USA > New York > Washington County > Washington county, New York; its history to the close of the nineteenth century > Part 9
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In the three actions of the day, about two hundred and twenty of the Provincials were killed. and ninety-one wounded. Their loss was greater than it might otherwise have been, from the fact that several were hit by poisoned bullets rolled up in copper and yellow arsenic-thus mere flesh wounds soon mortified, some of the soldiers dying in convul- sions.1 Of the Six Nations forty of their braves perished.
[The following letter, written by Abigail Dwight, a sister of Col. Ephraim and Surgeon Thomas Williams (an extract of whose letter has just been quoted) to an intimate friend Abraham Bockee, then a shop-keeper in New York City, has recently been unearthed fnom a mass of MS. letters, by his great, great, grand daughter, Martha Bockee Flint. As this letter throws much light upon the politics of the campaign of 1755, and, withal, brings the reader into intimate relations with two of the principal actors in those scenes. 1 give it nearly in its entirety. The fact is, also, that so far as I know, this is the only private letter extant describing the battle; and therefore, it is of superla- tive value. ]
Stockbridge, 10 Novemr., 1755.
Dear Sir:
It is long since I received your kind favour of Septemr. Wee of our mournful afflicted family have Ben plunged into such a depth of Sorrow from ye late Sad Ca- tastrophy at Lake George yt could scarcely attend to anything but Lamentation and Weeping. My Eldest Brother, Coll: Ephraim Williams was among ye slain as you have doubtless heard. He was a most Generous, pleasant Charming man, admired and loved by all yt knew him; from his universall acquaintance with ye world, having Travilled 3 years abroad into all nations, and his great experience in commercial affairs.
He was chosen for one of ye Principal Officers to conduct our Crownpoint Expe- dition. But allass, in front of Batall He must Be one of ye first men yt fell. Ve will of God is done and wee must Submit. Many Genmen are pleased to Say not one Man in the whole Army could have been so Great a Loss. He was sent out with ye Com- mand of Seven or eight Hundred Men. About eight o'clock, having marched about four miles from ye camp met ye french Army and at yt unhappy Spot they had a severe engagement and my poor Bror fell. Poor Bror Siah was an Ensign in his Regement & Happened to be about ye Distance of Seven rods abreast. Took a tree
1 " Michael Harrington died of the wound he received through the fleshy part of the thigh, the ball undoubtedly poisoned; as also one Johnathan Burt of Brimfield by a poisoned ball through the man could cot stop the mortification which seized the wounded part, and presently, a few hours arm; and one Brisbee, by a slight shot in the leg which threw him into convulsions. The art of shut up the scene. Oh cursed malice, that the fatal lead should not be thought sufficient without being rolled up with a solution of copper and yellow arsenic, as 1 am thoughtful was the case, by many of the poisoned balls which were brought in out of their bullet-pouches, taken among the plunder. MS. letter in my possession, Surgeon Thomas Williams to his wife. This is the only instance that 1 recollect of the use of poisoned bullets in battle.
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ABIGAIL DWIGHT'S LETTER.
to stand his Ground Agreeable to yee Orders. Discharged his gun at an Indian about 5 rod before him which took his Life. He fell and yelled. My Brother squat to Charge before he retreated & as he was throwing in his Powder he Receivd a shot from one of ye Savages who flanked him, into his Right thigh Ye Ball came out at his Left Buttock cut of ye String of his Bladder in passing through his Body. Imedeately saw from whence came ye Shot, ye Savage running toward him with his hatchet. He instantly started and run about 1/2 a mile, life failing crept into a Hole made By two trees Blown up by ye roots. Lay in Water until he was a little Revived, saw his blood so thick where he went in yt. he Expected to be followed for his Scalpe.
When ye Retreate had passed him took Courage and went out & as one and another was retreating without Wounds sometimes got a little help by hanging to men's Shoulders. Sometimes when All left him, as was ye case several times, he crawled along himself till at length was quite spent & for saken by All his fleeing friends. Giving over Hopes of Deliverance there came by a young mohawk in his Retreat, offered his Back, took him up & run near a quarter of a mile with him into ye camp. So marvellous a wonder was his Escape from ye jawes of ye Devourer.
Well, now his life was almost gone, ye enemy almost upon ye Camp, ye Battal come on & long as it lasted no care could be had for ye wounded. But all things are ordered in Wisdom. My Second Brother, Doct Thomas Williams being ye Chief Surgion of ye Regement, took a most Special Care, provided ye Best Attendance for a long time, Yet he was looked upon as past all Hope & Helpe. His wound mortified & much flesh cut out of it. After all as Divine Providence would have it. by Degrees he mended and got Home in a Horse litter and Yesterday Sat upright in his Chair some minites. Sends his Kind love to your self and Mrs. Bockée.
So bad a Wound perhaps one in 10 thousand was never cured. And all soe ye poor Distressed army Held there in Sickness, Die by foods & not Discharged. Held and Nothing Done, and all ye World with Half an Eye must know Nothing can be Done at this Advanced Season, and ye first Plan it was Plain as ye Sun in ye fairest day, as Soon as Braddock was defeated yt ye Crownpoint Army would have all Canada to fight, and with ye Savages and Regulars could make 25,000 men and would Do it at any Expense rather than have ye finest Key and Dore to their whole Country cut off ye Hinges and for ns to Desire it ye vast expense of Money and what is Infinitely Better, Blood in such wicked Profusion, is not only sorded cruelty. But ye most redikelous and unjustifiable Murder of our Selves.
Suppossing we had Got it under ye greatest possible Desadvantages with ye loss of thousands of precious lives, and no other point saved, what advantage could it be to us? Why not a single farthing, for it is impossable we could Keep it against their whole country's water carrage for ye conveyance of all their strength Both men and Artilery which comes as easy as a freight from you to Albany, & What can we do toward Supporting our Selves there if we had ye Possession of it this Winter when we can hardly keep the Army at Lake George with 6 days provision Beforehand when we had ye rest of ye year and ye Summer to carry it in. If they Demolished it ye French could in one month's time Build it again. Upon ye whole, it looks as if our Councils were darkened. Wisdom in a remarkable manner hid from those yt should be wise.
When there is a Plan laid with a rational prospekt yt can succeed against ye french, wee shall probably see a War declared-ye whole Country of Canada in ye
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WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.
severall Dispersions of it attackt at once. Then their strength will Be Divided, their Provision will serve for our Supplies and not ye first Army cut off before ye second can possibly Be in Readiness to make an attack and wee shall have men found yt shall chuse to fight ye common Enemy rather than their own men or ye trees, & wont Be Sacraficed to serve no purpose except to prepare a lazy camp with a Generll yt would contentedly lye by without Business for 20 days & never order so much as an Intrenchment throwed up to cover every Mans Body in case of Battals ye work of 20 minits or very Little more, and then its Hopeful we shall have an Engineer yt rather chuses to Levil his cannon to answer Battal & not at trees 20 foot from the ground at a time when firewood was not wanted & a gunner should perceive ye mis- take. He would not be offered ye sword if he opened his mouth.
But allass my good friend, time fails me and I know Ive tired your patience. You will know by a Little what a great Deal means, its ye universal opinion of our wise genm. this way yt. wee have lost at Lake George more than wee have gained. We know of Little gain. But we know yt. wee have lost a nr. of Brave, Valient officers and men Equil in all respects to any we have taken-men whose country can't for another campaign furnish their Equils. A major under my Dear Brother. 3 captns. and sundry Leftns, I knew personally. All Died with him in Battal. Some of ye Best Men for Courage and Conduct & cant be mourned to much. I find By your Newspapers you know but Little of ye Matter as it really stands. * * *
I conclude with great Esteem your very obliged afflicted friend & very Humble servent
Abigail Dwight.
The loss of the French was between three and four hundred.
The months of October and November were chiefly occupied in build- ing a strong fort at the head of the Lake. A fortification at this point was rightly considered by Johnson extremely important as it would thus command the passage into Canada by way of Fort Edward and Lake George in the same way as Fort Anne commanded the one by way of Wood Creek. Its importance had also been seen by the Lieut. - Governor of New York, who, in the preceding year had urged the erection of a fort at the southern extremity of St. Sacrament on the ground that it would be a defense against the French and a protection for the Mohawks. A council of war held at the camp, on the 7th of September, had recommended the expediency of building a small picketed fort without delay. This was opposed by the General who thought that a strong fortification should be constructed capable of holding, in an emergency, five hundred men. He, however, yielded to the will of the majority, and a fort was begun, which went on so slowly that by the last of September it was not nearly completed; only a dozen men at one time being found by Johnson engaged on the work.
On the 29th, advices were received from Sir Charles Hardy, the new
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THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED.
Governor of New York, stating that it was the wish of himself and his Majesty's Council that a durable and commodious fort should be con- structed as soon as possible. Upon this wish being communicated to a council of war it was immediately decided to erect a fort which should meet his views. The General, accordingly, sent to Fort Edward for all the shovels and spades which the officer at that post could spare, and the fort was forthwith begun. The work, however, did not progress so rapidly as Johnson desired. "The fort," he writes on the 7th of October, "goes on, all things considered, pretty well." On September 15th, there was an unusual muster of troops in Massachusetts to rein- force Johnson:1 Hence, the New England men knowing that they were expected to proceed, and therefore, the more impatient to carry out the wishes of their friends at home, and not seeing the necessity of a fort, did not enter into the work with alacrity. It was using their services, they selfishly thought, solely for the benefit of New York-not perceiving that a fort at this place, which would hold the French in check, was as much needed for the protection of their own frontiers as for those of their sister Province. The work, therefore, lingered along, and it was not until the middle of November, that the fort was completed receiving from Johnson the name of William Henry, in honor of two Princes of the Royal blood."
But little more was accomplished during the remainder of the campaign. Scouting parties, it is true, under Captain Rogers, the famous ranger, amused themselves with surprises upon the enemy, often executing them so adroitly that many of the French in the vicinity of Fort Frederick (Ticonderoga) bit the dust-one Frenchman being taken and scalped under the very wall of that Fort.3 It was now, however, late in the autumn; and a council of war having decided on the 28th of November, that it was too late in the season to proceed farther with the expedition, the General disbanded his army; and leaving six
1 See an old Almanac for 1755, owned by Rev. Samuel Townsend.
2 Mr. Bancroft, I think, is mistaken in calling this a ' useless fort of wood." It was successfully defended in the spring of 1757 (as we shall see further on) against a force of two thousand troops, supplied with three hundred scaling ladders and it was only captured the succeeding summer (1758) by the abject cowardice of Gen. Webb. While it was not, of course, a fortification of the first or, perhaps, second class, it was far from " useless."
3 A full and detailed account of this raid, as well as others of a similar character, will be given in a future chapter.
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hundred men to garrison the Fort, resigned his commission, and returned in the middle of December to his home at Mount Johnson. 1
In the conduct of this campaign, Gen. Johnson has been severely censured in two particulars: first, in not following up the routed army of Dieskau. and thus preventing its escape down Lake Champlain; and secondly, that instead of boldly advancing against Crown-Point, he allowed the autumn to pass away in comparative inactivity, contenting himself in constructing a "useless fort."
Regarding the first of these charges, there can be no question, that in not following up the French army, the General committed a grave blunder by allowing his caution to prevail over the better judgment of his officers. Gen. Lyman begged, that with his men flushed with recent victory and anxious for the pursuit, he might be sent after the enemy. The reply given to him by the General-" that he had reason to expect a renewal of the attack, and that it would be dangerous to weaken the main body of the army by sending out detachments to scour the country," is not sufficient to justify his refusal of Lyman's request. Exhausted and dispirited as the enemy were, they were in no condition to have made a successful defence, much less to have resumed the aggressive; and the probability is that if Gen. Lyman's suggestion had been followed, the gates of Fort Frederick never would have opened to receive the broken and dejected ranks of Dieskau's army.
Respecting the second and more serious of these criticisms, however, Gen. Johnson is not so culpable as may at first appear. It was well known to the General, both through scouts which he had dispatched for that purpose, and the Baron's captured papers, that Crown-Point was heavily garrisoned, and that at Ticonderoga strong breastworks had been thrown up. The experience, moreover, of the last engage- ment had shown him how difficult it was for even thoroughly trained troops to capture rude and hastily constructed defences; and he therefore very wisely hesitated before attacking, with raw and undisciplined militia, breastworks which had been carefully put up, and which were defended by regulars, trained under the best Generals of Europe .? In addition to this, the artillery of the enemy which on the first movement
1 About a mile west of Amsterdam. The house is still (1899) standing and is plainly visible to the passenger as he passes by on the N. Y. C. R. R.
2 The experience of Abercrombie, in 1758, in attacking the breastworks erected by Montcalm, at Ticonderoga (an account of which will be given in its proper place) and also the battle of Bunker Hill, twenty-five years afterwards, show that Johnson did well to hesitate.
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THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED.
down the Lake could be easily and with comparative celerity transported down the Lake from Crown-Point to Ticonderoga, was such as to make an attack hazardous in the extreme, unless with a very strong army of disciplined troops, and with a sufficient supply of heavy ordnance, neither of which Johnson possessed. He, also, was greatly hampered by the remissness of contractors, whom no exertions on his part could stimulate into activity ; and all he could do under these untoward circum- stances, was to emyloy his men in constructing a fort (which it will be remembered, he had been ordered to erect by the New York Assembly) hoping by this course to prevent any insubordination that might arise through idleness. He was, also, unwilling to have his retreat cut off by way of South Bay (Whitehall) and Wood Creek, in case he was un- successful, by not having an open communication with Fort Edward and Albany. Boldness, alone, does not always constitute good general- ship; and he who neglects to provide for every foreseen contingency, is deficient in the first requisite of a good general.
Although General Johnson, owing to causes over which he had no control, failed in the original object of the expedition, yet his services in making one of the four expeditions planned at Alexandria only partially successful, were appreciated both by the Crown and by the people of his own Province-the former creating him in November a Baronet of Great Britain, and the latter greeting him with an illumina- tion and a triumphal procession on his arrival at New York on the last of December.' Parliament, also voted him its thanks for his victory, together with the handsome sum of £5000.
The action of the 8th of September, 1755, so far as concerns the number of men engaged, was not a great battle; but when viewed in its immediate strategical results, it well deserves a prominent place among the battles of American history. The late Rev. Cortlandt Van Rensselaer thus eloquently sums up its results.
"I. The battle of Lake George is memorable in defeating a well laid, dangerous scheme of the enemy and in saving the Province from scenes of bloodshed and desolation. If Dieskau had succeeded in over- throwing Johnson in his entrenchments, his advance upon Fort Edward would have been easily successful, and thence his march to Albany [and to New York] would have been triumphant. Old Hendrick, at the convention of the preceding year [at Albany when Franklin and the
1 It is to be presumed that for that day (from all accounts this was fully equal to the late "Dewey Celebration " in New York City !
WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.
Royal Governors were present] had warned the Province of its danger. "You are without any fortifications," said he. "It is but a step from Canada hither, and the French may easily come and turn you out of doors." The conflagration of our Northern Settlements would have been followed by the desolation of Albany and Schenectady; and although Dieskau must have soon been compelled to retreat, it is impossible to estimate the bloodshed, plunder and general losses which might have taken place. God's Providence was on our side. The victory of Lake George undoubtedly rescued the Province from injury and woe beyond computation; considered, therefore, in its strategical results, the battle was one of the important engagements in American history.
" II. The battle of Lake George is remarkable for its influence in rallying the spirit of the American Colonies. Much had been expected from the three expeditions sent against the French; but disappointment and sorrow had already followed Braddock's terrible defeat. It was more than the moaning of the forest pine in the ears of the solitary traveller; it was the blaze of lighting falling upon the mountain oak in his very path, followed by the crash of thunder; all the Provinces were amazed, awe-struck, paralyzed for a time; but recovering from the first shock of the calamity, they were aroused to avenge their loss. Their hopes were turned to Lake George, and not in vain. Johnson's victory was received as the precursor of a recovered military position and fame, and was hailed as the means of deliverance from a bold and cruel foe. Few battles ever produced more immediate results in rekindling military and martial enthusiasm. Not only were the Colonies filled with rejoic- ing, but the influence of the triumph went over to England; and the deeds of our fathers at the camp of Lake George became familiar to the ears of Royalty and were applauded by the eloquence of Parliament. The moral effects of a battle in which the forces arrayed against each other were comparatively small have rarely been greater in the whole range of military annals.
"III. Viewed simply in a military aspect, the Battle of Lake George was the only successful achievement within the Thirteen Colonies during the campaign of 1755. Braddock's defeat on the Monongahela, and Shirley's retreat from Oswego, brought ruin upon the expeditions framed for the reduction of Forts Duquesne and Niagara. Although the Northern Expedition failed in its object of reducing Fort Frederick, it had a show of glory in the brilliant success of a hard fought battle.
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THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED.
Success in one direction often overbalances disappointment in another. The victory of General Johnson was the great event of the campaign of 1755, solitary in the honors of its military triumph, and shining out, bright as brass, from the clouds of night.
"IV. The victory of Lake George occurred in a series of campaigns that ended in the conquest of Canada and of the Valley of the Great West. Here in the forest, was the base of a line of operations on which were wrought out great problems of war. The mountains of the Lake were landmarks to conduct our armies from summit to summit of achieve- ment, until, passing on all barriers, they found their resting place in the Valley of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. Unknown results of territorial acquisition and of political and religions destiny lay con- cealed in the expedition which started for the capture of a single fort on Lake Champlain, and for the defence of the limited boundary line of a Province. * * The American victory of Lake George was not * an isolated item of our campaign. It was more than a simple triumph in an unbroken wilderness-a military achievement of the New York and New England yeomanry. It headed a series of successes that were followed by the gain of Kingdoms. It heralded the deliverance from French aggressions and agitations. * Johnson's victory had a true influence of relation to this end. As the southern inlet near Fort George joins itself to the Lake, whose waters flow to the north, and, tossed over cascades and waterfalls, pass into the St. Lawrence, so the expedition of 1755, identifying itself with a vast expanse of agencies, pressed forward over the rocks and reverses of campaigns, into Canada. But Canada was only a part of the great acquisitions of the war. The whole northwest was wrested from France, together with the Valley of the Mississippi lying easterly of that river, with the exception of the the Island of Orleans.
"V. The battle of Lake George was furthermore memorable in its suggestions of Provincial Princess, and its lessons of warfare to the Colonies preparatory to their Independence. The battle was fought by Provincial troops and chiefly by the hardy sons of glorious New England. The veteran regulars of Old England had been beaten in the forests of Western Pennsylvania, or remained inactive in the Niagara expedition. Through some unaccountable cause, the expedi- tion, which was on the direct line of Canada, and nearest to the French reinforcements, known to be at hand, was consigned to the exclusive
[9]
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care of native Colonial soldiers; and bravely did they do their duty; and in this battle and in this war, the Colonies practically learned the value of union and the unconquerable energies of a free people."
CHAPTER VII.
THE WINTER OF 1756-7 PASSES WITH NO CONCERTED ACTION ON THE PART OF THE ENGLISH AGAINST THE ENEMY - RAIDS OF ROGERS, STARK AND PUTNAM - ATTACK OF THE FRENCH UPON FORT WILLIAM HENRY - DEFEAT OF THE ENEMY AND THEIR RETREAT.
The winter of 1756-57 wore away in gloomy inactivity; its repose being unbroken save by the sending out of scouting parties occasionally to watch the movements of the enemy in the vicinity of Fort St. Fred- erick (Ticonderoga) and Crown-Point. Some of these parties, under the command of Captain Rogers of the New Hampshire regiment and Cap- tain Israel Putnam of Connecticut, went directly down Lake George; others, under Stark, ranging the forests in the vicinity of Fort Anne, Dresden and Putnam. Serving under Putnam at this time was a cer- tain Lieutenant Noah Grant, said to have been the great-grandfather of President U. S. Grant, but on what reputable authority this statement is made, I know not. The expedition against Ticonderoga, owing to the unusual mildness of the season, was given up, and the French were left for some months to mature their plans of conquest unmolested.
Meanwhile, another plan was put on foot for the capture of Crown- Point. With this view, some six thousand men were raised by New York and New England and placed under the command of Gen. Seth Winslow, who, notwithstanding his lamentable failures, hitherto, seems to have retained the public confidence. At Fort Edward Winslow was joined by that imbecile, Gen. James Abercromby,1 who brought with him a body of British regulars. The army, thus gathered, accomplished nothing except to march to Fort William Henry, and thence back to Albany. This barren result was, however, somewhat redeemed by, as 11s11al, a Provincial officer.
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