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 early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume II > Part 115
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In the night of August 12th a considerable detachment of the army, under the command of General Sullivan himself, marched from the camp at Tioga Point for the Indian town of Chemung-mentioned on page 972-intending to surprise and destroy it. Arriving about five o'clock the next morning at the town-consisting of fifty or sixty log houses-it was found to be deserted. Thereupon, in order to make, if
* See page 34, Vol. I. " Lieut. Col. Thomas Forrest of Procter's Artillery.
# On the right, or west, bank of the river. § Sce page 1091.
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possible, some discoveries as to the whereabouts of the enemy, a portion of the detachment was ordered to advance up the river a few miles far- ther. They had proceeded about a mile when they were fired upon by a party of forty Indians under the command of Roland Montour, am- bushed on a high hill. Two Captains, one Adjutant, one guide (Capt. John Franklin) and eight privates of the detachment were badly wounded, and one Sergeant, one drummer and four privates were killed -the first to fall by the enemy's bullets in this campaign. The survi- vors, taking with them their dead and wounded, returned to Chemung, and thence (having first destroyed the town and the growing crops near by) marched with the remainder of the detachment back to Tioga Point. While the troops were destroying the crops near Chemung they were fired upon by Indians in ambush, and one man was killed and four men were wounded. On Saturday, August 14th, the seven soldiers who had been killed on the previous day were buried at Tioga (in one grave) with military honors-Chaplain Rogers preaching a funeral sermon.
In pursuance of orders issued on August 12th the erection of a forti- fication was begun at Tioga, for the protection of the stores and boats to be left there during the absence of the army. The site selected for this work of defense was at the narrowest part of the Tioga peninsula, where the two rivers approach very near each other. The work, which was built of logs, and was surrounded by a ditch, was diamond-shaped, with a strong block-house at each corner, or angle. It was so near completion on August 16th that it was then named "Fort Sullivan," in honor of the Commander-in-Chief of the Expedition.
At the encampment of the light-troops (General Hand's brigade), on Wednesday, August 18, 1779, the Rev. Dr. Rogers preached the funeral sermon, " in Masonic form," which he had prepared to deliver at Wilkes-Barré at the time of the burial of Captain Davis and Lieuten- ant Jones, but which had to be postponed on account of a heavy rain- storm. (See page 1197.) The sermon was preached at eleven o'clock in the morning, at the request of Military Lodge No. 19, and was listened to by the members of that lodge, by other Free Masons belonging to the Expedition, and by General Sullivan and his staff, the 11th Pennsylva- nia Regiment, and Procter's Artillery Regiment. The text of the Chaplain was from Job, VII : 7-" Oh ! remember that my life is wind."
As previously mentioned, the Northern, or Right, Division of the Sullivan Expedition (constituting the 4th Brigade of the army) was commanded by Brig. Gen. James Clinton,* and it had not yet joined the forces under the Commander-in-Chief. The troops under Clinton in the Spring of 1779 were stationed at Schenectady, New York, and there, in preparation for the Sullivan Expedition, they built over 200 small boats. From Schenectady these troops proceeded with their boats up the Mohawk River to Canajoharie. Thence, by the aid of many teams of horses and oxen, the boats and stores of the brigade were transported a distance of twenty miles, over a rough and hilly road, to the head of Lake Otsego-the source of the Main, or North, Branch of the Susque-
* Brig. Gen. JAMES CLINTON, a brother of Gov. George Clinton of New York, was born in Orange County, New York, August 9, 1736, the son of Col. Charles Clinton. When only twenty years of age he was an officer under Bradstreet in the French and Indian War. With the rank of Colonel he was with Montgomery in the invasion of Canada in 1775. He was commissioned Brigadier General August 9, 1776, and was in command of Fort Clinton when in October, 1777, it was captured by the British. After the war he held various important offices in New York. He died in Orange County, New York, December 22, 1812. DeWitt Clinton, well known at a later period as Governor of New York, and the "father" of the Erie Canal, was a son of Gen. James Clinton.
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hanna River. With the exception of one regiment, that marched over- land by way of Cherry Valley, the entire brigade came down the lake in their boats; the last of the troops reaching the site of the present Cooperstown about July 5, 1779. There the brigade went into camp, and awaited orders from General Sullivan. In the meantime General Clinton had found that the outlet of the lake was too narrow and shal- low for the passage of his boats. Therefore, being a practical engineer, he devised an ingenious plan to overcome this difficulty ; which was accomplished by damming the small gorge through which the Susque- hanna flows as it leaves the lake. By this simple means the lake level was raised two or three feet, and an increased flow of water was insured when the dam, or dike, should be removed.
Clinton and his brigade remained in camp at the foot of Lake Otsego for a little more than a month. On their last Sunday there (August 8, 1779) the Brigade Chaplain, the Rev. John Gano, preached to them from the text, " Ready to depart on the inorrow "-froin The Acts of the Apostles, XX : 7. Later in the day orders were issued for the departure of the troops on Monday, and at six o'clock in the even- ing of Sunday-the fleet of 220 or more boats being loaded and ready to proceed down the river-the dam was knocked out and, according to the journal of Lieut. William McKendry, "the water filled the river immediately, where a boat could pass, which was almost dry before." It is said that the Indians along the banks of the Susquehanna, miles away from its source, beholding the overflow of the river in Summer, without any apparent reason, thought that it was caused by an inter- position of the Great Spirit, and fled in terror. Besides the invalids of the brigade who were placed in the boats with the stores and baggage, three men went in each boat. All the rest of the troops inarched- some on one side, and some on the other, of the swollen river-the advance southward from the lake beginning at ten o'clock in the 1110rn- ing. "So they proceeded through the hot August days, destroying vari- ous Indian villages along the route, and keeping a sharp lookout lest Brant, with his whooping retinue, should surprise them, as they had heard that he meant to do." At three o'clock in the afternoon of August 12th the troops arrived at Unadilla (mentioned on page 971), and on the 14th they reached Oghwaga (mentioned on pages 257 and 667).
At Tioga Point, on Sunday, August 15, 1779, General Sullivan ordered that a detachment of 1,084 men-including field and line offi- cers and musicians-to be commanded by Generals Poor and Hand, and to be supplied with ammunition and provisions for eight days, should march at six o'clock the next morning, to go up the Susquehanna to nieet the forces of General Clinton. In pursuance of these orders the detachment marched late in the morning of the 16th-General Poor being first in command. A distance of eleven or twelve miles having been covered, the detachment bivouacked at Macktowanunk, or Red Bank. Thence Serg't Asa Chapman and Justus Gaylord, Jr. (of the Westmoreland contingent), were despatched up the river by General Poor to inform General Clinton of the approach of the detachment. In the. evening of August 18th General Poor's command bivouacked at Choconut, or Chugnuts (mentioned in the note on page 421, Vol. I). " Here," states Lieut. Colonel Dearborn in his journal, " we found plenty of cucumbers, squashes, turnips, &c .; and we found about twenty houses,
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which we burnt. At sunset we were very agreeably alarmed by the report of a cannon up the river, which we supposed to be General Clinton's evening gun."
Having burned what there was of Chugnuts, General Poor's troops -with the exception of a few who remained on the south side of the river-pitched their camp on the north side of the river, where the pres- ent village of Union is located. At this place the main body of Clin- ton's brigade joined Poor's detachinent in the morning of August 19th. After a few hours the combined forces moved forward about twelve iniles to Owego, a deserted Indian village of nineteen houses, which Clinton ordered burned, to make "a bonfire to grace the arrival of the united forces." On Sunday, August 22d, between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning, the head of General Clinton's column and the foremost boats of his fleet arrived at Tioga Point. As the boats passed down by the camp of the light-corps they were saluted by thirteen rounds fired from two 6-pounders. As the detachment commanded by Generals Poor and Hand marched down the peninsula, it was received by that part of Hand's brigade which had remained at Tioga, under arms, and with the fifes and drums and Procter's band playing alternately. Gen- eral Clinton's brigade-which numbered from 1,600 to 1,800 men, includ- ing the boatinen-went into camp on the right of General Maxwell's brigade, a 2 not far from the southern extremity of the "Point."
The accompanying re- duced photo-reproduction 0 of Lieut. Colonel Hubley's sketch of Tioga Point = 2. a. 2 encampment (taken from ateativ .- his journal, mentioned on Vasquehanaha .. € page 1192) shows the loca- tion of the camp of the 2 Thengan Grandes light-corps (Hand's brigade) at the narrow neck of the peninsula; then, next be- low, Fort Sullivan, with its four block-houses; then, near the extremity of the " Point," the camp of Clinl- ton's brigade; next, the camp of Maxwell's brigade, in front of which is noted the location of General Sul- TIOGA POINT. livan's headquarters; then, Reduced photo-reproduction of the sketch made by Lieut. Colonel Hubley in August, 1779. lowermost of all, the artil- lery park, and then the camp of Poor's brigade. The dotted lines in the sketch indicate the routes, or roads, traversed by the troops.
After the arrival of General Clinton and his command at Tioga Point a rearrangement of the several brigades of the army was made by order of General Sullivan, and then preparations were begun for an
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immediate advance into the enemy's country. Colonel Shreve, of the 2d New Jersey Regiment, was appointed to command Fort Sullivan ; the garrison to be composed of about 250 officers and men, provided with two brass 6-pounders. The "flying hospital" and the reserve stores of the Expedition were moved to the fort, and the various women who accompanied the army were ordered to take up their quarters there. On August 26th the army, numbering upwards of 4,000 men, marched to the upper end of Tioga flats, about three miles above Fort Sullivan, and there bivouacked. In the morning of the next day the march was resumed, the bounds of the town of Westmoreland were passed, and about seven o'clock in the evening the army went into camp at the lower end of Chemung flats-three miles distant from the site of the town of Chemung, which had been destroyed two weeks previously. After encamping, the troops "had an agreeable repast of corn, potatoes, beans, cucumbers, watermelons, pumpkins, squashes and other vegetables, which were found growing in great plenty and the greatest perfection in the extensive fields at that point." One of the journalists of the Expe- dition states : "We sat up until between one and two o'clock, feasting on these rarities." On Saturday, August 28th, the army destroyed sixty or eighty acres of growing corn on the Chemung flats, and then moved forward to the site of Chemung, where they erected their tents about sunset.
Now, turning our attention to Fort Sullivan, for a brief space, we glean from the journal of Chaplain Rogers (who did not accompany the Expedition beyond Tioga Point) the following items of information concerning the situation there.
"Captain Bush, Dr. [William] Kinnerly [Surgeon of the 3d Brigade] and myself erected our living abode within the lines of Fort Sullivan [August 26th], proposing to spend our time as comfortably as possible togetlier until some of the boats set off for Wyoming. The command of the garrison being committed to so vigilant and worthy an officer as Colonel Shreve, affords much confidence and good humor in all those who are to continue with him, although their sufferings may be great and duty must be hard. * * Friday, August 27th. -* * The garrison at Fort Sullivan is very short of provisions; the salted beef much tainted. Divers cattle, which, since our arrival at this post have strayed away, were this day discovered by a scouting party sent out by the commandant. The party could bring none in, as they were apparently as wild as deer. * * August 28th .- A party which was directed to search after strayed horses and cattle, early this morning drove into the fort twenty-four of the latter. A great blessing, indeed, as there are in the garrison about 1,200 [sic] souls, men, women and children included, and pre- vious to the twenty-four cattle being drove in, but five were left, and those but poor. About dusk sixty boats, most of them having many of the garrison on board, set off for Wyoming for provisions and other necessaries. Took passage, myself, with Captain Bush, on board . The Adventure,' where were fixed, as conveniently as circumstances would permit, Captain Carberry and Adjutant Huston, who, owing to their wounds and much pain, were exceedingly uneasy."
On Sunday, August 29th, the battle of Newtown was fought near the present city of Elmira, New York. Full and complete accounts of this battle are to be found in the book entitled " Journals of the Military Expedition of Maj. Gen. John Sullivan " (previously mentioned), and it is unnecessary, therefore, to describe in these pages-from an American standpoint-the event in question. But the following paragraphs, taken from " The Story of Butler's Rangers," by Ernest Cruikshank, may be fitly introduced here.
"Leaving a strong garrison at Tioga Sullivan deliberately resumed his advance, warily feeling every step with swarms of riflemen in front and on the flanks, and cutting a wide road through the woods for the passage of his artillery and pack-horses. Panic- stricken by the appearance of such an overwhelming army, a majority of the Indians thoughit only of removing their families and moveable property to a place of safety. The
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number of warriors that joined [Maj. John ] Butler never exceeded 300, although he had expected 1,000. The Delawares had promised 200, and sent only 30. He had less than 300 'Rangers,' and only fourteen men of the 8th [Regiment]. *
* He kept up an appearance of confidence, however, and attempted to reassure the Indians by telling them he would defeat the invaders with the 'Rangers' alone, assisted by their brethren under Brant. Unfortunately, runners then came from the Seneca villages on the Allegheny to announce that their country was invaded by a large force from Pittsburg [under Col. Daniel Brodhead]. On this, Butler tried to persuade the Indians to retire to some more advantageous position, leaving small parties among the hills to harass the Americans on their advance ; but the Delawares had pointed out the spot where they ought to meet the enemy, and the others were obstinately bent upon following their advice.
"Having sent away his baggage in charge of the sick, Butler accordingly marched forward and took possession on August 27th of the ground indicated to him. 'It was a ridge of about half a mile in length [reported Major Butler], to the right of which lay a large plain extending to the river and terminating in a narrow pass near our [the British and Indians] encampment, so that, having possession of the heights, we would have had greatly the advantage should the enemy direct their march that way. On our left was a steep mountain, and a large creek in our front at a little distance.' A rough breastwork was formed of logs, which they attempted to mask with freshly cut boughs. In some places shallow rifle-pits were dug, and a log building was occupied and loop-holed for musketry McDonnel with sixty 'Rangers ' and Brant with thirty 'whites and Indians ' occupied the right of this position ; Capt. [Walter N.] Butler, with the remainder of the ' Rangers' and the party of the '8th,' held the center, while the main body of the Indians, commanded by Sayenqueraghta,* was posted at the left, at the foot of the mountain.
"At sunset they were informed that the enemy was still encamped below Chemung, and they retired for the night to their own camp, about a mile distant. Next day the position was again occupied from sunrise until dark, without any appearance of the Americans. But Sullivan's scouts had heard the noise of their axes in the day and seen the glare of their camp-fires at night. Neither officers nor men of the 'Rangers ' had a blanket or tent to cover them, and since their arrival at Chuckmet, two weeks before, they had neither meat, flour nor salt, but had been subsisting entirely upon a daily allowance of seven ears of green corn, which they had scarcely found time to cook. On the 29th [of August], at daybreak, they resumed possession of their lines, 'which,' But- ler said, 'some officious fellows among the Indians altered, and turned the left wing along the mountain, quite the contrary way from its original situation, which was in a great measure the cause of our defeat, as it gave the enemy room to outflank us on that wing without opposition.' Here they remained exposed to the full glare of the sun until two o'clock, when a number of riflemen appeared in the skirt of the woods. The plain between them and the breastwork was covered with tall grass, rising nearly as high as a man's head.
"The affair at Chemung [on August 13th] had made the Americans more than usually cautious, and before advancing into the plain some of their scouts climbed trees, from which they discovered this entrenchment and saw a number of Indians, brightly painted with vermilion, lying on the ground behind it. They at once commenced a brisk fire, while their artillery was being brought forward and a brigade of light-infantry detached around the hill to turn the ' Rangers'' position and gain the defile in the rear. When the skirmish had lasted for half an hour, with trifling loss on either side, Butler began to suspect the enemy's purpose, and urged the Indians to commence their retreat. His advice was warmly seconded by Brant and the Seneca chief, who had come together from the opposite flanks to point out the danger of remaining any longer where they were. One of the most powerful reasons for an immediate retreat was the wretched physical condition of the 'Rangers,' who were horribly enfeebled by exposure and the poorness of their food, and at the very moment the action began three officers and several men were struck down by the ague. But the majority of the Indians were still obstinately bent on holding their ground, and would pay no attention to their arguments.
"By that time the Americans had got six guns and coehorns in position, and opened 'an elegant cannonade,' firing shells, round and grape-shot, and iron spikes, upon the main body of the Indians. This had an immediate and demoralizing effect. The sight of the shells bursting in their rear convinced them that they were already surrounded, and they sprang to their feet and ran away at full speed. The 'Rangers' and Brant's party being thus deserted, retired as rapidly as possible to the hill, which they found already occupied by the enemy's riflemen, with whom they kept up a running fight for nearly a mile, when they were obliged to disperse in every direction-some fording the river, others escaping along the wooded summit of the hill. Butler himself narrowly avoided capture. Many of the Indians never halted in their flight till they reached their respective villages, but the 'Rangers' assembled before dark at Nanticoketown, five miles distant, and continued their retreat until they overtook their baggage. Their actual loss had been miraculously small-only five men were killed or missing, and three wounded. The Indians reported a loss of five killed and nine wounded. Sullivan ackuowledged a loss of forty-two killed and wounded among his regular troops, and at
* See page 968.
.
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least one of his Oneida scouts was killed besides. His victorious troops amused them- selves by scalping the dead, and in two cases actually skinned the bodies of Indians from the hips downward, to make boot-tops, or leggings.
" Next day Sullivan sent back to Tioga all unnecessary baggage and some of his heaviest cannon, and resumed his advance in the same deliberate and cautious but resist- less manner, laying waste the scattered villages, cornfields and orchards he passed, in tlie
most thorough-going fashion imaginable. * Indian runners constantly watched his progress from the hill-tops, and warned their tribesmen of his approach, so that he found their houses always deserted and empty. Half of Butler's men were sick and absolutely unfit for duty, and he fell back to Kanadesaga, sending the sick to the mouth of the Genesee for removal to Niagara. The mass of the Indians were thoroughly dispirited, and even the influence and example of Brant and Sayenqueraghta -- who behaved through- out with admirable courage and firmness-failed to rally many of them to his support. The Cayugas sent an Oneida to beg for mercy for their tribe, but Sullivan haughtily replied that Congress had 'instructed him totally to extirpate the unfriendly nations of Indians, to subdue their country, destroy their crops, and drive them to seek habitations where they would be less troublesome.' Captain Butler continued to watch Sullivan's motions with a few picked 'Rangers' and some Indians that were kept together by the tireless exertions of Brant and Roland Montour."
Relative to the battle of Newtown,* and certain subsequent inci- dents, we find the following in the journal of Lieut. John Jenkins, Jr., of Westmoreland.
* * "Soon after our cannon began to play upon them [the British and Indians], they ran off and left their breastworks in the most precipitous manner, leaving their packs, blankets, tomahawks, spears, &c., behind them. At the same time we took pos- session of the enemy's ground and fortifications. * * Poor's party took a Tory pris- oner, and twelve Indian scalps. The riflemen took a negro prisoner in the evening, about two miles from the enemy's works, and then returned and encamped near a very beautiful flat, where the enemy had planted and tilled about 120 acres of corn. August 30th the army lay still and sent out reconnoitering parties, and buried the dead. Having destroyed about 120 acres of excellent corn, beans, &c., [we] prepared to proceed after the enemy. Our wounded, heavy-artillery and wagons were sent back to Tioga in boats. This day in examining the prisoners they said that Butler and Brant commanded, and that the enemy consisted of 700 men-500 Indians and 200 Tories-and they had lived for two weeks on green corn, without bread or salt."
In the journal of Lieut. Col. Adam Hubley, under the date of August 30, 1779, we find the following record :
" On account of the great quantities of corn, beans, potatoes, turnips, and other vegetables, in the destroying of which the troops were employed, and [on account of ] the rain which set in in the after part of the day, obliged us to continue on the ground for this day and night. The troops were likewise employed in drawing eight days' provis- ions (commencing September 1st). The reason of drawing this great quantity at one time was (however inconsistent with that economy which is absolutely necessary in our present situation-considering the extensive campaign before us, and the time of conse- quence it will require to complete it), the want of pack-horses for transporting the same; and, in order to expedite this great point in view, are obliged to substitute our soldiery for carrying the same. From the great and unparalleled neglect of those persons em- ployed for the purpose of supplying the western army with everything necessary to enable them to carry through the important expedition required of them, General Sullivan was at this early period under the disagreeable necessity of issuing the following ' ADDRESS TO THE ARMY,' which was communicated by the commanding officers to their corps sep- arately, viz .:
"' The Commander-in-Chief informs the troops that he used every effort to procure proper supplies for the army, and to obtain a sufficient number of horses to transport them, but owing to the inattention of those whose business it was to make the necessary provision, he failed of obtaining such an ample supply as he wished, and greatly fears that the supplies on hand will not, without the greatest prudence, enable him to complete the business of the Expedition. He therefore requests the several Brigadiers, and offi- cers commanding corps, to take the mind of the troops under their respective commands, whether they will, whilst in this country-which abounds with corn and vegetables of every kind-be content to draw one-half [a ration] of flour, and one-half of meat and salt a day. And he desires the troops to give their opinions with freedom and as soon as
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