A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. II, Part 91

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre [Raeder press]
Number of Pages: 683

USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. II > Part 91

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* In a scholarly address-"The Nemesis of Wyoming"-delivered before the Wyoming Commem- orative Association, July 8, 1905. Published by the Association in 1906.

t See page 925, ante. # The Earl of Chatham. See page 608, Vol. I.

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nable proposition of Suffolk: 'What! to attribute the sacred sanction of God and Nature to the massacres of the Indian scalping-knife! Such principles shock every sentiment of honor; they shock me as a lover of honor and honorable war.' * * *

"Even with the Ministry in his control the King could not have perfected his plan had there not been at hand one who * * * was both pliant and energetic. He was found in the person of Lord George Germain .* Placed at the head of the department of military affairs, the conduct of the war on the frontier was left largely to him. Fiske tells us that the terrors of the war on the border must be charged to the account of Lord George Germain and a few unworthy men who were willing to be his tools. * * Guy Carletont tried to restrain the Indian, but Germain would abate neither jot nor tittle. * * He determined to establish the King's supremacy, not by honorable, skilful strug- gle, but by breaking the spirit of the Americans so far as barbarity, Indian or otherwise, could do it. * * * The enlistment of the German mercenaries was due largely to him ; his tactics were to destroy private property and injure individuals by unprovoked attacks with fire and sword. He could not be made to believe other than that the Tories were numerous and strong, while the Colonists were few and feeble."

The methods pursued by the Tories and Indians on the battle-field of Wyoming, after the Westmorelanders had begun to retreat, were prob- ably no more savage and shocking than what they practised on any field where they were the victors. They intended these barbarous doings to be finishing touches to a successful conflict. However, as years rolled on, the massacre features of Wyoming's bloody 3d of July became more and more prominent in people's eyes, chiefly because those features were dwelt upon and exaggerated in nearly every piece of prose and poetry- whether trivial or of consequence-which was published during those years on the subject of Wyoming. When, in 1837 and 1838, appeals were made to the National Congress by citizens of Wyoming for aid for " old Wyoming sufferers, their widows, heirs, and legal representatives;" and when, in 1839 and subsequent years, appeals were made by the same citizens to the General Assembly of Connecticut for an appropriation of money to be used in erecting the Wyoming Monument, there was pub- lished relative to these matters a considerable amount of literature. The most, if not all, of this was the product of a resident of Wilkes-Barre who was an intelligent, earnest and ardent supporter of all good projects for the benefit and advantage of his fellow-citizens; but who was, withal, a gentleman of elevated sensibility and lively imagination. In his zeal to make out a strong and convincing case for Wyoming, the massacre, and the subsequent flight of the survivors from the Valley, were strongly featured in his writings, while he dealt but briefly with the battle itself, its importance and its results. In more recent years the events of July 3, 1778, have been represented and designated-in art, in song, and in history-as the "massacre of Wyoming" more often than as the "battle of Wyoming."

Happily, when Edward Garrick Mallery, the young and brilliant Wilkes-Barre lawyer, wrote in 1843 the graceful, chaste and stirring epitaph now inscribed upon the Wyoming Monument, ¿ he denominated the chief event commemorated by that monument as "The Battle of Wyoming"-and thus it should be entitled always ! Moreover, let it be remembered that it was not only a battle attended with dreadful car- nage, and with horrors of every shape and name, and followed by "wide- spread havoc, desolation and ruin," but that it was a battle of import- ance and of considerable consequence, when its results are considered.

It is true that the battle was disastrous to the Americans. What else could have been expected ! What officer ever yet succeeded in ral- lying, and bringing again into line, a band of flying militia with a cloud

* See page 568, Vol. I, and page 1047, ante.

t See pages 997 and 986. # See Chapter XXVII.

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of savages at their heels ! Zebulon Butler was not an accidental soldier. His intelligence, courage and fortitude had been exhibited during the French and Indian War, and in the Pennamite-Yankee contest for the possession of the region he was later to defend against a horde of merci- less invaders. But when the invasion actually occurred he was not only unprepared (through no fault of his own, however), but was compelled to meet the enemy contrary to his own better judgment. His disposi- tion of his men for the battle was that of a soldier ; his conduct during the battle that of a brave man and skilful officer. But for the untoward circumstance of the mistaken order which threw the left wing into con- fusion, the fortunes of the day might have been different. Neither Lieut. Colonel Butler nor Colonel Denison lost any character in the eyes of those who took part with them in the battle, or in the estima- tion of those who knew the two men.

In the light of our present knowledge of the event, it is undeniable that the battle of Wyoming has never received its adequate place in the history of the War of the Revolution. "The battle was not one of the great battles of history, either in skill displayed, the numbers engaged, or in the casualties suffered," wrote Gen. Edmund L. Dana in 1878 .* " It was fought, however, against superior numbers, arms, and discipline, and in defense of life and home. It was great in the motives which prompted and the courage which inspired the heroes who gave their lives to their country and their example to all time." Three years later General Dana declaredt that "he admitted that while the accounts of the battle and massacre may have been exaggerated in many respects, in others he believed justice had never been done those who fought and fell-that the deeds of valor and heroism done by these men were greater than we ever credited them for. He believed they were the greater and grander because the men fought without support-with nothing whatever to rely upon."

" The battle of Wyoming was not a great battle directly in its results, as affecting the struggle for Independence by the Colonies. It was not great in point of the number of men engaged in the conflict. But it was great in this: The exaggerated story of the atrocities com- mitted by the British troops and their allies [after the battle], fired the heart and nerved the arm of every American patriot in this broad land, wherever the story became known. It crossed the broad and tempest- uous Atlantic, and the sympathies of European civilization became enlisted on the side of the struggling Colonists." The battle of Wyoming caused General Washington and the Continental authorities to send into the country of the Seneca and other tribes of the Six Nations the mili- tary expedition commanded by General Sullivan-as narrated in Chap- ter XVIII. The short but severe campaign conducted by Sullivan broke the backbone of the Iroquois Confederacy, and greatly weakened the power of the Indian allies of the British. The fertile and beautiful country now forming the western part of the State of New York was then an unknown wilderness, and its value and attractiveness were first made known to the white people through the Sullivan Expedition. As a consequence, many (not a few from Wyoming Valley) of those who shared the perils and privations of that expedition, afterwards became settlers of the land they had aided to conquer.

* See "Wyoming Memorial," page 124.

t See ibid., page 823.

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Briefly, and in conclusion : The battle of Wyoming, properly and impartially considered, must be regarded as one of the memorable events in American history ; and it cannot be gainsaid that those who died on Wyoming's field, and whose ashes lie beneath the Wyoming Monument and in unknown places, gave their lives for more than they thought and more than their generation thought and more than succeeding genera- tions have given them credit for.

"O martyrs of the matchless vale! no feet That ever trod Wyoming's lovely ways Went shod with valor such as thine to meet The fiercest foe of all the by-gone days. * *

"But who shall say ye fought and died in vain, Looking a-down this peerless vale to-day, Counting its beauty and its garnered gain, And listening to the tuneful toiler's lay ! * * *

"O patriots of the peerless vale! we bow In gratitude to thee for countless good; The noble heritage we garner now Is fruitage of the seed ye sowed in blood."

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CHAPTER XVI.

WILKES-BARRÉ TAKEN POSSESSION OF AND OCCUPIED BY CONTINENTAL SOLDIERS AND WESTMORELAND MILITIA-THE HARTLEY EXPEDITION AGAINST THE INDIANS-FORT WYOMING ERECTED-WYOMING'S DEAD INTERRED.

"The equipment of the early American : He had two tools, the ax and the rifle. With the one he built, with the other he fought and lived. * * Each man was a master of weapons, and incapable of fear."

"The path of empire in America-the path of corn and venison-was a highway which never ran backward."-Emer- son Hough, 1901.

In pursuance of orders issued by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania July 14, 1778 (see page 1058), Col. Thomas Hartley, com- manding " Hartley's Regiment " of the Continental Line, marched from Philadelphia for Sunbury a few days later with such companies of his regiment as were then in Philadelphia, together with some militia. At Sunbury, under the date of August 1, 1778, Colonel Hartley reported to the Supreme Executive Council as follows *:

"I came here a few days since with a detachment of my regiment, and some militia. Upon my arrival I have taken command. Upwards of 200 militia have come to Sunbury. * Four-fifths of the inhabitants fled with such effects as they could carry from this country. Many of the men are returning. * * * A most extraordinary panic seems to have struck the people. The Wyoming settlement is almost totally destroyed. The most of the surviving inhabitants have fled to Connecticut, or are now removing as paupers to that State. There is no prospect of their returning or re-establishing them- selves at Wyoming this Fall. * * The two Wyoming companies were to have joined me here according to my instructions. They are now in Northampton County, where there is also a detachment of my regiment. I have applied to the Board of War for the detachment of my regiment to join me, and the two Wyoming companies to remain there."

Prior to the writing of the foregoing letter Lieut. Col. Zebulon Butler had (as previously noted) repaired from Fort Allen to Fort Penn, where he had established his headquarters and, by order of the Board of War, taken command of Spalding's Westmoreland Independent Company, as well as of such of the Westmoreland militia as came that way in the course of their flight from the Valley. On August 1st, as shown by an

* See "Pennsylvania Archives," First Series, VI : 674.

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original "return " now in the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society,* Spalding's company comprised four commis- sioned officers, seven non-commissioned officers, and sixty-seven rank and file, making a total of seventy-eight men, while the militia num- bered thirty-four men-including one Captain, one Lieutenant and two Sergeants. The militia were under the immediate command of Dr. William Hooker Smith, Captain of the 2d Alarm List Company in the 24th Regiment. This made a total force-including Lieut. Colonel Butler-of 113 men, and on Sunday, August 2, 1778, they set out on their toilsome march over the "Lower Road " for Wilkes-Barre-those of the militia who were without arms and ammunition having first been furnished therewith from Continental stores forwarded to Fort Penn. By rapid marching and few halts this little body of Continentals and Westmoreland militia arrived in the afternoon of August 4th at " Bul- lock's " (see page 1039), nine miles from Wilkes-Barré. There the men were halted, and Lieut. Colonel Butler sent forward two small detach- ments to reconnoiter the Valley-one under the command of Matthias Hollenback (formerly an Ensign in the Continental service, but since his resignation therefrom enrolled as a private in the 24th Regiment), and the other under the command of Lieut. John Jenkins, Jr.

Hollenback's party went in a southerly direction, along the eastern base of Wilkes-Barre Mountain, and entered the Valley opposite Nanti- coke Falls. Near the river they saw a small party of Indians, who fled to their canoe and started to cross the river. A shot from the rifle of one of the militia-men wounded an Indian, who sprang into the water, but was buoyed up by his companions till they reached the opposite shore, when they carried him off into the woods. One of the Westmore- landers swam the river, secured the canoe, and with it as a trophy returned to his companions. The party then marched up along the river to Wilkes-Barre. Lieutenant Jenkins' party marched from " Bul- lock's" in a northerly direction and struck the Susquehanna near the mouth of the Lackawanna. They then turned southward and marched in the direction of Wilkes-Barre. On their way down the Valley they met two Indians, upon whom they fired without effect-except to cause them to make a rapid retreat to the woods. In the early evening of August 4th Lieut. Colonel Butler reached Wilkes-Barre with the main body of his command, and very shortly afterwards was joined by Hol- lenback and Jenkins and their detachments. Fort Wilkes-Barré having been destroyed by the enemy, the Westmorelanders established them- selves at a large log house on the east side of Main Street, below North- ampton Street. Around this building-which had escaped destruction when the village was burned-the men erected within a couple of days a rude palisade of pickets, and this temporary station, or encampment, was formally designated "Camp Westmoreland."

Under the date of August 5, 1778, Colonel Butler wrote from Wilkes-Barré to Col. Thomas Hartley (previously mentioned) at Sun- bury, as follows t:

"I arrived at this place yesterday [Tuesday, August 4th] with about sixty Conti- nental troops and about forty militia. We discovered two small parties of Indians yester- day, and fired at them, and discovered two other parties this day. What number there is about is uncertain. If your Honor should think it consistent to have some part of the

* See Volume VII, page 127, of the Society's published proceedings.

t See "Pennsylvania Archives," First Series, VI : 690.

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troops under your command advance as far up the river as this place, or as far as you should think proper, I think it will be a means of keeping the savages from murdering and robbing the inhabitants of these frontiers."

The following extract, from the original "Orderly Book* " of Col. Zebulon Butler, is entitled "Detachment Orders," and is dated at " Camp Westmoreland, August 7, 1778."

"Our present situation appears rather dangerous and alarming, and as our whole interest and the little remaining prospect of our crops depends on our maintaining this Post and keeping possession of the country, therefore every person will consider himself under the strongest tie and obligation to do his utmost in the defence of the place against our common enemy. And as it is impossible that we can make ourselves formidable in any degree without submitting ourselves to good order and discipline, therefore the mar- tial law is to be strictly adhered to, and obeyed as well by the militia as [by the] Conti- nental troops and all who join the detachment under the command of Colonel Butler.

"The pernicious practice of strolling about in small parties, and absenting themselves without leave, is not only hurtful to good order but dangerous; therefore the Colonel forbids it in the most strongest manner. And because complaints have been exhibited that some evil persons have been plundering and making waste of what little private property has escaped the merciless hands of our common enemy, the Colonel forbids, in the most posi- tive manner, any kind of plundering or making waste of property-as killing sheep, swine or poultry; or in any manner injuring the interest of any man-as removing hidden things out of their places; unless it be such as is taking damage, and then to bring it into store, where it may be taken proper care of.

"For [the] future the guard is to be relieved at 6 o'clock in the morning, and the roll [is] to be called twice a day, viz .: morning and evening. It is expected that the officers will be particularly attentive to see that the above order be complied with; and the non-commissioned officers required to enjoin it on the soldiers, and give early infor- mation of all breaches that come to their knowledge. And all who are found guilty of the breach of this order may expect to suffer the consequences of the martial law in their cases.

" Officer of the Day-this day, Lieutenant Gore; to-morrow, Lieutenant Peirce."

At Carlisle, Pennsylvania, under the date of August 6, 1778, Gen. John Armstrongt wrote to Vice President Bryant of the Supreme Executive Council of the State, at Philadelphia, suggesting plans for an "excursion into the enemy's country, northward," and then continued as follows :

"This Northern Expedition I have very much at heart. *

* The place of rendezvous at Wyoming, or, if more convenient, the junction to be formed still higher on the Susquehanna, at Tioga; thence to proceed by the most direct route to the Seneca towns, as the first mark. * * * For this great purpose, together with the notice to be taken of some whites? who have lately done us much injury, not less than 3,000 men, under a good commander, ought to penetrate that country, in order to do effectual service." * * *

At the War Office, Philadelphia, under the date of August 7, 1778, Col. Timothy Pickering wrote to Vice President Bryan, by direction of the Board of War, as follows|| :

"We do not order the detachment of Colonel Hartley's regiment to join him, because it is not improbable the whole may be recalled by the time they would unite, in case the Northern Expedition proceeds. Besides, we do not know what has become of the Wyoming Company [Spalding's]; but suspect it may have marched to that place [Wyoming Valley]. Our only wish is to provide in the best manner for the security of the frontier."

On the same day that the foregoing letter was written, the Supreme Executive Council sent to the Pennsylvania Assembly a communica- tion containing the following cold-blooded paragraph T-inspired be- yond question by the Pennamites in the Council.

" The late fatal catastrophe which has befallen the Connecticut settlers on the river Susquehanna, deplorable as it is, recollects the disputed footing on which these sufferers

* Now in the possession of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. See the Society's published Proceedings, VII : 111.

t Mentioned on pages 259 and 301, Vol. I.

# See "Pennsylvania Archives," First Series, VI : 680.

[ See "Pennsylvania Archives," First Series, VI : 684.

& The Tories.

T See ibid., page 686.

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stood. Compassion for them, as well as justice to this State, require that they be reminded of the precarious nature of their tenure, before they re-establish themselves."

At Sunbury, under the date of August 9, 1778, Colonel Hartley wrote to Colonel Butler at Wilkes-Barré, as follows* :

"Your letter of the 5th instant came to this place whilst I was up the West Branch, and was forwarded on by express to me. I arrived here last night, and dispatched the express to-day. I am pleased to hear that you have collected so many men, and that you have been able to make the progress you mentioned. I should be still happier to hear you were able to maintain your ground, and that I was capable of sending you a reinforcement.

"The troops belonging to the Continental service now with you I had instructions to order to join me, but as you seem to be in a fair way of being of service to the frontiers, where you now are, they are to remain with you till further orders. I understand troops are marching from Easton to support you. I hope this will enable you once more to look the enemy in the face, and revenge those cruel murders and injuries your worthy coun- trymen have suffered. I expect another part of my regiment to join me every day, and some more militia. I have established a post, and a work is built, at one Jenkins', about six miles below the Nescopeck Falls. There is now a garrison there which is to be strengthened to-morrow. When I am reinforced my wish is to extend our post to Wio- ming. Should you not think yourself able to maintain yourself at Wioming you are to march your troops to Jenkins' Fort, at the place I have mentioned. I am ordered up to assist the frontiers, which I shall do in the best manner I am capable. It will give me great pleasure to have it in my power to support and maintain yours.

^The enemy have, yesterday morning, appeared near Loyal Sock, on the West Branch. They killed a soldier of mine and one militiaman. One other is missing. Cap- tain Brady's son was wounded and scalped, but there are some hopes of his recovery. There were about thirty Indians; they were pursued, but made off towards the moun- tains. You will from time to time inform me of anything remarkable in your department. You will receive a box of cartridges by William Stewart. When you want more, let me know."

At Camp Westmoreland, Wilkes-Barre, August 9, 1778, Colonel Butler issued the following orderst :

" Orders that for the future a subaltern officer visit the guards by day and by night and inspect the soldiers' huts and cooking [utensils], and see that they keep them clean, and air their clothing, &c .; and the Sergeant of the guard to make a report in writing to the officer of the day, and the officer of the day to the commanding officer. That no canoe be taken on any pretense whatsoever, without an order from the commanding officer. That a court-martial sit to-morrow morning at nine o'clock, at the President's marquee, to try such prisoners as shall be brought before them. Captain [Simon] Spalding, Presi- dent; Lieutenant [Phineas] Peirce, Lieutenant [John] Jenkins, Ensign [John ] Comstock, Ensign [Elisha] Blackman, members. Officer of the Day to-morrow-Ensign Comstock."

At Camp Westmoreland, under the date of August 14, 1778, Col- onel Butler wrote and despatched to the President of the Board of War at Philadelphia the following lettert :

"Honourd Sir .- After receiving your letter of the 15 July I repaird to Fort Penn, found Capt. Spalding's Company there and had some encouragement of troops to join me to go on to Wyoming, and I waited till the 2d instant and found there was no pros- pect nor even a design of any assistance. In the meantime I kept spies going to Wyo- ming, by whom I found the enemy were gone excepting small parties. I collected about forty of the Westmoreland Militia. They with Capt. Spalding's Company made about 100.§ With them I marched the 2d instant, and on the 4th at evening I arrived at this place.

"Previous to my coming in I sent small parties to fall in up the River, who came on some small parties and retook about 20 head of horses and cattle the three first days we were here. We discovered small parties and had some skirmishing. We have found since that we killed one Indian, and have lost none. Can see nor hear of none lately. I have built a picket fort since I came here, and shall be able to stand if I get provision in. We have 60 or 70 of the Militia of this place here well armd I expect more daily, but they are imployed in securing the crops, so that I have only Capt. Spalding's Company to do all the scouting and guarding. I expect 10 or 12 of Capt. Hewitt's company to join me soon.

"I think it would serve * * for 3 or 4 Hundred men to go to [up?] the River. There is a number of Tories and some Indians, supposed to be about 100, on

* See "Pennsylvania Archives," First Series, VI : 690.

t See "Collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society," VII : 112.

# An original draft of this letter, in the handwriting of Colonel Butler, is now in the collections

of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. { 118, as noted on page 1080.

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the River. The lowest down is about 20 miles above us, and so extend up the River 50 or 60 miles. Some part of them have come out of the States of York and Jersys, and there is a large number of horses and cattle with them since our defeat at this place.

"I will send you Col. Hartley's & Kowarts letters. You'll see by them there is no prospect of any assistence here with out further orders. So far from that, that Col. Hart- ley says he has orders for the Continental Troops to join him, which I hope will not be the case except he comes as far up, * * for if the Continental troops are called from this place the Frontiers will lose 150 or 200 good Militia who belong to this place. The building of this fort and some Barracks at [this] place has been done without any ex- pense to the Continent. Should be glad, if the Honrle Board should think it is necessary, to receive Orders for the further employment of the troops at this place.

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A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from its first beginnings to the present time; including chapters of newly-discovered, Vol. II, Part 91

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Wilkes-Barre [Raeder press] Number of Pages: 683

Author: Harvey, Oscar Jewell, 1851- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Wilkes-Barre [Raeder press]
Number of Pages: 683