USA > New York > Genesee County > History of the Genesee country (western New York) comprising the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, Volume I > Part 37
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General Brown, believing that General Miller might be pressed too hotly by the enemy, ordered Ripley with the Twenty-first In-
5 L. I. Babcock, who tells this story in "The Siege of Fort Erie," N. Y. Historical Society Report, Vol. VIII, p. 57, suspects that it may be an after-war campaign story, but there appears to be ample corroboration.
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fantry to advance; in this movement Ripley was seriously wounded and taken to the rear. Miller, with a tactician's prac- ticed eye, seeing that nothing further could be effected in the face of an increasing resistance, began to arrange an orderly retreat toward the fort. The commanding general, satisfied that the specific object of the sortie was accomplished, ordered the other forces back; the offending batteries had been destroyed, and 1,000 of the enemy killed, wounded and made prisoners. The American losses were seventy-nine killed, 216 wounded, and about the same number missing. Twelve of our officers were killed, twenty-two wounded, and ten missing; this loss of effective officers was a serious blow to our small garrison. General Drummond in his reports converted the retreat of the Americans into a rout, and claimed a victory, but a review of his reports shows that he was a master hand at military letter writing, and an adept in making victories out of minor actions. Inasmuch as our sortie accomplished its object, and that it was not designed to hold the ground, there can be no question but that the laurels of victory belonged to the American arms. On the 21st Drummond retired to his position on the Chippewa River, leaving some of his supplies at Fort Erie and burning others at his depot on Frenchman's Creek. His retreat to a base in the rear shows more pointedly than the words of his official report how seriously the sortie affected his military position; it practically closed the heavy fight- ing on the Niagara frontier. It had been a Niagara-Genesee cam- paign and was fought largely by militia from these districts. The volunteers who had served faithfully so long were now dismissed and allowed to return home, the loudest and most sincere praise being given them for their steadiness and bravery. General Brown's testimony conveyed in a letter to Governor Tompkins may be quoted: "The militia of New York have redeemed their character-they behaved gallantly." The British report read differently and Drummond wrote of the "repulse of the American army of 5,000 men by an inconsiderable number of British troops." Quite in another strain was General Brown's report, in which he wrote to the secretary of war, "Thus one thousand regu- lars and an equal portion of militia in one hour of close action blasted the hopes of the enemy, destroyed the fruits of fifty days' labor, and diminished his effective force one thousand men, at least." The victories of Chippewa, Niagara Falls and Fort Erie
33-Vol. I
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were soon followed by another, this time on the northern front, that of the battle of Plattsburg, September 17, 1814, fought to a finish, indeed, while the struggle at Fort Erie was in process. Of this we should know more because of its importance in the history of the northern frontier.
While Brown was holding Fort Erie, there was much concern in the War Department as to the ability of so small a garrison to hold out in the face of Drummond's increasing forces; this re- sulted in orders to General George Izard to abandon his northern post at Plattsburg, which the presence of large bodies of British troops at Montreal was making untenable, and march with 5,000 men to relieve the Niagara frontier. Izard started, and reaching Sackett's Harbor on September 17th, he found a letter awaiting him from General Brown, stating that the effective forces at Fort Erie were not more than 2,000, and urging him to effect a junc- tion with his army at Buffalo. Brown said that Porter might raise 3,000 volunteers, but he added: "I will not conceal from you that I consider the fate of this army very doubtful unless speedy relief is afforded." That letter reached Izard the very day of the successful sortie at Fort Erie, though, of course, the slow progress of mails prevented his learning this good news. He did, however, hear from General McComb concerning the successful repulse of the British at Plattsburg. The north being safe, he resolved to embark on Chauncey's fleet with 2,500 infantry, at the same time directing that his dragoons, mounted and dismounted, with the light artillery, march overland by way of Onondaga.
General Izard and his infantry reached the Genesee River on September 21st and disembarked the next day. On the 24th they marched over the muddy roads, reaching Lewiston over the Ridge road eleven days later (October 5). The appearance of Izard and his swarm of troops at Lewiston was totally unexpected by the British on the opposite shore, and, had there been boats available, he might easily have captured a British battalion at Queenston.
In consultation with Generals Brown and Porter that evening, he revealed his design to attack Fort Niagara. Outranking Gen- eral Brown, Izard assumed command of all troops, about 8,000 in number. Leaving Colonel Hindman with a garrison to hold Fort Erie, Izard and his men moved on toward Chippewa and en- deavored to draw the enemy into an engagement. Drummond, however, preferred to retire to Fort George and Burlington
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Heights. There were some minor exchanges and stores were de- stroyed. Izard saw that there was little use of continuing the Niagara campaign so late in the year, and soon fell back to Black Rock, abandoning the Canadian invasion. Most of the troops were sent into winter quarters and Fort Erie was blown up.
It must not be thought that all fighting was done along the Niagara. This is far from the case, for the British had swarmed the seas with their ships and were blockading our coasts. One of their plans was to attack and burn the capitol at Washington, and dictate a peace on their own terms. The British fleet arrived on August 17. Their forces were adequate to overcome almost any resistance that Americans might offer, and they made the most of their advantage. The American flotilla at Pig Point was quickly destroyed; this left the British only sixteen miles from Washing- ton. At Bladensburg our forces under General Stansbury were defeated, and at 8 o'clock on August 24th the British entered Washington. Here their vandalism knew no bounds; they burned the capitol, the national library and the state records ; other public buildings were burned and the President's house was destroyed. Alexandria capitulated, and the British army under General Ross was soon on its way to Baltimore, where a fight took place on September 11th. Here our forces were driven back to a more secure position and the British immediately saw that it was un- wise to attempt to dislodge them. Fort McHenry, defending the harbor, endured an attack, but the British, after an all-night bom- bardment, could not demolish it. It was a tense situation; had McHenry fallen, the British would have destroyed Baltimore. After their assault, and a fight through the night, the dawn of the 30th showed that "OUR FLAG WAS STILL THERE." This wonderful news inspired Francis Scott Key to write his famous anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." The British, failing to penetrate further, sailed away and abandoned their expedition, leaving Maryland and the District of Columbia to recover from their misfortunes. We had lost a national capitol and had gained a national hymn. The humiliation of having the capitol of the nation desecrated by the enemy followed upon the invasion of Maine, where Commodore Hardy had descended upon the coast and forced the inhabitants to pledge allegiance to the British crown (July 11th). A month later the Governor of New Bruns- wick, with the aid of Admiral Griffith, issued a proclamation de-
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claring the country east of the Penobscot to be British territory, and, indeed, the British continued to occupy this area until the close of the war. It was not so easy to invade Connecticut, and, though Commodore Hardy ascended the river, he found no friends among the inhabitants. In his attack on Stonington he was re- pulsed, even the women assisting in the fight.
During the months of July and August, the British army in Canada was increased by a considerable body of troops from the European stage, and especially by detachments that had served under Lord Wellington on the Spanish peninsula. Sir George Prevost determined to use this picked body of men, steeled to con- flict and nerved by their successes, to invade northern New York. If success crowned his venture, he might penetrate the Champlain Valley, reach the Hudson and successfully press on to New York City. This had been Burgoyne's project, and Prevost's enterprise was to be the same. A portion of his baggage consisted of arms and clothing for traitors and deserters whom he hoped to pick up and equip. This hope had been stimulated by smugglers and blockade runners, who had courted British favor by tales of the hosts of dissatisfied Americans who would be ready when the British came. It will be remembered that the departure of Gen- eral George Izard to Fort Erie had left Plattsburg depleted of troops. This fact was well known to Prevost, who, upon entering United States territory on September 3rd, issued a proclamation stating that his mission was with the government and not against the inhabitants not engaged in actual warfare against the crown. It was an insinuating proposition and reacted exactly contrary to British expectations. Instead of causing Americans to look to Prevost as a friend and protector, it caused them to rise in indig- nation to repel a dangerous foe, who had suggested that they separate themselves from the government under which they lived. Sir George, with a mighty army of 14,000 men, marched on to Plattsburg. To avoid congestion, the army marched in two columns, one with the heavy baggage and artillery moved over the lake road, and the other, under command of General Brisbane, over the Beekmantown trail. Small American detachments cut trees as impediments to rapid travel, and others employed their time in destroying bridges and otherwise hampering the march. On the 6th of September, Major Wool with a small body of Amer- ican regulars met the vanguard of the British seven miles north
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of Plattsburg and an engagement followed, the Americans killing and wounding 120 of the enemy, while sustaining a loss of forty- five. Wool wisely retreated before the vastly superior force, and that night Sir George bivouacked at Plattsburg. Wool retreated to the south side of the Saranc, where he was able to maintain his position.
Plattsburg is situated on the north side of the Saranac River near its junction with Lake Champlain. The American base was on the southern side of the river, just opposite the village. The American army there was in charge of General Alexander Ma- comb, the son of a Detroit fur trader, who had taken up his resi- dence in New York. A true nobleman and an able military leader, he was destined, after the death of General Brown, to become the commander-in-chief of the United States army. Macomb had worked diligently to strengthen his positions and to fortify Cum- berland Head. The news that the British were coming speeded action, and, by working day and night, when the enemy arrived Macomb and his men were ready. Forts Brown, Moreau and Scott were situated at the entrance of the "head," Brown being on the Saranac, Moreau a little to the east and in the center, and Scott on the bank of Champlain. There were also several block houses, one being directly on Plattsburg Bay. Macomb's plan was to create a friendly rivalry and sense of responsibility among his troops, and this he did by dividing them into distinct bodies, charged with the duty of defending their own positions to the last drop of blood and energy within them. Opposed to our army were the veteran leaders, De Rottenburg, Robinson, Brisbane and Baynes, and it was not by land alone but by water that our strong- hold was to be attacked. The British squadron was commanded by Commodore Downie and Captain Pring, the latter of whom was soon to learn that he had a foe worthy of his steel; this was McDonough. September 11, 1814, is a day in American history to be remembered. Its dawn found a hostile army of 14,000 men in battle array, and revealed a British squadron off Plattsburg Bay with ninety-five guns and a fighting personnel of a thousand; the utmost strength of the Americans was a land force of 2,000, and a flotilla comprising the Saratoga, Eagle, Ticonderoga and Preble, with ten galleys, with an equipment of eighty-seven guns and 820 men. Confident of success, the British had formed the frigate Confidence (flagship), the brig Linnet (Captain Pring),
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the Chub, the Finch, and twenty gunboats in line of battle facing the Americans only 300 yards away.
Macdonough, taking in the situation, arranged his boats with great care, and then knelt on the deck of his ship, Saratoga, with his officers and men, and committed his fortunes to the care of the Almighty. Soon the enemy's fleet bore down upon him, the Eagle opening with a broadside. The Saratoga responded with a long shot from a 24-pounder, sighted by Macdonough himself. That shot swept the deck of the Confidence, killing several men and demolishing the wheel. The Linnet directed its course toward the Eagle, giving the Saratoga a broadside as she passed, but doing no more damage than smashing a hen coop and releasing a young game cock, which mounted a gun and, flapping its wings, crowed with all its lustiness, a grotesque incident, which, nevertheless, was received with cheers as a good omen. The Confidence, silent for awhile, aimed her guns well and suddenly let them loose-a broadside of sixteen 24s-straight for Macdonough's Saratoga; every ball struck and the Saratoga quivered from stem to stern; forty men were killed or disabled. The Saratoga was ready, and answered with a volley, one ball striking the muzzle of a 24 on the Confidence, lifting it bodily and hurling it against Commodore Downie, killing him instantly. It was not long before the Sara- toga became quite disabled and obliged to use her larboard guns against the Confidence. This was done with such good effect that the British flagship soon struck. The Saratoga then directed her fire upon the Linnet, which after fifteen minutes also struck. The Ticonderoga, having been chased out by the gunboats, was fight- ing desperately, but, seeing that the leading ships of their squad- ron had surrendered, the smaller boats gave up the fight and hauled down their flags. The fight had lasted two hours and twenty minutes, and in that time both squadrons had literally been shot to pieces, so much so that Macdonough had no ships with which to pursue the fleeing galleys.
In the meantime Prevost and his men were pouring out shot upon the American works south of the Saranac. He made many brave attempts to cross the river, but each time was repulsed.
When the British squadron struck, Sir George began his re- treat, leaving killed, wounded and missing to the number of 1,500 men, while our losses were thirty-seven killed, sixty-two wounded and twenty missing. The precipitate retreat of Prevost so dis-
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gusted some of his seasoned officers that a number broke their swords and threw them away, declaring that never again would they serve in the British army. The Americans now controlled the northern front and Champlain was an American lake. The enemy's fleet was towed to the head of the lake and burned and sunk off Whitehall. The story of this battle is worthy of a de- tailed account and all patriotic citizens should study it. We mention it briefly, for our field is rather that of the Genesee- Niagara area. Nevertheless, the battle of Plattsburg is an essen- tial part of the story of the war on all fronts, for it marked the end of British confidence, and led to the abandonment of their policy of attempting to batter down American morale to the point that when peace was sought, Great Britain should be able to dic- tate its terms, with but feeble protest from America. Not so now, with 14,000 seasoned veterans fleeing before 2,000 American militiamen and regulars, and a strong British squadron com- pletely destroyed in a fair fight. Never were men acclaimed with more enthusiasm than Macdonough and Macomb and their men. Their services and heroism did much to inspire the country with a new sense of confidence and solidarity; again, the defeat of the British fleet and the flight of Prevost encountered unqualified cen- sure from British sentiment, and a profound sense of humiliation. The British had abandoned stores worth half a million dollars and the fruitless expedition had cost their government five times as much more. This was the money loss alone, and takes no account of the destruction of the spirit of the army. Prevost was dis- missed in dishonor, and never lived to clear his name. It must in justice be said that the British fought with great valor, and that defeat is one of the fortunes of war; brave men make mis- takes, and great soldiers at times fail. Let it be remembered, however, that Macdonough and Macomb, though sorely pressed, did not fail. Their example should be an inspiration while the republic lives.
There was fighting on land and sea during the autumn and winter of 1814, but no engagement ranked with that of the battle of New Orleans, in which General Andrew Jackson with a small force defeated the British regulars in a conflict lasting from December 22d to January 8th. Two thousand British soldiers were killed and wounded, while our loss was but six killed and seven wounded. It was a needless fight on the part of the enemy,
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and, had there been telegraphs and cables in those days, it would not have transpired. Peace had already been arranged when the battle was fought. Not until February 13 did messengers arrive telling that peace had been consummated in December at Ghent. The treaty was signed on Christmas eve, 1814, and when the news arrived there was great rejoicing. The treaty did not give us all that we demanded and for which we contended, but it did settle the boundary dispute, and the demonstrated power to cope with Great Britain secured for us a respect that prevented the recur- rence of the insults and encroachments which we had endured. It was only after the War of 1812 that the Genesee Country be- came known as the paradise of the western world, attracting to its inviting acres thousands of new settlers and building up a citizenship that now makes it a land beyond compare for millions of happy people.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE COUNTY OF ONTARIO.
At the close of the Revolutionary war, Massachusetts and New York both asserted the right, under royal grant, to land in west- ern New York. The rival claims were adjusted by the Hartford convention of December 16, 1786. A history of this dispute and its final settlement is given elsewhere in this work, but it is neces- sary to make a brief reference to it here, in order to understand how Ontario County came into existence. By the Hartford com- promise, Massachusetts was given the preemption right to all land west of a line "beginning on the northern boundary of Pennsyl- vania, eighty-two miles west of the northeast corner of that state, and running due north to Lake Ontario, except a strip one mile wide along the Niagara River." This was known as the "pre- emption line," destined to play a conspicuous part in the subse- quent history of western New York.
Phelps and Gorham, representing themselves and a group of other men, consummated the purchase from Massachusetts of a part of the lands west of this line and mostly east of the Genesee River, and they immediately took steps to extinguish the Indian title and induce white persons to purchase and settle upon the lands. They sent William Walker to open an office at Canan- daigua for the sale of the land to the settlers; it is said that this was the first office of its kind in America. In the instructions to Walker, under date of August 21, 1888, the proprietors said : "We expect the townships on the east line of the purchase will sell at an average of 1s 5d lawful money of Massachusetts per acre; but of that we cannot be quite competent judges until the town- ships are further explored; therefore you are to dispose of them (if any purchasers present) in the best manner you can, provided that the poorest township is not sold under one-sixth of a dollar per acre. The lands upon the Genesee River are to be considered as more valuable, and we think that they will undoubt-
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edly average one-third of a dollar per acre." On October 5, 1788, Walker reported sales as follows: "To Gen'l Chapin & Capt. Dickinson No. 10 first tier at 1s 10d per acre; to Gen'l Chapin & Capt. Noble No. 11 second tier at 1s 10d per acre; and to the same Gentlemen No. 10 second tier at 1s 8d, all N. York Currency. I have likewise sold to Messrs. Talmage & Bartle in No. 14 in the first tier about half a township, at 1s 7d, all the cash to be paid by 1st next May. A number of other towns are exploring by dif- ferent gent'm in view of purchasing; in fine the prospects of a rapid settlement is as great as could reasonably be expected."
Walker was accompanied by General Israel Chapin, who had been commissioned to explore the country. After building a small log house for the storage of supplies, the two men examined the streams to the north and east of Canandaigua Lake for a route over which settlers could reach the lands of the new purchase by water.
Although Massachusetts owned the preemption rights, New York retained sovereignty and jurisdiction over the territory. On January 27, 1789, the Legislature passed an act providing that "all that part of the County of Montgomery which lies westward of a line drawn due north to Lake Ontario from the mile-stone or monument marked 82, and standing on the line of division between this state and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, shall be one separate and distinct county and called and known by the name of Ontario."
Passing reference should be made here to a daring scheme of certain individuals of influence and standing who formed an asso- ciation styled the "New York Genesee Land Company" in 1787-8, and secured from the Indians a 999-year lease of "all the land commonly known as the lands of the Six Nations in the State of New York," at an annual rent of 2,000 Spanish milled dollars. There was involved in the scheme no less a purpose than the erec- tion from the territory embraced within the least of a new com- monwealth to be set off from New York State. The persons pro- moting it are known in the history of the state as the lessees, and were guilty of a flagrant evasion of the spirit of the law which prohibited intrusion upon Indian lands. Governor Clinton and the Legislature acted promptly and energetically, which course, as O'Reilly expresses it, "at once crushed the adventurous project and destroyed the embryo state."
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In 1796, in spite of earnest opposition, the Legislature began the work of subdividing the county, first setting off Steuben County, at the instance of Charles Williamson, who, as the repre- sentative of the Pulteney-Hornby-Colquhoun syndicate, had re- cently established headquarters at Bath. Steuben County at that time had a population of not much over 1,000, but doubled it within the next four years.
In March, 1802, Ontario was again deprived of a very con- siderable part of its territory, by the creation of Genesee County, which consisted of all that part of the state west of the Genesee River and west of the western boundary of Steuben County. At this point it is interesting to note the wonderful rapidity with which this western wilderness was being populated. Ontario County had only 1,075 inhabitants the year following her erec- tion. Ten years later, in 1800, in spite of the loss suffered in the setting off of Steuben, she had a population of 15,218. In 1810 what was left of Ontario's original area had a population of over 42,000 and Genesee had 12,588.
The next successful attempt to deprive Ontario County of ter- ritory was in 1821, when both Livingston and Monroe counties were formed from Ontario and Genesee.
In 1823 two more sections of Ontario County were cut off, one on the southeast, to constitute the County of Yates, and an- other section was united to a part of Seneca, to form the new County of Wayne.
Two small additions are to be noted, however, while these re- peated diminutions of the territory in the original County of Ontario were going on. On February 21, 1791, a strip of Mont- gomery County embraced in the "Gore" between the first and the later preemption line was annexed to Ontario County, and in 1814 a small tract in the fork of Crooked or Keuka Lake was taken back from Steuben County. This also is now a part of Yates County.
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