Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 4

Author: Wager, Daniel Elbridge, 1823-1896
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston history co.
Number of Pages: 1612

USA > New York > Oneida County > Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York; > Part 4

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1760 TO AUGUST, 1777.

Colonel Dayton was in command of the fort of that name (now Herki- mer village) in 1776, and he was ordered to take charge of Fort Stan- wix and repair it. The fort had gone greatly to decay, the pickets rotted off, and the earthworks much out of repair. It seems that Col. Elias Dayton I was at Fort Stanwix in the summer of 1776 and he was the one who changed the name to Fort Schuyler ; that name clung to it in part during the war, and in that way it has often been confounded with Fort Schuyler at Utica ; Colonel Dayton was superseded in the year 1776 in command at Fort Stanwix by Colonel Elmore of the State service. In April, 1777, Col. Peter Gansevoort, then twenty- eight years of age, of the State service, was appointed to suc- ceed Colonel Elmore by an order of General Gates dated April 26, 1777. On reaching Fort Stan wix Colonel Gansevoort found the ditches nearly filled up, maga - zine and barracks gone to ruin and the works untenable and in no condition for defence. He had but a small number of men and it was rumored there was to be an attack by the British PLIER GANSEVOORT, JR. during the summer. In May Col. Marinus Willett, then thirty-seven years old, and near Peekskill, was ordered with his regiment to join Colonel Gansevoort ; he started from Fort Constitution, opposite West Point, with his regiment in three sloops, reached Albany in three days, thence in boats up the Mohawk and arrived at Fort Stanwix May 29, 1777. When Colonels Ganse- voort and Willett reached Fort Stanwix, the work of repairing com- menced in earnest. The French engineer employed turned out to be wholly incompetent. Instead of repairing the works after the manner of their original construction, which would have been comparatively

" Colonel Dayton was grandfather of William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, minister to France under President Lincoln, and who ran for vice-president in 1556, on the ticket with John C. Fremont.

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

easy, he sent out to the swamp large parties to cut pickets, which when brought to the fort with so much labor were found to be seventeen feet long, seven feet longer than required, and instead of putting them in the center of the ditch, as formerly, they were put in the covert way. A building for barracks was erected outside of the fort. Another blunder was that the port holes in the pickets did not correspond with the em- brasures of the fort. The upshot of the matter was, the engineer was arrested and sent down the valley to General Schuyler. It was not until into July that this was done.

The British plan of the campaign for 1777 was for General Burgoyne to go from Canada with an army of 7,000 men up Lake Champlain, cross over to the Hudson River at Fort Edward, down that stream to Albany and there unite with General Howe, who was to come up the Hudson with his forces, and those two armies meet St. Leger with another army, which was to go via Lake Ontario, Oswego River, Oneida Lake, Wood Creek, capture Fort Stanwix, and proceed down the Mohawk and overrun and wipe out the settlements in the valley. That plan was formulated in England, and the forces started in the spring of 1777 to execute it. If it had been successful it would have been the death knell of American independence, as it would have separated the New England from the other colonies, as was the plan, and trampled under foot the patriots of the Mohawk Valley -among the most vigilant, the most brave, the most alert and active, of any of the settlements in the thirteen colonies ; but the British authorities had not duly considered, nor given proper weight to, the part Fort Stanwix might, and was to act in this contest They did not seem to have taken into account that it was possible for St. Leger to fail before this fort ; but to have assumed it was to be taken and the valley overrun as a matter of course.

And now the time was approaching when within the borders of Oneida county were to be enacted scenes, and in which history was to be made, of momentous import ; history concerning not this locality alone, but involving the destiny of a nation, and hence it is not an exaggeration to say that the result of the siege of Fort Stanwix was the turning point in the Revolutionary conflict and assured independence to the colonies. General Burgoyne had charge of the Champlain expedition He came from England in the spring of 1777, and in June went up Lake Cham-

1760 TO AUGUST, 1777.

plain and in due time reached the Hudson River with an army of 7,000 men. It was not fully known in early summer to the colonies as to the general plan of the English campaign ; but as the season advanced, ru- mors thickened, and savages prowling around Fort Stanwix, picking off all they could see, indicated the trend of events.

Under date of June 26, 1777, Colonel Gansevoort wrote to General Schuyler as follows :

I am sorry to inform you that Captain Gregg went out gunning yesterday morning. contrary to orders, and about 10 A. M. Corporal Madison was killed and scalped and Captain Gregg shot through the back, tomahawked and scalped and left for dead; but he survives. He saw two Indians.

Under date of July 4 Colonel Gansevoort writes again, as follows :

The soldiers are constantly at work sending out parties of observation, felling the timber into Wood Creek, clearing the road to Fort Dayton, which in many parts is impassable, and at the same time prosecuting the works, are objects of great impor- tance. 150 men would be needed speedily and effectually to obstruct Wood Creek ; an equal number necessary to guard the men at work in felling and hauling timber. The number of inimical Indians increases. Yesterday a party of 40, supposed to be Butler's emissaries, attacked Ensign Spoor with 16 privates, who were out cutting turf three-quarters of a mile from the fort ; one soldier was brought in dead, and in- humanly mangled; two brought in wounded ; Mr. Spoor and six privates are missing. Our provisions are greatly diminished by reason of the spoiling of the beef; it will not hold out six weeks. Our stock of powder is too little.

On the 3d of July, about noon, Colonel Willett chronicles in his nar- native that he was startled from his siesta by the report of musketry ; hastening to the parapet he saw a little girl running with a basket in her hand, while the blood was trickling down her bosom. It appeared that the girl, with two others, had been picking berries not forty rods from the fort (about where now stands the freight house of the N.Y. C. R. R.) and were fired upon and two of the number killed. The girl who es- caped was but slightly wounded. One of the girls killed was Katy Steers, twenty years old, daughter of one of the settlers; the other was the daughter of an invalid British officer, and was entitled to a position in the Chelsea hospital, but had preferred to remain in the cultivation of a small piece of land around Fort Stanwix than to again cross the ocean. Quite likely this invalid was the patentee of Sumner's Patent (see history of that patent), and this murdered girl his daughter.

The storm was thickening and rapidly approaching, full of evil por-

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

tents; by the middle of July Indians were prowling around the fort with murderous intent, and it became necessary to house the cattle within the fort, to send the families down the valley for safety, and for none of the garrison to venture out except in good sized parties and well armed. At this time the garrison consisted of 550 men, but they were only partially supplied with provisions, powder, and munitions of war. Boats, however, with men and supplies, were daily expected to arrive from down the valley. On the 30th of July a letter was received at the fort from Thomas Spencer,1 a friendly half breed Oneida, an Indian interpreter, that in four days the king's troops would be at the fort. On the first of August, 1777, the walls around the fort were repaired ; the parapets nearly raised ; the embrasures made on three sides of the bas- tions ; horizontal pickets extending over the ditches from the embank- ment, and the perpendicular pickets were erected around the covert way, and the gate and bridges made secure. The sally port was on the east side of the fort towards the river ; the covert way was on the opposite side (westerly); the drawbridge on the southerly side towards Dominick street. On the northeast corner or bastion of the fort, towards St. Peter's church, were three guns; on the northwest corner, towards the City Hall, four guns : on the southeast corner towards the river, four guns, and on the southwest corner three guns, and there was the flag staff. On the side (northerly) towards Liberty street, were the soldiers' quarters ; on the east and south sides, the officers' barracks and in the southeast corner the magazine constructed of the seven feet cut off from the seventeen feet logs procured for pickets. Between the fort and the river the land was mainly cleared of trees, but the ap- proaches from that direction were deemed difficult if not impassable by reason of the morass A deep broad ditch encircled the fort, fifteen to twenty feet wide at the top, sloping to the bottom, and eighteen to twenty feet deep. In the center of the ditch were heavy perpendicular pickets, sharp pointed at the top. Another row of horizontal pickets projected from the ramparts over the ditch. Between the fort and what is now the Erie Canal, the land was cleared, and so it was westerly most of the way between the fort and Wood Creek. August ist an express

Ille was killed afterwards at the battle of Oriskany. He was the one who went to Canada on a secret mission in the spring of 1777, and brought the news of the British plan of the campaign for that year.

1760 TO AUGUST, 1777.

arrived at the fort with the news that the boats coming up the Mohawk were near at hand. On the 2d of August in the afternoon, the boats with supplies and 200 men under Colonel Mellon (Mass. troops) reached the landing, just as a detachment from St. Leger's forces appeared in sight ; all of Colonel Mellon's men reached the fort except the man who commanded the boats, who by reason of his dilatoriness, was taken prisoner. An hour's difference in time might have entirely changed the result of that siege. There were now 750 men in the fort, provisioned for six weeks, with plenty of ammunition for small arms, but a scanty supply for the large guns, with nine rounds for each for the same period. The main body of St. Leger's forces was near at hand, con- sisting of less than 500 troops outside of the Indians, and 1,000 of the latter ; some accounts place the number of the enemy from 1,000 to 2,000 men. The siege commenced at once, while the parapets had to be finished by the garrison exposed to the fire of the enemy.

Early in the year 1776 a regiment was raised in Connecticut, under authority of the Continental Congress, to serve for one year from April, 1776. It is known as Colonel Elmore's regiment. Col Samuel Elmore and most of his company officers recruited their men in Connecticut, and to some extent from regiments which had served in the north. Some of the officers belonged in New York and a few in Massachusetts, and men were recruited from both of those States. Col. Samuel Elmore was from Sharon, Conn .; Lieut .- Col. John Brown was from Massachu- setts (both appointed by Congress) ; Maj. Robert Cochran was from New York (probably from Westchester county). The regiment took the field in July, 1776, under Gen. Philip Schuyler, and on August 25 marched from Albany up the Mohawk Valley. Capt. David Smith's company was on duty at German Flats, Capt. Lathrop Allen's company was in garrison at Fort Dayton (Herkimer), Capt. William Satterlee's company in garrison at Johnstown, Capt. Joel Dickenson's company (of which Robert Cochran was captain until he was promoted to be major) in gar- rison at Fort Dayton, Capt. Theodore Woodbridge's company, Capt. Albert Chapman's company, Capt. Robert Walker's company, and Capt. Jeremiah Parmalee's company (four companies) marched on to Fort Stanwix and were in that fort and its vicinity until they broke up in the spring of 1777, when their term of service expired. Most of the offi-

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

cers and a number of the men re-entered the Continental service in the Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York lines. Captain Satterlee was from Massachusetts, Captain Cochran from New York, and the re- mainder of the captains from Connecticut. It is, or has been, generally supposed this regiment was at Fort Stanwix during its siege. This supposition is not well founded. The regiment at that fort during the siege in August, 1777, was the Third New York regiment, of which Colonel Gansevoort was colonel, and Col. Marinus Willett lieutenant- colonel. In addition there were 200 Massachusetts men under Colonel Mellon (of Colonel Weston's regiment) who arrived at the fort the day the siege was commenced by St. Leger (August 2, 1877), and barely reached the fort before the advance force under Brant and Colonel Bird arrived. April 26, 1777, Colonel Gansevoort was appointed by General Gates to succeed Colonel Elmore, and May 18, 1777, Colonel Willett was ordered to proceed from opposite West Point to Fort Stanwix, as lieutenant-colonel, with his regiment, the Third New York.

CHAPTER VI.

1777-SIEGE OF FORT STANWIX-BATTLE OF ORISKANY.

This chapter embodies an account of events which in their results more vitally affected the destiny of this county and of the nation than any others in their history. The territory embraced in this county was more than a century ago the theater of passing events which then and there practically decided the question whether the thirteen American colonies then struggling for independence were to continue as depend- encies of Great Britain, or were to become the first, and probably the only, republic on this continent. Within this territory the battle was fought and won which practically settled that question; hence it is fair to assume that the student of local history will desire to be informed in detail of each step in the progress of events which gave this county of ours such paramount historical interest.

In a former chapter is outlined the plan of the British for their cam-

1777-SIEGE OF FORT STANWIX-BATTLE OF ORISKANY.

paign of 1777. With the Burgoyne movement up Lakes Champlain and George, across the country to the Hudson and down that stream until the army met its fate on the field of Saratoga, this volume has very little to do. But the expedition of St. Leger from La Chine, near Montreal, up the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario, and thence to Oneida Lake and Wood Creek to Fort Stanwix, with the purpose of meeting Burgoyne at Albany, is of the greatest local importance and historical interest.

Sir John Johnson was with this expedition, and a copy of his Orderly Book is before the writer. This Orderly Book was captured by Colonel Willett when he made his sortie at the siege of Fort Stanwix. The troops to accompany the expedition were of the 8th regiment and of the 34th, each of 100 men, Sir John Johnson's regiment, 133, and, as was intended, 342 Hanau Chasseurs. In the Orderly Book, date of June 20, 1777, is this order :

Forty-eight batteaux to be delivered to the Royal Regiment (8th), 45 felling axes, and 3 broad axes; 75 felling axes and 2 broad axes to the 34th regiment. The 8th regiment to take 440 barrels of provisions, allowing 10 bbls each for 44 batteaus; the rum or brandy to be put for security in the officer's boats. The 8th reg't to be com- pleted with 14 days provisions, commencing Saturday, June 21st.

On the 2 1st is this order :

Forty boats to contain 400 bbls of provisions, and ? of rum; the remainder to be left at St. Leger's quarters.

Lieutenant- Colonel St. Leger was to command and accompany this expedition, and Sir John Johnson and Colonel Claus, his brother-in-law, subordinates. Colonel Claus, under date of October 16, 1777, after the expedition was over, wrote to the home government as follows :

On the 23d of June I set out from La Chine near Montreal. The Brigadier was getting the artillery boats ready to take in 2 sixes, two 3's, and four cohorns (being our artillery for the expedition) was to follow the day after, and proceeded for an island destined for our rendezvous in the entrance of Lake Ontario, called Buck [Carleton ] Island, in company with Sir John Johnson and his regiment. In my way thither 1 collected a body of 150 Missagues [a Huron clan of Indians] and 6 nation of Indians. The foregoing Indians the Brigadier intended should accompany him on an alert to Fort Stanwix by a short cut thro' the woods from the mouth of the Sal- mon River, about 20 miles from Oswego, in order to surprise the garrison, and take it with small arms. Between 60 and 70 leagues from Montreal, the reconnoitering party I sent to Fort Stanwix returned and met me with 5 prisoners (one lieutenant) and 4 scalps, having defeated a working party of 16 rebels as they were cutting sods 5

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

toward repairing and finishing the old fort,1 which is garrisoned by upward of 600 men-the repairs far advanced and the rebels expecting us, and were acquainted with our strength and route. The Brig. was about 15 leagues in our rear; on reach- ing Buck island, he admitted our artillery was insufficient, if the rebels intended to defend themselves in their fort. Here he had opportunity of sending for a better train of artillery. He was, however still on the alert. We arrived at Buck island July 8th.

This expedition remained at Buck Island until the 19th of July On the 17th an order appears on Sir John's Orderly Book for forty days' provisions for 500 men, by which it is argued by the British authorities that not more than 500 men, Indians and all, were with St. Leger until he reached Oswego, where an addition of Indians was made to his force On the 18th of July the Orderly Book had the following entry :

The 8th and 34th regiments will receive 10 boats each for their men and 20 days provisions; the officers allowed a proper portion for their baggage on their way to Oswego. The corps of Canadians will move at same time and carry 20 days provis- ions for 500 men. The advance corps to carry 6 days provisions in bread and pork, to shut any possibility of want of provisions from delay, &e. The artillery to carry 20 days provisions for their own detatchment. The artillery, the chasseurs, officers and Rangers of the Indian department and Canadians, to hold themselves in readi- ness to embark at 4 in the morning, to-morrow.

There is a hiatus in the Orderly Book from the above date until after Oswego was reached and passed, and until July 31st, when Oswego Falls (Fulton, Oswego county) was passed and the troops ready to pro- ceed in boats up the Oswego River. The letter of October 16, 1777, from Colonel Claus, is continued as follows :

The Brigadier set out from Buck Island July 19, for Salmon river, I having been ordered to proceed to Oswego with Sir John's regiment and a company of chasseurs, lately arrived, there to convene and prepare the Indians to jom the Brigadier at Fort Stanwix. I reached Oswego July 23d, and there found Brant, who informed me that his party of 300 Indians would be there the next day; and that having been more than two months upon service, were destitute of necessaries, ammunition and some arms. July 24th I rec'd an express from St. Ledger at Salmon river to repair there with what arms and vermillion I had, and wished I would come prepared for a march thro' the woods. I had no arms nor vermillion, but I prepared to go upon the march, and was ready to set off when Brant came to my tent and told me, that as no person was there to take care of the Indians with him, he apprehended that in case I should leave them, they would become disgusted and disperse, which might prevent the rest of the 6 nations to assemble, and be hurtful to the expedition, and begged I

1 This was the party that captured Ensign Spoor, mentioned in Colonel Gansevoort's letter of July 1, 1277, in a former chapter.

1777-SIEGE OF FORT STANWIX-BATTLE OF ORISKANY.

would first represent these circumstances to the Brig. by letter. The Brig. had men- tioned by letter to me, that my going was chiefly intended to quiet the Indians with him, who were very drunk and riotous; Capt. Tice, the messenger, informed me that the Brig. had ordered a quart of rum apiece, which made them beastly drunk, and in which case, it is not in the power of man to quiet them; so I mentioned these suggestions to him of Brant; upon which, and finding the Indians disapproved of my going, the Brig. came away from Salmon river, and arrived at Oswego the next day, with the companies of the Sth and 34th regiments and about 250 Indians.

On the 26th of July the expedition left Oswego with the purpose of meeting at Three River Point such other Indians as were expected to join. On the 31st, after reaching Oswego Falls, around which it re- quired three days to transport the baggage and guns, the following entry was made in the Orderly Book :

The detachment of the Royal artillery, and the company of Canadians are to take in their loading immediately ; each Capt. boat to carry 4 bbls-10 lieut. boats 5 bbls each, private boats 6 each, and to hold themselves in readiness to embark at 2 P. M.

There is no entry in the Orderly Book after the above date.

After leaving Oswego St. Leger sent in advance a small detachment of thirty men of the regular troops under Colonel Bird (who was killed in the battle of Oriskany), to proceed to Fort Stanwix, cut the com- munications of the garrison with their friends down the valley, and cap- ture the supply boats then on their way to the fort with supplies. From the diary of Colonel Bird, which was captured by Colonel Willett on his sortie from the fort, as detailed later on, the following entries are taken :

Tuesday, July 29, 1777 After going 2 miles and no savages coming up, waited 2 hours for them. Sixteen Senecas arriving proceeded to 3 Rivers; waited there 2 hours; 70 or 80 Indians came up; they had stolen 2 oxen from the droves of the army, and would not advance, but stayed to feast. I advanced 7 miles farther with- out them-in all 19 miles.

Wed., July 30. Set off next morning at 6, having waited for the savages till that time, tho' none arrived. Ordered the boats to keep 70 rods behind each other-half of the men keeping arms in their hands, while the other { rowed; ordered that if any of the boats were fired upon, the men should jump ashore. Rowed all night, encamped at Nine Mile Point. [Probably Bernhard's Bay. It is evident that Colonel Bird expected an ambush. ]

Thursday, July 31st. With 27 Senecas and 9 Hurons, joined Mr. Nair's 1 party. Many savages being with us, we proceeded to Wood Creek, a march of 15 miles.

Friday, Aug't 1st. The savages hinted an intention to send parties to Fort Stan-

1 Killed at the battle of Oriskany.

OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

wix, but to proceed no farther in a body. I called a council of the Chiefs, and told them of my orders to go to the fort, and if they would not go with me, I should take the white men and go; the Hurons said they would go with me. The Senecas said it was their way to proceed with caution. I told them I would wait until next morn- ing at daybreak, and then certainly go. They said they would send out large scouts to prepare the way; accordingly 18 or 20 set off this evening.

The Indians were very insubordinate and intractable, demonstrat- ing the embarrassment that often arose in attempting to employ them with regular troops. It was owing to the acts of the Indians that Colonel Bird was prevented from reaching the fort in time to intercept and capture the supply boats, as narrated in the previous chapter. On Saturday, the 2d of August, Colonel Bird reached the fort and imme- diately wrote back to St. Leger, who had arrived at Nine Mile Point. He wrote that no savages would advance with him, except two of the Six Nations. "Twelve Hurons came up two or three hours after I had left ; those with the scout of fifteen, I mentioned in my last, are suffi- cient to invest Fort Stanwix. if you favor me so far as not to order me to the contrary." St. Leger at once replied as follows :

You will observe that I will have nothing but an investment of the fort; and to enable you to do it with greater effect, I send Brant with his Indians to re-enforce you; and in case the enemy observing the discretion and judgment with which it is made, should offer to capitulate, you are to tell them, you are sure I am well disposed to listen to them. I leave here at 11 this A. M. and shall reach the entrance to Wood Creek (15 miles) early in the afternoon.

The foregoing extract indicates how confident St. Leger was of suc- cess and how little he realized the terrible earnestness of the garrison and of the colonies. Not unlikely he had heard so much from the tory leaders of the imbecility and cowardice of the "rebels," and of their willingness to lay down their arms and join the king's troops, if they dared, he expected to capture the fort without firing a gun.

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Our county and its people; a descriptive work on Oneida county, New York;, Part 4

Author: Wager, Daniel Elbridge, 1823-1896 Publication date: 1896 Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston history co. Number of Pages: 1612

Author: Wager, Daniel Elbridge, 1823-1896
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: [Boston] : The Boston history co.
Number of Pages: 1612