USA > New York > The Pennsylvania and New York frontier : history of from 1720 to the close of the Revolution > Part 11
USA > Pennsylvania > The Pennsylvania and New York frontier : history of from 1720 to the close of the Revolution > Part 11
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West of the Susquehanna, there were four forts : Pomfret Castle, about twelve miles west of the river, presumed to have been located near Rich- field, Snyder county, but it may never have been built ;16 Fort Granville near Lewistown; Fort Shirley at Aughwick; and Fort Lytleton at the Sugar Cabins.
Fort Augusta, the most important fortification erected, occupied the key position at Shamokin, being situated on the east bank of the Susque- hanna, nearly opposite its confluence. It was built in the summer of 1756. The friendly Indians had repeatedly urged the construction of a strong house at Shamokin, as a refuge for themselves and protection against the French. The governor promised Andrew Montour and Scarooyady, upon their return from their peace mission, that the fort would be built; but politicians, who revolve the wheels of government, always, act dilatorily and inefficiently, except when caring for themselves, and it was sometime before its erection was ordered. Colonel William Clapham, a New Eng- land officer, then serving in Pennsylvania, was commissioned to raise four hundred men, known as the "Augusta Regiment," and erect the fort. Proceeding up the river from Fort Hunter, he built as a supply base, Fort Halifax, near the present Halifax ;17 and thence marched to Shamokin, which had been deserted and burned by the Indians.18
The royal ensign of England, which floated over the completed ram- parts, surmounted no silly stockade. It was the best built and strongest fortification, yet erected. While it did not prevent Indian murderers from sneaking through the mountain passes, it effectually barred a French invasion east of the Allegheny mountains. The French were nearer Sham- okin and its access easier than to Fort Duquesne. From Fort Niagara, there was an open avenue, through the territory of the friendly western Senecas, to the tributaries of the West Branch, which commanded the approach to Shamokin.
Today, nothing indicates the strength of Fort August, except the magazine, still in good preservation, although built nearly two hundred years; and one may descend the stone stairway and stand beneath its vaulted roof of brick and stone.19
On New Years day, Teedyuscung, with twenty-five warriors, attacked the plantation of Henry Hess in Lower Smithfield township. They killed Nicholas Coleman and one Gottleib and captured Peter Hess and his son Henry. On their way northward, they tortured, killed and scalped Peter Hess in the presence of his horrified son, who, with two other captives, they took to Wyoming, which was deserted. They stayed at Tunkhannock,
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where there were a hundred Indians, until the severe weather abated, and then proceeded to Tioga.20
At Schupp's mill, near Fort Hamilton, four farmers and four soldiers, who were guarding them, were killed; and not far away, Philip Bossert was wounded, and his son and a man, named Mulhausen were killed. Near Patterson's fort, located in the present town of Mexico, Juniata county, a settlement was attacked and there were seventeen casualties.21
Scarooyady returned from an Indian conference with Sir William Johnson and reported to the governor, that at Tioga, he met messengers with orders, from the Onondaga Council, commanding the Delawares to cease hostilities and charging, "they were drunk and did not know what they were doing and should have their heads shook until they were sober, and that the hole in their ears was very small, so that nothing their uncles (the Six Nations) said could enter but they were determined to bore a larger hole in their ears and make them hear."22
Following Scarooyady's report and incensed at the depredations, the governor and council declared war against the Delawares, saying to Scarooyady and Andrew Montour : "I offer you the hatchet and expect your hearty concurrence in this just and necessary war."23 Scarooyady very ably replied, saying :
"You have had a great deal of patience ; other people on losing a single man would have armed and drove off the foe; but you have sat still while numbers of your people have been and now are murdered. We heartily approve of your resolution. Awake shake off your lethargy, stand up with your hatchet in your hand and use it manfully. Your enemies have got great advantage by your inactivity, show you are men. Do not make a trifling peace. Do yourselves justice, and bring your enemies to a due sense of themselves, and to offer just terms and not till then think of a peace."24
Had the advice, of this loyal, high principled Indian and very wise old man, been followed in the beginning, months before, when his counsel was first sought, much of the bloodshed on the frontier might have been averted.
The governor, in his proclamation of war against the Delawares, fixed the rewards as follows : every male Indian above twelve years old taken prisoner $150; for the scalp of the same $130; for every female Indian and every male under twelve years taken prisoner $130; for the scalp of every woman $50; for white prisoners recovered $50, but nothing for their scalps.25 Thus was war waged in the good old days.
This proclamation was followed by indecision. Sir William Johnson, who thought he had made an accommodation with the Delawares through the Six Nations, was angry with Pennsylvania and advised a rupture should be avoided.26 His letter to Shirley being read to the governor and council, Morris published a cessation of hostilities.27 He, then, sent a message by Captain Newcastle and two other friendly Indians to the
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Delawares and Shawnees at Tioga.28 At a conference with them, Teedy- uscung agreed to lay aside the hatchet against the English.29 Later, at a meeting with the governor, at Easton, Teedyuscung boasted he was king of ten Indian nations and represented the Six Nations. Captain Newcastle and Teedyuscung were appointed agents to spread the peace among the Indians.30 It was expected, they would immediately depart, but Teedy- uscung remained at Fort Allen, continually drunk and expressing himself contrary to what he had professed at Easton.31
While the New York and Pennsylvania politicians were dickering with the Indians, the depredations continued on the frontier, a list of which is contained in note.32
On April 4th, the Indians captured Fort McCord, located in the present Hamilton township, Franklin county, burned it and captured or killed the twenty seven occupants.33 They cut off the head of James Blair and threw it into Mrs. McCord's lap, saying it was her husband's, but she knew it was Blair's. Captain Alexander Culbertson, with a force of about fifty men, pursued the Indians and came upon them at Sideling Hill, where an engagement ensued. Culbertson's men began to fight, but were soon surrounded. They continued to defend themselves, for over two hours, losing men, now and then ; but perceiving the Indians had been reinforced by Shingas, they broke the circle surrounding them and retreated. Only three of the Indians were killed.34
Fort Granville was invested, August 1st, by a force of fifty French, under a regular officer and about one hundred fifty Delaware warriors led by the notorious chief, Captain Jacobs. The garrison was commanded by Lieutenant Edward Armstrong, younger brother of Colonel John Arm- strong ; and had been depleted the day before by a detachment, which went to the Tuscarora Valley to protect harvesters. A band of Indians sneaked through a ravine and succeeded in approaching near the fort and setting it on fire. A hole was burned in the stockades, and, through this opening, Lieutenant Armstrong and a soldier were shot and killed. Three other soldiers were wounded. The powder was running low and the defenders were precariously situated. The French demanded surrender and promised protection of all the inmates. Thereupon, John Turner opened the gates and the enemy entered the fort. There were in the place, twenty-two men, five women and some children. These were removed some distance and the structure burned.35
The captives, loaded down with plunder, were driven to Kittanning, where Turner was barbarously murdered. Heated gun barrels were run through his body and after he had suffered the most excruciating torture, a warrior raised a little Indian boy, from the ground, who drove a toma- hawk into his skull, ending his sufferings.36
At a place called Salisbury Plains, a funeral party was attacked, while on their way to the grave and five were killed. The survivors fled to a nearby house, but seventeen were reported missing. The miscreants, with unaparalleled brutality, took the corpse, that of a young woman, from the coffin and scalped it.37
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Then, as now, were simple souls, who believed in subduing barbarous human nature by negotiation. The Quakers had their own peculiar tenets. Sir William Johnson hoped to bring about some sort of peace through the Six Nations and enhance his own glory. Teedyuscung and the eastern Delawares, perceiving the growing strength of the English and the ani- mosity of the Council at Onondaga would overwhelm and crush them, gave way; but the western Delawares could only be brought to terms by sterner measures. Governor Morris, distrusting all these pacificatory measures, resolved upon action, which afforded more relief to the suffer- ing frontier, than all the maneuvers of the peace makers; and rather secretly commissioned Colonel John Armstrong to organize a force and destroy, if possible, the vile murderous nest at Kittanning. Armstrong quietly assembled the companies of Captains Hamilton, Mercer, Potter, Ward, Armstrong, Steele and his own company.
On August 30th, they left Fort Shirley. In his force, there were no flashing uniforms, no glistening guns, no beating drums and none of the fanfare of war. There were only three hundred, roughly clad, desperate and determined men, whose minds were seared with painful memories of murdered mothers, wives and children. Success depended on secrecy and speed. Swiftly and silently, they marched up the Juniata, to the Beaver Dams, near Frankstown, where scouts reported traces of Indians, three miles east of the Alleghenies, and, judging from the remains of a cub near they had killed, they were only twenty-four hours in advance. Provi- dentially, they had not discovered Armstrong's force. Fifty miles from Kittanning, the road was clear and there was no trace of Indians. The eve- ning of September 7th, the little army was within six miles of Kittanning. There, a scout reported an encampment of Indians, less than half a mile away. It was deemed inadvisable to attack the camp, as some might escape and alarm the town. Leaving Lieutenant Hogg and thirteen soldiers to guard the horses and blankets and attack the camp, in the morning, the rest of the force proceeded by a roundabout way. By moonlight, they groped through the woods, fearful to stir a stone or snap a twig, lest the noise betray them.
Before the moon set, they arrived at the lower extremity of a corn field adjoining the village. Armstrong thought the whistle of a warrior the signal of their presence, but Baker, a scout assured him, it was only the call of a love sick youth for his squaw. When the moon had fully set, little fires amid the corn alarmed them, but Baker said, that as the night was hot, some of the warriors had sought the place for sleep and kindled the fires to keep the gnats away.
At daybreak, Armstrong roused his weary men. A detachment was sent to a little hill overlooking the place and ordered to march along its crest, until opposite the main body of the town. The main force was divided, a part detailed to attack the houses, and the remainder directed to march through the corn field and kill the Indians sleeping there. As they ad- vanced on the village, Captain Jacobs discovered them and shouted "Now the white men are come, there will be plenty of scalps," but he took the
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precaution to order the flight of the squaws and children. Gathering his warriors into his house, which was loopholed, they poured a murderous fire on the troops. Armstrong was wounded by a bullet through his shoulder, but continued in the fight. The Jacobs house caught on fire, and overcome by the heat Jacobs tumbled from a window and was shot dead. Each house was a powder magazine, so liberal had been the French dis- tribution, and, as the fire spread, terriffic explosions rent the air. The thigh of a man and the body of a child were hurled into the adjacent corn field.
Thirty houses were burned and some forty Indians were killed or mortally wounded. Twelve scalps were taken and eleven white captives recovered. Armstrong's losses were seventeen killed, and thirteen wounded. Hogg attacked the encampment, but the Indians outnumbered him and he was repelled with considerable loss. Hogg was mortally wounded and died. Most of the horses and blankets were lost. Captain Hugh Mercer was seriously wounded. The wounded were carried on Indian horses, taken at Kittanning, and with them the force safely made its way back to Fort Littleton. 38
The destruction, of Kittanning, was the greatest achivement of the English on the frontier, during 1756, and sobered the western Delawares. The survivors of Kittanning took no further part in the war and departed west of the Ohio, placing Fort Duquesne between them and their English avengers.
Governor Denny's contentions, with the obdurate assembly, were similar to those of his predecessor, Morris. The English Privy Council, in answer to a petition of the back settlers, had condemned the assembly in no uncertain terms, stating the militia bill passed by it was wholly inade- quate and calculated to exempt persons from military service, rather than encourage them; and concluded, "that no effectual measures would be taken, as long as the assembly consisted of persons, whose principles are against military service and therefore, we see no remedy to the evils com- plained of by the petitioners, unless by the interposition of an act of the British Parliament."39
Confronted by this threat, four Quaker members, of the assembly, resigned and this enabled the governor's party to pass the necessary military bills. Had this been done, long before, much of the misery on the frontier would have been averted.40 The assembly, however, continued to make no provision for quartering the king's troops, until Lord Loudon threatened to march an army to Philadelphia and quarter the soldiers in Quaker homes, when quarters were provided. Franklin seems to have been the leader of this obstruction. His maxim was, "Beat the governor and then beat the enemy"; and the Quaker maxim was, "Beat the governor and let the enemy alone." The Quakers were a minority, but their wealth and influence, together with the support of the tax avoiding Germans, made them dominant in the assembly, and they adopted Franklin, as their political leader, because he was smart. The Quaker combination gave him power, which he dearly loved, and also the secretaryship of the assembly, the postmaster generalship, and the public printing, which were all lucra-
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tive employments. It may not be amiss, to say, that among other con- trivances, Benjamin Franklin invented the Pennsylvania political machine, thereafter so ably engineered by Simon Cameron, Matthew Stanley Quay and Boies Penrose.
NOTES-CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1. Frontier Forts 1, 188.
2. Col. Recs. 6, 783.
3. Col. Recs. 7, 12.
4. Pa. Archs. 2, 548.
5. Frontier Forts, 1, 198.
6. Pa. Archs. 2, 546.
7. Ibid, 542, 680.
8. Col. Recs. 6, 764.
9. Pa. Archs. 2, 678.
10. Ibid, 677; Frontier Forts 1, 136.
11. Ibid, 665; Ibid, 121.
12. Frontier Forts 1, 103.
13. Ibid, 70 to 99.
14. Pa. Archs. 2, 553.
15. Frontier Forts, 1, 34. Pa. Archs 2, 552.
16. Pa. Archs. 2, 561, 603, 613, 617; Col. Recs. 7, 161. The Historical Map of Pennsylvania has located Patterson's Fort and Pomfret Castle on the Mahantango. In Frontier Forts, Patterson's Fort is located in the town of Mexico, Juniata county. There is so much confusion in the records, that Pomfret Castle would seem to be one of the mysteries of history.
17. Frontier Forts 1, 522, 527.
18. According to the plan in the British Museum, Fort Augusta stood about 40 yards from the river and on a bank about 24 feet from the surface of the water. It was a square with walls 83 feet long between the four corner bastions. The side fronting the river was a strong palisado, the bases of the logs being sunk 4 feet into the earth, the tops holed and spiked into strong ribands which ran transversely and were mortised into several logs at 12 feet distance from each other, they being larger and higher than the rest. The joints between each palisade were broken with firm logs well filled on the inside and supported by the platform. The other three sides of the fort were composed of logs laid horizontally, dovetailed and trammeled down of various dimensions and were mostly white oak. There were six cannons mounted in the bastions. In the enclosure were the colonel's quarters, the officers barracks, a well and the magazine.
19. The magazine is underground. There are twelve four inch steps leading to the magazine, which is 10 by 12 feet in size. It is 8 feet from the floor to the apex of the arched ceiling. The arch is of brick and commences on an offset made in the wall five feet above the ground floor.
20. Pa. Archs. 3, 56.
21. Pa. Archs. 2, 538. The casualties were: Adam Nicholson and his wife killed and scalped, and their two sons and a daughter captured; Wililam Wilcox and wife killed and scalped; Hugh Micheltree and a Nicholson boy captured. At Sterrit's Gap about ten miles from Carlisle, one Sheridan, a Quaker, his wife and three chidlren; William Hamilton, wife and daughter, and a man named French were killed and scalped.
22. Col. Recs. 7, 64 to 73.
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23. Ibid, 74 to 77.
24. Ibid, 79 to 82.
25. Ibid, 84.
26. Ibid, 113.
27. Ibid, 117, 134, 142.
28. Ibid, 107, 108, 109; History of Friendly Association 11 to 15.
29. Ibid, 137, 141.
30. Ibid 207 to 220.
31. Ibid, 222.
32. In February, 1756: two Indians killed and two soldiers injured at Augh- wick; house of Mrs. Cox, near Parnell's Nob, burned and boy captured (Pa. Archs. 2, 671 ; settlement of Philip Swartout, in Ulster county, N. Y., destroyed and woman taken prisoner (Pa. Archs. 2, 586) ; John and Richard Craig captured, near McDowell's mills in Cumberland county, (Frontier Forts 1, 546).
In June; Felix Wins killed, his wife and three children captured, near Swatara Gap and two children captured at Fort Henry, (Col. Recs .. 7, 164) ; four people reported killed at Fort Hyndshaw, (Col. Recs. 7, 214; Pa. Archs 7, 721).
In July : Nine men killed in Cumberland county, (Pa. Archs. 2, 721) ; two soldiers shot and woman killed, near McDowell's mills, and two children captured and woman killed at McClure's Gap, (Pa. Archs. 2, 716).
In August : James Brown killed and soldier wounded near Manada Gap, (Fron- tier Forts 1, 37).
In October: Two women killed and scalped, two children wounded and two children captured, near Fort Henry; Noah Frederick killed and two of his children captured, near Smith's fort in Bethel township, Berks county, and Jacob Fornwal wounded and "five lying dead in one place" (Col. Recs. 7, 302, 303).
33. Frontier Forts 1, 542, 543; Rupp's History of Cumberland county, 104; Col. Recs. 7, 77; Pa. Archs. 2, 625.
34. Pa. Archs. 2, 642.
35. Ibid, 744, 750, 757; Frontier Forts 1, 607; Col. Recs. 7, 231, 232.
36. Col. Recs. 7, 561.
37. Pa. Archs. 2, 756.
38. Col. Recs. 7, 257 ; Pa. Archs. 2, 767 to 775.
39. Col. Recs. 7, 272 to 275.
40. Ibid, 292.
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CHAPTER FOURTEEN
FORT WILLIAM HENRY MASSACRE
Fort William Henry, at the head of Lake George, barred French way to the southward. It was a square enbankment of gravel, with a ram- part of heavy logs on top and had four bastions. The lake faced it on the north, a marsh was on the east and it was protected by ditches on the south and west. Seventeen cannons and several mortars and swivels defended it.
In March, 1757 Regaud de Vaudreuil and sixteen hundred men made their way over the glistening ice of the lake and invested Fort William Henry. Their approach was discovered and a surprise attack averted. Major Eyre, the commander refused to surrender; and at night, the French fired the hospital, saw mill and store houses adjacent to the fortifications. The blazing buildings lighted the natural splendor of the surrounding forest and the flying embers threatened the fort with destruc- tion. A great snow storm began the next morning, and, in face of it, the French, unable to maintain the siege, made their way, on snow shoes, back to Ticonderoga. Later, two hundred of an English scouting party, under Colonel Parker, were killed or captured. About the same time, Marin made a raid in the vicinity of Fort Edward.
During July, a French army gathered at Ticonderoga. They marched to the outlet of Lake George, and Levis, with twenty-five hundred men, was dispatched through the mountains to an appointed rendezvous, near Northwest Bay. The others, August 1st, embarked, the Indians in birch canoes and the French and Canadians in two hundred and fifty bateaux, and made their way up Lake George. They joined Levis near the present village of Bolton. This united force, under Montcalm was seven thousand six hundred, sixteen hundred of whom were Indians. The armament con- sisted of thirty one heavy cannons and fifteen howitzers and mortars. Montcalm had, under him, such celebrated regular officers, as Levis, Bou- gainville and Bourlamaque; and the intrepid partisan rangers, Langlade, Neverville, Marin, Hertel, Longueil, Lorimer, Fleuremont, Herbin and La Corne, who had terrorized the English frontier for years.
The garrison, of Fort William Henry, of twelve hundred men, was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Monro, a Scotch veteran officer. Gen- eral Webb, in command on the northern frontier, was at Fort Edward
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with twenty-six hundred men, mostly provincial soldiers. There were about eight hundred more at the forts between Fort Edward and Albany. Before the investment, he sent Lieutenant Colonel Young, with two hundred regulars, and Colonel Frye, with eight hundred Massachusetts soldiers to Fort William Henry, increasing the garrison to twenty-two hundred men. Webb was a timid man and wholly unfitted for so important a command. His conduct has been severely criticised, but, in view of the fact, he had only sixteen hundred men to hold Fort Edward and eight hundred troops to protect Albany and the intervening country, it would seem rash, for him to have further depleted his force and leave the country open to prob- able French incursions, by the way of Lake Champlain and the South Bay. The real fault was in Lord Loudon, the government pet, who had withdrawn forces, necessary to protect the northern frontier, to augment the futile expedition against Louisburg.
The whole French force advanced to the site now occupied by the village of Caldwell and during the night of the 4th, opened their trenches, in face of a heavy fire from the fort. A battery was placed on the left and another on the right with eleven guns. La Corne seized the road leading to Fort Edward, thus intercepting communications between the two forts. Montcalm demanded surrender of the fort, but Colonel Monro answered, he would fight to the last.
Monro divided his forces, retaining about five hundred men within the fort and posting seventeen hundred in an entrenched camp, located on a rocky eminence east of the fort, near where Fort George was later built and along the road to Fort Edward. This camp was between the lake and La Corne's force.
The cannonading, commencing on the 5th, continued for several days and the nights were made hideous by savage howls of vengeance. The war- riors wormed their way, among the logs and stumps and through the long grass, to near the fort, and with great glee, now and then, picked off an exposed soldier.
Webb dispatched a letter to Monro, telling him it was impossible to send relief and advising him to make the best terms he could, but La Corne's Indians killed the courier, stripped him and found the letter, which was sent to Montcalm. In a day or so, Bougainville, under English escort, was taken to Monro, delivered the intercepted letter, and again demanded surrender. The French thought the contents of the letter would depress Monro and induce him to comply, but the brave Scotch soldier's only answer was, many thanks for the delivery of the letter and the pleasure of having so generous an enemy.
Sappers worked their way across the marsh, between the trenches and the fort; and, on the high ground, opened a trench and began a bat- tery within two hundred and fifty yards of the ramparts. None dared ven- ture out. The keen eyes of a thousand Indians detected every English move, and the warriors unerring aim brought many a venturesome soldier down. Within the breached walls were misery and death. All the heavy cannons and mortars had been disabled. Smallpox was raging among the
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