Landmarks of Niagara County, New York, Part 3

Author: Pool, William, 1825-1912, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: [Syracuse] : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 820

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During the Ohio campaign reports of " horrible waste " at the Niag- ara portage were circulated, and as a consequence the transportation business was submitted to competition. The price agreed upon was fifty sous the piece, but M. Duquesne gave his opinion that the con- tractors could make no profit owing to mortality among the horses and other causes. He also stated that the site of the fort at Niagara was to be changed, as the lake was undermining it. Fears that Shirley would capture Niagara that season caused the French great anxiety, Vaudreuil writing that if the English attacked the fort, "'tis theirs." Concerning its condition he wrote as follows :

I am informed that fort is so dilapidated that 'tis impossible to put a peg in it without causing it to crumble ; stanchions have been obliged to be set up against it to support it. It's garrison consists of thirty men without any muskets. Sieur de Villiers has been detained with about 200 men to form a camp of observation there.

Active measures were adopted to strengthen the post in anticipation of Shirley's expedition. Vaudreuil sent orders to Detroit for Indians to be sent here, and M de Foubonne came with the battalion of

Guienne, while Pouchot, the distinguished engineer, came to plan such entrenchments and other works as would place the fort in a good state of defence. After Braddock's defeat, the artillery captured there by the French was sent to Niagara, while Joncaire was busily employed among the Iroquois villages in vain efforts to counteract the influence of Johnson's emissaries. But all these preparations were temporarily unnecessary, on account of Shirley's failure. Had his plans been car- ried out, there is every reason to believe that Niagara would have fallen into the hands of the English in 1755

General Shirley summoned the provincial governors to another council at Albany in December, 1755, where he ardently advocated raising a force of 5,000 troops, who should rendezvous at Oswego, in the spring, to aid in the capture of Niagara and the conquest of the frontier.

In the fall of that year Commissary Doreil gave the following dis- couraging description of the fort at Niagara :

A house surrounded by a little ditch, with stockades or palisades seven or eight feet over the ground, but in such a bad state that most of them fall through rotten- ness, composes what is styled, Fort Niagara.

During this winter the whole force at the fort comprised about 300 men, who labored hard to strengthen the work. Now, in May, 1756, after two years of open hostilities, a formal declaration of war was made between England and France, and the last struggle for supremacy con- tinued. On March 27, 1756, Fort Bull, which guarded the great carrying place from the Mohawk River to Wood Creek, on the route to Oswego, was captured by a body of French and Indians, and a large quantity of stores destined for Oswego were destroyed. It was hoped that this would at least delay the operations of the English against Niagara. Meanwhile another battalion, Bearn's, was sent here, and Vaudreuil took occasion to compliment Pouchot for placing Niagara, " which was abandoned, and beyond making the smallest resistance," in a state of defense ; he continued that "it had thus been made a place of considerable importance, in consequence of the regularity, solidity, and utility of its works." Montcalm, also, that brilliant French military genius, was pleased with the improvements made, and called it " a good fortification," of " horn work with its half moon, covert-way,

and lunettes at the places d'armes re entering from the covert- way. The front of the work is 120 toises."

In the summer of 1756 the French gained in their cause through the capture of Oswego by Montcalm on August 14, thereby securing a large measure of respect and good will from the Indians.1 Moreover, the moral effect of the victory was disastrous to the English, and all offensive operations ceased for a time. It removed what the French regarded as the chief danger to their plans respecting the North Ameri- can continent, and left unbroken their possession of the valleys of the St Lawrence, the great lakes, the Ohio and the Mississippi.

The campaign of 1757 terminated disastrously, leaving the affairs of Great Britain in America in a worse condition than at any former period. Fort William Henry, a strong work at the head of Lake George, fell before Montcalm's army in August, while the French still retained control of Fort Duquesne and the Ohio region. But a change was at hand, which was brought about to a considerable extent by the succession of William Pitt to the prime ministry in England. He was a man of great ability and a devoted friend to the American colonies. He promptly gave assurance that ample forces should be sent over and recommended that the colonists raise as many men for their armies as possible. Large bodies of soldiery were accordingly recruited by the colonies and made ready for the field in the spring of 1758.

Only about 150 men garrisoned Niagara during 1757. The French seemed to believe that its capture by the English was not to be consid- ered at all. In the fall Pouchot went to Montreal where he reported that the fort was completed except some sodding. He had changed the location of some of the buildings. There were two large barracks, one church, one powder magazine, and one store for provisions and merchandise. He said more barracks would be necessary in the course of the winter. Captain Vassan took his place in command at the fort.

General James Abercrombie assumed command of the English forces

1 The capture of Oswego produced the greatest effect upon all the Indian tribes, because the English had affected a decided superiority over us, and by their bragadocio on their power and courage, sought to make the Indians believe that we should not be able to resist them. The -latter saw with what ease we took a post which had as many defenders as assailants, and their brisk cannonade, of which they had never heard the like, did not disturb the French troops. We may say, that since this event, they have redoubled their attachment and friendship for the French .-- Pouchot's Memoirs, Vol. I, p, 70.

in America in 1758, and extensive expeditions were planned. One of these was for the recapture of Oswego; one against Louisberg, which was captured by Maj .- Gen. Jeffrey Amherst; another was against Crown Point and Ticonderoga, to be commanded by Abercrombie in person, who was defeated by Montcalm; and another, which was suc- cessful, against Duquesne. During this year, or part of it, Niagara was left destitute, and measures were adopted for its relief Goods, provis- ions and artillery were to be forwarded, and in fear of the English armed vessels on the lake, M. de Montigue with 500 or 600 men and 20,000 pounds of powder were sent here. But the final and more im- portant operations in this region were left to the succeeding year.

The rapid increase of population in the English colonies and the facility with which they had enlarged their armies, gave the French great anxiety and led some of their authorities in the winter of 1758-9 to express their conviction that it would prove a difficult task to defend Niagara against an attack. One writer declared that the French could not place more than 5,000 or 6,000 men in the field ; and they could not confidently count on their Indian allies. Among their strongholds Niagara was considered most tenable, but it was evident that against a determined assault it could not long hold out. Provisions became very scarce and costly, rations of bread being reduced to a pound and a half and of pork to a quarter of a pound. Horse flesh was issued for food. The courageous Montcalm foresaw the coming disaster and was dis- couraged. On August 12 he wrote from Montreal :

Canada will be taken this campaign, and assuredly during the next, if there be not some unforeseen good luck, a powerful diversion by sea against the English colo- nies, or some gross blunders on the part of the enemy. The English have 60,000 men, we, at the most, from 10,000 to 11,000. Our government is good for nothing ; money and provisions will fail. . . The Canadians are dispirited; no confidence in M. de Vaudreuil or in M. Bigot.

Nevertheless Vaudreuil provided for the defense of Niagara as best he could. Pouchot was to remain here with 300 Canadians, and call in all the forces from Detroit and other points. Orders also went to Toronto to send all the Indians possible from there. This made Pou- chot's force 486 regulars and militia, and thirty-nine employees, five of whom were women and children, besides the Indians, He went imme- diately at work to strengthen the works. This task was not completed

on July 7, when several barges of the enemy appeared but were driven off by cannon shots. These boats were a part of the expedition under command of Gen. John Prideaux, who had made his rendezvous at Oswego, with 2,000 regulars and provincials. and where he was joined by Johnson with 1,000 Indians. This expedition left Oswego July I. Pouchot now sent out a scouting boat which reported that the English had landed in strong force at the "little swamp," now known as the mouth of Four-mile creek. Pouchot sent a courier to Chabert Jon- caire, in command at Schlosser, to cross the river in case he saw any of the enemy up here. A large body of French troops and Indians had made a rendezvous at Erie, by Pouchot's orders, and the courier was directed thither also to order them to fall back on Niagara, and in case Fort Schlosser (then called Little Fort) had been abandoned, to cross the river and go down on the other side. That night two Indians were sent from Fort Schlosser down to Niagara, whence they went out on a scout towards the English camp. The French kept an armed corvette cruising off the mouth of Four-mile creek and some shots were ex- changed. Joncaire at Schlosser burned the works there and removed his valuable property across to Chippawa. Both the Joncaire brothers, with about seventy others, went down to Niagara on the Canada side, arriving there on the 10th. Some English accounts made the burning at Fort Schlosser follow the surrender of Niagara, but the French state- ments differ and are probably correct.

The English soon had Niagara completely invested on the land side, and on the 10th a brisk cannonade was kept up from the fort. On the I Ith fighting took place between a body of French sent out to remove some stockades, and the English. During these operations Pouchot gave some of the Indians permission to go within the English lines and bring back some of their brethren for a conference. The visiting In- dians made extravagant promises to the French commander, but the gifts and allurements of the English were more than they could with- stand and Johnson was also on the ground with his immense influence. Day by day the English approached nearer the doomed fort. Annoying batteries were placed by them on the opposite side of the river, from which on the 22d red hot shot were fired, several times setting on fire. the wooden buildings. In the mean time General Prideaux was killed

in the trenches on the 18th by the bursting of a cannon, and the com- mand devolved on Johnson. On the 23d some Indians came through the English lines with a white flag, having been sent from Fort Schlos- ser by the French officers in command of a force of 600 French and 1,000 Indian reinforcements from the upper posts. This force came down the river in a vast number of canoes and reached Navy Island, where, according to some accounts, large French vessels were built and were stationed. From the island scouts were sent out to learn the position of the English, and from them Pouchot learned of the ap- proaching reinforcements ; but the English were equally well informed. Pouchot advised those in command of the reinforcements that if they did not feel competent to attack the English army, they should cross over to the Chippawa and pass down on the other side, drive the enemy out of the batteries just mentioned, and then recross. This counsel, for some reason, was not followed, and they came down on this side to Lewiston. The English were stationed in three divisions-one at the little swamp where they had first landed; one at La Belle Famille about a mille above the fort on the river, and the other be- tween these two. M. de Lignery, in command of the reinforcements, was advised to attack and defeat one of these divisions, upon which the siege would probably be raised. The attack was made at La Belle Famille (the site of Youngstown village), on the 24th. In the mean time Johnson had laid an ambuscade to assail the French and Indians as they came down from Lewiston. The battle was short, sharp and decisive. The French were routed and fled to Schlosser, and thence across the river. When Pouchot was informed of this disaster he called a council of officers. The garrison was worn out and despondent ; 109 men had been killed and wounded and thirty-seven were sick, leaving only 607 effectives. Further resistance was clearly unjustifiable and the officers unanimously advised surrender. This was done, but difficulty arose over the terms, Pouchot not being willing to accept Johnson's proposals. After discussing the matter through the night, Pouchot was about to stop the negotiations and take the chances of unconditional surrender, when the Germans, who constituted a majority of the gar- rison, mutinied and the entire force demanded capitulation. Terms were then agreed to by Pouchot. The articles were signed on the 25th

and on the following day the garrison marched out to the beach, laid down their arms and embarked for New York, according to the stipu lations. This account follows Pouchot's record.

French accounts state that those troops who escaped in the rout of the 24th fled to Navy Island, where a guard of about 150 had been left. They then proceeded to Detroit, and it is asserted that the vessels before mentioned were burned by them before they left. Both of the Joncaires were made prisoners.

The foregoing story, derived from the French records, is necessarily largely confined to what took place in the fort. The English accounts of outside occurrences are interesting, and as this was the most im- portant event of a military character that ever took place on this fron- tier, it is of sufficient importance to give a brief account from the other point of view.

When Johnson on the 23d learned of the approach of the French re- inforcements on the road from Lewiston, he at once disposed a part of his forces near the road and not far below the Five mile Meadows at a place now known as Bloody Run. Johnson had doubtless been kept advised of the movements of the French from the time they arrived at Navy Island. The action began early in the forenoon of the 24th and lasted about an hour. Captain De Lancey, son of General De Lancey, was in command of the advance sent up on the 23d. He threw up breastworks that night and early the next morning sent a sergeant and ten men to cross the river and bring up a six pounder. These men were attacked a short distance above De Lancey's line and were killed or captured. The French were nearer than they supposed. The Eng- lish were reinforced in the course of two hours so that they numbered 600 regulars, 100 New Yorkers, and 600 Indians, when the battle opened about 8 o'clock. The French and Indians attacked with screams and war whoops, but the English and their Indian allies were accus- tomed to this. The battle raged fiercely for about an hour. Johnson's Indians attacked the French on the flank, and the English leaped over their breastworks and attacked so fiercely in front that the French were soon routed. It is said that their treacherous Indian allies left them in the hottest of the fight. The pursuit was continued some miles towards Lewiston (about five miles, according to De Lancey). Many were

killed and many officers and men taken prisoners. While some au - thorities state that this engagement took place as far up the river as Bloody Run, another statement was made that it was fought within sight of the garrison at Niagara. The latter statement is probably erroneous. Many years afterwards pieces of muskets, axes, bones and other evidences of the battle were found on the field near Bloody Run ; but it was within hearing of the fort. D'Aubrey, in command of the French, was wounded and captured, as also was De Lignery. Marin, in command of the Indians, was also a prisoner. All three had been prominent some years in the border wars. This battle sealed the fate of the fort, as has already been shown.

Johnson divided the prisoners and scalps taken in the engagement of the 24th (146, of whom ninety-six were prisoners). The officers he released from his Indian allies by ransom, but with some difficulty. The Indians were given all the plunder of the fort, said to have amounted to $1,500 to each man. Of the ordnance stores captured there were two fourteen pounders, nineteen twelve-pounders, one eleven-pounder, seven eight-pounders, seven six-pounders, two four- pounders, and five two-pounders, all iron, together with 1,500 rounds of twelve pound shot, 40,000 pounds of musket balls, and other stores. The English found the buildings in good order and the fort in such a condition for defense that, had they stormed the work as was intended, there must have been much loss of life. The English loss was sixty- three killed and 183 wounded. That the Indians took quite good care of themselves during the siege is proved by the fact that, of the losses above given, only three Indians were killed and five wounded. After sending his prisoners to New York by way of Oswego, Johnson sent off his Indians in boats loaded with plunder. Soon afterward Colonel Haldiman arrived and claimed the command, but Johnson refused to give it up until General Amherst was consulted. Two French vessels cruising off Niagara prevented Johnson from leaving the fort for Oswego until the evening of August 4. He arrived at Oswego on the 7th.

Thus passed the control of the Niagara River, which had been under French domination more than a hundred years, to the English. Soon the life-bought victory of Wolfe gave Quebec to the triumphant Eng-

lish; but the French clung to their colonies with desperate, though failing grasp, and it was not until September, 1760, that the Marquis de Vaudreuil surrendered Montreal and with it all the other posts within his jurisdiction. This surrender was ratified by the treaty of peace between England and France in February, 1763, which ceded Canada to the former power.

CHAPTER

ON THE FRONTIER-1763 TO 1775.

With the change from French to English domination was inaugurated entirely new arrangements on the portage from Lewiston to Schlosser. A new fort was built a short distance from where Little Niagara had stood and named Fort Schlosser, from Capt. Joseph Schlosser, its first commander. It consisted simply of a line of palisades enclosing a few storehouses and barracks. A tall chimney, which is still a conspicuous object on the Porter farm below Gill Creek, and which had belonged to the French barracks burned by Joncaire, as before related, was used by the English in the construction of this new work. Meanwhile Fort Niagara was repaired and strengthened and served as an important base of supplies for the western country and the rapidly increasing In- dian trade. Comparative peace reigned in this region until Niagara was quietly surrendered to the United States in 1796, after the Revolu- tion ; but during this period of nearly forty years of possession by the English, many interesting events took place that require descrip- tion.

It was unfortunate that the Indians nearest to this frontier were the Senecas, for they had been more or less antagonistic to the English in the past years, and were prone to disregard Johnson's sovereignty as superintendent of Indian affairs ; moreover, a lingering affection for the French seemed to remain with them and they, with some of the western Indians, carried on marauding forays through the country, on some occasions carrying their depredations very near the gates of

Niagara, where they killed an Englishman whom they were trying to capture. Three others were killed near the mouth of Chippawa Creek, but in retaliation a party of Hurons were surprised at the mouth of the Niagara and one killed and six wounded. Most of the Iroquois, how- ever, remained united under the autocratic sway of Sir William John- son. It must be remembered that there was no Indian settlement between the Genesee and Niagara at this time ; only a few cabins re- mained at Lewiston where some of the Senecas aided in transporting goods over the portage. In July, 1761, Johnson started on a journey to Detroit, arriving at Fort Niagara on the 24th. Here he learned that the Senecas around the Genesee were jealous of the advance of the English beyond Niagara. The Indians already foresaw what finally took place-their expulsion from their hunting grounds and their ulti- mate extinction. This growing feeling led to later serious trouble on the frontier. Johnson passed a few weeks in this vicinity, visiting Schlosser, Navy Island, the former battle ground, exploring Chippawa Creek, visiting Lewiston (which he calls in his record, " Trader's Town "), the falls and other points, and left for Detroit on August 19 Returning he arrived at Schlosser October 15 ; from there he went to Lewiston on horseback and thence to Niagara by boat.

By this time the Indian fur trade had become a great industry through the activity of the English and Dutch merchants at Albany, and soon became a source of difficulty. White traders did not scruple to defraud and cheat the Indians, frequently first getting them drunk for the purpose. Competition was active, and honorable traders, who adhered to the methods prescribed by the authorities, found themselves hampered and their business injured by shameless adventurers Com- plaints on this subject from all quarters were made to Johnson at Niagara, all of which he endeavored, by exercising his well-known diplomacy and authority, to adjust. A man named Stirling, it is re- corded, had placed " a great store of goods " at Schlosser, where he was cheating the Indians. General Amherst had also licensed Captain Rutherford and Lieutenant Duncan, with others, to settle on the port- age and, it was charged, had given them 10,000 acres of land along that road. The general's explanation was, that this permit was made subject to the pleasure of the king. In a letter of October, 1762, he

said that this grant was asked in the interest of trade and that great advantages would follow a settlement on these lands covering most of the territory between Schlosser and the mouth of Four Mile Creek and the river. The king disapproved of this permit and orders were issued to "put a stop to any settlement on the carrying place."

In 1762 trouble arose with the Indians, said to have been occasioned by the murder of two traders who were passing through the Seneca's country. At a council held at Canaseraga in December of that year, the Senecas failed to attend, although special effort had been made to induce them to be present. The Tuscaroras were represented and the interpreter was William Printup, ancestor of the Tuscarora Printups of recent years. The Indians made profession of friendship and threw the blame for the murder of the traders upon some irresponsible strolling Indians. This was not believed by Johnson, who gave them to under- stand that they would be punished for any further depredations. Out of this and other causes grew the succeeding warfare on the frontier, and Pontiac's war in the west. The hostile movements of the Indians were kept secret until the western Indians and the Senecas were ready to strike. Detroit was besieged and the posts at Sandusky, Erie and on the route from Erie to the Ohio were captured ; settlements were destroyed and the settlers massacred. The Indians believed they could gain control of the whole country west of Oswego, out of which the French hoped to profit. It is a part of general border history that the Indians were severely punished and were glad to sue for peace in the following year. At this time the Seneca nation numbered nearly 1,200 members.

At this time the portage between Lewiston and Schlosser, extending most of the way through a forest, was especially exposed to surprise, and soldiers were kept at both ends of the road to accompany teams- ters. In September, 1763, one of these convoys was attacked by a large band of Senecas and many were killed. This wagon train started from Lewiston for Schlosser on the 14th of September, with supplies for Detroit. On the return with an escort of twenty five men, accom- panied by John Stedman, who had been in charge of this end of the portage since 1760, the attack was made in the thickets near the road and close to the Devil's Hole, by a large body of Senecas who were

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Landmarks of Niagara County, New York, Part 3

Author: Pool, William, 1825-1912, ed Publication date: 1897 Publisher: [Syracuse] : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 820

Author: Pool, William, 1825-1912, ed
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: [Syracuse] : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 820