History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 35

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920

USA > New York > Oneida County > History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 35

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Characteristic speeches were made by chiefs of the Onon -. duga and Oneida nations, in which the former charged all the blame upon the young men, and the influence of Colonel Butler and others.

An Oneida chief made an eloquent speech in: behalf of his own nation and the Tuscaroras, in the course of which he lamented the degeneracy of the hostile tribes, and pic- tured their certain destruction. He declared the unalterable, resolution of his people to hold fast to the covenant chain between them and the United States, and expressed their desire to have the government erect a fortress for their protection.

The council closed without any satisfactory result, and it. was apparent that nothing but hostility was: to. be expected- from the Senecas, Cayugas, and Mohawks .; and the Onon -. dagas, though they made many professions, were evidently. playing a double game. In order, as far as possible, to con- ciliate the Indians, the commissioners were authorized by, Congress to open a trading establishment at Fort Schuyler, and appropriated for that purpose ten thousand dollars.

Lafayette, in accordance with the wish of the Indians,. directed a fort to be erected in the Oneida country; and upon the representations of Colonel Campbell and others, forts were ordered to bo built at. Cherry Valley and Schoharie.

The emissaries of the Johnsons were lurking everywhere watching the movements of the Whigs, and stirring up the Tory, elements; and during the council at Johnstown a nephew of Sir Guy Carleton was in the neighborhood, Ef- forts were made for his capture, and the following letter from Lafayette to Colonel Gansevoort shows the interest which the marquis took in the matter :

" JOHNSTOWN, the 9th of Meh., 1778.

"SIR,-As the taking of Colonel Carleton is of the greatest im- portance, I wish you would use every exertion in your power to have him apprehended. I have desired Colonel Livingston, who knows him, to let you have any intelligence he can give, and join to them these I have got by one other spy, about the dress and figure of Carleton. You may send as many parties ns you please, and everywhere you'll think propor, and do every convenient thing for discovering him. I dare say he knows we are after him, and has nothing in view but to escape; which I beg you to prevent by all means. You may promise in my name, fifty guineas, hard monry, besides any money they can find about Carleton, to any party of soldiers or Indians who will

Meaning Oriskany.

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

bring him alive. As every one knows now what wo send for, there is no inconvenience to sentter in the country what reward is promised, in order to stimulate the Indians.

" I have the honor to be, Sir, "Your most obedient servant, "THE MOS. DE LAFAYETTE."

" COL. GANSEVOORT,

" Commanding Fort Schuyler."

The precautions taken for the capture of Carleton were fruitless, for he was not taken. Lafayette remained in command of the Northern Department until the middle of April, when he returned to headquarters, and Gates again resumed command.

Thayendanegea was never idle. Early in the spring of 1778 he returned to his old haunts on the Susquehanna,- Unadilla and Oquago. From these points active operations were carried on, and the whole frontier was in continual alarm from Saratoga westward to the German Flats, and thence southward to the Susquehanna, and eastward to the Hudson. There is no proof that Brant was guilty of un- necessary barbarity ; on the contrary, there is much evidence to show that beyond the ordinary operations of war he not only did not go, but that he softened its asperities as far as lay in his power.

The following incident related by Colonel Stone is char- acteristic of the chieftain :

" A lad in Schoharie County (then Tryon), named William Mckown, while engaged in raking hay alone in a meadow, happening to turn around, perceived an Indian very near him. Startled at his perilous situation, he raised his rake for defense, but his fears were instantly dissipated by the savage, who said, ' Do not be afraid, young man, I shall not hurt you.' He then inquired of the youth for the residence of a loyalist namicd Foster. The lad gave him the proper direction, and inquired of the Indian whether he knew Mr. Foster ? 'I am partially acquainted with him,' was the reply ; ' having once seen him at the Half- way Creek.'* The Indian then inquired the lad's name, and, having been informed, he added, 'You are a son of Captain Mckown, who lives in the northeast part of the town, I suppose. I know your father very well; he lives neighbor to Captain Mckean. I know Mckean very well, and a very fine fellow he is, too.' Emboldened by the familiar discourse of the Indian, the lad ventured to ask his name in turn. Hesitating a moment, his rather unwel- come visitor replied, ' My name is Brant.' ' Whatl Cap- tain Brant ?' eagerly demanded the youth. 'No, I am a cousin of his,' was the rejoinder, but accompanied by a smile and a look that plainly disclosed the transparent de- ception. It was none other than the terrible Thayendane- gea himself.

"The first movement of Brant in the season of 1778 was upon the settlement of Springfield, a small town at the head of Otsego Lake, lying directly west of Cherry Valley about ten miles. Those of the men who did not fly were taken prisoners. The chieftain then burned the entire settlement, with the exception of a single house, into which he collected all the women and children, and left them uninjured."+

Raids were of frequent occurrence during this season, and a noted engagement took place on the 2d of July, on the Cobleskill, between a party of regular troops and Schoharie militia, numbering 52 men, and a body of In- dians, amounting to 450 by their own accounts. The troops were defeated, with a loss of 24 killed and missing. The loss of the Indians was not known. The memorable expedition against Wyoming, and the complete destruction of that colony, took place in July of this year. Brant was not engaged in that affair. Colonel John Butler com- manded the expedition.

The news. of the alliance of France with the colonics caused the British to concentrate their forces at New York: Sir Henry Clinton- evacuated Philadelphia on the 18th of June, and began his march across New Jersey. Washing- ton immediately put his army in motion in pursuit, and on the 28th of June brought Sir Henry to battle at Monmouth Court-House, in a well-contested action; which terminated at night-fall to the decided advantage of the Americans, notwithstanding General Lee's pusillanimous conduct.

The American army slept on their arms, Washington intending to renew the attack in the morning; but the British commander made a hasty and: rapid retreat during the night and reached New York in safety. .

Colonel Gansevoort continued io command of Fort Stan- wix during the season of 1778, having little else to do than watch the motions of the enemy at Oswego and on the St. Lawrence. The garrison was considerably harassed: by predatory parties of the enemy ..

The following incident is related in a letter from Major Robert Cochran (in temporary command of the post) to Colonel Gansevoort, dated Sept. 8, 1778 :

"This morning Benjamin Acker, of Captain De Witt's company, who was out in the meadow, was killed and scalped by a party of Indians, who were seen and fired at by the sentinel near Brodack's house. I heard the firing in my room, and ran to the officer of the guard to know what was the matter. I was informed that a party of Indians had fired upon one of our men who had gone to catch a horse, and that he had either been killed or taken .prisoner. I ordered Captain Bleecker to go out immediately, with the guard just parading, to see if he could find him dead or alive. They found Acker lying dead. He was scalped, and a weapon about two feet and a half long, like this" (here Major Cochran gave a drawing of the instrument, a war club, with a blade like the spear of a lance, inserted in the side near the upper end of it), "lying near him. This lance-head had been stuck several times in his body. It is supposed to have been left behind on purpose, as there were several marks on it, denoting the number of persons killed and scalps taken by means of it."}

Weary of the comparative inaction, Lieutenant-Colonel Willett, and other subordinate officers of the garrison, made efforts to have their regiment transferred to active service in the field, but without success, though, as heretofore shown, beth Gansevoort and Willett were absent on leave, and the latter probably never returned to duty at Fort Stanwix.

# Bowman's Creek, half-way between Cherry Valley and the Mo- hawk River.

t Stone.

Į Stone.

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

" In the early part of July, Lieutenant Mcclellan, an active and efficient officer, was sent with a small party to destroy the buildings and public works at Oswego, which, it was ascertained, were not at that moment in possession of the enemy."

The object was easily accomplished, and everything de- stroyed which was combustible. The only occupants found were a woman and her children and a lad about fourteen years of age. The woman with her family and furniture were placed in an outbuilding, and a sufficient supply of provisions was left with her. The boy was brought away as a prisoner, and furnished important information concern- ing the movements of the enemy .*

But the marauding parties of the enemy did not consti- tute the only difficulty with which the commander of Fort Stanwix had to deal. A new trouble broke out in the latter part of the summer of 1778, caused partly by disaf- fection because of the monotonous life of the frontier, and partly by the machinations of emissaries in the employ and pay of Sir Henry Clinton, then in command of New York. Notwithstanding the location of the fortress on the extreme frontier, the British commander found means to introduce a spy within its walls, who came in the character of a re- cruit. The name of this emissary was Samuel Gcake. Hc was one of the American soldiers who had been captured during the preceding year and held a prisoner in New York. Another prisoner was Major Hammell, formerly brigade major in General James Clinton's command, who had been taken at the capture of Fort Montgomery by the British.

These two men had been won over by English gold, and were sent on their treacherous and dangerous missions by Sir Henry Clinton.

Hammell was sent out to enlist men among the inhabit- ants along the Hudson, and was promised the colonelcy of the new regiment if he succeeded in his designs. Geake was instructed by Sir Henry to enlist in some organization which would take him to Fort Stanwix, of which he was to obtain accurate information, and also to stir up all the disaffection possible among the officers and men. He was then to spike all the guns of the fort and desert to the British with as many companions as he could persuade to join him. His reward for all these services was to be a lieutenant's commission in the British service.

We copy the following interesting summary of this epi- sode in the history of Fort Stanwix from Stone, who ob- tained his information from various official papers and doc- uments :

" Goake accompanied Hammell to Poughkeepsie, where, in further- ance of his iniquitous designs, he enlisted in Captain Abraham Swart- wout's company, f and was transferred to Fort Schuyler (Stanwix), to join Colonel Gansevoort's regiment; into which place, for specific ob- jects, he was instructed to insinuate himself by an aide-de-camp of Sir Henry Clinton. After Hammell's arrest, Colonel Varick wrote to Gansevoort, putting him on his guard as to the character of Geake. A sergeant, named Kartele, was employed by Colonel Gansevoort to ingratiato himself in Geake's cunfidenee, and, if possible, ascertain his true character and penetrate his designs. The commission was suc-

cessfully executed by the sergeant, and the whole circumstances o. Hammell'a employment by the enemy, and his own, were elicited. Geake was thereupon arrested, but not until he had made great prog- ress in his designe, and was on the eve of desertion, for the purpose of joining the British army in Philadelphia.

" He was tried by a court-martial, made a full confession, and, with bis confederates, was sentenced'to death.# The sentence was not carried into oxecution against Gcake, not only because the constitution of the court was irregular, but because of the desire of the commander-in- chief to spare him as a witness against Hammell, as will presently appear. The following documents will complete this section of the proecedings at Fort Schuyler :

COLONEL GANSEVOORT TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.

" FORT SCHUYLER, August 13, 1778.

"Sın,-I have the unhappiness to inform your Excellency that de- sertion has lately been very frequcat from this garrison. Since the 26th of last March we have had three sergeants, two corporals, and twenty privates desert from this battalion, besides one bombardier, one gunner, and one other from the artillery. Before the date above mentioned, several soldiers had been tried by a general court-martial at this garrison for desertion, but never received the punishment due their erimes. The sentences of these different courts-martial were earefully sent to the Commanding General of this Department, ¿ but no returns have been ever received. Some time in June last Colonel Varick informed me that a reeruit, who had just joined eur battalion, was suspected of being a confe lerate with Major Hammell. I ordered his conduet to be narrowly inspected. He was detected in the fact of corrupting and enticing the soldiers to desert. Upon boing' appre- hended, he confessed that he came upon such designs, and was sent by an aide-de-camp of Sir Henry Clinton as a spy. He was imine- diately tried by a general court-martial; the sentence was direetly sent down for approbation, but no answer has been received, and the man still lies confined in irons.

" Finding the spirit of desertion to increase, and the men in general" to be exceeding uneasy, probably arising from their being so long stationed on this frontier post,-they have been frequently heard in their private conversations to say that they would sooner die than stay here the ensuing winter,-my officers, as well as myself, were con- vinced that unless somne example was made, we should not be able to check this growing evil. A party of five mca deserted on the 10th of Auguet. They were taken by the Tuscarora Indians on their way to Canada, fifty miles from this fort. They were brought in on the 13th. A general court-martial was convened on the 15th. They were Bentenced to die. The officers in a body desired their immediate exe- cution, as the ouly way effectually to stop the increasing spirit of de- sertion.

" While these men were under sentence of death, a party returned from the German Flatts who had been to drive eattle to this garrison. They had lost six inco by desertion, who were pursued, but without effect. This, together with the above reasons, and being apprehensive of some design of the eneiny, and hearing a report which they had carefully spread among the savages of having upward of seventy men enlisted in this garris>o who would rise upon their appearance, con- vinced me of the necessity of a rigid example, and resolved me to take the advice of my officers by ordering the prisoners to be executed. They were accordingly shot at the head of the regiment on the 17th. || In doing of which, although I could not find that the articles of war gave me the fullest authority, yet, as commanding officer of a frootier post, far distaot from the commander-in-chief, and having a separate commission from Congress ae commandant of this post, I considered myself fully empowered in a ease of such great necessity. I hope your Excellency will be convinced of this necessity, and approve of the justness of the execution. Ioelosed your Exeelleney has a copy of the proceedings of the court-martial.

" I am, etc."

Letter from Colonel Gansevoort to General Stark, July 10. [Stonc.] + Captain Swartwout had been with Colonel Gansevoort at the siege of Fort Stanwix, and furnished the camlet eloak need in making the famous flag, heretofore spoken of.

# According to Geake's confession, Hauimell was employed in the commissary of prisoners' department by the British officers in New York, before he was sent on bis mission.

¿ General John Stark.

" Notwithstanding this severe example, it is noted in the private diary of Adjutant Hutton, of Colonel Gansevoort's regiment, that en the same day on which these five men were tried and senteneed to death, six others deserted; and two others deserted five days after their execution.

135

HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

GENERAL WASHINGTON TO COLONEL GANSEVOORT.

"HEADQUARTERS, WHITE PLAINS, " 29th August, 1778.

"SIR,-I bave just received your faver of the 13th instant. Inelesed is a copy of a letter sent you some time ago respecting the court-mar- tial you transmitted.

"The spirit of desertion which pessessed your soldiers was certainly very alarming, and required a seriens check. I hope the intentien of the example yeu have made will be fully answered; and although the proceeding was not strictly io the preseribed ferin, yet the necessity of the case may justify the measure.

" I have spoken to Lieutenant-Colonel Willett on the application ef the effivers of the garrison. It is impossible to comply at present with their request, things are so circumstaneed, but I shall take steps to relieve it hefere winter.#

"I am, Sir, your ebedient, humble serv't, " GEO. WASHINGTON. "COL. GANSEVOORT."t

Although Fort Schuyler (Stanwix) was a most important one, commanding, as it did, the gateway between the east and the west, yet it was so far from the settlements on the Mohawk River that parties of the enemy easily avoided it by taking more cireuitous routes, and thus the valley was almost as badly exposed as though the fort had not been in existence.

On the 18th of July, 1778, Brant, at the head of a small party of Indians, destroyed the little hamlet of Andrus-town, six miles southeast of German Flatts, which consisted of seven families, of whom four persons were killed, and the rest carried into captivity.

But the most terrible visitation of the valley was the one which destroyed the settlement known as the German Flatts. It covered about ten miles of the valley of the Mohawk, and was originally called Burnetsfield, from the fact that the patent had been granted by Governor Burnet. About centrally located stood the stone church, built under the auspices of Sir William Johnson, and near by was the Herkimer family mansion. During the war both these buildings were inclosed with a rampart and used as a place of defense, and known as Fort Herkimer. Fort Dayton stood on a gravelly plain, on the north side of the river, nearly opposite Fort Herkimer.

# In November fellowing, Ganseveert's command was relieved by Colonel Guise Vaa Schaiek, whose regiment was assigned to that post. t The iaclosure spokee ef by Washington reads as follows :

" HEADQUARTERS, WHITE PLAINS, August 13, 1778.

"SIR,-I have received the proceedings of a court-martial held by yeur order, respecting Samuel Geake. As neither the Articles of war nor any reselves of Congress authorize the constitoting ef General courts-martial by any other than the eemeander-in-chief, the com- manding efficer ef a separate department, or a general officer command- ing in a particular State, I should have been under the necessity of erdering a secend trial, and appointing a court fer the purpose, if it had been judged expedient to bring Genke te punishment. But as his confessien contains infermatien very pointedly against Major Ham- mell, which censors with other accounts I have received, I think it of more importanee to the publie to save Geake, as a witness against Hammell, than to make an example of him. You will therefore keep bim in sueb a kind of confinement as will effectually prevent his escape till matters are ripe fer the prosecution of Major Hammell, and at the same time will be as little rigorous as the nature of the ease will admit. He need, however, know nothing of my intentions.

" I am, etc., " GEO. WASHINGTON.

"COL. GANSEVOORT."

# This name was formerly spelled M'letts, bot the present style is to u se but one t.

According to Colonel Stone, the settlement numbered, at the time of the invasion, about thirty-four dwellings on each side of the river, together with numerous outbuild- ings and several mills. The harvest of that year had been plenteous, and the people were prosperous.

The storm fell upon the quiet valley about the last of August or beginning of September. Brant was a short time before at Unadilla, and the people entertaining sus- picions of him, a scouting-party of four men was dis- patched to the vicinity to reconnoitre. Three of the unlucky men were killed at the Edmeston settlement, but the fourth, John Helmer, succeeded in making his escape. He reached the Flatts just before sunset, and announced the coming of Brant and a large force of Indians, There was great terror and alarm, as the inhabitants hastened to places of safety, with their families aod what few effects they could snatch away. In the course of the evening they succeeded, by means of boats and canoes, in collecting all the women and children, and a portion of their most valuable goods, in Forts Dayton and Herkimer, where they awaited the onset of the savages. Their flocks and herds were necessarily left a prey to the enemy.

In the early part of the evening Brant arrived near the settlement; but as the night came on very dark and rainy, he halted and bivouacked in a ravine near the dwelling of a Tory named Shoemaker, the same at whose house Walter Butler had been captured the year before. Here the sav- ages lay quiet through the night, not dreaming that the inhabitants had any knowledge of their approach. With the dawn they were on foot, and the dusky warriors rapidly spread themselves through the settlement, so as to fire every part nearly at the same moment. At daybreak everything in the valley, except the forts and a few buildings imme- diately around them, was in flames, and the whole region was lit up as by the glare of a volcano. The people were in no condition to offer any resistance to the overwhelming horde of savages, and thus were compelled to stand idly within their strong inclosures, and see their homes and property totally destroyed, and all their stock either driven away or killed.

The Indians made no demonstration against the forts, but contented themselves with the destruction of every- thing outside. The desolation was complete; and what had been the day before a beautiful and luxuriant region of thrift and comfort, was turned into a desolate and black- ened waste. Thanks to the timely warning of the sur- viving scout, there was no additional loss of life. The whole force of Brant on this occasion, according to a letter of Major Cochran, was 300 Tories and 152 Indians. Soon after the Indians had decamped with their spoil, a force of about 300 militia collected and pursued them for some distance, but without overtaking them. This party discovered and buried the murdered scouts.

According to the Remembrancer there were 63 dwelling- houses, 57 barns, 3 grist-mills, and 2 saw-mills burnt, with most of the furniture and grain kept therein; and 235 horses, 229 horned cattle, 269 sheep, and 93 oxen carried away.

A few days later a party of Oneida Indians made a suc- cessful raid against the hostiles, in which they burnt several

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HISTORY OF ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

of their villages, and returned with a number of prisoners and a portion of the stock which had been driven away. The results of this foray were communicated to Major Cochran, wbo was then in command of Fort Schuyler, about the 25th of September, by a deputation of about one hun- dred Oneidas and Tuscaroras, who delivered the following speech :

" Brothers : We have now taken the hatchet and burnt Unadilla,* and a place called the Butternuts. We have . brought five prisoners from each of those places. Our warriors were particular that no hurt should be done to women and children. We left four old men behind who were no more able to go to war. We have retaken William Dygert, who was taken about nine weeks ago by Brant on Fall Hill. We now deliver him to you, so that he may return to his friends. Last year we took up the hatchet at Stillwater, and we will now continue it in our hands. The Grasshopper, one of the Oneida chiefs, took to himself one of the prisoners to live with him in his own family, and has adopted him as a son.

" Brothers : We deliver you six prisoners, with whom you are to act as you please.

" Brothers : You had a man scalped here some time ago. We Oneidas and Tuscaroras have now taken revenge, and have brought you some slaves. We do not take scalps. We hope you are now convinced of our friendship to you and your great cause. The warriors detain two of the prison- ers till to-morrow morning. The Cunaseragas have one in their possession. They will bring him to-morrow or the next day."+

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History of Oneida County, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 35

Author: Durant, Samuel W Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss Number of Pages: 920

Author: Durant, Samuel W
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Fariss
Number of Pages: 920