USA > New York > Onondaga County > Onondaga, or, Reminiscences of earlier and later times, being a series of historical sketches relative to Onondaga, with notes on the several towns in the county, and Oswego, Vol. II > Part 31
USA > New York > Oswego County > Onondaga, or, Reminiscences of earlier and later times, being a series of historical sketches relative to Onondaga, with notes on the several towns in the county, and Oswego, Vol. II > Part 31
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
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strained from continuing their resistance. On beating the chamade the firing ceased on both sides, and two officers were sent to the French general to know upon what terms he would accept a surrender ; upon which Montcalm replied, that the English were an enemy he respected, and that none but a brave nation would have thought of defending so weak a place so long against such a strong train of artillery and superior numbers, that they might expect whatever terms were consistent with the service of His Most Christian Majesty. He accordingly sent the following proposals, viz. :
" The Marquis of Montcalm, Army and Field-Marshal, Commander-in-chief of His Most Christian Majesty's Troops is ready to receive a capitulation upon the most honorable con- ditions, surrendering to him all the forts. They shall be shown all the regard the politest nations can show. I send an aid-de-camp on my part, viz. : Mons. De Bougainville, Captain of dragoons. They need only send the capitulation to be signed. I require an answer by noon. I have kept Mr. Drake for an hostage.
MONTCALM.
August 14, 1756."
The articles of capitulation were as follows :-
" Art. 1st. The garrison shall surrender prisoners of war, and shall be conducted hence to Montreal, where they shall be treated with humanity ; and every one in a manner suita- ble to his rank, according to the customs of war.
Art. 2d. The officers and soldiers shall have their baggage and clothes belonging to them as individuals ; and shall be al- lowed to carry away their effects with them.
Art. 3d. They shall remain prisoners of war till exchanged, on their giving up faithfully the fortifications, artillery, ammu- nition, magazines, barks and boats with their appurtenances."
The English complained that the articles of capitulation were not punctually observed. The British officers and soldiers were insulted by the savages, who robbed them of their clothes and baggage, massacred several men as they stood defenseless on parade, assassinated Lieutenant De la Court, as he lay wound-
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ed in his tent under the protection of a French officer, and barbarously scalped all the sick people in the hospital. Final- ly, Montcalm in direct violation of the articles, as well as in contempt of humanity, delivered up above twenty men of the garrison to the Indians, in lieu of the same number they had lost during the seige, who were undoubtedly put to death by the most excrutiating tortures .* The prisoners taken at Os- wego, after having been thus barbarously treated, were con- veyed in bateaux to Montreal, where they had no reason to complain of their reception, and before the end of the year were exchanged. The victors immediately demolished the forts, in which they found one hundred and twenty-one pieces of artillery, fourteen mortars, with a great quantity of small arms, ammunition, warlike stores and provisions, twenty-three thou- sand weight of powder, eight thousand weight of iron and lead in balls and bullets, one hundred and fifty bombs, besides two sloops and two hundred bateaux, a great quantity of cord- age and naval stores, which likewise fell into their hands. Such an important magazine, deposited in a place altogether inde- fensible, and without the reach of immediate succour, was a flagrant proof of egregious folly, temerity and misconduct. After the destruction of the forts, the French quietly retired without further demonstrations of conquest. Having no use for the sloops of war, the Marquis Montcalm ordered them to be set on fire, and they were sent adrift upon the lake. Having burned to the water's edge, these vessels floated ashore about thirty miles below Oswego. The wreck of one of them lay embedded in the sand a little distance from the shore near the mouth of Deer Creek, and was visible for half a century. Capt. Archibald Fairfield, formerly a citizen of Oswego, about the year 1807 or 1808 succeeded in getting out a small cannon from the wreck. In the spring of 1809, Col. T. S. Morgan in passing from Oswego to Sackett's Harbor in a skiff, (at that time no uncommon way of communication) had his attention attracted by some object beneath the surface of the water,
* Smollett, vol. 2, p. 221.
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and upon approaching the spot discovered this wreck. The charred timber-heads and stern-post reaching nearly to the top of the water. The water was so smooth that he could mark her dimensions and see her rudder irons. She is doubtless in the same position yet, and probably covered with sand.
The capture of this important post was deemed of great consequence by the French, though they could not occupy it as a fortress themselves. The place of rendezvous of their enemies, from which their own positions could be most easily assailed was no more, and nothing was left to intercept their free communication with their western posts. They were now sole masters of all the lakes, and the Six Nations, the only Indians who remained inviolably attached to the English inter- est were left unprotected. The fortifications at the Mohawk carrying place had been destroyed by the English and the nav- igation of Wood Creek closed by fallen trees, and before the close of the year 1757, the French laid waste several settle- ments in the Mohawk valley.
In the month of August, 1758, Col. Bradstreet arrived at Oswego with 3,340 men, on his route against Fort Frontenac, which place he carried with a trifing loss. After demolishing the fort, securing what he could of the immense military stores there deposited, and the shipping of the French, he returned in triumph to Oswego. This brilliant exploit of Col. Brad- street, was productive of valuable consequences to the English. It made ample amends for the destruction of Oswego by the French two years before. Col. Bradstreet set about repair- ing the works at Oswego, and during this year, finished the fort at the great carrying place.
From this time to its abandonment in 1798, Oswego was occupied by the British, and became one of her most import- ant posts.
Fort Ontario was rebuilt on a large scale and in a more substantial manner. The other forts were not repaired, but were suffered to go to decay. Major Duncan was left in com- mand by Gen. Amherst. His regiment, the fifty-fifth High- landers, composed the garrison for several years. This place
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was the key of communication between New-York and the British posts in Canada, and the western lakes. A constant intercourse was kept up with New-York by way of the falls, Fort Brewerton, Fort Bull, Fort Stanwix, and the valley of the Mohawk.
It was during the winter of 1760-61 and the following sum- mer, that Mrs. Grant, then a child, resided here with her fa- ther, an officer in the garrison. In her Memoirs of an Ameri- can Lady, are narrated some circumstances of interest, which served then to beguile the monotony of life in an isolated gar- rison.
In the spring of 1761, Major Duncan having a prospect of being stationed at Oswego for a number of years, employed his men in clearing out the stumps from the land which sur- rounded Fort Ontario, from which the timber had been cut to build the fortifications and for firewood for the garrison. He laid out the same into large and tasteful gardens, from which the garrison for many years raised an ample supply of vege- tables. During the occupancy of the fort by the British, the cultivated grounds were extended above Bridge street on the south, and casterly to the alder swamp, lying in the vicinity of Sixth street. Some fields were also cultivated on the west side of the river. The labor was all performed by hand, as there was not a horse or ox in Oswego, and but one cow, and that was owned by the sutler.
The peace with France by the treaty of Fontainebleau, al- though it secured the French North American possessions to the English, by no means restored quiet among the power- ful Indian nations who had been a long time faithful to the French. The consequence was, that an Indian war broke out, which rendered Oswego a military post of vast import- ance. Col. Duncan with six companies occupied the place till 1765.
Mr. Henry Van Schaack, an enterprising merchant who re- sided at Albany from 1756 to 1769, had a trading establish- ment during most of that period at Oswego, and another at Niagara. After the capture of that post by Gen. Sir William
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Johnson, in 1759, he was extensively engaged in the fur trade, which attracted the attention of a large proportion of the most active business men of that day. He made frequent journeys to Oswego, Niagara and Detroit, where he had an- other trading house previous to 1764, which was suspended during Pontiac's war. Mr. Van Schaack was often engaged in the transportation of military stores and merchandise around the carrying places at Oswego Falls, Fort Stanwix and Little Falls.
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So far as our limited knowledge extends, the history of Os- wego, during the ten years previous to the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, is unknown; and during all the time of that eventful struggle, little of its coincidences and events are recorded. It was however, garrisoned by a strong British force, and was a place of general rendezvous for the enemies of freedom and their allies, the warriors of the Six Nations, through the whole period of the war. Here were concocted many of the schemes of conquest and slaughter which desola- ted the settlements of the Mohawk, Schoharie and Cherry Valley. Here St. Leger concentrated his forces preparatory to his contemplated junction with Gen. Burgoyne. Hither he retreated after his disastrous siege of Fort Schuyler ; and here was the principal head quarters of the Butlers, Johnsons and Brant, who with the Tories on the frontier and their sav- age allies, sallied forth from this rallying point, scattering death and desolation wherever their inclination led.
Oswego was not a battle ground of the Revolution. The plan of a campaign for the year 1779, against Oswego, Ni- agara and Detroit, and all the British posts on the lakes, was proposed in Congress, and seriously discussed. But the com- mander-in-chief being opposed to it, the design was relin- quished, and the enemy were permitted to retain a position which afforded them every facility for controling the Iroquois and stimulating them to acts of hostility upon the defenseless borderers.
The capture of Cornwallis in October, 1781, decided the fate of the colonies. Little of importance was done either by
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the English or Americans. A disposition for peace was mani- fested in every quarter, still it was not certain that the strug- gle was over. The commander-in-chief used every exertion to keep the army in a condition for active service, and the country in an attidude of defense, in case the prospects of peace should vanish and the alarms of war be renewed.
About the close of the war, General Washington conceived the project of taking the fortress of Oswego by surprise. He confided the execution of the plan to Col. Willett, who with the utmost secrecy as to his destination, assembled his forces consisting of about four hundred and seventy men at Fort Herkimer on the 8th of February, 1783. His second in com- mand was Major Van Bunscouten. He commenced his journey immediately in sleighs, and proceeded along the northern shore of Oneida Lake to Fort Brewerton, where the sleighs were left in charge of a guard, and proceeded on foot. They first struck the Oswego River opposite to Ox Creek, three miles above the falls. They then marched down to the lower land- ing, and arrived there about two o'clock P. M., (below Ful- ton, near Waterhouse's now Dr. Lee's farm) where they made seventeen scaling ladders. At this place the party again took to the ice as far as Bradstreet's rift. At this point they took to the woods to avoid discovery. By ten o'clock in the eve- ning they were within four miles of the fort. After traveling about the woods two hours longer and not coming in sight of the place of destination, an investigation of the cause was undertaken, when to the great surprise and mortification of the commander and the whole corps, it was ascertained that by diverging from the river, their guide, a young Oneida In- dian, had lost his way. Their situation was indeed awkward and perplexing.
They had been at one time nearly within speaking distance of the works, and the shout of victory was almost raised in anticipation, when suddenly they discovered that they were lost in a dense forest, amid mountains of snow. The march had been one of great severity, and as their orders had been peremptory, if the fort was not surprised, no other attemps
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should be made to take it. They reluctantly concluded to re- trace their steps upon the morrow. They kept in motion till day break, although suffering intensely from the cold ; and as the beams of day advanced, the fort was revealed to their wondering eyes. They found themselves on the hill, since known as Oak Hill, in the south-east part of Oswego Village, in full view of the object of their toil, and within three-fourths of a mile of the frowning battlements of the fort. Early in the morning, some wood-choppers came near them from the garrison, two of whom were taken prisoners, but a third es- caped and fled to the fort. From their position they could see that considerable excitement was aroused and that the sol- diers were engaged in shoveling the snow from the cannon on the ramparts. The expedition, however, was at an end, and Col. Willett, with his party, who a few hours before were an- ticipating an easy victory, were now forced to retire. They threw down their ladders in the hollow, south-east of Oak Hill, where the remains of them were found by the early set- tlers of the place.
The party suffered immensely from the effects of cold. One colored man was frozen to death; another colored man, with his fiddle and his song, did much to keep up the spirits of the men, and to induce them to active exercise, by which they were saved from the fate of their comrade. Several of the party were badly frozen, their feet having been thoroughly wet while passing on the ice along the river, which was par- tially covered with water. Henry Blakeman, one of the party, and Joseph II. Perrigo, another, both of whom afterwards set- tled on the west side of the river, above the falls, were both so badly frozen that they never recovered, and both lived to a good old age, and died at their late residence, three-fourths of a mile south of Phillipsville, on the river's bank. Capt. Edward Connor, formerly of Oswego, commanded a company in the expedition. On the return of Col. Willett to Albany, he was met by the joyful news of peace.
The English continued to hold possession of Oswego and other northern and western posts, from the close of the war,
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until 1796, when by Mr. Jay's treaty, they were to be sur- rendered to the government of the United States. In point of fact, they held these posts about two years longer, and did not finally surrender them till the year 1798. The reason of their being held over, was this : Soon after the Revolution, the State of Virginia passed a law in effect repudiating all debts due from her citizens to British subjects, or rather con- fiscating all such debts to the Treasury of the State, into which the same were directed to be paid. The British gov- ernment thereupon refused to surrender the posts. The Su- preme Court, upon the hearing of a case arising upon some of those debts, declared the law of Virginia unconstitutional. The money being then paid over to the creditors, the counter- vailing measure was yielded and the posts surrendered. The fort on Carlton Island, however, not having been demanded by a United States officer, was occupied by a sergeant's guard until the war of 1812, when a party from Sackett's Harbor went upon the Island, and made them prisoners of war.
Upon the surrender of Oswego, the Fort was occupied for two or three years by a lieutenant's command, and subsequent- ly until about the year, 1803, by a sergeant's guard. After which the post was abandoned by the United States govern- ment, till the war of 1812.
In 1797, an act was passed directing the Surveyor General to lay out one hundred acres on the west side of Oswego Ri- ver, into proper streets and house lots, so as to form in the most convenient place, a public square or market place. The principal streets to be one hundred feet wide, and the cross streets sixty feet wide. The house lots to be laid out fifty-six feet front and rear, and two hundred feet deep, and lots for public buildings to be reserved on the square. A map of the same was to be deposited in the Surveyor General's office for inspection. These lots by law were ordered to be sold. The Governor was authorized to reserve any lots he might think proper for public purposes. By an act of the Legislature the lands included in this survey were to be " called forever there- after by the name of Oswego." West Oswego was laid out
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and surveyed by Benjamin Wright, Esq., in 1797, and East Oswego by John Randall, in 1814. The principal sales were made by the State in 1827. Mr. Matthew McNair, now the oldest resident at Oswego, located here in 1802, at which time there were some six or seven families living here and in the vicinity. Among these was a Mr. Asa Rice, who lived three miles west of the river. He was a Revolutionary soldier and was at that time engaged in the Indian trade. His was the only family within fourteen miles of Oswego. In 1802, Mr. McNair found here two frame houses and a ware house, which had been erected a short time previous, by Benajah Byington, now living at Syracuse. These were all on the west side, none on the east side. Archibald Fairfield was a forwarding merchant, and stored salt and goods, and kept a small boat- man's tavern, as did also Peter Sharpe. It was customary with several of the earliest settlers at Oswego, to spend their winters at Salina, and employ themselves in manufacturing salt. There was no road cut through from Oswego to Salina till 1804; the journey was usually made on foot through the woods, guided by blazed trees, and in the depth of winter upon snow shoes.
In 1802, there were only two or three old, miserable vessels on Lake Ontario, belonging to the Americans. The British had many more, and of far superior quality. The rise and progress of commerce and steam navigation on Lake Ontario since this period, is probably without a parallel in modern times.
The principal forwarding business was done by Archibald Fairfield, who owned two small vessels on the lake, and Messrs. Sharpe & Vaughn, who owned a small vessel of about fifty tons, called the Jane. Onondaga salt, formed then, as now, an important item in the commercial business of Oswego.
Mr. McNair engaged in the forwarding business, in 1803, bought the schooner Jane, and changed her name to Peggy. A portion of the goods and merchandize arriving at Oswego, was shipped by British vessels, owned at Kingston and by the North-Western Fur Company, a branch of the Hudson
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Bay Company, who then owned several fine vessels, and the greatest number on the lake. Kingston, Toronto, Niagara and Queenston, were flourishing villages, while Oswego had but six or seven families, Genesee two or three log cabins and Lewiston about as many more. All the trade, goods and merchandize down the Oswego River, had to be unloaded at the upper landing at Oswego Falls, and carted a mile, while the boats were either drawn around the falls or returned. Sometimes however, a larger class of boats received the mer- chandize and carried it on to Oswego; these last were not calculated for the navigation above the falls. In 1804, Mr. Wilson, a government contractor, built a fine schooner of nincty tons called the Fair American; in the fall and winter of the same year, Mr. McNair built another of fifty tons, called the Linda, and very soon after, with other gentlemen, purchased a number of Canadian vessels. At this period, no custom house had been established. All commercial inter- course was free, no licences were required or ships papers to be verified by oath. The keen scented custom house officer had not yet smelt out the valuable and growing commerce of the great lakes.
In 1808, Messrs. Eckford and Bergh, built a government vessel, the Brig Oneida, mounting sixteen twenty-four pound carronades, which was launched in the spring of 1809. Lieut. Woolsey commanded at the station and superintended the build- ing ; J. Fennimore Cooper and Thomas Gamble were stationed here at the time, and were midshipmen under him.
In 1809, Messrs McNair & Co., built a fine schooner, and in 1810, another. The same year, the House of Bronson & Co., built one, and Porter Barton & Co., another. These ves- sels ranged from eighty to one hundred tons burthen. Several other vessels were built between this time and the breaking out of the war of 1812.
Upon the declaration of war, in 1812, the United States judged it not only prudent, but wise, to increase the naval force upon the lakes. The only vessel on Lake Ontario at
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this period was the brig Oneida, commander Lieut. Woolsey, and not a solitary one on Lake Erie.
At the commencement of the struggle, the American arms had been unsuccessful on the western frontier ; but upon the water, every where victorious. In October, 1812, Commo- dore Chauncey, with a body of seamen, arrived at Sackett's Harbor, for the purpose of carrying out the designs of the government, relative to the establishment of a naval arma- ment upon the lakes. He instantly purchased every trading vessel, capable of being fitted up for the service and ordered Lieut. Elliott to organize a naval force upon Lake Erie. His preparations proceeded with great rapidity, and by the 10th of November, considered himself capable of contending with the whole British squadron, which then consisted of the Roy- al George, of twenty-six guns, Earl Moira, eighteen guns, Prince Regent, eighteen guns, Duke of Gloucester, fourteen guns, Tarento, fourteen guns, Governor Simcoe, twelve guns. The force of Commodore Chauncey erected in this short space of time, was composed of the Oncida, sixteen guns, in which himself sailed. Governor Tompkins, Lieut. Brown, six guns; Growler, Lieut. Mix, five guns; Conquest, Lieut. Elliott, two guns. Port Arundle, two guns, and the Julia Trant, carry- ing one thirty-two pounder, making in all, thirty-two guns. Being on the whole, a force much inferior to that of the enemy.
In a cruise soon after, Commodore Chauncey fell in with the Royal George, at the Bay of Quinté. After a short re- sistance she ran under the protection of the batteries on shore, from whence she could not be drawn out. During this cruise a British schooner was captured, which had on board twelve thousand dollars in specie, and the baggage of General Brock, and Captain Brock, a brother of the General, was made a prisoner. The prize was safely carried into Sackett's Harbor. The new ship of war Madison was launched at the Harbor, on the 26th of November. The winter soon after closed in and put an end to all further naval incidents for the season.
In 1813, was built at Oswego a large floating battery de- signed for the lake service, and was dignified with the name,
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"Cooper's Ark." Soon after its completion, it started for Sackett's Harbor, and on its way, during an unexpected and violent storm, went to pieces, and all was lost.
During the winter powerful exertions were made by both the English and Americans to secure the supremacy on the lake. And in the spring a formidable naval armanent was arrayed on either side, and an interesting contest ensued be- tween two skilful naval officers for the superiority. The Gen- eral Pike, of twenty-two guns, and some smaller vessels had been launched, and Commodore Chauncey was now fully equal to his antagonist, Sir James Yoe, in point of strength. The latter was a careful and vigilant officer, and on all occasions avoided coming to a general action. On the contrary, to bring him to action was the utmost wish of Commodore Chaun- cey, and a series of skilful movements grew out of it, unpar- alleled in the history of naval tactics, the details of which are too extended for our purpose.
For several years previous to the war, the fortifications at Oswego had been suffered to go to ruin. A law was passed by Congress, on the 3d of April, 1812, styled the embargo law, which was to continue for ninety days. And soon after another act was passed to prohibit the exportation of specie, goods, wares and merchandize, during the continuance of the embargo. To enforce the embargo, Captain Asa Wells, with one company of militia, was ordered to Oswego, and during the greater part of that year occupied what remained of Fort Ontario.
The following July, Col. George Fleming, of Cayuga, took the command, having under him nine companies of militia, and made some movements towards repairing the works, which amounted to nothing. At this time Charles B. Bristol, of Manlius, was a large army contractor, and furnished the troops at Oswego and other posts, with provisions. Mr. McNair, of Oswego, was his commissary. Major Charles Moseley, Cap- tains C. B. Bristol and Leonard Kellogg, of the riflemen, and Captain Mulholland, of the artillery, with Lieutenants Me- lancthon Smith, William Gardner, Seth Grosvener and Heze-
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