Colonel John Brown, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the Brave Accuser of Benedict Arnold

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Title: Colonel John Brown, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the Brave Accuser of Benedict Arnold
Author: Howe, Archibald Murray, 1848-
Language: English
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[Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text
as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings
and other inconsistencies.]

COLONEL JOHN BROWN

_OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS_

THE BRAVE ACCUSER OF

BENEDICT ARNOLD

An Address

DELIVERED BEFORE THE FORT RENSSELAER CHAPTER OF THE
D.A.R. AND OTHERS

BY ARCHIBALD M. HOWE

AT THE

VILLAGE OF PALATINE BRIDGE, NEW YORK

SEPTEMBER 29, 1908.

W. B. CLARKE COMPANY
26 AND 28 TREMONT STREET
BOSTON

1908

GEO. H. ELLIS CO., PRINTERS, 272 CONGRESS ST., BOSTON.

This address was delivered for the purpose of calling attention to the
present condition of the marble monument erected at Stone Arabia,
N.Y., to the memory of Colonel Brown in 1836, now insecure because the
cemetery in the rear of Stone Arabia church is not properly
maintained.

The form of the address is slightly changed, but the writer will never
forget the kindness of the Canajoharie and Palatine friends who
greeted him and the wonderful beauty of Stone Arabia, a plateau north
of the Mohawk at Palatine where our ancestors maintained a strong
outpost against Indians and other adversaries.

THE BRAVE ACCUSER OF BENEDICT ARNOLD.

John Brown, of Pittsfield, Mass., now almost forgotten, was a patriot
in our Revolution of 1775 whose career has been described more than
once by men in New York and in Berkshire County, but, as it is now
time to give more impartial views of the controversy, perhaps another
sketch of the life of this leader may encourage others to search for
clearer views of the ways by which our ancestors established the
institutions which we hope are to endure.

Daniel Brown, the father of Colonel John Brown, came from Haverhill,
Mass., to the western part of the Commonwealth in 1752, when his son
John was eight years old. He seems to have been first in the beautiful
town of Sandisfield to take part in its local government, both secular
and ecclesiastical. "Deacon Brown" is called prosperous when this new
town on the banks of the Farmington River, east of the hills of the
Housatonic, bade fair to equal Pittsfield as a trading-place. "The
Deacon" was a local magistrate under the king, when laymen served as
judges. John, his youngest son, is described as tall and powerful, an
athlete able to kick a football over the elm-tree on the college green
at New Haven when he entered at twenty-three years of age, older in
years than most college students of the year 1767.

It is believed that he prepared for college with some citizen of the
neighborhood, and it is known that he married before graduating in
1771.

While at New Haven, he was fully informed of the peculiarities of
Benedict Arnold, then a storekeeper, already disgraced in the eyes of
respectable citizens because of his desertion from the British army
and his reckless disregard for the rights of his creditors; for then
the debtor was not allowed to retain his respectability, if he failed
dishonestly. Furthermore, his self-assertion was recognized as too
often a display of arrogance and vanity. Brown's sister Elizabeth had
married Oliver Arnold, attorney-general of Rhode Island, a cousin of
Benedict, and it is reasonable to suppose that he was well informed of
Arnold's misdeeds, which thus became known to John Brown.

In 1771, when he was graduated from Yale, only twenty men were of his
class. Quite a large number of Yale graduates took part with the
patriots, and Humphreys, one of the class of 1771, was aide-de-camp to
Washington. He, I believe, is the only writer in verse who extolled
this John Brown. How often we are indebted to poets for our heroes! If
this John Brown had incited an insurrection and been hanged for
killing his fellow-men contrary to law in time of peace, "his soul
might be marching on." If, when he rode from Ticonderoga on horse at a
high rate of speed to Philadelphia, to inform the Continental Congress
that his friend Ethan Allen had taken possession of the fortress with
its guns and materials for war, some poet had described his ride, as
Longfellow portrayed Paul Revere's, the school children would still
recall Brown of Pittsfield; but, my friends, 'tis of little moment
that we are soon forgotten, if it be certain that, while we live, we
live with moral courage in the life of every day.

I do not intend to put much emphasis upon military glory. I am trying
to show that Brown's life by reason of its entire sincerity, although
at times unsuccessful, was led, so far as we can know, by "_a man
every inch a man_," holding fast to his ideals, fearless in the
assertion of truth as he saw it, and directed by high principle; that,
having all these noble attributes, his part in public affairs should
now and then be rehearsed to show the value of goodness even amid the
horrors of war.

On December 10, 1772, a few months after graduation from Yale College,
he was admitted to practise law in New York in the courts of Tryon
County, a part of which is now Montgomery County, bearing the name of
one of our noblest American generals, who led the attack on Quebec in
December, three years later, where Brown served under him as a major
of a Berkshire County regiment. Some writers call Brown king's
attorney at Caughnawaga, whether rightly I know not, nor do I know why
he came to the Mohawk Valley from Berkshire, for Pittsfield was a
growing frontier town. Perhaps Sir William Johnson's influence and his
busy settlement offered some inducement to the young attorney, but it
did not long have weight with him, for we find him in 1773 at
Pittsfield, where another attorney of Loyalist tendencies had left
town under coercion.

Before I attempt to describe the civil and military career of John
Brown from 1773 to his thirty-sixth birthday, when he was killed at
Stone Arabia, I wish to call your attention to the peculiarities of
the political situation in Berkshire County and its vicinity. On the
north the New Hampshire Grants (now Vermont) had recently been
disputed territory where local partisans, Ethan Allen and others, used
coercion to maintain the claims of settlers against New York men
claiming title. New York Colony on the west, though directed largely
by men of high character like Philip Schuyler, was torn by bitter
political differences, the Loyalist element being strong in social and
political affairs. Then, although the Berkshire towns were active from
the earliest days of 1774 in sharing with other towns the plans for
resistance to royal authority, they were very jealous of any
continuance of unnecessary power in the Provincial Congress.
Pittsfield by the quill of a cousin of Ethan Allen, the Rev. Thomas
Allen, asserted that the town would remain "in a state of nature" [see
Note 1] (i.e., simple democracy without representative government)
unless it obtained new privileges. If the right of nominating to
office is not vested in the people, they said, "_we are indifferent
who assumes it, whether any particular persons on this or the other
side of the water_." They did not want any bosses, but no doubt would
have voted for Governor Hughes. They were of the belief that the
government of the respective committees (County and Town, Committees
of Correspondence and Inspection) was lenient and efficacious, but
they hoped for a new Constitution "on such a broad basis of civil and
religious liberty as no length of time will corrupt as long as the sun
and moon shall endure." They wished to elect judges by votes of the
people of the county, justices of the peace by the voters of the
towns, and of course allow soldiers to elect their company officers.

Brown was chosen judge of the Common Pleas by the General Court of
Massachusetts for 1779, but never held court, probably because his
fellow-citizens were not submissive to the existing authority of the
General Court as exercised before the adoption of the new Constitution
of Massachusetts. In such a state of affairs Berkshire took her part
largely in her way when she sent men to fight the battles of the
United Colonies. Her officers and men were often too independent to
submit willingly to proper military authority, and in some trying
emergencies the Berkshire men were insubordinate or were disposed to
follow their leaders in attacks not always wisely chosen. It was
Captain Asa Douglas, of Hancock, the man who had done much to promote
the capture of Ticonderoga by skilful recruiting and by pledge of his
estate, who in May, 1776, was Chairman of a convention of Berkshire
towns which, deluded by false rumors and influenced by their own
prejudices against the noble General Schuyler, sent to General
Washington their doubts concerning his loyalty, although expressing
their hope that his name might be handed down to posterity as one of
the great pillars of the American Cause. Their hope is grandly
fulfilled, but the Berkshire men have left us with some doubt as to
their skill in judging of current events. However, on the twenty-sixth
day of May, 1776, Mark Hopkins, as Secretary of this Convention, wrote
to Washington to tell him their fears concerning Philip Schuyler were
groundless.

John Brown was twenty-nine years of age when he began his active
citizenship at Pittsfield. He had lived in Berkshire more than
one-half his life. His experience on a farm, at college, near the sea,
and for a short time in the Mohawk country among the Indians and white
men of varying views about the king, made him worthy the confidence of
Berkshire men; and he always had their support and their respect. What
his literary attainments were we cannot tell. A few letters to General
Lincoln and letters relating to military affairs which appear in the
archives give little opportunity for judging of his literary and
professional skill. The inventory of his estate, giving in detail the
names of law books, a surveyor's guide, a theological treatise, and a
Bible, with farm implements and military clothing, show something of
the life of his time, when a man was farmer, surveyor, lawyer, and
soldier altogether, and, if as active as John Brown, not much more
able to write well-considered essays and books than if he had never
seen Yale College. Alas! his fate in that regard is not unlike many
graduates of our present time, who, having fine natures, strong traits
of character, and ability enough to express themselves, are driven by
commercial or other present activities to and fro from typewriter to
telephone, often to die without using their minds calmly and without
imparting to others much that they might have given to help the world,
had they been able to have peace in the midst of their busy lives.

Pittsfield frequently employed Brown. In January, 1774, he was chosen
to instruct the representative to the General Court in reference to
the destruction of the tea at Boston. He was quite discriminating.
While he opposed the useless waste of property by disguised men, he
strongly denounced the British tyrannies. Within six months he was one
of the Committee of Correspondence and a delegate to the County
Congress at Stockbridge. In the fall of 1774 he acted as arbitrator
with others to settle disputes following the common law and the
Province laws when they did not interfere with the democracy of
Berkshire.

He was chosen Ensign of the Company of Minute Men, and finally
delegate to the First Provincial Congress. This Congress appointed him
to a very important Committee on Correspondence with Canada, and that
winter the committee sent him to Canada with full power to get
information, confer with Canadians, whether English or French, and
report back the condition of affairs and whether they would act with
the Colonies. This mission was peaceful in its aim. He conferred with
men from Montreal and Quebec, assuring all whom he met that the
Colonies desired peace with Great Britain, but, if war came, they
would surely respect the rights of all men to worship God in their own
way and would maintain a democratic form of government.

Mr. Brown showed himself to be diplomatic and faithful. He endured
much personal hardship and risk during the winter, and his report was
most valuable. The part of it best known is under date of March 29,
1775, wherein he recommended that, if war came, Ticonderoga should be
taken. "The people in the New Hampshire Grants," he wrote, "have
engaged to do the job." Recently it has been stated that in February,
1775, he was at Chesterfield, Mass., and that about that time he led a
party of Berkshire and Hampshire men to Deerfield and arrested a Tory
or some Tories who were suspected of being in direct communication
with General Gage at Boston. April 27, 1775, there appeared in the
Hartford _Courant_ a notice signed "John Brown" by order of the
Committee of Inspection in the towns of Pittsfield, Richmond, and
Lenox, in the following words: "Whereas Major Israel Stoddard and
Woodbridge Little Esq., both of Pittsfield in the County of Berkshire,
have fled from their respective homes and are justly esteemed the
common pests of society and incurable enemies of their country and are
supposed to be somewhere in New York Government moving sedition and
rebellion against their country, it is hereby recommended to all
friends of American liberty and to all who do not delight in the
innocent blood of their countrymen, to exert themselves that they may
be taken into custody and committed to some of his Majesty's jails
till the civil war which has broken out in this Province shall be
ended." Surely, Brown was an active partisan, though not at Lexington
in April, 1775. In May he was at Ticonderoga with Ethan Allen, not
holding any military rank. Allen commended him to the government as
fit for military command.

The oft-told tale of how Ethan Allen took the fortress, proclaiming
its capture in the name of "Almighty God and the Continental
Congress," need not be rehearsed here. Allen took possession of
Ticonderoga, its garrison, and its valuable military property with the
aid of Connecticut and Berkshire men, and at his request Brown rode
his horse rapidly to Philadelphia to announce to the Continental
Congress the capture which was attained without their authority or
aid. At this point Benedict Arnold must be referred to. In April,
1775, he had broken open an arsenal at New Haven, and with his militia
company hurried to Cambridge. As he rode one day from New Haven
towards Cambridge, he met Captain Parsons, who was going to Hartford
to plan with some Connecticut leaders for the capture of Ticonderoga.
Hearing Parsons's plan, Arnold pushed on to Watertown and got a
commission from the Massachusetts government as colonel as well as an
order for power to recruit men, for horses and ammunition. Meeting
Ethan Allen on his way to Ticonderoga, Arnold produced his
Massachusetts authority, but not his men, on the same day that Allen
was fully prepared for his work. Arnold began his interference with
the concerted plan, hoping for a separate command and the glory of
victory. He promised payments of money to Berkshire men from the
southern towns, which he failed to pay from funds given him for that
purpose. This was the beginning of an angry and long-continued dispute
between Easton, Brown's colonel, and Brown, on the one hand, and
Arnold, on the other. Unhappily for Easton and Brown, as for all men
who possess the truth about the characters of men who are undoubtedly
able to fight battles, though brutal and even wicked in their lives,
the controversy was long and bitter, but, while war exists, the common
law and legal procedure rarely have weight and even martial law
becomes ineffective.

"War is hell," said the great Sherman. Hell is irrational, as is war.
Reason fails to have even its usual part in man's destiny during all
wars. Chance has sway, and men often get what is called glory when
others, almost unknown to fame, should win the approval of all men.

Whether Washington had his doubts about Arnold's character may never
be known, but more than once he gave him opportunities to hold high
command because he fought battles through. So Lincoln, when told that
Grant drank whiskey, asked for more such whiskey for other generals.
Sparks, the historian, a Unitarian clergyman, when writing Arnold's
life, detailed his sins, his youthful desertion from the British army,
his financial dishonor at New Haven, his overbearing self-assertion,
and yet he added, when telling of the attitude of the members of
Congress towards Arnold, that "these stern patriots, regarding virtue
as essential to true honor, did not consider great examples of valor,
resource, and energy even of arousing and sustaining the military
ardor of a country as an adequate counterpoise to a dereliction of
principle and a compromising integrity." "How far a judicious policy
and a pure patriotism were combined on this occasion," writes Sparks,
"as to what extent party zeal contributed to warp the judgment, we
need not now inquire."

And here, my friends, is our solemn warning against war. No inquiry
will ever justify war. War is justified only upon the sad assumption
that, as men are "poor weak mortals" and naturally wicked, they will
go to war, and justice fails where might makes right. Who thinks I can
here and now fully justify John Brown as a soldier, if he was too
aggressive in attack or too ardent in his antagonism of a dastardly
traitor whom he knew through and through, but whom Washington,
Schuyler, and other generals felt obliged to support? Perhaps not
fully justify on the grounds that seem necessary to the success of
war, but I can fully support Brown as a man who fought nobly for his
country and in defence of the unprotected inhabitants of the Mohawk
Valley, who was never false to his aims as an American patriot, who
served with distinction under Allen, Montgomery, Schuyler, Arnold,
Lincoln, and Van Rensselaer, and finally died while attempting to
defend the Canajoharie settlements from the hostile attack of a
murderous foe and acting in obedience to the command of his superior
officer.

When the Massachusetts government understood the situation at Lake
Champlain, Brown was appointed major of the Berkshire Regiment, and
sent again to Canada with four scouts. This time the business was very
dangerous. The French Canadians often helped him, but he might have
been treated as a spy, and a military police chased him for many miles
with two parties of fifty men each. On his return he reached Crown
Point within a day of the time General Schuyler had expected him,
after five days on the lake in a canoe. Early in August, 1775, he
urged by letter and every other means in his power the immediate
invasion of Canada. Soon he was put in command of a flotilla on Lake
Champlain, and then followed his well-known exploits at St. Johns and
Chamblee, where he co-operated with James Livingston, a brave New
Yorker. His capture of Chamblee on the 19th of October, 1775, just
five years before his death, brought promises of reward from Congress.
Then came the reckless expedition of Ethan Allen which led to his
capture, and which has long been believed to be the result of a
failure on the part of Brown to co-operate with Allen when he could
have supported him. Here the burden of proof rests on the accusers of
Brown, and they never have had other proof than an implication drawn
from the "Allen's narrative" that he did not make his best effort to
help him, although Allen does not make any direct charge. Furthermore,
the narrative is often far from correct; and as Allen was reckless in
act and statement, and as Brown was continued in service under
Montgomery, who was friendly to him, we may infer that Brown's failure
was unavoidable. Allen's plan was not approved by Schuyler or
Montgomery. Washington hoped that Allen's misfortune "would teach a
lesson of prudence and subordination to others who may be anxious to
outshine their general officers."

It has been intimated that Brown was one of these junior officers who
chafed under the limitations set by his superiors, but he certainly
retained his position as a regimental officer, and achieved such
results in this Canadian invasion during the advance to Quebec that he
was highly commended by his associates, promised promotion by
Montgomery, and finally given his Lieutenant-colonelcy by Congress. He
took part in the attack of December 31, 1775, on Quebec, and on the
death of Montgomery served under Arnold for months, commanding a
detachment of Berkshire and other men who were willing to re-enlist if
he stayed. [See Note 2.] One of his letters written to his wife, March
15, 1776, when commanding an outpost near Quebec, says he expects to
be "another Uriah because he does not agree very well with Mr. General
Arnold." He had been "ordered to attack with his attachment of two
hundred men, one-half of whom were sick in the hospital" (his brave
brother, Captain Jacob Brown, died of small-pox). He himself marched
out with his men, but the enemy retired into their fort too soon for
him to attack them. He "expected another storm from Arnold, or to be
punished for disobedience to orders." Truly, he was not easily
subordinate to Arnold, but he was not again "set in the forefront of
the battle, that others might retire from him and that he might be
smitten and die," as David planned for Uriah, because he was truly
loyal to the cause he so nobly served, and Arnold did not dare to
destroy him.

To fully describe his conduct in denouncing Arnold and Arnold's
tergiversation and intrigues against him would lead me far afield. No
doubt his accusations interfered with Arnold's promotion by
Congress,--promotion he earned as a great leader in battle,--but as an
officer responsible for property he was repeatedly unsuccessful. Brown
again and again renewed his charges against the arch-traitor, but was
not able to get proper attention from the tribunals that should have
relieved him from Arnold's false charges. [See Note 3.]

Again and again historians declare that Arnold was led to treason
because he had been unjustly treated by the Continental Congress. What
a false view this is! He is willing enough to throw himself into
battle for glory and for his country's honor at Saratoga without
definite authority, and again he was ready for a fight or an
expedition for the relief of this valley _when he could lead_, but he
was always in trouble financially. His Philadelphia extravagances and
the increase of his indebtedness did not escape all censure.

Although Washington mildly rebuked him, he gave him new offers of high
command. It is clear to me that any such statements as are indulged in
by historians are of no weight or consequence.

I cannot help referring to Colonel Brown's hand-bill of the winter of
1776-77, published and posted in public places, wherein he attacked
Arnold with great severity, concluding with the words, "_Money is this
man's God, and to get enough of it he would sacrifice his country_." A
prophecy! Unhappily, the same might be said of too many men of to-day.
Another incident painful to recall, but characteristic, was told to my
great-uncle in 1834 by Colonel Morgan Lewis, a friend of Colonel
Brown's, and printed elsewhere. At the camp and in the tent where
Arnold sat with other officers at some time during the Saratoga
campaign, Brown faced the arch-traitor and denounced him as a
scoundrel, and then, apologizing to those present, left the tent. His
reiterated charges were not regarded as worthy of him as a soldier,
although he had resigned from the Continental service because he could
not get justice and because Arnold was not tried for his crimes.
Schuyler deplored Brown's conduct as an accuser though respecting him
as a brave man.

I am unable to account for the record which accredits him with
thirteen months' and eighteen days' service at German Flats, New York.
From April 1, 1776, to May 18, 1777, he was Lieutenant-colonel of
Elmore's Connecticut Regiment, which was stationed at Albany and later
at Fort Stanwix. I suppose his resignation from the Continental army
was accepted about May 18, 1777, but, whatever his loyal service in
New York may have been, he again marched in September, 1777, in
command of Massachusetts militia under direction of General Lincoln,
from Pawlet, Vt., with a separate detachment to harry the British at
Ticonderoga and Lake George. On the 18th of September, 1777, early in
the day he made sudden and successful attacks on the landing-place
near Ticonderoga, Mount Defiance, and that neighborhood, demanding the
surrender of the fortress; but this time General Powel, of the
British army, made a manly reply. His captures of men and material
were very valuable. Some American prisoners were released, and a
Continental standard of colors was recaptured and sent to General
Lincoln with much delight. All the joy of conquest is expressed in his
report from Pawlet, Vt., October 4, 1777, but in his letter of
September 20, written at eleven o'clock at night to General Lincoln,
he said he was censured by officers and men for not suffering them to
make a rash attempt to carry the fortress at Ticonderoga, although on
mature consideration he thought it impossible to take possession
without too great loss of life. Here as late as 1777 appears the
tendency of the militia to be insubordinate. He withdrew from Lake
Champlain, and planned the capture of Diamond Island in Lake George, a
place where some German troops were guarding a large amount of
supplies. He had manned an armed sloop and boats, but was thwarted by
the escape of a prisoner and a sudden and violent storm on the lake.
The prisoner gave warning to the garrison, and the result of the storm
gave time for the preparation of a defence, so that after two hours'
hot engagement he withdrew after destroying some of his boats. General
Lincoln commended him highly for the success of this expedition. He
wrote to General Lincoln September 19, 1777, telling him he had given
the men all the plunder to encourage them before the attack, although
"going beyond the letter of the law." This action General Lincoln
approved.

The question of plunder and the martial law governing it must have
been a great source of trouble in this war among Indians and white men
in the invasion of Canada and the Tory invasions hereabouts. [See Note
4.] It seems probable that, when Arnold falsely charged Easton and
Brown with plundering the baggage of British officers at the Sorel, he
could easily cast a shadow because of the uncertainty about the rules
of war and the orders given by general officers. Plunder was promised
the men by recruiting officers as early in the war as when the plan
was laid by Ethan Allen to capture Ticonderoga in April or May, 1775.
[See Note 5.]

In the early part of the summer of 1780 rumors were received tending
to show that Sir John Johnson might again invade the Mohawk Valley,
this time by way of Lake Ontario and Lake Oneida. Therefore, on the
twenty-second day of June, 1780, the General Court of Massachusetts,
at the earnest request of General Washington, directed that 4,726 men
should be raised from the militia by draft, lot or voluntary
enlistment, to serve three months in New York territory after they
arrived at Claverack on the Hudson. These levies, by reason of
apparent danger to the cause in Rhode Island, with the exception of
315 or more men raised in Berkshire County, were sent to General Heath
at Tiverton, R.I. Various meagre statements are in print in reference
to the men who served under Brown at this time. I find in the
Massachusetts Archives the names of officers and privates, in all 381
men, who served in the Mohawk Valley probably after August 5, 1780.
[See Note 4.] It may be that some of his men were stationed in
different forts or block-houses in other places than Stone Arabia, and
that only 217 men of the Berkshire Regiment were in the battle of
October 19, 1780. The killed and wounded are all from three of the
five companies. [See Note 4.] Some writers say that Colonel Brown had
New York men with him, and one statement refers to Captain John
Kasselman, of Tryon County Rangers, as being in conference with Brown
on the day he fell. [See Note 4.]

Each soldier was equipped at his own expense with a good fire-arm,
with a steel or iron ramrod and a spring to retain the same, a worm
priming wire and brush, and a bayonet fitted to his gun, a scabbard
and belt therefor, and a cutting sword or a tomahawk or hatchet, a
pouch containing a cartridge-box that will hold fifteen rounds of
cartridges at least, a one-hundred buckshot, a jack-knife and tow for
wadding, six flints, one pound of powder, forty leaden balls fitted to
his gun, a knapsack and blanket, a canteen or wooden bottle sufficient
to hold one quart.

Long after the Stone Arabia fight, claims were presented to the
General Court of Massachusetts for felt hats, coats, vests, linen
overalls, shirts, shoes, blankets, canteens, and handkerchiefs, and of
course for muskets,--all lost on the 19th of October, 1780.

Brown's major was Oliver Root, his adjutant James Easton, Jr., son of
his old colonel. Dr. Oliver Brewster was surgeon, and Elias Willard
quartermaster. He assumed command July 14, 1780, at Claverack, and
marched probably August 5 to some of the Mohawk settlements or forts.
His mission was to protect various neighborhoods from sudden raids.

September 5 he was sent with two hundred men from Fort Rensselaer to
Fort Schuyler to guard twelve boats with provisions for the relief of
the garrison. September 11 he is reported as one of the officers of
Van Rensselaer's force at Fort Rensselaer (part of which--a well
preserved stone house--remains at Canajoharie under the care of young
citizens of that town, being the place where the Tryon County
Committee of patriots met). I cannot tell where he was for the month
prior to the 19th of October, when he was in command at Fort Paris, a
palisaded enclosure of stone block-houses fit for a garrison of over
two hundred men, built in 1776-77 by Captain Christian Getman's
Rangers on a most commanding position on the beautiful plateau called
Stone Arabia, north of the Mohawk between Garoga Creek and Johnstown,
where Sir William Johnson's baronial hall was. The fort was more than
a dozen miles from Johnstown, and was named for Isaac Paris, who took
part in the terrible affair at Oriskany. Sir John Johnson and his
career in Tryon County and elsewhere in New York is well known. To me
the whole subject of Indian warfare in all our wars seems to open
every possible avenue to the extremest horrors and brutalities of war.
Philip Schuyler, one of the noblest men who ever lived in New York
State, had from his early youth been friendly to Indians. In fact,
before he reached twenty-one years of age, he was given a chief's name
among the Oneidas for his services to that tribe. His skill and
patience made him all important in making treaties and negotiations
with "_The Six Nations_" and other Indians. The Patriots very early
realized that the Indians were to become a stumbling-block to any
attempt at treating with Canada or maintaining what is called
civilized warfare (can any warfare be civilized?). Schuyler, Hawley,
Oliver Wolcott, and other distinguished men of high character
attempted in vain to hold the Indians to neutrality. Congress at one
time voted that Indians should not be employed in the service
excepting where a whole nation, after full consideration, decided to
act together. At another time Congress asked Schuyler to employ two
thousand Indians for military service. Sir John Johnson's career, his
apparent acquiescence in Schuyler's demands, his conduct when taking
and when breaking his parole, his apology being that the Patriots had
no established authority, and his repeated invasions of this country
showed him to be the growth of the treachery which is bred among men
who use the sordid and brutal nature of savages for evil purposes.

It is interesting to me that Lieutenant-colonel Mellen led
Massachusetts militia to Fort Schuyler to aid Gansevoort, and that,
when in August, 1777, Arnold set out to the relief of Gansevoort he
led Massachusetts volunteers from Colonel Learned's battalion, and
that again in the summer and fall of 1780 Brown led Massachusetts men
to defend this neighborhood from the murderous invasion of Sir John
Johnson. At Oriskany, Herkimer was hurried into action by his inferior
officers in the manner characteristic of the independent and valorous
spirit of his time, and Oriskany in 1777 was one of the most brutal
conflicts between Tories and Patriots. Sullivan's retaliating
expedition of July, 1778, was as bad in its character and effects as
anything ever done on behalf of any cause, good or bad. The
destruction of many Indian villages by Sullivan and General James
Clinton was no doubt thorough, but of little avail, although it was
thought wise to retaliate for the horrors of Wyoming.

Early in May, 1780, the information came to this neighborhood that Sir
John Johnson was moving from Lake Champlain towards Johnstown with a
considerable force, that Brant was marching against the Canajoharie
settlements with a body of savages and that the Tories would join
them. Johnson landed at Bulwagga Bay, near Crown Point, and, pushing
through the forest and down the valley of the Sacandoga, he appeared
near Johnstown. On the 21st of May, 1780, his forces divided, and
poured into the lower valley of the Mohawk along a line of ten miles.
From Tribes Hill upward they plundered, murdered, and destroyed. Every
man capable of bearing arms was said to have been killed. Johnson
withdrew hastily, as he was pursued by militia. Of course hundreds of
people fled to Albany and Schenectady. Governor Clinton hurried at the
head of troops from Kingston to Fort George, and, ordering others to
meet him at Ticonderoga, he pushed on to Crown Point, but was too late
to capture Sir John.

Brant delayed his attack until late in July, 1780, and then made a
feigned attack on Fort Schuyler. General Van Rensselaer, then at Stone
Arabia, hastened to the relief of Fort Schuyler, and Brant in early
August fell upon the Canajoharie settlements and destroyed them
mercilessly. Troops were sent from Albany to protect the settlements,
but they were not sufficient.

September 7 an extra session of the New York legislature sat at
Poughkeepsie, and authorized Governor Clinton to order out such number
of militia as he thought necessary. Brigadier-General James Clinton
was assigned command at Albany and authorized to call for assistance
from the brigades of Generals Ten-Broeck and Van Rensselaer. As I have
already said, Colonel Brown on the 18th of October was in command at
Fort Paris, subject to orders of General Robert Van Rensselaer. Fort
Paris was two or three miles north of the Mohawk. In September and
early October Sir John Johnson led his forces by way of the Oswego
River, Oneida Lake, and across country to the Susquehanna Valley. He
ravaged the Schoharie Valley, laid siege to Middle Fort
unsuccessfully, then, turning north, raided all the country from Fort
Hunter. He let loose his forces for the general purpose of
devastation. He again did his work thoroughly,--brutally, as was
customary in Indian warfare at that time. Major Jelles Fonda, one of
the victims of this ruthless destruction, who had been a confidential
officer under Sir William Johnson, was absent, being a State senator.
Sir John's forces burned his homestead, "The Nose," at Palatine, and
destroyed, it is said, $60,000 worth of his property. On the night of
October 18 Sir John encamped with his forces nearly opposite or rather
above the Nose, and on the 19th he crossed the river to the north at
Keder's Rifts, near Spraker's Basin. A detachment of 150 men proceeded
at once against Fort Paris, but, after marching two miles, the main
body joined them.

October 18 General Van Rensselaer found Caughnawaga in flames. He was
in camp on a hill near Stanton Place in Florida, perhaps twenty miles
from Fort Paris, when he heard that that fort was to be attacked the
next morning. 'Tis said he sent a messenger with a letter to Colonel
Brown and another to Colonel Dubois at Fort Plain, telling Brown to
march out of the fort at nine o'clock the next morning and hold the
enemy in check, while Dubois and he with his force were to co-operate.
Furthermore, it is said, Brown's officers and men advised him to
disobey the order, as that was not the time to leave the fort.
However, he marched forth at the head of his detachment, but, being
deceived by the false advice of persons pretending to be patriots, he
was led to turn aside from the road upon which he marched out into a
somewhat narrow clearing in the forest near a small work called Fort
Keyser, and was killed nearly two miles from Fort Paris, being
attacked on every side in what amounted to an ambuscade.

Captain John Ziele, of the Second Regiment of Tryon County militia,
Colonel Klock's Regiment, had charge of Fort Keyser that day; and
after Brown's defeat George Spraker, John Wafel, Joseph and Conrad
Spraker, William Wafel, and Warner (?) Dygert, with two or three other
young men, were ready to defend the place from attack, but the enemy
fled, whereupon William Wafel, Joseph and Conrad Spraker, and W.
Dygert proceeded to where Brown lay and carried his body to Fort
Keyser. His scalp was entirely removed, and he was stripped of all
his clothing excepting a ruffled shirt. After hard fighting, thirty
men or more being killed, some of his men got back to Fort Paris and
defended themselves successfully, thus saving the refugees therein
from harm. Major Root was in command, and acted skilfully and bravely.
Mr. Grider describes the battle as a running or moving fight extending
from the eastward to the south-west at least across six farms, and you
all know how valuable the evidence is showing that the large boulder
with its inscription was the stone behind which six men found refuge
and shelter until surrounded and killed.

Washington wrote to the Continental Congress: "It is thought, and
perhaps not without foundation, that this invasion [of the Mohawk
Valley] was made by Sir John Johnson upon the supposition that
Arnold's treachery was successful."

If Johnson acted upon that supposition, Arnold was in some measure the
cause of Brown's death, but, however that may be, _John Brown died
honorably after living honorably at Stone Arabia the 19th of October,
1780,--it is said between nine o'clock and ten o'clock in the
morning_.

I said that poets had not presented him to popular imagination, but
his devoted classmate at Yale, David Humphreys, aide-de-camp to
General Washington in 1780, wrote verses to his memory. Among his
words are these:--

"And scarce Columbia's arms the fight sustains,
While her best blood gushed from a thousand veins.
Then thine, O Brown, that purpled wide the ground,
Pursued the knife through many a ghastly wound.
Ah! hapless friend, permit the tender tear
To flow e'en now, for none flowed on thy bier,
Where cold and mangled, under northern skies,
To famished wolves a prey, thy body lies,
Which erst so fair and tall in youthful grace,
Strength in thy nerves and beauty in thy face,
Stood like a tower till, struck by the swift ball,
Then what availed to ward th' untimely fall,
The force of limbs, the mind so well informed,
The taste refined, the breast with friendship warmed
(That friendship which our earliest years began),
When the dark bands from thee expiring tore
Thy long hair, mingled with the spouting gore."

We do not know whether the news of Arnold's flight from West Point
September 25 reached Brown's ears. Perhaps, if it did, he would have
appreciated the patriotic and lofty self-control of Washington when
the next day he wrote to Rochambeau: "General Arnold, who has sullied
his former glory by the blackest treason, has escaped to the enemy."
"This is an event that occasions me equal regret and mortification,
but traitors are the growth of every country in a revolution of the
present nature. It is more to be wondered at that the catalogue is so
small than that there have been found a few."

Arnold's flight to the enemy was his flight from what all men,
excepting Brown and a few others [see Note 6], supposed was his soul's
desire; _i.e._, to serve the people of America to the death. For
twenty-one years after 1780 he lived, pursuing a checkered career.
John Fiske said he often looked at the sword given him for his valor
at Saratoga, and bemoaned the results of his treason. However that may
be, his name is remembered with harshness and disgust, the result of
an untruthful life.

NOTE 1.

"in a state of nature." See "The Struggle for American Independence,"
Fisher, vol. i, p. 27 _et seq._ Burlamaqui's "Principles of _Natural
Law_."

NOTE 2.

See "New York in the Revolution," vol. i, p. 61. "_The Line,
Additional Corps, Green Mountain Boys, Major Brown's Detachment in
General Arnold's Regiment_." 244 men.

_I take great pleasure in this record. Some writers have intimated
that Brown was insubordinate at Quebec_ because Montgomery referred to
one of his friends as going beyond proper bounds in objecting to
Arnold. If so, why does Arnold permit Brown to remain in command? Some
men went home after the defeat of December 31, 1775, others fled.
Fisher says Arnold had only seven hundred men, of which the Brown
detachment is a large part,--no doubt induced to stay _because they
trusted him_.

NOTE 3.

Smith's History of Pittsfield, 1734-1800, p. 271:--

_To the Honorable Horatio Gates, Esq., Major-General in the Army
of the United States of America, commanding at Albany_.

Humbly sheweth, that, in the month of February last, Brig.-Gen.
Arnold transmitted to the honorable Continental Congress, an
unjustifiable, false, wicked, and malicious accusation against
me, and my character as an officer in their service, at the time
when I was under his immediate command; that, had there been the
least ground for such an accusation, the author thereof had it in
his power--indeed, it was his duty--to have me brought to a fair
trial by a general court-martial in the country where the
pretended crime is said to have originated; that I was left to
the necessity of applying to Congress, not only for the charge
against me, but for an order for a court of inquiry on my own
conduct in respect thereto; that, in consequence of my
application, I obtained a positive order of Congress to the then
general commanding the Northern Department for a court of
inquiry, before whom I might justify my injured character; that
the said order was transmitted to your Honor at Ticonderoga, in
the month of August last; and, notwithstanding the most ardent
solicitations on my part, the order of Congress has not yet been
complied with; that, upon my renewing my application to your
Honor for a court of inquiry, you were pleased to refer me to the
Board of War.

Thus I have been led an expensive dance, from generals to
Congress, and from Congress to generals; and I am now referred
to a Board of War, who, I venture to say, have never yet taken
cognisance of any such matter; nor do I think it, with great
submission to your Honor, any part of their duty. I must
therefore conclude, that this information, from the mode of its
origin, as well as from the repeated evasions of a fair hearing,
is now rested upon the author's own shoulders.

I therefore beg that your Honor will please to order Brig.-Gen.
Arnold in arrest for the following crimes, which I am ready to
verify, viz.:--

1. For endeavoring to asperse your petitioner's personal
character in the most infamous manner.

2. For unwarrantably degrading and reducing the rank conferred on
your petitioner by his (Gen. Arnold's) superior officers, and
subjecting your petitioner to serve in an inferior rank to that
to which he had been appointed.

3. For ungentlemanlike conduct in his letter to Gen. Wooster, of
the 25th of January last, charging your petitioner with a
falsehood, and in a private manner, which is justly chargeable on
himself.

4. For suffering the small-pox to spread in the camp before
Quebec, and promoting inoculation there in the Continental army.

5. For depriving a part of the army under his command of their
usual allowance of provisions, ordered by Congress.

6. For interfering with and countermanding the order of his
superior officer.

7. For plundering the inhabitants of Montreal, in direct
violation of a solemn capitulation, or agreement, entered into
with them by our late brave and worthy Gen. Montgomery, to the
eternal disgrace of the Continental arms.

8. For giving unjustifiable, unwarrantable, cruel and bloody
orders, directing whole villages to be destroyed, and the
inhabitants thereof put to death by fire & sword, without any
distinction to friend or foe, age or sex.

9. For entering into an unwarrantable, unjustifiable & partial
agreement with Capt. Foster for the exchange of prisoners taken
at the Cedars, without the knowledge, advice, or consent of any
officer then there present with him on the spot.

10. For ordering inoculation of the Continental Army at Sorel,
without the knowledge of, and contrary to the intentions of the
general commanding that Northern Department; by which fatal
consequences ensued.

11. For great misconduct in his command of the Continental fleet
on Lake Champlain, which occasioned the loss thereof.

12. For great misconduct during his command from the camp at
Cambridge, in the year 1775, until he was superseded by Gen.
Montgomery, at Point Aux-Tremble, near Quebec.

13. For disobedience of the orders of his superior officers,
while acting by a commission from the Provincial Congress of the
Province of Massachusetts Bay; and for a disobedience of the
orders of a committee of the same Congress, sent from that State
to inspect his conduct, and also for insulting, abusing, and
imprisoning the said committee; as also for a _treasonable
attempt_ to make his escape with the navigation men, at or near
Ticonderoga, to the enemy at St. Johns, which oblidged the then
commanding officer at Ticonderoga and its dependencies to issue a
positive order to the officers commanding our batteries at Crown
Point, to stop or sink the vessels attempting to pass that post,
and by force of arms to make a prisoner of the said Gen. Arnold
(then a colonel), which was accordingly done.

JOHN BROWN, _Lieutenant-Colonel_.

ALBANY, 1st Dec., 1776.

PITTSFIELD 9th June 1779

Sir

I send you the enclosed hope you will present it to Congress the
first opportunity not doubting their Disposition to do equal
Justice to Persons of every Denomination in these united States,
and that in justice in my instance must be owing rather to
misinformation than anything else, altho in the present Case it
is scarcely supposable.

The very extraordinary trial alluded to in the Petition is truly
a Matter of Surprize to every Officer and Citizen in this part of
the World and is of such a dangerous tendency that I think it
ought to be attended to, what is more extraordinary it is I am
told the only trial of the kind ever had in Congress.--In the
Year 1776 I petitioned to Congress for a trial who refused me,
giving for reason that Congress was not a proper tribunal and
therefore refered me to the Officer commanding the northern
Department.

Genl. Arnold on the First application obtained a hearing and
determination on that Principle I am a Stranger

I am with the greatest Respect

Your hons. most obedt most hmbl Sert.

JNO. BROWN.
The honle. JNO. JAY ESQ.
Predt. Congress

(Continental Congress Papers, no. 42, Petitions, vol. i. 179.)

THE HONle THE CONGRESS

The Memorial and Remonstrance of John Brown of Pittsfield in the
State of the Massachusetts Bay humbly sheweth--

That in the Month of Novr. 1777 Your Petitioner was passing
through York Town to the Southord when he waited on the honble
Charles Thompson Esqr Secy to Congress, who favoured your
petitioner with a Copy of the very extraordinary Trial of Genl.
Arnold of which the following is an Extract Viz "In Congress May
20th 1777--

A Letter this Day from Genl. Arnold with a printed Paper inclosed
signed John Brown was read, order'd that the same be refered to
the Board of War together with such Complaints as have been
lodged agt. Genl. Arnold." By this your Petitioner would suppose
that the Board of War were directed not only to take into
consideration his Complaint, but all others that have been lodged
agt. Genl. Arnold, particularly those lodged by a General Court
Martial composed by thirteen of the principle Officers at
Tycondoroga in the Year 1776 as well as those lodged by Colo.
Hazen & others altho it does not appear that any other Matter of
Complaint was determined on, but that contained in the hand Bill
signed John Brown on which the Board of War Report--

"That the Genl. laid before them a variety of original Letters
orders and other papers, _which together with the General's own
account of his Conduct_, confirmed by Mr. Carroll one of the late
Commissioners in Canada now a Member of this Board, have given
intire Satisfaction to this Board concerning the General's
Character and Conduct, so cruelly and groundlessly aspersed in
the Publication."

Your Petitioner begs leave to affirm that Mr. Carroll whatever he
might wish knew nothing more or less as a Witness concerning the
Charges laid agt. Genl. Arnold owing to an unlucky Alieubi, which
happened with respect to him in regard to all the Charges laid in
the Complaint. Still how far his evidence might go in assisting
Genl. Arnold in proving his negatives your Petitioner does not
pretend to say, as this is an intire new mode of Trial.

First Because one of the Parties was not notified or present at
the same, consequently the trial ex parte unconstitutional and
illegal on every principle.

Secondly Because there was not one Witness at the Trial who will
pretend he even had it in his Power to disprove one of the
Charges in the Complaint.

Thirdly with the greatest Respect to Congress they had not the
least Right to take cognizance of the Crimes enumerated in my
complaint, for the truth of this assertion I beg leave to refer
them to the military Laws by them compiled and instituted for the
Regulation of the Army, which are the only security and
protection of the Officers and Soldiers belonging to the same,
consequently no other Court or Tribunal would have any Right to
take cognizance of the Crimes enumerated but that of a Court
Martial, and therefore the trial of the Genl. above recited was
strictly a nullety to all intents and purposes it being Coram non
Judice. However should Congress be of a Different opinion with
respect to this Matter, and that that the Trial of Genl. Arnold
was legal & constitutional, he then expects that Congress will
give him the same indulgence and latitude, and that he may be
heard by congress on the subject of his Impeachment of Genl.
Arnold, in which Case the General's presents & witnesses will not
be necessary. Your Petitioner therefore esteems it as a very
great grieveance that the Honle. Congress by the trial aforesaid
have resolved and published and authorised Genl. Arnold to
publish to the World that he your Petitioner has been guilty of
making and publishing false and groundless aspertions agt. a
general Officer, when at the same time every article in the
Complaint was sacredly true, and would have been proved so had a
proper tribunal been obtained, of which Genl. Arnold was well
apprised. 'Tis possible that Genl. Arnold might have suggested to
Congress that your Petitioner was not an Officer at the time of
trial afd. as to this Matter your Petitioner has not as yet been
informed whether his Resignation has been accepted or not, indeed
he cannot suppose it compatible with the Wisdom Dignity and
Justice of Congress to descharge any of their Officers for the
Reason set forth in your Petitioners Letter accompanying his
Resignation as he then stood impeach'd to Congress by the same
Genl. Arnold of every high Crimes which if true effected the
Reputation of the united States and Genl. Arnold's sacred
Character stood then impeached by your Petitioners of thirteen
capital Charges, which in the opinion of those most knowing would
have effected the life of a more honest Man, in consequence of a
proper trial before a generous Court Martial--on these
considerations your Petitioner presumes his Resignation was not
accepted but on Supposition it was, yet your Petitioner conceives
that to make no material odds, as it can not be presumed that
congress would try a Citizen without a hearing, whatever they may
imagine their authority to be. However let this matter be as it
may Congress are sensible that your Petitioner notwithstanding
the most flagrant abuses received was not out of Service from the
commencement of the War untill the reduction of the british Army
under the Commandg genl. Burgoyne, in which he challenges to
himself some show [?] of merit since no one else (to his
knowledge) has been willing to give it him.

Your Petitioner is sensible that Congress at the time of Genl.
Arnold's application for a trial were imbarrassed on all
Quarters, and no doubt laboured under high prejudices with
Respect to your Petitioners Character owing perhaps to the
Representations made them by Genl. Gates, who 'tis possible has
been mistaken to his Sorrow with respect to his Friend--which
prejudices your Petitioner hopes time and events have eradicated,
he therefore can assure Congress, that he hopes and wishes for
nothing more than common justice altho the History of the War and
his present infirmities received therein, might entitle him to
something more. But to stand conviction by a Decree of Congress
of publishing cruel and groundless assertions or Libels without a
hearing when actually fighting for Liberty is intolerable in a
free Country and has a direct tendency to check the ambition,
and even disaffect those Men by whose wisdom Valour and
perseverance America is to be made free, not to mention the
dangerous president such trials may afford. Your Petitioner
therefore implores Congress to reconsider their determination on
the impeachment of Genl. Arnold, as there cannot at this Day
remain a possibility of Doubt but that the same was premature,
and furnished Genl. Arnold with a foundation to establish a
Character on the Ruins of a Man who to speak moderately has
rendered his Country as essential [?] Service as that Donquixote
Genl. whose reasons for evading a trial at a proper tribunal are
very obvious and fully set forth in my impeachment & which the
Genl. has had his pretended trial by which impeachment it fully
appears that Genl. Arnold was resqued from Justice by mere dint
of unlawfull authority exercised by Genl. Gates.

Your Petitioner relying on the Wisdom and Justice of Congress
begs leave to submit [?] himself most Respectfully their very
obedt. Humble Svt.

JNO. BROWN.
Petition [?]
9th June 1779 Honle JNO. JAY Esq.
Presidt. Congress

NOTE 4.

§1. MILITARY RECORD OF JOHN BROWN.

_First._ Fourteen (14) days in Ticonderoga expedition, engaged in
capture. (See "Connecticut in Revolution," p. 32.)

_Second._ _Major_, Colonel Easton's Regiment, service from May 10,
1775, to December 30, 1775, in list of men who marched to Canada. (See
"Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors," vol. ii. p. 642.)

_Third._ _Major of the New York Line, Additional Corps_, Green
Mountain Boys. "Major Brown's detachment in Genl. Arnold's Regiment."
Colonels Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, Quebec, 1776. (See "New York in
the Revolution," vol. i. p. 61.) On list sent Provincial Congress of
New York, 4 July, 1775.

_Fourth._ _Lieutenant-colonel._ Colonel Samuel Elmore's Regiment,
raised for one year from Connecticut and Massachusetts, appointed by
Congress July 29, 1776, resigned March 15, 1777. Regiment took field
July, 1776, under General Schuyler. August 25, marched from Albany
into Tryon County. Posted remainder of term at Fort Stanwix. Broke up
in spring of 1777. (See "Connecticut in Revolution," p. 113.) The
Massachusetts roll states that John Brown was among the men who went
to German Flats April 1, 1776, and was discharged May 18, 1777.
Service, thirteen months, eighteen days.

_Fifth._ _Colonel Third Berkshire Regiment._ Commissioned April 4,
1777. Services in Northern Department not stated. April 14, 1780,
further appointment as Colonel. Service, three months, five days.
Killed October 19, 1780. (See Massachusetts Rolls.)

The above memoranda are imperfect, but I print them from printed
records. I have not searched the original sources, believing the
public officials have done all that could be done.

§2. COLONEL JOHN BROWN'S COMMAND JULY 14, 1780, TO OCTOBER 19, 1780.

_Claverack to Stone Arabia, N.Y._

Colonel, John Brown.
Major, Oliver Root.
Adjutant, James Easton, Jr.
Quartermaster, Elias Willard.
Surgeon, Dr. Oliver Brewster.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM FOORD'S COMPANY.

Foord, William, _captain_.
Spencer, Alpheus, _lieutenant_.
Pearson, Abel, _lieutenant_.
Benden, Timothy, _sergeant_.
Rothborn, Daniel, _sergeant_.
Sloson, Eleazer, _sergeant_.
Wheaton, Samuel, _sergeant_.
Barber, James, _corporal_.
Bond, Bartholomew, _corporal_.
Tobie, Nathaniel, _corporal_.
Goodrich, Gilbert, of Lenox, _private_.
Austin, Shubael, _drummer_.
Andrews, Colman, _private_.
Alcock, Stephen, _private_.
Adams, Aaron, _private_.
Burt, Thomas, _private_.
Baker, William, _private_.
Bell, Henry, _private_.
Bateman, Jonathan, _private_.
Blen, Solomon, _private_.
Balding, Oliver, _private_.
Bond, Seth, _private_.
Cumington, John, _private_.
Case, Ezekiel, _private_.
Clarke, David, _private_.
Carlton, Peleg, _private_.
Carlton, Reuben, _private_.
Carter, Elisha, _private_.
Cogswell, Levi, _private_.
Dean, Joel, _private_.
Easton, Calvin, _private_.
Ellison, James, _private_.
Foot, Asahel, _private_.
Gleason, Benoni, _private_.
Goodrich, Nathaniel, _private_.
Gates, Jonah, _private_.
Hatch, William of Nobletown, N.Y., _private_.
Harrison, Asahel, _private_.
Hewitt, Zadok, _private_.
Huet, Jeremiah, _private_.
Hull, Warren, _private_.
Handy, Joseph, of Stockbridge or Lee, _private_.
Hide, Charles, _private_.
Ingraham, Nathan, _corporal_.
Juhel, Joseph, _private_.
Knolton, Thomas, _private_.
Ladd, Joel, _private_.
Lewis, John, _private_.
McKnite, Thomas, _fifer_.
Meres, John, _private_.
Milliken, William, _private_.
McKnight, William, _private_.
Mack, Warren, _private_.
Noble, John, _private_.
North, John, _private_.
Newell, Seth, _private_.
Phelps, John, _private_.
Parks, Nathan, _private_.
Porter, Joseph, Jr., _private_.
Porter, Joseph, Sr., _private_.
Robbins, Jason, _private_.
Reed, Joseph, _private_.
Reed, James, _private_.
Smith, Ezekiel, _private_.
Stearns, Zehiel, _private_.
Stiles, Josiah, _private_.
Stoddard, Philemon, _private_.
Sears, David, _private_.
Tailor, David, _private_.
Tomblin, Moses, _private_.
West, William, _private_.
Wilson, Shubael, _private_.
Woodroof, Amos, _private_.
Wollison, Shubael, _private_.
Thomas (surname undecipherable), _private_.
Dunham, Calvin, _private_.

CAPTAIN LEVI ELY'S COMPANY.

Ely, Levi, _captain_.
Smith, Martin, _lieutenant_.
Fowler, Bildad, of West Springfield, _lieutenant_.
Stiles, Gideon, _lieutenant_.
Smith, Jonathan, _quartermaster sergeant_.
Kendal, William, _sergeant_.
Noble, Jacob, _sergeant_.
Ainsworth, Luther, _private_.
Ashley, James, of Westfield, _private_.
Allen, William, _private_.
Anderson, Samuel, Jr., of Blandford, _private_.
Bruk, Wainwright, _private_, killed.
Bills, William, of Westfield, _private_.
Baird, John, _private_.
Blackwood, Albright, of Soudon, _private_.
Badcock, Nathan, _private_.
Blair, Alexander, _private_.
Church, John, of Westfield, _private_.
Colgrove, Joseph, _private_.
Chapin, John, _private_, killed.
Crooks, James, _private_.
Colhiren, Abner, _private_.
Conners, Abraham, _private_, killed.
Converse, Isaac, _private_.
Crow, John, _private_.
Copley, Matthew, _private_.
Day, Moses, _private_.
Day, Asa, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Dewey, Heman, of Westfield, _private_.
Dewey, Oliver, of Westfield, _private_.
Dimmouth, John, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Ely, Edmond, _private_.
Farmar, Elisha, _corporal_.
Francis, Aaron, _private_.
Francis, Simeon, _private_.
Gleason, Daniel, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Hill, Dan, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Hough, Justus, _private_.
Herrick, Ebenezer, _private_.
Haley, William, _private_.
Hubbard, Jonas, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Hill, Primus, _private_.
Ingowol, Stephen, _drummer_.
Jones, Judah, _corporal_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Jones, Ithamar, _private_.
Kent, Ezekiel, _private_.
Kellegg, Daniel, _private_.
Leonard, Russel, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Loomis, Josiah, _private_.
Loyhead, Thomas, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Miller, Abner, _corporal_.
Morgan, Simeon, _private_.
Moor, William, _private_.
Mathew, Nathan I., _private_.
Nott, Selden, _private_.
Noble, Paul, of Westfield, _private_.
Noble, Jared, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Plumm, Jared, _private_.
Pepper, William, _private_.
Pitts, Gideon, _private_.
Rimington, Jonathan, _private_.
Rogers, Isaac, _private_.
Read, Amos, _private_.
Stewert, Jesse, _corporal_.
Smith, David, _fifer_.
Smith, James, _private_.
Stewart, Moses, _private_.
Shephard, Elijah ?
Taylor, Joseph, _corporal_.
Taylor, Jonathan, _private_.
Taylor, Thomas, _private_.
Vanslow, Justus, _private_.
Worthington, Seth, _sergeant_.
Worriner, Lewis, _corporal_.
Worthington, Stephen, _private_.
Whitney, David, _private_.
Williams, Roswell, _private_.
Walker, John, _private_.
Woodworth, Roswell, _private_.
Woolworth, Samuel, _private_.
Walton, Elijah, _private_.

CAPTAIN JOHN SPOOR'S COMPANY.

Spoor, John, _captain_.
Brooks, Jonathan, of Lanesborough _lieutenant_.
Ball, Isaac, of Stockbridge, _lieutenant_.
Fish, John, _sergeant_.
Jones, William, _sergeant_.
Davis, William, _corporal_.
Edmun, Andrew, _corporal_.
Edy, Briant, _private_.
Foster, Jeremiah, of Williamstown (also given Weston), _corporal_.
Lemmon, Moses, _sergeant_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Tylor, Russell, _corporal_.
Jones, Josiah, _fifer_.
Cetcham, Joseph, _drummer_.
Adams, Peter, _private_.
Abbe, John, _private_.
Bennett, Jeremiah, _private_.
Babcock, Jonathan, _private_.
Bradley, Josiah, of Stockbridge, _private_.
Bush, Japhet, _private_.
Bondish, Asa, _private_.
Bigsbey, Peletiah, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Barry, John, _private_.
Moses, Charles, of Stockbridge, _private_.
Comstock, Medad, _private_.
Curk, John, _private_.
Chapman, Gershom, _private_.
Calender, Ezekiel, _private_.
Charles, Darius, _private_.
Campbel, Sam, _private_.
Dickerman, Joel, _sergeant_.
Davis, Robert, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Dewey, Lalson, of Stockbridge, _private_.
Egleston, Elijah, _private_.
Fuller, Boswell, _private_, discharged September 28.
Fitch, Nat, _private_.
Foster, Jeremiah, Jr., of Williamstown (also given Weston), _private_.
Gaff, Jacob, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Giles, James, _private_.
Gregory, "Isband," _private_.
Hubbard, Baley, _private_.
Heart, Leveret, _private_.
Horsford, Ambrose, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Hatch, Solomon, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Holmes, John, _private_.
Ingersole, Moses, _private_.
King, George, of Sheffield, _private_.
Lorris, Jacob, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Meeken, Oliver, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Mansfield, Josiah, _private_.
Mash, Abijah, _private_.
Monrsurir, Gabriel, _private_.
Noble, Joseph, _private_, killed Oct. 19, 1780.
Orton, James, _private_.
Pixley, Jonah, _private_.
Pior, Abner, _private_.
Raymond, John, _private_.
Rool, "Hewek," _private_.
Ransom, Elias, _private_.
Root, Roswell, of Sheffield, _private_.
Rool, Stephen, _private_.
Standish, Asa, _private_.
Starr, Thomas, _private_.
Saxton, Jesse, _private_.
Sprague, Barnabas, _private_.
Shearwood, Jonathan, _private_.
Tylor, Bezaleel, _private_.
Winchel, David, _private_.
Watson, Samuel, _private_.
Wright, Miles, _private_.
Winchel, Ephraim, _private_.
Wood, Amaziah, _private_.
Webb, Will, _private_.

CAPTAIN SAMUEL WARNER'S COMPANY.

Warner, Samuel, _captain_.
Norton, Jonathan, _lieutenant_.
Chadwick, Ebenezer, of Tyringham, _lieutenant_.
Tracy, David, _sergeant_.
Jackson, Joshua, _sergeant_.
Brown, Nathaniel, _sergeant_.
Rand, James, _sergeant_.
Greppen, Alpheus, _sergeant_.
Bush, Caleb, of Sandisfield, _corporal_.
Jewet, Joseph, _corporal_.
Down, Stephen, _corporal_.
Powel, Joseph, of Sheffield, _corporal_.
Belton, Stephen, _corporal_.
Griffins, Thomas, _drummer_.
Pope, Gideon, _fifer_.
Noble, Saul, _private_.
Allen, Rufus, _private_.
Bogworth, Frederick, of Sandisfield, _private_.
Bogworth, John, of Sandisfield, _private_.
Brooks, Shadrack, _private_.
Bradle, Isaac, _private_.
Bond, Joseph, _private_.
Brown, Reuben, of New Marlboro, _private_.
Blackmer, Isaac, _private_.
Bird, Amos, of Tyringham, _private_.
Benton, David, Jr., of Sheffield, _private_.
Brookner, Reuben, _private_.
Beckett, William, _private_, killed Oct. 20, 1780.
Boods, Joel R., _private_.
Bradle, Isaac, _private_.
Core, Noah, _private_.
Clark, Reuben, of Sheffield, _private_.
Clark, Wells, _private_.
Cooper, Benjamin, _private_.
Carter, Elisha, _private_.
Cole, Elisha, _private_.
Conch, William, of Sandisfield, _private_.
Comstock, Rufus, _private_.
Callender, Daniel, _private_, received bounty at Sheffield.
Denely, John, _private_.
Dunham, Calvin, _private_.
French, Ebenezer, _private_.
? French, Elisha, _private_.
Graten, Care, _private_.
Gichel, Joseph, _private_.
Gillet, John, _private_.
Glaston, Willard, _private_.
Guild, Orrange, _private_.
Hodg, Daniel, _private_.
Huggins, Joseph, of Sheffield, _private_.
Heath, George, _private_.
Hines, Ezekiel, _private_.
Hoskins, Anthony, _private_.
Hyde, Theophilus, of Sheffield, _private_.
Higgins, Zenas, _private_.
Hatch, Seth, of Bennington, _private_.
Jaqua, Seth, _private_.
Keyes, Elias, _private_.
Kilbernt, Robert, _private_.
Kelegg, Joel, _private_.
Kingsbury, Nathaniel, _private_.
Lummis, Noah, _private_.
Marel, Abner, _private_.
Marcone, Stephen, _private_.
Mack, Warren, _private_.
Orten, Roger, _private_.
Owen, William, of Sheffield, _private_.
Remington, Simeon, _private_.
Rhods, Adam, _private_.
Root, "Rosel," _private_.
Sage, David, _private_.
Smith, Henry, of Sandisfield, _private_.
Spring, Henry, _private_.
Skinner, Samuel, _private_.
Shed, Samuel, _private_.
Shed, Daniel, _private_.
Todge, Elias, _private_.
Turner, Uriah, _private_.
Tuttle, Benjamin, _private_.
Underwood, Silas, _private_.
Warner, Levi, of Sandisfield, _private_.
Warker, Thomas, _private_.
Webster, Daniel, _private_.
Wollen, Moses, _private_.
Whitne, Silas, _private_.
White, Solomon, _private_.
Bradle, Isaac, _private_.
Wording, John M., _private_.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM WHITE'S COMPANY.

White, William, _captain_.
Beckit, Silas, _lieutenant_.
Sprague, John, _lieutenant_.
Day, Elkanah, _sergeant_.
Stearns, Isaac, _sergeant_.
Barker, Ezra, of Lanesborough, _corporal_.
Allen, Benjamin, _corporal_.
Brown, Luther, of Windsor, _fifer_.
Allen, John, _private_.
Arnold, Jonathan, of Hancock, _private_.
Bundee, Elisha, _private_.
Barnes, Asa, Jr., _private_.
Bryant, John, _private_.
Barus, Aaron, _private_.
Briggs, Benjamin, _private_.
Cleaveland, Jedediah, _private_.
Cook, Amasa, _private_.
Coree, Josiah, Jr., _private_.
Chafee, John, _private_.
Coree, Josiah, _private_.
Carpenter, Benjamin, of Hancock, _private_.
Cole, Solomon, _private_.
Cowing, Elisha, _private_.
Cole, William, Jr., _private_.
Doolan, Patrick, _private_.
Eddy, Andrew, _private_.
Gallop, William, _private_.
Hanks, Levi, _private_.
Haringdon, William, _private_.
Holt, Titus, _private_.
Harris, Joseph, _private_.
Hall, Calvin, _private_.
Hill, Gardner, of Hancock, _private_.
Harringdon, Peter, _private_.
McFarling, William, _private_.
Jarvis, Joseph, _private_.
Keeler, James, _private_.
Lewis, Richard, of Lanesborough, _private_, killed October, 1780.
Leanord, Soloman, _private_.
Lusk, Asa, _private_.
McGuire, James, _private_.
Morehouse, Matthew, of Hancock, _private_.
Narramore, Asa, _private_.
Oles, Horace, _private_.
Parker, Charles, _private_.
Pettabone, Amos, _private_.
Pearce, Levi, _private_.
Parker, Philip, _private_.
Parker, Giles, _private_.
Powel, Daniel, of Lanesborough, _private_.
Pettabone, Roger, _private_.
Richardson, Nehemiah, _private_.
Ross, Willard, _private_.
Robbins, Jonathan, _private_.
Reed, Simeon, _private_.
Rice, Daniel, _private_.
Smith, Jonathan, _private_.
Stevens, John, _private_.
Smith, Simeon, _private_.
Slater, James, _private_.
Tracey, William, _private_.
Thrasher, Charles, of New Ashford, _private_.
White, William, Jr., _private_.
Wollcut, Moses, _private_.

SUMMARY.

Captain William Foord's Company may have been stationed at Middle
Fort, Schoharie Valley, under command of Major Melancton L. Woolsey.
See his report of Sept. 27, 1780. It had

2 Lieutenants,
4 Sergeants,
1 Drummer,
1 Fifer,
4 Corporals, and 63 men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Captain Levi Ely's Company had
3 Lieutenants,
1 Quartermaster Sergeant,
3 Sergeants,
6 Corporals,
1 Drummer,
1 Fifer and 66 men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Captain Ely and 15 men were killed Oct. 19, 1780.

Captain John Spoor's Company.
2 Lieutenants,
4 Sergeants,
4 Corporals,
1 Drummer,
1 Fifer, and 59 men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

One man taken prisoner, 11 killed Oct. 19, 1780,
2 killed Oct. 20, 1780.

Captain Samuel Warner's Company may have been left at Fort
Paris or stationed elsewhere.
2 Lieutenants,
5 Sergeants,
5 Corporals,
1 Drummer,
1 Fifer, and 73 men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Captain William White's Company.
2 Lieutenants,
2 Sergeants,
2 Corporals,
1 Fifer, and 56 men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

1 private killed, 1 private wounded, 1 taken prisoner.
---
Whole force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Total killed Oct. 19, 1780, 29; wounded, 1; prisoner, 1.

Besides these Berkshire men, perhaps Captain John Kasselman's Tryon
Company Rangers were at Fort Paris, and Captain John Zelley's Company
at Fort Keyser.

From "New York in the Revolution":--

_Tryon County Rangers._

Captain, John Kasselman. Lieutenant, John Empie.
Ensign, George Gittman.

Badier, John.
Bickerd, Adolph.
Dusler, Jacob.
Empie, John.
Ettigh, Conrad.
Fry, Jacob.
Gittman, Peter.
Harth, Daniel.
Hayne, George.
Hortigh, Andrew.
House, Peter.
Kasselman, John.
Kutzer, Leonard.
Kulman, Henry.
Shnell, John.
Smith, Henry.
Smith, William.
Strater, Nicholas.
Tillenbach, Christian.
Vanderwerke, John.
Walter, Adams.
Walter, Christian.

Probably at Fort Paris.

Captain John Zelley's Company, Second Regiment, Tryon County, Colonel
Jacob Klock.

Also John Wafel, William Wafel, Conrad Spraker, George Spraker,
William (?) Dygert.

Probably at Fort Keyser.

NOTE 5.

See "Rules and Articles for better Government of the Troops of the
Thirteen United English Colonies of North America." Printed by William
and Thomas Bradford, 1775. John Hancock, President. Philadelphia, Nov.
7, 1775. (Massachusetts Historical Society Collections.)

Plunder or pillage always incident to war, and, whatever rules exist
for restraint, the conflict usually leads to authorized devastation
and plunder, retaliatory to exhaust the enemy. For instances, in Civil
War of 1861-65, Sherman's destruction of property in march through
Southern territory, Sheridan's destroying agents in the Shenandoah
Valley.

By Hague rule of 1899, July 29, pillage of a town or place even when
taken by assault is prohibited.

How about Allies in Pekin?

See Instructions to United States Army in the field. General Orders,
April 24, 1863, War of Rebellion:--

All wanton violence committed against persons in the invaded country,
all destruction of property not commanded by the authorized officer,
all robbing, all pillage and sacking even after taking a place by main
force, all rape, wounding, maiming or killing of such inhabitants are
prohibited, under penalty of death or such other severe punishment as
may seem adequate to the gravity of the offence.

A soldier, officer, or private may be killed by superior officer for
such act. See John Bassett Moore's "Digest of International Law."

NOTE 6.

Brown was more outspoken than General Wayne. See "Major-general
Anthony Wayne, and the Pennsylvania Line," by Charles J. Stillé,
President Historical Society of Pennsylvania. J. B. Lippincott
Company, 1893. (Pages 235 _et seq._)

GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE TO H. A. SHEEL.

HAVERSTRAW NEAR STONEY POINT
2d Oct 1780.

_Dear Sheel_

I am confident that the perfidy of Genl. Arnold will astonish the
multitude--the high rank he bore--the eclat he had obtained
(whether honestly or not) justified the world in giving it him.

But there were a few Gentlemen who at a very early period of this
war became acquainted with his true character! when you asked my
opinion of that officer I gave it freely & believe you thought it
rather strongly shaded.

I think I informed you that I had the most despicable Idea of him
both as a Gentleman & a Soldier--& that he had produced a
conviction on me in 1776 that honor & true Virtue were Strangers
to his Soul and however Contradictory it might appear--that he
never possessed either fortitude or personal bravery--he was
naturally a Coward and never went in the way of Danger but when
Stimulated by liquor even to Intoxication, consequently
Incapacitated from Conducting any Command Committed to his
charge.

I shall not dwell upon his Military Character or the measures he
had adopted for the surrender of West Point--that being already
fully Elucidated but will give you a small specimen of his
_peculate_ talents.

What think you of his employing Sutlers to retail the publick
Liquors for his private Emolument & furnishing his Quarters with
beds & other furniture by paying for them with Pork, Salt, Flour
&c. drawn from the Magazine--he has not stopped here, he has
descended much lower--& defrauded the old Veteran Soldiers who
have bled for their Country in many a well fought field--for more
than five Campaigns among others an old Sergeant of mine has felt
his rapacity by the Industry of this man's wife they had
accumulated something handsome to support them in their advanced
age--which coming to the knowledge of this cruel Spoiler--he
borrowed 4500 dollars from the poor Credulous Woman & left her in
the lurch.

The dirty--dirty acts which he has been capable of Committing
beggar all description--and are of such a nature as would cause
the _Infernals to blush_--were they accused with the Invention or
Execution of them.

The detached & Debilitated state of the Garrison of West
Point--Insured success to the assailants--the enemy were all in
perfect readiness for the Enterprise--& the discovery of the
treason only prevented an Immediate attempt by open force to
carry those works which _perfidy_ would have effected the fall
of, by a slower & less sanguine mode.--Our army was out of
protecting distance the troops in the possession of the Works a
spiritless Miserabile Vulgus--in whose hands the fate of America
seemed suspended in this Situation his Excellency (in imitation
of Cæsar & his tenth legion) called for his Veterans--the
summons arrived at one o'clock in the morning & we took up our
line of March at 2.

HUGH A. SHEEL TO GENERAL WAYNE.

PHILA Oct. 22, 1780

_My dear General_

... the character you gave me in confidence of Arnold _several
months_ ago made a strong impression on my mind it has been
verified fully--his villany & machinations never could have been
carried on but through the medium of his Tory acquaintance in
this place....

APPENDIX.

A very valuable map of the Province of New York, by Claude Joseph
Sauthier, drawn for Major-general William Tryon in 1779, is found in
"The Documentary History of New York," showing the Mohawk Valley
grants, old forts, etc.

_Fort Paris_, Dec. 19, 1776, Captain Christian Getman's Rangers, Tryon
County militia, were stationed at Stone Arabia, and were ordered, when
not ranging, to cut timber for building a fort, under direction of
Isaac Paris, Esq. (Mr. Paris was in Provincial Congress and later in
State Senate.) It was a palisaded enclosure of stone and block-houses
for a garrison of from two to three hundred (200-300) men. Begun in
December, 1776, it was completed in the spring of 1777. It was
situated on a most beautiful plain three or four miles north-east of
Fort Plain, one-half a mile north of Stone Arabia churches, twelve
(12) rods from the road. North of it water would run into the
Sacondaga, and thence into upper waters of the Hudson; south into
Mohawk waters. It is easily reached from Palatine Bridge, and is
nearly one thousand feet above sea-level. In the fall of 1779, Colonel
Fred. Fisher (Visscher), of Third Regiment, Tryon County militia, was
at Fort Paris.

May 12, 1780, Colonel Jacob Klock, Second Regiment of Tryon County
men, was there.

June 24, 1780, General Robert Van Rensselaer, of Second Brigade of
Albany militia, was ordered to Fort Paris.

July 26, 1780, he left there (perhaps, however, to return), to assist
the Canajoharie men at Fort Schuyler.

When John Brown took command there I do not know.

The conclusion of the matter of Oct. 19, 1780 was _battle of Klock's
Field_ or _Fox's Mills_. On that day and the 18th Sir John Johnson
laid waste the whole of Stone Arabia district after burning
Caughnawaga.

Brown's defeat in the morning of October 19 did not, however, involve
Fort Paris, which was held by Major Root. Although immediate relief of
the fort and pursuit of Johnson were essential, Van Rensselaer did not
cross the Mohawk until afternoon, crossing at Fort Plain. The enemy
was entrenched on the north side of the river, about St. Johnsville,
near a stockade or block-house at Klock's. Fort House, a small
block-house, was the exact place where just before night a "smart
brush" occurred between the British and the Americans under Colonel
Dubois. Colonel Dubois took a position above Johnson, on the heights
of the north side, to prevent his passage up the river. Colonel
Harper, with the Oneida Indians, was on the south side of the river,
nearly opposite. General Van Rensselaer after all this forward
movement and the slight attack, did not hold his position, but fell
back three miles down the river.

The enemy camped on land of the late Judge Jacob G. Klock, I suppose,
colonel of Second Regiment, Tryon County militia, and, "soon after the
moon appeared," moved to a fording-place just above a well-known
citizen's (Nathan Christie) residence, and retreated on the south side
of the Mohawk, passing Oneida Castle, and pushing westward for
Canaseraga on Chittenango Creek, near Lake Oneida.

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Colonel John Brown, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the Brave Accuser of Benedict Arnold" ***

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