USA > New York > Washington County > Washington county, New York; its history to the close of the nineteenth century > Part 26
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" Lake George is situate southwest of Lake Champlain, and its bed lies about 100 feet higher. Its waters are beautifully clear, composing
1 Probably, not much of a " house." more likely a log-cabin.
2 It might be quite a study for some antiquarian of Washington County to trace out this par- ticular house occupied. at that time by this hospitable Quaker. I merely suggest it as of interest. I have been over this route again and again, but have never stumbled on the site of such a place. A glance, however, at the county records should show the exact spot. I do not know how this anecdote will strike the reader, but to me it seems peculiarly interesting. For perhaps, this little girl of a soldier's wife may have been the first child born in Washington County !
3 Contrast the sorrows of this poor private's wife with that of Mrs. General Riedesel, who only a day or two before had driven down in her calash to Fort Edward, yet, Mrs. Riedese! - so large was her heart had she met this poor wo:nan on her way, would undoubtedly have taken her in, and ministered to all her necessities.
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
a sheet thirty-six miles long and from one to seven wide. It em- bosoms more than two hundred islands, affording for the most part but a ground of barren roeks covered with heath, and a few cedar and sprice trees. On each side it is skirted by prodigious mountains. The lake abounds with fish, and some of the best kind, such as the black or Oswego bass, also large speckled trout. ' It was called Lake Sacrament by the Canadians, who, in former times were at the pains. to secure its water for sacramental uses in their churches. " ?
" There are two islands nearly in the center of it, in one of which, called Diamond Island, two companies of the 47th were stationed. commanded by Captain Aubrey, for the purpose of forwarding the prisoners over the lakes. These islands were, anterior to this time, said to swarm with rattle-snakes; so much so, that people would not venture to land upon them. 3 A bateau in sailing near " Diamond Island, 4 having upset, the people in it gained the shore, but climbed the trees for fear of the snakes until they got an opportunity of a ves- sel passing, to leave it. Some hogs, however, which had been carried in the upset boat remaining on the island to which they swam, were some time afterward followed by their owners, who, to recover them, ventured ashore. They found the swine exceedingly fat, and, to their surprise, met but very few of the rattlesnakes which before had been so plenty. A hog being killed on the spot, made a good meal for the people. It was discovered by its stomach that the hog fed upon the rattlesnakes and had nearly cleared the island of such ob- noxious tenantry. "
" The wild hog in the woods and the Indian himself are known to
1 This will be quite a revelation to fishermen in Washington County at the present day-since it is generally supposed, not only that the name Oswego Bass is a modern one, but that the bass were introduced into Lake George comparatively recently.
" The writer here, in common with Cooper, falls into a very common error. The French mis- sionary, Father Joques, named it St. Sacrament, not on account of the purity of its waters, but because he arrived at the lake upon one of the festival days of that name " Ils arriverant, la veille du S. Sacrament, au bout du lac qui est joint au grand lac du Champlain, Les Iroquois le momment Andiatarocte, comme qui discit la ou le lac se ferme. Le Pere le momma le lac du S. Sacrament"-Jesuit Relations, 1645-6. "The early Roman Catholic discoverers," says the late Rev. Mr. Van Rensselaer, "frequently connect the discoveries of places with the festival name on the calendar." Mr. Cooper, in his Last of the Mohicans, suggests the name of Horicon for this lake (after a tribe that were in the habit of encamping around it during the hunting season.). This, though quite poetical, is merely fanciful, as indeed, he claims, and has not the merit of his- torical truth.
3 " French Mountain " on Lake George, still (1900) swarms with these reptiles.
So called on account of the great amount of rock crystals that were formerly found there.
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LAMB'S NARRATIVE CONTINUED.
feed on snakes as a delicacy. 1 * * * There are but two serpents whose bites or stings prove mortal, viz: the pilot or the copperhead and the rattlesnake. For the bite or venom of the former, it is said that no remedy or cure is yet discovered. It is called " Pilot " from its being the first in coming from its state of torpidity in the spring, and its name of copper head is taken from the copper colored spots of its head. The black snake is a good deal innocuous, and is remarka- ble for its agility, beauty, and its art or instinct of enticing birds or insects to approach it. I have heard only of one person who was stung by a copperhead. He quickly swelled in a most dreadful man- ner, a multitude of spots of different hues on different parts of his body, alternately appeared and vanished; his eyes were filled with madness and rage; he fixed them on all present with the most vindic- tive looks; he thrust out his tongue as the snakes do; he hissed through his teeth with inconceivable strength, and became an object of terror to all bystanders. To the lividness of a corpse, he united the desperate force of a maniac: they hardly were able to keep him fast, so as to guard themselves from his attacks; when, in the space of two hours, death relieved the poor individual from his struggles and the spectators from their apprehension. " The venom of the rat- tlesnake does not operate so soon, and hence there is more time to procure medical relief. There are several antidotes with which almost every family is provided against the poison of it. It is very inactive and unless pursued or vexed, perfectly inoffensive. * * *
" A rattlesnake once caused a most deplorable accident, which I shall relate to you, as I had it from the widow and mother of the victims. A Dutch farmer of the Minisink went to mowing with his negroes, in his boots-a precaution used to prevent being stung. Inadvertently, he trod on a snake, which immediately attacked his legs and, as he
1 . The Indians," says Hector St. John, " cut off the head, skin and body, and cook it as we do vels and its flesh is extremely sweet and white." Aubury, also, in writing about the rattlesnakes. around Lake George, states that " its flesh is superior to that of the eet and produces a very rich. soup." Nor was this writer wrong in his opinion of the palatable qualities of "Rattlesnake. soup!" In a letter from Castle-Town (now Castleton, Vt.) quoted in my "Revolutionary Let- ters." under date of July 27. 1777, a German officer, writing from Burgoyne's camp, says: " (1 one occasion the Indians begged of us a rattlesnake which one of our party had killed and made of it a very nice soup. These delicacies are extremely welcome in the kitchen of Gen. Burgoyne." It thus appears that the British general was even at this time on short rations.
" The parallel here between one bitten by a dog who barks and the one bitten by a snake who " hisses " will be obvious to any one.
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drew back in order to renew its blow, one of his negroes cut it in two with his seythe. They prosecuted their work and returned home. At night the farmer pulled off his boots and went to bed and was soon after seized with a strange sickness at his stomach. He swelled and before a physician could be procured he died. A few days after his decease, his son put on the same boots and went to the meadow to work. At night he pulled them off, went to bed and experienced similar sufferings of sickness as took off his father, and died in the same manner. A little before he expired, a doctor came but, not be- ing able to assign what could be the cause of so singular a disorder, he pronounced both father and son to have died of witchcraft. Some weeks after the widow sold all her moveables for the benefit of her younger children, and the farm was leased. One of the neighbors who bought the boots, presently put them on and fell sick, as had happened in the case of the other two. But this man's wife by what had befel the former family, dispatched one of her negroes for an em- inent physician who, fortunately having heard of the dreadful affair, ascertained the cause and applied remedies which recovered the man. The boots, which had been so fatal, were then carefully examined, and he found that the two fangs of the snake had been left in the leather, after being wrenched out of their sockets by the strength with which the snake had drawn back his head. The bladders, which contained the poison, and several of the small nerves were still fresh, and had adhered to the boot. The unfortunate father and son had both been poisoned by wearing these boots, in which action they imper- ceptibly scratched their legs with the points of the fangs, through the hollow of which some of the astonishing venom was conveyed. "
" The author, having arrived and completed his business at Ticon- deroga, he accompanied the baggage over Lake George and to Fort Edward and Fort Miller-attended by a number of seamen sent to work the batteau v on the Hudson River. On his returning, he called on the good Quaker who had lodged the sick wife of his fellow soldier, but to his astonishment, was told that on the morrow after he left her there in child-birth, she had set out to meet her husband against the wishes and repeated entreaties of the whole family, who were most anxious to retain her until his return. She could not be persuaded to
" I am fully aware that this story has long been current in many households many consider- ing it apocryphal; but I give this extract as showing that it has its origin in Lamb's statement. who, it will be seen, received it at first hand.
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LAMB'S NARRATIVE CONCLUDED.
stop, but set out on foot with her new born infant and arrived safe with her husband, whom she had followed with such fond solicitude. She thus gave an instance of the strength of female attachment and fortitude, which shows that the exertions of the sex are often caleu- lated to call forth our cordial admiration."
" In a short time the author had the gratification of conducting the stores and baggage for which he had been despatched, in safety to the army, and to receive the thanks of his officers, for the manner in which he executed the orders confided to him. By this conveyance the forces obtained a month's provisions."
" During the time (nearly a month) ' that Burgoyne, with his army lay at or near the Battenkill," writes Mr. Charles Neilson in his " Burgoyne's Campaign," " an incident took place which I think wor- thy of notice, as showing the spirit and ardor of the Whigs in those troublous times, and their determination to cut off the supplies from the invading army."
" The Tories, or cowboys as they were then called, were in the con- stant habit of plundering the inhabitants on both sides of the Hudson river of their grain, poultry and other kinds of eatables and driving off their cattle, hogs and sheep, wherever they could find them, for the purpose of supplying the British army with provisions, for which no doubt they were well paid. Though often pursued and sometimes roughly handled by the Whigs, they still persisted. At one time in particular they had collected and secreted in a deep, dark ravine, branching off from Mill Creek, a large quantity of provisions, such as beef. pork, flour, and other articles of consumption, with the intention of transporting them, at some favorable opportunity, to the British camp. By accident it was found out, and the place of concealment discovered; upon which my father, at the head of about twenty reso- lute fellows, which he had collected together and well armed. went on in the night for the purpose of taking or destroying their plunder. On their arrival within a short distance of the depot, one of them erept slyly along, when he discovered the Tories, about thirty in number; five of whom appeared to be armed and keeping guard, while the others were in the act of loading four wagons which stood a short dis- tance from the depot, and which they had brought for the purpose of conveying away their stores. The assailing party then held a secret
1 An error, unless Fort Miler, ten miles above, is considered a part of the encampment at the Battenkill.
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
council of war, to consult whether, the enemy being so much superior in number, it was advisable to proceed; whereupon it was unani- mously agreed that they should . go ahead, and they then made their arrangements accordingly."
" The place where the stores were concealed, was behind a point pro- jecting from the opposite side, around which the ravine curved, form- ing the bank on the side of the assailants into a semi-circle, around which, it was preconcerted, they should extend themselves in couples, and silently approach the bank or brow of the hill, and at the word of command, 'Come on boys ! ' they were all to give a whoop and rush on, though not to fire unless the Tories made resistance; but in that case, to fight their way through in the best way they could. All prelimin- aries being arranged, they formed themselves in order of battle, and silently moved on to the brow of the hill forming the ravine ; and when my father, who was at the head, and as previously agreed, gave the word . Come on boys "' they gave such horrid, continued, and frightful vells, and at the same time rushing down the hill like a mighty torrent, that by the time they had got to the bottom of the ravine, the enemy had all decamped, leaving their arms and baggage a prey to the victors. The assailants, not yet satisfied, pursued on a considerable distance, shouting, whooping and making the woods ring with their horrid yells, as though a thousand Indians had been let loose upon the frightened fugitives. Having found no enemy in their pursuit, the assailants returned to the deserted camp, to examine their booty; but as the Tories had not yet brought, or had concealed their horses, and having no means of bringing off the wagons, they went to work and broke them in pieces, as much as they could. Having stove in the barrels and scattered and otherwise destroyed the flour and other provisions, they all returned home safe and sound, and much to the joy of their families and friends; bringing with them twenty-five stand of arms, with which Burgoyne had furnished the Tories, and which the victors considered lawful prize."
" Thus ended this hazardous and praiseworthy exploit, and for which my father was honored with the title of Captain, a title, as is now well known to many, by which for a number of years he was addressed and until he was appointed a civil magistrate, when the title was exchanged for Esquire."
" About the same time, small parties of Indians, [detached from Bur- goyne's army at Fort Miller, | were seen prowling about the vicinity,
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NEILSON'S ADVENTURE.
of whom my father and a few resolute fellows had been in pursuit. On their return | from the outskirts of the Battenkill and Fort Edward] he had occasion, while the others passed on, to call at a Mrs. Ezekiel Ensign's, who afterwards, and for a number of years, kept a public house a little north of Wilber's Basin. While sitting there about nine o'clock in the evening, in conversation with Mr. Ensign, a ferocious looking giant like Indian, armed and accoutred in the usual costume of an aboriginal warrior, ushered himself into the room and, after eyeing them sharply for a moment, he with one hand drew from his belt a huge tomahawk, which he flourished above his head in true Indian style, and with the other a long scalping knife, whose glitter- ing steel became more brilliant in the dazzling glare of a bright torch- light, and with which he exhibited, in pantomime, his dexterous man- ner of taking scalps. At the same time, with eyes flashing fire and turning alternately from one to the other, as they sat in opposite directions, he accompanied his daring aets in broken English, with threats of instant death if they attempted to move or speak. Ensign, being a cripple in one arm, and feeling his own weakness, should resistance become necessary, and being in momentary expectation of receiving the fatal blow, became fixed and immovable in his chair, with a countenance of ashy paleness."
"On the other hand, my father, being a man of great muscular strength, and of uncommon agility, and having had many encounters with the Indians, prepared himself for a desperate event. To this effect, while the Indian would momentarily direct his attention to Ensign, he would imperceptibly turn himself in his chair and in this manner would, from time to time, keep silently moving by little and little, until he succeeded in placing himself in a position in which he could grasp with both hands the back posts of his chair. He then watched his opportunity and, the moment the Indian turned his eye from him, he grasped the chair and, with almost the rapidity of lightning, sprang upon his feet, whirled the chair over his head and aimed at him a desperate blow, but the Indian dodging the blow he missed his aim. The Indian, having recovered his position, imme- diately sprang with a hideous yell, and with his tomahawk uplifted to strike the fatal blow, but before he could effect his direful purpose, the chair was brought around the second time and with redoubled force, athwart his head and shoulders, which brought him to the floor."
" No sooner had he fallen than my father, dropping the chair, sprang
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
upon him, and wrenched from his firm grasp the dreadful weapon of death and would have disabled him on the spot, but Ensign, who, by this time had received the power of speech, and supposing he intended to take the Indian's life, begged of him not to kill him in the house. He then, holding him in his firm grasp, called for a rope, which was soon procured, and with the assistance of Ensign, he succeeded, though not without a dreadful struggle, in binding the savage mon- ster. By this time two of the neighbors, who had been alarmed by some female of the family, came in, when he was shut up in an out- house, with the doors barred and left in their keeping, during the remainder of the night, to be disposed of in the morning as circum- stances might require. In the night, the guard believing him secure and allowing themselves to fall asleep, he made his escape by remov- ing some portion of the floor and under wall, on the opposite side of the prison to which his guard was posted, much to the regret, not only of his victor, but to many of the neighbors who had flocked together to obtain a sight of the conquered savage."
Mr. Neilson, also gives a graphic account of the terrors which fell upon the people of Washington County by the advance of the British army. He says:
" On the approach of Burgoyne with so powerful, and as yet suc- cessful an army, with his horde of unrestrained savages, who were continually in advance and on his flanks, prowling about the country, plundering, murdering and scalping all who refused loyalty to the British King, the inhabitants on both sides of the river, in the wildest consternation and alarm. fled in every direction. The horrors of war, however mitigated by the laws and usages of civilization, are at all times sufficiently terrific, but when to these the fierce cruelties of a cloud of savages are superadded, those only who are familiar with an American border warfare, can form an adequate opinion of its atroci- ties. In one place a long cavalcade of ox-carts, occasionally inter- mixed with wagons, filled with all kinds of furniture hurriedly thrown in, and not often selected by the owners with reference to their use and value, on occasions of such alarm, were stretched for some dis- tance along the road; while in another might be seen a number on horseback and, here and there, two mounted at once on a steed pant- ing under the weight of a double load, closely followed by a crowd of pedestrians, and some, perhaps weeping, mothers with a child or two screaming in their arms or on their backs, trudging along with fearful
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BURGOYNE ADVANCES TO SARATOGA.
and hurried step. These found great difficulty in keeping up with the rapid flight of their mounted friends. Here and there would be seen some humane person assisting the more unfortunate by relier- ing them of their burdens with which they were encumbered, but generally a principle of selfishness prevented much interchange of friendly offices-every one for himself was the common cry."
" To those who now sit quietly under their own shady bowers, or by the fireside long endeared by tranquility and happiness, it is left to imagine with what feelings they hastened to abandon their homes and their all, as it were; and fly for safety, they knew not whither. The men of this generation can never know what were the sorrows of those fathers who saw their children exposed to danger and death and what the agonies of those kind mothers, of whom my own respected mother was one, who pressed their offspring to their bosoms in the constant apprehension of seeing them torn from their embraces to become the victims of savage cruelty; and it is impossible with suffi- cient force to describe the appalling distress that many families ex- perienced at that moment of peril and alarm."
CHAPTER XVIL
1777.
BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN CONTINUED.
THE ADVANCE OF BURGOYNE BATTLE OF THE BOTH OF SEPTEMBER-ANEC DOTES. IT ACTION OF THE FILE OF OCTOBER-BRAVERY OF ARNOLD-THE TAKING OF THE GREAT REDOUBT-DEATH OF COLONEL BREYMANA=DEATH AND BURIAL. OF GENERAL FRASEK.
While Burgoyne, who, it will be remembered, had advanced as far as Fort Miller as early as the 19th of August, was making prepara- tions for crossing the Hudson, with a view of forming a junction with Sir Henry Clinton at Albany in accordance with the plan adopted by the British Ministry, he encamped on an extensive flat or intervale about one hundred yards north of Lansing's saw-mill. Indeed, it was
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
not very far from the site of the fort that Colonel Schuyler built in 1700 which was located on the east side of the river on the second Highland south of the Battenkill, in what was then called Saratoga; though, as a matter of fact, it was then and is now in the County of Washington. At that place the Hudson could be forded through the rapids until within a short distance of the west shore where a short bridge was constructed across a deep, narrow channel in the rocks + and was upon the farm occupied in 1876 by Simon Sheldon, whose ancestors have occupied the place about a century.
At length, on the 14th of September, all preparations being com- pleted and Lamb having brought to Burgoyne (as seen in the last chapter) a month's provisions, the Royal army, with the exception of the German troops, crossed the Hudson on a bridge of boats just below the Saratoga Falls, two miles above Schuylerville and some eighty rods northwest of the residence of Abraham Yates Rogers. 2 The avant guard, under Fraser, was the first to march over. At nine o'clock the reserve under Lieutenant Colonel Breymann followed after them in order to cover Fraser's left flank. The Germans, who formed the left wing of the army, went over last of all-two days afterwards -and as soon as the last man had crossed the bridge it was broken up. They had passed the Rubicon, and all further communication with Canada was now cut off. The army, which, on first setting off from there, was 10,000 strong, had already diminished to 6, 000, one thousand having been left at Ticonderoga. The precise point where the British army left the bridge, on the west side of the river, is upon the farm now (1900) owned by Daniel A. Bullard, and the excavation through the embankment is yet plainly visible, and will long remain a monument of that event.
The British army, after crossing the bridge, made a short tarry on Bullard's farm and then encamped on the heights and plains of Sara- toga near the mouth of Fish Creek-the present site of Schuylerville,
1 The " Brunswick Journal" states that as early as the roth of August-the day of the British army's taking position at Fort Miller- a bridge was made abore the present Saratoga Falls or rapids, but a better place being found further down, it was broken up and a new one built below the rapids.
The entrenchments which were at that time thrown up to cover the passage of the river, are still (1900) to be seen very plainly. They are three hundred feet in length and from four to. six feet high, but are now overgrown with scrub pine. Mr. Rogers, whose grandfather lived on the farm at the time, informs me that within thirty years the wooden platforms for the cannon were in existence behind the entrenchments. The survey, by the way. of the railroad to Sara -- toga Springs was through these entrenchments.
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