USA > Vermont > The Lake Champlain and Lake George valleys, Vol. I > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
In the long duel for empire, military events happening in North America were sometimes inextricably connected with European issues and sometimes not. Undeclared wars and attacks on neighboring peoples are distinctly not a modern innovation. The representa- tives of Europe's kings and their red allies could and did fight on this continent regardless of whether there was peace or war in the Old World. In 1628 a war of religion was being waged in France which might have indirectly changed the whole history of our continent. Although the English King, Charles the First, hated the followers of Calvin in his own country, he decided to help the French Protes- tants fight their King in order to weaken a rival nation. Some Eng- lish ships took advantage of this controversy to sail up the St. Law- rence and capture Quebec. If Charles had retained and fortified that
45
DUEL FOR EMPIRE
important post, the duel for empire might not have lasted as long as it did. The amazing point of the whole episode, however, was the fact that the English made no effort to retain Quebec and ceded it back to France without a struggle. It seems that Charles was in a desperate need for money and that France owed him a considerable sum in payment of the dowry of Queen Henrietta Maria. In order to replenish his finances by the equivalent of two hundred and forty thousand dollars he sacrificed Quebec and Port Royal. Not until the close of the French and Indian War, approximately one hundred and thirty years later, after endless decades of bloody and costly wars, was the English flag to wave again over the important post guarding the St. Lawrence. This episode constitutes a good example of how the history of North America was shaped by the whims and caprices of kings ruling on the other side of the Atlantic.
In the years following the return of Quebec to the authority of France, there occurred a gradual expansion of French power south- ward toward the Champlain valley and the Hudson. The same year, 1642, that witnessed Isaac Jogues' first journey up Lake Champlain to the Mohawk country, also beheld the building of Fort Richelieu by the French at the mouth of the river of the same name. This fortress was burned by the Iroquois at about the same time that this famous Jesuit was suffering martyrdom, but was later rebuilt in 1665. Other small forts soon followed. In 1652 the Onondagas had become so impressed with the heroism of the Jesuits that they asked for a missionary. Father LeMoyne was sent to them, and, as it turned out, this event had political consequences, for the French were soon invited to build a permanent fort on Onondaga Lake. In 1655, a force of fifty French soldiers started the construction of a settlement there, but it lasted for only a year because the Mohawks were constantly at work stirring up trouble between the Onondagas and the French. The situation of the little garrison soon became precarious and the soldiers finally fled through the cold, dreary wilderness in the direction of Canada.
In the 1660's open collision developed between the white forces in North America, particularly in the present State of New York. Here the Colonists not only faced massacres, smallpox epidemics and the refusal of New Englanders to trade with them, but nature also seemed to be taking a part. Floods ravaged the Hudson, and the greatest earthquake of Colonial times shook this whole section of America. This, however, is not a complete list of the calamities that
46
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
were inflicted upon the Dutch settlers; for Charles the Second, who was now King of England, looked with longing eyes upon New Amsterdam and secretly sent some British ships to capture it. At the end of August, 1664, the Dutch were surprised to see the enemy flotilla at their door, and on September eighth the little garrison marched out of the fort, New Amsterdam becoming New York in honor of the King's brother James, Duke of York, to whom it was given. When peace was signed by Holland and England at Breda in 1667, the Dutch formally agreed that this territory should be ceded to their rivals. In 1673, war again broke out between the two countries, and a Dutch fleet appeared off New York before the gar- rison knew that hostilities existed. Although the Dutch took posses- sion, the Colony was soon returned to England by a peace treaty. With the exception of this short period, New York remained in Eng- lish hands until the Revolution.
It is true that Dutch power in America never extended to north- ern New York and Vermont, but nevertheless Holland influenced the general development of our section. Many Dutch names are enrolled on the list of heroes who were members of the numerous military expeditions constantly moving northward toward Quebec over Lake George and Lake Champlain during the French and Indian wars and the Revolution. Certain geographical features have names of Dutch origin, and, as we have seen, Lake Champlain was once known as "Lake Corlaer" in honor of the popular Dutch official who was drowned in the lake in 1667. With the exception of Johnson, no white man ever had the influence over the Iroquois possessed by Schuy- ler. The Dutch fur traders as well as the English were extremely important in keeping French influence among the Five Nations at a minimum. The friendship existing between the Dutch and the Iro- quois, inherited in 1664 by the English, had an important bearing upon the outcome of the duel between France and England.
In 1665 the King of France appointed Courcelles governor of Canada, and de Tracy, viceroy. He also issued instructions to treat the Iroquois as "perpetual and irreconcilable enemies" and to wipe the Mohawks from the face of the earth. De Tracy soon began to build forts, including one at the mouth of the Sorel; Fort Chambly on the rapids of that name; and, probably the best known of all, Fort St. Anne, on Isle La Motte in Lake Champlain. In January, 1666, Courcelles led a powerful French force southward to exterminate the
47
DUEL FOR EMPIRE
Mohawks. A fearful trip it was. Approximately five hundred men set out on snowshoes in the bitter cold, traveling over snow four feet deep, with dogs pulling sledges filled with supplies. Each soldier carried twenty-five to thirty pounds of biscuits besides clothing and fighting equipment and slept at night in the snow. The third day out many of them suffered from frozen noses, ears, fingers and knees. Courcelles led his force over Lake Champlain on the ice, and although he lost his way, to add to his other difficulties, he arrived near Schenectady on February ninth, exactly a month after he had started. Schenectady was the result of Van Corlaer's work, the site having been purchased by him from the Mohawks in 1661. If the French force had not stumbled upon this settlement the soldiers would have starved and frozen even if they had managed to elude the Indians. As it was, Courcelles informed the settlers that he had no design against the whites, but that his sole aim was to punish Indians for their attacks against French settlements. Van Corlaer intervened, provided generous supplies of food for the exhausted force, and helped to protect the soldiers from the Mohawks who were anxious to destroy them. After obtaining proper rest, food and drink, Courcelles led his little army back toward Canada filled with appre- ciation for the kind services of the great Dutchman. It was while on his way north in response to an invitation from de Tracy in 1667 that Van Corlaer was drowned. Courcelles finally arrived in Can- ada after great suffering, a lucky ending of his mad attempt to march nearly three hundred miles through the frozen wilderness in mid- winter. He had failed completely in his efforts to exterminate the Mohawks and was fortunate to escape at all. Nevertheless, within a few months after his bold attempt at conquest, some of the Iroquois sued for peace.
While these peace negotiations were going on, the relations between the Five Nations and the French were complicated by the fact that a party of Mohawks attacked some Frenchmen near Fort St. Anne and killed Sieur de Chazy, a nephew of the viceroy. Sorel, the commander of the fort, set out to punish the Indians, but the red men promised peace. One Mohawk chief boasted, however, that he had killed Chazy, with the result that Tracy ordered him hanged. The viceroy then decided that it was now necessary to accomplish what Courcelles had failed to do and exterminate the hated Mohawks. He accordingly set out in September, 1666, going up Lake Champlain
48
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
with a large force. Included in his command were six hundred vet- erans of the famous Carignan-Salières regiment, which had won a fine reputation in wars against the Turks. Tracy also had about an equal number of militia, as well as a large force of Indians. The trip up the lake was made in canoes and bateaux, the regulars encased in their shining armor forming a strange contrast to the naked, painted red men. Thanks to the warning given to the Iroquois by the Courcelles' expedition, the Mohawks were on the alert and abandoned their vil- lages when Tracy approached. He could not find his red enemy any- where. He did, however, locate their crops and stores. What he could not carry away with him he destroyed, creating so much havoc that the Mohawks were forced to be submissive for the time being and soon accepted a treaty of peace. In spite of encountering a severe storm on Lake Champlain, Tracy reached Canada safely.
The year 1672 was important because it marked the appointment of Count de Frontenac to the leadership of New France. In some ways he was the greatest of all the governors of Canada. His plans for the government of the Colony were liberal and statesmanlike, and his policies toward the Iroquois were wise and successful. It was unfortunate that he became involved in political intrigue and was removed, in 1682, in favor of de la Barre. The latter led an unsuc- cessful expedition against the Iroquois, giving advance notice of his plans to the English governor of New York, who in turn informed the red men. This failure led to the appointment of Denonville as gov- ernor of Canada. He soon made matters worse by torturing a number of friendly Iroquois. In 1687 he led an expedition against the Senecas but without success. The shortsighted policy of the French governors soon reaped its certain harvest. In 1684, the Five Nations looked to the English for aid and they did not search in vain. At a great peace gathering at Albany, the Iroquois placed themselves under England's protection, promising never to attack their allies again. In 1687, a party of sixty Iroquois dashed down Lake Champlain to destroy the French settlement at Chambly. Two years later, nine hundred of them nearly destroyed the whole settlement at Montreal, remaining there for several weeks and, among other diversions, eating some of the inhabitants. Other Indian atrocities filled the Colonists of New France with terror, and most of the settlements were in a pitiable con- dition. It now became necessary for France to adopt heroic meas-
49
DUEL FOR EMPIRE
ures, and probably the wisest of these was the reappointment of Frontenac as governor in 1689.
At that time the vicinity of Lake George and Lake Champlain was claimed, with good reason, by three separate peoples: the French, the English, and the Iroquois. The French based their claim on their prior exploration. It was an accepted and established maxim among the nations of Europe that the first discoverers who planted the arms of their country upon the soil of virgin territory thereby won for their King or Queen the permanent possession of it. There was no question about Champlain's discovery of the northern lake at a time when the only English settlement in North America was at James- town, Virginia. Neither was there anyone who could logically doubt Jogues' discovery of Lake George unless he believed that Champlain first saw that body of water as well as the other. On the other hand, since the Indian group possessing the two lakes was the Iroquois Con- federacy, and since the Five Nations in their treaty of 1684 had vol- untarily placed themselves under the overlordship of England, the English had reason to claim the territory. Although his title did not weigh heavily on the conscience of the white men, the Indian was the real owner, however. On one occasion Tanacharison diplomati- cally expressed the Iroquois' point of view to a French commander :
"Fathers, both you and the English are white. We live in a coun- try between. Therefore the land belongs to neither the one nor the other, but the Great Being above allowed it to be a place of residence for us. So, fathers, I desire you to withdraw, as I have done our brothers the English, for I mean to keep you both at arm's length. I lay this down as a trial for both, and whichever has the greater regard for it, to that side we will stand and make equal sharers with us." (Sparks. )
At about the time that Frontenac was reappointed governor of Canada, William and Mary ascended the English throne. War promptly broke out with Louis XIV of France. When the armed hosts of these two countries locked horns on the battlefields of Europe, the echo was soon to be heard in the wilds of North America. In this country it was known as King William's War, the first of the four French and Indian Wars, and was to continue until the Treaty of Ryswick was signed in 1697. Frontenac's main problem was con-
C & G-4
50
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
cerned with the Iroquois, who had been driven into hostility by the stupid acts of his predecessors. He knew the difficulties to be encoun- tered in waging war against them and at first he attempted to make peace. Failing in this, he decided to terrify them into being neutral. With this in mind, he fitted out three expeditions, one of them being directed against Albany.
This force consisted of approximately three hundred men and included about eighty Indians under the command of the Mohawk chief, Kryn. It set out into the wintry wilderness in February, 1690. Concerning the route taken there is doubt. While on the way, it was decided that Albany was too strong, with the result that Schenectady was attacked instead. The people of this unhappy town had no suspicion that they were to be thus repaid for their assistance to Cour- celles in 1666. A few soldiers were stationed here, but no sentinels were on guard. The night was bitterly cold and the main concern of the inhabitants was the weather. Certainly there was no thought that a band of French and Indians was lurking near their houses. Such was the situation in Schenectady when the enemy force, after a march of twenty-two days, combined with the elements to destroy the tiny set- tlement. The attack was sudden and brutal, and victory was com- plete. Over a hundred of the inhabitants were either massacred or taken captive, and only about thirty wounded, partly-frozen fugitives managed to flee to Albany. Only two houses were left standing. The few Mohawks found in Schenectady, on the other hand, were accorded generous treatment because of the French desire to impress the Indians. As soon as news of the attack on Schenectady reached Albany, Major Peter Schuyler led a party of two hundred English and Mohawks in pursuit, but the French had already fled toward Canada with their victims. The invaders finally arrived home safely, but not until they had to subsist on a diet of boiled moccasins and pota- toes. The results of the raid were not as great as expected, however, because it tended to arouse the Indians to renewed activity and caused the English to increase their defenses at Albany and other places.
In May, 1690, a Colonial Congress met in New York City with delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York in attend- ance. Here it was decided to work together to invade Canada, and two expeditions were planned, one by land and one by sea. Each resulted in failure. The land force was to be under the command of General Winthrop, of Connecticut. He was supposed to proceed
51
DUEL FOR EMPIRE
down Lake Champlain and capture Montreal, while the naval expe- dition, under Sir William Phipps, was at the same time to attack Quebec. Nothing was wrong with the idea, but little else was com- mendable. Winthrop had about seven or eight hundred men under him. Leaving Albany, he passed by way of Stillwater, Schuylerville and Fort Edward to Fort Ann and Wood Creek at the southern end of Lake Champlain. After waiting several days the expedition retreated because of a lack of supplies, poor transportation facilities, and the failure of a force of Indians to join it on account of an out- break of smallpox in their midst. Winthrop was arrested, but no one could have accomplished much in these circumstances.
The destruction of Schenectady taught the English to keep a bet- ter watch upon the movements of the enemy. Beginning with March, 1690, small parties of English and Iroquois made their way north along the two lakes. Captain Jacob de Warm went as far as Crown Point, while about the same time Captain Abram Schuyler went as far north as Chambly. Captain John Schuyler, an officer in Winthrop's army who was not willing to retreat so easily as his superior officer, organized a band of one hundred and twenty whites and Indians in the same year and made his way down Lake Champlain and the Riche- lieu River as far as La Prairie, far within the line of French fort- resses. The settlers, who were busy harvesting their crops, had no more warning than the inhabitants of Schenectady had been given. Schuyler inflicted great damage, burning sixteen houses, killing one hundred and fifty cattle, taking some prisoners and slaughtering old and young alike. According to some reports, his men, in addition, carried away the scalps of four women.
The following summer, 1691, Peter Schuyler led about two hun- dred and fifty whites and Indians on a similar expedition to Canada, following the route taken by his brother John. While most of his force advanced northward by way of Whitehall, a party of eighty Mohawks led by Gerrard Luykosse and Herman Vedder made its way down Lake George. This is the first record that we have of that waterway being used by a war party attached to a white force. Schuy- ler succeeded in reaching Canada without great difficulty, but finally met a larger party of French and Indians. A battle took place, the first in America between the French and the English soldiers together with their Indian allies. A fierce encounter it was, too, Frontenac pronouncing it the "most hot and stubborn" ever fought in Canada.
(Courtesy of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad)
LAKE CHAMPLAIN VIEW
53
DUEL FOR EMPIRE
While Schuyler's men were facing one group of Frenchmen, another force of the enemy succeeded in placing themselves between the Eng- lish and their boats. Schuyler then led a fierce charge which dislodged the French from their position, making it possible for his men to reach their means of transportation homeward. Although the expe- dition did not win any permanent advantage for the English cause, it produced alarm among the French settlers.
Far more effective in producing a state of terror among the inhabi- tants of Canada, however, were the depredations of the Iroquois. The settlers were unable to till their lands, and a shortage of food followed. Added to this, the French fur trade was practically stopped. It became necessary for Frontenac to adopt strenuous meas- ures. In order to terrorize the Five Nations into submission and thus put an end to the wanton destruction of French life and property, he permitted captive Iroquois to be tortured and burned in Montreal in 1692. This action did not succeed in stopping the depredations of the red men, however. They continued to harass the French settle- ments. Frontenac then decided to teach the Mohawks a lesson that they would not forget. In midwinter, 1693, he organized a force of from six to seven hundred French and Indians. This expedition made its way over the ice-bound waters of Lake Champlain as far as Ticonde- roga, where it crossed over to the foot of Lake George and proceeded up the ice to the southern end. Finally, after sixteen days, the French reached the lower Mohawk castles which were easily taken because the warriors were away. The third castle was surprised. Here there were Indians but the French victory was complete, the cabins being burned and prisoners taken. The French commander then made plans to attack Schenectady and Albany, but his Indian allies declined to assist him, telling him that their large number of prisoners, which totaled at least three hundred, would be too much of a hindrance.
In the meantime, due to the escape of a young Dutchman, the English speedily became aware of the invaders' presence, and a large force was organized under Major Peter Schuyler. After being reën- forced by a large party of Iroquois he possessed a total of from five to six hundred men. He immediately set out against the French, but encountered a great amount of bad luck. In the first place, there was a scarcity of food and shoes, and Schuyler had to send back for more. For two whole days his men had nothing to eat. In addition, a severe blizzard arrived and covered the tracks of the enemy. Fatal to the
54
LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
success of the English, in any event, was the refusal of the Iroquois to advance when they received word that if they did so the French would kill the prisoners, many of whom were women and children. Schuyler was now forced to retreat. The English expedition was not the only one to suffer, however, as the French underwent severe trials and tribulations on their way home. When they finally did reach the shores of Lake George they found the ice honeycombed and rotten, the men frequently falling through and taking unpremeditated and unwelcome baths in the frigid water. When they arrived at the place where they had left their provisions, they found their food entirely spoiled by rain. Men were immediately sent to Montreal for assist- ance, but in the meantime the soldiers were forced to live on a diet of boiled moccasins and water, although the Indians, being less fastidious, ate their dead prisoners. When Canada was finally reached, they had suffered so much from fatigue and exposure that many were scarcely able to stand. Such was the price of attempts to carve colo- nial empires out of the American wilderness. Expeditions came and went, but the impenetrable forests and rocky cliffs slept serenely, scarcely scratched by the duel for empire.
After the return of this 1693 expedition, comparative quiet was maintained along the valleys of Lake George and Lake Champlain. Frontenac was occupied with his attempts to make a favorable peace with the Iroquois, while the English were fully as busy trying to prevent this. The English won, and finally Frontenac was forced to resort to war again. In 1695 he restored Fort Frontenac, and during the following year led a large force against the Onondagas by way of the Oswego River. The Iroquois were no match for him and retreated without much resistance. After destroying Indian villages and crops, the French retired without a fight, leaving the Iroquois warriors nest- ling unharmed in the wilderness. Finally, in 1697, King William's War came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick. Louis XIV, checked for the first time in his great career, agreed to acknowl- edge William as King of England and to plot no more against him. All conquests made during the war were restored. Peace was to prove an idle hope, however. Ryswick offered only a short breathing- spell. By 1702, France and England were again at each other's throats. At the opening of the eighteenth century the control of North America remained in doubt, with the powerful Iroquois Confederacy
55
DUEL FOR EMPIRE
still holding the balance of power and ruling the watery thoroughfares of New York State.
The English became increasingly active in their efforts to cement their friendship with the Five Nations, and the French became more and more determined to keep them at least neutral. While the Eng- lish were more influential among the Mohawks, the French were stronger among the Senecas. As Peter Schuyler entered the front door of the figurative Long House, Joncaire came in by the western entrance. Both of these men were extremely able individuals and both rendered distinguished services to king and country. In fact, Schuyler was the most prominent New Yorker of his generation. Called Brother Quider by the Mohawks, his advice was highly valued by them. Joncaire, on the other hand, had been adopted by the Onon- dagas, and was never idle in his attempts to win them for France. He also possessed great influence among the Iroquois, so much so that Schuyler was unable. to persuade the Indians to exclude him. The Five Nations, being the subject of propaganda from both sides, wav- ered incessantly and changed their minds from day to day, although the English influence ultimately dominated because of the rivalry between the Iroquois and the French over the fur trade.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.