tragedy about to be played was to be per- formed in the valley of the Mohawk and in what is now Oneida county. The scene opened July 17, when General Herkimer issued his famous proclamation calling the inhabitants of Tryon county to arms. He announced the gathering of St. Leger's army at Oswego, and called on those in health between 16 and 60 years of age to prepare for active service, and those over 60 to prepare to defend the women and children; the disaffected were to be arrested, placed under guard, and required to join the main body of his army.
The Oneida Indians were most excited over the threatened invasion, and requested General Schuyler to send troops to Fort Stanwix (at this time Fort Schuyler), to defend it against St. Leger. The importance of St. Leger's at- tempt to capture Fort Stanwix and desolate the Mohawk valley appears from the fact that it was planned in England, and was a part of the grand plan to crush the rebellion in the East; and it was thought by the ministry that if the plan was successful, resistance to the royal authority would cease in the South without further bloodshed. By the king's command Lieutenant Col. Barry St. Leger was given 675 trained soldiers and a large number of Canadians and Indians, the last under the famous Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant. The total force of St. Leger was slightly over 1,700. He had also eight pieces of artil- lery. The fort was commanded by Colonel Peter Gansevoort, with Lieutenant Colonel Marius Willett second in command.
Before the arrival of St. Leger in the Mohawk valley the Indians had been
COLONEL PETER GANSEVOORT Commander at Fort Stanwix during the siege by St. Leger
LIEUTENANT COLONEL MARINUS WILLETT Second in command at Fort Stanwix
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skulking about near the Fort and committing depredations and murder. Cap- tain Gregg and Corporal Madison, who had gone out of the fort to shoot birds, were attacked, and Madison, killed and scalped, Gregg, shot and scalped, but survived. Soon after this three girls were picking berries near the fort and were attacked by Indians, two of them killed and the other wounded. Colonel Gansevoort described the conditions of affairs in and about the fort in a letter to General Schuyler on July 4, and called for re-enforcements and supplies. The crimes of the Indians increased until no one could venture from the fort except well armed forces, and even one of these parties was attacked, several of them killed, and the officer in command taken prisoner.
Lieutenant Colonel Mellon had reached the fort with a re-enforcement of about 200 men the day before Joseph Brant, with his Indians, and Lieutenant Bird arrived at the head of St. Leger's advancing forces. Brant was so close upon Colonel Mellon that his Indians captured the officers in charge of the stores brought to the fort by Mellon.
Colonel St. Leger, with the main body of his army, invested the fort on August 3. His force was made up of British regulars, Hessians, New York Loyalists, called "Johnson's Greens," together with a number of Canadians and the Indians under Joseph Brant-Thayendanegea, Sir John Johnson, Colonel Claus and Colonel Butler. A flag was sent into the fort on August 3 by St. Leger, and a pompous demand for a surrender was made. He offered employment to those who would join his standard, security to the infirm, and payment in coin for all the supplies the people would bring to his camp, and in conclusion he said: "If, notwithstanding these endeavors and sincere in- clinations to effect them, the frenzy of hostility should remain, I trust I shall stand acquitted in the eyes of God and man in denouncing and executing the vengeance of the state against the wilful outcasts. The messengers of justice and of right await them in the field; and devastation, famine and every con- comitant horror that a reluctant but indispensable prosecution of military duty must occasion, will bar the way to their return" This manifesto, however, produced no effect upon the commandant of the fort, and the demand to sur- render was promptly refused.
It is sometimes in the world's history that momentous consequences hang upon minor events. Such was the case with the defense of Fort Stanwix. It was an event, not only important to Oneida county, to the state of New York, to the national government, but to the world. Cowardice or incompetency within the fort might have changed the history of America and the world. Had St. Leger succeeded, the Mohawk valley would have been at his feet, the tide would have turned in favor of the king, Burgoyne's defeat would most likely have been turned into a victory, France would not have given its essential aid to the American cause, and British arms would have prevailed. But abil- ity and superb courage within the fort, aided by the same qualities among the yeomanry of Tryon county, worked out most important results and changed the "tide of times."
The fort was fully invested on August 4, and hostilities commenced. The Indians were scattered through the woods so as to entirely surround the fort, and at night kept up their hideous yelling. Through the Oneida Indians the
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inhabitants of the valley had been informed of the approach of St. Leger, but not until their houses and families were threatened by the invading army were they aroused sufficiently to rally to Herkimer's support.
There have been many descriptions of the battle of Oriskany and the siege of Fort Stanwix both in history and in fiction. All of these descriptions are, in substance, taken from Colonel Stone's "Life of Joseph Brant," and none of them have improved upon the description given in that excellent book, and we, therefore, quote his description in full :
"No sooner was the advance of St. Leger upon Fort Schuyler known to the committee and officers of Tryon county, than General Herkimer, in con- formity with the proclamation heretofore cited, summoned the militia of his command to the field, for the purpose of marching to the succor of the garri- son. Notwithstanding the despondency that had prevailed in the early part of the summer, the call was nobly responded to, not only by the militia, but by the gentlemen of the county, and most of the members of the committee, who entered the field either as officers or private volunteers. The fears so generally and so recently indulged seemed all to have vanished with the arrival of the invader, and the general soon found himself at the head of between eight hundred and a thousand men, all eager for action and impatient of de- lay. Their place of rendezvous was at Fort Dayton (German Flats), in the upper section of the Mohawk valley-and the most beautiful. The regiments were those of Colonels Klock, Visscher, Cox, and one or two others, augmented by volunteers and volunteer officers, who were pushing forward as though de- termined at all hazards to redeem the character of the county. Indeed, their proceedings were by far too impetuous, since they hurried forward in their march without order or precaution, without adequate flanking parties, and without reconnoitering the ground over which they were to pass. They moved from Fort Dayton on the 4th, and on the 5th reached the neighborhood of Oriskany, where they encamped. From this point an express was sent for- ward by General Herkimer to apprise Colonel Gansevoort of his approach, and to concert measures of co-operation. The arrival of the express at the fort was to be announced by three successive discharges of cannon, the report of which, it was supposed, would be distinctly heard at Oriskany-only eight miles distant. Delays, however, intervened, so that the messengers did not reach the fort until ten or eleven o'clock the following morning; previous to which the camp of the enemy being uncommonly silent, a portion of their troops had been observed by the garrison to be moving along the edge of the woods down the river, in the direction of the Oriskany creek. The concerted signals were immediately fired; and as the proposition of Herkimer was to force a passage to the fort, arrangements were immediately made by Colonel Gansevoort to effect a diversion of the enemy's attention, by making a sally from the fort upon the hostile camp, for which purpose two hundred men were detailed, consisting one half of Gansevoort's, and one half of the Massachu- setts troops, and one field piece-an iron three pounder. The execution of the enterprise was entrusted to Colonel Willett.
"It appears that on the morning of that day, which was the 6th of August, General Herkimer had misgivings as to the propriety of advancing any far-
STATUE OF COLONEL GANSEVOORT IN THE PARK AT ROME
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ther without first receiving reinforcements. His officers, however, were eager to press forward. A consultation was held, in which some of the officers mani- fested much impatience at any delay, while the general still urged them to remain where they were until reinforcements could come up, or at least until the signal of a sortie should be received from the fort. High words ensued, during which Colonels Cox and Paris, and many others, denounced their com- mander to his face as a Tory and coward. The brave old man calmly replied that he considered himself placed over them as a father, and that it was not his wish to lead them into any difficulty from which he could not extricate them. Burning, as they now seemed, to meet the enemy, he told them roundly that they would run at his first appearance. But his remonstrances were un- availing. Their clamor increased, and their reproaches were repeated, until, stung by imputations of cowardice and a want of fidelity to the cause, and somewhat irritated withal, the General immediately gave the order-'March on!' The words were no sooner heard than the troops gave a shout, and moved, or rather rushed forward. They marched in files of two deep, preceded by an advanced guard and keeping flanks upon each side.
"Having, by 10 o'clock, proceeded rapidly forward to the distance of only two or three miles, the guards, both front and flanks, were suddenly shot down, the forest rang with the warwhoops of a savage foe, and in an instant the greater part of the division found itself in the midst of a formidable ambuscade. Colonel St. Leger, it appeared, having heard of the advance of General Herki- mer, in order to prevent an attack in his intrenchments, had detached a divi- sion of Sir John Johnson's regiment of Greens, under Sir John's brother-in-law, Major Watts, Colonel Butler with his Rangers, and Joseph Brant with a strong body of Indians, to intercept his approach. With true Indian sagacity, Thay- endanegea had selected a position admirably fitted for his purpose, which was, to draw the Americans, whom he well knew to be approaching in no very good military array, into an ambuscade. The locality favored his design. There was a deep ravine crossing the path which Herkimer with his undis- ciplined array was traversing, 'sweeping toward the east in a semi-circular form, and bearing a northern and southern direction. The bottom of this ravine was marshy, and the road crossed it by means of a causeway. The ground, thus partly enclosed by the ravine, was elevated and level. The am- buscade was laid upon the high ground west of the ravine.'
"The enemy had disposed himself adroitly, in a circle, leaving only a narrow segment open for the admission of the ill-starred Provincials on their approach. The stratagem was successful. Unconscious of the presence of the foe, Herki- mer, with his whole army excepting the rear-guard, composed of Colonel Vis- scher's regiment, found himself encompassed at the first fire the enemy clos- ing up the gap at the instant of making himself known. By thus early com- pleting the circle, the baggage and ammunition wagons, which had just de- scended into the ravine, were cut off and separated from the main body, as was also the regiment of Colonel Visscher, yet on the eastern side of the ra- vine; which, as their general had predicted, instantly and ingloriously fled, leaving their companions to their fate. They were pursued, however, by a portion of the Indians, and suffered more severely, probably, than they would
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have done, had they stood by their fellows in the hour of need, either to con- quer or to fall.
"Being thrown into irretrievable disorder by the suddenness of the sur- prise and the destructiveness of the fire, which was close and brisk from every side, the division was for a time threatened with annihilation. At every op- portunity the savages, concealed behind the trunks of trees, darted forward with knife and tomahawk to ensure the destruction of those who fell; and many and fierce were the conflicts that ensued hand to hand. The veteran Herkimer fell, wounded, in the early part of the action-a musket ball having passed through and killed his horse, and shattered his own leg just below the knee. The general was placed upon his saddle, however, against the trunk of a tree for his support, and thus continued to order the battle. Colonel Cox, and Captains Davis and VanSluyck, were severally killed near the commence- ment of the engagement; and the slaughter of their broken ranks, from the rifles of the Tories and the spears and tomahawks of the Indians, was dread- ful. But even in this deplorable situation the wounded general, his men dropping like leaves around him, and the forest resounding with the horrid yells of the savages, ringing high and wild over the din of battle, behaved with the most perfect firmness and composure. The action had lasted about forty- five minutes in great disorder, before the Provincials formed themselves into circles in order to repel the attacks of the enemy, who were concentrating, and closing in upon them from all sides. From this moment the resistance of the Provincials was more effective, and the enemy attempted to charge with the bayonet. The firing ceased for a time, excepting the scattering discharges of musquetry from the Indians; and as the bayonets crossed, the contest became a death struggle, hand to hand and foot to foot. Never, however, did brave men stand a charge with more dauntless courage, and the enemy for the mo- ment seemed to recoil-just at the instant when the work of death was ar- rested by a heavy shower of rain, which suddenly broke upon the combatants with great fury. The storm raged for upward of an hour, during which time the enemy sought such shelter as might be found among the trees at a respect- ful distance; for they had already suffered severely, notwithstanding the ad- vantages in their favor.
"During this suspension of the battle, both parties had time to look about, and make such new dispositions as they pleased for attack and defense, on renewing the murderous conflict. The Provincials, under the direction of their general, were so fortunate as to take possession of an advantageous piece of ground, upon which his men formed themselves into a circle, and as the shower broke away, awaited the movements of the enemy. In the early part of the battle, the Indians, whenever they saw a gun fired by a militiaman from behind a tree, rushed up and tomahawked him before he could reload. In or- der to counteract this mode of warfare, two men were stationed behind a single tree, one only to fire at a time- the other reserving his fire until the Indians ran up as before. The fight was presently renewed, and by the new arrangement, and the cool execution done by the fire of the militia forming the main circle, the Indians were made to suffer severely; so much so, that they began to give way, when Major Watts came up with a reinforcement,
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consisting of another detachment of Johnson's Greens. These men were mostly loyalists, who had fled from Tryon county, now returned in arms against their former neighbors. As no quarrels are so bitter as those of families, so no wars are so cruel and passionate as those called civil. Many of the Provincials and Greens were known to each other; and as they advanced so near as to afford opportunities of mutual recognition, the contest became, if possible, more of a death struggle than before. Mutual resentments, and feelings of hate and revenge, raged in their bosoms. The Provincials fired upon them as they ad- vanced, and then springing like chafed tigers from their covers, attacked them with their bayonets and the butts of their muskets, or both parties in closer contact throttled each other and drew their knives; stabbing, and sometimes literally dying in one another's embrace.
"At length a firing was heard in the distance from the fort, a sound as welcome to the Provincials as it was astounding to the enemy. Availing them- selves of the hint, however, a ruse-de-guerre was attempted by Colonel Butler, which had well-nigh proved fatal. It was the sending, suddenly, from the di- rection of the fort, a detachment of Greens disguised as American troops, in the expectation that they might be received as a timely reinforcement from the garrison. Lieutenant Jacob Sammons was the first to descry their approach, in the direction of a body of men commanded by Captain Jacob Gardenier- an officer who, during that memorable day, performed prodigies of valor. Per- ceiving that their hats were American, Sammons informed Captain Gardenier that succors from the fort were coming up. The quick eye of the Captain de- tected the ruse, and he replied-'Not so; they are enemies; don't you see their green coats!' They continued to advance until hailed by Gardenier, at which moment one of his own soldiers, observing an acquaintance, and supposing him a friend, ran to meet him, and presented his hand. It was grasped, but with no friendly grip, as the credulous fellow was dragged into the opposing line, and informed that he was a prisoner. He did not yield without a strug- gle; during which Gardenier, watching the action and the result, sprang for- ward, and with a blow from his spear leveled the captor to the dust and lib- erated his man. Others of the foe instantly set upon him, of whom he slew the second and wounded a third. Three of the disguised Greens now sprang upon him, and one of his spurs becoming entangled in their clothes, he was thrown to the ground. Still contending, however, with almost superhuman strength, both of his thighs were transfixed to the earth by the bayonets of two of his assailants, while the third presented a bayonet to his breast, as if to thrust him through. Seizing this bayonet with his left hand, by a sudden wrench he brought its owner down upon himself, where he held him as a shield against the arms of the others, until one of his own men, Adam Miller, observing the struggle, flew to his rescue. As the assailants turned upon their new adver- sary, Gardenier rose upon his seat; and although his hand was severely lac- erated by grasping the bayonet which had been drawn through it, he seized his spear lying by his side, and quick as lightning planted it to the barb in the side of the assailant with whom he had been clenched. The man fell and ex- pired-proving to be Lieutenant M'Donald, one of the loyalist officers from Tryon county. All this transpired in far less time than is necessarily occupied Vol. 1-8
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