History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 15

Author: Bradsby, H. C. (Henry C.)
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1532

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ute of limitations had exterminated their titles, they could no more live here in safety than lambs in a fold of wolves. How a different termination of the war might have affected all parties in their civil rights it is not difficult to understand. No instance is recorded of any of the British regular troops being parties to the massacre or violating the terms of capitulation. In a few instances the tories are said to have killed prisoners, but the conclusion is irresistible that they inaugurated the expedi- tion and directed the Indians in their work of fire and blood. As for the British government and its subordinate officers having taken the Indians into their confi- dence and employ, they must be held responsible for their conduct."

In concluding this subject, it may be properly noticed that even among the people here, descendants largely of the Revolutionary sires, there are those who incline to take sides and make a material issue of the fact that there was whisky in the fort, and insinuate this had something to do with the calamities that struck these devoted people. Nothing could be more cruel and unjust to the memory of the illustrious dead. A century ago and now are times so radically different on the subject of whisky as to leave little or nothing to compare. It was a necessity, if not a virtue, then to make and use whisky. To convert their corn and rye into whisky was the only way to transport their farm products to market at all; no other way could they have made a living here; in the use of it there was no exception, both as a beverage and a medicine. A teetotaler or a prohibitionist here then would have been simply a species of monstrosity. Without arguing the proprieties, it is enough to say that the times justified the free use of whisky among the pioneers; it is doubtful indeed if the country could have been settled without it. These were not a drunken people. Men then got drunk of course, but they do far worse now in the stream of madmen, murderers, and the diseased in mind and body, that sicken the air of heaven with their debaucheries. The use and making of whisky by our pioneer fathers, if not a virtue, certainly was not a wrong. The average of mankind was then full of ignorant, superstition and unreasoning bigotry, to an extent that would be little short of criminal now, but it is not at all certain but that very fact was one of his mainstays in the hard struggle of life that lay before him. In many things he had to be a man of stern, blind faith-the rough, not the polished diamond, as the soldier must be a man who obeys orders without thinking at all. Therefore, in judging of then, the times and the circumstances must have first consideration.

CHAPTER V.

HARTLEY'S AND SULLIVAN'S EXPEDITIONS.

FOLLOWING THE BATTLE WASHINGTON ORDERS HARTLEY AND WILLIAM BUTLER TO FORM AN EXPEDITION-SULLIVAN REACHES WILKES-BARRE AND ASCENDS THE RIVER-EXTRACTS FROM DIARIES OF THE MEN IN THE EXPEDITION-IMPORTANCE OF SULLIVAN'S MOVEMENTS -INDIAN MARAUDS IN THE VALLEY-BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS AT FRENCHTOWN MOUNT- AIN-KING NUTIMUS.

TTPON the reception of the horrible tidings from Forty fort, Gen. Washington directed Col. Thomas Hartley to form a rendezvous, collect troops and move against the invaders. At the same time Col. William Butler, of the Fourth Penn- sylvania, was ordered from Fort Stanwix to go down and form a junction with Col. Hartley, at Tioga (Athens), and together operate against the enemy.

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

The militia were called out and ordered to Sunbury. These were to be joined by Capt. Spalding's company. A detachment from New York was given them, and under Col. Thomas Hartley, of Pennsylvania, an expedition was set on foot up the west branch of the Susquehanna. Much delay in getting the expedition ready fol- lowed. Only in September had 200 men assembled at Muncy, of these 130 were from Wyoming under Capt. Spalding, sixty of whom were from the Eleventh Penn- sylvania regiment. With this little band Col. Hartley set out for Tioga Point, Sep- tember 21. The road was a terrible one; the fall rains had raised the streams, and of the route Col. Hartley said: "I can not help observing that I imagine the diffi- culties in crossing the Alps or passing up the Kennipeck could not have been greater than those our men experienced for the time." Four days was this journey, through the cold rains and wading streams frequently, and on the cold ground at night without tire, for fear of the enemy, and yet these men never so much as mur- mured. The first of the enemy they discovered was near where is now Canton, in the southwest corner of Bradford county. September 26 Hartley's advance met a party of Indians, fired upon them, killed and scalped their chief, and the others fled. In the neighborhood of Le Roy they came upon a fresh camp where about seventy had spent the night previous, but had fled on Hartley's approach. The command pressed on as fast as possible to Sheshequin; here they rescued fifteen prisoners from the Indians, and recaptured quite a number of cattle. Col. Butler was to have joined Col. . Hartley at this point, but failing to do so, a small detach- ment was sent to Tioga, and Queen Esther's village was destroyed. No more dar- ing military movement was ever made with impunity than this of Col. Hartley's. He returned rapidly, the first day reaching Wyalusing, where they halted and cooked the little beef they had as all the food left. The powerful enemy was rap- idly collecting to swoop down on his little band and exterminate them, and Hartley realized that he must move fast enough to keep ahead of any pursuers. They had hardly formed in the march out of Wyalusing when they met the enemy; these they soon dispersed, and in a short time again were attacked in front, but again beat off their assailants. As they reached Indian Hill on the lower edge of Brad- ford county, a heavy attack was made on their left flank and rear; the rear guard gave way when Capt. Spalding went to its support. Col. Hartley skillfully hand- led his men, while those in the boats landed and came up in the rear of the enemy, when they, supposing they were about to be surrounded, precipitately fled. Hart- ley's loss was four killed and ten wounded. Col. John Franklin was in this expedition as captain of the Wyoming militia. In his diary is this entry : "The troops retook a great number of the Wyoming cattle, horses and other property, and returned with their booty October 1; they met many hazardous skirmishes, with the loss of several lives. Several Indians were killed. Col. Hartley and his men were warmly thanked on their return by the executive council of Pennsylvania. It was a blow in return upon the enemy, and though not a heavy one, was magnifi- cent and daring."

The gathering accounts from the bloody Wyoming-the fateful July 3-it seems had now fully aroused the continental congress, and it set about determined and vig- orous measures of retaliation, to punish to the last extremity the Indians for their treachery and cruelty, as well as the white-Indians found consorting with them. Hartley's expedition had failed of the full measure of striking the common enemy of civilization such a blow as was imperatively called for under the circumstances; through no fault of the intrepid Hartley, or his brave men, but by the failure of the companion expedition to effect a junction with him at Tioga. Congress advised with Gen. Washington and it was determined to send a strong force up the Susque- hanna and on to and through the Genesee valley, the heart of the powerful Iroquois nation and crush the haughty, savage and dangerous spirit of that people. It was Gen. Washington who advised this movement as the only way to strike effectually

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

this dangerous enemy in the rear -more threatening than the army in front. The result was the organization of the Sullivan expedition.

Washington's instructions for the commander bear date May 31, 1779. He ten- dered the command to Gen. Gates, who, on account of age, declined, and it was given to Gen. John Sullivan, who was directed to rendezvous a force of about 5.000 men at Easton, Pa., and march up the Susquehanna. At the same time, Gen. Clinton was ordered to move with his brigade of New York troops and pass down the upper Susquehanna and join Sullivan's forces at Tioga (now Athens), Bradford county. This was one of the important military movements of the Revolutionary war-in results, perhaps, far exceeding any or all others. It was forced reluctantly upon Washington, who had forgiven one act of treachery after another on the part of the red men, after he and the American people had exhausted every means to keep terms of amity with the Indians, or at least to remain neutral in the rebellion against the mother country. There was nothing in the question between the two countries that should have caused the Indians to take sides. In their dense ignorance they knew not that they were by their folly not only forfeiting their rich possessions, but were periling their very existence as a tribe. Washington's military genius indicated to him the immediate results that must follow the success of Sullivan's expedition.

The expedition was directed against the Six Nations, the most powerful body of savages this continent ever knew. Their seat of empire was along the Genesee valley by the lakes. They had trodden like the grass the other tribes of America, extend- ing their conquests to Florida and west to the Mississippi river. Their lands in New York were as rich and beautiful as any on the continent. They had progressed in agriculture until smiling fields of grain, corn and various vegetables were on every hand. They had comfortable huts, and in some cases rude chimneys to them. They helped strike the cruel blow upon the helpless frontier people, and thereby forfeited all their rich inheritance. In Gen. Washington's instructions to Sullivan and in his report to congress he says: "I congratulate congress on his (Gen. Sul- livan's) having completed so effectually the destruction of the whole of the towns and settlements of the hostile Indians in so short a time and with so inconsiderable a loss of men." * * * To the commander he said: "It is proposed to carry the war into the heart of the country of the Six Nations, to cut off their settle- ments, destroy their next year's crop, and do them every other mischief which time and circumstances will permit." And again, that there might be no misapprehen- sion, he said: " The immediate objects are the total destruction of the hostile tribes of the Six Nations and the devastation of their settlements and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible." There could be no mistake here on the part of Gen. Sullivan. Not only the commander, but the civilized world, understood that here was the terrible answer back to the bloody Wyoming. This was war, not strictly in kind, but swift and terrible, and gave us empire from ocean to ocean. Strict neutrality would have left the Indians in peace, the possession of their homes, crops, ponies and cattle, but far greater than these their rich and boundless land possessions.

Gen. Sullivan's expedition was at the same time supplemented-rather dupli- cated-by a similar expedition simultaneously carried on by Gen. George Rogers Clark, down the Ohio river and into the Illinois against the British forts at Kas- kaskia and Vincennes. The first was under the continental congress and Gen. Washington, while the other was under Virginia (Gov. Patrick Henry) and the "Hannibal of the Northwest "-Gen. George Rogers Clark.

These military expeditions, conceived and executed at the same time, one by Washington and congress, the other by Gov. Patrick Henry and Gen. Clark, the movements of each unknown to the other, are two of the stupendous episodes in the annals of mankind.

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HISTORY OF LUZERNE COUNTY.

The question of the success of the American Revolution, little as it was known by our great forefathers, was the very soul and being of the advance of the human race in liberty, in thought, and the higher civilization. We can now know the lib- erty gained by the Americans in its reflected influence spread over the world, even to the remotest corner of the British empire itself, after its long seven years of cruel war of attempted subjugation crowned even England with an aureole of liberty. The American tories-even these mistaken men, so fierce in opposing their own neigh- bors, and sometimes members of their own families-were among the beneficiaries of the heroic struggles of the noble sons of liberty. Until the hour of the con- ception of the Sullivan and the Clark expeditions, there was no thought among the fathers other than that of independence for the little fringe of territory that ran along our Atlantic shore. It was hardly more than individual liberty in their ideas, but these two expeditions were the beginning of our present wide empire: these numerous stars set in azure blue, now glinting upon 63,000,000 of freemen, march- ing ever onward. These then were vastly more than local events. In results they were not only continental but world-wide and as enduring as the hills. They have touched the whole human race, and made millions of freemen where otherwise would yet have been bred only galley slaves-men, women and children yoked to the cruelest servitude.

Sullivan's army took up its line of march from Easton June 18, 1779, reached Wilkes-Barre on the 23d, and spent three days here looking over the battle-field and fitting out, of which the journalists of the expedition gave many blood chilling accounts of the sights that here met their gaze; repeating all the wild stories that the poor flying people had told at the dreadful moment. The story of the killing of Henry Pensil by his brother is given in all its horrid details. From one of the several diaries is the following under date of July 2, 1779:

Rode out this morning with Gen. Poor and Col. Dearbon about four miles, to view the ground where the battle was fought between the Savages and the people of Wyoming under Col. Butler, we saw a Stockade fort with a Covert Way to a fountain which our guide told us was built for a shew by some of the disaffected Inhabitants & given up to the Enemy immedi- ately upon their approach; we examined the Trees where the line of Battle was formed, but found very few marks of an Obstinate Engagement; it appears indeed that the Enemy were superior in numbers to the Militia and soon after the Commencement of the Action turned their left Flank, this brought on a retreat, in which the savages massacred upwards of 200 Men- We saw more or less bones scattered over the ground for near two miles & several Sculls brought in at different times, that had been Scalped and inhumanly maugled with the Hatchet. A cap- tain's commission with 17 Continental Dollars was found in the pocket of the Skeleton of a man, who had laid above ground 12 months-Our guide shewed us where 73 Bodies had been buried in one hole, this place may with propriety be called Golgotha-All the houses along this river have been burnt; and the Gardens and fields, the most fertile I ever beheld, grown over with weeds and Bushes, exhibit a melancholy picture of Savage rage and Desolation.

This entry in the diary was made exactly one year after the battle. It conflicts in an immaterial point with Steuben Jenkins' account of the burial of the dead, as well as adding another enigma to the many accounts of the battle.

At this point Gen. Sullivan's army, 3,500 strong, had a fleet of boats to be ready for them, and the expedition was divided and part by land and the other on boats proceeded up the Susquehanna river to Tioga (Athens). Here a junction of the two armies was effected, Fort Sullivan was built and the army marched up to Newton (near Elmira), met the enemy in force and gained a signal victory. Sullivan's entire force as he moved out from Tioga was 5,000 men. The defeated Indians fled to Canada; Sullivan divided his force and proceeded to devastate the Indian country.

The Pennsylvania troops in Sullivan's army were under Gen. Hand, including the regiments of Col. Richard Butler, Col. Hubley and Col. Hartley and the Ger- man battalion; Capt. Spalding's independent company; Capt. Schott's riflemen; Capt. John Franklin's county militia, and several sharpshooters in Morgan's rifle corps. Lieut. John Jenkins was the chief guide of the expedition. The Eleventh

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Pennsylvania and Capt. Spalding's company constituted the advance force that marched by land.

The purpose of Gen. Sullivan's expedition was completely successful; the blow to the Iroquois was fatal, from which, as a people or tribe, they never recovered. The immediate results of the action of that people was the awful calamity to the community of this beautiful valley, to be followed by the stern retaliation of the Hartley and Sullivan expeditions. The ultimate and permanent results are now before us, blooming in all the splendors of this present wealth, universal prosperity, of a people of gentle blood, culture and refinement. Their rich and wide domains were the unequaled forfeit paid by stupid barbarians for their cruel folly. Their sins were grievous, and so were their sufferings. The bloody work of the savage at the Wyoming and Cherry valleys was the beginning of the end of the Indians on this continent.

In the rush of significant events in the Revolutionary times, it is most remark- able that the important feat of Sullivan and his army almost escaped attention; and in time from the chronicles of our Union, it hardly received a passing notice; if mentioned at all it was by some carping critic who denounced it, perhaps, as a use- less foray and slaughter of "Lo, the poor Indian." At best to simply mention it as an incident, with no regard whatever to the tremendous results to follow, has been much the rule of writers on the subject of our independence.

By act of congress, 1876, the several counties of the United States were asked to gather and publish their local histories. The historian of the locality of New- town, with much of the patience of love, wrote well of the Sullivan expedition and the battle of Newtown, and his publication called general attention to the subject. Under the auspices of the State of New York a centennial celebration of the battle of Newtown was held on the battle-field, August 29, 1879. It was the grandest celebration of that time of centennials. The day was hot and dry; the people assembled to the sum of 50,000, and most of the leading officials of the nation, together with other eminent men, were present. The elegant monument, standing so conspicuously on Sullivan Hill, on the battle-field, commanding a wide view of the surrounding country, was unveiled with imposing ceremonies, and from two stands addresses were delivered.

Indian Marauds .- Comparative peace followed the brilliant exploits of Sullivan and Hartley. But the snake, though scotched, was not killed.

March, 1780, a party of fifty or more Indians came down the river, and when near Wyoming they divided into bands for the purpose of striking the isolated set- tlers. One of these parties captured Thomas Bennett and his son, near Kingston, and added Libbeus Hammond to their capture, and started to Tioga and camped near Meshoppen. During the night the prisoners rose upon their captors, killed four, wounded another, and one fled, and seizing all the rifles of the slain returned home, March 27; another of these bands suddenly appeared at Hanover and shot and killed Asa Upson. Two days after they captured a boy, Jonah Rogers, and the next day Moses Van Campen; they killed and scalped Van Campen's father, brother and uncle; the same day they captured a lad named Pence. They then passed to Huntington and fell in with Col. Franklin and four of his men, two of whom were wounded but all escaped. They found in Lehman township, this county, Abraham Pike and his wife making sugar. They stayed all night with them and took the man and wife prisoners the next morning, having bundled the baby and thrown it on the cabin roof; during the day they released the womau, and she returned in all haste to her baby, which she found, and with it in her arms fled to the settlement. Pike was a deserter from the British army-a gallant Irishman, and made up his mind that it would be decidedly unpleasant to be carried into the British lines. The party with their captives, on the night of April 3, camped at the mouth of Wysox creek. Supposing they were now out of danger, they relaxed

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somewhat their vigilance. Jonah Rogers, the boy mentioned above, afterward told this narrative:

"In the afternoon of the day before we reached the place of encampment we came to a stream. I was tired and fatigued with the journey; my feet were sore and I was just able to proceed. Pike told the chief of the gang that he would carry me over on his shoulders. The old chief, in a gruff voice, said: 'Well.' Pike whispered in my ear as we were crossing the stream: 'Jonah, don't close your eyes to-night. When they sleep take the knife from the chief and cut the cords with which I am bound.' I was the only one of the prisoners who was not bound every night-the old chief took me under his blanket. The nights were raw and cold, and though protected in this way I thought I should perish. This much of the project was communicated by Pike to the other prisoners. Toward nightfall they halted, kindled a fire, partook of their evening meal, and were soon stretched on the ground. In a few minutes the old chief was asleep, and in the course of half an hour the savages were all snoring; but Pike knew his friends were awake, from the occasional half-suppressed cough.

" Pike was the nearest to me and not over two feet in distance. It was a terrific effort for me to make up my mind to perform my part of the business, for I knew that instant death would be the penalty in case of failure. But, as time passed on, and the snoring of the savages grew louder and louder, my courage seemed to gather new strength. I had noticed where the old chief lay down; the knife in the belt was on the side next to me. I peered out from under the blanket, and I saw the embers of the fire still aglow and a partial light of the moon. I also saw the hands of Pike elevated; I thought the time had come, and these two hours of suspense I had passed were more terrible than all the rest of my life put together. I cautiously drew the knife from the scabbard in the chief's belt, and, creeping noiselessly out from under the blanket, I passed over to Pike and severed the cords from his hands.

"All was the silence of death save the gurgling noise made by the savages in their sleep. Pike cut the cords that bound the other prisoners. We were all now upon our feet. The first thing was to remove the guns of the Indians-the work for us to do was to be done with tomahawks and knives. The guns were carefully removed out of sight, and each of us had a tomahawk. Van Campen placed himself over the chief and Pike over another. I was too young for the encounter and stood aloof. I saw the tomahawks of Pike and Van Campen flash in the dim light of the half- smoldering flames; the next moment the crash of two terrible blows followed in quick succession, when seven of the ten arose in a state of momentary stupefaction and bewilderment, and then came the hand-to-hand conflict in the contest for life. Though our enemy were without arms, they were not disposed to yield. Pence now seized one of the guns, fired and brought one down; four were now killed and two dangerously wounded, when the others, with terrific yells, fled at the report of the gun. As they ran, Van Campen threw his tomahawk and buried it in the shoulder of one of them. This Indian, with a terrible scar on his shoulder-blade, I saw years after, when he acknowledged how it came there."

Mrs. Jane (Strope) Whitaker told that Pike had visited her father often after the war, and she had heard him relate over and over again every detail of the episode.

In June, 1780, Col. Franklin, and Sergt. Baldwin with four men had trailed a party from near Tunkhannock to Wysox, near where is the Laning farm. They dis- covered the camp smoke and crept upon them and captured four white men, bearers of dispatches to the British forces. One of them got away, and the others were taken to headquarters; they were Jacob and his son, Adam, and Henry Hoover. Among other trophies found on the prisoners was a beautiful spy-glass, now the property of Maj. W. H. H. Gore, of Sheshequin; it had been purchased by his father, Judge

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Gore. And Burr Ridgeway when a very old man said that he had heard Col. Franklin say, on pulling out a silver watch, "I took that from one of the prison- ers."

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History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with biographical selections, Part 15

Author: Bradsby, H. C. (Henry C.) Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Chicago : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1532

Author: Bradsby, H. C. (Henry C.)
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1532