USA > Wyoming > Wyoming; its history, stirring incidents, and romantic adventures > Part 4
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"I have the honor to be your honor's most obedient humble servant, ZEBULON BUTLER."
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WYOMING.
THE OTHER SIDE .- JOHN BUTLER'S REPORT OF THE BATTLE.
MAJOR JOHN BUTLER TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL BOLTON.
"Lacuwanack, 8th July, 1778.
"On the 30th of June I arrived with about 500 rangers and Indians* at Wyoming, and encamped on an eminence which overlooks the greatest part of the settlement, from which I sent out parties to discover the situation or strength of the enemy, who brought in eight prisoners and scalps. Two Loyalistst who came into my camp informed me that the rebels could mus- ter about eight hundred men, who were all assembled in their forts .¿ July the 1st I marched to the distance of half a mile of Wintermoot's Fort, and sent in Lieu- tenant Turney with a flag to demand immediate pos- session of it, which was soon agreed to.§ A flag was then sent to Jenkins's Fort, which surrendered on near- ly the same conditions as Wintermoot's, both of which are inclosed.| I next summoned Forty Fort, the com- mandant of which refused the conditions I sent him. July 3d, parties were sent out to collect cattle, who in- formed me that the rebels were preparing to attack me. This pleased the Indians highly, who observed
* It has always been believed in Wyoming that the numbers of Butler's army were between 700 and 1000. A scout went up to the place of debarkation the day before the battle, and from the number of their boats they estimated their force at over 1000.
+ Probably the Wintermoots.
# Here the number is greatly exaggerated ; but, as the colonel wished to magnify his exploit, he reports his own number less than it really was, and exaggerates that of the settlers.
§ "Soon agreed to !" It was arranged beforehand, for those who built and occupied it were Tories.
| Fort Jenkins was not entered until the day after the battle .- See the account of Richard Gardner, p. 355.
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they should be on an equal footing with them in the woods. At two o'clock we observed the rebels upon their march, in number about four or five hundred .* Between four and five o'clock they were advanced within a mile of us. Finding them determined, I or- dered the fort to be set on fire, which deceived the en- emy into an opinion that we had retreated. We then posted ourselves in a fine open wood, and, for our great- er safety, lay flat upon the ground, waiting their ap- proach. When they were within two hundred yards · of us, they began firing. We still continued upon the ground, without returning their fire, until they had fired three volleys. By this time they had advanced within one hundred yards of us, and, being quite near enough, Gucingerachton ordered his Indians, who were upon the right, to begin the attack upon our part, which was immediately well seconded by the Rangers on the left. Our fire was so close and well directed that the affair was soon over, not lasting half an hour from the time they gave us their first fire to their flight. In this action were taken 227 scalps and only five pris- oners.t The Indians were so exasperated with their loss last year near Fort Stanwix that it was with the greatest difficulty I could save the lives of these few.t
* Here again is a gross exaggeration. The numbers, all told, did not exceed 320.
t Perhaps one third of the "scalps" "were taken" after the "ac- tion" was over, from the heads of prisoners who had surrendered and asked quarter.
The "loss" of "the Indians" "at Fort Stanwix" was doubtless a most provoking affair; but who was to blame ? Must the people of Wyoming atone for it? The Indians probably flung away a few guns and blankets at Fort Stanwix in their sudden flight, for which they doubtless fully remunerated themselves by robbing their friends. Their "great loss," however, was that of the opportunity of taking
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Colonel Denniston, who came in next day with a min- ister and two others to treat for the remainder of the settlement of Westmoreland, assured us that they had lost one colonel, two majors, seven captains, thirteen lieutenants, eleven ensigns, two hundred and sixty- eight privates. On our side were killed one Indian, two Rangers, and eight Indians were wounded .* In this incursion we have taken eight palisades, (six) forts, and burned about one thousand dwelling-houses, t all their mills, etc. We have also killed and drove off about one thousand head of horned cattle, and sheep and swine in great numbers. But what gives me the sincerest satisfaction is that I can with great truth as- sure you that in the destruction of this settlement not a single person has been hurt of the inhabitants but such as were in arms; to these, indeed, the Indians gave no quarter .;
" I have also the pleasure to inform you that the officers and Rangers behaved during this short action highly to my satisfaction, and have always supported the scalps of the garrison, and plundering it of its provisions, ammu- nition, and small arms.
* This story is strangely false. Three Indians were shot down in the pursuit, and probably more .- See the statement of Solomon Ben- net, p. 363.
t There were not more than half so many dwelling-houses in the settlement to burn. Besides, when this dispateh was written, the settlement had not been fired at all, with the exception of here and there a cabin .- See Mrs. Myer's and Mrs. Bedford's statements.
Were the Hardings, who were killed in the field, "in arms ?"-See p. 103.
# "Gave no quarter." None indeed. What beeame of those who were taken prisoners? What became of the wounded? What be- came of the "five prisoners" which the report says were taken ? They were all massacred in cold blood, with the exception of two who lived to return. Three of the "five" which the colonel reports as saved were never heard of afterward.
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themselves through hunger and fatigue with great cheerfulness.
" I have this day sent a party of men to the Dela- ware to destroy a small settlement there, and to bring off prisoners. In two or three days I shall send out other parties for the same purpose, if I can sup- ply myself with provisions .* I shall harass the ad- jacent country, and prevent them from getting in their harvest.+
" The settlement of Scohary or the Minisinks will be my next object, both of which abound in corn and cattle, the destruction of which can not fail of greatly distressing the rebels .; I have not yet been able to hear any thing of the expresses I sent to the Generals Howe and Clinton; but as I sent them by ten differ-
* What ! short of "provisions" only three days after taking from the settlers "one thousand head of horned cattle, and sheep, and swine in great numbers ?" This is a strangely inconsistent and self- contradictory tale.
¡ How would he do this, as he was then on his way back to the north ? He could only do it by the agency of parties of his Indians who were left behind. Hc, Colonel Butler, then would do more than simply to "harass the adjacent country, and prevent them from getting in their harvest." He would shoot down the settlers in the field ; kill and scalp their wives and children ; rob, burn, and scalp on as large a scale as possible. All this was done by the same agen- cy as that by which the people were prevented from "getting in their harvest ;" and if Colonel John Butler did the one, the same Colonel John Butler did the other.
# In this arrangement the brave Colonel John Butler was " be- hind the light-house," for this business was committed to Brant, who at that very moment was earnestly engaged in its prosecution.
We do not much wonder that this famous dispatch has been so long shut up in the government archives in London. It is a perfect- ly bald caricature of the famous expedition of its author "down the Susquehanna to Wyoming." At the same time, we are happy to be able to give it to the public. The "journal" of which the colonel speaks must be rich. We only wish we had that.
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ent routes, I am in hopes that some of them will be able to make their way to them and return.
" In a few days I do myself the honor of writing to you more fully, and send you a journal of my proceed- ings since I left Niagara.
"I am, sir, with respect, your most obedient and very humble servant,
(Signed), " JOHN BUTLER."
We have given, in as brief a manner as we deemed consistent with a full understanding of the subject, the
Exeter
LACKAWANA.R.
Bedford
Kingstown
Pittstown
Gy
Plymouth
C
Wilkesbarre
SUSQUEHANNA
Hanover
POSITION OF THE WYOMING FORTS .*
main facts of "the Wyoming massacre." It will be proper in this place to take some notice of a widely
* Explanation of the Plan .- The several divisions, Hanover, Wilkes- barre, Kingstown, &c., mark the districts into which the town of Westmoreland was divided ; in military language, the different beats. A marks the site of Fort Durkee; B, Wyoming or Wilkesbarre Fort; C, Fort Ogden ; D, village of Kingston; E, Forty Fort. [This, in the early histories of the Revolution, is called Kingston Fort.] F, the battle-ground ; G, Wintermoot's Fort; H, Fort Jenkins ; I, Monocasy Island; I, the three Pittstown stockades. The dot below
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different report of the affair, which has gone into his- tory and obtained a wide circulation. The account to which we refer may be found in Thatcher's Military Journal, and Gordon's History of the American Rev- olution. We shall simply refer to the points which are most glaringly false, and not occupy space for the whole story.
After the battle it is represented that "Fort King- ston" was "invested the next day, 4th of July, on the land side." Dr. Thatcher asserts that the fort was cannonaded the whole day, whereas there was but one cannon, a four-pounder, in the valley, and that the Yankees had in Wilkesbarre.
Again it is said, "The enemy, to sadden the droop- ing spirits of the weak remaining garrison, sent in for their contemplation the bloody scalps of 196 of their late friends and comrades." This is a pure fiction.
"July 5th," Colonel Denison is represented as asking " what terms" would be given on a " surrender," when " Butler answered, with more than savage phlegm, in two short words, 'the hatchet.' Denison, having defend- ed the fort till most of the garrison were killed or dis- abled, was compelled to surrender at discretion. Some of the unhappy persons in the fort were carried away
the G marks the place of Queen Esther's Rock. The village of Troy is upon the battle-ground, and that of Wilkesbarre upon the site of Wilkesbarre Fort and its ravelins. The distances of the several points from the present bridge at Wilkesbarre are as follows: Fort Durkee, half a mile below, on the left bank. Fort Ogden, three and a half miles above, and the Pittstown stockades, about eight miles, on the same side. Forty Fort, three and a half miles; the Monu- ment, on the battle-ground, five and a half; Queen Esther's Rock, six and a half; Wintermoot's Fort and Fort Jenkins, eight miles above, on the west or right bank of the river. Kingston is directly opposite Wilkesbarre, half a mile westward.
C 2
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WYOMING.
alive; but the barbarous conquerors, to save the trou- ble of murder in detail, shut up the rest promiscuously in the houses and barracks, which having set on fire, they enjoyed the savage pleasure of beholding the whole consumed in one general blaze."
The story proceeds: "They found about seventy Continental soldiers, who had been engaged merely for the defense of the frontiers, whom they butchered with every circumstance of horrid cruelty. The re- mainder of the men, with the women and children, were shut up, as before, in the houses, which being set on fire, they perished all together in the flames."
It is scarcely necessary to add here that these are not mere exaggerations, but downright falsehoods. That they would be extensively believed in this coun- try, where the Tories and Indians were with no in- justice regarded as a sort of demons incarnate, and that subsequent historians, living at a distance from the scene of action, should repeat them, is only what might be expected. Chief Justice Marshall, in his voluminous Life of Washington, first published in 1804, copied Gordon's tale, and others have continued to follow his example down to this date. Mr. Charles Miner wrote to the chief justice in 1806, giving him the facts as they really occurred, and informing him that the story to which he had given the sanction of his name was taken from newspaper accounts, which were published without correct information soon after the event of the massacre. Twenty-five years after- ward, when the chief justice was contemplating a new and improved edition of the Life of Washington, he politely acknowledged the receipt of Mr. Miner's let- ter. Mr. Miner has published two letters from the chief justice in his History of Wyoming, p. 256-7.
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ITS HISTORY.
In the letter of June 14, 1831, are the following short paragraphs :
" Mr. Ramsay, I presume, copied his statement from Gordon, and I relied upon both, as I know Mr. Gordon inade personal inquiries into most of the events of the war, and that Mr. Ramsay was in Congress, and conse- quently had access to all the letters on the subject. It is surprising that they should have so readily given themselves up to the newspapers of the day.
"It was certainly our policy during the war to ex- cite the utmost possible irritation against our enemy, and it is not surprising that we should not always have been very mindful of the verity of our publications ; but when we come to the insertion of facts in serious history, truth ought never to be disregarded. Mr. Gordon and Mr. Ramsay ought to have sought for it."
All this is very sensible, but it is a curious fact that "Mr. Ramsay" never " copied" Gordon's " statements." In Ramsay's "statements," both in his " History of the United States" and his " American Revolution," noth- ing is said of the "investment," "the scalps," "the hatchet," "the burning," or "the seventy Continental soldiers ;" but a simple statement of the facts connect- ed with the capitulation of the fort, the flight of the inhabitants, and the utter desolation of the country, is given, with only slight and immaterial variations from the account as narrated by Chapman, Stone, and Mi- ner. It is strange that so careful and conscientious a historian as Chief Justice Marshall should have com- mitted so grave a mistake in a matter of authority. He doubtless wrote to Mr. Miner " without book," and his memory failed him. Since that time Ramsay has been associated with Gordon as authority for the fic- tion of " the hatchet"' and the " burning of women and
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WYOMING.
children." Now we hope these authors may part com- pany, and Dr. Ramsay may no longer be held respon- sible for copying either Dr. Thatcher, Mr. Gordon, or "the newspapers of the day," in his account of "the Wyoming massacre." Dr. Ramsay is one of the pio- neers in the work of American history. He was the first American who published a history of the Amer- ican Revolution; this was in 1789. The materials for this work were collected while in Congress from 1782 to 1786. His History of the United States was pub- lished in 1808. The second volume of that work is represented by the author as "an improved new edi- tion" of his "History of the American Revolution." His account of the Wyoming massacre is only "im- proved" by calling " Colonel John Butler" "a Connec- ticut Tory." In all other respects the account is the same in both works. But to return to the narrative.
We shall now only be able to touch a few details of the history. In the fall Colonel Butler returned with Captain Spaulding's company and some of the settlers, and buried the remains of those who fell upon the field of battle, and labored to secure some of the grain which was now ripe. But companies of Indians infested the country, who took prisoners, shot men who were labor- ing in the fields, and stole horses and cattle.
In September, Colonel Hartley, of the Pennsylvania line, led an expedition of two hundred men against the savages, and destroyed their towns at Tioga and Sheshequin. The Indians had fled in haste, leaving some plunder, which Colonel Hartley secured. On his march down the river he was attacked by two hundred warriors below Wyalusing, and, after a sharp encounter, they were repulsed with loss. See Colonel Hartley's Report-Peun. Archives, 1778.
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ITS HISTORY.
But the savages followed almost upon the heels of Hartley's men, and resumed their work of murder, kid- napping, and plunder.
Immediately after Colonel Hartley's expedition in 1779, General Washington took measures to carry out a plan, which had been under consultation, of sending a powerful armament into the country of the Six Na- tions, to destroy their towns and chastise them for their incursions upon the frontier settlements, and the cru- elties and barbarities which they had perpetrated. The expedition was committed to the charge of General Sullivan, who collected his forces at Wilkesbarre, and thence transported his artillery and baggage up the river in boats, and forming a junction with a division of the army under the command of General Clinton, at Tioga Point, proceeded to the prosecution of the ob- jects of the expedition. Colonel John Butler at the head of the British and Tories, and Brant in command of the Indians, made a stand, a little below Newtown, on the Chemung River, with fifteen hundred or two thousand men, but were routed with considerable loss, and left the Indian towns, and the fields loaded with fruit, to be overrun and desolated by an avenging foe.
" Not a moment of delay was allowed. Being now in the Indian country, hundreds of fields, teeming with corn, beans, and other vegetables, were laid waste with rigid severity. Every house, hut, and wigwam was consumed. Cultivated in rude Indian fashion for cen- turies, orchards abounded, and near a town between the Seneca and Cayuga Lakes there were fifteen hund- red peach-trees, bending under ripe and ripening fruit : all were cut down. The besom of destruction swept, if with regret and pity, still with firm hand, through all their fair fields and fertile plains. Deeply were
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WYOMING.
they made to drink of the bitter chalice they had so often forced remorselessly to the lips of the frontier settlers within their reach. Some idea of the extent of country inhabited by the Indians, the number of their towns, and the great quantity of produce to be destroyed, may be formed, when it is stated that an army of four thousand men were employed, without a day's (except indispensable) remission, from the 29th of August until the 28th of September, in accomplish- ing the work of destruction. The farthest northwest extent of General Sullivan's advance was to Genesee Castle, at the large flats on the beautiful river of that name."-Miner's History, p. 271, 272.
But, notwithstanding the success of General Sulli- van's expedition, it did not result in the security of Wyoming from the incursions of the savages. Still, parties of Indians continued their visits, and from time to time exercised their propensities for plundering, kidnapping, and murder. For three years the settle- ment was in a constant state of alarm, and many strange and interesting incidents marked its history. The capture and escape of Thomas Bennet and Leb- beus Hammond, of Pike, Vancampen, and Rogers ; the kidnapping and late discovery of Frances Slocum, with a multitude of other events as full of romance as any of the scenes found in the writings of Sir Walter Scott, are detailed in subsequent chapters.
" The number of lives actually lost in Wyoming during the war it is impossible to estimate with cer- tainty ; probably three hundred, being one in ten of the inhabitants, or exceeding one third of the adult male population at the commencement of the war. Connecticut, to have suffered in the same proportion, would have lost near twenty-three thousand, and the
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ITS HISTORY.
United Colonies three hundred thousand." - Miner's History.
Upon the termination of the war with Great Britain, the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania pre- sented a petition to Congress, praying for a hearing touching the difficulties with Connecticut in relation. to the title to the lands upon the Susquehanna. To this Connecticut promptly responded, and the question was submitted to an arbitration agreed upon by the parties, and assembled in Trenton, N. J., in December, 1782. The following was the decision :
" We are unanimously of opinion that Connecticut has no right to the lands in controversy.
" We are also unanimously of opinion that the ju- risdiction and pre-emption of all the territory lying within the charter of Pennsylvania, and now claimed by the State of Connecticut, do of right belong to the State of Pennsylvania."-Ibid., p. 308.
Of this decision the people of Wyoming did not com- plain, fully expecting to be "quieted in their posses- sions" under the government of Pennsylvania. They supposed their individual claims to the right of pre- emption had not been submitted nor adjudicated, and with them, as things stood, it was not a matter of much importance whether they were to be subject to the ju- risdiction of Pennsylvania or Connecticut, provided they might remain in the peaceable possession of their lands. But from the proceedings which followed, the settlers soon found that the object of Pennsylvania was their utter expulsion from the homes which had al- ready cost them infinite vexation and much precious blood. There was an affectation of conditions of compromise, but they resolved themselves into these points :
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WYOMING.
" 1st. Pledges to be given, such as could not admit of denial or evasion, for their obedience.
"2d. A disclaimer in writing, publicly, plainly, and unequivocally given, of all claims to their lands held under title from Connecticut. Then follow the mer- ciful terms.
"3d. The settler to take a lease of half his farm for about eleven months, giving up possession at once of the other half. On the first of April following to aban- don claims, home, possession, to his adversary.
"4th. The widows of those who had fallen by the savages to be indulged in half their possessions a year longer.
" And 5th. The Rev. Mr. Johnson to be allowed to occupy his grounds (under disclaimer and lease, of course) for two years."-Miner's History, p. 324, 325.
The settlers remonstrated, and stood firmly to their positions. The agents of the government of Pennsyl- vania proceeded to constitute townships, and take pos- session of the lands. The settlers were not subdued by the dangers and troubles through which they had passed. Though war had diminished and weakened them, they were not prepared tamely to submit to downright usurpation and oppression. The soil which had drunk the blood of their dear friends-fathers, brothers, and sons-was too sacred to be lightly aban- doned. Their homes they were determined to hold, peaceably if they could, forcibly if they must. See- ing themselves likely to fail of maintaining their rights, the law being in the hands of those interested, they seized their old rusty guns and hurled defiance at their oppressors. Colonel Butler, Colonel Jenkins, and Col- onel Franklin led on the. Connecticut people in the maintenance of their rights, always exhausting nego-
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ITS HISTORY.
tiation and diplomacy before they had recourse to forci- ble measures. Colonel Armstrong, the author of the famous "Newburg Letters," was commissioned to visit the scene of strife, with an armed force of four hundred men, and restore peace. Finding the Pennamites and Yankees in the field in the attitude of war, he required both parties to give up their arms and cease hostilities, promising "impartial justice and protection." The Yankees feared "treachery," but Colonel Armstrong "pledging his faith as a soldier and his honor as a gen- tleman" that the opposite party should also be dis- armed, they finally submitted.
"They paraded, were ordered to 'ground arms;' they were then commanded, 'Right about-march ten steps-halt-right about !' which they obeyed; when Colonel Armstrong ordered his men to advance and take up the grounded arms. Thus far was according to their expectations; but their surprise was merged in bitterest mortification when Colonel Armstrong gave rapid orders, as rapidly obeyed, to surround the dis- armed settlers, and make them all prisoners: resist- ance was vain, and escape hopeless. Not a musket was taken from Patterson's forces, but they beheld the successful treachery of Colonel Armstrong with unre- strained delight and taunting exultation. A soldier's faith should be unsullied as the judicial ermine-the pledged honor of a gentleman more sacred than life. Both were basely violated, and language is too poor to paint in proper colors the detestable deed."-Miner.
The poor fellows were now bound with cords, and hurried off, some to Easton, others to Northumberland, and thrown into prison. Armstrong returned to Phil- adelphia to herald his triumph; but, to his great mor- tification, he almost immediately learned that most of
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