Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume I, Part 25

Author: White, Truman C
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Boston] : Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 1014

USA > New York > Erie County > Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume I > Part 25

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Thus far during the war, though at just what time is not known, some of the settlers within the limits of the present town of Holland, on the upper part of Cazenove Creek,'built a stockade of considerable strength, in which they hoped to find shelter in case their neighborhood should

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be overrun by the enemy. It was made of logs fifteen feet long, hewn on two sides and set firmly in the ground and close together, with loop holes cut for small arms. About an acre of ground was thus enclosed and from the fact that it was situated on the farm of Arthur Humphrey, it was locally called Fort Humphrey. That farm was known as the fort farm many years after peace was restored. Capt. Jotham Bemis's barn in Hamburg was also enclosed with a stockade about twelve feet high, and a blockhouse was built in that town. Joseph Palmer's barn in Boston, also, was surrounded with a similar stockade, and possibly there were others. These preparations, insignificant as they now appear, supply a clear indication of the anxious fears that pervaded the com - munities, even at a distance from the actual frontier.

In June, or earlier, Col. Cyrenius Chapin (probably at that time hold- ing the rank of major), who seems to have been constantly active, though perhaps in a somewhat capricious and desultory manner, organ- ized a company of mounted riflemen. It will be remembered that the British took a position at the Beaver Dams, a little east of St. Catha- rines, after the capture of Fort George by General Dearborn. At that point was a large stone house which had been made into a sort of cita- del by the British, where supplies were gathered for the troops. Dear- born determined to capture it. After the situation had been recon- noitered by a scout of Chapin's riflemen, Dearborn detached 570 men, including Chapin's company, some artillerymen and two pieces of artillery, under Lieut .- Col. Charles G. Boerstler, and on the evening of June 23 they marched up the river to Queenston and halted for the night. On the following morning they advanced, Chapin's riflemen taking the lead, and discovered scattering soldiers and Indians, who fled and gave the alarm. A party of 450 Mohawks and Caughnawagas, who were lying in ambush, fell upon Boerstler's rear, but were driven off; they rallied, however, and hanging on the flank and rear of the Americans they kept up a galling fire at every exposed situation. This continued until the Americans had crossed Beaver Dam Creek, during a period of about three hours, when Boerstler determined to abandon the expedition While moving off he was falsely informed by the lieutenant in command at the stone house and who appeared with a flag, that the British forces trebled the Americans in numbers and that the large body of Indians with the former probably could not be prevented from a massacre of the Americans. Thereupon Boerstler surrendered his whole command, and they were taken to the head of the lake

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(Hamilton). Chapin's two other officers (one of whom was Captain Sackrider), and twenty-six of his men were sent in two boats to Kings- ton, in charge of Captain Showers and a guard of fifteen men. One boat contained the British officer, the three American officers and thir- teen of the guard; the other held twenty-six prisoners, a British ser- geant and one private. What followed is best told upon authority of Chapin himself in his review of Armstrong's Notices of the War, as supplied in a foot note by Lossing (Field Book of the War, p. 622) which reads as follows :

Major Chapin says that he was placed in one boat with a principal part of the guard, and Captain Sackrider and a greater portion of the prisoners in the other boat. Orders had been given for the boats to keep some rods apart, one ahead of the other. After they had passed out of Burlington bay upon the open lake, Chapin made a signal to Sackrider in the hinder boat, which the Americans were rowing, to come up closer. He gave the word in whispers to the men, and while the major was amusing the British captain with a story, the hinder boat came up under the stern of the forward one. It was ordered back, when Chapin, with a loud voice, ordered his men not to fall back an inch. Captain Showers attempted to draw his sword, and some of his men thrust at Chapin with bayonets. The latter prostrated the captain with a blow. He fell in the bottom of the boat, and two of his men who were thrusting at Chapin fell upon him. The latter immediately stepped upon him. The guard in both boats were speedily overcome and secured. "I succeeded to the command of our fleet of two bateaux," says Chapin, "with no little alacrity. We shifted our course, crossed Lake Ontario, and with the boats and prisoners arrived the next morning safe at Fort Niagara."

The capture of Boerstler's command caused considerable alarm and anxiety on our frontier, which later events fully justified. General Dearborn's operations had thus far met with so little success that on July 6 he was superseded by Major-General Wilkinson; but during a short period before Wilkinson's arrival Gen. John Parker Boyd had the immediate command. Meanwhile preparations were in progress for the maritime struggle which was to give the Americans control of Lake Erie. On the 15th of June the five vessels which had been fitted out at the mouth of Scajaquada Creek, silently sailed away and joined Perry's fleet at Erie. While one of these vessels lay at anchor in the river and just before its departure, a small boat in which were Gamaliel St. John, of Buffalo, his eldest son, and three soldiers, ran foul of the ship's cable, was upset and all were drowned.

It has been seen that thus far the Indians, who were friendly to the the British cause, were employed as allies of the army without scruple or hindrance. None had thus far been accepted in the service of the

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United States. When in the early part of July a skirmish took place near Fort George in which an American lieutenant and ten men were captured and never afterward heard from, it was believed they had been massacred by the Indians. Thereupon General Boyd accepted the services of such of the Indian warriors of Western New York as were disposed to favor the American cause. About 400 were soon en- rolled, which number was subsequently somewhat increased. They were led at different times before the close of the war by Farmer's Brother, Henry O'Bail (young Cornplanter), Young King and Captain Pollard. Which of these war chiefs, if either, ranked first or highest, is an unsettled question.

General Boyd found his position on the frontier bristling with diffi- culties. The success of the British at Beaver Dams emboldened them for aggressive operations and they began closing in upon Fort George and Newark. Frequent skirmishes and several raids into American territory took place. For example, on the night of July 4 a party of Canadian militia and Indians, led by a lieutenant, crossed the Niagara from Chippewa to Schlosser, captured the guard and returned to Canada with a quantity of stores, arms, and one brass six-pounder.

Previous to this time Dearborn had withdrawn all the regular soldiers from Buffalo and Black Rock, leaving a large quantity of stores almost unprotected. It seems, however, that later he felt some slight antici- pation of what did subsequently take place, and stationed ten artillery - men in the blockhouse at Black Rock, and called for 500 militia from neighboring counties. Early in July nearly 300 of these arrived and were posted in the warehouses at Black Rock, under command of Major Parmenio Adams, of Genesee county. There were three pieces of field artillery and near by a battery of four heavier guns. About 100 re- cruits for the regulars, on their way to army headquarters, were halted at Buffalo and Judge Granger was ordered to enlist the services of as many Senecas as would join him, while General Porter, who was then at his well known residence, was requested to take command of the whole force. The British saw their opportunity and organized an ex. pedition against Buffalo and Black Rock, under command of Lieut. - Col. Cecil Bishopp, to whom Boerstler had surrendered at Beaver Dams. He was accompanied by Colonel Warren. The entire force of the ex- pedition numbered nearly 400. By the 10th of July Judge Granger received information of the contemplated early attack by the British, and that threats were made against his person. He, therefore, asked

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some of the Indians to come to his home, north of the Scajaquada Creek. A little before midnight of that day thirty-seven Senecas arrived at the house with Farmer's Brother. As they were not fully armed, the judge sent to the village the same night and obtained a full supply of arms and ammunition.

In the afternoon of this same day (the 10th) Bishopp's force left their headquarters at Lundy's Lane, entered boats at Chippewa after night- fall, rowed up the stream and just after daylight landed a mile below the mouth of the Scajaquada. Bishopp formed his troops and marched up the river bank. The single sentinel at the Scajaquada bridge pre- cipitately fled at sight of the British, who marched silently past the blockhouse in which a few soldiers were sleeping, and approached the encampment of Major Adams. His men had probably been awakened, for they were in time to flee and all escaped without making the slight- est resistance. A detachment of the British then hurried on to Gen- eral Porter's residence, and he also fled in such haste as to leave his arms and part of his garments. He attempted to reach Major Adams's camp, failing in which he turned towards Buffalo.

The victorious invaders now believed the object of their expedition was fully accomplished. The Americans had retreated, as usual, and nothing remained, apparently, but for the victors to enjoy their triumph. They began firing the barracks, spiking the battery guns, dragged away the field pieces, while a part of the force went on through the village, and captured and took across the river a few prominent citizens. So sure were the British officers that they had achieved a permanent victory, that they ordered a breakfast served at General Porter's. About the same time a considerable number of Canadian militia crossed the river to share in the rejoicing.

But a change was imminent. On his way towards the village General Porter met Captain Cummings with one hundred regulars proceeding towards Black Rock, after having received information of the invasion. Porter ordered Cummings to station his men in an open space near the site of the reservoir and await reinforcements. Hurriedly arming himself from one of the regulars and mounting a horse, Porter gal- loped down to the village, where he encountered a scene of tumult and distraction. Women and children were terror-stricken, while the men were anxiously awaiting developments. When Porter assured them that the tables might be turned upon the unsuspecting British, about fifty citizens placed themselves under Captain Bull, commander of the

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Buffalo Volunteer Company, and marched in quick time to join Cum- mings. In the mean time about one hundred of the retreating militia had been kept together by Lieut. Phineas Staunton, adjutant of the battalion, who was permitted by Major Adams to assume chief com- mand. This action by Major Adams has been attributed to his sudden sickness. Staunton's men, who had retreated up the beach, now left it and took position near the Buffalo road.

Major King, of the regular army, was at this time at Black Rock, and when he saw the fleeing militia he hastened through the woods to Judge Granger's house, and the alarm was soon spread to the dwellers on the Buffalo Plains. Farmer's Brother gathered his band of warriors, made a speech reminding them that it was their duty to go and fight the invaders and then led them to join his friend, General Porter.1 Volunteers now came on to the village from Cold Spring and the Plains, and soon about thirty were placed under Capt. William Hull, of the militia. Porter assembled his forces at the open ground before mentioned and found he had about 300 men. The British were calmly occupying their strong position on the site of Major Adams's encamp- ment. Porter made his plans to attack the position on three sides at once, to avoid the destructiveness of an artillery fire on a single massed column. The regulars and Captain Bull's volunteers formed the cen- ter; Staunton's militia were placed on the left nearest the river, and Captain Hull's men were ordered to co operate with the Indians. Farmer's Brother prepared for battle and his warriors followed his example. Stripping themselves almost nude, they grasped their rifles and ranged in line on the right front, with their chiefs a little in advance. At 8 o'clock the signal for attack was given and the three detachments moved forward. A slight delay was caused to the cen- tral detachment by Major King, who just then arrived, and claimed command of the regulars over Cummings. But in the mean time Staunton's militia effaced the stigma of their recent flight by dashing bravely forward against the enemy. The fight was sharp and short. During about fifteen minutes the militia kept a steady front against the British regulars and lost three killed and five wounded. Then the right flank of the Americans came up and the Indians gave the war whoop and opened fire. Colonel Bishopp was severely wounded and fell from his horse, his men became demoralized, and when the regu-

1 Porter was called by the Indians, "Conashustah."

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lars pressed forward the whole British force fled to the water's edge before Major King's belated command had taken part in the engage- inent. The whole American force, white men and Indians, closely followed, the forest resounding with the savage yells of the Senecas. Young King and another warrior were wounded. The British rallied at Black Rock, but as the Americans appeared the enemy entered boats found lying there and pushed out on the river, leaving fifteen prison- ers, seven wounded and eight killed. The Americans reached the river bank and opened a destructive fire upon the boats, under which the last one suffered most severely. In that were about sixty men in- cluding the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Bishopp,' who was pierced with several bullets, wounding him so severely that he died five days later. Captain Saunders was also wounded and taken prisoner. The men in the last boat soon dropped their oars and signaled their surrender. The firing ceased and the boats dropped down the stream, followed on the bank by some of the Americans who ordered the British in the boats to come ashore; the reply was made that they were too much disabled to make it possible. In the mean time the Indians began stripping the enemy's dead and the prisoners. The men in the last boat now refused to come ashore, claiming that the Indians were kill- ing and scalping Captain Saunders; the boat drifted down to near the head of Squaw Island, and there its occupants suddenly grasped the oars and succeeded in rowing it under shelter. Captain Saunders was not in any manner maltreated and was taken to General Porter's resi- dence, where he was nursed to recovery.

The gallant conduct of the militia in this affair was to a great extent due to the brave example of Adjutant Staunton,2 who farther distin- guished himself on other occasions in this war. The Senecas, too, ex- hibited their customary daring under fire and showed little of the savagery with which they have been credited; they, however, stripped naked every one of the dead enemy. While in many respects this affair was of minor importance, from a military point of view, it was second only to the later burning of Buffalo in the record of events that took place upon the soil of Erie county during this war .?

1 Bishopp was an English baronet and had served with distinction in Holland, Spain and Portugal. He was only thirty years old at the time of his death. He was buried near Lundy's Lane, and his sisters erected a monument over his resting place.

2 He was father of Phineas Staunton, the brave lieutenant-colonel of the 100th New York Vol- unteers in the late Civil war.

3 The entire loss of the British during this expedition, in killed, wounded, and missing, must

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General Porter and Colonel Chapin soon took a body of volunteers, with a hundred or more Indians, and proceeded to Fort George, in the vicinity of which during the summer numerous skirmishes and raids occurred. Near the end of July an attempt was made to capture a large quantity of stores at Burlington Heights. For this purpose Commodore Chauncey sailed from the mouth of the Niagara on the 28th of the month, with Col. Winfield Scott and 300 land troops. Be- fore their arrival at their destination, the British so strongly reinforced the troops in charge of the stores that Chauncey's force was too small to make an attack with prospects of success. The British reinforce- ments were drawn from Toronto, leaving that place undefended, and Chauncey sailed thither, entering the harbor on the 31st of July, with- out opposition; Scott landed his troops, burned the barracks, store- houses and eleven transports, and destroyed the cannon. The expedi- tion returned to Niagara August 3.

According to the report of General Boyd, Porter and Chapin were " very impatient to engage the enemy," and to gratify them a plan was made to cut off one of the enemy's pickets on the 17th of August. Chapin was ordered out of Fort George with about 300 volunteers and Indians, and 200 regulars under Major Cummings. Porter volunteered to accompany the movement and possibly was chief in command. On account of a heavy rain the main object was not accomplished, but a fight took place in which the volunteers and Indians captured sixteen prisoners and killed a number of the enemy. A number of the principal chiefs of the Senecas took part in this affair. On the 7th of September Chapin with his volunteers and most of the Indians returned to Buffalo.

At the close of July Perry, whose previous movements have been noticed, had about 300 effective officers and men at Erie, with which to man two twenty-gun brigs and eight smaller vessels. Erie was threatened by the British and General Porter had already sent word from Black Rock that the enemy was concentrating at Long Point, on the Canada shore opposite. Capt. Robert H. Barclay was in command

have been almost seventy. Some estimated it as high as one hundred. The loss of the Americans was three killed and five wounded. Two of the latter were Indians. The destruction of property was not so great as has been generally represented. The Americans did not lose, by destruction or plunder, more than one-third of the valuable naval stores at Black Rock, collected for Commo- dore Perry, nor did they reach a particle of the military stores for the use of the army, then de- posited at Buffalo. The enemy destroyed or captured 4 cannon, 177 English and French muskets, 1 three-pounder traveling carriage, 6 ammunition kegs, a small quantity of round and case shot, 123 barrels of salt, 46 barrels of whisky, considerable clothing and blankets, and a small quantity of other stores .- Clark's Official Report.

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of the British fleet. Though deplorably short of men Perry was restive and determined to sail out on the lake in quest of British ships. After cruising about for a few days the squadron left Erie on the 12th of August and made their rendezvous in Put in-Bay on the 15th, having in the mean time been reinforced by Capt. Jesse D. Elliott and about one hundred superior officers and men. Perry sailed up the lake for Sandusky to notify Harrison that he was ready for co-operation with him. Harrison visited Perry on his flagship on the 19th and a plan of campaign was arranged. This included the transportation of Harrison's 8,000 troops and Indians to Malden. On the 21st Harrison returned to his camp and Perry spent the time from then until the 10th of Septem- ber in reconnoitering, making in the mean time another voyage to Harrison at Sandusky Bay. On the evening of the 9th he called his officers and gave them detailed instructions, for he had determined to seek the enemy at his anchorage, if he did not come out. Fortunately for Perry, Barclay was forced to make an attempt to open communica- tion with Long Point, on account of scarcity of provisions for the British troops. The cry, "Sail ho!" rang out from the mast head of Perry's flagship, the Lawrence, on the clear morning of September 10, and the gallant young commodore knew that he would now have an opportunity to win renown, though against large odds. Perry's squadron numbered nine vessels and was armed with fifty-four carriage guns and two swivels. Barclay had thirty-five long guns to Perry's fifteen, giving him great advantage in fighting at a distance; on the other hand the advantage lay with the Americans in close fighting. The force of men was nearly equal on both fleets.

It is unnecessary to describe in detail the naval battle that was fought on that day between those two fleets. It has gone into history as one of the most remarkable engagements ever fought on the water, consid- ering the numbers engaged. Every intelligent person is familiar with its story of brilliant deeds-how the flagship Lawrence was subjected to such a storm of shot that she lay a battered hulk upon the waves; how twenty two were slain and sixty-one wounded on her decks from the 103 of her officers and men; how Perry in this critical situation left her and was rowed in an open boat amid a shower of bullets to the Niagara, which was still almost uninjured; how the contest was re- newed at close quarters; how Perry dashed through the British line with the Niagara and was followed by most of the other vessels; how at 3 o'clock the flag of the British ship Detroit was lowered, the

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smoke of battle cleared away and the victory was won. It was a proud moment for Perry and his men, and he sent to Harrison the memorable dispatch, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." 1

Perry's victory gave the sovereignty of Lake Erie to the Americans and exerted a powerful influence in their favor throughout the coun- try .? It was followed by Harrison's successful campaign in Canada against Proctor and the death of Tecumseh. These events, in con- junction with a continuing series of American successes on the sea, including the capture of the Boxer by the Enterprise, of the Peacock by the Hornet; the desperate battle between the Chesapeake and the Shannon, in which the American vessel was captured; the successful cruise of the Essex, and other notable events, gave renewed stimulus to the government and dispelled some of the discouragement that had pervaded many sections of the country.3

Believing that the upper peninsula was substantially cleared of the enemy, General Wilkinson withdrew most of his troops to the lower end of Lake Ontario. This was an impolitic measure and received condemnation from General Porter, Colonel Chapin and Col. Joseph McClure, who wrote Wilkinson from Black Rock to the effect that they had expected him to make a decisive movement and had, therefore, gone to Fort George with 500 men to share in it. "Most of us," they wrote, "remained there twelve or fourteen days, but our hopes not being realized, the men continually dispersed and went home." These three officers then offered to raise a thousand or more men to either aid Wilkinson in making a sally from Fort George, or, if furnished with artillery, to invade the enemy's country and thoroughly conquer

1 On Wednesday, at ten o'clock, Major Chapin fired a salute at the battery in honor of the vic- tory. In the evening the village was brilliantly illuminated. A large procession formed and marched through the streets, preceded by music .- Buffalo Gazette.

2 The effect of this victory was deeply impressive on the British mind, and the newspapers in the provinces and the mother country indulged in lamentations over the want of vigor in prose- cution of the war manifested by the ministry. "We have been conquered on Lake Erie," said a Halifax journal, "and so we shall be on every other lake, if we take as little care to protect them. Their success is less owing to their prowess than to our neglect." A London paper sought to console their country by saying, "It may, however, serve to diminish our vexation at the oc- currence to learn that the flotilla in question was not any branch of the British navy. . . . It was not the Royal Navy, but a local force-a kind of mercantile military."

3 The tone of the President's message to that body [Congress] was hopeful and even joyous, for the late achievements of the national power gave promises of great good. Financial matters were quite as favorable as when Congress adjourned in August. Abundant harvests had re- warded the labors of the husbandman. The people were becoming more and more a unit in opinion concerning the righteousness of the war on the part of the Government, and its bene- ficial effects in developing the internal resources of the country; also in demonstrating the ability of a free government to protect itself against a powerful foe .- Lossing.

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Our county and its people : a descriptive work on Erie County, New York, Volume I, Part 25

Author: White, Truman C Publication date: 1898 Publisher: [Boston] : Boston History Co. Number of Pages: 1014

Author: White, Truman C
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Boston] : Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 1014