USA > New York > Washington County > Washington county, New York; its history to the close of the nineteenth century > Part 21
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CHAPTER XIV.
I777.
BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN CONTINUED.
EVENTS WHICH FOLLOWED CLOSE ON THE BATTLE OF FORT ANNE-SCHUYLER DELAYS THE MARCH OF BURGOYNE-INDIAN ATROCITIES -- MURDER OF THE ALLEN FAMILY.
Up to the time of Burgoyne's occupying Skenesborough, all had gone well. From that point, however, his fortunes began to wane. His true course would have been to return to Ticonderoga and thence up Lake George to the fort of that name, whence there was a direct road to Fort Edward; instead of which he determined to push on to Fort Anne and Fort Edward, a course which gave Schuyler ample time to gather the yeomanry of Washington County together and effectually oppose his progress. If in place of making a road across a low, wooden, broken country, converted into a marsh, flooded by very unusually heavy rains, he had, as I have said, returned to Ticonderoga and followed the route of Lake George, indicated by his King, he could have been at Albany as soon as he reached the Hudson at Fort Edward. ' Indeed, Gordon, the historian, conclusively demonstrates
1 I say "indicated by his King" advisedly. For it is a fact not generally known, that George IlI was as well posted in regard to the topography of the country as any of his generals. In fact more so. I have before me now, as I write, a little and very rare map describing the ground over which Burgoyne was to march; the depth of water at every one hundred rods, in Lakes Champlain and Lake George, etc., which in his closet the King was wont to study and digest and if his generals had followed his advice, the result of this campaign might have been differ- ent.
177
ERROR IN ADOPTING FORT ANNE ROUTE.
by proofs founded on personal experience that a mounted party of which he was one, breakfasted at Ticonderoga and, partly in the sad- dle and partly in batteaux, carrying their horses with them, reached Fort Edward by 8 P. M. on an October day, 1776. From Lake George to Fort Edward there was a most excellent road, which an Italian traveller years afterward, records as still in the best condition. It is true that Burgoyne, to achieve such a master stroke, would have had to leave his artillery behind; but these heavy guns were never of any use to him, and clogged his movements, always sufficiently impeded by his other indispensable trains.
The excuse, moreover, which Burgoyne gave for not going around by Lake George, " that the fort (Fort George) would have detained him," is not adequate, for it would have offered no opposition what- ever. Fort George, as Schuyler very truly wrote to Washington as a reason for abandoning it at the time, " was part of an unfinished bas- tion of an intended fortification. 1 In it was a barrack capable of con- taining between thirty and fifty men, without ditch, without wall, without cistern and without any picket to prevent an enemy from running over the wall; so small indeed as not to contain above one hundred and fifty men and commanded by ground greatly overlooking it and within point blank shot, and so situated that five hundred men may lie between the bastion and the lake, without being seen from this extremely defensible fortress." Neither, however, do I give the least credence to the report current at the time that Burgoyne chose the route to Fort Anne in order to oblige his friend, Major Skene-a large land owner in that region, as we have seen, by giving him the use of his troops to open for him a road to the Hudson river. That general, whatever else his faults-and he had many-was, as I have before remarked, an honorable man. He simply erred in judgment. 2
1 This " bastion" is still in existence, though covered up with weeds and undergrowth. I have been there repeatedly. This bastion is often confounded by visitors with an old lime-kiln near by, who having viewed the kiln, go away, under the impression that they have seen Fort George!
2 A sketch of Major Skene up to the American Revolution has already been given in Chapter XI. It only remains to add that Skene, who by the way, was a native of Halyards in Fifeshire, Scotland and a descendent of Sir William Wallace, was, as we have seen, at the outbreak of the Revolution, arrested by a band of Connecticut volunteers, and with his family, taken to Middle- town, Ct. He was finally exchanged in 1776. He then sailed for England, but returned with Burgoyne, and as we see, was taken prisoner with that General's army. After the war he re- turned to America and made an unsuccessful effort to recover his property. He went back to
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
The country between Fort Anne and Fort Edward, a distance of about sixteen miles, was extremely unequal and broken up by wide and deep swamps. General Schuyler neglected no means of adding by art to the difficulties with which nature seemed to have purposely interdicted this passage. Trenches under the immediate supervision of Colonel Fellows, were opened; the roads and paths obstructed; large rocks thrown into Wood Creek; the bridges broken up; while in the only practicable defiles, immense trees were cut in such a manner on both sides of the road, as to fall across lengthwise, which, with their branches interlocked, presented an unsurmountable barrier. In fact, the wilderness, in itself so horrible, was rendered almost impen- etrable. 3 Burgoyne, consequently, was compelled not only to remove all these obstructions, but to build more that forty bridges, one par- ticularly, over a morass of more than two miles in length.
On the night of the 17th of July, having superintended all of the above arrangements, General Schuyler reached Fort Edward, twenty- one miles south of Skenesborough. It is admitted that the condition
England and died at Addersey Lodge near Stoke Goldington, Bucks, in 1810. As we have stated had the Colonists made any effort to conciliate him, he would have undoubtedly remained an invaluable citizen.
As showing, moreover, the sentiments of Major Skene regarding the war, and also, that a little generous and considerate treatment of him on the part of the people of Washington County would have produced different results, and perhaps, have changed Skeene's attitude towards the Colonists. 1 here give an extract from a letter to Thomas Powell (one of the Board of Trade for the American Colonies) from John Morton of Philadelphia, under date of June 5th, 1775. I find it among the letters of Lord Darthmouth, just published by the " High Commissioner " at London, England. "Calling the American Rebels has made them desperate, and they now mean to act as such. Major Skeene, Governor of Ticonderoga, Crown Point and the Lakes, has arrived at Philadelphia, but as these places have been taken possession of by New England men, he has no government to go to and it is under a guard of American militia. He sincerely wishes recon- ciliation, as he says 'the contest is horrible.'"
3 Thus. Thomas Aubury, an officer under Burgoyne, in a letter dated "Camp at Fort Edward August 6th, 1777," writes: "The country between our late encampment at Skenesborough and this place was a continuation of woods and creeks, interspersed with deep morasses; and to add to these natural impediments, the enemy had very industriously augmented them by felling immense trees, and various other modes, that it was with the utmost pains and fatigue we could we could work our way through them. Exclusive of these, the watery grounds and marshes were so numerous that we were under the necessity of constructing no less than forty bridges to pass them, and over one morass there was a bridge of near two miles in length." * * * *
"On our way we marched across the Pine plains, which derive their name from an extensive space of level country, on which grows nothing but very loftly pine trees On these plains we frequently met with the enemy's encampment, and about the center of them, upon some rising ground, there were exceedingly strong works, defended by an immense abattis, where it was thought they would wait our approach. But this position was not suited to the Americans, for if their lines were formed, their rear was an open extent of country. It is a general observation that they never make a stand but upon an eminence almost inaccessible, and a wood to cover their retreat."
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AMERICANS GAINED BY FORT ANNE FIGHT.
of affairs at this point was in the last degree serious. There were not fifteen hundred men all told at Fort Edward and these were deficient in everything-personal and military equipments, rations and even mus- kets. What had, in the meantime, become of St. Clair, with the remnants of the garrisen of Ticonderoga, no one had the least idea. Nevertheless, Schuyler had carried out so cleverly his plan of ob- structing Burgoyne's advance, that, with the assistance of the Polish engineer, Kosciusko, his practical strategy determined the fate of the campaign against Burgoyne. The obstructions, moreover, which, as we have seen, Schuyler accumulated in front of the invading army, are acknowledged by every British writer. For example, Lieutenant Hadden, an officer under Burgoyne in his Journal which has recently found the light in print says:
" The enemy, though not victorious, were the real gainers by this affair [i. e. the Battle of Fort Anne] the advantage they made of it, was to fell large trees across Wood Creek, and the Road leading by the side of it to Fort Anne, the clearing of which cost our army much labor and time, and gave the enemy spirits and leisure to wait [await] those reinforcements which enabled them to retire deliberately, always keeping near enough to prevent our sending out small detach- ments. A large corps advanced to Fort Anne (in place of the 9th regiment) would have increased the enemy's fears and prevented these delays. * That corps certainly discovered that neither they were invincible, nor the Rebels all Poltroons."
Schuyler, moreover, with an undespairing energy, took such meas- ures to gather troops in front of Burgoyne that he very soon had tripled his force. He likewise, exerted himself to get a little army of reliable militia together, under experienced officers, on the left flank of the British. These were the redoubtable "mountain men," under Stark, who afterwards defeated Baum and Breyman. In furtherance of this design, while at Fort Edward and before Burgoyne had reached that place, not only were the baggage and stores brought in from Fort George, but he sent out bodies of militia, chiefly gath- ered from Washington County to obstruct the route from Skenesbor- ough, while the farmers, who still remained in the vicinity, were directed to send their cattle out of reach of the enemy. 1 He also sent expresses to the Continental Congress and those of the American authorities who were nearer by, for all the regular troops that could
1 Johnson.
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
possibly be sent him, and for all of the Washington militia that could by any means be induced to take the field. Nor was this all of his efforts. He was also compelled to keep close watch for spies. Tories were all around: for as we have seen, many of the inhabitants of Washington County were in that category who, being closely asso- ciated with the rest of the settlers, were able, with little difficulty, to furnish information to the enemy regarding all of the American movements. A letter from Schuyler to Colonel John Williams ( of White Creek) of the Washington County regiment, dated the 14th of July and preserved among the Williams papers, states that the former had closely examined one Baker, sent under guard to the general, and that he was clearly convinced that he was an agent of the enemy : that he had placed him in close confinement, and should send him down the country. In the same letter also, Schuyler directs Colonel Williams to provision the militia as best he can; informs him that the American scouts are out everywhere and that he has a large body of troops at Fort Anne; adding that until they come away, the people of White Creek need not fear an attack. From this, it would appear that Fort Anne, or rather the charred remains, had been again reoc- cupied by the Americans after its evacuation by Colonel Long.
The full text of this letter, here reproduced to show how inde- fatigable Schuyler was in his endeavors to restore confidence to the country and to learn from prisoners and deserters the condition of Burgoyne's army, is as follows:
"FORT EDWARD, JULY 14, 1777.
" SIR-Your note of this day has been delivered to me by Lieutenant Young. I have examined Mr. Baker and found him tripping in so many things, that I am clearly convinced he is an agent of the enemy and sent not only to give intelli- gence, but to intimidate the inhabitants and induce them to join the enemy. I have closely confined him and have sent him down the country. He informs me that one John Foster, is also gone to the enemy, and as he supposes he will be back in a day or two, I beg he may be made prisoner and sent to me under a good guard. You must furnish your militia with provisions in the best manner you can, and the allowance will be made for it. I have scouts out in every quarter, and a large body at Fort Anne, and until they come away, I am not apprehensive that an attack will be made at White Creek. It would be the height of imprudence to disperse my army into different quarters, unless there is the most evident necessity. " I am sir,
" Your most humble servant,
" PH. SCHUYLER.
" Colonel Williams."
181
RUSE OF GENERAL SCHUYLER.
It was at this time, and while sojourning at Fort Edward, that Schuyler so perplexed the British commander by a trick, by means of a letter which he contrived should fall into Burgoyne's hands, that the latter was on its receipt greatly in doubt whether to advance or re- treat. In this strategem, however, the American general only fol- lowed the same tactics as those pursued by a preceding general, of whom he had doubtless read and whose deeds he wished to emulate; for General Schuyler, being a great reader and observer, doubtless kept himself abreast of all contemporary events.
It will be recalled that Frederick the Great, after Liegnizt, the 16th of August, 1760, caused a letter or despatch to fall into the hands of the Russian General Chernicheff, which induced the Muscovite, with every chance of success before him, to retreat precipitately. In Schuyler's case, he, likewise, by astuteness, turned the tables on the enemy. A communication had been sent by one, a Mr. Lewis, from Canada, to General Sullivan. It was concealed under the false bottom of a canteen. Schuyler, thereupon, substituted an answer worded in such a manner that if it reached Burgoyne it would cause him the greatest perplexity. Its purport he confided to certain parties around him and then sent it forward by a messenger who was to conduct himself so as to be captured. The bearer, as prearranged, was taken prisoner and the paper which he bore was placed in the hands of Burgoyne. This had greater effect than ever Schuyler could have expected. Stedman, the British staff-officer and historian (the origi- nal works of whom, very rare, I have before me as I write) himself acknowledged that Burgoyne was "so completely duped and puzzled by it for several days that he was at a loss whether to advance or retreat." This result, so flattering to Schuyler's sagacity, was com- municated to one of Schuyler's staff after Burgoyne's surrender by an English officer.
While Burgoyne was at Fort Anne, at which place he arrived on the 23d of July, his Indian allies began to escape from the humane leash in which he had, ttp to this time, kept them well in hand. Now, however, their savage instincts aroused and consequently restive and in defiance of the proclamation issued by the British general at the camp on the Bouquet, they began a series of marauding upon the peaceful farmers of Washington County, which was invariably at- tended by the most frightly atrocities. This statement is fully borne out by an entry in the "Journal" of Rev. Dr. Enos Hitchcock, a
182
WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
chaplain in the American army, during the Burgoyne campaign, and now just brought to light through the efforts of the Rhode Island Historical Society, in which, under date of July 28, 1777, he writes:
"An express from Fort Edward about break of Day, say [sic.] they are sur- rounded ; this account afterwards proves groundless, * * * A scout returned towards evening-who went out yesterday, who gives an account of a horrid mur- der of a family about four miles N. E. of Fort Miller; the father, mother and six Children killed and left to be torn by the Hogs.
"Colonel Brewer, with 150 men sent to Fort Miller to scout the woods N. E. Colo. Alley, with the same number from Moses Creek to go East and meet them- about 9 o'Clock a man and boy killed and one wounded near Fort Miller by two lurking Fellows [Indians] who contended about the scalp of a boy; the man not scalped; 11 o'clock a small party went out back of Headquarters and were fired upon by Indians-one Corp1, killed, private wounded; about the same time an In- dian fired upon a sentry N. E. from Gen. Nixon's Brigade. A small scout of 20 came in, which met with a party of Indians, supposed 70, fired and killed one and ran-about 12 o'clock, alarmed by an Express from Fort Miller that they were attacked by a number of Indians. One of our spies came in, who says the enemy had almost cleared the road from Fort Anne which we had blocked up."
Nor was the murder of this poor family whose bodies were thrown " to the hogs," the only one in this bloody category-which, perhaps, eventually contributed more than anything else, to arouse the people and defeat Burgoyne.
On the 26th, another still bloodier tragedy was enacted, which drove many of the inhabitants of Argyle to seek safety in the forests. The day before (the 25th) Le Loup, the infamous half-breed leader of the savages-released as I have said, from Burgoyne's leash-had set out from Burgoyne's camp, now advanced to about four miles of Fort Edward and encamped near Moss Street in the present town of Kingsbury, on one of his usual predatory excursions. In the course of their wanderings they came to the settlement of Mr. John Allen, in Argyle. He was a staunch loyalist, though not particularly dis- tinguished for any exhibition of partizan warmth. Relying upon the protection which Burgoyne had promised to all those who espottsed the cause of the King, they remained comparatively easy in their
possessions. While their patriot neighbors fled, leaving the ripe grain to rot in the fields, they lingered behind to watch their flocks and gather in the harvest. It has been handed down by tradition, however, that notwithstanding their political predilections and the promise of Burgoyne's protection, they were not without serious
183
MASSACRE OF THE ALLEN FAMILY.
apprehensions of the savages, and that they had resolved to seek a more distant and secure abode, as soon as the season of harvest should be passed. Some misinformed historians have asserted that John Allen was engaged in packing up his goods and preparing to depart immediately to Albany, at the moment Le Loup appeared. The fact is, says Wilson in his life of Jane McCrea, from whom this account of the massacre of the Allen family is chiefly taken, he had passed the forenoon of that day laboring in his fields, three slaves belonging to his father-in-law assisting him. A younger sister of Mrs. Allen had left her father's at a late hour in the morning on an errand to her brother-in-law. Not returning when expected, a colored lad was sent to ascertain the cause of her detention. Presently he came running back, throwing his arms wildly and haggard with affright, screaming that "his young missus and Massa Allen and all the family were dead!" Forthwith, repairing to Allen's residence, a scene of horror presented itself that "sickens the imagination even at this distance of time to contemplate." In the same room lay stretched upon the floor, nine ghastly and bloody corpses, all of which that same morn- ing had been full of life and health. They were the inanimate bodies of Mr. Allen, his wife, his sister-in-law, his three children, and the three slaves. Their scalps had been torn off and their cold, staring eye-balls, stained with blood and half protruding from their sockets, too plainly showed the mortal fear they suffered at the moment of their deaths. Not one was left to relate the manner of the awful massacre- no eye but the Almighty beheld the infernal butchers per- form their horrid work. All appearances, however, indicated that the devoted family were seated unsuspectingly around the table, partak- ing of their noon-day meal, when the savage ministers of death-let loose by the Mother Country who so cherished her dear colonies !- fell suddenly upon them. The table, around which had gathered a lovely family, stood in its accustomed place, in the center of the room, while by certain tokens, it was considered evident that they had arisen from it in confusion, on the unexpected entrance of the murderers. The house had been ransacked and plundered, but the plunderers were gone. They had departed silently and stealthily as they came. Not a sob or a groan broke the awful stillness that prevailed. "There lay," in the words of one who first broke in upon the scene, "the stiff and motionless corpses on the bloody floor, while silence, emphatically the silence of death brooded over the scene. Dismayed, appalled, the
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
horror-stricken kindred lingered not to perform the rites of burial, but seized by an overmastering fear, fled into the farthest solitude of the then primeval forest, hoping to find that safety of which they were not assured while beneath the family roof. 1 Their object was to make their way, unobserved, to the garrison of Fort Edward, and to this end they crept from thicket to thicket, through the long hours of the night, startled by the slightest sound that disturbed the gloomy silence of the woods. This same party of Indians, moreover, are said to have slain on the same day and in the same vicinity, an entire family named Barnes, and also a man by the name of John White.
As a consequence of this awful calamity, fear fell upon the settlers of Washington County, far and near-even to its southern limits near Albany, where an account of this and similar horrors was spread abroad. The patriots of New Perth (now Salem) assembled nightly with their wives and children within the temporary fortification they had prepared; while the Royalists, distrusting Burgoyne's proclama- tion, flocked from all quarters to the English camp, uttering loud remonstsances and demanding the promised "Protection." It was to them that Fraser inade the celebrated but unfeeling remark-" It is a conquered country and we must wink at these things." Nothing, however, shows that General Burgoyne himself, endorsed any such sentiment-and to me, this remark of Fraser's seems exceedingly doubtful.
Nor, is it any wonder that, in view of these fiendish deeds, Burke arose in the House of Commons and denounced his government in the strongest terms for the employment of savages. In fact, his mas- terly oratory and herculean efforts in behalf of the Americans- never, by the way, ever estimated at their full worth-did, perhaps, more for the eventual independence of the Colonies than the latter's alliance with France-at least, it made peace more certain. Even Lord North and his abject satellites were powerless in the face of Burke's noble stand in the defence of the Colonists. It should, how- ever, be kept in mind that Lord North was in reality only a tool of George III since there is reason to suppose that, in his innermost heart, he agreed with Burke. I suppose it were bootless to moralize on this further; but, do the people of Washington County-under
: There is a possibility of course, that the murder of this Allen family may have been the one referred to in Rev. Enos Hiscock's Journal-the " three slaves" being the children, making His- cock's " six." Still, as this is by no means certain, I give both incidents.
185
THE JANE McCREA TRAGEDY.
whose eyes this history will come-realize the difference now between their beautiful, peaceful and secure homesteads and the ever present terrors of their ancestors-a period not so very remote either. This account should at least, as Shakespeare says, "give them pause " when they feel like dwelling on what they think was the "good old days " in contrast with the present.
But among all of these brutal massacres none attracted such atten- tion at the time as the accidental killing of Jane McCrea, directly caused by one of these blood-thirsty Indian forays-an event which was productive of such far-reaching consequences, that a full and detailed account of the occurrence will form the subject of the next chapter.
CHAPTER XV.
1777.
BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN CONTINUED.
THE JANE MCCREA TRAGEDY-THE LAST DAYS OF HER LOVER, DAVID JONES-HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE, SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH-BRAVERY OF MRS. GENERAL SCHUYLER-NARROW ESCAPE OF GENERAL SCHUYLER FROM AN INDIAN ASSASSIN- EFFECT OF THESE CRUELTIES IN AROUSING POPULAR WRATH.
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