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 19
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When the tidings of Burgoyne's surrender reached Ticonderoga the small garrison dismantled and evacuated the works and started upon a stealthy flight down the lake ; but they were not permitted to escape unscathed, for Allen in- tercepted them near the site of the village of Essex, cut off and captured sev- eral of the rear boats and seized about fifty prisoners, with stores, cattle, etc.
CHAPTER XIV.
TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
Effects of Burgoyne's Defeat-The Gates-Conway Cabal - Appointment of Lafayette to Command of the Northern Department-Closing Events of the Revolution - An Insult to General Schuyler - Garrisons at Fort Edward and Vicinity - Events of 1778-79 - Sir John Johnson's Invasion -The Sammons Incident-Capture of Fort Anne-Attack upon Fort George-A Bloody Engagement-Evac- nation of Fort Edward-The Vermont Mystery-Close of the Revolution.
FTER Burgoyne's surrender all the forts and posts held by the British A were evacuated and as far north as Crown Point the country was relieved of the invaders. Even the Tories, many of whom had taken an active part in Burgoyne's advance, seemed to be suddenly impressed with the idea that Can- ada was a good place to live in, and, leaving lands and houses, sought sym- pathy and homes across the northern border among their royalist friends.
A few families had remained in the vicinity of Lake George during the ex- citing weeks preceding Burgoyne's futile march, and all had suffered more or less at the hands of the invaders for their temerity. But the literal wiping out of the enemy was hailed with nearly as much joy as would have been a proc- lamation of peace by those who had sought safety in flight, and with cheered hearts they returned to their homes, often to find them sacked or burned.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
It was during this autumn that the famous "Gates-Conway cabal " came near to disrupting Congress and, perhaps, ruining all that had been gained in the cause of liberty. The jealous, intriguing disposition of Gates was the prime cause of the trouble. He sought to fill the place held by Washington and be- lieved that the powerful influence of his friends in Congress, who composed nearly all of the eastern delegates, would place him there, and to accomplish this end he himself left no effort untried. He found a willing and capable tool for his purpose in General Thomas Conway, who threw his whole energy and ability into the dirty work, even stooping to writing anonymous letters to members of Congress filled with vile insinuations against Washington, and forg- ing others as from the pen of Washington. But though feeling ran high in Congress regarding the matter and many eminent and true patriots used strong language against Washington and in favor of Gates, the conspiracy was finally headed off. One of the insults of this disgraceful affair was the appointment by Congress of Lafayette to the command of the northern department, unbe- known to General Washington, at whose request or through whose orders alone it properly should have been done. But the generous commander-in-chief overlooked the insult from Congress, and lent the young ally his best aid in making preparations for an invasion in Canada -another undertaking ordered by Congress without consulting Washington. But like many another attempt of this kind by legislatures and governments, it was given up for the reason that the ordering power failed to furnish men and means for carrying out its own plans. Consequently comparative quiet existed in the northern part of New York, and particularly so in the vicinity of Lake George. The subsequent events of the Revolutionary struggle bore not so directly upon the history of Lake George and its environs, as those which have been briefly detailed. The year 1777 had been fruitful in military events of a minor character, which are beyond the province of this work, yet all influencing to some degree the fort- unes of the great contest. Among these were the battle of Brandywine, fought in September, ending in at least partial defeat to the Americans ; the massacre at Paoli; the battle of Germantown, October 4th, claimed as an American vic- tory ; the effort of Congress to secure the neutrality, at least, of the Six Nations, December 3d, an effort which was once more repeated only to fail on both oc- casions. But the discouraging character of most of these operations was hap- pily overshadowed by the successes of the North, as already described.
The opening of 1778 was signalized by a treaty of alliance with France, which was the source of renewed confidence throughout the colonies; but though the year was, like the preceding one, filled with stirring events, nearly all of them occurred far beyond the province of this work to record. The his- toric invasion and massacre at Wyoming; the battle of Monmouth, at first dis- astrous to the Americans, but saved to them by the genius of Washington ; the destruction of the settlement at the German Flats, and the bloody massa-
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TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
cre at Cherry Valley, were among the more prominent events of the year, which closed without important or decisive advantage to either army.
Much complaint had been made in Congress concerning the administration of the northern department, no doubt generated by Gates and kept in brisk activity by his friends in Congress. A committee was appointed by Congress to investigate the subject, which finally reported in February following (1778), recommending the ordering of a court-martial to try General Schuyler for general neglect of duty. The court was organized with General Lincoln as president and John Laurens as judge advocate, at Pawling, Duchess county, and the trial lasted thirty-five days, when he was acquitted " with the highest honor." The verdict was afterward confirmed by Congress, to which body Schuyler had been elected before the verdict was made public.
So entirely had Burgoyne's disastrous campaign crushed the war spirit and depleted the material of the English in the North, that all the American troops were withdrawn to Washington's aid in the more exciting and stirring scenes farther South, except a very few small detachments, which were left more to care for the fortifications they occupied than to repel an expected or possible attack of the enemy.
At Fort Edward a few men were retained ; this post for some time was the most northern one occupied by the Americans in the valleys of Lakes George and Champlain. It was even contemplated closing this fort, judging from the following extract from a letter from General Washington to General Stark, written in October, 1778: "I would not have you build barracks at Fort Ed- ward. The troops now there may winter at Saratoga, where are good barracks for three hundred men."1
In fact, nearly all the great military operations for the succeeding two years took place on the southern boundary of the State and along the sea coast. In June, however, a company of Tories who had fled to Canada with Sir John Johnson, to the number of one hundred or more, made a rapid and stealthy march through Fonda's Bush to the Sacandaga, where they embarked and " descended twenty-five miles to the Hudson, and thence by the way of Lakes George and Champlain, proceeded to St. Johns in safety. This foray may have awakened its commander to a sense of the exposed condition of the northern department, for we learn from Stark's Memoirs that late in the fall small detachments of soldiers were stationed at Fort Edward, Fort Schuyler, and other points, in expectation of further raids. In November of this year a large British force and several armed British vessels advanced to Ticonderoga and completed the devastation that had been begun on both sides of the lake - a course that was, perhaps, justified by the rules of warfare, but one that worked little good to the English cause, while it needlessly caused much pri- vate suffering. The year 1778 thus closed, neither side appearing anxious or
1 General Stark's Memoirs.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
able to disturb the other. Only bands of marauding Indians were to be looked for on the part of the Americans, while the Indians themselves cared but little for any injury the impoverished and harassed settlers could do them in return.
The year 1779 witnessed the attempt of the British to secure the alliance of the neutral Oneidas, an attempt that did not succeed. It also saw the re- markable expedition of Sullivan and Clinton into the heart of the domain of the Six Nations and the destruction of many of their most important villages ; but the general progress of the war was marked with but few signal actions ; it was rather a continuation of the predatory warfare that had already distin- guished much of the British arms. The struggle had now been continued for five years, but the settlers of New York State were destined to still further suffering.
In March, 1779, a band of Indians made an attack upon the settlement of Skenesborough. But three lives were lost by this incursion, but every build- ing in the place was burned to the ground, and all property that was trans- ferable was borne away by the captors, who, as usual, loaded it upon the backs of their prisoners, who comprised nearly every inhabitant of the settlement. These prisoners were afterwards transferred to the British at Montreal for the sum of eight dollars each, and were finally exchanged, after suffering two years' imprisonment.
In the spring of 1780, Sir John Johnson came up Lake Champlain to Crown Point, at the head of a force of five hundred men, composed of British troops, a detachment of his own Royal Greens, and about two hundred Indians and Tories. From Crown Point he made his way through the forest to the Sacandaga River, and at midnight entered the north part of Johnstown so stealthily that the sleeping inhabitants were entirely unaware of his proximity. He divided his force into two bodies that they might cover more territory, and then ensued a catalogue of barbarous atrocity almost too cold-blooded and ruthless to live in history. Families of men, women and children were bru- tally slaughtered, their dwellings burned and their property destroyed. Inci- dents almost without number occurred, the recital of which has brought the blush of anger to the cheek of honorable manhood and filled the childish breast with horror for a century. The Mohawk valley was devastated in the track of the barbarous horde. The immediate object of this cowardly invasion was the recovery of some valuable plate which had been buried at the time of Johnson's flight in 1776. Since that time it had been faithfully watched over by a former slave of Johnson's, who, with the aid of four soldiers, disinterred the silver and laid it at his master's feet. It was divided among forty soldiers for transportation to Montreal. Common humanity will find it difficult to find in the quest of his property, justification for the inhuman accompaniments of the expedition. At the time of this invasion Governor Clinton was at
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TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
Kingston. He hastened to Albany when the first intelligence reached him, collected such militia as he was able and marched to Lake George to intercept Johnson. Colonel Van Schaick with seven hundred men followed the invad- ers by way of Johnstown, in the event of their going in the direction of Oswe- gatchie. Descending Lake George to Ticonderoga, the governor was joined by a body of militia from beyond the lake; but it was all to no purpose and Johnson escaped, taking to his bateaux, probably at Crown Point, whence they proceeded down the lake to St. Johns. Their captives, among whom were Jacob and Frederick Sammons, were thence transferred to the fort at Chambly. These two of the forty prisoners resolved upon escape and the thrilling story of the attempt is of such interest and so nearly relates to Lake Champlain, that we quote it as given in Stone's Life of Brant : -
"On the day after their arrival Jacob Sammons, having taken accurate sur- vey of the garrison and the facilities of escape, conceived the project of induc- ing his fellow prisoners to rise upon the guards and obtain their freedom. The garrison was weak in number, and the sentinels less vigilant than is usual among good soldiers. The prison doors were opened once a day, when the prisoners were visited by the proper officers, with four or five soldiers. Sam- mons had observed where the arms of the guards were stacked in the yard, and his plan was, that some of the prisoners should arrest and disarm the vis- iting guard on the opening of the door, while the residue were to rush forth seize the arms, and fight their way out. The proposition was acceded to by his brother Frederick, and one other man named Van Sluyck, but was con- sidered too daring by the great body of the prisoners to be undertaken. It was therefore abandoned, and the brothers sought afterward only for a chance of escaping by themselves. Within three days the desired opportunity oc- curred, viz., on the 13th of June. The prisoners were supplied with an allowance of spruce beer, for which two of their number were detached daily to bring the cask from the brew-house, under a guard of five men, with fixed bayonets. Having reason to suppose that the arms of the guards, though charged were not primed, the brothers so contrived matters as to be taken to- gether to the brewery on the day mentioned, with an understanding that at a given period they were to dart from the guard and run for their lives - believ- ing that the confusion of the moment, and the consequent delay of priming their muskets by the guards, would enable them to escape beyond the ordinary range of musket shot. The project was boldly executed. At the concerted moment the soldiers sprang from their conductors and stretched across the plain with great fleetness. The alarm was given, and the whole garrison was soon after them in hot pursuit. Unfortunately for Jacob, he fell into a ditch and sprained his ankle. Perceiving the accident, Frederick turned to his as- sistance ; but the other generously admonished him to secure his own flight if possible, and leave him to the chances of war. Recovering from his fall, and
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
regardless of the accident, Jacob sprang forward again with as much expedi- tion as possible, but finding that his lameness impeded his progress, he plunged into a thick clump of shrubs and trees, and was fortunate enough to hide him- self between two logs before the pursuers came up. Twenty or thirty shots had previously been fired upon them, but without effect. In consequence of the smoke of their fire, probably, the guards had not observed Jacob when he threw himself into the thicket, and supposing that, like his brother, he had passed around it, they followed until they were fairly distanced by Frederick, of whom they lost sight and trace. They returned in about half an hour, halting by the bushes in which the other fugitive was sheltered, and so near he could distinctly hear their conversation. The officer in command was Cap- tain Steele. On calling his men together, some were swearing, and others laughing at the race, and the speed of the 'long-legged Dutchmen,' as they called the flying prisoners. The pursuit being abandoned, the guards returned to the fort.
"The brothers had agreed, in case of separation, to meet at a certain spot at 10 o'clock that night. Of course Jacob lay ensconced in the bushes until night had dropped her sable curtains, and until he supposed the hour had ar- rived, when he sallied forth, according to the antecedent understanding. But time did not move as rapidly on that evening as he supposed. He waited upon the spot designated, and called aloud for Frederick, until he despaired of meeting him, and prudence forbade his remaining any longer. It subsequently appeared that he was too early on the ground, and that Frederick made good his appointment.
" Following the bank of the Sorel Jacob passed Fort St. Johns soon after daybreak on the morning of the 14th. His purpose was to swim the river at that place, and pursue his course homeward through the wilderness on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain ; but just as he was preparing to enter the water, he descried a boat approaching from below, filled with officers and sol- diers of the enemy. They were already within twenty rods. Concealing him- self again in the woods, he resumed his journey after their departure, but had not proceeded more than two or three miles before he came upon a party of several hundred men engaged in getting out timber for the public works at the fort. To avoid these he was obliged to describe a wide circuit, in the course of which, at about 12 o'clock, he came to a small clearing. Within the enclosure was a house, and in the field were a man and boy engaged in hoeing potatoes. They were at that moment called to dinner and supposing them to be French, who he had heard were rather friendly to the American cause than otherwise -incited, also, by hunger and fatigue- he made bold to present himself, trusting that he might be invited to partake of their hospitality. But, instead of a friend, he found an enemy. On making known his character, he was roughly received.
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TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
"'It is by such villians as you are,' replied the forester, ' that I was obliged to fly from Lake Champlain.' The rebels, he added, had robbed him of all he possessed, and he would now deliver his self-invited guest to the guard, which, he said, was not more than a quarter of a mile distant. Sammons promptly answered him that that was more than he could do. The refugee then said he would go for the guard himself; to which Sammons replied that he might act as he pleased, but that all the men in Canada should not make him again a prisoner.
"The man thereupon returned to the potatoe field, and resumed his work ; while his more compassionate wife gave him a bowl of bread and milk, which he ate sitting on the threshhold of the door, to guard against surprise. While in the house he saw a musket, powder-horn and bullet-pouch hanging against the wall, of which he determined, if possible, to possess himself, that he might be able to procure food during the long and solitary march before him. On retiring, therefore, he traveled only far enough into the woods for concealment - returning to the woodman's house in the evening, for the purpose of obtain- ing the musket and ammunition. But he was again beset by eminent peril. Very soon after he entered the house, the sound of approaching voices was heard, and he took to the rude chamber for security, where he lay flat upon the irregular floor, and, looking through the interstices, saw eleven soldiers en- ter, who, it soon appeared, came for milk. His situation was now exceedingly critical. The churlish proprietor might inform against him, or a single move- ment betray him. But neither circumstance occurred. The unwelcome vis- itors departed in due time, and the family all retired to bed, excepting the wife who, as Jacob descended from the chamber, refreshed him with another bowl of bread and milk. The good woman earnestly entreated her guest to surren- der himself, and join the ranks of the king, assuring him that his majesty must certainly conquer in the end, in which case the rebels would lose all their prop- erty, and many of them be hanged into the bargain. But to such a proposi- tion he of course would not listen. Finding all her efforts to convert a Whig into a Tory fruitless, she then told him, that if he would secrete himself two days longer in the woods, she would furnish him with some provisions, for a supply of which her husband was going to the fort the next day, and she would likewise endeavor to provide him with a pair of shoes.
"Disinclined to linger so long in the country of the enemy, and in the neighborhood of a British post, however, he took his departure forthwith. But such had been the kindness of the good woman, that he had it not in his heart to seize upon her husband's arms, and he left this wild scene of rustic hospital- ity without supplies, or the means of procuring them. Arriving once more at the water's edge at the lower end of Lake Champlain, he came upon a hut, within which, on cautiously approaching it for reconnaisance, he discovered a party of soldiers all soundly asleep. Their canoe was moored by the shore, in-
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
to which he sprang, and paddled himself up the lake under the most encourag- ing prospect of a speedy and comparatively easy voyage to its head, hence his return home would be unattended with either difficulty or danger. But his pleasing anticipations were extinguished on the night following, as he ap- proached the Isle aux Noix, where he descried a fortification and the glitter of bayonets bristling in the air as the moon-beams played upon the burnished arms of the sentinels, who were pacing their tedious rounds. The lake being very narrow at this point, and perceiving that both sides were fortified, he thought the attempt to shoot his canoe through between them rather too haz- ardous an experiment. His only course, therefore, was to run ashore, and re- sume his travels on foot. Nor, on landing, was his case in any respect enviable. Without shoes, without food, and without the means of obtaining either -a long journey before him through a deep and trackless wilderness - it may well be imagined that his mind was not cheered by the most agreeable anticipations. But without pausing to indulge unnecessarily his 'thick-coming fancies,' he commenced his solitary journey, directing his course along the eastern lake shore toward Albany. During the first four days of his progress he subsisted entirely upon the bark of the birch - chewing the twigs as he went. On the fourth day, while resting by a brook, he heard a rippling of the water caused by the fish as they were stemming its current. He succeeded in catching a few of these, but having no means of striking a fire, after devouring one of them raw, the others were thrown away.
" His feet by this time were cut, bruised, and torn by thorns, briars, and stones ; and while he could scarcely proceed by reason of their soreness, hun- ger and fatigue united to retard his cheerless march. On the fifth day his mis- ery was augmented by the hungry swarms of mosquitoes, which settled upon him in clouds while traversing a swamp. On the same day he fell upon the nest of a black duck - the duck sitting quietly upon her eggs until he came up and caught her. The bird was no sooner deprived of her life and her feath- ers, than he devoured the whole, including the head and feet. The eggs were nine in number, which Sammons took with him, but on opening one he found a little half-made duckling, already alive. Against such food his stomach re- volted, and he was obliged to throw the eggs away.
" On the tenth day he came to a small lake. His feet were now in such a horrible state, that he could scarcely crawl along. Finding a mitigation of pain by bathing them in water he plunged his feet into the lake, and lay down upon its margin. For a time it seemed as though he could never rise upon his feet again. Worn down by hunger and fatigue - bruised in body and wounded in spirit - in a lone wilderness, with no eye to pity, and no human arm to pro- tect - he felt as though he must remain in that spot until it should please God in his goodness to quench the dim spark of life that remained. Still, he was comforted in some measure by the thought that he was in the hands of a being without whose knowledge not a sparrow falls to the ground.
17I
TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
"Refreshed, at length, though to a trifling degree, he resumed his weary way, when, on raising his right leg over the trunk of a fallen tree, he was bitten in the calf by a rattlesnake. Quick as a flash, with his pocket knife, he made an incision in his leg, removing the wounded flesh to a greater depth than the fangs of the serpent had penetrated. His next business was to kill the venom- ous reptile, and dress it for eating; thus appropriating the enemy that had sought to take his life, to its prolongation. His first meal was made from the heart and fat of the serpent. Feeling somewhat strengthened by the repast, and finding, moreover, that he could not travel further in his present condition, he determined to remain where he was for a few days, and by repose, and feeding upon the body of the snake, recruit his strength. Discovering, also, a dry fun- gus upon the trunk of a maple, he succeeded in striking a fire, by which his comforts were essentially increased. Still he was obliged to creep upon his hands and knees to gather fuel, and on the third day he was yet in such a state of exhaustion as to be utterly unable to proceed. Supposing that death was inevitable and very near, he crawled to the foot of a tree, upon the bark of which he commenced inscribing his name- in the expectation that he should leave his bones there and in the hope that, in some way, by the aid of the inscription, his family might ultimately be apprised of his fate. While en- gaged in this sad work, a cloud of painful thoughts crowded upon his mind ; the tears involuntarily stole down his cheeks, and before he had completed the melancholy task, he fell asleep.
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