USA > New York > Warren County > History of Warren County [N.Y.] with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 13
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" On the evening of the 26th some deserters brought to the English camp intelligence that the French had abandoned the fort, and that, in expectation of an assault from the besieging army, a slow match had been left burning which connected with the magazine and battery, every gun of which was loaded to the muzzle with grape, canister and chain shot. In addition to this, several mines charged with the most destructive missiles were sprung beneath the for- tifications. This timely notice saved the English forces. At ten o'clock at night, in the sight of the whole British army, which was drawn out in antici- pation of the spectacle, the most terrific explosion took place. Running along the cleft chasms in the rocky ground the yellow fire rushed, greedily lapping with the forked tongues of its lambent flame the gaping crevices in the massive masonry, that trembled, reeled and fell, while the solid earth for many rods shook as with the throes of an earthquake. One after another the guns of the fortress flashed out from the sulphurous glow that invested the ruined pile, and their sharp reports were slowly answered by long, dull echoes from the deep caverns beneath. Bombs, grenades and rockets, booming and whirring through the heavy night air, exploded in every direction, trailing earthward long and glittering lines of various colored light. Soon, through the din haze of smoke and vapor the glaring red light of the barracks and woodwork of the fortress burst forth, revealing through the veil of surrounding gloom, the ruined wrecks
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hurled in unsightly piles along the line of fortification, while here and there a long gaping fissure in the smoking earth exhibited the direction of the mines, and the tremendous agencies which had toppled down the massive ramparts and towering bastions from their rocky bases."1
General Amherst, mistaking the then inevitable current of events and con- sequently magnifying the importance of Ticonderoga and Crown Point after their capture, began the work of erecting a new fortress near the site of St. Frederic but of vastly greater strength and magnitude. The conquest of Can- ada left the fortification useless and unfinished after an expenditure of more than ten million dollars. He also began the vigorous construction of a naval flotilla for Lake Champlain which should permanently secure its conquest. While this work was progressing two measures of considerable importance were ordered by Amherst. The first was the construction of a military road from Crown Point to Charlestown on the Connecticut River. This was an improve- ment of great value at that time and opened up a large territory to settlement earlier than would have been the case without it. It is said that the remains of this work may still be traced. The other measure contemplated the de- struction of the Indian village of St. Francis on the river of that name about midway between Montreal and Quebec. Rogers was selected for the under- taking and given command of one hundred and forty-two men. He descended the lake with caution and on the tenth day concealed his boats at the foot of Missisqui Bay, leaving two Indians to watch them. Two days later he was overtaken by the Indians with the information that he was followed by the French, who had captured his boats and were in ambush awaiting his return. In this emergency he conceived the bold and hazardous design of prosecuting his original purpose, after which he would march through the wilderness to the " Cohase Intervales," a point sixty miles north of Charlestown on the Con- necticut River, and the northernmost English post on that stream. He im- mediately dispatched eight of his men under Lieutenant McMullin through the wilderness to Crown Point with a request to Amherst to send the necessary supplies to meet him at the designated point on the Connecticut. On the evening of the twenty-second day of their march the little band reached the vicinity of the Indian village, which was carefully reconnoitered. At dawn the next morning they fell upon the unsuspecting savages, of whom few escaped ; about two hundred were killed. Daylight revealed to the victors the sight of more than six hundred English scalps of both sexes and all ages floating from the lodge poles of the Indians. If this massacre of the village seems a cold and blood-thirsty deed, the finding of these dread trophies of savage atrocities against helpless Europeans must modify our deprecation of it. Rogers loaded his men with what plunder they could carry and started for the Connecticut. He was pursued by a body of Indians who hung upon his rear, repeatedly attacking
1 HOLDEN'S History of Queensbury.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
him. He was finally forced to divide his party in order to more readily pro- cure subsistence, which policy left him still more exposed to the assaults of the Indians, who killed many and captured a number of prisoners. Rogers and the remainder of his men reached the appointed place on the Connecticut after much hardship, only to find it deserted by the men who had been sent by Amherst with supplies. Rogers then took with him one ranger and an Indian youth and started to descend the river on a raft ; the journey was at last ac- complished after the most perplexing trials and inflexible determination, and supplies were forwarded to the waiting rangers. Rogers returned to Crown Point on the Ist of December, and when the scattered parties were reassembled he reported a loss of three officers and forty-six privates.
Meanwhile the construction of Amherst's navy was progressing under di- rection of Captain Loring, and by the 11th of October there were finished a sloop carrying sixteen guns, a brigantine and radeau mounting six cannon of large calibre. Under escort of these vessels, Amherst embarked his army on bateaux and sailed down the lake on his long deferred expedition towards Quebec. On the following day twelve of his boats were foundered in a gale and the remainder of the fleet sought shelter in lee of the western shores.1 Loring took the brigantine and sloop, continued on down the lake and forced the French to destroy two of their vessels in a bay on the northeast of Valcour Island ; a third was sunk, and one schooner only was saved by seeking shelter under the guns of Isle aux Noix. It is believed that Amherst's extreme cau- tion more than the exigencies of the situation, caused him to return to Crown Point after an absence of ten days, instead of pressing on to the relief of Wolfe.
This brave but fated officer found himself before Quebec in June, with eight thousand men in transports under convoy of twenty-two line-of-battle ships. He landed his men on the Isle of Orleans, three miles below the town, and on the 30th seized Point Levi, opposite the city, on which he erected bat- teries. Several unsuccessful efforts were made to cut out and destroy the French shipping, and two months passed during which little progress had been made towards the capture of the city. Neither had any intelligence been re- ceived from Amherst other than report by the enemy that he had retreated. General Wolfe was prostrated by sickness and the future looked gloomy, but
1 Mr. Watson in his History of Essex County concludes that Amherst probably advanced under his adverse circumstances to the vicinity of Valcour Island and there on the mainland formed an encamp- ment. In support of this conclusion he quotes as follows from the writings of Alvin Colvin, esq. : "I adopt this conclusion from the language of an English writer of the period, and from the popular tra- ditions of the region. Those are still living who recollect an opening on the pine bluffs, sonth of the Ausable River and directly upon the boundary line between Clinton and Essex counties, which, in the early part of the century, was known as Amherst's encampment. It exhibited vestiges of extensive field-works, the habitual caution of Amherst would have led him to erect, and also the remains of tar mannfactories, formed in the primitive manner of the pioneers. It is a singular coincidence that the tar and pitch used in the equipment of Macdonough's fleet more than fifty years afterwards, were made on the same ground and by a similar process."
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EXTINCTION OF FRENCH POWER IN AMERICA.
a council of officers called at his bedside decided to scale the heights of Abra- ham from the St. Lawrence and assault the town. Feeble as Wolfe was, he resolved to lead the attack. The camp below the Montmorency was broken up on the 8th of September and Montcalm's attention was diverted from the real movement by seeming preparations to attack his lines. On the 12th the vessels bearing the army moved up the stream above the intended landing place. At midnight the troops left the ships and proceeded in flat boats and with muffled oars to the landing, where a ravine led up to the plains. In early morning the entire English force had reached the destination and were ready to attack the works.
Meanwhile Montcalm saw the coming doom and on the 24th of August wrote with realistic forecast : "The capture of Quebec must be the work of a coup de main. The English are masters of the river. They have but to effect a descent on the bank on which this city, without fortification and without de- fense, is situated, and they are at once in condition to offer me battle which I cannot refuse and which I ought not to be permitted to gain. In fine, Mr. Wolfe, if he understands his business, has but to receive my first fire, to rush rapidly upon my army, to discharge his volley at close quarters, and my Ca- nadians, without discipline, deaf to the call of the drum and trumpet, and thrown into disorder by this assault, will be unable to recover their ranks. They have no bayonets to meet those of their enemy; nothing remains for them but flight, and I am routed irretrievably."
" Mr. Wolfe " understood his business. This plan of assault, so clearly practicable to the experienced eye of the French general, was substantially car- ried out, and after a sanguinary battle (the details of which are beyond the province of this work) the victory was won, with a thousand prisoners and five hundred French killed, among whom was the brave Montcalm. The English loss was six hundred killed and wounded, among the former being the gallant Wolfe, who received three wounds early in the attack, the third one being mor- tal. General Townsend now prepared to besiege the city itself. "Threatened famine within aided him," and five days after the death of Wolfe (September 18, 1759), Quebec with its fortifications, shipping, stores and people was sur- rendered to the English. General Murray, with five thousand troops, took possession, and the fleet with the sick and prisoners sailed for Halifax.
For the fall of Quebec Montcalm was largely held responsible and was even charged with deliberately sacrificing it to gratify his jealousy of Vau- dreuil ; but a calm view of the situation in the brilliant light of his previous he- roic services will hardly substantiate such charges. Vaudreuil returned to France after the capitulation, and he also became an object of persecution and unjust censure.
A period of quiet followed these events, during which Amherst devoted
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
his energies to the extension of the works at Ticonderoga, the erection of the great fortress at Crown Point, and began the building of Fort George. 1
A comparative brief campaign in 1760 completed the conquest of the French in the New World. De Levis made a heroic effort to recapture Que- bec in the battle of Sillery, in which Murray suffered a disastrous defeat ; but it came too late to permanently re-establish the fortunes of France. Amherst's plans for the year 1760 embraced his own advance upon Montreal by way of Oswego and the St. Lawrence, for which purpose he reserved for himself by far the strongest column of the army, numbering about ten thousand men. With this invincible force he moved with his accustomed deliberation and cau- tion and appeared before Montreal on the 6th of September. Haviland was left in command of the fortresses on Lake Champlain, from which locality sev- eral successful incursions were made against Canadian settlements under com- mand of Rogers, while awaiting the deliberate movements of Amherst. On the 16th of August the last military pageant of this war left Crown Point and sailed down the lake. It comprised about three thousand regulars and pro- vincials under Haviland, who were embarked in bateaux under convoy of four war vessels, with an equal number of radeaux bearing heavy armaments. Bougainville occupied the Isle aux Noix, which he had strengthened by an- choring a fleet of small vessels on his flank. He had sixteen hundred men. Haviland reached the main land opposite the island without opposition, where he erected batteries. The vessels of the French were dispersed or captured and on the night of the 20th they abandoned the position. The fortifications at St. Johns and Chambly were evacuated at the same time, the garrisons falling back towards Montreal. Meanwhile Murray had ascended the river from Quebec and joined Amherst before Montreal, where Haviland formed a junction on the 7th of September. Here was gathered all that remained of the chivalry of France in the New World, with their allies, to oppose the last attack, the success of which would drive them from the country forever. How- ever honorable to the French arms, the struggle was hopelessly unequal and
I Concerning the erection of this fort Dr. Holden, in his History of Queensbury, says : " The plan of Fort George was marked out by Colonel James Montressor, chief engineer on General Amherst's staff, on the 22d of June, 1759. It was laid out on an elevation situated about six hundred yards south from the head of the lake, and about the same distance easterly from the site of old Fort William Henry. It was known in colloquial parlance as ' Montressor's Folly.' The only portion of the fort ever com- pleted was the southwest bastion. A temporary stockaded post was built within its protection ; also of- ficers' barracks, soldiers' barracks, guard-room, kitchen and store-houses. A saw-mill in the swamp, southwest from the fort, furnished a great portion of the material for these buildings. An irregular wall to the northeast, whose ruins are still partly visible, enclosed a space devoted to gardening pur- poses. In 1776 there were erected for hospital use two buildings, one on the flat below the fort, and the other, of considerable dimensions, near the former site of Fort William Henry, which were used for the accommodation of General Schuyler's army, then lying at Fort Edward. To these were probably added others, for in the army correspondence of those days we learn that over three thousand troops were invalided here with the small-pox. . . At the time it was taken possession of by Burgoyne's advance there were fourteen pieces of artillery here, only two of which were mounted."
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on the 8th of September Vaudreuil capitulated and New France, with all of its dependencies, fell into the hands of the British. Amherst made terms of gen- erous magnanimity and the details were soon agreed upon, while England sent up a national shout of exultation. Although hostilities between the two nations ceased, a formal peace was not established until 1763, when, on the Ioth of February, the treaty of Paris was signed, by which France ceded to Great Britain all her possessions in Canada.
On the 30th of July, 1760, Governor De Lancey, of New York, suddenly died and the government passed into the hands of Cadwallader Colden, who was commissioned lieutenant-governor in August, 1761. In October of that year General Robert Monkton was appointed governor of New York.
CHAPTER X.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
Pioneers of Northern New York - Governor De Lancey's Proclamation - Its Effect on Settle- ments - Jeffrey Cowper - Queensbury Surveyed- Abraham Wing's Advent - His Family - The Queensbury Patent - Names of the Original Proprietors - Their Early Meetings and Action - Divi- sion of Lots - Steps toward Permanent Settlement.
T HE tumult of the war we have attempted to describe had scarcely ceased and the new reign of peace begun in the land, before the adventurous pioneer found his way into the wilderness of Northern New York in quest of a home where he and his descendants could enjoy the fruits of his labor. The ter- ritory known as the New Hampshire grants, over which there had been so much strife, was already echoing with the sounds of the settler's axe. From Charles- town, No. 4, in that territory John Goffe, in charge of eight hundred levies, cut the road already alluded to through the wilderness to Crown Point, where he joined Colonel Haviland in his expedition against Montreal; and through the lands of Queensbury hunters and trappers made their trails and disbanded sol- diers explored among the often trod battle-fields for eligible sites for homes on lands given to them under military grants. There were small clearings about the three picketed forts which have been mentioned as erected during the French war along the line of the old military road; beyond these almost the entire territory was unbroken wilderness. Northward from Albany the only settlements were a small hamlet at Fort Edward and a still smaller one at Still- water, and the tide of immigration soon to begin its flow northward had not yet set in. But while the smoke of battle had but just disappeared and there still lingered possible danger to the exposed northern frontier, already repeatedly
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
devastated by the hand of war, it was felt that there was a necessity for taking steps that would lead to its settlement by a class of inhabitants peculiarly adapted to withstand any incursion from hostile forces. In pursuance of this action Lieutenant-Governor De Lancey issued the following proclamation : -
" By the Honorable Fames De Lancey Esq., His Majesty's Lieutenant Gover- nor and Commander-in-chief in and over the province of New
[L. S.] York and the territories depending thereon in America.
A PROCLAMATION.
" Whereas from the Success of His Majesty's Arms, in the reduction of the important Fortresses at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and the Very Strong Works erecting at the latter, the whole Country along Hudson's River down to Albany, will for the future be so effectually covered and secured from the Ravages of the Enemy, that the Inhabitants may return to their settlements and abide there with safety to their Persons, Families and Estates; in confi- dence of which many have already returned to their Habitations. And whereas the Fortress now erecting at Crown Point is in great forwardness, and His Ex- cellency, Major-General Amherst hath assured me, that he is determined it shall be so far finished before the Troops go into Winter Quarters, as to answer the purpose of covering and protecting the country, and as an encouragement to Settlers, he has desired that I would make known that those who with the leave of this Government shall now choose to go and settle between Lake George and Fort Edward, will there find, three Several Spots of cleared Ground, two of them capable of containing half a dozen Families each, and the other not less than twelve ; on which shall be left standing for their Convenience the Wooden Hutts and Coverings of the Troops that have been posted there since the Beginning of the Campaign, which from the footing we have now at Crown Point, will be no longer necessary, and will be evacuated and left for the use of those who shall become Settlers. The first of the said Spotts is situated four miles above Fort Edward ; The Second at the Half-Way Brook; and the other three miles from Lake George. The Soil good and capable of improvement, and all three well watered. The Half-Way Brook being the Spott sufficient for a dozen families. I have therefore thought fit by and with the Advice of His Majesty's Council to issue this Proclamation Hereby inviting the Inhabi- tants who formerly abandoned their Dwellings to return to their Settlements, and improve the advantages offered to them under the Protection and Cover of the important Posts and Strong Fortresses above mentioned. And as an inducement to such as shall be inclined to settle on any or either of the three Spotts of ground above described; I do hereby promise his Majesty's Grant thereof to any persons who shall apply for the sanie, on condition of immedi- ate settlement thereof in the form of a Township with a sufficient quantity of woodland adjoining for that purpose; and that I will use my Endeavors to ob-
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EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
tain for the Grantees an Exemption from the Payment of Quit Rent for such a number of years as His Majesty shall be pleased to indulge therein.
"Given under my Hand and Seal at Arms at Fort George in the city of New York the 21st day of September, 1759, in the thirty-third year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Second, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith and so forth.
"JAMES DE LANCEY.
"By his Honour's Command,
"G. W. BANYAR, D. Sec'y. "God save the King."
This proclamation had the desired effect and led to the immediate applica- tion of Daniel Prindle and others for a patent for a township of twenty-three thousand acres, lying upon the Hudson river and embracing within its limits the three clearings mentioned. Previous to this however the buildings at Half-way Brook were occupied by Jeffrey Cowper, or Cooper (the name be- ing spelled both ways), who was, without doubt, the first white inhabitant to make a permanent residence in the town. In regard to him Sir Jeffrey Am- herst wrote in a letter to a Mr. Sharpe, dated New York, 20th of October, 1762, as follows: "The permit to Jeffrey Cooper to occupy the small Post at Half-way Brook between Fort Edward and Lake George, was only intended for the preservation of the barracks, etc., that had been erected there, and for the convenience of Passengers, as I judged it unnecessary after the reduction of Canada, to leave a Garrison at that Post."
Little is known of Cooper's life, but it has been conjectured that he was a seafaring man, from the fact that in the "Calendar of English Manuscripts " in the Secretary of State's office is filed a petition by " Ephraim Cook, owner of the Snow Cicero, thirty-four guns," in which he applies " for a commission, and in case of his death, to his first lieutenant, Richard Harris, and Jeffrey Cow- per, his second lieutenant to command said Snow Cicero." His name appears in the town records for the year 1766 only, and in April of the year preceding he stands charged in the account book of Abraham Wing 1 with one hundred pounds of pork and seven pounds of nails.
It is supposed that the permit to Cooper was granted as early as 1759 or 1760, while Amherst was in that vicinity.
In the summer of 1762 the survey of the town plot of Queensbury was in
1 All of the extracts from what we call the Wing papers that appear in this work, are from Dr. A. W. Holden's admirable History of Queensbury, published in 1873. A few years prior to that date the late Abraham Wing gave Dr. Holden access to family books, papers, etc., which had descended through three generations of the family, from which he obtained much material that was almost invalu- able in the preparation of his work. It was most fortunate that this work was performed when it was, for a little later when the great fire of 1864 destroyed the greater part of the village of Glens Falls, those books, papers, etc., were burned.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
progress by Zaccheus Towner, who was accompanied to the region by Abraham Wing, as appears in the following journal : -
" August 23d day, 1762. Then set out for Queensbury township from home early in the morning, and dined at Nehemiah Merrits. Then set off for our journey and lodged at Esquire Castle's that night. The 24th traveled to Livingstone's manor ; the 25th traveled to Greenbush and lodged at Captain Dows. The 26th we passed the ferry and eat breakfast in Albany and got our stores and traveled to Stillwater and lodged at Millerd's that night The 27th was a rainy morn'ng, but we traveled on to Bemises and there we eat break- fast, and waited there a little while, then went forward and eat dinner at Moores, and traveled that night to Fort Miller and stayed there that night. The 28th we set forward, being a showery day, made a short stop at Fort Edward where we were obliged to show our pass, and then set forward and arrived at the Half-way Brook about the middle of the day, where we were doubtful of some trouble. We had not been there in the tavern many minutes before the question was asked of the tender, whether we should have the lib- erty of a room to put our stores in, and so told our business. He replied, there is room enough, and after a short consideration, he replied, if we would go with him, he would show us a room, and accordingly we cleared out our house, put in our stores, and went to surveying the town plot. The 29th, being the first day of the week, set forward early in the morning."
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