Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1), Part 13

Author: Truman C. White
Publication date: 1898
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017

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· "On the 24th we heard some firing in the direction of La Belle- Famille." This firing was the beginning of the action between the Eng- lish and the troops under- Lignery on their way to relieve Pouchot, as described a little further on. Pouchot tells in detail what he could see of this part of the contest, but evidently was not aware of the outcome. An Onondaga Indian who had gone out with Pouchot's leave about noon, returned at two o'clock. "He related the whole of our disaster, which we could scarcely believe, and we thought the English had in- 13

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vented the account. He told us that they had all fled, that MM. de Aubrey, de Lignery, de Montigny and de Repentigné were prisoners and wounded, and that the rest of our officers and soldiers had been killed. We hoped this man was telling a lie." When Pouchot be- came satisfied that the relieving party had retreated, he redoubled his fire from such batteries as were yet serviceable; but did not check the English gunners, who fired so briskly that "it occasioned us the loss of many men." In the afternoon, about four o'clock, an officer from the English appeared before the fort for a parley; he was Major Hervey, bearing a letter from Johnson, who had been in command after the death of Prideaux. Johnson demanded surrender. Pouchot was now forced to believe the story of the Indian regarding the force of De Lignery, for it was confirmed by Major Hervey. Pouchot thereupon allowed a French officer to go to the English camp, where he saw De Lignery wounded. After a deliberation by all the French officers and an examination of their remaining stores and munitions, it was decided that "we could not hope to defend the place with vigor." Pouchot was forced to surrender, after his heroic defense of the post. He called in the English officer, "asked to capitulate and to be permitted to march out of the works with the honors of war." Articles of capit- ulation were drawn and signed and on the 25th of July, between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning, the English took possession of the fort, and on the 26th the garrison marched out and embarked, after grounding their arms, and proceeded to Oswego. .

The foregoing quotations indicate a modest and dispassioned account of the memorable siege of Niagara, from the French standpoint, and little farther is needed in this connection.

A brief addition to the foregoing account from the English authori- ties, will give the reader a clearer understanding of the operations on that side, especially in regard to the engagement with the reinforce- ments sent to Pouchot's aid. This force consisted of 600 French soldiers and nearly 1,000 Indians. They came down the river in a large fleet of canoes and reached Navy Island, whence scouts were sent out to learn the position of the English. When Pouchot learned of the approach of the reinforcements, he advised that if they did not feel strong enough to attack the English army they should cross over to the Chippewa and pass down on the other side, drive the enemy out of their batteries, and then recross. This counsel was not followed and they continued on down to Lewiston. The English were then stationed

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in three divisions-one at the little swamp where their landing was made; one at La Belle-Famille about a mile above the fort on the river, and the other between these two. M. de Lignery, in command of the reinforcements, was advised to attack and defeat one of these divisions, upon which it was hoped the siege would be raised. The attack was made at La Belle-Famille (the site of Youngstown village) on the 24th. In the mean time Johnson laid an ambuscade to assail the French as they came on from Lewiston. The engagement was short and decisive. The French were routed and fled to Schlosser and thence across the river. When Pouchot learned of this disaster he called the council of officers as before stated. The garrison was worn out and despondent ; 109 men had been killed and wounded, and fifty-seven were sick, leav- ing only 607 effectives. Farther resistance was unjustifiable and sur- render was unanimously advised. Difficulty then arose over the terms demanded by Johnson. After discussing the matter through the night, Pouchot was about to stop the negotiations and take the chances of un- conditional surrender, when the Germans, who constituted a majority of the garrison, mutinied and demanded the acceptance of the capitu- lation. The terms were then agreed to by Pouchot and the post was surrendered.

French accounts state that the troops who escaped from the rout of the previous day fled to Navy Island, where a guard of about 150 men had been left. They then proceeded to Detroit, and it is claimed that one or more vessels were burned at the island before the departure. Both of the Joncaires were made prisoners.

Another English account (doubtless derived from Mante, the English historian, as quoted in the Pouchot Memoirs, vol. I, p. 205), gives the following brief version of the closing scenes of the siege:

When Johnson learned of the approach of the French reinforcements on the 23d, he at once disposed of his forces near the road and not far below the five-mile meadows at a place now known as Bloody Run. The action began early in the fore- noon of the 24th and continued 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 on the night of the 23d and early the next morning sent a sergeant and ten men to cross the river and bring up a ten-pounder. These men were attacked a short distance above De Lancey's line and were killed or captured. Reinforcements came to the English in the course of two hours, so that they numbered 600 regulars, 100 New Yorkers, and 600 Indians, when the battle opened at eight o'clock. The French and Indians attacked with screams and war whoops, but the English and their allies were accustomed to this and held their ground. Johnson's Indians at- tacked the French on the flank and the English leaped over the breastworks and

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assaulted so fiercely in front that the French were soon overwhelmed. It is said that the French Indian allies deserted them in the hottest of the fight. The pursuit was continued some miles towards Lewiston. De Aubrey, in command of the French, and De Lignery were wounded and captured. Marin, commanding the In. dians, was captured. Johnson divided the prisoners and scalps, comprising 146, of whom 96 were prisoners. The officers he released from his Indians by ransom, after some difficulty. The Indians were given all the plunder from the fort. Of the ordnance stores captured there were two fourteen-pounders, 19 twelve-pounders. 1 eleven-pounder, 7 eight-pounders, 7 six-pounders, 2 four-pounders, and 5 two- pounders, with large quantities of munitions. The English loss was 63 killed and 183 wounded. That the Indians took good care of themselves during the siege is shown by the fact that only three were killed and five wounded. Two French vessels cruising off Niagara prevented Johnson from leaving the port until the evening of August 4; he arrived at Oswego on the 7th.

Additional light is thrown upon this important event by an account published at the time in the Maryland Gazette. After describing the battle and giving a list of the captured stores, the editor said:

A letter from Niagara, dated July 25th, has the following particulars: "Your old friend, Sir William Johnson, has gained immortal honor in this affair. The army have the highest opinion of him, and the Indians adore him, as his conduct has been steady and judicious; he has carried on the siege with spirit. The Mohawks have done wonders, serving in the trenches and every place where Sir William was." We are informed, that upon Gen. Amherst receiving the news of the death of Brigadier Gen. Prideaux, he immediately appointed Brigadier Gen. Gage, of the Light Infantry, commander-in-chief of the forces before Niagara; and that Gen. Gage was at Albany, when the orders of Gen. Amherst came to him; but it was im- possible for him to reach Niagara before it surrendered to Sir William Johnson.

Thus passed the control of Niagara River, which had been under French domination more than a hundred years, to the English. Quebec under Montcalm ' fell before Wolfe on September 13, and French rule was extinguished forever on the western continent. 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 in 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.

1 Both of these brave officers were mortally wounded. The brilliant Montcalm had said that " he would find his grave under the ruins of the colony," which proved a veritable prophecy.

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CHAPTER VIII.

1760-1774.

Control of the Frontier by the English-Animosity of the Senecas-Building ot Fort Schlosser-Repair of Fort Niagara .- Marauding by the Senecas-Visit of Sir William Johnson to Niagara and Detroit-Encroachments on the Niagara Portage- The Massacre at Devil's Hole-Pontiac's War-Bradstreet's Expedition to Detroit- Peace with the Indians-A Battle in Erie County Territory-A Period of Quiet- Formation of Tryon County.

Although the hostilities of the war substantially ceased in 1760 with the surrender of Montreal and other posts, a treaty of peace (known as the treaty of Paris) was not signed until 1763. The importance to the English of the Western New York frontier is shown by the prompt- ness with which they assumed its control after the French surrender. It was imperative that they should maintain all such carrying-places in order to keep open their communication with distant western posts; none was more important than that at Niagara. This portage was placed in charge of John Steadman in 1760, who was employed by Sir William Johnson to open and improve the road, much to the dissatis- faction of the Senecas, whose animosity to the English still continued.

Under the arrangements inaugurated by the English a new fort was built at the upper end of the portage, on the site of Little Niagara, consisting of a line of palisades enclosing a few storehouses and bar- racks; it was named Fort Schlosser from Capt. Joseph Schlosser, its first commander. A tall chimney, which is still a conspicuous object on the Porter farm below Gill Creek, and which .had belonged to the former French barracks burned by Joncaire, as before related, was used by the English in the construction of the new work. Meanwhile Fort Niagara was repaired and strengthened and served as a base of supplies for the western country and the rapidly increasing Indian trade.

The Senecas, in their lingering affection for the defeated French, . and in disregard of Johnson's authority as superintendent of Indian affairs, joined with western Indians in marauding forays through the

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country, on some occasions pursuing their depredations near to the gates of Niagara. In one of these an Englishman was killed near the fort; three others were killed near the mouth of Chippewa Creek. It should be remembered that at this time there was no Indian settlement between the Genesee and Niagara; a few cabins remained at Lewis- ton, whence some of the Senecas aided in transporting goods over the portage. Johnson arrived at Niagara on the 24th of July, 1761, on his way to Detroit. He fully appreciated the rising jealousy of the Senecas and other nations of the advance of the English beyond Ni- agara. The Indians already foresaw what finally took place-their ex- pulsion from their old homes and their ultimate extinction. Johnson visited the several points on the frontier and left for Detroit on the 19th of August.1 Activity and competition in the growing fur trade led to difficulty, complaints of which reached Johnson and received his earnest consideration. A man named Stirling, it is recorded, had placed "a great store of goods" at Schlosser, where he was pursuing the customary routine of cheating the Indians. General Amherst had also licensed Captain Rutherford and Lieutenant Duncan, with others, to settle on the portage, and, it was charged, had given them 10,000 acres of land along the road. The general's explanation of this was that the grant was made subject to the pleasure of the king, and in the interest of trade and settlement. The king issued an order to "put a stop to any settlement on the carrying-place."

In 1762 two traders were murdered while passing through the Sen- ecas' country, and the Indians were given to understand by Johnson that any further similar crimes would be promptly avenged. This was only one of the many incidents that provoked the later hostilities on the frontier and Pontiac's war in the West. At that time the portage between Lewiston and Schlosser extended most of the distance through a forest and parties traveling it were especially subject to surprise and attack. Soldiers were kept at both ends of the portage to accompany teamsters. On the 14th of September, 1763, a wagon train started from Lewiston with supplies for Detroit. On the return with an escort · of twenty-five men, accompanied by Steadman, the party arrived at a point called the Devil's Hole, on the precipitous bank of Niagara River. There they were attacked by a large body of Senecas who were in ambush. As the wagons appeared moving past the declivity, the sav-

1 In his record Johnson notes his visit at Lewiston, which he calls "Trader's Town."

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ages opened fire. It was a deadly volley, deliberately aimed and at close range. The Indians then sprang upon their victims and com- pleted the slaughter with tomahawk and knife. It is recorded that some of the teams were frightened over the precipice and that some of the English jumped over, preferring that desperate method of death to the tomahawk of the savage. One of these was a drummer boy named Matthews who fell into a tree top and descended in safety; he died long after at Queenston at the age of ninety years. A wounded team- ster is also said to have crawled into a secluded spot and escaped. Steadman was mounted, and spurring his horse into a run he escaped through a shower of bullets to Schlosser.1 When the firing was heard at Lewiston reinforcements started for the scene of slaughter. Doubt- ful of the exact place these troops marched cautiously forward, but only tosure destruction. The Indians finished their first bloody work and heard the approach of the reinforcements. Again secreting themselves they waited until the troops were close at hand, when they opened up- on them a deadly volley, killed and wounded many, and massacred most of the remainder with knife or tomahawk. Only eight men are supposed to have escaped to carry the news to Lewiston and thence to Niagara. The garrison turned out to pursue the Indians, but they had fled from the scene. The soldiers found the remains of their stripped and mutilated comrades, many of them mingled with broken wagons, dead and wounded horses, etc., at the bottom of the precipice.'

What is known as Pontiac's war began in the West in June, 1763,

' Maud recorded that the Indians, a few months after the massacre gave John Steadman a grant of "all the land he galloped over in his flight," as they considered his escape a miracle, and that the Great Spirit would be angry at their attempt to kill him. The fact is, the Steadman family retained possession substantially of the farm at Schlosser and probably the carrying-place a number of years. After the Revolution they made application to the Legislature for a confirm- ation of the Indian grant. The application was refused.

' The little stream near by the scene of this bloody massacre, which once supplied power for a saw mill, is known as Bloody Run. Thousands of tourists have visited the place, where, for many years, a charge was made for descending the declivity on rude steps. Relics of the massa- cre were found in the vicinity half a century later. It will, perhaps, be proper to preserve here the following account of this memorable deed which was related to Maud, the English traveler who visited Niagara Falls in 1800, by a son of John Steadman: "In 1760 John Steadman was mas- ter of the portage. In 1768 the Indians attacked the train of wagons and its guard, consisting in soldiers and wagoners of ninety-six persons. Of these, ninety-two were killed on the spot, three jum ped down the precipice overhanging the river, and John Steadman, putting spurs to his horse, galloped to Fort Schlosser. The three who jumped down the precipice (considered by therm as certain death, which they preferred to the tomahawk of the Indians), were preserved by shrubs and brush wood breaking their fall. One was a drummer, whose drum, falling into the river, gave the first news of this defeat, at Niagara." This latter statement is probably fanciful. -Buffalo and the Senecas, Vol I, p. 149.

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and was a result of the general disquietude of the Indians over the encroachments of the English and their defeat of the French. Pon- tiac was a celebrated Ottawa chief who had been an ally of the French. He organized a league consisting of nine or ten of the western nations, with the operations of which the Senecas were in sympathy. The other Iroquois nations were still generally loyal to the English, through the powerful influence of Sir William Johnson. Pontiac and his hordes went on the war path, surprised nine of the twelve English posts and massacred the garrisons and traders. Forts Pitt, Niagara and Detroit were saved, although the latter withstood a siege of about a year in length.

In July, 1764, Major-Gen. John Bradstreet, hero of many brave deeds, started for the West with an army of about 1,100 provincials, to quell this outbreak. Arriving at Oswego he there met Johnson with over 500 Iroquois warriors, and the whole body sailed for Niagara on the 3d of July. Here the army was increased to nearly 3,000, and it was of the same motley character so frequently seen in those times. A grand council was held, at the close of which Johnson returned home. The Senecas joined in the council only after receiving imperative orders from General Bradstreet; but they finally acquiesced in the peace treaty there made and about 300 of their number joined the army. Still distrusting them, Bradstreet ordered Lieutenant Mon- tressor to throw up a line of redoubts from the landing place at Four- mile Creek to Schlosser, "in order to prevent any insults from the enemy," and also to " build a fort on the banks of Lake Erie, for the security of vessels employed upon it." These orders were executed, one of the results being the erection of Fort Erie, opposite.Buffalo, in and around which were to be enacted stirring scenes in a later war. Ascending the Niagara to Buffalo early in August, Bradstreet pro- ceeded hence, probably in open boats, along the southern shore of Lake Erie, meeting and successfully treating for peace with the Indians be- tween the lake and the Ohio River.' He was warmly welcomed at Detroit, whence he sent a detachment to take possession of Mackinaw. On September ? he met the Ottawas and Chippewas in council and peace conditions were consummated. Pontiac did not appear. The Indians were thus speedily awed into submissiveness, but Pontiac him- self remained hostile until 1766, when he met Sir William Johnson at

1 Lossing's Cyclo. U. S. Hist., Vol. I, p. 153.

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Oswego and took part in a council. Arriving there in June, the chief awaited the coming of Johnson until July 20, being in the mean time entertained by the commissioner from Niagara, Norman McLeod. The council opened on the 23d and continued several days. In reply to a speech by Sir William, Pontiac replied as follows:

I am now speaking in behalf of all the nations I command, and in their name take you by the hand. You may be assured that whatever I now agree upon will be a law to them, and I take the Almighty to witness, that what I am going to say I am determined to steadfastly perform; for it seems that he who made the universe would have it so. While I had the French king by the hand, I kept a fast hold of it; and now having you, father, by the hand, I still do the same, in conjunction with all the western nations in my district, whom I shall acquaint with every transaction of this congress as soon as I return, and who will readily comply with anything I desire.1

On the last day of August, after the impressive ceremonies were concluded, Pontiac and his imposing retinue launched their canoes, laden with presents, each chief carrying a silver medal bearing the in- scription, "A pledge of peace and friendship with Great Britain, con- firmed in 1766," and began their summer journey to their western homes, their paddles keeping time to a weird Indian song.'

In the mean time on October 19, 1763, took place the first hostile combat on the soil of Erie county in which white men were involved. As nearly as can be ascertained from the meagre records, the scene of the fight was on the wooded bank of Niagara River, about on the site of Black Rock, where there was opportunity for ambush. Six hundred English soldiers, under command of Major Wilkins, were on their way in boats to Detroit, when 160 of them who were in rear of the main body were suddenly fired upon from the shore by a band of Senecas. Thirteen men were killed and wounded at the first volley. The cap- tain in command of the nearest boats sent fifty men ashore to attack the Indians. In the brief period of fighting that followed three more soldiers were killed and twelve seriously wounded, including two com- missioned officers.'

' Stone's Life of Johnson, Vol. II, p. 278.

' Pontiac was slain in the summer of 1769, probably by the tomahawk of a jealous Illinois Indian.

' From the Maryland Gazette, December 22, 1763.

New York, December 5 .- Last Monday, Capt. Gardiner of the 55th, and Lieut. Stoughton, came to town from Albany. They belonged to a detachment of 600 men under the command of Major Wilkins, destined for Detroit, from Niagara ; but on the 19th of October, at the east end of Lake Erie, one hundred and sixty of our people being in their boats, were fired upon 14

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The Indians probably did not suffer so severely. When the firing ceased the soldiers withdrew in their boats. This was the last serious attack by the Senecas on the English. When they learned of the ces- sation of hostilities in the West, they hastened to Sir William John- son to sue for peace. Johnson advised the Board of Trade that, in his opinion, the Senecas were sincere and advocated negotiations with them which should exact from them a tract of land fourteen by four miles in extent lying along both sides of the Niagara River from Lake Ontario to Schlosser, and, of course, including the whole portage. Johnson met about 400 Senecas and eight chiefs at Johnson Hall in April (1764), and a peace treaty was then made which contained the above provision. This treaty was farther ratified by the council held at Niagara in July, when Bradstreet passed on his way westward, as before noticed.

From this time to the Revolution substantial peace reigned over the Niagara frontier, and trade with the Indians rapidly increased. A large volume of this was carried on along the borders of Erie county, as also was the commerce of the upper lakes for the supply of the western and southern military posts. Nearly the whole of this commerce was con- ducted in open boats. There were, however, two or three English trading vessels on Lake Erie prior to the Revolution, and probably an an armed English vessel or two.1

Temporary sails were sometimes rigged on the open boats and in fair weather good progress could be made; but in the frequent storms many were lost and great suffering was sometimes endured by the crews.

It was in 1765 that Rev. Samuel Kirkland left Johnson Hall on Jan- uary 16, in company with two Seneca Indians, on a mission through the Iroquois country. After stopping one day with the Onondagas,

from the beach by about eighty Indians, which killed and wounded thirteen men (and among them Lieut. Johnson, late of Gorham's, killed), in the two stern-most boats, the remainder of the detachment being ahead about half a mile. Capt. Gardiner, who was in the boats adjoining, im- mediately ordered the men, (fifty) under his command, ashore, and took possession of the ground from which the enemy had fired ; and as soon as he observed our people landing, he with Lieut. Stoughton, and twenty-eight men, pursued the Indians. In a few minutes a smart skirmish en- sued, which lasted near an hour, in which three men were killed on the spot, and Capt. Gardiner, with Lieut. Stoughton, and ten others, badly wounded. During the skirmish, the troops that did not follow the Indians, formed on the bank, and covered the boats.

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Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1), Part 13

Author: Truman C. White Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1017

Author: Truman C. White
Publication date: 1898
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017