USA > New York > Washington County > Washington county, New York; its history to the close of the nineteenth century > Part 4
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Indeed, these frequent and bloody incursions became such a serious
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WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.
obstacle to the growing prosperity of Canada, that Count Frontenac, then Governor of Canada, revived the policy of attempting to detach the Six-Nations from the English interest. To this end, through the efforts of a Jesuit priest, residing among the Oneidas, all the "con- federates," save the Mohawks, were induced to meet the enimissaries of the French in council at Onondaga. At the same time, with a view of making an unfavorable impression upon the Mohawks, as to the power of the English to defend their own settlements against the arms of the French King, a secret expedition was set on foot against Schenectady. The expedition passed, as usual through a portion of the county- which resulted in a frightful massacre of the slumbering inhabitants of that devoted town, on the night of the 8th of February, 1690. But the " Six Nations" were neither won to the interests of the French either by the persuasions of their agents at Onondaga or by the terrors of the scene of Schenectady.1 The veteran chief, Sadekanaghtie, an Onondaga chief of great eminence acted the skilful diplomatist at the council, while the Mohawks, deeply sympathized with their suffering neighbors at Schenectady and harrassed the invaders to good purpose on their retreat-attacking their rear near the present site of Fort Edward, and sending their war parties again into Canada, even to the attack once more on the Island of Montreal.
The massacre at Schenectady, accompanied, as it was, by frightful Indian atrocities elsewhere along the border around New York, deter- mined the eastern Colonies to attempt the conquest of Canada. In pursuance of this determination Gen. John Winthrop, with a thousand Connecticut and New York troops, in the summer of 1690, set out from Albany with the intention of capturing Montreal. Proceeding up the Hudson, he crossed the county to Wood Creek and down this stream to the present village of Whitehall. But his expedition was
1 When the attack on Schenectady began at 11 o'clock at night never were people in a more wretched consternation. Before they were risen from their beds, the enemy entered their houses and began the perpetration of the most inhuman barbarities, with the most dreadful slaughter of the citizens. "No tongue," says Col. Schuyler, "can express the cruelties which were committed. The whole village was instantly in a blaze. Women, with child, ripped open, and their infants cast into the flames or dashed against the posts of the doors. Sixty-three persons were massacred at the midnight hour ; the Dutch Church and sixty-three houses were burned to ashes; the whole place, with the exception of five houses, left standing and no more. Twenty-seven men and boys capable of walking were carried prisoners to Canada, a few persons fled naked to Albany. through a deep snow which fell that night in a terrible storm ; and twenty-five of these fugitives lost their limbs in the flight through the severity of the storm." "Bonney's Historical Gleanings." -Such was one result among many of a nearly similar character, of Champlain's shameful and entirly unprovoked raid on the Iroquois !
21
SCHUYLER'S JOURNAL.
very similar to that of the King of France who "marched his army up the hill and down again;" for, giving as an excuse, that the Mohawks had failed to support him in such numbers as to warrant proceeding further, he returned to Albany.
Chagrined at such an unlooked for result, Captain John Schuyler,1 a younger brother of Major Peter and grandfather of General Schuyler of Revolutionary fame-got together a volunteer force of twenty-nine whites, and one hundred and twenty Indians, and started out for a foray on the Canadian border. His journal of this attempt to annoy the French is given in the proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society ( vol. I.) and is particularly interesting as giving some of the earliest names of localities in Washington county. As it is, the volume of the New Jersey Historical Society containing it, is now of very great rarity, and I, therefore give the Journal in full.2
JOURNAL OF CAPTAIN JOHN SCHUYLER.
" Journal of Captain John Schuyler who voluntarily embarked at Hout-Kill [Wood Creek] on the 13th of August, 1690, with 29 Christians [whites] and 120 Savages [Indians] whom he recruited at Wood Creek, as volunteers under his command to fight the enemy. Nearly about the swamps [het vevdronken land in the original MS.] meaning the low lands that bordered Wood Creek. I met Captain Sander [Alex- ander] Glen on his way back to Albany because the greatest number returned. The aforesaid Sanders had in his company twenty-eight whites [Christians] and five Savages [Indians] and came from Tsimon- orosie [Ticonderoga3] where Capt. Sanders had been waiting eight
I Captain John Schuyler was born in Albany, April 5th, 1668, and was the youngest son of Phillip Pieterse Schuyler of Amsterdam, Holland, and Margaret Van Sleechtenhorst of New Kerck, and grandson of Pieter Schuyler, who about the year 1632, removed with his family from Amster- dam and established himself in the present state of New Jersey. In May, 1698. John Schuyler, then a colonel and a member of the King's council for New York, was at the head of the deputation sent by the Earl of Bellomont,* Governor of New York, to the Count de Frontenac, at Montreal, with the communication of the Peace of Ryswyck.
* For an account of the treacherous conduct of the Earl of Bellomont, regarding Capt. Kidd, the " Buccaneer," the reader is referred to my " Life of Wm. Kidd."
2 JOURNAL OF CAPTAIN JOHN SCHUYLER, on his expedition to Canada and Fort La Prairie during the latter part of August, 1690-Translated by S. Alofsen, from the original Dutch Manu- script at present (1845) in the possession of Robert Schuyler, Esq,. of New York- For the loan of which precious document I am indebted to the courtesy of my friend Wm. S. Styker, Adjutant- General of the State of New Jersey.
3 Ticonderoga is known in American History as " Fort Vaudreuil," "Carillon," and " Ticon- deroga," or, as the British called it, "Ticonderago." Its first name was derived from one of the earliest French Governor-Generals of Canada; the second took the name from the twinkling
22
WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.
days for his whole corps. From these, Captain John Schuyler, thirteen Christians and five Savages to continue with Captain Schuyler on the voyage to Canada and there to fight their mutual enemy. When the rest of the company had left us, and we had advanced nearly two hours on our voyage, we found two canoes which had been sent out to spy and which had shot an elk. After we had done eating and had sup- plied our canoes we proceeded on our way as far as Canaghsionie [now Whitehall.] The 15th day of August we came one German mile above the Crayn Punt [Crown-Point1]. The 16th ditto, we advanced as far as Kanardero [Westport] and resolved at that place to travel by night, and that night went around to near the spot where Ambrosio Corlaer drowned, and there one of our savages fell into convulsions charmed and conjured by the Devil, and said that a great battle had taken place at Cubeck [Quebec] and that much heavy cannon must have been fired there; and that one hundred canoes with Savages had come down the river [the Mohawk] from Coederogqua [Cadaraqui or Fort Frontenac, now Kingston on Lake Ontario. ] And about one hour after sunrise we went to Oghraro, where I placed the first guard and nominated Barent Wemp as officer of the Guard. The 17th ditto, in the evening, we proceeded to Ogharonde. A Tsenondoga [Onondaga] Savage of our company died there of sickness, when the Onnidi [Oneida] Savage gave a bandt sewandt [wampum-belt] for the atonement of the dead.2 That day, Captain Schuyler with his subalturn officers and the chief of the Savages, resolved where they should make their attack upon the enemy, and they found good by the majority to fall upon Laplarie; [La Prairie] whereupon the Makivase [Mohawk or Maquas] gave a wampum-belt to the Schaghkoekse [Scatikoke] Savages, as a token to stand by each other, and what they do call onnoghquasa in a Goeva. [The mean- ing of this is not plain]. The Onniderse [Oneida] Savages did the same to the Maqua [Mohawk] Savages by some hand-full of sewandt [wampum] and in this manner this resolution was decidedly agreed upon and confirmed with kinsikaje [shaking of hands] as well as by the Christians,
musical ripple of the rapids at the outlet of Lake George (Carillon meaning literally "a chime of bells") while the third is a composite Indian word referring to its situation, or rather to the cascades formed by the overflow of Lake George. About 1774 in a curious poem about this region, Col. Arent Schuyler de Peyster, Eighth (King's regiment of) foot, adds another spelling-Tycan- darougue, which doubtless was the pronounciation.
1 Crown Point corrupted from the Dutch Cruin Punt-meaning "The Summit Point."
2 We easily trace in this the teachings of the Jesuit Missionaries regarding masses for the dead.
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SCHUYLER'S JOURNAL.
as by the Savages as to who should be their chiefs or headmen, Carris- tasio and Tehoesequatho and Juriaen the ferocious. The 18th ditto, set out in the evening, and about midnight we saw a light fall down from out the sky to the south, by which we were all perplexed what token this might be. The 19th ditto, on account of the hard wind, we laid still, because we could not proceed, and we were laying about three miles above the sand bank of Siamble [Chambley1] The 20th ditto, we sent out spies along the west side of the river Siamble and found there a shield of a vanguard from Canada and 14 palisades to which they had bound their prisoners which they had fetched from New England. The 21st ditto, we proceeded to about one mile below the above mentioned sand-bank of Chambley, when we again sent out spies [scouts ?] who discovered some places where French and Savage spies had been keeping double night-watch and that the same had embarked for Siamble. There, after having first placed our canoes and provisions in safety, we, the 22nd ditto, pursued our voyage by land and traveled that day to close under La Prairie-the road being very difficult on account of the softness of the clay, through which we had to pass, so that two of our Christians returned to our canoes. Coming through the clay, we heard much firing of musketry, by which we were astonished what it might be. The 22nd ditto, in the morning, I sent spies toward the fort to see how it was ; coming home, said all the folks were leaving the fort of La Prairie to cut corn. Then we resolved in what manner we should hinder them from obtaining the fort again and agreed to do so by stopping their way to the fort; but by the eagerness of the young Savages such was prevented, because Christians as well as Savages fell on with a war-cry, which displeased the officer, and that they fell on without orders having been given ; but they [nevertheless] made 19 prisoners, six scalps, under which were four women folk. The first prisoner was examined, asking him, what the firing of yesterday at La Prairie signified ? said, the Governor, yesterday went away with 800 men and the people discharged their muskets at their departure, because their scouts had not heard from us. Then we fell upon their cattle ; we pierced and shot to death nearly 150 head of oxen and cows, and then we set fire to all their horses and barns which we found in the fields, their hay, and everything else which would take fire. Then
1 The River Richelieu, Sorel, Chamble (or Chambley) and the St. Johns-all of which names were given to this river.
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WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.
we Christians [?] resolved to fall upon the Fort, but, could not move the Savages to give their consent to help us attack the fort [probably on account of the Indian fear of cannon; see report of Muskan in 1775.] The fort fired alarms when Monrejall [Montreal] and Siamble [Cham- bly] answered, so that we resolved to depart with our prisoners to Albany. A Savage of ours was stabbed to death, whom we burned in a barn, and we went that day seven German miles on our way back. Then the Savages killed two French prisoners because they could not travel on account of their wounds. A little while after this we sat down to eat and thanked the Governor of Canada (The Count de Frontignac) for his salute of heavy cannon during our meal-they fired from the morning till two o'clock in the afternoon from all three of the forts. Thursday, we traveled to the River Chambley where our canoes were lying. The 24th ditto, we went as far as Fort Lamotte; the 25th ditto, we reached the sand point, where we shot two elks. The 26th ditto, we came to the little stone fort, and from there sent a canoe with men to Albany to bring the news of what had happened to us. The 27th ditto, we proceeded to Canaghsione [Whitehall] and there shot nine elks. The 28th ditto, we travelled to the little het valletje [mill dam] above Saraghtoge. The 30th of August we arrived at Albany, under the command of Captain John Schuyler. 1
It will thus be seen that the sole issue of this expedition of Captain John Schuyler was only the bringing to Albany of nineteen prisoners. and six scalps taken from those slain in this raid.
At length, disgusted by these meager results, Major Peter Schuyler, then the Mayor of Albany, was ordered to conduct another expedition into Canada. He was selected for this duty as no one understood Indian affairs better than he; while his influence over the Iroquois was. so great, that whatever Quider2, as they called him, either recommended or disproved, had the force of law. This power over them was sup- ported, and had been obtained, by repeated offices of kindness, and his signal bravery and activity in the defense of his country. Indeed, the Indians had conferred on him the name of Cayenquinago, or "The
1 This Journal, I trust, will make plain to the reader, the atrocious barbarities of these border forays-whether undertaken by the Colonists or the French, it was the same; and this is still more noticable, when it is remembered that this cold-blooded narration of these cruel exploits-in which the writer of the Journal seems to glory-was not written by a Savage, but by one high up in the councils of a so-called civilized nation. Further comment, however, surely is unnecessary!
? Quider, the Iroquois pronounciation of Peter. Having no labials in their languages they could not say Peter.
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SCHUYLER'S JOURNAL.
Great Swift Arrow," as a compliment for a remarkably rapid journey made by him from New York to Schenectady on a sudden emergency.
Collecting, therefore, a party of some five hundred Mohawks, and taking the same route as had been followed by his brother the year before, on the 26th of June, he reached the site of Fort Edward and on the 31st that of Fort-Anne. Tarrying here only long enough to build canoes1, his command floated down to the mouth of Wood Creek (White- hall) and thence embarked on their voyage down the Lake. In his attacks upon La Prairie-the object of his journey-he was entirely successful; and after killing three hundred of the enemy, he returned in safety to Albany.
Despairing, at length, of making a peace with the Five Nations2 Count Frontenac determined to strike a blow upon the Mohawks in their own country-which purpose was securely executed in the month of February, 1693. Accordingly, he sent against that tribe a body of four hundred and twenty-five troops and two hundred Huron-Wyandotts under the command of the French Partizan, de Mantelle. This com- mand on snow-shoes and with its commissariat on sledges entered Lake George by the carrying-place at Ticonderoga; and skirting the ice of that Lake along the western border of Washington county, it suddenly emerged from the primeval forest in front of the " Mohawk Castles." For once that vigilant race of warriors were taken completely by sur- prise; two of these castles being entered and captured without much resistance-the warriors of both having been mostly absent at Schenec- tady. On assailing the third, or "upper Castle," however, the invaders met with a different reception. The warriors within, to the number of forty were engaged in a war-dance preparatory to going upon some military expedition upon which they were about embarking; and
1 The making of a canoe was as follows: The Indians having selected from the forest the smoothest bodied and largest bass-wood or elm tree, the bark was carefully peeled in one entire sheet, free from cracks or holes. It was then spread out upon the ground, the smooth side down- ward, and held in this position by heavy stones and blocks of wood placed upon it. The sides and ends were then bent upwards, and retained in this position by numerous small stakes, so driven into the ground as to press against them. Thus, the shape of a boat was given to the sheet of bark which being securely held at every point by weights and stakes for several days until it became thoroughly dried, then retained its form. A few braces and other supports to render it more firm were then added ; and the rude craft was ready to be launched and carry its burden over the water .- Dr. Asa Fitch.
2 It will be observed, in this narrative, that 1 frequently speak of the " Five Nations " and the "Six Nations," The explanation is this, viz: that up to 1735, the "Five Nations composing the Iroquois, was intact, until in that year, by taking in the Tuscaroras of North Carolina it was henceforth known as the "Six Nations."
[3]
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WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.
though inferior in force, yet they yielded not without a struggle, nor, indeed, until thirty of the assailants had been slain. About three hundred of the Mohawks were taken prisoners in this invasion, in respect to which the people of Schenectady have been charged with bad conduct. They neither aided their neighbors, nor even apprized them of the approach of danger, although informed of the fact in due season themselves. But "Quider," the fast friend of the Indians, and his brother John, at once took the field at the head of the militia of Albany, hastily called together; and harrassed the invaders during their retreat. Sharply pursuing them, he caught up with their extin- guished camp-fires near Greenfield Center (5 miles from Saratoga Springs.) Two miles further on, the pursuing party learned, through a Christian Indian boy, that the French were only three miles in advance. Losing no time, they at once broke up their camp and marched to within a mile of the enemy, where the French had hurriedly thrown up a barricade near what is now known as the "Stiles' Tavern" in Wilton, on the eastern border of the Palmertown Mountains.1 Quider's party soon appeared before the hurridly improvized camp of the French. The forest at once rang with the war-whoops of the Savages; and the English Indians set to work to entrench themselves behind fallen trees. Meanwhile, the French and their Indian allies sallied out to dislodge them. The attack was fierce and the resistance equally so. With the French, a Priest of the "Mission of the Mountain " named Gay, was in the thick of the fight; and when he saw his followers run, he threw him- self before them, crying "what are you afraid of ?" We are fighting with Infidels who have nothing human but their shape. Have you forgotten that the Holy Virgin is our leader and our protector, and that you are subjects of the King of France, whose name makes all Europe tremble ? Three times the French renewed the attack in vain. They then gave up the attempt and lay quietly behind their barricades of trees. So, also, did their English opponents. The morning was dark and dreary-a drifting snow-storm filling the air. The English were out of provisions and in a starving condition. The Indians on the English side, did not lack for provisions, having received some unknown to their
1 How little does the casual visitor at Saratoga Springs, realize that, within a ride of one hour, he can drive to this spot, and bring himself into the events of our border war-fare of scarcely two hundred years since ! Many of the visitors, who are interested in the country's annals would gladly take the opportunity of going to this spot-though many of them (as in the case of the Saratoga Monument) distant only by rail one-half hour, care little about it only thinking of their immediate pleasure !
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QUEEN ANNE'S WAR.
white friends. "Schuyler was invited to taste some of the broth which they had prepared, but his appetite was spoiled when he saw them ladle out a man's hand out of the kettle. His allies were making their breakfast on the bodies of the dead Frenchmen ! "
The French, in the early morning under cover of a severe snow storm, took the route through Lake George, while their dusky allies struck over the highlands in the town of Putnam, now in Washington county, to Lake Champlain. In one of the skirmishes, de Mantelle was killed; and, indeed, had it not been for the protection of a snow-storm and the accidental resting of a large cake of ice upon the Hudson, this forming a bridge for their escape, the entire force of the French would have been cut off and either slain or captured. Nor, did the pursuers fare very much better. Schuyler's Indian allies were so short of food that they fed upon the dead bodies of their enemies ; and the latter, before reaching Canada, were forced to subsist upon the leather of their shoes and belts!
QUEEN ANNE'S WAR.
Although the Peace of Ryswick in 1597, put an end, for the time being, to these barbarities, yet in the spring of 1702, hostilities were again proclaimed by England against France and Spain; and it was in the progress of this conflict that the first changes from a primeval wilderness to partial clearings began to appear in this county. Happily, too, the Five Nations had just previously concluded a formal treaty, of neutrality with the Canadian French, and consequently, the murderous forays of the Algonquins and Iroquois on the confines of Canada and New York were not renewed on a great scale. Washington county, however, was still the thoroughfare for small predatory bands; but it was not until 1709 that any expedition of importance passed through its territory. But, before entering into a narrative of that expedition it will be of benefit to the reader to give a description of the route from Albany to Canada, especially as it became famous in the military operations of the Colonies from this time until the close of the Revolu- tionary war-that portion of it which lay across this county being par- ticularly noted as its most formidable part. Nor, in this matter, can I do better, perhaps, than to quote, on this point, the following description from the pen of that eminent local historian, Dr. Asa Fitch. He writes: " In passing from the Hudson to Lake Champlain, a greater amount of carriage overland had to be here encountered than occurred in all
V
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
the rest of the route; and this portage, consequently, came to be desig- nated as " the Great Carrying-Place." It began at the present village of Fort Edward, whence three routes diverged to different points upon the Lakes. The castern route was by way of Fort Anne and Wood Creek to the head of the Lake at the present village of Whitehall, a distance of twenty-four miles; but aided by bateaux on Wood Creek, the land carriage on this route was only from six to ten miles. Indeed, in time of high water, loaded bateaux, and at all times, canoes, could pass from the Hudson up Fort Edward creek three miles, whence was a portage of one mile and a half to a point on Wood Creek where it was similarly navigable. The middle route diverged from the one already divided, near Fort Anne and passed through Welsh Hollow to the head of South Bay-an arm of Lake Champlain reaching three or four miles southwest of Whitehall. When there was a deficiency of bateaux on Wood Creek this route was resorted to for land-carriage in preference to the longer one to Whitehall. The western route was by way of Glens Falls to the head of Lake George, a distance of fourteen miles. The sandy soil in this direction always furnished a fine road, unaffected by stormy weather, and through a more healthy district than were portions of the other routes ; ' but it had the disadvantage of an additional carrying-place at the outlet of Lake George., From Albany to Fort Edward, around the falls and rapids in the Hudson, a land-carriage was required amounting in the aggregate to twelve miles. These several portages, ere they obtained their distinctive names, were designated by numbers; " the Great Carrying-Place," being the first, Fort Miller Falls the second, the fall at Saratoga Dam, the third, etc."
Immediately, upon the breaking out of hostilities the frontier towns of New England were ruthlessly ravaged by the tomahawk and scalping knife. It was seen, also, that it would be impossible for the rival French and English colonists to continue under two separate sovereigns with such contiguity of territory; and consequently, the most rigorous measures must be adopted if this momentous question was to be defi- nitely settled. Accordingly, the British Ministry, after war had been formally declared, lost no time in adopting measures and organizing a plan for the conquest of the French in America. This plan contem- plated an attack by water, by way of the St. Lawrence, upon Quebec; while, simultaneously, a force of fifteen hundred men from New York,
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