USA > New York > Erie County > Sardinia > History of the original town of Concord : being the present towns of Concord, Collins, N. Collins, and Sardinia, Erie County, New York > Part 8
USA > New York > Erie County > Collins > History of the original town of Concord : being the present towns of Concord, Collins, N. Collins, and Sardinia, Erie County, New York > Part 8
USA > New York > Erie County > Concord > History of the original town of Concord : being the present towns of Concord, Collins, N. Collins, and Sardinia, Erie County, New York > Part 8
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The Indians came to Main street before the British troops, which were drawn up near the corner of Morgan, Mohawk and
78
THE FIRE-KILLED AND WOUNDED.
Niagara streets. The savages had apparently full license to do what they pleased in the way of plundering, though some British officers went ahead and had the casks of liquor stove in to prevent their red allies from getting entirely beyond control.
Presently flames burst forth from the houses in the main part of the village near the corner of Main and Seneca streets. A Lieutenant with a squad of men went from house to house applying the torch. By 3 o'clock in the afternoon all of the lately flourishing village of Buffalo, save some six or eight structures, was smouldering in ashes. What few houses there were at Black Rock were likewise destroyed, and the enemy then retired across the river. The foe took with them about ninety prisoners, of whom eleven were wounded. Forty of the ninety were from Blakeslie's regiment. Besides these a con- siderable number of American wounded were able to escape- probably fifty or sixty. Forty or fifty were killed; most of them lay on the field of battle, but some were scattered through the upper part of the village. Among the slain the officer of the highest rank was Colonel Boughton, of Avon. In Erie county, reckoning according to present division of towns, the killed were Job Noysington, John Roop, Samuel Holmes, John Trsket, James Nesbet, Robert Franklin (colored), Mr. Myers and Mr. Lovejoy, of Buffalo : Robert Nilland, Adam Lawfer, of Black Rock ; Jacob Vantine, Jr., of Clarence ; Moses Fenno, of Alden : Israel Reed, of Aurora; Newman Baker, Parley Moffat and William Cheeseman, of Hamburgh and East Ham- burgh ; Maj. William C. Dudley, and probably Peter Hoffman, of Evans, and Calvin Cary, of Boston.
Calvin Cary, oldest son of the pioneer Deacon Richard Cary, though only twenty-one years of age, was a man of gigantic stature and herculean strength, weighing nearly three hundred pounds. Pursued by three Indians, he shot one dead, killed another with his clubbed musket, but was shot, tomahawked and scalped by the third. His broken musket, which was found by his side and testified to his valor, is still preserved by his kindred.
During all that day (the 30th of December), the road through Williamsville and Clarence was crowded with a hurrying and heterogenous multitude - bands of militiamen, families in
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THE ENEMY RETIRES.
sleighs, women driving ox-sleds, men in wagons, cavalrymen on horseback, women on foot bearing infants in their arms and attended by crying children-all animated by a single thought. to escape from the enemy and especially from the dreaded Indians.
On the Big Tree road (running cast through Hamburg and Aurora to the Genesee river) the scene was still more diversi- fied, for in addition to the mixed multitude which poured along the northern route, was the whole body of Indians from the Buffalo reservation. Mr. Turner, the author of the " History of the Holland Purchase," then a youth residing in Sheldon. Wyoming county, gives the following picture of the scene from personal recollection :
"An ox-sled would come along bearing wounded soldiers, whose companions had perhaps pressed the slow team into their service : another with the family of a settler, a few household goods that had been hustled upon it, and one, two or three wearied females from Buffalo, who had begged the privilege of a ride and the rest that it afforded; then a remnant of some dispersed corps of militia with the arms they had neglected to use ; then squads and families of Indians, on foot and on pon- ies, the squaw with her papoose on her back, and a bevy of juvenile Senecas in her train. Bread, meats and drinks soon vanished from the log taverns on the routes, and fleeing set- tlers divided their scanty stores with the almost famished that came from the frontiers."
When it was found that the enemy had retired, curiosity induced many men from the nearest towns to visit the ruins.
Others went to render what assistance they could, and still others, alas, to take advantage of the universal confusion and purloin whatever might have been left by the invaders. A few went on the 31st of December, more on the Ist of January. On the former day everything was quiet. On the latter, as the few remaining citizens and some from the country were staring at the ghastly ruins, a detachment of the enemy sud- denly appeared, making prisoners of most of them. They then fired all the remaining buildings except the jail, which would not burn, Reese's blacksmith shop and Mrs. St. John's cottage.
A day or two after the second raid the people assembled and
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RELIEF FOR THE SUFFERERS.
picked up the dead bodies and brought them to Reese's black- smith shop. The number is variously stated, but the most careful account makes it forty-two killed, besides some who were not found (Hoysington was not found until Spring), and some prominent persons like Colonel Boughton, who were taken care of earlier. At the shop they were laid in rows, a ghastly display, all being frozen stiff and most of them stripped and scalped. After those belonging in the vicinity had been taken away by their friends, the rest were deposited in a single large grave in the old burying ground on Franklin Square (where the city and county buildings now are), covered only with boards, so they could be easily examined and taken away.
On the 6th of January, just a week after the main conflagra- tion, William Hodge brought his family back, it being the first that returned ; Pomeroy came immediately afterwards and raised the first building in the new Village of Buffalo. Soldiers were stationed in the village and as time wore on people began to feel more safe ; but the Winter was one of intense excite- ment and distress. Twice during the Winter, small squads of the enemy crossed the river but were driven back by the soldiers and citizens without much fighting. Most of the people who came back had nothing to live on save what was issued to them by the commissary department of the army. The suffering would have been even greater than it was had not prompt measures of relief been taken by the public author- ities and citizens of more fortunate localities. The legislature voted $40,000 in aid of the devastated district, besides $5,000 to the Tuscarora Indians, and $5,000 to residents of Canada, driven out on account of their friendship for the United States. The city of Albany voted $1,000, and the city of New York $3,000. The citizens of Canandaigua appointed a committee of relief who raised a considerable amount there and sent com- munications soliciting aid to all the country eastward. They were promptly responded to, and liberal contributions raised throughout the state. With this aid, and that of the Commis- sary department, and the assistance of personal friends, those who remained on the frontier managed to live through the woeful Winter.
81
ARRIVAL OF WINFIELD SCOTT.
CHAPTER XIII. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1814.
Soldiers' Graves-Scott and Brown-Discipline at Buffalo-The Death Penalty- Capture of Fort Erie-Approaching Chippewa-An Indian Battle-A Retreat-Victory-Scalps-Advance to Fort George-Return-Lundy's Lane-Retreat to Fort Erie-Bridgewater-Battle of Conjockety Creek- Assault on Fort Erie-The Explosion-Call for Volunteers-The Res- ponse - The Sortie- Gallantry of the Volunteers - General Porter - Peace.
As Spring approached, the frontier began to revive. More troops appeared, and their presence caused the paying out of considerable sums of money among the inhabitants. There was a ready market for produce at large prices.
Williamsville was the rendezvous for the troops. There was a long row of barracks, parallel with the main street of that village and a short distance north of it, and others used as a hospital, a mile or so up the Eleven-Mile creek.
Near these latter, and close beside the murmuring waters of the stream, rest several scores of soldiers who died in that hospital, all unknown, their almost imperceptible graves marked only by a row of maples, long since planted by some reverent hand.
On the Ioth of April there arrived on the frontier a stately young warrior, whose presence was already considered a har- binger of victory, and whose shoulders had lately been adorned by the epaulets of a brigadier-general. This was Winfield Scott, then thirty years old, and the beau ideal of a gallant soldier.
Immediately afterwards came his superior officer, Major- General Brown, who had been rapidly advanced to the highest rank, on the strength of the vigor and skill he had shown as a commander at the foot of Lake Ontario.
Bodies of regular troops and some volunteers continued to concentrate at Williamsville and Buffalo. Scott removed his headquarters to the latter place toward the last of May, where 5
82
THE PENALTY OF DESERTION.
the troops were encamped amid the ruins. Great efforts were made to introduce rigid discipline. The men were under con- stant drill, and desertion was mercilessly punished.
Among the reminiscences of that era, no scene appears to have been more vividly impressed on the minds of the relators than the one which was displayed near the present corner of Maryland and Sixth streets, on the 4th of June, 1814.
Five men, convicted of desertion, knelt with bandaged eyes and pinioned arms, each with an open coffin before him and a new-made grave behind him.
Twenty paces in front stood a platoon of men, detailed to inflict the supreme penalty of military law. The whole army was drawn up on three sides in a hollow square, to witness the execution, the artillerymen standing by their lighted matches, ready to suppress a possible mutiny, while Generals Brown, Scott and Ripley sat upon their horses, surrounded by their brilliant staffs, looking sternly on the scene. Then the firing party did their deadly work, four men fell in their coffins or their graves, but one youth under twenty-one was unhurt. He sprang up, wrenched loose his pinioned arms, and tore the bandage from his eyes. Two men advanced to extinguish the last remains of life in those who had fallen.
He supposed they were about to dispatch him, and fell fainting to the ground.
He was taken away without further injury. Doubtless it had been determined to spare him on account of his youth, and therefore his supposed executioners had been furnished with unloaded muskets.
The work of preparation went forward not very rapidly. On the 28th of June a statement appeared in the Gazette that the rumors of an immediate advance which had been in circula- tion were not true, and that the transportation of the army was not ready. This was not inserted by order, for on the 3rd of July the advance began. Brown's force consisted of two brigades of regulars, under Generals Scott and Ripley, and one of volunteers under General Porter. This was composed of five hundred Pennsylvanians, six hundred New York volun- teers, all of whom had not arrived when the movement began, and nearly six hundred Indians.
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SURRENDER OF THE FORT.
Six hundred was almost the entire strength of the Six Nations, and these had been gathered from all reservations in Western New York. It is probable that the great age of Far- mer's Brother prevented him from crossing. Acting as a pri- vate in the ranks was Red Jacket, the principal and leader of the Six Nations, who, notwithstanding the timidity usually attributed to him, was unwilling to stay behind whilethis countrymen were winning glory on the field of carnage. Col. Robert Fleming was quartermaster of this peculiar bat- talion.
Fort Erie was garrisoned by a hundred and seventy British soldiers. The main body of the enemy was at Chippewa, two miles above the falls and eighteen miles below the fort.
On the end of July, Brown, Scott and Porter reconnoitred Fort Erie and concerted the plan of attack. Ripley, with a part of his brigade, was to embark at Buffalo in the night and land a mile up the lake from the fort. Scott, with his brigade, was to cross from Black Rock, and land a mile below Fort Erie, which, in the morning, both brigades were to invest and capture.
Scott and Ripley both started at the time appointed, but as in most military operations depending on concert of action be- tween separate corps, there was a difficulty not foreseen. Rip- ley's pilot was misled by a fog on the lake and his command did not land until several hours past time. Scott. however, crossed promptly and was able to invest the fort with his brigade alone. At sunrise the artillery and Indians crossed at the fer- ry, and after some parleying the fort surrendered, without awaiting an attack.
The afternoon of the 3rd, Scott marched several miles down the Niagara, and on the morning of the 4th, drove in the enemy's advanced posts. He was followed by Brown and Rip- ley, and both brigades established themselves on the south side of Street's creek, two miles south of Chippewa. On the left. three-fourths of a mile from Niagara, was a dense and some- what swampy forest on both sides of Street's creek, extending to within three-fourths of a mile of Chippewa creek, which was bordered for that purpose by a level cleared plain. On the north side of that creek, the British army lay intrenched. The
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ADVANCING TOWARD THE ENEMY.
two armies were concealed from each other's sight by a narrow strip of woodland, reaching from the main forest to within a hundred yards of the river bank.
During the night of the 4th, the Americans were much an- noyed by Indians and Canadians lurking in the forest, who drove in their pickets and threatened their flanks.
Late that night General Porter crossed the river with his Indians and Pennsylvanians, and in the morning marched to- ward Chippewa. He was met on the road by General Brown, who spoke of the manner in which he had been annoyed by lurkers in the forest, and proposed that Porter should drive them out, declaring confidently that there would be no British regulars south of the Chippewa that day. Still, he said, he would order Scott to occupy the open ground beyond Street's creek in support of Porter. The latter accepted the proposition of his chief, and at three o'clock started to put it in execution.
The Indians assumed their usual full battle-dress, of mantur- nipline, breech-clout, moccasins, feathers and paint, and the war- chiefs then proceeded to elect a leader. Their choice fell on Captain Pollard, a veteran of Wyoming and many other fights.
Porter left two hundred of his Pennsylvanians in camp, think- ing their presence needless, and formed the other three hun- dred into one rank on the open ground, half a mile south of Street's creek, their left resting on the forest. The whole five or six hundred Indians were also formed in one rank in the woods, their right reaching to the left of the whites. General Porter stationed himself between the two wings of his com- mand, with Captain Pollard on his left. He was also attended by two or three staff officers, by Hank Johnson, the interpreter, and by several regular officers, who had volunteered to see the fun. Red Jacket was on the extreme left of the Indian line. A company of regular infantry followed as a reserve. The war- chiefs took their places twenty yards in front of their braves, and a few scouts were sent still further in advance.
Then, at a given signal, the whole line moved forward, the whites marching steadily with shouldered arms on the plain, the naked Indians gliding through the forest with cat-like tread, their bodies bent forward, their rifles held ready for instant
85
INDIAN MANOEUVRING.
use, their feathers nodding at every step, their fierce eyes flashing in every direction. Suddenly one of the chiefs made a signal, and the whole line of painted warriors sank to the ground as quickly and as noiselessly as the sons of Clan Alpine at the command of Roderick Dhu. This manœuvre was a part of their primitive tactics, and the chiefs rapidly assembled to consult over some report brought back by a scout. At another signal the warriors sprang up and the feather-crested line again moved through the forest. The manœuvre was repeated when the scouts brought back word that the enemy was await- ing them on the north bank of Street's creek, General Porter was informed of this fact and made some slight changes in his arrangements, and again the line advanced with increased speed.
As the Indians approached the creek, they received the fire of a force of British Indians and Canadians stationed there. They instantly raised a war-whoop that resounded far over the Niagara, and charged at the top of their speed. The foc at once fled. The Iroquois dashed through the little stream and bounded after them. whooping, yelling, shooting, cleaving sculls and tearing off scalps like so many demons. Many were overtaken, but few captured. Occasionally, however, a Seneca or Cayuga would seize an enemy, unwind his maturnipline, bind him with surprising quickness and then go trotting back to the rear, holding one end of the maturnip as a man might lead a horse by the halter.
Such speed and bottom were displayed by the Indians that neither the regulars nor volunteers were able to keep up with them. For more than a mile the pursuit was maintained in the words of General Porter, "through scenes of frightful havoc."
At length the Indians who had got considerable in advance, emerged upon the open ground three-quarters of a mile from Chippewa creek, where they were received with a tremendous fire from the greater part of the British regular army, drawn in line of battle on the plain.
It looked as if General Riall had determined to attack the Americans, and had sent forward his light troops to bring on a battle, expecting, probably, that the whole American force would get exhausted in pursuit, and become an easy prey to his fresh battalion.
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FLEEING IN CONFUSION.
The fact that the pursuit was carried on by the American light troops and Indians alone broke up, and, in fact, reversed this programme. The warriors quickly fled from the destruct- ive fire in front.
General Porter, supposing that it came from the force they had been pursuing, rallied the greater part of them, formed them again on the left of his volunteers and moved forward to the edge of the woods. Again the long red-coated battalions opened fire.
The volunteers stood and exchanged two or three volleys with them, but when the enemy dashed forward with the bay- onet, Porter, seeing nothing of Scott with the supports, gave the order to retreat.
Both whites and Indians fled in the greatest confusion. On came the red-coats at their utmost speed, supposing they had gained another easy victory, and that all that was necessary was to catch the runaways.
The Indians being the best runners and unencumbered with clothing, got ahead in the retreat as they had in the advance, but the whites did their best to keep up with them. The flight continued for a mile, pursuers as well as pursued becoming greatly disorganized, and the speed of the fugitives being acceler- ated by the constant bursting of shells from the enemy's artillery.
Approaching Street's creek, Scott's brigade was found just crossing the bridge and forming line. They took up their posi- tions with the greatest coolness under the fire of the British artillery, but Porter claimed that through the fault of either Scott or Brown, they were very much behind time.
The former General was always celebrated for his prompt- ness, and the fault, if there was one, was probably with Brown. Perhaps he didn't expect Porter's men to run so fast, either going or coming.
The result, however, was as satisfactory as if this precipitate retreat had been planned to draw forward the foe. Ripley's brigade was at once sent off to the left, through the woods, to flank the enemy. The fugitives as they ran also bore to the westward, and Scott's fresh battalion came into line in perfect order, making somewhat merry over the haste of their red and white comrades.
87
THE KILLED AND WOUNDED.
Some of the Indians had taken their sons, from twelve to sixteen years old, into battle to initiate them in the business of war. One of these careful fathers was now seen running at his best speed, with his son on his shoulders. Just as he passed the left flank of Scott's brigade, near where the General and his staff sat on their horses, superintending the formation of the line, a shell burst directly over the head of the panting war- rior. "Ugh," he exclaimed in a voice of terror, bounding sev- eral feet from the ground. As he came down he fell to the earth, and the lad tumbled off. Springing up, the older Indian ran on at still greater speed than before, leaving the youngster to pick himself up and scamper away as best he might. The scene was greeted with a roar of laughter by the young officers around Scott, who rebuked them sharply for their levity.
In a few moments they had plenty of serious work to occupy their attention. The Americans reserved their fire till the enemy was within fifty yards, when they poured in so deadly a volley that the British instantly fell back. They were quickly rallied and led to the attack, but were again met with a terrific fire, under which they retreated in hopeless disorder. Scott pursued them beyond the strip of woods before mentioned, when they fled across the Chippewa into their intrenchments and tore up the bridge, Scott's brigade then lay down on the open plain north of the woods.
By order of General Brown, who was in the midst of the fight, Porter took his 200 reserve Pennsylvanians to the left of Scott's brigade, where they, too, lay down under the fire of the British artillery.
After a while Ripley's brigade came out of the woods cov- ered with mud, having had their march for nothing, as the enemy they had attempted to flank had run away before their flank could be reached. It not being deemed best to attack the foe in his intrenchments, directly in front, the Americans returned at nightfall to their encampment.
The battle of Chippewa was the first, during the war of 1812, in which a large body of British regulars were defeated in the open field, and the Americans were immensely encouraged by it. Enlistment thereafter was much more rapid than before. The total British loss, as officially reported, was 514, of whom
88
INDIANS RETURNING TO THEIR HOMES.
between one and two hundred were found dead on the field by the victors. About two hundred and fifty were taken prison- ers, mostly wounded. The Americans had about fifty killed, a hundred and forty wounded and a few taken prisoners. The number of American regulars engaged was 1,300. General Porter estimated the British regulars in the fight at 1,700.
The Canadian Indians were so roughly handled that they fled at once to the head of Lake Ontario, and never after took any part in the war.
On the 7th of July, the 600 volunteers from Western New York joined Porter's brigade, I have found no account of how they were organized nor of the localities from which they came.
On the 8th, Ripley's brigade and these New York volunteers forced a passage of the Chippewa, three miles up, quickly driv- ing back the force stationed there. General Riall, finding himself flanked, destroyed his works and retreated rapidly to Queenston and then to Fort George. Brown pursued and took up his quarters at Queenston, but did not deem his force suffi- cient either to assault or besiege the fortress.
On the 16th, Porter's brigade skirmished around the fort, to give the engineers a chance to reconnoitre, but nothing came of it.
Meanwhile, the British received reinforcements and Brown determined to return to Fort Eric. Riall followed. Before arriving at the Falls. most of the Indians, through the arrange- ment of Red Jacket, obtained permission to retire to their homes, agreeing to return if the British Indians should again take the field. But the latter were perfectly satisfied with that terrible drubbing in the Chippewa woods, and never again appeared in arms against the Americans. Nevertheless, some forty or fifty of our Indians remained with the army through- out the campaign.
On the 25th of July, Brown's army encamped near Chippewa creek. Riall was pressing so closely on the American rear that Brown sent back Scott's brigade to check him. Scott met the enemy at Bridgewater, just below the Falls ; sending back word to his superior, the impetuous Virginian led his columns to the attack.
For an hour a desperate battle raged between Scott's single
89
CAPTURE OF MAJOR-GENERAL RIAL.L.
brigade and Riall's army, neither gaining any decided advan- tage. At the end of that time and but a little before night, Brown arrived with the brigades of Ripley and Porter.
Determining to interpose a new line and disengage Scott's exhausted men, he ordered forward the two fresh brigades. The enemy's line was then near " Lundy's Lane," a road run- ning at right angles with the river, which it reaches a short distance below the Falls. His artillery was on a piece of rising ground which was the key of the position.
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