USA > New York > Pioneer history of the Holland Purchase of western New York : embracing some account of the ancient remains > Part 61
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During the succeeding summer, the British being in possession of Fort Niagara, small marauding parties, generally Indians, occa- sionally visited the settlers who had ventured back to their homes in the neighborhood. Upon one occasion, an Indian strolled from the Fort alone, and passing through the woods, came out upon the Ridge at the house of Sparrow Sage, three miles east of Lewiston. Entering the house, he found Mrs. Sage and a female companion unprotected, and made them his prisoners. Ordering them into the woods, and directing their course toward the Fort, the companion of Mrs. Sage made her escape, and hastily apprised Mr. Sage of his wife's captivity. He pursued - overtook the captor and cap- tive, and inflicting a severe wound upon the Indian with an axe, caused him to release Mrs. Sage, and save himself by flight. It was an exploit of heroism, chivalrous, in view of the relation that existed between the rescuer and the rescued, worthy of a rank with the best and bravest deeds that are recorded in the history of the border wars of the Revolution.
There is a solitary grave upon the Ridge road, near the eastern extremity of Hopkins' Marsh. It is that of a teamster whose name was Mead. He was conveying some household furniture from Lewiston, in the morning of the invasion. An Indian over- took and shot him. This was the farthest advance that either the British or Indians made upon the Ridge road.
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Three or four days after the British obtained possession of Fort Niagara, a scouting party sallied out with orders to proceed down the lake as far as the Eighteen Mile creek, and burn every tene- ment. 3 The leading object of the expedition was the destruction of the mills of Judge Van Horn, where some flour destined for our army was stored. The order was pretty thoroughly executed; in twenty-four hours the scattered settlers along the lake road, and at the mouth of the Eighteen, were as houseless as were those of the frontier, from Fort Niagara to Tonawanda; save a few dwellings that were saved by the commanding officer, against orders. Seldom has there been a more peaceable and humane march of invaders through a conquered territory. The orders of the officer, from his superior, were stringent, and even sanguinary; but he managed to discharge his duty according to the dictates of humanity. In several instances he ordered his own men to assist in removing some of the most necessary articles of household fur- niture, before firing houses; and when the mill of Judge Van Horn was fired, he ordered several barrels of flour to be rolled out for the use of the families he had reluctantly made destitute. The author regrets that he cannot fix upon his name with certainty, and record it with this tribute of praise so well deserved; one informant says it was Captain Sherwood, and another, that it was Lieutenant Williams.
The invaders returned to Fort Niagara, taking back with them fifteen or sixteen men as prisoners, and leaving such women and children as had not fled before them, unharmed. Among the pris- oners was Reuben Wilson, Esq. The old gentleman, in relating these events to the author, closed by saying :- "Myself and neigh- bors were retained eight days at the fort, and then paroled. Returning, we gathered up what was left of our effects, and went east, scattering along the Ridge Road principally, some going over the Genesee river. In a few days there was no family upon the lake, west of Gen. Wisner's;" [two miles below Olcott,] "except Messrs. Crossman's, Brewer's, and Chalmers', at the mouth of the Eighteen; all else was desertion and desolation. I returned in about three weeks, and several of my neighbors returned during the winter and spring; some of them, not until after the close of the war; and some of them never returned, having seen enough of the hardships of a new country, and of harassing frontier life."
The news of all that had occurred spread terror and consterna-
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tion throughout Western New York. A farther march of the invaders was anticipated; an immediate attack upon Buffalo, and at least an advance into the interior as far as Batavia, where there were an arsenal and military stores. Gen. Hall, on hearing of the invasion, at his residence in Bloomfield, soon collected a considera- ble force from General Wadsworth's Brigade, in Ontario, and volunteers from Genesee county, establishing his head-quarters at Batavia. An arming and organization was perfected by the 25th of December, and the troops marched to Buffalo. General Hall, in his official dispatch, says :- "I arrived at Buffalo on the morning of the 26th, and there found a considerable body of irregular troops, of various descriptions, disorganized and confused ;- every thing wore the appearance of consternation and dismay." He reports the entire number of men at Buffalo, on the 26th, at a little over two thousand, to which was added, before the 30th, three hundred from Chautauque. Organization, from the short time that was allowed to perfect it, was necessarily imperfect.
On the night of the 29th of December, between eleven and twelve o'clock, it was announced at Buffalo, that a patrol of mounted men, under the command of Lieut. Boughton, had been fired upon by a British force, that had crossed near the head of Grand Island, advanced, and taken possession of a battery which stood upon the site of the present lower village of Black Rock. The troops at Buffalo were immediately paraded, but not ordered to march upon the invaders, Gen. Hall concluding that the attack below was intended to draw off his force preparatory to an attack upon Buffalo. General Hopkins being absent at the time, the com- mand at Black Rock devolved upon Colonels Warren and Churchill. They were ordered by Gen. Hall to attack the enemy in the battery where they had taken position, dislodge and drive them from their boats. The attack, made under all the disadvantages of hasty preparation, in a dark night, failed to accomplish its purpose. The entire force was dispersed. Orders were immediatly given for the main force at Buffalo to march in the direction of Black Rock. A second attack upon the British force in the battery, by a small corps headed by Col. Chapin and Maj. Adams, ended like the first, in failure and dispersion. All that succeeded, was but a chapter of disasters and failures, which are principally comprised in the following extract from an official dispatch of Gen. Hall to Gov. Tompkins :-
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" As the day dawned, I discovered a detachment of the enemy's boats crossing to our shore, and bending their course towards the rear of Gen. Porter's house. I immediately ordered Col. Blakeslee to attack the enemy's force at the water's edge. I became satisfied as to the disposition and object of the enemy. Their left wing, com- posed of about one thousand regulars, militia, and Indians, had been landed below the creek, under the cover of the night. With their centre, consisting of four hundred royal Scots, commanded by Col. Gordon, the battle was commenced. The right, which was pur- posely weak, was landed near the main battery, merely to divert our force; the whole under the immediate command of Licut. Col. Drummond, and led on by Maj. Gen. Riall. They were attacked by four field pieces in the battery at the water's edge, at the same time the battery from the other side of the river opened a heavy fire upon us, of shells, hot shot, and ball. The whole force now opposed to the enemy was, at most, not over six hundred men, the remainder having fled, in spite of the exertions of their officers. These few but brave men, disputed every inch of ground, with the steady coolness of veterans, at the expense of many valuable lives. The defection of the militia, by reason of the ground on which they must act, left the forces engaged, exposed to the enemy's fire in front and flank. After standing their ground for half an hour, opposed by an overwhelming force and nearly surrounded, a retreat became necessary to their safety, and was accordingly ordered. I then made every effort to rally the troops, with a view to attack their columns as they entered the village of Buffalo, but all in vain. Deserted by my principal force, I fell back that night to Eleven Mile creek, and was forced to leave the flourishing villages of Black Rock and Buffalo a prey to the enemy, which they have pillaged and laid in ashes. They have gained but little plunder from the stores; the chief loss has fallen upon individuals."
Such is the official account of the memorable and disastrous events of the morning of the 30th of December. A long catalogue of cotemporary accounts, of personal recollections, might be added, which would furnish pages that belong upon the dark side of American war history. It was the consummation of a series of untoward events, which had their origin in the general bad man- agement of the campaign of 1813; promoted, its climax of folly added, by an act of wanton aggression, such as was the destruction of Newark, at a period when retribution was sure to follow, and be disastrously successful as it was; at a crisis when the efficient defences upon our frontiers were withdrawn, and the inadequate protection of a militia force, suddenly drawn from their homes at an inclement season, without opportunity for efficient organization,
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substituted. The British force that landed at Black Rock was inferior in point of numbers, to the opposing American force, according to the estimates of Gen. Hall. The British official accounts make the whole invading force under Gen. Riall but little over one thousand. Upon the one hand, however, there were all the advantages of efficient organization, tolerable discipline, and of attack under cover of the darkness of night; upon the other, the disadvantages that have already been enumerated, to which may be added, cowardice and flight, disgraceful to the American arms. And yet the battle of Black Rock, the generally inefficient defences that were made against an invading foe, were not without some redeeming features. There were creditable and honorable acts of bravery, but they were isolated ones. There were those who stood firm in the midst of flight, until resistance seemed no longer of any avail. But after a few ineffectual attempts to beat back the invaders, it was a general rout and flight, through every avenue of escape from danger; and squads of armed soldiers, in many instances, preceded even women and children in the hasty retreat. It was odd enough, and disgraceful enough, but it was nevertheless a fact, that retreating soldiers, and even some officers, as they arrived in the back settlements, added to the panic and dismay, that the cooler headed and less timorous were endeavoring to allay. The local history of the war of 1812, in the aggregate, is creditable, highly so, to the frontier settlers upon the Holland Purchase. Never in the history of this or any other country has there been a more prompt compliance with military requisitions, attended with greater sacrifices, than in that crisis, throughout the whole region of West- ern New York. In the settlements upon the Holland Purchase, during more than one campaign, there might have been seen the small harvest fields of the new settlers, ripening for the scythe and the sickle, maturing and going to waste; while the owners, whose toil had cleared, planted, and sowed, were away, enrolled and under arms, in the service of their country. Improvements, as has been before said, were in their infancy; there would have been no surplus produce, with seasonable harvests; the reader will readily infer in what degree, late and often neglected harvests added to the distress and suffering of the inhabitants. There was in the whole trying and eventful crisis, on the part of the men of Western New York, in the main, no absence of a devotion to country, or willingness to defend its soil; but the events of the
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30th of December, 1813, are seldom now recurred to in the presence of those who witnessed them, and participated in their consequences, without bringing to their minds lively and painful recollections of imperfect and abortive measures of defence; the rout, the hasty, panic stricken retreat, the unnecessary surrender- ing of a frontier, and its then largest village, to the arms and the torch of an invading foe, not formidable either in numbers or mil- itary prowess.
And it here may be added, in reference to the whole history of the war upon this frontier, that it furnished a distinct, and ever to be remembered demonstration of the inutility of a drafted militia. Where ever such troops were relied upon, there were failure and disaster. While the volunteer militia that came out at different periods, and in different corps, during the whole war, seldom failed to render efficient service; often competed successfully with regular troops, for preference in good conduct and achievements, upon the battle field.
Arresting this slight digression, we will return to Buffalo, and detail events of easy conquest, retreat, flight, pillage and devasta- tion, which General Hall, in his official despatch, has so summarily disposed of. Before daylight, the citizens of Buffalo were fully apprised of the feeble and ill managed defence at Black Rock; of its prospect of failure. Tidings that all was hopeless, had reached them, and were confirmed by the hasty retreat of squads of militia, who were making palpable demonstrations of their innate love of life, in their eagerness to outstrip each other in the race that was taking them beyond the reach of danger. Those of the citizens who had teams of oxen or horses, put them in requisition, hastily snatching but a small portion of the personal effects of themselves and families-in most instances, but a scanty wardrobe -and seeking, in terror and dismay, the most convenient avenues of retreat. In numerous instances, women and children, inade- qately provided with the means of protecting them against the inclemency of the season, started out on foot, to wade through the snow many weary miles, before they could expect to find shelter and rest. The British army advanced from Black Rock, or rather from the last point at which they had met with any considerable resistance, annoyed only by a few discharges from a twelve pound cannon, manned by a small corps that had taken position at the
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junction of the Black Rock and the main road. When it had advanced to within a few rods of the old burying ground, many of the families of the citizens were but just leaving their dwellings, and others had not got far beyond the bounds of the village. At this critical juncture, when the Indians were leaving the main army, in scouts, and were about to enter the village, commence the work of plunder, and fall upon such of the inhabitants as were late in the retreat, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, Col. Cyrenius Chapin, in the absence of any one who had authority to treat with the invaders, and agree upon terms of capitulation, mounted a horse, and with a white handkerchief raised upon the end of his cane, approached the enemy and sought an interview with Gen. Riall. Terms of capitulation were hastily arranged. It was agreed that all public property should be given up, and private property respected; that the invading force should not be attacked while it remained in possession of the village. While this negotiation was going on, time was given for the lagging citizens to make their escape. The main body of the invaders soon entered the village. Among the few citizens who had remained, to endeavor to save their property, beside Col. Chapin, were Judge Walden, Messrs. Cook, Pomeroy and Kane, and Mrs. St. John and Lovejoy. At the suggestion of the British officers, all the intoxicating liquors that could be found in the village, were destroyed, to prevent the Indians getting access to them, and becoming uncontrollable.
In this position of affairs, a building was discovered on fire. Judge Walden enquired of Col. Chapin, the meaning of this infraction of the terms of capitulation; the Colonel, surprised himself, requested the Judge to have an immediate interview with Gen. Riall. Failing to meet with him, he found Colonel Elliott, who had command of the Indians. He justified the commence- ment of burning, upon the ground that an American force was marching to attack them. Looking up main street, Judge Walden saw a small force approaching, and immediately started out to meet it. It proved to be a detachment of forty regular soldiers, who had been exempts at the hospital in Williamsville, under the command of Lieut. Riddle, marching in to save the village! Judge Walden remonstrated against the rash and hair brained enterprise, and persuaded the Lieutenant to secure a retreat, but not without
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a few discharges of a cannon he had brought along with him, and vehement protestations against the capitulation, and the authority that had sanctioned it.
The firing of buildings had now progressed to a considerable extent, under the direction of a Lieutenant, who moved from house to house, with a small corps, that applied the torch under his direction. A simultaneous plundering was commenced by the Indians. All the buildings were burned during the first day, except Mrs. St. John's house, Mrs. Lovejoy's, Dr. Chapin's, Judge Walden's and Recce's blacksmith shop. Mrs. St. John remained in her house, and claimed protection for herself and property, which was granted. Mrs. Lovejoy, less fortunate, and less prudent, had some altercation with the Indians, who entered her house for plunder, was stabbed, and her lifeless body thrown into the street. Judge Walden carried the body back into the house, where it was consumed the next day, with the house.
About 3 o'clock P. M., the village was evacuated by the invaders, the main force moving down to Black Rock, and crossing the river with the public property they had captured, and their plunder. On the second day, all was quiet; there were no British nor Indians in the village, or rather where the village had been; but there were plunderers of a different character, those who claimed, but were unworthy of, the name of American citizens- marauders and land pirates-hanging around the scene of deso- lation, stealing and carrying off the little the enemy had left; and this domestic rapine was continued as long as there was any- thing left to steal. Revolting it is, to be obliged to record the shameful truth in the annals of the Holland Purchase. We must place it to the account of war and its demoralizing tendencies.
In the forenoon of the third day, a small party of British and Indians returned, burnt all the buildings that had before been spared, except Mrs. St. John's house and Reece's blacksmith shop; after which they passed down the Niagara river to Fort Niagara.
The reader will have observed that Col. Chapin exercised an influence somewhat extraordinary, for one who had been conspic- uous in a previous invasion of Canada. This may be attributed to the stand he had taken at Newark, against Gen. M'Clure, and the rash measures there, which were so promptly retaliated. Judge Walden and the few other citizens that remained, probably owed their exemption from harm, to luis influence. The Judge was at
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one time, with others that remained, formally made prisoner, but by walking off unobserved, and dodging from point to point, while the enemy were engrossed with the business of plundering and burning, he escaped. Col. Chapin was made a prisoner, taken to Montreal, and retained several months.
The few citizens that had remained in Buffalo, went back into the country. Days and weeks of desertion, stillness and desolation, succeeded. The villages of Buffalo, Black Rock, Niagara Falls, Lewiston and Youngstown, and the farm houses and other tenements that intervened, presented but one extended scene of ruin and devastation. Mr. James Sloan, a resident of Black Rock, an active participator in many of the stirring scenes of the war of 1812, says, that a few days after the evacuation of Buffalo, himself and Judge Wilkeson, passed down the lake from the Barker stand, and through the main street of the site of Buffalo, to the Cold Springs. That, between the Pratt ferry and the Cold Springs, a cat that was wandering about its former home, was all that they saw of any living thing !
The Buffalo road was the main avenue of retreat and flight for the citizens, though large numbers of them went up the lake, and through the Seneca Indian village, Willink, (Aurora,) Sheldon and Warsaw. During the whole day, (the 30th,) the Buffalo road was crowded with squads of retreating soldiers-the retiring "bulwarks of their country's defence;" families upon sleighs, ox sleds, and on foot; in many instances half elad children, the wounded, the aged and infirm, were wading through snow, bands of able bodied armed men often passing them, pitiless and unobserving, absorbed in deep concern for their own individual and especial safety. Here and there, along the road, were feeble attempts to rally and stand; some resolute individuals would propose it, and partially succeed; but on would come the idle rumor that the invaders were pushing their conquests, and the feeble barriers would give way, as does the momentary deposits in flood tide, and on, on, would sweep the strong current of dismay, rout and flight! Idle rumors we have said, and so they were. Timidity, fear, marked every movement of the invaders, from the landing at Black Rock, to the final evacuation. They had no idea of extending their march. They were astonished themselves. in view of their easy conquests, and during their short stay in Buffalo, their eyes were strained to catch the first glimpses of a force they expected would soon be rallied to
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drive them from our soil. Alas! for the honor of our country and its arms, such a force never came. Even the approach of a small band of invalids from Williamsville, made them shake in their shoes; and occupation of the whole conquered frontier, was brief, stealthy, and full of apprehension, save at the strong fortress of Niagara. and within the limits where it furnished an easy refuge. There was but little of glory, or high military achievements upon either hand. The taking of Fort Niagara, was but a well managed sur- prise, a rout, almost in the absence of any resistance; all else, from there to Buffalo, was brief, desolating occupation, and marauding; scarcely entitled to the dignity of a military campaign, and ordi- nary conquests.
Batavia became the head quarters, the final rallying point of small remnants of an army; a halting place, for the fleeing, homeless and houseless citizens of the frontier; to the extent of the capacity of all the tenements in the village and neighborhood. The most valu- able effects of the land office were taken beyond the Genesee river; the house of Mr. Ellicott converted into quarters for army officers, and his office into an hospital; private houses were thrown open. barns and sheds occupied; families that were separated in the hasty departure from Buffalo, became united there; their scattered mem- bers, male and female, dropping in one after the other, and giving by their presence the first assurance of escape from danger. All along the Buffalo road, as far as the Genesce river, there were deserted houses, which did not fail to have new occupants, soon after the flight from the frontiers commenced .. The owners sojourn- ing in some hospitable neighborhood over the river, would hear that their deserted homes had tenants, of whom they had never before heard, who had entered without the formality of a lease.
And here, in these necessarily brief and imperfect reminiscences, the author must not omit to name his old friend and fellow crafts- man, Smith H. Salisbury. The Buffalo Gazette, published by himself and his brother, Hezekiah A. Salisbury, during the earliest years of its existence, and by himself, after May 1813, was the only local chronicler of events upon the immediate frontier, during
NOTE. - Mrs. Mathers, who has already been named as one of the earliest residents of Buffalo, says that she and her daughters started from the village on foot a little before daylight :- " It was very dark, we could hear from Black Rock the incessant roar of musketry, and see flashes of light rising above the intervening forest. When day-light came, the Buffalo road presented a sad spectacle of sudden flight, misery and destitution."
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the war of 1812. Its weekly arrival in the back settlements, was always anxiously looked for, and seldom has a public journal been more useful and reliable. Frequently, did it serve to allay unne- cessary excitement and alarm throughout Western New York; and it preserved, throughout the eventful crisis, a high character for truth, and careful and judicious management. There was an hiatus in its publication, a few weeks, which embraced the invasion of the frontier, but when the disturbed elements began to settle down into comparative quiet, -as early as the 24th of January, after the invasion, the public were again served with the "Buffalo Gazette, printed at Harris' Hill, near Williamsville-Smith H. Salisbury, Editor."
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