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 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
"On the fourth day of his residence at this place, he began to gain strength and as a part of the serpent yet remained, he determined upon another effort to resume his journey. But he could not do so without devising some substi- tute for shoes. For this purpose he cut up his hat and waistcoat, binding them upon his feet - and thus he hobbled along. On the following night, while lying in the woods, he became strongly impressed with the belief that he was not far distant from a human habitation. He had seen no indications of proximity to the abode of man ; but he was, nevertheless, so confident of the fact, that he wept for joy. Buoyed up and strengthened by this impression, he resumed his journey on the following morning ; and in the afternoon, it be- ing the 28th of June, he reached a house in the town of Pittsford, in the New Hampshire grants - now forming the State of Vermont. He remained there for several days, both to recruit his health, and, if possible, to gain intelligence of his brother. But no tidings came ; and as he knew Frederick to be a capital woodsman, he of course concluded that sickness, death or re-capture, must have interrupted his journey. Procuring a conveyance at Pittsford, Jacob traveled to Albany, and thence to Schenectady, where he had the happiness of finding his wife and family."
The adventures of the brother were scarcely less thrilling, but this one must suffice as an example of many similar ones happening on the frontier.
172
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Frequent forays of Indians and Tories continued, accompanied, as always, with murder, torture and rapine, throughout the summer. In October, 1780, a force of eight hundred British regulars and three or four hundred Indians and Tories, commanded by Major Christopher Carleton, came up Lake Cham- plain with eight vessels and twenty-six boats, and made a landing on the shore of South Bay. From here a portion of the party was detached to return to Ticonderoga (which had been occupied in July by the English), with the view of moving across the carrying-place to Lake George, thence proceeding up the west side, in order to co-operate with the main force in an attack upon the forts at its head. Captain Sherwood was in command of a force of about sev- enty-five men at Fort Anne, mostly undisciplined recruits. The enemy de- manded the surrender of the fort, which, in consideration of the smallness of the force occupying it, and a limited supply of ammunition, was conceded, the one stipulation that the women and children within the fort should be safely conducted to their homes, being the only conditions insisted upon. This fort was burned and the invaders continued their march, burning and destroying as they went.
The main body, under Carleton in person, marched across the country to Fort George, where Captain John Chipman was stationed with two com- panies of Colonel Warner's regiment. Early in the month his scouts had brought him advices of the approach of the enemy, having seen the arrival of their vessels at Crown Point, which information he had forwarded to head- quarters of the northern department. On the morning of the 11th a detach- ment was sent to Fort Edward for provisions. From this body a messenger soon returned with the information that he had seen a party of Indians near Bloody Pond. Being unaware that these Indians were Carleton's advance Cap- tain Chipman deemed it best to send out a party of sufficient strength to put the Indians to flight; and he was probably further incited to that by the fact that he was short of ammunition, and believed that an attack by an overwhelm- ing number would make the action shorter. He therefore dispatched all his force except fourteen men. The following quaint order was issued to Captain Thomas Sill, who commanded the party : -
"Oct'br 11, 1780.
"Sir ; as it is reported to me that there is a small party of savages near Bloddy pond, you will immediately take Forty Eight men, officers included and proseed on the main road, until you make discoveries of them, keeping a Suffiscient advance and Flank gards in Such a manner as to prevent being sur- rounded. If you find a large party you will Emmediately Retreat to the fort except they be savages only, in which case you will attack and immediately Charge upon them.
JOHN CHIPMAN, Capt. Com'dt."
In carrying out his orders, Captain Sill made the mistake of passing by the enemy, and the first view he had of them disclosed the fact that they were be-
I73
TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
tween him and the fort. Had his force been larger and the fort's defenders less few in number, this position would not have been the unenviable one it really was. But there was no chance for retreat, and the action that followed his discovery by the enemy was short and bloody. It took place between Bloody Pond and Gage's Hill. One officer and fourteen men, becoming sep- arated from the main body during the action, escaped capture. The victors immediately invested the fort, which was obliged to capitulate. Fort George, in reality but one angle of a bastion, was destroyed.
The Tories and Indians continued their depredations to the south, burning and destroying everything that came in their way belonging to the patriots, as far as Stillwater. Fort Edward was evacuated after the removal of the stores.
The peculiar exemption of the territory of Vermont on this and subsequent occasions, attracted attention and leads us to the consideration of the equivocal position of that territory during parts of the years 1780-81. We have already reviewed the trouble growing out of the New Hampshire grants. The people of these grants had formally declared their independence in 1777, and under the name of "Vermont" had assumed to themselves the attitude and prerogatives of a sovereign state; they were filled with bitter hostility towards New York, growing out of the firm conviction that her claims were unjust and that Vermont had en- dured great wrong. In a message from Governor Clinton to the New York Leg- islature, he communicated important information respecting the designs of the Vermont people, foremost among whom was Ethan Allen; this information was derived from two prisoners who had escaped from Canada. The substance of their statements was that several of the leading men of the grants were form- ing an alliance with the British officers in Canada; that mutual consultation had been held at Castleton and in Canada ; that the grants were to furnish fif- teen hundred or two thousand men under command of Allen, etc. Color was given to these statements by the fact that the two prisoners had not been to- gether in Canada and had escaped by different routes. By later information the governor learned further details of the purposes of the disaffected people. By this information it appeared that the territory claimed by the inhabitants of Vermont was to be formed into a distinct colony ; that the government thereof should be similar to that of Connecticut except that the nomination of the gov- ernor should be vested in the crown ; that they should be allowed to remain neutral unless the war should be carried into their own territory; that they should raise two battalions to be in the pay of the crown, but not to be called to service except in defending the colony ; and that they should enjoy free trade with Canada. General Haldimand was in command at Ticonderoga, and would not assume the responsibility of deciding such important issues, but trans- mitted them to England.
Such was the purport of Governor Clinton's information, and so powerful was the weight of testimony that he did not hesitate to assert that they " proved
I74
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
a treasonable and dangerous intercourse and connection between the leaders of the revolt in the northeastern part of the State and the common enemy." Aware of the feeling in Vermont, Colonel Beverly Johnson wrote Ethan Allen in March, 1780, the letter being personally delivered by a British soldier in dis- guise ; this letter was not answered and a second was sent in February, 1781, which, with the first, was enclosed to Congress by Allen in the following month, accompanied by a letter from himself in which he plainly claimed the right of Vermont to agree to a cessation of hostilities with Great Britain, provided its claims as a State were still rejected by Congress. In April and May following the governor of Vermont commissioned Ira Allen, a brother of Ethan, to pro- ceed to the Isle aux Noix to settle a cartel with the British in Canada, and also, if possible, to negotiate an armistice in favor of Vermont; only eight per- sons were admitted to the secret design of this expedition. Allen and a small party made the journey and remained for a considerable time in consultation with the British officers, and many confidential consultations were held. From the beginning it seems to have been perfectly understood by both parties that they were treating " for an armistice, and to concert measures to establish Ver- mont as a colony under the crown of Great Britain."1 Allen stated that "the people of Vermont were not disposed any longer to assist in establishing a gov- ernment in America which might subject them and their posterity to New York whose government was more detested than any other in the known world." This sentiment was gratifying to the British officers, and the cartel was arranged and a verbal armistice established to continue until after the next session of the Vermont Legislature, or longer if the prospects warranted it to the com- mander-in-chief in Canada. As Vermont had then extended her unjust claim over the territory of New York to the Hudson River, that also was included in the terms of the armistice. During the continuance of the armistice British officers were to have free communication through the State, while the inhab- itants were to be gradually prepared for the change of government."2
But the suspicions of the people were aroused and the earnest Whigs be- came alarmed. When the Legislature met, the apprehensive ones gathered in large numbers to learn of the situation; but the adroit dissimulations of those in the secret quieted the suspicions of their neighbors, and "the Allen's and their co-operators held communication with the enemy during the entire summer."3 In September negotiations were renewed, the representatives of both parties meeting at Skenesborough. But Sir Frederick Haldimand became impatient and efforts were made to induce Vermont to make an open decla- ration ; but the Vermont Commissioners pleaded for more time in which to prepare the public mind for the change, and asked that the matter might go
1 Political History of Vermont, published by Ira Allen in London, 1798.
2 ALLEN'S Political History of Vermont.
3 STONE'S Life of Brant.
175
TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
over the winter. It was, however, stipulated that a British force might ascend the lake with proclamations offering to confirm Vermont as a British colony if the people would return to their allegiance. The Legislature of the grants assembled at Charlestown in October. General St. Leger, in consonance with the arrangement alluded to, ascended the lake to Ticonderoga with a strong force. To continue an appearance of hostility to this movement the Vermont people posted a military force on the opposite shore, under General Enos, to whom the secret was confided. Scouts and patrols were sent out in alleged mimicry of hostile preparations, but with no real intention of offering injury to each other. But on one of these occasions shots were exchanged and a Ver- mont sergeant was killed. His men retreated. St. Leger saw that the body was properly buried and returned the uniform to General Enos, accompanied by a letter of apology and regret. This letter was unsealed and its contents became known. General suspicion was again aroused and a messenger was dispatched to Governor Chittenden at Charlestown; he, unsuspicious of the true situation, proclaimed the incident of the killing of the sergeant and St. Leger's remarkable letter. The consequence was general excitement and dis- trust at Charlestown. Major Runnels confronted Ira Allen and demanded to know why St. Leger was filled with regret for the death of the American ser- geant. An evasive reply was returned. An altercation ensued, which gave the now alarmed board of war time to prepare a document embodying certain portions of General Enos's dispatches which would best serve their purpose, to be read to the Legislature and the people. This action had the desired ef- fect and the excitement was allayed.
Meanwhile the progress of the great contest in other parts of the country led up to the latest scenes, and the news of the surrender of the great army of Cornwallis, which virtually closed the war, reached the North. The effect of the first intelligence upon the people was such as to induce Allen and his co- operators to write the British Commissioners that it would be imprudent to promulgate the royal proclamation at that particular time, and urging delay. The bearer of this dispatch had not been an hour at the headquarters of St. Leger in Ticonderoga when an express confirmed the intelligence of the sur- render of Cornwallis on the 19th of October. The effect was electric. All idea of further operations in that quarter, hostile to the American cause, was instantly abandoned. Before evening of the same day St. Leger's troops and stores were re-embarked, and before a fair wind he sailed for St. Johns. Ti- conderoga and the lake were at peace for a third of a century.1
1 This version of these remarkable events is, based upon the testimony of Ira Allen, as before noted, and is the one adopted by many able writers. On the other hand, historians of equal ability and judg- ment take the high ground that all the apparently disloyal movements described were actuated for the sole purpose of deceiving the enemy and thus escaping the destructive effects of war upon their own soil ; that the people of Vermont never entertained the idea of returning to the allegiance of Great Britain. Stone says in a foot-note in his Life of Brant : " Sparks, adopting the view of early writers,
176
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Whatever may be the reader's judgment upon this case, the early patriotism of the men connected with it can never be doubted nor the value of their ser- vices diminished. If they hoped to escape domestic tyranny, or what they considered such, even by equivocal action, it is equally true that they hated foreign tyranny and promptly came forward to aid in putting it down; and whatever may have been the designs of the leaders, the masses of the people of Vermont amply vindicated their loyalty to their country through all the afflicting scenes and events of the Revolution.
During the early months of 1782 Sir Frederick Haldimand made efforts towards a renewal of the negotiations which had been so suddenly terminated ; but his advances were received with the utmost coolness by the people of Ver- mont. The intervention of peace relieved this region from all danger of fur- ther British invasion.
From this time on to the 19th of April, 1783, no active military operations were carried on in the northern department. General Stark had been placed in command of the division in June, 1781, with his headquarters at Saratoga. But, aside from the rumors of expeditions growing out of the Vermont " con- spiracy " above described, comparative peace reigned. The whole section, however, was infested with lawless robbers, nearly always in small bands, who, royalists at heart as well as by profession, did not scruple to pillage defenseless members of the same political faith, booty being their chief object.
But on the date above given - April 19th, 1783 -by order of General Washington a proclamation announcing a close of hostilities with England was read in all the camps of the patriots. The war had ceased, although the formal ratification of the treaty of peace did not occur till September 3d of that year.
With the close of the war the Iroquois Indians, dreading the possible venge- ance of the whites, took refuge in Canada, with the exception of the Oneidas and Tuscaroras. Their lands, with the exception of certain reservations, passed to the possession of the State.
Almost immediately after the declaration of peace, those who had been ab- sent in the ranks of the army returned to their homes. Town organizations that had been more or less broken up by the war, were renewed, and the first fruits of settled peace began to appear. Details of these beginnings of a last- ing progress will be found in the town histories hereinafter.
has noticed the case in this favorable aspect in his Sketch of the Life of Ethan Allen. The author cer- tainly agrees with Mr. Sparks in the opinion that ' there was never any serious intention on the part of the Vermontese to listen to British proposals.' But with great deference, after a full examination of the case, the same cannot be said of the leaders of the Vermontese. They had determined that New York should be dismembered ; and if they could not force themselves into the confederation as a State, were willing to fall back into the arms of Great Britain as a colony."
!
177
FROM THE REVOLUTION TO 1815.
CHAPTER XV.
FROM THE REVOLUTION TO 1815.
Advancement of Civil Government- Political Divisions - Renewed Difficulties with England - The Non-Intercourse Act - Its Repeal - Troubles Relative to Improvements - Declaration of War - Offensive Measures - Canada to be Invaded - Three Movements and the Results Thereof - The Northern New York Measures - Naval Operations on Lake Ontario - Attack on Sackett's Harbor by the British - Battle of Plattsburg - American Victory - Close of the War.
W THILE the young nation was making rapid strides of recovery from the baneful effects of the Revolution, the period between the treaty of 1783 and 1812 was pregnant with the discussion and settlement of several impor- tant civil matters, and the inauguration of new and untried measures of gov- ernment. It was a day when statesmanship was developed, and the best in- tellects were called into the field of action and their powers brought to a cru- cial test in dealing with questions of State evolved by the generation of plans of government yet unproved.
It was but natural, while peace was hailed by all as a blessing, that the new era should give birth to parties influenced by strong motives and actuated by deep feeling. While the defense of their rights had been the common purpose of the patriotic people during the war, no sooner were those rights secured to them by the peace that followed, than the enjoyment and administration of those rights became the potent elements in the formation of political parties. Added to this cause was the old bitterness of feeling engendered by the diffi- culties between England and France, each country having its ardent sympa- thizers and supporters in the new republic.
The Democratic party, from the time of its organization, had maintained only feelings of bitter hostility to England, and those of warm friendship to- wards France. Its opponent in the political arena, the Federalist organiza- tion, detested France and every thing French, while they sought to be on good terms, at least, with England. Many national, and often local questions, for some few years, prevented thorough party organization ; nevertheless, political sentiment was active, and, by 1811, resulted in the drawing of firm party lines. Each party was headed by able men, who, we believe, were actuated by hon- orable principles, and labored for what they believed was best for the country's good.
For many years from a date soon after the close of the Revolution, the "insolence and aggressions of ever insolent and aggressive England " in main- taining what she was fain to consider her undoubted position as " mistress of the seas," added to her continued attempts to incite the savages of Canada and the
12
178
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Northwest into a war of extermination against the Americans on the northern and western borders of civilization, in order that the valuable trade with the Indians might be diverted into the hands of the English and retained by them, had demonstrated to those of clear foresight and political knowledge that ulti- mately nothing but war between the two nations could settle the troubles.
The United States had maintained a strict neutrality during the progress of the Napoleonic war with Great Britain, but our rights as a neutral nation had been totally disregarded. The embargo act, passed December 22d, 1807 - an attempt to compel two belligerent nations to respect the rights of neutrals in refusing intercourse with the world - proved so disastrous to commercial pursuits that it was repealed March Ist, 1809, and a non-intercourse act passed in its stead. In April, 1809, the English ambassador at Washington opened negotiations for the adjustment of existing difficulties, and consented to the withdrawal of the obnoxious " orders in council," as far as they effected the United States, on the condition that the non-intercourse act should be re- pealed. This was agreed upon. The president issued a proclamation an- nouncing that on the 10th of Juue trade with Great Britain might be renewed. But when official intelligence of this action reached England that government refused to ratify the proceedings, and the minister was recalled. The presi- dent's proclamation was therefore revoked, and the previous relations between the two countries were resumed.
Aside from all other causes of complaint against Great Britain the one around which, irrespective of politics, the greater portion of the people of the United States gathered in unanimity, was that of impressment. Beside the insult of England's claim to the right to scarch American vessels for supposi- titious English sailors, gross outrages were perpetrated, and for which it seems there was no relief. Lord Castlereagh, British minister of foreign affairs, ad- mitted on the floor of the House of Commons that, at the beginning of 1811, there were sixteen hundred bona fide American sailors serving under compul- sion in the British navy. Add to this that the captain of every British mer- chantmen claimed and exercised the right to impress from weaker American vessels such seamen as he desired, it is but little wonder that a feeling of indignation filled the breast of every honest American against the insolent tyranny of the government that upheld such a disgraceful and unlawful custom.
The Democratic party, which was in the ascendant, was known as the War party and the Federalists as the Peace party. The president and a majority of his cabinet, though Democrats, were opposed to a declaration of war. But the strength of the party in Congress and the rising storm of expressed indig- nation on the part of the people, brought about a determination that war should be declared at an early day, as all attempts at a pacific adjustment of the differences had signally failed, Great Britain arrogantly refusing to concede
179
FROM THE REVOLUTION TO 1815.
her " rights" to impress seamen from American vessels, and insisting upon other as audacious privileges.
On the 19th of June, 1812, President Madison formally declared war against Great Britain. The Federalists, in their apathy and sometimes antagonistic actions, were a paralyzing influence at the very beginning upon the aims and proceedings of the Democrats or War party. Nevertheless, active measures were inaugurated, and, too, upon no insignificant scale. The results of these plans can be but briefly reviewed, as but little occurred in the vicinity of War- ren county in consequence of the war.
For nearly two years the United States attempted to carry on the war on the offensive plan ; but owing to various causes, the attempt was unsuccessful upon the whole. The entire sea coast was alive with British cruisers, and every port was menaced. Consequently the people of each of the sea-board cities sought their own protection, and devoted their attention to arranging for the defense of their own towns. While in nearly every naval contest between the English and Americans the latter were victorious, the former, possessed of a much larger fleet, were enabled to terrorize the whole coast.
One of the early war measures entertained, like many undertaken during the Revolution, was an invasion of Canada. Steps were taken to gather forces along the frontier of Northern New York and thence westward to Michigan. These were arranged in three divisions. The northwestern division assembled at Detroit; the central, under command of General Stephen Van Rensselaer, had its headquarters at Lewiston, on the Niagara River; while the eastern made its rendezvous on the western shore of Lake Champlain, in the vicinity of Plattsburg. A naval force was also placed upon the lakes.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.