USA > New York > Schoharie County > History of Schoharie county, and border wars of New York > Part 24
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A letter dated Amherst, Mass., Oct. 7, 1835, and first published in the Saratoga Sentinel, introduces a new competitor for the honor, if such it was considered, of having slain Gen. Fraser. The letter is from the pen of E. Mattoon, Esq., being a reply to an interrogatory letter of a preceding date, from Philip Schuyler, Esq., a son of the late Gen. Schuyler. Mr. Mattoon expresses his belief, in the letter, that Gen. Fraser was killed by an old man with a long hunting gun, and not by one of Morgan's men. There can be no doubt but that the old gentleman to whom he alludes, shot an officer, but that he killed Gen. Fraser I cannot believe, since not only Murphy was positive he fell before his rifle, but several authors have stated that Fraser told his friends after he fell, that he saw the man who shot him, and that he was
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a rifleman posted in a tree. The remains of Gen. Fraser were taken to England after the war.
After Gen. Burgoyne had resolved on retreating from Saratoga to Canada, Gen. Nixon, of the First Massachusetts brigade, suc- ceeded in gaining Fort Edward in his rear ; and the first intima- tion the retreating hero, who was to march through the colonies with three British regiments, had that his retreat was cut off, was from hearing the evening gun fired at that fortress. As its thun- der came booming along the valley of the Hudson, borne upon the evening breeze, it sounded in his unwilling ears the knell of his military glory .- Capt. Eben Williams.
David Elerson, who was a private in Capt. Long's company of Morgan's rifle corps, and compatriot of Timothy Murphy in many hazardouus enterprises, related the following anecdote to the author in 1837. Morgan's riflemen had acquired much cele- brity as marksmen while under Gen. Gates. When in the vici- nity of Albany, on their return from the northern army, a gentle- man near whose residence they halted, expressed a wish to witness their skill. The captain signified his willingness to gratify his curiosity, and a piece of paper was fastened upon a small poplar tree. Elerson handed his rifle, one of the best in the company, to John Garsaway, who, informant said, took a surer aim than himself. The rifle was leveled 100 yards distant from the mark and fired. The leaden messenger passed through the paper and the tree-splitting the latter several inches, and ruining it. Said the gentleman, looking at his crippled tree, which had almost been converted into a weeping willow (it will be remembered that fashion then made the poplar a very desirable shade tree) " I do not wonder the Indians are afraid of Morgan's riflemen, if that is the way they shoot." He then treated the company to liquor, as was the custom of the times-expressed his satisfaction at their skill, as he again cast his eye upon his blasted poplar, and the troops resumed their march.
Maj. Stephen Watts, the brother-in-law of Sir John Johnson, was left mortally wounded on the Oriskany battle-ground; and as an American soldier named Martin G. Van Alstyne was passing
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him, he was addressed by the dying royalist, who begged of him to be borne to a stream of water at a little distance off; saying that he could not survive his wounds, but that the crystal ele- ment would afford him a little comfort in his dying moments. He was carried to the place indicated, and presented Van Alstyne with his watch as a reward for his services. Watts survived his wounds but a few hours. The watch Van Alstyne would never part with in his lifetime, although offered several times more than its real value by a friend of the Watts family, who were very de- sirous of obtaining a keepsake of their deceased kinsman .- Joshua Reed.
Col. Hendrick Frey, (a colonel of colonial troops under Sir William Johnson in the French war,) a wealthy royalist who re- sided during the revolution in a large stone house* one mile above the present village of Canajoharie, was at home, as he feigned neutrality, and on the day after the Oriskany battle a party of hostile Indians levied a tax on his hospitality. As they assembled around a table to eat, a sister of Frey who was waiting upon them, discovered on the person of one, the shirt of Maj. John Frey, their patriotic brother-one sleeve of which had been per- forated by a bullet and left very bloody. Her worst fears were aroused, and nearly letting fall something she held, she ran to her brother Hendrick, placed her hands on his shoulders and ex- claimed in a tone of real sorrow "Brother John is dead !" as- signing as her reason for such belief the sight of the bloody trophy before them. The colonel who could speak the Indian dialect well, desired his sister not to show any emotion before the Indians ; and endeavored to quiet her fears by remarking that probably the shirt had belonged to some one else. The agitated maiden could not be persuaded into such a consoling belief, as the garment had been the workmanship of her own hands ; and her mental agony seemed almost insufferable.
In a short time the Indians left the house, and proceeded down the river, followed at a little distance by Col. Frey, who was de-
* This house took fire in the night, from a deposit of ashes, and burned down about the year 1832.
18
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sirous of knowing the fate of his brother. Near the mouth of the Canajoharie creek he overtook them, and inquired of the possessor where he got the shirt which covered his brawny frame. He re- plied that he had wounded an officer the day before in the Oris- kany contest, in an arm which he had exposed from behind a tree, had made him his prisoner, and after taking from him such portion of his clothing as he desired, had sold him to a British officer who would probably take him to Canada. Frey hastened home and communicated to his sister what he had learned, which tended somewhat to calm her agitated mind, for to know that he still lived, although a wounded prisoner, was some consolation. Maj. Frey was taken to Canada, suffering much on the way, and while there confined ; a durance which lasted nearly two years .- J. Reed.
The timely sortie of the brave Willet on the camp of the be- siegers at Fort Schuyler, caused their comrades engaged in the crimsoned fields of Oriskany, to withdraw and leave the militia of the Mohawk valley victors of the field. The Indians, who were among the last to leave, had mostly disappeared, and the firing had nearly ceased, when Capt. John James Davis remarked to Isaac Covenhoven, a soldier who stood behind a tree near to the one which concealed himself-"I believe the red devils have pretty much all left us !" " I don't know," said C. "there may be some of them lurking about yet." The words were scarcely utterered when Capt. D., who was a brave and meritorious officer, fell mortally wounded ; a bullet from the rifle of an Indian having passed through his lungs .- Isaac Covenhoven.
Capt. Jacob Gardinier, of the Tryon county militia, was distin- guished for his daring bravery and personal acts in this terrible conflict. Some account of this officer's exploits in that battle are very properly related in the Life of Brant. The Rev. Daniel Gros, in his work on " Moral Philosophy," to which I have allud- ed, in some of his remarks on civil liberty, while speaking of the moral obligations of free citizens to act in defence of their country, referring to that battle, thus observes : "Let it stand recorded among other patriotic deeds of that little army of militia, that a
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Jacob Gardinier, with a few of his men, vanquished a whole pla- toon, killing the captain thereof, after he had held him for a long time by his collar as a shield against the balls and bayonets of the whole platoon. This brave militia captain is still alive, and was cured of thirteen wounds." After being literally riddled by bul- lets and bayonets, Capt. Gardinier crept into a cavity at the roots of a fallen tree, and continued the fight. He had with him a German lad, as a waiter, who then became very useful, bringing to his master, guns of the fallen, loading such as were not loaded, &c. He was so wounded that he could neither stand or load his own gun, and yet from his place of temporary safety, he did no little execution. Observing an Indian stealthily dodging from tree to tree to get a shot at an American officer, upon whom he had brought his rifle several times with partial aim, Capt. G. shot him, and sent his High Dutch boy, as he called him, to get his gun. The lad returned with a report that the Indian was not dead, but was kicking. He had fallen across a log with his feet up, and was probably in the death struggle. After a few minutes, the boy was again sent, and soon returned with all the Indian possessed save his dead carcase.
Capt. Gardinier, who was a blacksmith before the war, and re- sided near the river opposite Caughnawaga, had in his employ a man named Henry Thompson, a native of New Jersey. He was a tall, lank looking fellow, as odd as he was ungainly. He was in the Oriskany battle as a private under his employer, and after the conflict had lasted some time, and groans and death were ren- dered familiar, he approached the captain and told him he was hungry. "Fight away !" said the intrepid officer. "I cant with- out eating," said Thompson. "Then go and get you a piece," was the reply. He did so-sat down in the midst of the battle, on the body of a dead soldier, and ate heartily, while the bullets were cutting the air around his head like hail-stones. Having fi- nished his repast, he arose and fought with renewed energy, ap- pearing in the thickest of the fight. Such an evidence of cool bravery, to gratify hunger, I believe was never excelled, if before equalled.
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Samuel Gardinier, a brother of Jacob, was also in the post of danger at Oriskany. He had two balls shot into his body just above the groin. They were fired from opposite directions almost at the same instant ; and so near did they lodge that when an in- cision was made to one, the other was visible, and both were ta- ken out together. He recovered and lived several years after the war was over. The bullets were evidently fired from fowling guns, and are treasured as sacred relics by his descendants .- An- ecdotes from Rynier, a son of Samuel Gardinier.
Valentine Fralick, of Stone Arabia, was a militiaman at Oris- kany. In the heat of battle, a little aside from the main army, William Merckley, a neighbor of Fralick, fell near the latter, by the shot of an Indian, mortally wounded. The former kindly offered to assist his wounded friend, but the assistance was de- clined. " Take care of yourself, and leave me to my fate," was the wounded man's reply. Fralick, seeing several Indians ap- proaching, instantly sought shelter under a fallen tree, and while thus concealed, they passed and repassed over the tree, in search of, but without finding him. When the immediate danger was over, he returned to the body of his comrade, who had been toma- hawked and scalped, and giving it a temporary burial, he sought the American camp .- John, a son of Valentine Fralick.
During one of the earliest invasions of the Saratoga county set- tlements by the enemy, (probably in 1777,) the following singular incident occurred. A party of Canadian Indians arrived just at night at the house of Angus McDermott, a Scotchman, who had but recently arrived in the country. The soldiers were helping themselves to whatever the house afforded to eat and drink, when all at once the floor gave way, and they were precipitated into the cellar. No one was seriously injured, and the jollification was continued there. The Indians kept the family within doors, so that their arrival should be unknown in the neighborhood, and scattering about the settlement early in the morning, they com- menced their diabolical deeds of destruction and death .- Angus Mckinlay.
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It has been said of the brave Gen. Herkimer-who was hurried into the Oriskany conflict through the rashness of his young offi- cers, several of whom called him a tory for his prudence, and soon after lost their own lives-that after he was wounded, and no longer able to remain upon his horse, his saddle was placed against a tree, upon whichi he sat down, and from whence he continued to issue his orders. While thus seated, he took from his pocket a tinder-box, and with his pocket-knife and a flint arrow-head, which he carried for the purpose, he lit his pipe and smoked it with as much apparent satisfaction as he would have done in his own house. Gen. Herkimer was taken to his resi- dence-a large gambrel-roofed brick building, still standing a lit- tle distance from the canal, two miles east of Little Falls, where he lived several days.
GEN. HERKIMER'S HOUSE, DANUBE.
After the battle of Oriskany, a song, commemorative of the event was composed, and for a long time sung in the Mohawk valley, of which the following is a stanza :
" Brave Herkimer, our General, 's dead, And Col. Cox is slain; And many more, and valiant men, We ne'er shall see again."
In June, 1777, Congress resolved to establish a corps of inva- lids, consisting of 8 companies, each to have 1 captain, 2 lieuten-
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ants, 2 ensigns, 5 sergeants, 6 corporals, 2 drums, 2 fifes, and 100 men, to be employed in garrison duty. A company of this kind was formed in Schoharie in the fall of 1777, or early in 1778, of which Tunis Vrooman, who had served in the French war, was appointed captain, Peter Snyder and Martinus Vrooman lieuten- ants, and John L. Lawyer its ensign. This company, which was mostly in the vicinity of the Upper Fort, was called in Schoharie, the " Associate Exempts."
In the fall of 1777, Congress adopted thirteen articles of con- federation ; Maryland was the last state to adopt them. In No- vember, Forts Mifflin and Mercer, which prevented the passage of British shipping to Philadelphia, were taken by the enemy, after a severe loss on their part, and a most gallant defence of them by Colonels Greene, Smith, and Simms, and Maj. Thayer, and the enemy entered that city in triumph, where they wintered. About the same time Washington went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pa., fifteen miles northwest of Philadelphia, where his ar- my erected temporary huts, but their sufferings were most acute from a want of nearly all the munitions of war. The winter · was a very severe one, and the American soldier might daily be traced by his own blood! Nothing but an unconquerable love of Liberty, deep· rooted and steadfast, could have induced men to con- tinue in the American service .- Allan, and Tallmadge's Journal.
The following anecdote will not only show the true piety of Gen. Washington, but the power on which he relied for the final success of his suffering country. While the American army was in camp at Valley Forge Isaac Potts, a respectable Quaker, who had often seen Washington going to, or returning from a grove at a little distance from his own dwelling early in the morning, had the curiosity to learn the object of those visits. En- tering the thicket one morning very early, he secreted himself; soon after which the American commander advanced to a retired spot near him, and upon his knees offered a fervent prayer to the God of battles for the triumph of patriotic principles. Soon af- ter, Potts returned home : his wife observing his thoughtful coun- tenance, thus said to him-" Isaac, something moves thee I per-
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ceive." "Yea, Sarah !" he replied, " I never believed until this morning that a soldier could be a Christian." He then related what he had witnessed and remarked, "that such prayers as George, the Virginian offered, must prevail; and that England never could subdue her colonies."-Capt. Eben Williams.
In the course of this year, (1777) Gov. Tryon became almost a savage-sending out parties to burn buildings and wantonly de- stroy the property of many inoffensive colonists. When remon- strated with by Gen. Parsons, he declared that had he more au- thority, he would burn every committee-man's house within his reach, and expressed a willingness to give twenty silver dollars for every acting committee-man who should be delivered to the King's troops .- Allan.
The preceding paragraph will show the reader the reason why the county called Tryon, was afterwards given the name of the immortal Montgomery, in whose veins coursed the very best of Americanised Irish blood.
The year 1777 was one of alternate hopes and fears to the American people. They had witnessed with gratitude the success of their arms in northern New York-while several forts along the Hudson had been captured by the enemy, and the battles of Brandywine and Germantown had been followed by disaster. In April of this year, it should not be forgotten, a new impulse was given the cause, by the opportune arrival, with several of his countrymen, of the brave, noble hearted, generous Lafayette : who not only bared his own breast to the storm in its fury, but who, with a magnanimity that put sinister nature to the blush, threw into the exhausted treasury of the nation, his ample fortune-bury- ing beneath it the scabbard of his sword. Let that patriot who glories in being an American, love and venerate the virtues of Lafayette as did Washington ; and let him remember, too, that this country should ever be a home for the oppressed of every land, for good men of other lands aided in establishing its free- dom. With many other gallant foreigners, a DeKalb and Pulaski mingled their life-blood with that of a Warren, a Woodhull, a Montgomery, a Herkimer and Mercer, to water the shriveled roots
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of the tree of liberty-while a Lafayette, a Kosciusko and a Steu- ben, prompted to deeds of noble daring, aided more fortunately in sustaining the American flag.
It was during the year 1777, that an attempt was made by foul intrigue, to supplant Gen. Washington and promote Gen. Gates to the chief command. Several officers of rank favored the Gates' party, among whom were Generals Mifflin and Conway- the latter an Irishman-and several members of Congress. Anony- mous letters, reflecting on the character and military skill of Washington, were put in circulation. Mr. Laurens, president of Congress, and Patrick Henry, one of its master spirits, communi- cated to Washington the character of his foes and the nature of their design. Happily for the country, the machinations of this unholy ambition recoiled upon the heads of its instigators. Con- way found it necessary to resign his commission. This subject matter afterwards originated a duel between Conway and Gen. Cadwallader. After the duel, the former, thinking himself mor- tally wounded, expressed to Gen. Washington by letter, his deep regret for the part he had acted in the Gates transaction, adding his own testimony to the many virtues of the Commander-in- chief .- Bancroft's Washington and Wirt's Henry.
The following romantic incident is copied from the journal of Col. Tallmadge. In December, 1777, when the British army was at Philadelphia and the Americans under Washington were at Valley Forge, Major Tallmadge was stationed between the armies with a detachment of cavalry, for the purpose of observation, and to circumscribe the range of British foraging parties. The duty was an arduous one, the horses being seldom unsaddled, or the squad remaining all night in the same position, from fear of a visit from the enemy, which on one occasion they received with the loss of several men. While on this duty, says the journal :
" Being advised that a country girl had gone into Philadelphia with eggs, instructed to obtain some information respecting the enemy, I moved my detachment to Germantown, where they halt- ed, while with a small party I advanced several miles towards the British lines, and dismounted at a small tavern called the Rising Sun, in full view of their out posts. Very soon I saw a young fe-
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male coming out from the city, who also came to the same inn. After we had made ourselves known to each other, and while she was communicating some intelligence to me, I was informed that the British light horse were advancing. Stepping to the door, I saw them at full speed chasing in my patroles, one of whom they took. I immediately mounted, when I found the young damsel close by my side, entreating that I would protect her. Having not a moment to reflect, I desired her to mount behind me, and in this way I brought her off more than three miles, up to Germantown, where she dismounted. During the whole ride, although there was considerable firing of pistols, and not a little wheeling and charging, she remained unmoved, and never once complained of fear after she mounted my horse. I was delighted with the trans- action, and received many compliments from those who became acquainted with the adventure." [The journal does not say at whose instigation this heroine had visited Philadelphia, but Gen. Washington was doubtless her employer.]
Three forts were erected in the Schoharie valley, the central being the first one built. It was known during the Revo- lution as the Middle Fort, and stood on the farm now owned by Ralph Manning, about half a mile east of north from the Middleburgh bridge. It was constructed in the fall of 1777, by the citizens and soldiers-the former drawing together suitable timber, and the latter, with their aid, giving it a proper place. The two story stone dwelling, owned and occupied by John Beck- er-the kitchen part of which is still standing-was inclosed within the pickets of the fort.
The Upper Fort, situated five miles west of south from the middle fort, was commenced in the fall of 1777 and completed the summer following. The one story frame dwelling of John Feeck was there inclosed within the pickets. This fort stood not far distant from the present site of Murphy's mill, in the upper end of Vrooman's land.
The Lower Fort, situated six miles north of the middle fort, was begun and completed about the same time as was the upper fort. The stone church, still standing one mile north of the Court House, was there inclosed within the pickets. The two latter forts were built as was the former, by the joint labor of citizens and soldiers. The middle fort was known as head quarters during the war, where usually resided the principal commandant of all three, and
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at which place, the business involving the welfare of the settle- ment, was generally transacted.
ANCIENT DUTCH CHURCH, SCHOHARIE, AS SEEN IN 1817.
The Lower Fort consisted of an inclosure by strong pickets of about half an acre of ground, embracing the stone church, (a view of which is here given,) with block-houses in the south-west and north-east corners mounting small cannon. Along the west side of the inclosure, small huts were erected of rough boards for the summer residence of the inhabitants in that part of the valley ; with a board roof sloping from near the top of the pickets to- ward the centre of the yard. Each family which claimed the protection of the small garrison at this place, had such a rude dwelling, in which were deposited their most valuable effects. Near the north-east corner, or in that part of the inclosure toward the burying-ground, was a temporary tavern kept by Snyder, a former inn-keeper of that vicinity. The Middle Fort was an in- closure of an area of ground rather larger than that picketed in at the lower fort, with block-houses in the north-east and south
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west corners, where cannon were mounted. The principal en- trance was on the south side, and on each side of the gate were arranged the soldiers' barracks. The pickets, as at the fort be- low, were about a foot through, and rose some ten feet from the ground ; with loop holes, from which to fire on invaders. A brass nine pound cannon was mounted on the south-west block- house, and an iron one at the diagonal corner, each of which, as the block-houses projected, commanded two sides of the inclosure ; while along the eastern and western sides were arranged huts for citizens, similar to those at the lower fort. The Upper Fort stood on the west side of the river, and as at those on its opposite side, a fair plot of ground was inclosed. One side of this inclosure was picketed in, while on its other sides a breast-work was thrown up of timbers and earth, some eight or ten feet high, and suffi- ciently thick to admit of drawing a wagon upon its top, with short pickets set in the outside timbers of the breast-work. A ditch surrounded the part thus constructed. Military barracks and small log huts were erected within the inclosure, to accommodate the soldiers and citizens. Block-houses and sentry-boxes were built in the north-west and south-east corners, each mounting a small cannon to guard its sides. From its construction, this fort- ress, probably, better merited the name of fort than either of the others ; although some have stated that a moat partially surround- ed the middle fort.
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